Di Jun's Concern

Night came late to the Sun Palace.

When the Sun Star sank beyond the western sea of clouds, the sky was still bright. Golden-red light slanted in through the windows, cutting the floor of the bedchamber into light and shadow. Taiyi sat cross-legged on the couch, his eyes closed, but he was not meditating—he was waiting.

Waiting for Di Jun.

After the noon court session ended, Di Jun's words—"Come to my chambers in three days and explain it in detail"—still echoed in his ears. If he said three days, then it would definitely be three days, not a moment early or late. That was simply the kind of person Di Jun was. What he said went, and once he set a rule, he followed it precisely, as reliable as the rising sun and setting moon.

The light outside the window shifted inch by inch.

It moved from the far end of the desk to the front of the couch, fading from golden red to orange, then dimming into a hazy warmth. Taiyi opened his eyes and glanced at the sky—it was about time.

Sure enough, footsteps sounded beyond the door.

They were not heavy, but steady, each step landing on the jade floor with crisp clarity. They stopped before the door, paused briefly, and then came three unhurried knocks.

"Taiyi."

It was Di Jun's voice, softer than usual, without quite so much imperial gravity.

Taiyi rose and went to open the door.

Outside stood Di Jun in the same dark-gold casual robes, his hair loosely tied back. He carried no food box, his hands empty. He looked Taiyi over, nodded, and turned sideways to enter the bedchamber.

The door closed behind him.

Di Jun walked to the couch and sat down, not in the seat of honor but at the edge. His gaze swept over the bedchamber before lingering on the desk—the faint golden repair mark was still there, glimmering softly in the dim yellow light.

"Fixed it?" Di Jun asked casually.

"Mm." Taiyi sat across from him. "I had nothing else to do, so I tried fixing it."

"Not bad workmanship," Di Jun said. "More meticulous than before."

It sounded like praise, but Taiyi's heart skipped a beat. The former Eastern Emperor Taiyi truly had not been a meticulous person. He was good at fighting and cultivation, but he had always been too lazy to touch this sort of mending work. He quickly added, "I've been able to settle down lately."

Di Jun glanced at him but said nothing.

The bedchamber fell quiet.

The light beyond the window dimmed another shade. Lamps began to illuminate the distant palaces, one after another, like stars. A breeze slipped through the crack in the window, carrying the damp chill of night mist.

"Taiyi." Di Jun suddenly spoke, his voice very soft. "Tell your brother the truth—is something happening to you lately?"

Here it came.

Taiyi tensed inwardly, but his expression remained calm. "What could be happening? Nothing."

"Nothing?" Di Jun turned to look at him. His eyes seemed especially deep in the darkness, as though they could see straight through a person. "Then why have you suddenly become so... impatient?"

"Impatient?"

"Impatient to go to war with the Witch Race, impatient to flip the table, impatient to smash everything apart and start over." Di Jun spoke slowly, word by word. "That isn't something you would do."

Taiyi fell silent for a moment.

His thoughts raced. How should he answer? Keep pretending? Or reveal a little, half truth and half lie? Di Jun was not Bai Ze or Fei Lian. He was his elder brother, the person in this world who understood Eastern Emperor Taiyi best. Fooling others was easy. Fooling Di Jun was difficult.

"I just..." Taiyi chose his words carefully. "I just feel stifled."

"Stifled by what?"

"Everything." Taiyi simply let it all out, genuine irritation entering his voice. "The Witch Race is riding over our heads, and we still have to endure it. West Kunlun sends us an invitation, and we have to rush over eagerly. Whoever sits in Zixiao Palace says something, and we have to listen—why?"

Di Jun listened quietly without interrupting.

"Brother, do you remember when we had just taken human form?" Taiyi continued, lowering his voice. "It was just the two of us on the Sun Star. How free we were then. We flew when we wanted, cried out when we wanted. The sky was vast, the earth was broad, and no one could control us."

Di Jun's gaze softened.

"And afterward? We established the Heavenly Court and governed the All-Encompassing Stars. It sounds impressive, but what was it really like?" Taiyi gave a bitter smile. "There are more and more rules, more and more concerns. We have to calculate three steps ahead for every one we take. We live more exhausted than anyone."

"That is responsibility," Di Jun said quietly.

"I know it's responsibility." Taiyi raised his head and looked at his brother. "But that responsibility is crushing the breath out of us."

The bedchamber fell silent again.

Di Jun watched his younger brother for a long time. Outside, the sky had gone completely dark. Stars lit up one after another, their faint radiance streaming through the window lattice and falling between them like a scattering of silver dust.

