There were no Echo fluctuations, so no one noticed.
The moonlight pouring through the rift shifted ever so slightly.
It fell squarely on the compound eyes of the poison flies that were about to strike.
"Sizzle-"
The poison flies froze for an instant, then their bodies tilted slightly, as if they were drunk.
Bang!
That tiny deviation allowed Huomu to narrowly escape danger!
It also allowed a bullet that a student on the other side had fired in a panic, and which had been certain to miss, to "luckily" strike the poison fly at the vulnerable joint between its thorax and abdomen.
The poison fly was blown apart by the shot!
Similar incidents happened one after another.
Once could be called a coincidence in a desperate situation.
Twice might be attributed to the students unleashing their potential in the face of danger.
But three times, four times, five times...
Whenever a student was about to suffer a fatal attack, whenever a breach was about to open in their defenses-
The ever-present, seemingly illusory moonlight would quietly appear in some inconspicuous yet perfectly timed way, changing the course of the battle.
Without drawing attention.
Without a sound.
Like an occasional, absentminded glance from the god of fate, bringing "luck" too slight to matter, yet enough to reverse life and death.
Void Beasts screeched, students shouted, guns roared...
Amid the hellish scene painted by the surrounding cacophony, Yuejian alone lay quietly on the mule cart, turning the pages of the romance novel in his hands, one after another.
As though the bloody battle and the roars around him had nothing to do with him.
His fingertips brushed the edge of a page.
Long passages of text met his eyes:
"Humans are pitifully greedy creatures."
"Once they have been given a glimmer of light called 'salvation' and tasted the sweetness of dependence, it is as if they have fallen prey to the deepest addiction."
"From then on, you become the 'hope' they expect as a matter of course, the one who must appear whenever they despair."
"If you succeed, it is only to be expected."
"But if you fail..."
"The hands that once placed you on a pedestal will push you onto the altar without hesitation."
"And nail you to the cross of a 'sinner.'"
"-With the very hope you once gave them."
Yuejian calmly finished reading and was about to turn to the next page-
Sensing something, he suddenly put down the novel and raised his head.
He looked up at the moon in the pitch-black sky.
Then Yuejian sighed softly and vanished.
When he appeared again, he was standing atop a distant mountain, facing another man across the distance.
Atop a solitary cliff.
Yuejian's figure appeared silently at the cliff's edge, as if emerging from the moonlight itself.
The night wind stirred his long, ink-black hair, and the pages of the romance novel in his hands rustled.
A short distance opposite him stood another figure, motionless, as though he had been waiting for some time.
He wore a fitted dark-blue outfit, with a sword at his waist.
He looked to be in his thirties, with a stern face and sharp eyes.
-Kamishiro Seian.
A formidable member of the Kamishiro Family's "Qing" generation, whose talent and strength were enough to rank him among its top three.
"Yo."
Looking at Yuejian, who had suddenly appeared, Kamishiro Seian slowly drew a somewhat complicated, nostalgic smile across his stern face.
His voice was deep, with a distinctive resonance:
"So it really is you... senior."
Chapter 32: Don't Force Me
"That kid Qingxian told me before that you were teaching at Echo Academy in the City of Kindling... at first, I couldn't believe it."
Kamishiro Seian suppressed his excitement and tried to keep his voice calm.
Yuejian, however, merely glanced at him from the corner of his eye before returning his gaze to the novel in his hands.
Clearly, the Kamishiro Family's [Moon Chaser], who could strike fear into countless hearts, was less interesting to him than the love story in the book.
He replied casually, his voice languid. "You've got the wrong person."
At that, Kamishiro Seian's forced composure immediately cracked. "Hey, hey, hey, come on, senior Moon Bearer, it's me! Kamishiro Seian!"
"I don't know you, and there's no one called Moon Bearer here."
Kamishiro Seian's face, always stern in front of others, suddenly took on an aggrieved look, almost like a fan whose idol had snubbed him.
"Senior Moon Bearer, don't you remember me? Thirteen years ago, at the Echo exchange conference jointly held by Deep Blue City and the City of Night...
