The cave was quiet, save for the soft crackle of fire and the gentle rhythm of a nearby stream. Shen Yueli sat curled beneath a thick fur blanket, her back pressed against the cool stone wall.
Outside, the forest slumbered under moonlight, silver shadows dancing across the ground like forgotten ghosts.
Her fingertips brushed her belly as the warmth from the fire seeped into her bones.
The pain from Yechen's rejection still throbbed in her chest, but it was a distant ache now— dulled by exhaustion and something else she couldn't name.
Safety.
Peace.
For the first time in moons, she felt like she could breathe.
Di Yan sat across the fire from her,
silent, his sharp profile glowing faintly in the firelight. His silver hair shimmered, catching every flicker like strands of moonlight. Thought he hadn't spoken much since they arrived, his presence didn't press against her like Yechen's once did. It simply existed. Calm. Unwavering.
" Thank you," she said softly.
He didn't answer immediately but turned his gaze toward her. His eyes— those piercing gold eyes— were filled with something rare. Not pity. Not curiosity. But understanding.
" You don't need to thank me," he said, his voice a low rumble. " I've been where you are."
She tilted her head slightly, interest flickering beneath the fog of her grief.
" You've been… rejected?"
Di Yan nodded slowly. " A long time ago.
She chose someone else. Power over love.
I nearly let the pain kill me."
Yueli swallowed, her throat tight. " How did you survive it?"
A long pause.
" I walked. Alone. For years. Until I remembered who I was before her."
She leaned back, letting his words wash over her. They settled deep inside, stirring something that had lain dormant since the bond with Yechen shattered.
Who was she… before him?
The question echoed in her mind like a chant.
" I don't even know who I am anymore," she admitted. " Without him… without my clan… what's left?"
" You, " Di Yan said simply. " That's enough to begin again."
His words shouldn't have comforted her, but they did. Like a salve over a wound that refused to close.
Yueli looked into the fire, watching the flames twist and dance. " You said the soul stone resonates with second chances. Do you think the moon… really gives us another path?"
" Yes," Di Yan said, his tone firm. " But only if we choose to walk it."
She nodded, slowly at first. " Then I want to walk it. Even if I have to crawl."
He offered a faint smile. " You won't have to crawl alone."
—
The next morning, Yueli woke to birdsong and light filtering through the cave mouth. Her sleep had been restless, dreams full of tangled memories— Yechen's voice, her clan's faces, the heavy silence after the rejection. But now, as she stepped into the sun-dappled clearing, the cool air felt like a balm.
Di Yan was already outside, barefoot and shirtless, practicing a series of fluid movements with a long wooden staff.
Each motion was deliberate, smooth, like a dance with the wind. His breath was slow, his balance unshaken. It was almost trance-like— less like training and more like communion.
She watched silently, arms crossed over her belly.
" You're up early," he said, not turning.
" I couldn't sleep much," she admitted.
" Too many thoughts."
" Then let your body speak instead of your mind," he replied. " Move. Breathe. That's how I started healing."
Yueli hesitated, then stepped closer.
" You think that'll work on me?"
" I don't think," he said. " I know."
There was no arrogance in his voice— only quiet certainty.
She walked into the clearing and mimicked his stance, awkwardly at first.
Her limbs resisted, unused to this kind of movement. She had always healed with words, rituals, herbs— not with strength. Not with sweat.
Di Yan stepped behind her and gently adjusted her shoulders, her hands, the angle of her hips. His touch was careful, never lingering— just enough to guide.
The moment felt strange… but not uncomfortable.
She moved. Clumsy at first, then with more ease. Her breaths fell into rhythm with the wind. The ache in her chest didn't vanish, but it became quiet, pushed aside by movement and breath.
" Good," Di Yan murmured after a while.
" You feel the ground beneath your feet again.
That's where strength begins."
After they stopped, they sat beneath a tree. Yueli leaned back against the bark, chest rising and falling.
" You have a warrior's soul," Di Yan said.
She laughed, a broken sound. " No. I was a priestess. A healer. I wasn't trained to fight."
" But you survived betrayal," he said.
" That is a kind of strength."
She looked at him, really looked at him— not as a stranger, not as a potential mate— but as someone who carried shadows like her own.
Maybe he wasn't just a second chance.
Maybe he was a mirror.
—
Later that day, Di Yan showed her how to forage. They wandered through the woods, their steps light, their senses alert. Yueli discovered patches of healing herbs she had only read about— serpent's vine, frost root leaf between her fingers and inhaled its icy scent.
" This one calms the blood," she said.
Di Yan glanced at her, surprised. " You know your plants."
" I was a temple healer," she murmured.
" Before the moonstone… before
Yechen… that's who I was."
" Then that's still who you are," he said.
Her chest tightened. " It doesn't feel that way. Everything's different now."
" Different isn't gone."
—
They shared a quiet meal by the stream.
The food was simple— roasted nuts, roots, dried fruit— but it warmed her belly. She told him about her younger sister, Lianhua, who always snuck extra sweets into Yueli's robes before temple ceremonies. About the old priestess who taught her that the moon hears the truth in silence, not noise.
Di Yan told her about the wolves in the Northern Clans, about rituals under aurora skies and ancestral runes carved into snow stone.
It was the first time Yueli had truly listened without bitterness in her heart.
But later, as dusk fell and shadows deepened, a memory struck like a blade to her chest.
The moonstone.
It was still with Yechen.
Or worse— destroyed.
" I lost everything," she murmured.
" No," Di Yan said. " You still have your name. Your spirit. Your child."
She touched her belly again. The baby was growing. Alive. A quiet strength inside her.
Suddenly, she turned to Di Yan. " Can I… ask something?"
He nodded.
" Why help me? You could have left me there."
His gaze was steady. " Because someone once helped me. And because I see in you a strength the world tried to bury."
Her throat tightened. She turned away quickly, blinking fast.
That night, she lay beside the fire again, her thoughts quieter now. Di Yan had returned to the forest, silent as ever, watching the borders of their little haven.
But she no longer feared the silence.
She whispered into the darkness.
" Thank you, moon… for letting me live."
Her eyes fluttered closed, and this time,
She dreamed of silver wolves and a moonlit path winding through mist and trees. A path she was ready to follow. A path she would claim.
With or without bond.