Death: Captain Millennium

The cold moonlight fell on the ground like a veil, condensing into a staircase shining with silver light.

Just as Lu Qu Bayunzhai stepped onto the Moonlit Staircase, he heard a crisp sound, and the extremely solid steps began to break apart inch by inch!

She quickly pulled out the moon dial from her waist and stabbed it hard into the ice wall beside her.

The tip of the knife rubbed violently against the iron-hard Taiyin Xuanbing, emitting faint blue sparks that were as dazzling as colorful fireworks blooming in the night sky.

And in the bottomless abyss below, countless beautiful butterflies transformed from the moonlight were frantically gnawing at the traces of spiritual pressure she left behind when she came.

As the butterfly wings fluttered gently, a faint but strange light flashed, which made people shudder.

"This is already the third level of illusion..."

Bayunzhai gasped for breath and climbed up the ice platform in front of him.

At this time, the snow-white haori on her body had already condensed with a thin layer of frost, just like the plum blossoms blooming in the cold winter, which was as sad and beautiful as it was.

Ever since she set foot on the Moon, she felt like she had fallen into an endless corridor of time and space. Heartbreaking images flashed before her eyes one after another:

The captain who was brutally murdered by Yhwach a thousand years ago; the poor child in Rukongai who was accidentally injured due to a momentary negligence a hundred years ago; and the scene of the fierce quarrel with Lin Yu yesterday... These memories flooded into her heart like a tide, making it almost unbearable for her.

What's even more terrifying is that every time she wants to successfully break the illusion before her, she has to give up some of her precious memories.

As time went by, the memories in her mind became more and more blurred, as if an invisible hand was erasing every bit of her experience.

In the center of the ice platform that exudes a biting cold, a mysterious halo like a crescent moon quietly floats in the air, as if telling an unknown ancient legend.

Bayunzhai cautiously stretched out his hand, wanting to touch this strange halo.

Just as her fingertips touched the halo, a clear and rapid sound suddenly came from all around - the sound of the Jade Rabbit pounding medicine!

Nine moon rabbits, each shining with silver-white light, leaped out from the surrounding ice crystals like lightning.

Between their claws, they tightly grasped medicinal pestles engraved with dense star patterns, which looked mysterious.

"Why is it you again?"

Seeing this, Bayunzhai couldn't help but frown and let out a cry.

Because in the first two illusions, it was these creatures that looked extremely cute that had mercilessly smashed her collarbone with a pestle.

Facing this group of scary guys again, she couldn't help but feel a little alert.

What is even more creepy is that this time, the eyes of these moon rabbits actually glowed with an extremely strange red light, and the tips of the pestles in their hands were condensed with a thick layer of black ice, emitting bursts of terrifying cold air.

The leading jade rabbit suddenly opened its mouth and uttered something that shocked Bayunzhai: "If you leave behind a heart of regret, you will be baptized by the moonlight."

What was even stranger was that the Jade Rabbit's voice was exactly the same as Bayunzhai's own! The other Jade Rabbits also chimed in, repeating these words full of temptation and threat in unison.

As the Jade Rabbits kept repeating this sentence, Bayunzhai felt as if her heart was being tightly gripped by an invisible giant hand. Every time she said it, the painful feeling of being squeezed would intensify, making it almost impossible for her to breathe.

The moon dial suddenly began to tremble violently, as if trying to break free from its owner's control.

Bayunzhai was startled and looked down quickly, only to find that the hilt of the knife had been wrapped with strands of moonlight silk thread without him noticing!

These moonlight threads were like nimble snakes, rapidly climbing up her arms and heading straight towards her heart.

"I see......"

Faced with such a strange scene, Bayunzhai unexpectedly laughed suddenly, with a bit of disdain in his laughter, "I understand now, so this is what you are planning." Before he finished speaking, a cold light suddenly flashed, crossing the night sky like lightning.

At the moment when the Moon Dial cut the silk thread, Bayunsai suddenly turned his wrist with lightning speed and stabbed the Zanpakutō in his hand straight into his left chest!

There was no blood gushing out as imagined, but instead a cloud of memory as hazy as mist was slowly picked out from the wound by the tip of the knife.

Looking closely, a picture suddenly appeared in the misty memory - a thousand years ago, it was because of his momentary misjudgment that his best friend Lin Yu fell into a century-long sleep.

This memory is undoubtedly the thing that Bayunzhai regrets most in his life.

At the same time, the Jade Rabbits that had been swooping down with fierce momentum and screaming, turned into crystal clear ice sculptures the moment they came into contact with the memory mist. They stood frozen on the spot, unable to move at all.

Bayunzhai gently raised his hand to wipe away the ice crystals that had formed at the corners of his eyes. He stared at the mist that gradually dissipated in the bright moonlight and said coldly, "You are the ones who should truly regret this. You actually dared to try to spy on my consciousness as a god of death."

After saying this, she slowly pulled out the Moon Dial that was inserted into her chest. Following a slight humming sound, the blade flashed with dazzling light, as if responding to its owner.

The ice platform cracked with a loud bang, revealing a passage leading to the main hall. Bayunsai's Zanpakutō suddenly chimed, and patterns reminiscent of the changing phases of the moon appeared on the blade—this was the "Tsukuyomi" form he had awakened after breaking through the triple illusion.

In the main hall, a huge moon was quietly suspended in the air, emitting a soft and cool light, as if it was weaving the water-like moonlight into a snow-white cocoon.

Bayunzhai stepped into the palace carefully, and her footsteps echoed in the empty hall.

Suddenly, a cold, ethereal and pleasant female voice echoed from the dome: "To have come all the way here, it seems you have some skills. You are qualified to see the true appearance of Taiyin."

The originally quiet moonlight cocoon suddenly burst out with dazzling light and exploded in an instant.

A figure descended slowly through the air barefoot like a fairy descending to earth.

This person was wearing a robe with long silver hair, which danced gently in the wind, like flowing moonlight; his face was extremely beautiful, but he had a cold temperament that made people dare not look directly at him.

When the silver-haired woman arrived, the mysterious moon pattern flashing on her forehead actually echoed the moon mark on Bayunzhai's forehead.

In an instant, the entire magnificent palace seemed to be driven by some powerful force and began to slowly rotate in the opposite direction.

Bayunzhai was astonished to find that as the palace rotated, a magical energy was continuously injected into his body.

Her body underwent an astonishing change - her mature and steady appearance gradually faded, replaced by the appearance of a young and naive child.

"Who are you?"

Bayunzhai, who had become a tiny girl at this moment, tightly grasped the moon dial that was much taller than herself, looked up at the silver-haired woman who was standing tall in front of her, and asked in a baby voice.

The silver-haired woman lowered her eyes slightly, looking at the little person, a barely perceptible smile playing on the corner of her mouth, and she said softly: "I am Wangshu, the Lord of the Moon!"

In response to Bayunzhai's question, she simply replied with this sentence.

Wangshu stretched out his delicate hand and lightly touched his fingertips. Suddenly, the moon-shaped hour-dial tightly held in Bayunzhai's hand underwent a miraculous transformation, transforming into a crystal clear laurel branch in the blink of an eye.

"My Moon Wheel has always only saved those who are willing to help."

Wangshu's voice was still cold, but there seemed to be a different meaning in it.

Behind her, the shadow of an ancient and magnificent ancient moon palace gradually emerged. The moon shadow was hazy and illusory, so beautiful that it made people yearn for it.

"Tell me, little one, why on earth did you trespass into this forbidden area of ​​the Moon Palace?"

Wangshu looked at Bayunzhai with a cold look between his brows.