I was the runner-up that year, and I even received personal guidance from you!"
A nostalgic light flashed in his eyes, and his voice took on a trace of unmistakable excitement.
"I've always admired you, senior. I'm a die-hard supporter of yours..."
It was worth mentioning that despite his unapproachable face, Kamishiro Seian was unexpectedly a chatterbox.
Paying no mind to Yuejian's attitude, he continued on his own:
"Senior Moon Bearer, I like you so much that I've kept asking about you all these years.
Even though all sorts of tragedies happened, I don't think you should have abandoned the name 'Moon Bearer,' no matter what."
As he spoke, he suddenly spread his arms and looked up at the moon overhead, chanting loudly in a tone almost like he was reciting poetry:
"Moon Bearer-
What an extraordinary name!
It is neither the arrogance of reaching up to pluck the stars, nor the lofty solitude of drinking alone beneath the moon.
It is the burden of bearing the bright moon upon one's shoulders and illuminating the road ahead!"
Kamishiro Seian's voice echoed across the solitary cliff, ringing with force:
"Senior Moon Bearer, you were, in my eyes and in the eyes of countless others like me who trusted you, followed you, and looked up to you-
The bright moon!
Rising eternally in the endless night, spreading your clear radiance everywhere.
Guiding the lost! Sharing the darkness with those burdened by its weight!
You were powerful, wise, gentle, and never turned anyone away!
No matter how thorny the task or how desperate the situation, as long as you appeared, you could always shoulder everyone's expectations!"
At this point, Kamishiro Seian looked at the indolent man before him, whose face was the only thing still faintly resembling his former self, and his expression abruptly changed.
The admiration and longing faded, replaced by twisted disappointment and the anger of a shattered ideal.
"You were a hero, a leader, the perfect moon in everyone's hearts!
So-
How could you become like this?!
How could you... sully the flawless idol in my heart?!
If you won't become senior Moon Bearer again... if you won't become the God of the Moon Scroll, shining with clear radiance, again..."
Kamishiro Seian's hand slowly closed around the hilt of his sword, and a bone-chilling killing intent began to spread.
"Then what right do you have to go on living in this world with senior Moon Bearer's face?!"
Yuejian was unmoved by Kamishiro Seian's impassioned speech.
He simply turned another page of his romance novel, his tone as languid as ever.
"Oh dear, that is a problem...
As for looking just like that person you have in mind-
I don't want that either.
All right, after all that talking, if you're not going to make a move, why don't we just part ways here?
How about we each go home?
It's getting late. Actually, I'm already off work at this hour.
Working overtime makes me very, very irritable."
"Senior Moon Bearer!" Kamishiro Seian growled, veins standing out on the hand gripping his sword hilt. He seemed to be struggling to restrain something, and his voice trembled slightly with the effort.
"Seriously, I really don't want to fight you!
My elder brother was originally supposed to handle this mission. I begged him again and again before he gave me this chance!
I heard... the [palace] in your mental image has already been destroyed...
If my elder brother had come, he would definitely have killed you!
So... can't we just talk here, like old friends?"
"To be honest, not really." Yuejian rubbed his brow, looking a little troubled.
"I'm leading the team on this mission today, after all. If anything happens, I'll have to write a report, and that's a huge hassle.
Besides, I don't want to waste too much time."
As he spoke, he looked up at the night sky and estimated the time.
"I need to get home before nine, take a hot bath, pour myself a glass of red wine, and sit down on the sofa at nine thirty sharp... Dorothy's new show premieres today. You know that, don't you?"
Kamishiro Seian lowered his head, one last trace of struggle flashing across his face.
"Does it have to be like this, senior...?
If we really fight...
If I find that you really have grown weaker, that you're no longer the person who shone so brightly in my eyes...
I'm afraid I really won't be able to control myself...
And I'll kill you here.
So don't force me. Please, don't force me... all right?"
Seeing him like this, Yuejian finally let out a soft sigh.
It was completely different from his earlier perfunctory, impatient sigh.