Chapter 18

Tanyin always felt she didn’t understand Han Nu or Taihe. She devoted herself to mastering the skills of a craftsman, working tirelessly and creating exquisite items, but she had a vague understanding of people’s hearts.

Han Nu became a god two hundred years later than her. She was skilled in embroidery, and the flowers, birds, fish, and insects she embroidered often came to life, which led to her being punished by the heavens and dying young.

These gods, bestowed with divinity, were fundamentally different from the primordial gods. They mostly had difficult lives as humans, and even as gods, they retained some eccentricities. Even Tanyin herself wasn’t very social, preferring to focus on her craftsmanship.

But Han Nu was different. As a human, she was frail and often ill, slandered, and almost burned as a witch. After becoming a goddess, she was kind, always smiling at everyone, gentle, and considerate, without a trace of oddity.

Tanyin liked Han Nu a lot at one point. She was like a good sister with whom she could share everything. During that time, Taihe was often hot and cold towards her, and it was thanks to Han Nu’s mediation that things calmed down.

Then, the war between gods and demons began. As an unparalleled craftsman, she couldn’t stand by and had to stop making her interesting little trinkets to study powerful weapons.

Taihe’s hand was the first artifact she created.

She spent a long time carving the divine words and the icy essence of the Milky Way into Taihe’s left hand, cut by cut. It was her first time using a blade on a person, and her divine power was unstable, causing Taihe to often be tormented by the icy essence and suffer greatly. She was very anxious and tirelessly experimented with wooden hands, hoping to reduce Taihe’s pain.

One day, she finally succeeded in completely sealing the icy essence into a wooden hand. Excited, she immediately went to find Taihe to complete the seal on his left hand, but on the way, she encountered a sorrowful Han Nu.

“Taihe fainted; you should go check on him,” Han Nu said.

Shocked, Tanyin rushed to Taihe’s hall, and indeed, Taihe was suffering from the backlash of the icy essence, half of his body frozen, eyes closed. No matter how she called, he couldn’t open his eyes.

Han Nu, with tears streaming down her face, sighed, “It’s inevitable for the first seal to cause such a reaction on him. Don’t blame yourself. But with the war intensifying, perhaps you should try another god.”

Her words reminded Tanyin, and she found another god, sealing the sun’s golden sand into his right hand. This time, the process was smooth with no backlash.

However, when she went back to see Taihe, he never smiled again. Despite the pain from the icy essence’s backlash, he used to smile.

Tanyin finished carving all the remaining seals, looked up at him, wanting to say something, but Taihe just covered his dark red left hand with his sleeve and said indifferently, “Thank you.”

He never smiled at her again.

Han Nu comforted her: “Taihe might be worried about the war. Don’t overthink it. Many gods have fallen to the demon clan; you should focus on creating artifacts. You are the unparalleled craftsman.”

Indeed, she was an unparalleled craftsman, but she previously only enjoyed making trivial little things of no significant use. She didn’t know how to make powerful weapons, and it was difficult enough to create a seal for Taihe’s left hand, causing him so much suffering.

If she had been more capable, perhaps Taihe could have smiled more.

Tanyin spent fifty years to create the Soul Lamp.

This terrifyingly powerful artifact brought dark clouds and thunder upon its creation, leaving the gods in silence.

The Yinshan dragon ignited the souls of four mortals on it, capturing all the demonic and evil spirits in the world and swiftly ending the war between gods and demons.

Filled with pride, Tanyin went to find Taihe, but he closed his doors to her. Three days later, he finally opened them, with Han Nu behind him, smiling gracefully.

At first sight of Taihe, Tanyin was stunned. His left hand was gone, the one she had painstakingly sealed with divine words and icy essence, cut off by some demon, with divine power shimmering like gold dust at his severed arm.

“You shouldn’t disturb us,” Taihe said coldly, with a strange tone.

“You are being inappropriate.”

Tanyin stared at his and Han Nu’s clasped hands, then at his mutilated left arm, unable to find her voice.

“Do you need something?” Taihe asked.

Tanyin felt bitterness in her chest and struggled to speak for a long time.

“Your left hand…”

Taihe, calm and composed, said, “It was cut off by a demon. Sorry, I couldn’t protect the artifact you made.”

Her mind felt foggy, like she was dreaming. She spoke as if her words were floating: “Then, you and Han Nu…”

“We are together,” he interrupted her stammering, slightly impatient.

Tanyin abruptly shut her mouth, almost biting her tongue. The sharp pain quickly brought her back to reality. She lowered her head and, after a long time, said softly, “Congratulations.”

Taihe nodded, holding Han Nu’s hand, and walked past her. Han Nu touched her head gently, her voice soft.

“Wushuang, your hair is messy. You still don’t take care of yourself.”

Instinctively, Tanyin stepped back, not wanting her to touch her. Han Nu’s hand awkwardly hung in the air for a moment before she retracted it and smiled gently again.

“You did a great job with the Soul Lamp,” Han Nu praised enviously.

“The war is finally over, thanks to you.”

Taihe said coldly, “The Soul Lamp is too cruel, unworthy of your unparalleled name.”

Han Nu playfully scolded him.

Tanyin stood motionless, watching them walk away, hand in hand.

She thought back to the past fifty years, every day and night spent researching the Soul Lamp. Whenever she felt she couldn’t go on, she thought of Taihe. She wanted to see him smile at her again; she wanted the old Taihe back. This thought sustained her, helping her overcome every obstacle.

