Moonlit Hearts

Chapter 68: The Pact of Two Shadows

Hi guys! I'm finally back ! It's been such a hectic and painful weeks of hardwork. I worked at 2 different companies and it was so hard to have some free time to write this story ! But I'm finally back and I'll also post a chapter tomorrow and then I'll try to post another during the week ! hope you like it !

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He didn't expect an answer.

But he felt Xuanyu, for the first time, pull just slightly closer. Not in strength, but in ache.

Then—
A voice shattered the quiet.

"Tell me the truth." Wei Ying's voice, rough. Demanding. "Did you put your son inside him? Is that why he's been suffering like this?!"

Wangji stiffened, but said nothing. His breath held.

"No," he said, low and unshaken. "Of course I didn't."

Wei Ying's brow furrowed, his hand unconsciously tightening around Wangji's.

Vali looked past all of them for a moment, not into memory this time—but into the weight of it. "When my wife died, and Xuanyu was taken... all I had left was rage. Desperation. I tried everything to find him. But Odin is not careless. He shattered the child's soul across time, scattered him in places no god could reach."

Wei Ying blinked. "Then how—?"

Vali turned to Wangji, gaze sharpening with something deeper than recognition.

"It was Lan Qingshan," he said. "Your ancestor. The first of your clan."

Wangji's eyes widened. "The one who founded the Lan sect..."

Vali nodded. "Yes. The one you call Hanguang Zushi. He crossed into the divine current. He found the remnants of Xuanyu—what was left of his soul—and he made a choice. A vow. He sealed those fragments into his own blood. Passed it on. "

"A vow?" Wei Ying asked, voice low.

"To protect him," Vali said. "To carry Xuanyu forward until someone was strong enough to hold him whole. Someone with the discipline to quiet his pain... and the heart to speak to him."

Wangji's throat was tight. "So that's why... the silence. The mantras. The restraint."

Vali nodded. "When the soul was scattered, one piece remained—wounded, faint, but still clinging to what it once was. Qingshan... he heard it. He felt it. The way gods feel what's wrong in the air, in the balance of things. But he wasn't just a god. He had the blood of guardians in his veins. Of those who watched the stars before names were written in them."

He took another step. His voice quieted.

"He didn't know what he found, not truly. Only that it was lost. And in mercy, he protected it."

Wangji's lips parted, eyes wide.

Xuanyu stirred. Vali continued.

"He wasn't placed in him. Xuanyu found him. He was drawn to the one heart still open to him. A vessel not meant to imprison—but to shelter. He's been with you ever since. From Qingshan to Qingheng-Jun  to—"

He paused.

"Lan Zhan."

Xuanyu's presence trembled.

Wangji pressed a hand to his chest, breath unsteady. But Vali didn't stop.

"Having Xuanyu is not just tradition. It was a way to shield him from Odin once more. It kept him from bursting through too soon. You didn't just inherit your ancestor's cultivation, Lan Wangji. You inherited his promise and his burdens.."