Seeing this, the woman gently closed her eyes. Tears slid down soundlessly, two clear trails winding over her snow-pale cheeks.
"Drip..."
The teardrops fell to the ground, shattering into tiny blossoms.
Heaven and earth fell silent, as though only this small courtyard remained, only this pair of eyes reunited after a long separation. Stars turned, time rushed onward, yet at this moment, all of it lost its weight.
"Buzz—"
Just as their fingertips were about to touch, an invisible barrier abruptly appeared and violently knocked Hou Yi's hand away.
"Hou Yi..."
"Chang'e..."
Lovers separated by hundreds of millions of years, their voices slightly trembling now, yet every word burning hot as they called the names carved into each other's flesh and blood.
"Chang'e, wait for me. I will break this barrier today!" Hou Yi's throat moved as he clenched both hands into fists, his knuckles turning white. His shoulders and back were drawn taut like a fully drawn hard bow, and even his breathing stalled for an instant.
"Mm."
Chang'e answered softly. The corners of her lips rose, and a sheen of water light surfaced in her eyes—the gentlest light before a reunion after a long separation.
Then a shout suddenly split the air: "Sun-Shooting Bow! Sunset Arrow!"
Before the words fell, a golden rainbow abruptly rose from somewhere in the Earthly Immortal Realm. A bow and arrow burst through the clouds, Gengjin Sharp Qi tearing the sky apart. Their humming shook the ears, and in the blink of an eye, they were suspended before the Lunar Star, cold glints pulsing as the void cracked inch by inch.
"Old friend, we meet again." Hou Yi reached out and brushed over the bow's spine and the arrow's edge, his low murmur like a confession.
The bow trembled lightly, and the arrowhead