But suddenly, she felt she could no longer create anything—nothing at all.

It seemed she had never really known Han Nu or Taihe. Where had the god who sat on the blue stone by the Milky Way, blowing on a small pinwheel, gone?

Tanyin landed on the Tianya Platform, looking around. It was shrouded in mist and deserted, no different from when she had left. She couldn’t help but let out a bitter laugh. Now that the primordial gods had vanished and the surviving gods could be counted on one hand, it was no surprise that Tianya Platform could no longer be as bustling as it once was.

Now, she needed to find Han Nu.

Would she confront her with accusations or anger? Tanyin didn’t know how to face Han Nu. She no longer depended on Han Nu’s gentleness and kindness; in fact, she felt a faint repulsion from the bottom of her heart.

Tianya Platform wasn’t far from the Milky Way.

The river, brilliant and magnificent, remained eternal. Whether Taihe sat by its bank or not, after the primordial gods disappeared, the divine realm was firmly protected by their residual divine power. The stars continued their course, and the sun rose and set, no longer needing the intervention of gods, which perhaps contributed to the gradual demise of the remaining gods.

Taihe’s hall was built not far from the Milky Way. Tanyin walked in slowly and immediately saw the giant divine crystal in the main hall. It was the purest, highest-grade divine crystal, transparent and flawless. Taihe was sealed inside, eyes closed in peaceful slumber, his black hair softly draped over his shoulders, wearing a simple blue robe. He looked serene, as if he could wake up at any moment.

Tanyin instinctively held her breath and approached gently, placing her hands on the cold crystal.

Taihe.

He hadn’t changed, just as he was when sealed in the crystal five thousand years ago. Time flowed on, but he was only having a long, deep dream. Did that dream include her?

“You’ve come.”

A gentle female voice abruptly broke Tanyin’s reverie. She turned to see Han Nu standing not far away, smiling, her long hair cascading down, her features delicate and picturesque. Just one glance at her would make one feel as though they were melting into her gentle demeanor.

Tanyin was startled, then frowned as she looked over Han Nu’s intact body. “How are you…”

Han Nu shook her head with a smile.

“I just projected my divine sense. My body is still sealed in the divine crystal and can’t move.”

Tanyin was slightly surprised. “You can project your divine sense?”

She had thought that, once sealed in the divine crystal, projecting one’s divine sense was impossible. After Taihe fell into slumber, Han Nu had to seal half of her body in the divine crystal because her limbs started to dissipate. It was very painful for her to be conscious but unable to move due to being sealed. Therefore, it was Tanyin who had to go down to find Taihe’s left hand, and she understood Han Nu’s urgency.

But if she could project her divine sense while being sealed, why hadn’t Taihe…

As if sensing her thoughts, Han Nu sighed and traced Taihe’s outline with her hand, whispering, “Perhaps he doesn’t want to wake up? There might be someone here he doesn’t want to face.”

Tanyin fell silent. The remaining gods in the divine realm could be counted on ten fingers. They all had their own duties and didn’t interfere with each other, so there was no real camaraderie. Only she and Han Nu were close to Taihe. Han Nu was his beloved; he wouldn’t refuse to see her. Thus, the person he didn’t want to face could only be her.

“Let’s not talk about this. Wushuang, have you come to blame me?” Han Nu looked at her, still smiling gently.

Tanyin was caught off guard by her taking the initiative and didn’t know what to say. She wasn’t articulate to begin with and was very awkward in social interactions. After hesitating for a long time, she finally said, “…The war ghosts, was it your order?”

Han Nu smiled and said, “There has always been enmity between those two tribes. Why would I need to give orders?”

“The War Ghosts wouldn’t know about the divine crystal, nor would they think to cut off Taihe’s left hand.”

“So you suspect me, don’t you?”

Tanyin remained silent, which was as good as admitting it.

Han Nu took a few steps and suddenly admitted straightforwardly, “It was me.”

Anger welled up in Tanyin’s heart. She said in a low voice, “You knew very well that if his left hand was forcibly cut off, it couldn’t be reattached! Taihe would only dissipate faster!”

“But you are with the high priest of the fox clan, right?” Han Nu smiled and continued, “You will protect him.”

“That’s just sophistry,” Tanyin said, frowning.

Han Nu stared at her.

“Wushuang, I don’t have much time left—less than a thousand years.”

How could that be? She had sealed her dissipating body in the divine crystal. Tanyin looked at her with suspicion.

“Follow me,” Han Nu said, turning and floating towards the east side of the hall.

Back then, it was Han Nu who had asked Tanyin to seal her body near Taihe so she could see him every day. So Han Nu’s body was placed in the eastern corner of the main hall, where the view was the best, directly facing Taihe.

Tanyin immediately saw Han Nu’s half-sealed body in the divine crystal. Unlike Taihe, her right hand and both feet appeared almost transparent, a sign of impending dissipation. That’s why Tanyin had sealed her hands and feet. But now, her left side has also partially turned transparent.

Tanyin looked at her body in shock, then at Han Nu’s divine sense, murmuring, “How did this happen…”

Han Nu gazed at her and said softly, “Wushuang, my time is running out, so I’m in a hurry. If I couldn’t cut off his hand, I had to kill that person. Once he’s dead, his hand will lose its fate, and there will be nothing to fear.”

She suddenly laughed. “I know you are just as eager as I am to wake Taihe. Wushuang, do you still blame me now?”