Thank You for Your Generosity

But how could a spaceship possibly outrun the Star-Moon Arrow?

The distance shrank, and shrank, and shrank some more.

The gap between the arrowhead and the spaceship's tail was closing at a visible rate. The people aboard could already feel the sharp force rushing toward them.

Even through the bulkhead, the arrow's force felt as though it would pierce straight through the entire ship.

The Star-Moon Arrow grew more excited the longer it gave chase.

After bottling up its anger for so long, it could finally take revenge for being shut inside that lousy little box.

It put everything it had into the chase, about to crash into it.

Just as the arrowhead came within a meter of the spaceship.

A hand reached out from the side and effortlessly pinched the shaft of the speeding Star-Moon Arrow, as though picking up a fallen leaf.

The Star-Moon Arrow jerked to a halt.

Held in midair, its momentum from its long pursuit abruptly cut short, the entire arrow was stunned for a moment.

Who?

Who dares stop me?

The Star-Moon Arrow was furious.

It was about to lash out when the light on its shaft suddenly brightened.

Then it sensed the aura coming from that hand.

A familiar aura.

Cool and faintly chill, like moonlight pouring down from a great height late at night, drenching it from head to toe.

The Star-Moon Arrow's temper, bristling like a hedgehog just moments before, instantly softened before that aura, as though someone had smoothed down its fur. Its silver-white glow shifted smoothly from a dazzling "I want to fight" mode to a gentle "Please pet me" mode.

[Star-Moon Arrow]: Lord Moon God!

[Star-Moon Arrow]: ૮ ៸៸៸º ᗜ º៸៸៸ ა

If that arrowhead had a tail, it would probably have been wagging it into a blur by now.

In the distance, the Star-Moon Bow, which had originally been utterly uninterested in any of this, was floating lazily in the void.

It had watched the Star-Moon Arrow chase the spaceship without feeling a thing.

What's so great about chasing a lousy box? Boring.

It was the mighty Star-Moon Bow, and such things were beneath it.

Then it saw the hand, saw it pinch the Star-Moon Arrow, and sensed the aura coming from it.

The Star-Moon Bow's entire body jolted.

It shot toward Wuma Xiu at a speed that pushed past its limits, a speed that would have left even the Star-Moon Arrow dumbstruck.

It came to a steady stop.

Its body glowed faintly as it floated demurely and obediently beside Wuma Xiu's hand. With the Star-Moon Arrow on his other side, they looked like two children who had finally found their parent.

[Star-Moon Bow]: Lord Moon God, me, me, me, me, me! Pet me, quick!

[Star-Moon Bow]: ฅ•̀∀•́ฅ

Inside the spaceship, the survivors slumped in their seats, staring at the scene outside, unable to speak for a long time.

The day had been far too thrilling for them.

"...It was trying to kill us just now, wasn't it?" Li Ze murmured.

"Yes."

"And now?"

Yang Zhi glanced out the window at the two divine artifacts working hard to give off an "I'm so well-behaved" aura, then turned back expressionlessly.

"They're competing for favor."

Yang Zhi and the others had already adjusted their mindsets.

Jealousy came quickly and left just as fast, like a gust of wind that blew past and was gone.

If they really had to brood over and envy every single thing,

then life would become unbearable.

After all, there were simply too many things in the world to be jealous of.

Besides, he was jealous of the Moonlight Clan.

If others knew what he had experienced, they might be in some corner gnashing their teeth with envy at him too.

There were so many people in the Federation, countless millions across the vast Sea of Stars.

Yet at this moment, outside the Moon God Palace, there were only a few of them.

Only they had witnessed such a divine miracle with their own eyes.

Thinking of it that way, his earlier little pang of envy seemed unnecessary.

Wuma Xiu finished soothing the Star-Moon Bow and the Star-Moon Arrow. His methods included, but were not limited to, stroking the bow's body twice and pinching the arrow's tail.

At last, the Star-Moon Bow and the Star-Moon Arrow quieted down, thoroughly satisfied. They hovered at Wuma Xiu's sides, one to his left and one to his right, their entire bodies radiating a gentle light.

Wuma Xiu turned his gaze to the spaceship not far away.

Yang Zhi and Li Ze were sitting in their seats, still shaken and gasping for breath.

Wuma Xiu, meanwhile, was studying their rather battered-looking spaceship and the people inside it.

Come to think of it, he and these humans were rather fated to meet.

No matter how they went about it, they always ran into one another.

In this vast, boundless Sea of Stars, repeatedly encountering the same group of people was in itself an extremely improbable coincidence.

If the God of Fate wasn't up to something, then they really did have quite an affinity.

But Fate seemed to care only about the Goddess of Beauty and the God of Wine, loving the former and loathing the latter.

Presumably, Fate had not intervened.

Wuma Xiu thought for a moment, then spoke up:

"You and I seem to have quite an affinity. Would you like to come into my Moon God Palace and have a chat with me?"

Yang Zhi's mind went blank at that moment.

What had he just said?

The Moon God Palace? A chat? Were they being personally invited inside by the Moon God to chat?

Although their brains seemed to have stopped working, their mouths moved first.

"Yes."

The others spoke almost at the same time as Yang Zhi, giving an equally decisive "Yes."

How stupid would someone have to be to refuse at a time like this?

Never mind the Moon God Palace; this was an invitation from the Moon God himself.

Refuse?

Out of the question.

Besides, if they really were stupid enough to refuse,

the consequences, well.

Before they could beat their chests and bang their heads against the ground in regret, the Moonlight Clan would probably be on their way with knives before the day was out, having heard the news.

Assassination list, expedited overnight, top spot reserved.

For some reason, that thought drifted through Yang Zhi's mind the moment he walked through the gates of the Moon God Palace.

Then he promptly shook it off.

Too scary. I'm not thinking about it. I said yes anyway.

And so, Yang Zhi and the others stepped into the Moon God Palace.

The moment his foot touched the ground inside, Yang Zhi felt as though he had stepped into a pool of liquid moonlight.

The ground was cool, like a stream washing over his ankles on a summer night, clear and light.

An indescribable scent drifted through the air, like the scent on a night after rain, when the moon had just come out, the kind that made one unable to resist taking a deep breath.

But what made it hard to breathe in this palace was those gazes.

And those burning gazes came from the Moonlight Clan, the Sun God Birds, and the Starry Sky Beasts.

The Moonlight Clan looked as cool and otherworldly as ever.

Their robes were like snow, their faces like frost.

Yet Yang Zhi couldn't help feeling that their eyes held a certain meaning: "Hmph, mere humans, how lucky you are to be allowed an audience with the god."

The Sun God Birds folded their golden wings and tilted their heads as they studied them.

The Starry Sky Beasts lay in the shadows, the starry spots on their bodies flickering.

Yang Zhi's legs were a little weak, and so were Li Ze's. All of their legs were weak to varying degrees.

Under the gazes of a group of divine creations, they walked step by step to the Moon God.

Wuma Xiu stood there, a thin layer of moonlight enveloping him. He looked down at them, his expression showing a hint of interest that one would miss without looking closely.

Yang Zhi bowed, and the others behind him followed suit. Their movements were not quite synchronized, but their manner was utterly solemn.

"Thank you for your generosity."