The frozen surface of Sea God Lake reflected the cold stars filling the sky. The evening wind swept across the lake, stirring fine ripples in the ice. Na'er had just finished training with Yun Ming. Holding the Silver Dragon Spear, her silver-white training outfit gleamed coldly in the night. Yet as she reached the bamboo grove by the lakeside, a familiar presence stopped her.
Gu Yue stood quietly at the entrance to the bamboo grove, her black hair shifting gently in the wind. The elemental power swirling around her sent faint ripples through the air—ice and fire intertwined, carrying both oppression and barely restrained agitation. She looked at Na'er, her purple eyes devoid of warmth, filled only with undisguised sharpness. "You shouldn't have clung to him like that."
Na'er stopped, a trace of mockery flashing through her blue eyes. Her Silver Dragon Spear lightly tapped the ground, its tip piercing the frozen earth and sending out a faint Dragon Might. "Gu Yue, what right do you have to interfere with me? As the primary personality, or as his 'companion'?"
"Either one gives me more right to stay by his side than you, an 'auxiliary personality.'" Gu Yue stepped forward, and the elemental power around her suddenly condensed. A thin layer of ice instantly formed over the ground. "Have you forgotten our wager? You approached him as an independent personality. If he only feels sibling affection for you, then you should return to the original body and stop interfering in his life."
At the mention of the wager, Na'er's face darkened. Defiance and unwillingness churned in her blue eyes. "The wager isn't over! I haven't lost yet. The destined day hasn't arrived, and I haven't lost to his feelings for you. Gu Yue, do you think you've won? You made him fall in love with you, yet you fell deeply into it yourself. You've nearly forgotten your original mission, haven't you?"
She raised a hand to touch the long-withered hyacinth in her hair. Tang Wulin had picked it for her that day. A barely noticeable bitterness colored her voice. "You always call me an auxiliary personality, but don't forget that I met him first. He was the one who brought me home from that street corner. He was the one who spent the purest days with me. This bond began earlier than your time together, and it runs deeper too."
"Deeper?" Gu Yue sneered. A wisp of black destruction element gathered at her fingertips, standing in stark contrast to the Silver Dragon Might surrounding Na'er. "What you call depth is nothing but his pity and protection for a 'little sister.' The way he looks at you is indulgence and responsibility. But he has never looked at you with the passion he shows me. You're only using the filter of childhood and the identity of a 'little sister' to recklessly take his tenderness for yourself."
Her voice abruptly rose, carrying the innate dominance of the Silver Dragon King Bloodline. "Do you know the destiny of the Golden Dragon King he bears? Do you know how many dangers he will face in the future? All you do is drag him around sightseeing, acting cute and spoiled. But I can fight at his side and help him bear his burdens! What he needs is a partner who can stand against fate with him, not a 'little sister' he must protect at every moment!"
"Fight at his side?" Na'er was truly enraged as well. A dense Purple Gold glow rose from the Silver Dragon Spear, and Dragon Might scattered in every direction, making the surrounding bamboo rustle. "Gu Yue, do you dare say you approached him without an ulterior motive? You only wanted to use his Golden Dragon King Bloodline to fulfill your mission! It was me—me—who let him feel pure warmth. It was me who made him understand that besides strength and responsibility, he could also have happiness!"
She advanced toward Gu Yue step by step, her blue eyes filled with resolve. "You keep saying you love him, yet you have to hide your feelings beneath that cold exterior even to admit them. You want to protect him, yet you can't even give him the companionship he wants most. But I at least dare to stay by his side openly. I dare to tell him I want to remain with him. You won the wager, but you lost your honesty. I lost in love, but I won his sincere care."
"Sincere care?" Gu Yue's body trembled slightly. Complex emotions surged through her eyes—anger, unwillingness, and a flicker of panic at having her true thoughts exposed. "His sincerity toward you has never been love! You're merely an obsession in his heart, a regret. I am the one he holds closest to his heart! He apologized to me. He said he owed me. He said he would protect me. Those are things you will never have!"
"So what?" Na'er's voice softened somewhat, sorrow flashing through her eyes, but she still refused to back down. "Even if it is sibling affection, I'll work to turn it into love and stay by his side. You and I are one body. How could I not know what you feel? You're afraid I'll take him from you. You're even more afraid I'll awaken the true feelings buried deep inside you and make you forget the Silver Dragon King's mission. Gu Yue, you're more cowardly than I am."
