Chapter 10: A Kiss from Before Time ✦
The revelation weighed heavily on Fu Sheng. Days passed, and though she tried to return to her normal routines, everything had changed.
Bai Jiu remained nearby, silent, watching her with that same unspoken tenderness. One evening, she found him by the old bridge, alone beneath a falling snow.
— "You loved me," she said quietly.
He turned slowly, startled not by her words, but by the calm certainty in them.
— "I still do," he replied.
She stepped closer.
— "And I… I think I'm beginning to remember what that felt like."
The air between them was still.
Then, gently, her hand rose to touch his face.
— "Even now… in this mortal life, I feel safe when I'm near you."
He closed his eyes under her touch.
— "I waited for lifetimes to hear you say that again."
She rose to her toes and kissed him—soft, searching, but somehow familiar. Like a promise once made under stars they had long since forgotten.
—
Far away, the silver-masked man Hei Mo stood atop a cliff, watching the valley.
His voice was low and dangerous.
— "The seal is cracking. She remembers. And if she reclaims her full power… we are all doomed."
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