From afar, Shang Gu caught sight of this scene and felt a pang of sorrow, unsure if it was for him or for Yue Mi, who had once stood in the Star-Plucking Pavilion, lifting a glass to her with a distant toast.
She glanced at Bai Jue and suddenly spoke, “Do you remember one of your birthdays, when I sent you three carts of wine?”
Bai Jue blinked in mild surprise and nodded. “Of course.”
“I spent ten years gathering rare wines from the Three Realms for those three carts. Why did you leave the God Realm the very next day after I delivered them?”
Nearby, Zhi Yang and Xuan Yi perked up, their faces full of curiosity as they looked at Shang Gu and Bai Jue.
When did this old, dusty piece of gossip happen?
A trace of embarrassment passed over Bai Jue’s usually composed face. He looked away and, though his voice was quiet, it was still loud enough for everyone in the Star-Plucking Pavilion to hear.
“That day, three carts of rare wine were also delivered to Tian Qi’s palace.”
Even hearing it sixty thousand years later, his tone still carried a hint of jealousy.
“Ooh~” Xuan Yi drew out the sound, casting an amused glance toward the Peach Blossom Forest, thoroughly entertained. “It seems you young folks had quite a lively time while I was away from the God Realm.”
Zhi Yang shot Xuan Yi a look, signaling him not to add fuel to the fire. The Demon God huffed in response, seemingly eager to spread tales of the Four True Gods’ romantic dramas across the God Realm.
“It wasn’t from me,” Shang Gu said, a resigned look in her eyes, as if she had expected this misunderstanding all along. “The rare wine in Tian Qi’s palace—that wasn’t from me.”
Bai Jue froze, a realization dawning on him as he turned his gaze toward the Peach Blossom Forest, but this time he wasn’t looking at Tian Qi. Instead, he was looking beyond the forest, toward the Star-Moon Residence.
He turned back to Shang Gu.
Shang Gu nodded. “At the time, I didn’t know that on your birthday, Yue Mi had also sent three carts of rare wine to Tian Qi’s palace.”
“Did Tian Qi…” Bai Jue fell silent, prompting even Zhi Yang, usually disinterested in others’ affairs, to ask, “He didn’t know?”
Shang Gu shook her head and replied slowly, “As far as I know, he didn’t.”
Her gaze lowered. “After that, it was the Chaos Calamity.”
At her words, silence fell over the Star-Plucking Pavilion.
More than sixty thousand years had passed, yet the most bitter and sorrowful memory of the Chaos Calamity remained Yue Mi’s death.
Otherwise, Tian Qi would not have spent all these years so determinedly searching for her soul.
With the mood now somber, the four had lost their interest in enjoying the scenery or drinking wine. Shang Gu took Bai Jue back to the Hall of Pilgrimage, while Xuan Yi, murmuring about his “grand plan,” pulled Zhi Yang along, showing none of the cold bitterness he had while in the Nine Nether Inferno.
After a long while, Tian Qi, still leaning against the ancient tree in the Peach Blossom Forest, opened his eyes. He gazed at the gently flowing stream beside him, its water reflecting the lonely and desolate Star-Moon Residence.
He let out a long, soft laugh. “So, that’s how it was.”
Yet within that laugh was an unspoken bitterness and regret.
He had thought he merely owed his friend a life, but now he realized he owed her a love left unfulfilled sixty thousand years ago.
Perhaps it wasn’t only sixty thousand years. Yue Mi was gone, and what she had done, loved, and sacrificed was known to no one.
Just like those three carts of rare wine, sealed in his palace for all these years, untouched.
Tian Qi rose to his feet, no longer sparing a glance at the desolate Star-Moon Residence, and walked out of the Peach Blossom Forest.
A brilliant star shot across the sky above the God Realm, its divine power shaking the heavens.
All around, the gods raised their heads in astonishment, only to see a half-meter-wide rift torn through the divine boundary, with a fleeting surge of the demon god’s power blazing through it.
Had the most eligible bachelor in the Ancient God Realm finally returned? Before the goddesses could feel any joy, that demonic energy had already vanished into the horizon, leaving not a trace.
Gone again? For how many years this time? With a sigh, the goddesses no longer dared to hope that the wandering god of Tian Qi’s palace would return to stay.
At the Star-Plucking Pavilion, Shang Gu and Bai Jue watched Tian Qi disappear at the edge of the God Realm.
Bai Jue looked at Shang Gu.
“It’s been sixty thousand years. Why did you decide to tell him now?”
“If Yue Mi ever had a chance to return to this world,” Shang Gu’s voice was distant and filled with nostalgia, “she would surely hope that the one to find her would be Tian Qi.”
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