The pressure between them grew increasingly fierce. Dragon Might and elemental power collided, making the air around them congeal. Gu Yue's dark eyes and Na'er's purple eyes locked together, each reflecting the other's figure—and the same burning love neither was willing to yield.
They were twins born from the same source, each other's shadows, and each other's greatest rivals in love. What they fought over was not merely Tang Wulin's love, but the meaning of existing as "independent individuals." Gu Yue wanted to possess all of him as the primary personality; Na'er wanted to preserve his tenderness through the persistence of the auxiliary personality.
The evening wind lifted their hair, silver-white and ink-black intertwining like the entanglement of fate. Gu Yue's fingers curled slightly as destruction and creation elements flashed alternately in her palm, but she ultimately did not strike. Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear still gleamed with cold light, yet she too withdrew most of her Dragon Might.
"This fight won't end." Gu Yue's voice was cold and hard, but it carried a trace of exhaustion. "But I warn you—don't ruin his future with your naivety."
"I won't let you hurt him, and I certainly won't let you have him all to yourself." Na'er refused to yield, her blue eyes filled with stubbornness. "He deserves pure love, not to be dragged along by your mission. Gu Yue, we'll see."
With that, Na'er turned and vanished into the depths of the bamboo grove, her silver-white figure leaving behind only a faint Dragon Might and an imperceptible sadness. Gu Yue remained where she was, watching Na'er's retreating back as complex emotions churned in her purple eyes. She knew there could never be a winner in this struggle, because they were originally one. Their love had long since become tightly entangled with Tang Wulin's destiny, impossible to separate.
The Dragon Might and elemental power in the bamboo grove had not yet completely dissipated. The evening wind swept dead leaves through the stagnant air between them. Gu Yue withdrew the destruction element from her palm, the heat in her dark eyes fading, leaving only an icy calm, as if their confrontation had never happened.
"In three days, he and I are going to the Star Luo Empire." She suddenly spoke, her voice as flat as if she were stating something irrelevant. "It's a secret mission arranged by the academy. It will last one year."
Na'er's grip on the Silver Dragon Spear tightened sharply. Surprise flashed through her purple eyes, immediately replaced by intense reluctance and panic. She instinctively protested, "Impossible! Why didn't he tell me?"
"The mission is confidential. Only core members know." Gu Yue glanced at her calmly, a barely noticeable superiority in her tone. "It's not that he didn't want to tell you. He couldn't. The situation in the Star Luo Empire is complicated. It involves conflicts between Soul Masters from the two great empires. One wrong move could cause unrest. He needs to focus on the mission, not be tied down by romantic feelings."
When she mentioned "romantic feelings," she deliberately emphasized the words, as if reminding Na'er that Tang Wulin was no longer the boy who could accompany her on carefree outings. He was a Soul Master shouldering grave responsibilities, one who needed reliable companions at his side.
Na'er's face immediately turned paler. Unwillingness and grievance surged in her purple eyes. A year—an entire year. She would have to be separated from Tang Wulin for that long? She had not yet made him see her feelings clearly. She had not yet broken through the restraints of that "sibling affection." Yet he was about to travel far away, and with Gu Yue at his side.
"What do you want?" She forcibly suppressed the bitterness in her heart and looked up at Gu Yue, her blue eyes full of wariness. "Don't think you can use this mission to have him all to yourself. I won't allow it."
"I don't want anything." Gu Yue gently shook her head. Her fingertips brushed across a bamboo stalk beside her, leaving a shallow mark. "I only came to tell you. He does care about you, after all. You're the 'little sister' who grew up with him. If you want to see him in these three days, then go. Say goodbye to him properly."
Her words sounded understanding, but they concealed a barb. The four words "say goodbye properly" were like a thin needle piercing the softest part of Na'er's heart—Gu Yue was implying that this might be Na'er's last chance to remain by his side as his "little sister." When he returned a year later, the place by his side would belong only to the one who could face danger alongside him: herself.
"Are you pitying me?" Na'er's voice trembled, filled with both anger and an indescribable helplessness. She knew Gu Yue was right. With a mission on his shoulders, Tang Wulin could not be distracted by her private feelings. And as an "auxiliary personality," she ultimately had no right to interfere in his most important affairs.
