btth: crafting even heaven

---

🌒 Xiao Clan Estate – Outer Garden (Evening)

The moonlight fell like pale silk over the cobbled paths of the estate's eastern wing. Tianzun leaned against a cold stone balustrade, overlooking the silent reflection pool where koi drifted like quiet thoughts.

Behind him, footsteps slowed.

"You're always here when it gets quiet," Xun'er said softly.

Tianzun didn't turn. "Because it's when people speak the truth they think they've hidden."

She stood beside him. The water mirrored their silhouettes—two shadows too young for the weight they carried.

"You... knew I would come here?"

He nodded slightly. "You walked past the left pavilion three times this week, slowed near the cherry bend—this was inevitable."

She blinked. Then smiled faintly. "You're always watching."

Tianzun's gaze didn't shift. "No. I'm always remembering."

Xun'er studied him—his jaw, his lashes, his silence. "You don't act like a child."

"Because I'm not treated like one."

She tilted her head. "Why do I feel like you see more than you let on?"

He finally turned to her, his eyes unreadable. "You're worried. About your presence here. The others. Your role."

Her breath caught. "How—"

"Because if I were you, I would be."

Silence stretched between them like string under tension.

Then Tianzun spoke again, voice lower. "You're not the only one with secrets. But secrets are safest when kept unspoken."

She nodded slowly, absorbing that.

> "He speaks like someone far older... or far more dangerous."

---

🛠 Crafting Realm – Interior Chamber

Hours later, Tianzun floated cross-legged within the heart of his inner sanctum. In front of him hovered the pill condensation station, while the reservoir of Dou Qi formed a slow-rotating spiral around his soul-form.

His thoughts moved faster than his hands.

> "No distractions. No arrogance. Just refinement."

> "The path to Dou Shi is not through brute force—it's through harmony of internal rhythm."

He continued circulating Qi—repeating the compression into pseudo-senzu spheres, controlling, reducing, storing. Each compression increased control. Each success shaved milliseconds off his reaction time.

His soul pulsed against the flame.

---

🌌 Xiao Clan Guest Residence – Rooftop

Yoru crouched, watching the estate's front courtyard through narrowed eyes. Her gaze flicked to Xun'er walking across the flagstones alone, her expression unreadable.

> "She hides her power well... too well."

> "But the Master hides better."

She felt no jealousy. But instinct whispered something else. An uncertainty.

> "Keep her close. But not too close."

---

📜 System Record – Destiny Pulse Scan \[TARGET: Gu Xun'er]

▶️ Color Grade: Crimson-Gold

▶️ Fate Stability: 79.2% (High)

▶️ Destiny Interaction: Type-4 Anomaly

▶️ Possible Threads: \[Heir of Ancient Blood] | \[Tuo She Jade Trigger] | \[Timeline Divergence Detected]

▶️ System Suggestion: Destiny Intervention Mission (SS-Rank) – Pending

Tianzun closed the panel.

> *"So. She's not just plot-critical. She's timeline-resistant."*

> *"Perfect. The harder the weave, the more power in unraveling it."*

---

💭 Internal Monologue – Training Grounds (Evening)

Tianzun watched from afar as Xun'er sparred with Xiao Yan under Xiao Zhan's supervision. Her movements were crisp. Too crisp.

> *"Combat stances from the Gu Phoenix School. She's suppressing strength. Five percent, maybe seven."*

> *"Xiao Yan smiles like a puppy chasing sunlight. He doesn't know she's forged from something hotter than fire."*

She stumbled. Xiao Yan caught her arm, laughing.

She smiled.

Tianzun's lips barely moved.

> *"He thinks it's affection. It's testing. She's checking his reaction. Gauging tenderness. His simplicity gives her comfort."*

He turned away.

> *"But she looks for me in silence."*

---

🏮 Xiao Clan – Outer Market District

That evening, Tianzun visited the lesser-traveled alleys of Wu Tan City, beneath the banner of dusk. His robe hooded, presence masked.

He didn't browse the trinkets. He observed people.

A merchant hawked fake Beast cores.

A fortune teller spun lies from real Qi-reading techniques.

A young boy traded a secret martial scroll for a bag of stale buns.

He watched. Memorized patterns. Logged faces. Traced spiritual pressure.

Not because he was curious.

Because chaos requires context.

Then he visited an incense vendor.

Bought one vial.

Phoenix Lotus scent.

Placed it in Xun'er's garden walkway that night.

By morning, it was gone.

---

🔥 Yoru's Suspicion

"You're watching her," Yoru said the next day, brushing her long hair back as she joined him in the courtyard.

"Of course."

"Why not just speak to her more? Charm her directly?"

Tianzun looked at the lotus blossoms.

"Because predators who show teeth too soon lose their prey."

Yoru's gaze sharpened.

> "You talk like you want her heart. But your voice sounds like you want her fate."

> *He smiled faintly.*

> "Sometimes those are the same thing."

---

🌸 The Garden Encounter – Accidental or Not?

Xun'er passed by the rear garden.

Tianzun sat with a book open—not reading, but sketching alchemy diagrams with a brush made from Beast-hair.

She hesitated.

He didn't look up.

She moved closer.

> "That technique you used yesterday during training... it resembled a compression-style Dou Qi art."

> "It is."

> "But the Xiao Clan doesn't teach those."

> "They don't."

She tilted her head, curious.

> "Did someone teach you?"

He finally looked up, just a little.

> "Maybe."

> "You're hard to talk to."

> "No. I'm hard to read. Talking's easy."

She stared at him, studying the calmness in his tone. The way his eyes never danced, but always cut.

> "Then what are you thinking now?"

> "That your instincts are louder than your steps."

She paused, startled by the answer.

He returned to his diagrams.

> "I hope you like the bookmark."

She gasped softly.

> "You did—"

> "—Not say anything," he finished, standing.

And just like that, he walked away, leaving the scent of Phoenix Lotus lingering behind him.

---

📌 Later That Night – Gu Clan Hidden Communication Scroll

Xun'er wrote in elegant brushstrokes:

> "He's not like others. He reads too much. Knows too much.

> I sense neither threat nor loyalty. Only calculation."

Ling Ying replied:

> "Then let him believe he sees. Let him believe he reads.

> The Gu Clan plays deeper games than any child could imagine."

She read the words.

Then, burned the scroll.

> *"You're wrong, Uncle Ying," she thought, staring at the stars.*

> *"He doesn't play the game. He is the game."*

Tianzun tapped his ink brush against the edge of the table.

> *"She walks near the fire, but she doesn't know it's alive."*

He leaned back.

> *"Now\... let's see if you follow scent, sound, or silence."*

---

📌 End of Chapter 18