Transforming into a stunningly beautiful fox spirit, leaving a scar on the heart of a prodigy.

Osmanthus wine has a strong aftereffect.

That kind of intoxication doesn't start on the scalp, but burns down the throat and into the heart and lungs, finally pulling the whole person into a soft, fluffy cloud.

Tianpeng felt very light.

The surrounding scenery has changed.

It was no longer that dilapidated and desolate side hall of Weiyang Palace, nor was there that withered osmanthus tree draped with red silk.

There was water beneath my feet.

Black and white water.

The water surface was vast and boundless, yet without a ripple, as still as a dead mirror.

There was no wind, no light, and even the stars overhead were gray, exuding a lifeless desolation.

This is the Milky Way.

It's not the river in the Demon Court that's now tainted by demonic energy, but the Heavenly River that she guarded thousands of years ago when she was the Marshal of the Heavenly River.

But this river has lost its color.

Tianpeng looked down at his hands.

His hands were no longer calloused, nor did he wield the divine weapon that had killed countless people.

Her hands were fair and slender, with silver cloud patterns embroidered on the cuffs, the standard uniform of the former marshal of the Demon Court's navy.

"marshal."

A voice came from beside me.

The sound was very soft and gentle, like the wind blowing through the willow branches in March, or like the first snowflake falling at night.

Tianpeng's body stiffened for a moment.

She didn't dare to turn around.

She was afraid that if she turned around, her dream would shatter.

"The Marshal doesn't want to look at me?"

The voice drew closer. A hand reached out and gently tugged at her sleeve.

That hand was very cold, and the fingertips had a pale look, as if they had never seen the sunlight for many years.

Tianpeng slowly turned his head.

A woman was standing beside him.

The woman was dressed in a plain white palace gown and held a jade rabbit in her arms.

Her face stood out clearly against the black and white backdrop of the Milky Way, with her eyebrows curved and the beauty mark at the corner of her eye like a drop of ink on rice paper.

It's not Su Xiaojiu.

Su Xiaojiu's eyes held cunning, calculation, and the worldly wisdom that comes from years of experience in the mortal world.

There was only coldness in the eyes of the person in front of me.

The desolation of someone who has lived in the Moon Palace for thousands of years, witnessing all the joys and sorrows of human life, and finally growing cold at the sight of it all.

"It's you."

Tianpeng opened his mouth, his voice a little hoarse.

The woman smiled but didn't say anything. She took Tianpeng's sleeve and started walking forward.

The two walked side by side on the black and white surface of the Milky Way.

There were no ripples underfoot.

There were no sounds of heavenly soldiers or generals patrolling around.

The whole world was left with just the two of them, walking and walking, as if the river would never end.

"Marshal, have you heard the story of the lovebirds?" the woman suddenly asked.

Tianpeng looked at the gray void ahead and nodded.

"I've heard of it."

"There is a bird in the south called the Biyi," the woman murmured. "Its shape is like a duck, with one eye and one wing, and it can only fly when it is with someone."

Her voice echoed across the vast Milky Way, carrying an indescribable sense of destiny.

"These birds are born incomplete," the woman said, turning to look at Tianpeng's profile. "Each bird has only one eye and one wing. They can't fly; they can only lie in the mud, waiting for their other half to appear."

"What if we can't wait?" Tianpeng asked.

"Then die in the mud," the woman said calmly. "Or be eaten by wild animals, or rot in the grass. Anyway, for a bird that can't fly, living is just suffering."

Tianpeng felt a tightness in his chest.

"What if you wait until your other half dies?"

The woman stopped.

She released her grip on Tianpeng's sleeve, turned around, and faced Tianpeng directly.

In the black and white world, her figure appeared thin and fragile.

"Then the remaining one won't live long either." The woman raised her hand and gently touched Tianpeng's forehead with her fingertips. "A bird that has flown over the nine heavens cannot stand rolling in the mud. Having seen the scenery in the clouds, it no longer wants to look at the mud on the ground."

Tianpeng instinctively tried to grab that hand.

But her hand passed through the woman's body and grasped nothing.

It was a dream.

Tianpeng knew it all.

Even though she knew it was a dream, the bittersweet feeling that seeped from the very marrow of her bones still brought tears to her eyes.

"I'm leaving." The woman withdrew her hand and took a step back.

"Where to?" Tianpeng asked eagerly.

"Go where you're supposed to go." The woman pointed to the Milky Way at her feet. "The current is too strong; I can't stand up."

Tianpeng bowed his head.

The previously still, black and white river water suddenly began to flow.

The water flowed faster and faster, creating huge whirlpools.

Those whirlpools were like gaping mouths, ready to swallow everything.

The woman's figure began to fade.

"Don't go!"

Tianpeng shouted and pounced forward.

This time, she managed to grab something.

It wasn't a woman's hand, but a jade pendant.

The woman placed the jade pendant into her hand; the touch of it in her palm was cool and delicate, so real it made her heart tremble.

"Keep it as a memento."

The woman's voice faded into the distance, and her figure disappeared with the swirling water, eventually turning into countless black and white specks of light that merged into the ever-flowing river.

"The lovebirds can no longer fly."

The last sigh was so faint it was almost an illusion.

Tianpeng gripped the jade pendant tightly, the coolness from his palm spreading down his arm and instantly piercing the hazy dream.

