Chapter 34
The mountains of Kunlun stood silent beneath the stars.
Clouds drifted like pale rivers beneath the cliffs.
The world felt impossibly distant.
As though heaven itself had stepped back and left only the two of them there.
For a long time after the kiss, Zhao Yuanzhou could not speak.
His forehead rested against Zhou Yi Chen’s.
His hands trembled.
Not from fear.
Not from battle.
But from something far more terrifying.
Hope.
After thousands of years, he had finally become afraid to hope again.
The wind stirred.
Zhou Yi Chen felt something warm against his shoulder.
At first, he thought it was rain.
Then he realized-
Zhao Yuanzhou was crying.
Silently.
The kind of crying that comes only after carrying pain for too long.
The kind that breaks a heart just by witnessing it.
“Zhao…”
The demon laughed weakly.
Trying to hide it.
As always.
But his voice betrayed him.
It cracked.
Shattered.
Fell apart.
And suddenly all those years he never spoke about seemed to pour out at once.
“Yichen…”
His fingers tightened around the fabric of Zhou Yi Chen’s sleeve.
As though afraid he might disappear.
“As long as I have lived…”
His voice became quieter.
“I have buried too many people.”
The mountain breeze seemed to stop.
“I watched friends become names.”
“Names become memories.”
“And memories become silence.”
His eyes lowered.
“I remember every grave.”
“Every farewell.”
“Every hand that slipped away.”
“And no matter how powerful I became…”
“No matter how long I lived…”
“I could never keep anyone.”
The tears fell freely now.
“I was always left behind.”
Zhou Yi Chen’s chest ached.
Because this wasn’t the ancient demon everyone feared.
This wasn’t Zhuyan.
This wasn’t the monster of legends.
This was simply a lonely man.
Someone who had survived far longer than anyone should.
Someone exhausted from saying goodbye.
Again.
And again.
And again.
Then Zhao Yuanzhou looked at him.
And the grief in his eyes nearly broke him.
“I lost you.”
The words came out like a wound reopening.
“I lost you once.”
His voice trembled.
“I lost you twice.”
A tear slipped down his cheek.
“And then…”
He laughed.
A painful laugh.A broken laugh.
“I killed you.”
The silence afterward felt unbearable.
Zhou Yi Chen couldn’t move.Couldn’t breathe.
Because the guilt in Zhao Yuanzhou’s eyes was so immense that it seemed older than the mountains around them.
“I remember that night.”
The demon’s voice was barely audible now.
“I remember carrying your body.”
“I remember calling your name.”
“I remember wishing for centuries to trade my life for yours.”
“But immortality is cruel.”
“It lets you survive everything.”
“Even the things you don’t want to survive.”
As Zhao Yuanzhou finally spoke the truth he had hidden for so long.
“You ask why I stay beside you.”
“Why I follow you.”
“Why I protect you.”
His hand rose slowly.
Touching Zhou Yi Chen’s face with reverence.
As though touching something sacred.
Something beloved.
Something he had already lost before.
The touch trembled.
“Because every time I look at you…”
His voice broke.
“…I am terrified.”
Zhou Yi Chen froze.
“Terrified that if I blink…”
“You’ll disappear again.”
“I don’t need eternity.”
Zhao Yuanzhou whispered.
“I don’t need power.”
“I don’t need the wilderness.”
The tears wouldn’t stop.
And for once-
he didn’t try to stop them.
“I only want…”
His eyes closed.
As though even saying it hurt.
“I only want one life where I don’t lose you.”
The mountain wind carried the words into the night.
A wish.
A prayer.
A plea.
All at once.
Then he laughed softly.
The saddest laugh Zhou Yi Chen had ever heard.
“You are the pearl hidden inside my heart.”
The demon looked down.
Almost ashamed.
“I tried to forget you.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I tried to hate you.”
“I couldn’t.”
“I tried to let you go.”
His smile trembled.
“I couldn’t.”
Another tear fell.
“Somehow…”
His eyes met Zhou Yi Chen’s.
“…you became the beginning and end of every road I walked.”
As though even the stars were listening.
“I don’t know what fate wants from us.”
“I don’t know why every lifetime drags me back to you.”
“I don’t know why your soul finds mine across centuries.”
His hand moved to cover Zhou Yi Chen’s.
The warmth of it almost made him cry again.
“But I know this.”
His voice steadied.
For the first time.
Certain.
Absolutely certain.
“If tomorrow is my last Blood Moon.”
“If I lose control.”
“If everything ends…”
His eyes shone with tears.
“Then the greatest happiness of my life…”
A fragile smile appeared.
“…was finding you again.”
Then Zhou Yi Chen stepped forward.
Closing the distance.
His own eyes had become red without him realizing.
Because no one had ever looked at him like this.
No one had ever loved him with this kind of devotion.
This kind of sorrow.
This kind of faith.
He placed his hand over Zhao Yuanzhou’s heart.
Feeling it beat beneath his palm.
Steady.
Alive.
Real.
Then he smiled softly.
A smile filled with tenderness.
Filled with understanding.
Filled with something neither of them needed to name anymore.
“You fool.”
Zhao Yuanzhou laughed through tears.
Zhou Yi Chen looked toward the endless sea of clouds below.
“You are like the ocean.”
