Some flames go out with time.Some are smothered by silence.And some…Some simply refuse.
Not because they are stubborn.But because they were never meant to burn alone.
🌌 Peach Blossom Sect — Dusk
The lanterns were being lit across the walkways. Soft pink light filtered through the trees, painting everything in blush and gold.
Lian Qiao sat by the edge of the koi pond, tossing crumbs from a rice cake into the water — not eating, not thinking, just watching the fish ignore her like they sensed she wasn't really here.
"You don't remember how to want things, do you?" she whispered.
The koi blinked. Then turned away.
She sighed.
"Same."
She didn't notice him approach. Not because he was quiet — but because her flame had already registered him, long before her eyes did.
Mo Yujin stood at the edge of the path, his presence as still as a blade planted in the earth.
But he didn't speak.
He just sat beside her.
And waited.
Minutes passed.
Then she asked, without looking:
"Do you hate me for what I did in our last life?"
He didn't answer right away.
Instead, he reached into his sleeve and pulled out something small — a folded lotus petal, encased in crystal. The same one she had burned into existence the night she sealed the Void.
He placed it gently on the bench between them.
"This was the last thing you gave me," he said.
She turned to look at him, eyes guarded.
"And?"
"I didn't hate you then.""I don't hate you now."
Her voice was quieter. "Even though I sealed it into my soul? Even though I made the choice for both of us?"
"You didn't take my choice," he said."You gave me a second one."
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
He finally met her eyes.
"You gave me a life without you.I hated it.But it let me choose you again."
She stared at him, her breath catching like a match held too close to a flame.
Then, carefully, she reached for the crystal petal.
Her fingers brushed his.
The flame between them sparked — not violently, but undeniably.
"I don't want to fall again," she whispered.
"Then don't," he said. "Stay."
And just like that—
Not with a kiss.Not with a vow.But with silence and closeness and a flame that refused to fade—
They chose each other.
Again.
Far above, in the tower of divine records,Zhen Ye smiled faintly over her scrying pool.
"Ah. So even memory couldn't kill it.Love… you persistent little weed."