"Taiyi," Di Jun suddenly said, "have you... sensed something?"

Taiyi's heart gave a violent jolt.

"Calamity Qi." Di Jun's voice became even softer, as though he feared disturbing something. "The Calamity Qi of the Witch-Demon Calamity is growing denser. I've been dreaming lately. I dream that the Sun Star goes dark, that the Heavenly Court collapses, that... you're standing in the ruins covered in blood."

Taiyi held his breath.

"Bai Ze said the heavenly secrets have become increasingly chaotic too. They can no longer be calculated clearly." Di Jun continued as if speaking to himself. "Before, we could at least vaguely see a path. Now... there's nothing but fog."

So that was it.

Taiyi suddenly understood. Di Jun had not noticed anything wrong with him, the impostor. He had sensed the signs that the calamity was approaching. Calamity Qi filled the world, heavenly secrets became muddled, and everyone caught within the calamity would feel it to some degree.

He relaxed, then immediately grew tense again.

He relaxed because his identity had not been exposed. He grew tense because... seeing Di Jun like this made him uncomfortable. The Heavenly Emperor who was majestic beyond compare in Lingxiao Palace now sat in a dim bedchamber speaking of nightmares, his voice exhausted like that of an ordinary man.

"Brother," Taiyi said, his voice unconsciously softening, "it's only a dream."

"I hope so." Di Jun shook his head. "But I just... can't put my mind at ease."

After a pause, he suddenly reached into his robes and took something out—a jade pendant identical to Taiyi's, except it was carved with an eagle spreading its wings. He placed it on the couch and pushed it over.

"Keep this."

Taiyi froze. "Isn't this your..."

"It is mine." Di Jun said, "We each had one. Have you forgotten? We agreed that if we ever got separated, we'd use these to recognize each other."

Memories surged up.

Taiyi remembered. There really had been such a thing. Not long after the two brothers had taken human form, they left the Sun Star for the first time and flew so far that they nearly lost their way. After they returned, Di Jun made two pieces of Warm Jade. One was carved with a Golden Crow, the other with an eagle. He said that if they were ever separated, they would use them to recognize each other.

"It's been so many years." Taiyi picked up the jade pendant, its warm and smooth texture spreading across his palm. "You still kept it."

"I did." Di Jun smiled, and there was nostalgia in it. "You were so small then. Your wings hadn't even fully grown in. You got tired after flying for a while and insisted on climbing onto my back so I could carry you."

Taiyi said nothing.

An image appeared in his mind—two little Golden Crows circling the Sun Star, one before the other. When the smaller one grew tired, he flopped onto the larger one's back like a spoiled child. The larger one did not get angry and simply carried him, circling around and around. Starlight fell over their feathers, making them glitter.

"Later, you grew up and could fly by yourself, so you wouldn't let me carry you anymore." Di Jun continued, sounding somewhat wistful. "Then later, we established the Heavenly Court. You became the Eastern Emperor, and I became the Heavenly Emperor... We still met often enough, but moments like this, when we sat down and talked, became fewer and fewer."

Taiyi gripped the jade pendant, his palm growing damp.

He had been acting. He had always been acting, playing the arrogant and overbearing Eastern Emperor Taiyi. But now, facing Di Jun like this, he suddenly felt that he... could not keep acting. Not because he was about to be exposed, but because something deep inside him had been poked, turning soft and sore.

"Brother," he said quietly, "I'm fine."

"I know you're fine." Di Jun looked at him. "But I just... worry."

It was too direct, so direct it did not sound like something Di Jun would say. Taiyi looked up and saw the concern in his brother's eyes. It was not the concern of a Heavenly Emperor for his subject. It was an elder brother's worry for his younger brother, pure and untainted by anything else.

His throat suddenly felt tight.

"I really am fine," he repeated, more seriously this time. "I've only run into a small problem in cultivation recently. Along with sensing the Calamity Qi, it's made me restless. I'll be better after a while."

"A problem with cultivation..." Di Jun pondered. "The Chaos Bell?"

"Mm." Taiyi nodded, half truth and half lie. "The restrictions inside the bell are too difficult to unravel. I'm stuck at a bottleneck. I've been frustrated, so my words have been harsher."

It was a plausible explanation.

Di Jun knew how much his younger brother valued the Chaos Bell, and he knew how difficult it was to refine. Being irritated after getting stuck at a bottleneck was only natural. His expression eased slightly. "Cultivation cannot be rushed. Take it slowly."

