The night was heavy.
Heavy with memories that refused to die.
Xuanyuan Wuchen stood at the edge of the imperial rooftop, the cold wind tugging at his robes as the capital city glittered beneath him like a sea of stars. Yet his gaze was far away — beyond the rooftops, beyond the lights — lost in the past.
He had returned.
He had crushed the traitors, silenced the court, and reclaimed his name. But in the silence that followed the chaos, a deeper emptiness echoed.
There were things power could not fix. Not even resurrection.
A whisper of movement made him turn sharply.
She was there.
Framed by moonlight, her long silver hair cascading like a waterfall of ice. Her eyes were the same — sharp, proud, wounded.
"...Lianhua," he breathed.
She didn't move. Didn't smile. Her lips barely parted as she spoke.
"I told myself I'd never look at you again."
Her voice carried no hatred. Only weariness.
"Then why are you here?" Wuchen asked, taking a step forward.
"To see if you're still the same man who let me burn for him."
That stopped him.
The wind howled. Somewhere far below, a bell rang midnight.
"I died," he said softly. "Everything I built, everything I protected — it fell. And you… you vanished."
"You think death excuses you?" she snapped. "You think that because you bled for the empire, the blood I spilled for you was any less real?"
His fists clenched.
"I came back to fix what was broken. To destroy those who betrayed us. But more than anything… I came back for you."
A bitter laugh escaped her lips. "Don't lie to yourself, Wuchen. You came back to be emperor."
"No," he said. "I came back because I remembered how it felt… to lose the only person who didn't bow to me."
Silence.
Then she whispered, "Do you know what the worst part was? I waited. Even after your death. I waited, hoping your legacy would protect us. But it didn't. It only brought more ruin."
The pain in her voice was worse than any blade.
He stepped forward again.
"Then let me protect you now."
She stared at him.
And for a moment — just a moment — the frost in her gaze cracked.
But then she turned, her silhouette melting into the shadows.
"I don't need saving anymore."
And she was gone.
Leaving Xuanyuan Wuchen alone beneath the moonlight. A god reborn — yet powerless to hold on to the only thing he truly wanted.
---
Far from the capital...
A black carriage rolled through a forgotten valley, its wheels silent, its driver faceless. Inside, three old men sat in silence, their eyes closed, their hands resting on blades that had once carved empires.
Then one of them opened his mouth.
"The Immortal Emperor breathes again."
Another opened his eyes.
"Then so must the world burn again."
---
End of Chapter 31.