Who Holds Hands With Their Best Friend for This Long?

The Sun God walked in front, his golden hair cascading behind him like a brilliant waterfall. He carried a basket of golden feathers freshly plucked from some unlucky Sun God Bird, intending to add a new decoration to his younger brother's Moon God Palace.

The Star God followed him, carrying a jar of sweet wine brewed from fragments of stars.

The Moon God had once remarked that it was "not bad."

The Star God had remembered.

It had been brewing since before they fell asleep, for hundreds of thousands of years, and as far as taste went, it was certainly exquisite.

The two gods glanced at the gifts in each other's arms, each convinced he had victory in the bag.

They arrived at the entrance to the Moon God Palace and pushed their way in with practiced ease.

"Little brother?" the Sun God called.

"Big brother?" the Star God called.

No one answered. The Moon God Palace was empty. Water still flowed soundlessly in the Moonlight Pool, and flecks of light still drifted quietly over the jade steps...

Only the person who should have been reading or resting by the pool was nowhere to be seen.

The Sun God and the Star God looked at each other.

Then, at the same time, they noticed something.

"That hateful aura. Big brother, that guy is awake."

The Star God held the Starry Sweet Wine, his purple eyes unfathomably deep. If only the other party had never woken up.

"Damn that Night God!"

The Sun God set his basket of golden feathers aside and turned to rush out.

Unfortunately, he had no idea where the Night God Palace was.

So the Sun God and the Star God divided up the areas.

They immediately began searching for the coordinates of the Night God Palace, going through one Star Region after another.

They had guarded against him day and night, yet they still hadn't managed to stop him.

But the Night God was the Night God, after all. If he wanted to hide a palace, even the sun and stars would have difficulty finding it quickly.

That day, the Federation Meteorological Bureau issued an emergency bulletin:

Solar activity has recently been unusually intense. Sunlight is exceptionally glaring, and ultraviolet radiation has reached a historic high. All Starfolk are advised to avoid outdoor activities whenever possible and to take adequate sun protection measures when going out.

Over there, the Sun God and the Star God were already beside themselves with rage, their blazing fury almost enough to burn through the heavens.

Here, however, all was peaceful and untouched by worldly cares.

The Night God had yet to lower his hood, and his gaze kept drifting, seemingly beyond his control, to his fingers intertwined with the Moon God's.

The faint blush on his face had not faded since earlier.

It lingered lightly on his cheeks, as though he were tipsy from wine, betraying a bashfulness he could neither conceal nor recognize in himself.

The moment Wuma Xiu stepped into the Night God Palace, he understood why the Night God had been unwilling to let him come earlier.

Darkness.

A heavy, oppressive darkness.

There was no light here, no warmth, not even the slightest sound. Time seemed to have lost its meaning, leaving only boundless emptiness. After spending too long in such an environment, one's eyes would gradually grow weary, and an instinctive fear would arise in the body, creeping silently up one's back like a vine.

"Night, before... did you stay here all the time?"

Wuma Xiu's steps made no echo. Even the sound of his footsteps was mercilessly swallowed up by the darkness.

Anyone would grow weary after spending too long in a place like this.

Their eyes would search in vain for a point to focus on, but never find one. Their ears would stubbornly wait for some sound, but it would never come.

Darkness and silence joined forces, gradually dulling a person's senses until even the existence of the "self" began to blur.

If an ordinary person stayed here for a short while, that primal fear would probably leave them unable to breathe.

But how long had the Night God stayed here?

From the moment he was born until he met the Moon God, he had not even possessed the concept of "light."

He did not know what brightness was, what warmth was, or what sound was.

The things others took for granted were all new words the Night God had learned, one by one, only after meeting the Moon God.

Wuma Xiu suddenly recalled an incident from the Age of the Gods.

Once, his older brother, the Sun God, came by. He must have been in a good mood that day, for he had actually spoken to the Night God, an unprecedented occurrence.

The Sun God asked him:

"What do you do in the Night God Palace?"

The Night God thought for a moment and answered, "Sit."

The Sun God waited and waited, but nothing more came. He asked in disbelief:

"That's... all you do? Just sit?"

The Night God nodded.

Wuma Xiu remembered how utterly calm the Night God's voice had been when he said the word "sit."

Because that really was how he had spent his time.

Alone in that eternally lightless darkness, sitting all by himself. He had sat there for a long, long time, so long that even time had nearly forgotten him.

"Night, before... did you stay here all the time?"

Wuma Xiu sighed softly to himself.

His best friend's life had been far too pitiful before.

"Yes. But now that you're here, there's light."

As the Night God spoke, he reached out with his free hand and gently curled his fingers, catching a strand of clear radiance that flowed from the moon's god. The moonlight settled softly in his palm, like a feather or a fallen petal caught in his hand.

Or like the one and only lamp he had finally found after waiting in the darkness.

"Moon, thank you."

Thank you for lighting up my world.

[Host! Who holds hands with their best friend for this long?]

The system had started shouting in Wuma Xiu's head again after seeing the Night God earlier, and had ended up muted.

It had finally found a chance to speak up in a subdued voice.

[What's wrong with holding hands?]

Wuma Xiu asked in his head, his expression unchanged.

[Nothing, nothing.]

[Best friends are best friends. Even if they sleep in the same bed, it's completely innocent. There's absolutely nothing wrong with it.]

[Of course.]

Seeing that its host's tone was indifferent and that he had no further reaction, the system furtively shook its body.

So its host and the Night God were purely best friends~

Just now, it had been faintly hoping to see them...

Ahem, ahem.

Forget it. It had been overthinking things.

Still, it really was strange.

The system silently withdrew into a corner, muttering to itself.

How on earth was its host so familiar with the way he and the Night God interacted? Those natural reactions, that rapport so seamless it had not a single flaw.

If it didn't know its host's true background so clearly, it might actually have suspected—

That he was the Moon God himself.

But that possibility didn't exist.

Wuma Xiu stood quietly in the Night God Palace, surrounded by a soft glow of moonlight. Wherever that clear radiance fell, the once-boundless darkness did not retreat. Instead, it gathered around him as though it had caught the scent of something it had long yearned for.

In the darkness, something seemed to be coiled around Wuma Xiu's side. It did not feel cold. Rather, it was like a shadow holding back some emotion, timidly circling close to his moonlight.

The Night God turned his head and glanced at it.

A pair of red eyes looked back at him pitifully from the darkness. Those crimson pupils, which should have been bewitching and sharp, were now filled with aggrieved misery. It wanted to come closer but didn't dare, so it could only remain hidden in the darkness, voicing its complaints with its gaze.

The Night God planted his foot on it.

Go away. And stop playing pitiful.

"Night, don't bully it."

Wuma Xiu got a clear look at the thing's shape, and an urge began to stir in him. So far, he had only gotten to pet a bare bow and arrow, as well as his followers, the Moonlight Clan.

As for anything else, never mind a cat, he hadn't even seen a single cat hair.

Was there any Moon God as miserable as him?

Now, unexpectedly, he had encountered one here.

Although it only looked like a cat, it looked wonderfully pettable.