Spiritrun Arena

When Tokyo's morning mist, laced with osmanthus fragrance, seeped into the Spirit Pattern Tree courtyard, Lin Ye knelt on one knee amid scattered stardust. The surface of his Reverse Scale Core still bore scorch marks from the previous night's battle with the Moon-Eclipsing Beast, yet it stubbornly emanated a warm golden glow—a trace left by the resonance of their spirit patterns when Little Peach had healed him with the Rabbit Moon Blade.

"Captain, the ointment will get cold." Little Peach squatted down, holding a celadon bowl, her hair dusted with black ash from the fight, yet smiling like the morning sun. Her fingertips gently brushed the scar on the back of his hand. "Grandma Chizuru said this ointment, brewed from three-hundred-year-old moon osmanthus leaves, can fade scars."

Lin Ye stared at her lowered lashes, their pale golden fuzz glistening in the mist. He suddenly recalled the fiercest moment of the battle: Little Peach's hand had trembled as she gripped the Rabbit Moon Blade, yet she'd gritted her teeth and shouted, "I'll make this blade shine brighter than the moon!" Now her palm still bore the indentation of the blade's handle, like a flower blooming in the morning light.

"Little Peach." His voice softened. "The crow bell on your wrist..."

"Hmm?" Little Peach tilted her head, and her silver osmanthus scarf slipped off her shoulder, revealing the straw rope bell he'd woven for her. During the fight, the bell had been sliced by a black ray, and now it oozed fine golden sparks—stardust spilling from the resonance of their spirit patterns. "Did you mend it with the light from your Reverse Scale Core?"

Lin Ye said nothing, merely reaching out to tuck a strand of wind-tousled hair behind her ear. His fingertip grazed the back of her ear, where a faint pink birthmark shaped like an unopened rabbit moon flower lay. Three hundred years ago, General Yuekui had said in a dream, "This child's fate holds half a star, waiting for someone who will burn themselves to light it."

A sharp cracking sound suddenly echoed through the courtyard.

Grandma Chizuru approached from the veranda, holding a teacup with freshly picked osmanthus floating in it. "You two, being all lovey-dovey again?" Her gaze swept over Lin Ye and Little Peach's clasped hands on the stone table, then settled on the translucent star core fragment there—the remaining polluted residue from the purified Moon-Eclipsing Beast. "This thing is strange."

Su Li squatted by the table, drawing runes on the fragment with a spirit pattern brush. Her spatial spirit patterns projected a scene from three hundred years ago: the same fragment had appeared on General Yuekui's sword blade, which she'd sealed with stardust meteorite, only to have it shatter after the war. "This fragment holds polluted memories." Her voice was grave. "From the war three hundred years ago..."

"From General Yuekui." Asagao interrupted abruptly. Her crows fluttered down from the roof, their beaks clutching a bloodstained letter—spat out from the fragment. The handwriting was identical to Yuekui's, yet trembled with scattered urgency: "A'kui, if I die, give the Reverse Scale Core to the girl with the rabbit moon mark. She will finish writing 'reunion' into every 'now' for me."

Lin Ye's breath caught. He remembered the sudden burst of golden light from his Reverse Scale Core during the battle—not his own power, but the last warmth of Yuekui's lingering consciousness within the core. Little Peach's hand tightened in his, and he felt the coolness of her fingertips. "Captain, this letter..."

"It was me." Grandma Chizuru's voice trembled. She took the letter, her thumb brushing the words. "Three hundred years ago, General Yuekui really said this. A sword of black mist was through her chest, yet she smiled..." Her throat worked. "She said she would find someone to share 'now' with."

The Spirit Pattern Tree suddenly let out a roar.

They looked up to see starlight converging at its crown, forming a vast star map. At its center, phantoms of twelve full-moon lamps rose, each reflecting a familiar face: Yuekui, Chizuru, Mingyuan... Finally, the lamp shadows overlapped into two silhouettes—Lin Ye and Little Peach.

"This is..." Su Qinghuan's voice held joy. "The 'Reunion Formation'!"

"It needs the power of twelve 'Reunion Knots'." Jiu's crows suddenly took flight, dropping twelve stardust meteorite fragments at their feet. "General Yuekui said that only when the reunions of the 'past' and 'present' overlap can the pollution be fully purified."