Zhao Yuanzhou stared.
“The ocean?”
“When I first met you…”
A faint smile appeared.
“I thought you were dangerous.”
“You are.”
“I know.”
The smile deepened.
“I thought you were impossible.”
“You are.”
“I thought you were trouble.”
“I definitely am.”
For the first time, they both laughed.
Then Zhou Yi Chen’s expression softened.
“But every tide that reached me…”
His fingers intertwined with Zhao Yuanzhou’s.
“…brought something precious.”
The demon’s breath caught.
“And every time the tide left…”
His voice became quieter.
“It carried away a little of my grief.”
A little of my loneliness.
A little of my anger.
A little of my fear.
Until one day…”
His eyes met Zhao Yuanzhou’s.
“I realized I was waiting for it to return.”
The tears in Zhao Yuanzhou’s eyes spilled over.
Then Zhou Yi Chen leaned forward.
Resting his forehead against Zhao Yuanzhou’s.
And whispered the words that finally healed a wound centuries old.
“You found me.”
A tear slipped down Zhao Yuanzhou’s face.
“And this time…”
Zhou Yi Chen smiled.
“You don’t have to let go.”
❄️❄️❄️✨✨⚔️⚔️
For a while after that confession, neither of them spoke.
And somewhere between heaven and earth, Zhao Yuanzhou was still looking at Zhou Yi Chen as though he had personally stolen a miracle.
“Why are you looking at me like that?” Zhou Yi Chen asked quietly.
Zhao Yuanzhou smiled.
“Because you’re real.”
The answer was so sincere that Zhou Yi Chen immediately regretted asking.
“Shut up.”
“I mean it.”
“Stop.”
“I spent years wondering if I’d imagined you.”
“Zhao.”
“I even considered becoming a hermit.”
“Nobody would believe that.”
“Fair.”
They both laughed.
The tension that had haunted them for days finally seemed to dissolve.
Then Zhao Yuanzhou reached up and brushed a loose strand of hair behind Zhou Yi Chen’s ear.
The gesture was gentle.
As though he still couldn’t quite believe he was allowed to touch him.
Zhou Yi Chen’s heartbeat stumbled.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Doing what?”
“Looking emotional.”
“I am emotional.”
“Stop that.”
“I can’t.”
The demon leaned closer.
Then closer still.
Until their foreheads touched once more.
The mountain wind swirled around them.
Neither noticed.
The world had become very small.
Just the two of them.
Just this moment.
Then Zhao Yuanzhou kissed him.
Softly.
Warmly.
Without hesitation.
One kiss became another.
And another.
And another.
Every time they pulled away, neither seemed particularly interested in staying apart for long.
“Yichen.”
“What?”
“I missed you.”
“You’ve said that.”
“I’m saying it again.”
“You talk too much.”
“I know.”
Meanwhile, several hundred meters away-
Back on the cliff, the situation was deteriorating rapidly.
Not because of danger.
Because neither Zhou Yi Chen nor Zhao Yuanzhou were paying attention to anything.
At all.
The stars?
Ignored.
The mountain?
Ignored.
The fact they were sitting dangerously close to the edge of a cliff?
Completely ignored.
At one point Zhao Yuanzhou shifted closer.
Zhou Yi Chen shifted closer too.
Then Zhao shifted again.
Then Zhou followed.
Neither noticed that there was significantly less cliff than before.
A pebble rolled off the edge.
Neither noticed.
Another pebble followed.
Still nothing.
They were far too occupied staring at each other.
Eventually Zhou Yi Chen paused.
“…Wait.”
Zhao Yuanzhou blinked.
“What?”
“Something feels wrong.”
The demon finally looked around.
For the first time in several minutes.
Then down.
Then farther down.
Then very, very far down.
The cliff dropped thousands of feet.
Silence.
Absolute silence.
The two immediately froze.
Still sitting ridiculously close to the edge.
Neither moved.
Neither breathed.
Then Zhou Yi Chen slowly looked at Zhao Yuanzhou.
The demon slowly looked back.
“…”
“…”
A small rock chose that exact moment to tumble into the abyss.
Neither found it comforting.
“You are an ancient demon.”
“Correct.”
“Why were you not paying attention?”
“I was distracted.”
Zhao Yuanzhou looked directly at him.
Zhou Yi Chen immediately regretted asking.
“You are unbelievable.”
“And yet here you are.”
The commander covered his face.
The demon laughed.
Brightly.
Freely.
The kind of laugh that only appeared when he was genuinely happy.
For a moment Zhou Yi Chen simply listened.
Then found himself smiling too.
Because after everything-
the blood.
The nightmares.
The centuries.
The grief.
It felt strangely wonderful to hear that sound.
Zhao Yuanzhou stood and offered him a hand.
“Come on.”
Zhou Yi Chen accepted it.
“Where are we going?”
“Back.”
“Before Ying Lei finds us.”
The commander nodded immediately.
“A rare intelligent idea.”
“I have those occasionally.”
As they walked away from the cliff, hand in hand beneath the stars of Kunlun-
neither noticed that the constellation lights above the mountain had quietly brightened.
As if even the heavens were celebrating.
Or perhaps simply relieved.
Because after lifetimes of finding each other only to part-
these two idiots had finally stopped standing at the edge.