"Actually, this is just a coincidence."
"Or rather, I am not the person behind the scenes that you imagine."
After a not-so-long confrontation, a faint voice finally came from the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow.
"I don’t even know why I woke up in your era..."
"The dreams you experienced were not my intention, but the process of me gradually recovering my memories."
"The most crucial thing is, in my memory, I have never been to this Moon Palace, so I’m also curious as to why you are so familiar with this place."
Whether he believed it or not, Li Xudou slightly raised his eyebrows, his expression incredibly similar to that of Li Boyang.
"I’ve seen your entire past life, and I’ve heard about your later years as well."
"What I’m more curious about now is, what is your relationship with the Moon God in this Moon Palace?"
Li Xudou was brought to the moon because of Dayi, while Lady Zhui followed due to her connection with him.
This was a fact Li Xudou could confirm.
It was also why he chose this moment to reveal himself to the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow.
If Dayi simply wished to find himself a successor, Li Xudou naturally wouldn’t mind helping him fulfill some of his last wishes.
But now the matter involved Lady Zhui, how could Li Xudou continue to ignore it?
Moreover, Li Xudou was also curious about what had happened in this world during the year before he was born.
And whether his arrival in this era was merely a coincidence?
If his familiarity with the Moon Palace did not come from Dayi, what other secrets might he be hiding?
Li Xudou’s intuition told him that if he had not come to this era, perhaps he would not have truly been born into this world.
This method of reversing causality, Li Xudou could only associate with those Great Celestial Gods attempting to prove their path.
"My wife... Heng’e is the Moon Palace God."
After a brief silence, Dayi’s voice once again emerged from the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow.
The encounter between Dayi and Heng’e was actually quite clichéd, the standard formula of a fallen hero and an admirer of beauty.
Initially, Dayi did not recognize Heng’e’s identity.
Because Heng’e was then of mortal flesh, her face soiled, and when Dayi encountered her, she was close to starvation.
Fortunately, Dayi had seen Heng’e once before and knew she was the daughter of the Moon God, Chang Xi.
Regrettably, Dayi and Heng’e had only that fleeting encounter.
In the long time that followed, not even the Moon God, Chang Xi, made frequent appearances, let alone Heng’e.
Rumor among the gods had it that the twelve daughters of the Celestial Emperor, including Heng’e, were plotted against and fell one after another.
Only the Moon God, Chang Xi, was left due to anger and sorrow, turning against the Celestial Emperor and remaining hidden within the Moon Palace, no longer appearing in the world.
However, after meeting Heng’e, Dayi was sure that this was a rumor.
If all twelve daughters of the Moon God had perished, then who was the Heng’e standing before him?
At least, that was what Dayi always believed.
No matter how Dayi inquired, Heng’e never revealed why she became mortal.
It was only when Dayi finally decided to shoot the sun that Heng’e chose to ascend back to the Moon Palace, personally forging the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow for him.
"Perhaps it was due to treason?"
With a somewhat uncertain murmur, Dayi’s voice sounded somewhat helpless.
"The Celestial Emperor wanted to let the ten suns destroy the world, and Heng’e certainly wouldn’t agree."
"In his rage, the Celestial Emperor might have done anything, even demote his own daughter to mortal status."
Listening to Dayi’s account, Li Xudou only subtly shifted his gaze.
By common sense, Dayi’s explanation could indeed stand on its own.
But his idealized view of his wife—Heng’e was too much, even believing she would rebel against her own father for the sake of mortals.
If Heng’e were merely an innocent girl, Li Xudou thought this possibility wouldn’t be zero.
But Heng’e was not a girl; she was an ancient god who had lived for who knows how many years.
The fact she suddenly became mortal was suspicious in itself, which a lovesick Dayi was unwilling to investigate further.
"I know what you’re doubting, but Heng’e is different!"
The voice emerged again from the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow, and it was evident that Dayi had faced similar doubts before.
"To help me shoot the sun, she risked returning to the Taiyin Star, just to gather Guanghan Qi to forge the ’Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow.’"
Sharp in capturing the critical point in his words, Li Xudou suddenly interjected.
"Wait, is the way the moon is now related to Heng’e?"
Looking down at the broken moon beneath his feet, Li Xudou’s words caused Dayi to pause.
But he immediately denied Li Xudou’s speculation without hesitation and revealed an even more shocking truth.
"Of course not!"
"Although Guanghan Qi is the essence of Taiyin Qi, it couldn’t possibly cause the entire Taiyin Star to collapse."
"This Taiyin Star where we are now is not the Taiyin Star in the river of history, but a possibility split from it."
With a deep sigh, Dayi’s voice continued speaking.
"Did you see the twelve crystal coffins in the Guanghan Palace?"
"If my guess is correct, they should be the twelve Moon Palace Gods of this timeline, Heng’e’s sisters."
"In this timeline, the one demoted to mortal status was Heng’e’s youngest sister—Chang’e, while she herself is still lying in that crystal coffin."
Instantly recalling the complex patterns on those twelve crystal coffins, Li Xudou nodded thoughtfully.
They were likely not just patterns, but ancient texts circulated among the ancient gods during the rule of the Celestial Emperor.
Being a hero of that era, personally selected by the Celestial Emperor to be a warrior, and having married Heng’e, it’s not surprising Dayi could identify those ancient texts.
"I see!"
"So this is why you deduce that this timeline isn’t the main timeline!"
The broken moon and that empty coffin were the reasons that Dayi was so certain this timeline was a branch.
Yet sorting out the sequence of events gave rise to a new question in Li Xudou’s mind.
"The reason we appear on this timeline must be that we have a strong causal link with it."
"So the question arises: I and Lady Zhui are here because of your influence."
"Why then do you have a strong causal link with this timeline?"
As the saying goes, one phrase awakened the dreamer, and Li Xudou’s words plunged the atmosphere into silence once more.
Lady Zhui, who had been observing, could clearly see the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow in Li Xudou’s hand trembling uncontrollably.
"If I’m not mistaken, the eleven Moon Palace Gods in the coffins all looked identical."
"Does the Chang’e who emerged from the coffin also look identical to her sisters?"
Hearing Li Xudou’s words, the trembling of the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow intensified.
"Hou Yi, what do you mean by this?"
Gently tugging at Li Xudou’s sleeve, Lady Zhui asked cautiously in a low voice.
She had the feeling that Li Xudou’s question was like an arrow, sharply hitting Dayi’s vulnerability, causing him not to dare refute.
"A simple deduction."
"Just a certain someone doesn’t want to face the problem like an ostrich."
"Because of being pampered by her sisters since childhood, she’s naturally innocent and intolerant of the suffering of all beings."
"If such a Chang’e claimed to be Heng’e, who but close friends and family could uncover the truth?"
Upon hearing this seemingly suggestive remark from Li Xudou, the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow almost flew out of hand.
But Li Xudou had no intention of letting Dayi go and tightly gripped the Sun-Shooting Divine Arrow, asking the most fatal question.
"Dayi, how are you sure you married Heng’e and not Chang’e?"
☞☞ Moon Ticket ☜☜ / ☞☞ Recommendation Ticket ☜☜