"I know."

"As for the Witch Race," Di Jun abruptly changed the subject, "I've sent Bai Ze to make contact."

Taiyi was startled. "Make contact?"

"Mm." Di Jun nodded. "We cannot fight, at least not yet. But we can test the waters and probe their intentions. Bai Ze is steady and reliable. I can rest assured sending him."

That was good news.

Taiyi calculated inwardly. If Bai Ze went to contact the Witch Race, the conflict between the witches and demons could be suppressed for the time being. If it was held back, he would have more time to develop and more time to prepare. The system had said the calamity was destined, but there was plenty of room to maneuver in how and when one answered it.

"You've thought it through, Brother," he said sincerely.

Di Jun glanced at him and smiled. "Now you know how to praise me? Who was it that shouted in Lingxiao Palace this morning about hanging Witch Race heads on the South Heaven Gate?"

Taiyi felt a little awkward and rubbed his nose.

"That temper of yours." Di Jun shook his head. "You've been like this since childhood, ready to ignite at the slightest spark. I remember once, when we were still on the Sun Star, you fought a fire spirit from a neighboring star region. You lost, came back furious, and refused to eat for three days."

"Did that happen?" Taiyi searched his memories.

"How could it not?" Di Jun laughed. "Later, I stood up for you and beat that fire spirit up. Only then were you willing to eat."

Fragments of memory surfaced—apparently... it really had happened. That fire spirit had relied on being older to bully the newly transformed little Golden Crow. Di Jun grabbed it by the wings and beat it until it flew wildly through the sky, finally crying as it admitted fault.

Taiyi laughed too.

But as he laughed, that soft ache rose within him again.

The stars outside grew brighter and more numerous, densely scattered like a handful of crushed diamonds. A night breeze slipped through the window, carrying the faint, pleasant fragrance of the distant Fusang Forest.

Di Jun stood up.

"I should go," he said. "Xihe is waiting for me."

Taiyi rose to see him out.

At the door, Di Jun paused and looked back at him. His gaze was deep, as though he wanted to carve the sight of his younger brother into his heart.

"Taiyi," he said, "no matter what happens, remember—your brother is here."

With that, he opened the door and walked out.

The door gently closed behind him.

Taiyi stood inside, still clutching the eagle jade pendant. It was warm, as though it still carried Di Jun's body heat. He stood there for a long time, only slowly turning around and returning to the couch after the starlight outside had shifted.

He sat down and placed the two jade pendants side by side on the couch.

The Golden Crow and the eagle lay together, their warm sheen glimmering beneath the starlight.

Taiyi stared at the pendants for a long time. Then he raised a hand to cover his face and let out a long, silent sigh.

"Lin Yuan, Lin Yuan," he murmured to himself. "This act of yours... is really exhausting."

The starlight outside flickered.

Like countless eyes, silently watching this performance.

Watching a soul wearing someone else's shell stumble forward through this unfamiliar world. Ahead lay mountains of blades and seas of fire; behind him was a bottomless abyss. The only things he could grasp were the two warm jade pendants in his hand.

And those words: "Your brother is here."

Taiyi lay down and looked at the ceiling of the bedchamber. A Star Chart was carved into it, just like the one in Lingxiao Palace, only much smaller. The stars shone one by one, moving along their ordained paths without the slightest deviation.

Just like fate.

He closed his eyes.

One moment, Di Jun's exhausted face filled his mind. The next, it was the system's cold notification voice, then the brutal scenes of the Witch-Demon Calamity, and then the sight of two little Golden Crows playing on the Sun Star.

It was a mess.

But amid that chaos, his thoughts gradually became clear.

He had to survive.

Not only for himself, but also... for those who believed he was real. For Di Jun, for Fei Lian, for Bai Ze, for the countless members of the Demon Race in the Heavenly Court who had placed their lives in Eastern Emperor Taiyi's hands.

The burden was too heavy.

Heavy enough that he could barely breathe.

Yet for some reason, holding those two jade pendants gave him a little strength—not much, only a little, but enough.

He opened his eyes and sat up.

He took a blank jade slip from the hidden compartment beside the couch, then found a brush. The brush was made from a Sun Star golden feather. Dipping its tip into stardust ink, he wrote several words on the jade slip:

"Calamity Survival Record."

Then he stopped.

What should he write? How should he write it? He did not know. He would just jot things down as they came to him—what he thought of, what he planned, and... this hard-won sliver of strength.

Outside the window, the night was still deep.

The stars shone silently.