309: Full Circle

Full Circle

The sun had just started peeking over the horizon when we left the house the next morning. Bai Ye led me onto his flying sword, carefully holding me in his arms as he steered us toward the location he had picked for the ritual.2

It was my first time visiting this place—he didn't want to tire me out with the chore, so he wouldn't let me help much with the preparations ahead of time. I looked down beneath us curiously on our way, wondering where he was taking me, and I found the landscape we passed a bit familiar. Though I couldn't quite recall when we had been to such a place before.

"Where are we?" I asked when we landed on a hilltop.

A mysterious smile crossed his lips. "You'll find out before the end of the day." He helped me step off the sword and guided me toward a tree. "I've set up this space for you to rest. The spell will take some time … Keep yourself comfortable while you wait for me."

I turned my attention to the tree, and my eyes widened. He had almost replicated our backyard here. A reclining chair just like the one I always used sat under the shade, covered in soft pillows and blankets. A stack of my usual bedtime books occupied the end table next to it. Another tea table stood not far away, laden with my favorite sweet osmanthus pastries and drinks.

I stared at him in disbelief. "Are you trying to make me so comfortable that I don't want to go home?"

He chuckled. "Not just comfortable—" he waved his arm. With a flutter of his sleeve, dozens of intricate patterns glowed from the ground underneath the reclining chair. "Don't step too far from here. Once the ritual starts, I won't be able to interrupt it easily at will, so I'll have to rely on these symbols to keep you safe."

I blinked. I had just told him last night that he could set up a guarding spell for me if he was still concerned, but from the look of it … he had already drawn these symbols days ago? For a moment, I wasn't sure if I should roll my eyes at his overprotectiveness or feel privileged for it.

"I'm not that fragile!" I mumbled as I took my seat in the all too comfortable chair.

He smiled. "I know. It's for my own peace of mind." He bent over and dropped a soft kiss on my forehead.

His voice was calm and confident, proof that he did trust me for keeping myself safe. His gaze lingered on my face for a little while longer before landing on the swords over my belt. "Are you ready?" he asked softly.

I followed his gaze. Taking a deep breath, I nodded and unfastened Twin Stars from my belt, handing them to him. "Yes. Don't worry, I'll stay right here waiting for you." I returned a calm and confident smile just like his. "Focus on yourself. Go make Qingling and me proud."

He laughed. Without any more hesitation, he turned and strode toward the ritual's symbols, taking his position at the center of the site. Closing his eyes, he chanted the spell.

The immensely complicated symbol beneath him pulsed with the incantation. A milky white glow peeked from the pattern's edges, growing brighter with each reframe, and it wasn't long before the entire ground lit up in an interweaving maze of curves and lines. The hazy light encompassed the figure at the center of its source, illuminating him within a soft halo.

Even from a distance, I could feel Twin Stars beginning to awaken to the summoning. Familiar power pulsed in the air, stronger and stronger as the incantation continued. The symbol had fully brightened up by now, a sign of the spell ready to activate, and the beam of light slowly lifted from the ground, starting to spin in place.

Suddenly, the baby kicked.

Was she worried about her father? A small smile curled my lips. "He'll be fine." I touched my palm to the top of my stomach. "The swords are resonating with the power inside him. Watch."

Just as those words left me, a tendril of crimson light drifted from the halo at the center of the symbol, dispersing into the air.

"See?" I comforted the baby with a gentle rub, though I still ended up letting out a small breath that I didn't know I was holding myself. I suppose the baby knew better than me that neither of us could fully rest at ease … until we saw the ritual complete smoothly with our own eyes. But at least, the first and hardest step was over now. All that needed to be done from here on was to continue the cleansing until all the demonic power was gone.

In relief, I leaned into the chair more comfortably and picked up a pastry Bai Ye left for me. The entire process could take as long as a full day, and I was starting to appreciate his meticulous setup to make me feel at home.

The halo all around him continued to glow, becoming brighter with each tendril of the crimson light escaping him. I kept my eyes on him the entire time, and as I watched the spiritual power in front of me pulse and fluctuate, a different scene from my memory started emerging from my mind, coinciding with the sight in front of me.

It was the first time that I met him. Not in this life when he descended from the sky and offered his hand to a lost girl, but in my past life when I first materialized into a physical being. The first thing I saw when I opened my eyes … was this man sitting at the center of a spell symbol just like what he was doing right now, bathed in a halo of light like a god descending into this world, radiating unearthly beauty and power from every inch of his being.

That memory was from so long ago, but somehow, even after all this time, every detail of that image was still etched so clearly in my mind. I didn't know back then that the spell he accidentally summoned that day would become the beginning of such an entangled fate between us … And now, everything has come around in a full circle. Here he was, summoning a final ritual for Twin Stars, and this time, it would put all our struggles behind us, giving us another—and brighter—new start.

Time went by all too slowly as my thoughts drifted. The sun lazily climbed up from the east, moved toward the middle of the sky, and languishedly dipped toward the west. The drinks and pastries on the tea table started growing low. Finally, just as the tip of the sun disappeared below the horizon, the power pulsing from the ritual in front of me shifted. The spinning symbol slowly came to a stop, and the glow of that white light dimmed.

My breath hitched. Climbing out of the chair hastily, I all but ran toward the symbol. Bai Ye was still sitting there, the halo all around him slowly fading away. The spiritual power from the ritual had dissipated, replaced by the energy coursing through his body, pure and powerful just like the way I always remembered.

Then he opened his eyes. The most beautiful smile I had ever seen appeared on his face when he met my gaze.

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