Gu Yue neither denied nor admitted it. She only looked at Na'er, a complex emotion flashing through her eyes too quickly to catch. "I just don't want him to have regrets," she said slowly. "Having lived a second life, what he treasures most is the people around him. If you keep holding it in and saying nothing, then once he leaves, this year's longing and concern will only hurt you more."
She paused before adding, "Besides, you should understand that during this year, I will be the one by his side, keeping him safe. Instead of fighting me here, you should use these three days to speak with him properly. Tell him you'll wait for him to return. Perhaps when he comes back from the Star Luo Empire, he will see more than just his 'little sister.'"
Gu Yue's words were a double-edged blade. They gave Na'er hope, yet also plunged her into deeper struggle. Tell Tang Wulin how she felt? But he only saw her as a sister. If she said it, would she lose even this last bond between them? But if she did not, then with a year of separation and Gu Yue spending every day by his side, the distance between them would only grow wider.
Watching Na'er hesitate, a subtle ripple passed through Gu Yue's heart. She did not truly wish to fulfill Na'er's hopes. She simply knew Tang Wulin too well. If Na'er did not say goodbye to him properly, he would surely remain worried about her, and that would affect his state in the Star Luo Empire. Besides, she wanted Na'er to see with her own eyes that Tang Wulin had chosen her as his traveling companion. She wanted Na'er to understand that the only one who could weather storms with Tang Wulin was herself.
"I know what you're worried about." Gu Yue's voice softened slightly, though it still carried an unquestionable force. "Don't worry. I won't speak badly of you in front of him, and I won't stop you from saying goodbye. But remember, this is your last chance. When he returns a year from now, our wager will truly come to an end."
Na'er fell silent, her fingers around the Silver Dragon Spear turning white from the force of her grip. Looking at Gu Yue's cold profile, she suddenly understood something. Gu Yue was not pitying her. She was offering her one final chance at "fair competition," while also declaring her claim—during this year, Tang Wulin would be protected by her, while Na'er could only wait where she was.
"I'll go see him." After a long time, Na'er finally spoke. Her voice was hoarse, yet exceptionally firm. "I'll say goodbye to him properly, and I'll tell him I'll wait for him to return. Gu Yue, don't be too pleased with yourself. Even if you're by his side this year, you can't change the fact that I have a place in his heart."
She turned away, her silver-white figure gradually fading into the night. Her steps were somewhat unsteady, but they still carried her unyielding stubbornness. The Dragon Might of the Silver Dragon Spear slowly dissipated behind her, leaving only a faint, bitter trace.
Gu Yue stood where she was, watching Na'er's retreating figure as complex emotions surged in her dark eyes. She knew Na'er would certainly go see Tang Wulin, and she knew this farewell was destined to be anything but peaceful. But she did not care, because she was confident that this year's journey to the Star Luo Empire would make Tang Wulin fully understand who was truly the most important person in his life.
The evening wind swept through the bamboo grove again, stirring dead leaves across the ground as if sighing for the coming separation. The farewell in three days, the long year of waiting, and the fated entanglement between the two girls and Tang Wulin would soon reach a new turning point amid the turmoil of the Star Luo Empire. Yet at this moment, none of them knew what earthshaking changes this seemingly ordinary mission would bring to their lives.
The morning light by Sea God Lake carried a cool mist from the water. Tang Wulin was packing for his journey to the Star Luo Empire. His forging hammer had been carefully wrapped in beast hide, while the protective clothing issued by the academy and the Soul Tools needed for the mission were neatly stacked nearby. He had just put the last item into his storage Soul Tool when a familiar, choked voice sounded behind him.
"Brother."
Tang Wulin turned and saw Na'er standing beneath a willow tree not far away. Her silver-white training outfit had been replaced by a pale purple dress. Her long hair was unbound, cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall. The withered hyacinth in her hair had been removed, replaced by a simple silver hairpin. Her eyes were slightly red, her purple gaze filled with reluctance, and she tightly clutched a small brocade box, her fingertips pale from exertion.
"Na'er? Why are you here?" Tang Wulin's heart stirred. He quickly walked over, and seeing her reddened eyes, his tone unconsciously softened. "Did you find out that I'm leaving?"
Na'er nodded. Fighting back the sting in her nose, she stepped forward and handed him the brocade box. "Sister Gu Yue told me that you're going to the Star Luo Empire on a mission. For one year."
At the mention of Gu Yue, her voice paused, carrying a barely noticeable gloom that she quickly concealed. She raised her head to look at Tang Wulin, determination shining in her purple eyes. "Brother, this is for you."