……

"woke up?"

A dull sound exploded in my ear.

Tianpeng suddenly opened his eyes.

What catches the eye are the dilapidated beams of Weiyang Palace and the spider webs tangled in the corners.

There is no Milky Way.

There was no woman in white.

There were only the cold stone steps beneath him and the bearded man beside him wiping his knife.

Tianpeng was panting heavily.

My forehead was covered in cold sweat, and the back of my clothes was soaked with sweat, sticking stickily to my body.

She subconsciously looked down at her hands.

His hands were empty.

There is no jade pendant.

Only the old jade pendant hanging at her waist, which had been there for who knows how many years, was pressed against her skin, emitting a faint coolness.

That was the congratulatory gift she gave when she was made a demon immortal.

It was also the jade from my dream.

"Had a nightmare?" Rolling Curtain didn't look up, wiping the demon-slaying staff with the strip of cloth in her hand. "You were shouting quite loudly, scaring away all the crows in the trees."

Tianpeng ignored him.

She sat up, reached out and untied the jade pendant from her waist, rubbing it in her palm.

The jade is fine jade.

It just has an extra crack on it.

That was damaged when she desperately protected the array's core during the flood of the Milky Way years ago.

"I dreamt about her," Tianpeng said softly.

The motion of wiping the roller shutter with the knife paused for a moment.

He looked up, a complex emotion flashing in his always half-closed eyes.

"That Su Xiaojiu really does look like her," said Rolling Curtain. "Even the way she eats is similar. No wonder you had that dream."

"It's not like it."

Tianpeng gripped the jade pendant tightly, his knuckles turning white from the force. "The one in my dream, it's real."

Rolling Curtain sighed.

He sheathed the knife with a crisp "click".

"Marshal, you're too attached to appearances."

Rolling Curtain stood up, walked to the withered osmanthus tree, and reached out to tear off a red silk ribbon that was about to break in the wind.

"Buddhism says that all phenomena are illusory."

Rolling up the curtain, she wrapped the red silk around her finger, looking at the blurry words on it, "Whether it's Su Xiaojiu or the one in the dream, it's all an illusion. When a person dies, they're dead. Their soul is scattered, leaving not even ashes. You can't bring her back even if you dream about her."

Tianpeng remained silent.

Of course she knew she wouldn't be coming back.

The Su Xiaojiu of today is nothing more than someone with a similar face and a similar aura.

But it was precisely this similarity that became her obsession.

"Are you sober now?" Roller Curtain asked.

Tianpeng shook his head.

My head still hurts, like someone is hammering inside it. But that blissful, dreamlike feeling is gone, replaced by a clear-headed pain.

"He's awake." Tianpeng hung the jade pendant back on his waist.

"Get up and get to work as soon as you wake up," said Rolling Curtain. "Emperor Shitian is pressuring us hard. That Su Xiaojiu has turned Weiyang Palace upside down, saying she wants to eat dragon liver and phoenix marrow and bathe in ten-thousand-year-old spiritual milk. Those little demons who serve her are almost driven crazy by her."

Tianpeng tugged at the corners of his mouth, revealing a bitter smile.

"She certainly knows how to enjoy herself."

"That's a fox." Rolling Curtain glanced back at her. "Foxes are masters of deception. Don't fall for it."

Tianpeng remained silent.

She stood up and dusted herself off.

The night wind blew, and the red ribbons on the withered tree fluttered loudly.

She looked up at the moon in the sky.

The moon is very round and bright.

But when the sun shines on you, all you feel is cold.

"Roll up the curtain."

"Um?"

"Do you think that if one of the lovebirds dies, the other really won't live long?"

The roller blind remained silent for a long time.

So long that Tianpeng thought he wouldn't answer anymore.

"That's a story for children." Rolling Curtain turned around, picked up the lantern, and walked outside. "People like us are tough. Even if half of us are dead, even if our hearts are ripped out, as long as we're still breathing, we'll live."

"Living is suffering."

"You have to live, even if it means suffering." The sound of the curtain rolling came from outside the door. "If you die, you really have nothing left."

Tianpeng stood still.

She touched the cold jade pendant at her waist.

The words "Keep it as a memento" from my dream still echo in my ears.

Yes.

Think about it.

Even if it's fake, even if it's a delusion, as long as there's a thought, we can still endure these endless years.

Tianpeng took a deep breath and exhaled the stale air from his chest.

His gaze hardened again.

She is the marshal of the Heavenly Demon Dynasty, a killing god who commands 80,000 naval troops.

That little girl who would cry in her dreams has long since died in the Milky Way.

"Let's go."

Tianpeng strode out of the palace gate.

Behind them, the palace named "Han" fell into a deathly silence once more.

Only the withered osmanthus tree cast a distorted shadow in the moonlight, like a bird with broken wings, lying in the mud, staring intently at the sky.

Su Mu Zhe: A Dream Broken by the Milky Way

The night was deep, and the wind was chilly.

A lone waning moon hangs in the sky, illuminating the face of one who has departed.

In my dream, the Milky Way flows endlessly.

A mournful song, severing the bond between life and death.

Jade is cold, and feelings are hard to let go.

When I awoke, the courtyard was empty, the ground covered with withered branches and leaves.

Who can soothe this eternal sorrow?

I'm not a fool, but I tend to speak in a foolish way.