Shen Yu carefully picked up a piece of snow-skin mooncake. Upon entering his mouth, it first brought a cool sweetness, followed by the dense red bean paste, which melted on his tongue wrapped in the faint fragrance of fresh flowers.
“Divine Lady, not only is this mooncake exquisitely made, but its taste is also extremely beautiful,” he looked up, his eyes filled with wonder. “Such a delicacy, perfect in color, aroma, and taste, is something probably only the immortals in heaven could make.”
These words were not mere flattery, but from the bottom of his heart.
Born in the Marquis of Ningyuan's estate in the capital, he had naturally eaten countless delicacies, yet he had never tasted a mooncake this delicious.
The Divine Lady parted her lips slightly and said indifferently, “The Jade Rabbit of the Moon Palace loves to tinker with these little pastries, kneading some glutinous rice flour, mixing in some flower juice and fruit pulp, and leaving them to chill in an ice cellar for a few hours. With mortal wisdom, if one studies it a bit, they can make it too.”
She spoke of it casually, as if heaven and the mortal realm were separated by only a single wall.
Outside the hall, Shen Jue stood in the shadows beneath a tree, staring at the Divine Lady and Shen Yu inside for a long time.
Unknowingly, his knuckles turned white as he gripped the hilt of his sword.
The Divine Lady was always as distant and indifferent to him as the mist on far-off mountains. She had never spoken an extra word to him, let alone shown him any closeness.
He had originally thought that the Divine Lady treated everyone the same, but only after witnessing firsthand how She treated Shen Yu, Fang Shuo, and Pei Wanning did he realize that he was the only one She did not like.
She would indulge Fang Shuo, and She also gave Pei Wanning unique favor, letting her govern Xindu City alone. Now, on the Mid-Autumn Festival, She had even bestowed mooncakes upon Shen Yu, conversing with him so pleasantly...
Shen Jue slowly closed his eyes. An extremely bitter, sour feeling rose in his throat, as if he had drunk a cup of cold tea.
That sourness gradually sank and settled in his chest, refusing to dissipate for a long time, leaving him feeling suffocated and aching.
The moonlight stretched his shadow very long, dragging it lonely across the bluestone pavement, making him look rather pitiful.
Meanwhile, inside the main hall of the Divine Lady Temple, Yun Shu seemed to sense something. She raised her eyes and quickly swept her gaze across the night outside the hall, immediately locking onto Shen Jue's figure.
She felt a little surprised; she had not expected it to be him.
Actually, she had felt someone's presence outside the hall just now, but since the other party harbored no ill intent, she had not paid it much mind. It was only when that gaze became increasingly burning that it caught her attention.
Holding the plate of snow-skin mooncakes, Shen Yu looked at the Divine Lady, who was close at hand, and gathered his courage to say, “Divine Lady, if I am fortunate enough to make mooncakes identical to those of the Moon Palace, would You and Lord Spirit Fox have time to descend to the mortal realm to taste them?”
In the corner, the little fox, who was drawing circles, perked up its ears when it heard Shen Yu's words.
“Hehehe,” Shen Yu was indeed sensible, knowing to invite it to descend to the mortal realm to eat the snow-skin mooncakes he made.
It was just secretly rejoicing when Yun Shu rejected the offer without hesitation.
“I do not consume mortal grains. As for the spirit fox, you must not continue to indulge it and let it demand things from you.”
The little fox turned to look at Yun Shu with a deeply aggrieved expression, its two previously perked-up ears drooping down.
Just as disappointed as the fox was Shen Yu.
Watching the Divine Lady's figure gradually vanish from the Divine Lady Temple, he suddenly felt a void in his heart.
He should not have hoped for too much.
But he was a mortal after all, unable to completely control his emotions. In his heart, he privately wished to see the Divine Lady more, even if it was just to catch a glimpse of Her from afar.
After turning invisible, Yun Shu turned and walked to the corner. Her back was to Shen Yu, so she did not see the loneliness in his eyes.
“Still angry?” She bent down, reaching out to scoop up the little fox, who was sulking all by itself, and walked out of the hall.
The little fox whimpered and accused her, “Host, you are so biased! You bought expensive snow-skin mooncakes for Shen Yu, but only bought cheap, ordinary ones for me, and you even said you liked me the most! A woman's mouth is a lying ghost! I worked so hard to cooperate with you, and my whole body has gotten so much thinner, yet you won't even give me anything good to eat, you ungrateful jerk...”
“Alright, stop chanting.” Yun Shu, unable to bear it any longer, pinched the little fox's snout, manually muting it.
“I didn't forget your share.”
Seeing Yun Shu take out a plate of snow-skin mooncakes, the little fox's eyes instantly lit up. “Host, you actually remembered that I like cranberry-flavored snow-skin mooncakes!”
“Host, you are the best.” Its expression flipped in an instant, its palm-sized fox face filled with flattery.
Looking at the little fox, whose mind was getting sharper and sharper, Yun Shu could not help but miss the old days when it was so easy to fool.
Sigh.
Indeed, people change.
Hmm? Something seemed off.
The system was an artificial intelligence, not a human. Why would its personality change?
She asked casually, “System, can you systems add some human emotions to yourselves?”
The little fox was munching on its snow-skin mooncake. Caught off guard by Yun Shu's sudden question, it answered subconsciously, “No, we can't.”
Hearing this, Yun Shu narrowed her eyes slightly.
“System, you're not being honest. I clearly remember you telling me last time that your programming was updated with sensibility, which made it easier for you to shed tears. So you were lying to me?”
“Emmm...”
The little fox confessed honestly, “Actually, systems don't have human emotions at all. Back then, there was probably some glitch in my program. I was afraid you would reject me, so I just made up the excuse that sensibility was added to my program.”
When it bound itself to Yun Shu, it had already exhausted its energy. If Yun Shu also chose to unbind from it, it would have been recycled as trash by the Great God and instantly refined into another system.
Not hearing Yun Shu speak for a long time, the little fox thought she was angry at its deception, so it quickly explained, “Host, I swear, I only lied to you about this one thing!”
Yun Shu stared at the little fox for a moment before retracting her gaze and continuing to walk out of the hall.
“I'm not angry. We weren't familiar with each other at the beginning, and didn't I lie to you too? Let's just call it even.”
Hearing this, the little fox instantly breathed a sigh of relief. It lightheartedly went back to eating its snow-skin mooncake, completely unaware of what Yun Shu was actually thinking.
By the time they reached the outside of the hall, it had just finished the plate of snow-skin mooncakes with the speed of a wind sweeping away remnant clouds. Just as it was about to secretly lick its paws before Yun Shu could notice, it saw Shen Jue, who had been waiting outside for who knew how long. “Host, it's the male lead! He looks really down and depressed.”
“What is Shen Jue's Favorability at now?”
Nestled in Yun Shu's arms, the little fox used its small paws to swipe the system panel and pulled up the Favorability page.
“Host, probably because you haven't paid attention to the male lead for a long time and often ignore him, his Favorability has been fluctuating up and down. It's currently around 60.”
It glanced at Yun Shu. “Host, don't you want to avoid targeting the male lead? Why are you asking about this?”
“Keep an eye on Shen Jue's Favorability. If it ever exceeds 80, remember to tell me,” Yun Shu said.
The revolutionary cause was just getting started. She was truly afraid that if Shen Jue fell into a self-favorability loop, his Favorability would suddenly max out.
Therefore, as long as the Favorability exceeded 80, she would have to employ some special measures just in case.
Although this would be pure collateral damage for Shen Jue, she had no other choice and could only apologize to him in her heart.
Rate on N.U.
