The sect was quiet that night—eerily so.
The winds had stopped, the torches around the Pill Pavilion flickered dimly, and even the spiritual beasts seemed to sense a shift in the air. In the heart of his courtyard, Long Feng stood alone, hands behind his back, staring at the moonlit sky above the lotus pond.
The battle in the Furnace Hall had been swift… brutal. But the memory of the assassin's dagger still lingered at the edge of his mind.
Someone had tried to end him.
And someone from the inner sect had sent them.
> "They fear what I can become…" he muttered.
His thoughts were broken by a soft voice.
"Long Feng."
He turned.
Mei Ling stood just beyond the stone archway, holding a lantern in one hand and a bundle of scrolls in the other. Her robe was simple but elegant, pale green like jade, tied at the waist with a silken cord. Her hair, for once, was let down.
She looked uncertain… but determined.
He tilted his head. "It's late."
She stepped inside and whispered, "I know. That's why I came."
Long Feng nodded slowly, stepping aside as she walked up to the edge of the lotus pond and sat beside him on the smooth stone bench.
Neither of them spoke for a long while.
---
The moonlight reflected in the water. Lotus petals floated silently on its surface. The stillness between them wasn't awkward—it was thick with unspoken thoughts.
She finally broke the silence.
> "I heard… what happened. The assassin. Elder Lian."
"News travels fast."
"Not news. Worry. You disappeared for hours. I felt—" She paused. "I felt something was wrong."
Long Feng looked at her, carefully.
"You sensed me?"
She hesitated. "...Not you. Just… the heat in the air. The shift. The flames felt different. Like something ancient was stirring in the sect."
Long Feng said nothing, but his eyes narrowed slightly.
> There it is again… that strange connection she has. She's not ordinary.
Mei Ling opened her scroll bundle and unrolled one in front of him.
It was a sketch—rough, but striking.
A man with long flowing hair, eyes like burning stars, standing atop clouds, flames swirling around him. Behind him, divine beasts bowed, and nine suns hung in the sky.
Long Feng blinked.
"That's…"
She looked at him. "You. From my dreams."
He turned sharply to face her.
"What did you say?"
She looked nervous but held his gaze. "I've been dreaming of this figure since I was a child. Always surrounded by fire, standing alone. Always looking upward—as if waiting for something that never comes."
He stared into her eyes. "What else do you see?"
"In the last dream," she said softly, "he… you… turned around. And looked at me. You said something."
"What?"
She looked away. "…You said, 'Why did you follow me again, Flame Star?'"
A long silence.
Long Feng slowly sat back down. His voice was barely a whisper.
> "That name hasn't been spoken in ten thousand years…"
Mei Ling blinked. "So it's… true? You're…"
"Yes," he said calmly. "I was once Long Feng, Supreme God of War and Alchemy, in the Upper Realm. That man in your dream… was me."
The wind stirred again. The flames in the lantern flickered low.
---
Mei Ling's hands trembled slightly. She stared down at her sketch.
"I don't remember my past life," she said quietly. "But I've always known I wasn't like the others. I could feel emotions that weren't mine. Smell herbs and flames from memories that didn't exist."
Long Feng nodded.
"It makes sense now. There was someone in my former life—my first disciple… but more than that. She followed me through battles, betrayals, and the heavens themselves."
"…Flame Star," she whispered.
"She died protecting me during the Divine Sect Betrayal."
Mei Ling swallowed.
"Then… was I her?"
"Or perhaps… you carry her will. In this life, the heavens may have brought us together again."
Tears glistened faintly in Mei Ling's eyes. She looked away quickly.
"I… I don't know how to feel about that. I'm not her. But I feel like I've always been… waiting for you."
Long Feng leaned forward, his voice low.
"I don't want you to be her. I want you to be Mei Ling. The healer who stood beside me when I was trash. Who risked everything for me in the trial."
She looked at him again.
For the first time, their hands touched.
He didn't pull away. Neither did she.
> "I'll protect you this time," he whispered. "Not because you were my disciple in another life. But because you're important to me in this one."
---
As they sat beneath the stars, the sect far behind them, the lotus pond quiet and the moon glowing above, neither spoke further.
They didn't need to.
The air between them was filled with unspoken emotions—memories lost in time, bonds reforged by fate.
Whatever came next—assassins, trials, forbidden realms—they would face it together.
And somewhere, in the upper realm, a ripple passed through the divine winds…
As if something long asleep had noticed their reunion.
---