A Month of Days and Nights, Deep Sibling Affection, One Person's Solitary Longing

Time flew by, and in the blink of an eye, a month had passed.

Life at Shrek was peaceful and tranquil. The awkwardness and surprise of their first meeting had faded away, and everything had quietly become natural.

Ever since their first meeting in the front courtyard of Sea God Pavilion that day, the innate sense of closeness in Tang Wutong's heart had never diminished in the slightest.

There was no reason for it. She did not ask about his background or past, nor did it matter that they had been strangers.

Even if memories were sealed away, even if fate was concealed, the bond of close kin engraved into one's bones and blood was an instinct no person or law could erase.

She maintained a cold and distant demeanor toward everyone.

Toward inner court disciples, academy elders, old acquaintances she had once known, and even Huo Yuhao, who was filled with obsession and deeply devoted to her, she remained polite yet indifferent, always separated from them by an unbridgeable distance.

Only Tang Wulin was different.

Over the past month, the two had crossed paths constantly.

They cultivated together at Sea God Pavilion and lived together at Shrek, often running into each other and often standing side by side.

Tang Wulin was steady and gentle by nature, grounded and reserved. Having endured the destruction of his family, the loss of his loved ones, and drifting through time and space, his temperament far surpassed that of his peers. He treated others warmly and openly. He was measured in his dealings, refined and courteous, never overstepping in the slightest. His clean, clear presence naturally put people at ease.

And whenever Tang Wutong looked at him, the sense of familiarity in her heart grew stronger.

The more they spent time together, the more pleasing he became to her eyes; the more they accompanied each other, the more at ease she felt.

At first, it had merely been an inexplicable fondness. Later, that indescribable familiarity and dependence completely filled her heart.

Their names were similar, their features strikingly alike, their temperaments of the same origin. One was gentle and soft, the other steady and spirited; standing together, they looked utterly natural. Everyone in the academy had long since come to accept it—

They were a pair of siblings destined by nature.

At first, they had merely addressed each other politely by name.

But as the days passed, that inexplicable bond only deepened. Even everyone around them began teasing them instinctively, tacitly accepting their identities as sister and brother.

Finally, on the day they had spent a full month together, everything fell naturally into place.

By Sea God Lake that afternoon, a gentle breeze brushed through the willows, and emerald waves shimmered.

Tang Wutong looked at the tall, warm-featured youth beside her. Her violet-gold eyes brimmed with tenderness as she softly called out without thinking, her voice sweet and natural:

"Little brother Wulin."

That one word, brother, fell lightly by the lakeside, gentle beyond measure.

There was not the slightest awkwardness, not the faintest trace of unfamiliarity. It was as though they had known each other for years, blood-related family who had always been meant to address each other this way.

Tang Wulin paused slightly, then warmth rippled through his heart. He nodded gently and replied, "Sister Wutong."

That simple exchange between sister and brother completely established the way they would now interact.

No one found it abrupt. Everyone took it for granted.

From then on, the two truly treated each other as siblings.

Tang Wutong was cold by nature, yet she was exceptionally patient and gentle only with Tang Wulin.

She would instinctively care about his cultivation and daily life. When he sat alone in silence, she would quietly stay by his side. When others spoke of him, she would instinctively defend him. She gave all of her unique tenderness and favoritism to this "little brother" who had appeared out of nowhere.

Tang Wulin also respected this gentle, beautiful sister with her pure heart.

After a lifetime of hardship, the deaths of his loved ones, and Shrek's destruction, he had long grown accustomed to being alone.

This sudden warmth and closeness, this unconditional partiality and affection, allowed his long-silent heart to feel the long-lost warmth of family for the first time.

He knew nothing of the God Realm's destiny, nothing of blood ties.

In his heart, Tang Ziran and Lang Yue were the only parents he would ever have, while Tang Wutong before him was a sister gifted by fate—someone he inexplicably clicked with, someone who treated him exceptionally well.

A pair of biological siblings separated by ten thousand years and displaced across time and space.

They did not know each other's roots, did not know each other's past, and did not understand their destiny. Yet in this misplaced era, they naturally depended on and accompanied one another.

The willow breeze by the lake was gentle, and they remained together through every day and night.

Everyone watched this pair of siblings, peerlessly beautiful, perfectly matched in temperament, and deeply affectionate toward each other. Their hearts filled with envy, and they could only sigh at the wonder of fate.

Only beneath the shade of a tree not far away stood Huo Yuhao alone, his eyes filled with bitterness and longing that could not be dissolved.

A full month.

For a full month, he had watched Tang Wutong, her divine soul restored and her reborn mind innocent and ignorant, remain cold and distant toward the entire world while showing tenderness, favoritism, and radiant smiles only to Tang Wulin.

Countless times, he had watched her eyes curve with a gentle smile as she looked at Tang Wulin.

He watched her speak patiently with Tang Wulin, watched her sit quietly beside him, watched the soft warmth in her eyes light up for him alone.

Those features, that smile, that tenderness—he knew them far too well.

This was Wang Dong'er's tenderness.

It was the tenderness of that young girl who had accompanied him day and night, lived and died alongside him, loved him deeply, depended on him, and had eyes full of no one but him.

But now, the features of the old friend remained the same, as did her tenderness. Only, they no longer belonged to him.

She gave her tenderness to someone else, her closeness to someone else, and all of her unreserved favoritism to a strange youth she had known for barely a month.

Huo Yuhao stood quietly amid the dappled shadows of the trees, cool shade falling all around him while his heart was a barren wasteland.

He watched the two before him, who resembled sister and brother, rely on each other in gentle harmony.

Yet what surged in his eyes was endless memory and bone-deep longing.

He missed the Wang Dong'er who would cling to him, tease him, and depend on him.

He missed the young girl who confessed to him at Sea God's Fate, stood beside him in the arena, and risked her life for him in desperate circumstances.

He missed the Dong'er whose heart and eyes held only him, whose tenderness was given to him alone.

The person before him was the one he loved, yet she no longer recognized the person she had once known.

She was still as gentle as ever, but it no longer had anything to do with him.

The wind passed through the treetops with a soft rustle, like a sigh no one heard.

Tang Wutong smiled with pure gentleness, her eyes holding only untainted closeness and affection for her younger brother.

She did not know that he was her biological younger brother, did not know that the person before her was the close family member she would have in the future, and did not know that her favoritism at this moment was the instinct of bloodline spanning ten thousand years.

Still less did she know that the lonely figure behind her was gazing at her features, spending all his heart to miss an old beloved who would never return.

A month of days and nights, deep affection between sister and brother.

One had been fulfilled by the affection of close family; one remained lonely, yearning deeply for an old dream.

Above in the God Realm, Tang San and Xiao Wu quietly looked down upon this scene in the mortal world.

They watched a pair of biological siblings, strangers to one another in misplaced time and space, quietly recognize each other and accompany each other with tenderness; they watched Huo Yuhao stand alone in desolation, clinging to obsession and longing.

Their hearts were filled with complexity and countless emotions, yet they could only watch in silence, not daring to disturb the slightest thread of temporal causality.