Yang Jian's Intent: Every Thought of Cunxin

A new Heavenly Decree was issued, and all three realms celebrated. Yang Jian had completed his mission and retired, yet his mind was elsewhere. He went alone to Liubo Reef in the West Sea, where he discovered that after her title had been stripped away, Cunxin had volunteered to guard the place, enduring hardship for three hundred years. A child peeked out from behind a reef. The child's eyes and brows resembled Cunxin's, while the chin resembled his. Cunxin said nothing. The child said, "My mother told me my father is dead."

Yang Jian began patrolling the sea day after day. Cunxin coldly rejected him, and the child was unruly, but he would not give up. The night the child was gravely injured, Cunxin stayed awake for three days, while Yang Jian stood outside the door for three days. As the child drifted in and out of consciousness, they called out, "Father." Yang Jian wept.

Someone at the Heavenly Court accused him of "having an affair with a disgraced dragon maiden." Chang'e descended to the mortal realm to "comfort" Cunxin, every word polished, every word a landmine. "You defied Heaven and took the blame for him. He remembers that. But being moved isn't the same as love." For the first time in three hundred years, Cunxin cried, not because she felt wronged, but because she realized she was still waiting to hear, "You deserve to be loved."

Cunxin was torn between her feelings and her resistance. She remembered defying Heaven for him, protecting his corpse, taking the blame, and being sentenced to remain forever in the West Sea. She remembered that she had always come after Xiaotian Dog, Yang Chan, his master, and his brothers. It had taken her three hundred years to learn not to depend on him.

At court, Yang Jian tore up the memorial and declared, "In this life, Yang Jian has only one wife. Her surname is Ao, and her name is Cunxin." On Liubo Reef, Cunxin heard him. The needle pierced her finger. She laughed, then cried.

On the reef, Yang Jian laid down his plaque as the Judicial God. Cunxin rested her forehead against his chest and said, "I defied Heaven and took the blame for you. What have you ever given me?" Yang Jian said, "I'll give you everything from now on." The child poked their head out. "You two, stop dawdling. I'm hungry." The three of them laughed.