Lin Ye clasped Little Peach's hand. His Reverse Scale Core and her crow bell burned simultaneously, and starlight climbed up their intertwined palms, weaving twin patterns in the air—half the dark red glow of his core, half the silvery light of her bell, like two entwined koi fish, or two twin stars.

"I'll do it." Little Peach pulled free and stepped into the center of the star map. Her silver osmanthus scarf floated upward, and twelve stardust meteorite fragments surged from all directions, embedding themselves in its stitches. "Sister Yuekui said that scarves are the most 'present' things. They hold body warmth, heartbeats, even living stitches."

Lin Ye stood beside her, his Reverse Scale Core pouring golden light into the meteorite fragments in the scarf. Their spirit patterns resonated, and the twelve full-moon lamps in the star map lit up one by one, each revealing a warm memory:

—Three hundred years ago, on Mid-Autumn, General Yuekui placed the first rabbit moon lamp in Chizuru's hand;

—A century ago, in the Taisho era, Little Peach's great-grandmother embroidered twin lotuses by lamplight;

—The previous night, on Mid-Autumn, Lin Ye and Little Peach shared osmanthus cakes by the lamp;

"So our 'now' has always been carved into the moon's memory." Asagao's eyes reddened. Her crows, their beaks clutching Evil-Breaking Talismans, stuck precisely to the weak points of the star map. "Now it's our turn to continue the story."

When the last full-moon lamp lit up, the entire courtyard blazed like daylight. The remaining fragment of the Moon-Eclipsing Beast melted in the starlight, dissolving into stardust that drifted toward the sky. Yuekui's phantom emerged from the stardust, her armor replaced by a plain white kimono, a cherry-blossom hairpin glinting in her hair, and her stardust meteorite bracelet resonating with Lin Ye and Little Peach's twin patterns, letting out a clear chime.

"Well done." Her voice, like wind blowing through three centuries, said, "You've finally learned to melt the ice of the 'past' with the warmth of the 'present'."

Little Peach's tears fell on her scarf. She stared at her own reflection in Yuekui's phantom—a striking sevenfold resemblance to the double-pigtailed girl from three hundred years ago. "Sister Yuekui," she sniffled, "will you always watch over us?"

"Always." Yuekui's phantom lifted a hand, her fingertips brushing Little Peach's hair. "I will become every osmanthus petal, every full-moon lamp, every star you plant together. As long as you love in the 'now', I will never leave."

Lin Ye stared at Little Peach's tear-brightened eyes, suddenly reaching out to wipe her tears. His thumb brushed the mole at the corner of her eye, where half a star glowed—matching the light in his Reverse Scale Core, in her crow bell, and in the twelve full-moon lamps, perfectly in harmony.

"Little Peach." His voice was a sigh. "I think... I finally understand 'forever'."

"What is it?"

"This moment." He held up their clasped hands, presenting the starlight of the twin patterns. "Every second of watching the moon's phases with you, wrapping star-studded dumplings, cutting through black mist with crow bells together."

Morning light spilled over the Spirit Pattern Tree, stretching their shadows long. Grandma Chizuru approached with freshly baked osmanthus cakes, with star sand drawing twin patterns on top; Su Qinghuan carried sweet wine rice balls, with half a stardust meteorite settling at the bottom of the bowl; Asagao's crows, clutching the tassels of rabbit moon lamps, tied them above the pair; Jiu's crows held Su Li's new marriage certificate, its cover printed with the twelve full-moon lamps...

"Captain, Little Peach!" Sakura ran over with a tablet, its screen projecting a live star map—twelve phantoms of full-moon lamps circling them like eternal stars. "Audiences at the global spirit pattern arenas are calling this 'the most romantic purification ritual'!"

Little Peach's face flushed. She stared at Lin Ye's profile, gilded by the morning light, and suddenly stood on tiptoe to kiss his corner of the mouth. Starlight burst from their touching lips, weaving words in the air:

"Reunion in the present is forever's answer."

Wind swept through the Spirit Pattern Tree, lifting an osmanthus leaf that landed on Yuekui's phantom shoulder, overlapping with the cherry-blossom hairpin she'd worn three hundred years ago. In the distance, the twelve full-moon lamps still glowed like stars fallen to earth, and at their center, two clasped figures wrote their endless reunion—with the warmth of the "present".