Jin Feiyu sat in the yard behind Butterfly Kisses, fully focussed on holding a small hammer and knocking on a pile of wood. In the splintering wood chips, a wooden butterfly-shaped rocking chair half a person's height was revealed. It was not yet finished, but each step in the process was so finely detailed that it was astonishing. Sunlight pierced through the lush green leaves, casting dappled, swaying patterns around him, creating a serene tranquility. The noisy chatter from outside the bar was completely isolated in the farthest place.
"After painting it, this rocking chair will be considered completed," Jin Feiyu set down his tools, blew away the sawdust clinging to the armrests of the rocking chair, and gently rocked it with satisfaction. "Do you know how long I've been working on this?"
He looked up and asked Ku Yue, who was sitting across from him. Ku Yue put down the book in his hand, his eyes half-closed as he shook his head.
"A thousand years," Jin Feiyu turned around and picked up a bucket of paint, carefully applying it to the rocking chair. "I promised Mo that I would personally make a butterfly-shaped rocking chair as a gift for her. But I've actually been preparing this gift for a thousand years. It's ridiculous."
"If you were given the chance to choose again, would you still abandon your daughter?" Ku Yue asked slowly. "After all, you were just an alchemist under the Snow Butterfly King. Is it necessary to be so 'great'?"
"The king and queen have been generous to me," Jin Feiyu smiled. "Besides, the king at that time was no longer the lofty Snow Butterfly King, but just a father who had no opportunity to protect his daughter."
"You saved someone else's daughter while your own daughter has spent nearly a thousand years trying to take your life. And yet, you're in the mood doing woodworking here," Ku Yue cocked his head and said sarcastically, "Your mentality is truly exceptional."
"I'm glad that she came to kill me," The brush in Jin Feiyu's hand was moving delicately, "Knowing that she's still alive is more gratifying to me than anything else. Those despicable invaders from back then probably never imagined until their death that the king and queen would unleash the Cataclysmic Flame Curse sealed beneath the royal palace at the last moment, turning the entire Bright Rainbow Realm into a scorching purgatory. The wings of the Night Butterflies were reborn in the flames, reducing all our enemies and our entire homeland to nothingness in the void." He paused and sighed.
Ku Yue chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I never expected that the figure I saw by the Knowing Cold Valley pond all those years ago was you. What's even more unexpected is that a thousand years later, I would be hired to eliminate you, the Snow Butterfly Alchemist who once had rank and status in the Butterfly clan and was rarely seen in person."
"Fate is so interesting," Jin Feiyu dipped his brush into a different color of paint and continued his work, "I've already refined enough Soul Gathering Crystal Stars for everyone to use, every aspect of Moon City is becoming increasingly stable, and Luoye has also grown up. All these years, I didn't confront Mo directly, all for the sake of focusing on completing these real 'jobs.' Now, everything is ready."
Ku Yue frowned as he looked at the relaxed Jin Feiyu, "What are you planning…"
"After I finish my work, you can start yours," Jin Feiyu smiled at him. "You can take my body to your employer to report the job done." He paused for a moment, "But you won't need to get your hands dirty personally."
"What do you mean?" He really couldn't see through this man.
"I know what Mo has been up to this time. My subordinates are aware of it as well. She issued a 'death notice' to Moon City months ago, and the day after tomorrow, she intends to bring ruin and death to Moon City. Haha, she's rather aboveboard in that regard," Jin Feiyu's expression turned serious. "Barring any unforeseen circumstances, a large number of humans will gather outside Moon City the day after tomorrow, armed with their most advanced weapons. Mo will assist them in breaking my barrier and opening a passage into Moon City. I need to ensure the safety of Moon City."
"You want…" Ku Yue thought for a moment before blurting out, "to use the Great Illusion forbidden spell of the Snow Butterflies?"
"You have quite a broad knowledge," Jin Feiyu laughed unconcernedly and stated nonchalantly, "As long as those folks, including Mo, forever see the entire Moon City as an empty field, or a lake, or a mountain ridge, all the problems will be resolved."
"To create this perpetual illusion, you'll have to risk your life," Ku Yue coldly reminded him.
"I've come out ahead in this exchange," Jin Feiyu lowered his head, carefully adding color to the rocking chair, "But please keep it a secret for me. The version I'm publicly stating is that as long as everyone works hard to combine their psychic powers and focuses them on the barrier, no invaders can break through Moon City."
Ku Yue stood up and, as he left, he said without looking back, "Very well. I'll have it easy. The day after tomorrow, I'll come to collect your body."
"Thank you." Behind Ku Yue, a soft melody began to play, the familiar "Butterfly Kisses"...
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