Tang Wulin opened the brocade box. Inside lay a small silver dragon-shaped pendant. Its body was forged from Moonlight Silver and looked lifelike. A tiny purple crystal was set in the dragon's eyes, the exact color of Na'er's own eyes. A small character for "Na" was engraved on the back, and the edges had been polished exceptionally smooth. Clearly, she had prepared it with great care.
"I made this for you myself," Na'er said softly, her fingertips gently brushing over the pendant. "Moonlight Silver can calm the mind, and the dragon shape can resonate with your Golden Dragon King Bloodline. If you encounter danger, perhaps it can help block an attack. Wear it, and it will be like having me by your side."
Warmth rose in Tang Wulin's heart. He took out the pendant and put it around his neck. The cool metal rested against his skin, yet it seemed to carry the warmth of Na'er's palm. Looking at the girl before him, struggling to hold back her tears, he remembered the cold winter in Nuoding City, their reunion at Shrek, and the laughter in the bamboo grove. Guilt and concern flooded his heart.
"Na'er, I'm sorry. The mission was confidential, so I couldn't tell you in advance." He raised a hand and gently rubbed her hair, his movements tender and indulgent. "During this year, cultivate properly at Shrek and take good care of yourself. Don't be as mischievous as before, running around everywhere."
"I'm not mischievous." Na'er pouted slightly, but she could no longer hold back the tears in her eyes. They slid down her cheeks. "Brother, you have to come back safely, okay? The Star Luo Empire is so dangerous. Protect yourself. Don't get hurt. Don't make me worry."
She threw herself into Tang Wulin's arms, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. Her voice broke with sobs. "I'll wait for you here. I'll wait for you to come back and take me to see the little white squirrels in the bamboo grove. I'll wait for you to come back and pick hyacinths for me again. I'll wait for you to come back..."
She did not say the rest. She wanted to say that when he came back, she wanted to tell him that her feelings for him were more than sibling affection. She wanted to say that when he came back, she wanted to stand beside him—not merely as his little sister, but as someone who could walk alongside him. But when the words reached her lips, all that remained was endless sobbing.
Tang Wulin gently patted her back, feeling her body tremble as bitterness filled his heart. He knew how dependent Na'er was on him, and he understood the deep affection hidden beneath that dependence. But all he could offer her at this moment was the protection and promise of an older brother.
"I promise you." His voice was slightly hoarse. "I'll definitely come back safely. When I return, I'll take you to see all the sights of Shrek. I'll take you to Nuoding City to see the place where we used to live. I'll take you to do everything you want to do."
Na'er nodded in his arms, her tears soaking his clothes. She knew this was only a promise from an older brother to his little sister, but she was still willing to believe. Willing to wait. Once this year had passed, once he returned from the Star Luo Empire, perhaps everything would be different.
After an unknown amount of time, Gu Yue's voice came from afar. "Tang Wulin, it's time to leave."
Tang Wulin gently pulled Na'er away and raised a hand to wipe the tears from her face. His fingertips brushed tenderly across her cheek. "I have to go."
Na'er looked at him, nodded hard, and forced out a smile. "Mm! Brother, have a safe journey. I'll wait for you to come back!"
Her smile was bright, but deep reluctance and anticipation were hidden in her eyes. Tang Wulin gave her one final look, etching that concern and promise deeply into his heart before turning toward Gu Yue.
Na'er stood in place, watching his back until Tang Wulin's blue-haired figure and Gu Yue's black-haired figure walked away side by side and vanished at the far end of Sea God Lake. She raised a hand to her chest. Her beating heart was filled with longing and anticipation for him.
"Brother, I'll wait for you to come back," she murmured softly. Her voice scattered in the wind and drifted toward the Star Luo Empire.
In the morning light, the girl's figure was lonely yet stubborn. Around her neck hung an identical dragon-shaped pendant, except a small character for "Lin" was engraved on it. This pair of pendants held her concern, her hopes, and the deep affection she had hidden in her heart without speaking.
The journey to the Star Luo Empire was long, and the deadline was one year. This farewell was not grand or dramatic, yet it carved a deep mark into both their hearts, becoming the warmest thought through their long wait. In the distant Star Luo Empire, storms were gathering. Tang Wulin and Gu Yue's mission, along with the emotional entanglements between them, was about to begin.
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