十三
The banquet hall gleamed with a cold, celestial splendor.
Pillars of pale jade soared upward, their surfaces inlaid with silver and blue, reflecting the shifting lantern light in a thousand ghostly patterns.
Immortals and demons mingled in clusters, their silks and armor shimmering beneath banners embroidered with clouds, stars, and the ancient sigils of the High Heavenly Grandmasters.
Yue Lian entered holding Cang Yan's arm, feeling the weight of every gaze.
For the first time, she wore a robe of pure silver, moonstones woven into her dark hair, her face untouched by paint but luminous in the lantern glow.
Whispers rose in her wake, curiosity, envy, suspicion.
She heard her name, or rather, her new title, ripple through the crowd: "the Moon Healer," "moon maiden," "the hidden goddess."
She wanted to shrink back, to disappear behind Cang Yan's imposing form, but she sensed that would only draw more attention. So she kept her chin high, heart pounding, and let him lead her toward the dais where the Grandmasters waited.
She could not understand their awe. She was nothing, no one, a forgotten orphan, a healer with no cultivation.
The rumors confounded her. Why did they see something she could not see in herself?
Her hands trembled on Cang Yan's sleeve, and her breath caught as the crowd parted, every immortal and demon's gaze hungry, searching, calculating.
At the head table, three Grandmasters sat in judgment.
The eldest, draped in robes of cloud-white and indigo, wore a circlet of starlight on his brow.
His voice was careful, almost gentle. "Welcome, Lord Cang Yan. Welcome, honored guest. We are grateful for your presence, and the presence of this most remarkable healer."
The second Grandmaster, a woman with hair like liquid gold, studied Yue Lian with open intensity, her eyes flickering with power. "She is even lovelier than we heard. Rumor travels quickly across the realms."
Yue Lian's cheeks burned. She bowed as Cang Yan had instructed, then retreated a step, wishing she could vanish into the marble.
"She is shy," Cang Yan said, his tone crisp but not unkind, as if scolding a servant for overstepping. "The palace is new to her. She is not accustomed to such... scrutiny."
The Grandmasters exchanged a look, then the third, youngest of the three, a man with eyes the color of a storm, leaned forward. "Forgive us. We mean only to honor such rare beauty and talent. May we offer a test of her gifts, to settle the rumors that swirl through the realms?"
Cang Yan's hand found the small of Yue Lian's back, steadying her. "She is my guest. She will not be paraded for your amusement."
A murmur swept the hall. The Grandmasters' smiles did not waver, but the air turned colder, the tension tightening around the table like a noose.
"We seek only to understand, Lord Cang Yan," the gold-haired Grandmaster said smoothly. "If your healer is truly touched by the moon, her gifts would be a blessing to all."
Cang Yan's eyes narrowed, his voice silk over steel. "If she is what you suspect, then she is also under my protection. I advise caution."
The youngest Grandmaster gestured, and a servant brought forth a crystal basin filled with water. "A harmless test," he said. "If she touches the water and it glows, as the old legends say, we will know she is who rumor claims."
Yue Lian looked to Cang Yan, uncertain. He held her gaze, his mask never slipping, but beneath it she saw the warning: Do nothing. Trust me.
She stepped forward and placed her hand above the basin. The water trembled, but did not glow. She felt a strange resistance, as if something deep inside her recoiled from the touch of so many watching eyes.
The gold-haired Grandmaster frowned. "Perhaps she is simply shy. Or perhaps the moon's gift is not so easily summoned."
A second test was proposed, an ancient mirror, rumored to reveal true forms. Again, the magic failed at the barrier around Yue Lian's soul. The mirror showed only her human reflection, pale and anxious, her eyes wide with confusion and fear.
A sense of disappointment and suspicion rippled through the crowd. The Grandmasters' cordiality slipped, their smiles growing thin.
"Perhaps the rumors are only that, stories," the eldest Grandmaster said, his tone suddenly dismissive. "Still, we thank you for your presence, Lady Yue Lian. You are most welcome in our realm."
The tension in the hall eased, but Yue Lian felt no relief, only a deeper bewilderment. She returned to Cang Yan's side, heart racing.
He bent his head and spoke softly, his words for her alone. "You did well. Never let them see your fear. They are more dangerous than any demon or immortal you will meet here."
She nodded, still trembling. "Why do they care so much? Why am I... why am I so important?"
He looked at her, something wary and almost tender flickering in his eyes.
"Because if the legends are true, you could heal even the dead. You would be the greatest weapon in any war, the envy of all the realms. And they..."
his gaze flicked to the Grandmasters, "would use you to break me, and everything I protect."
A cold shiver ran through her. "But I don't want to be a weapon. I don't even know who I am."
He gave her a rare, fleeting smile. "That is your best protection... for now."
As the banquet wore on, courtiers and immortals approached her with gifts and questions, each more insistent than the last.
She answered politely, but her mind spun.
She was grateful for Cang Yan's presence; whenever someone pressed too close, he would step subtly between her and the threat, his words sharp enough to draw blood, his hand always steady at her elbow.
She would have never thought the one who brought the storm could also be the one to quiet it.
When the last toast was raised and the hall began to empty, Cang Yan led her away from the crowd, down a quiet corridor lined with moonlit windows.
He paused, studying her profile. "You handled yourself well, small healer. The Grandmasters are not easily fooled, but your barrier held. They will watch you more closely now."
She looked up at him, desperation raw in her voice. "What if they try again? What if they find a way through?"
"Then they will learn," he said at last. The words came quiet, unhurried. "What it means to reach for something that is not theirs."
The words were simple, but in that moment, they were the only comfort she had.
Outside, the moon glowed through thin clouds, its light painting silver across the Demon Lord's face and the girl he could neither master nor ignore.