The room steamed with breath; every stifled sound pressed like a lid on boiling water, reddening cheeks and kicking hearts into a gallop.

Sham’s upper body was bare; her smooth back lay under Yun Shi’s eyes like moonlit porcelain, skin so tender it begged a bite, softness inviting even from that gentle slope.

Sham gritted her teeth, as if swallowing pain; tiny beads of sweat pearled along her brow, and the rising breath made temptation feel like a shove toward the floor.

Any ordinary man would’ve snapped under this scene; desire and pain tangled like thorned roses—sweet and brutal.

But Yun Shi wasn’t a normal man; biologically she was a woman, yet by the soul’s measure, she was undeniably a man.

“I didn’t see anything, didn’t see anything…”

Yun Shi whispered to herself, trying to tie her thoughts like kites to a distant sky.

“What’s up? Talking to yourself?”

Sham turned her head, puzzled, eyes cool as a lake catching wind.

“Nothing! You’re overthinking!”

Caught by her gaze, Yun Shi’s nerves flared like struck flint; she shook off the stray thoughts buzzing like bees.

And now wasn’t the time anyway. The wounds striping Sham’s back were still bleeding in places; Yun Shi’s hands steadied, her gaze turned respectful.

No matter what, staring at a girl’s body was impolite; she’d trusted Yun Shi to bandage her, and trust wasn’t a toy.

Yun Shi drew a deep breath, braced herself like a sapling against rain, then reached for the first-aid kit.

“I’m going to use medicated alcohol.”

“Mm. Go ahead.”

Sham shut her eyes, shoulders tight, as if bracing for a blow.

Yun Shi didn’t hesitate; she poured the alcohol into her palm and swept a cool layer over the wounds.

“Sss— it burns!”

Sham jolted upright, pain cutting through her like a snapped string; tears almost pushed to the brink.

“Hold it. I can’t bandage you otherwise.”

Yun Shi spoke steady as a quiet stream, but inside she was a wildfire; Sham’s soft, helpless moans were danger and delight, stealing the air from her lungs.

“I—I got it…”

Sham surrendered, closing her eyes, letting Yun Shi’s hands move across that glass-bright back—no, across the raw edges of her wounds.

Between breaths, Sham’s occasional moan trembled like wind through reeds; she suffered under the sting, while Yun Shi sweated under a different heat, face flushed as sunset.

“Okay. I’m going to bandage you.”

Work done, Yun Shi exhaled like a storm easing; she took the gauze and wrapped Sham in white arcs, neat as petals.

“Mm—”

Sham bit down on sound, but couldn’t hold it; the suggestive tremor sent Yun Shi spinning between heaven and hell.

Damn it, this is torture.

She roared inside, yet held her face calm; pain and pleasure tied a knot she couldn’t show.

When the bandaging ended, Yun Shi hurried to pack the kit, then turned away as if from a blazing furnace.

Sham shot her a curious look—and for the record, she turned half-naked, wearing nothing at all. By fate or mischief, Yun Shi glanced back right then.

What filled her eyes was a half-bare body like a pale river; small wounds and fresh bandages couldn’t dull the glow. Smooth skin, twin peaks—temptation rose like mist from water at dawn.

“Hey! Put your clothes on, now!”

Yun Shi clapped a hand over her eyes, voice loud as a slapped drum.

“Why so nervous? We’re both girls. What’s there to fear?”

Sham sounded baffled, but she still scooped up her clothes and started dressing.

“Hmm… are you into me?”

A wicked thought flashed; Sham paused mid-button, smiling like a fox at the henhouse door.

“N-no way! How—how could I be into you! I—I’m a girl!”

By the last word, Yun Shi’s mind cracked like thin ice—she’d just admitted she was a girl.

Fine. Half of that was Sham’s fault, but the other half was truth she couldn’t dodge.

“You’re definitely into my body, aren’t you, little sis.”

“Impossible!”

“Oh? Still denying it? Don’t you want a few more looks?”

Sham deliberately showed off what she hadn’t finished covering; the sight was a poisoned candy. Yun Shi fought not to look, yet her gaze kept slipping like a moth toward light.

“Mm? So you are interested. Naughty. You can’t ogle my body like that; I’m a girl too, you’ll make me un-marriageable—”

Sham covered her face, playing coy like spring silk teasing the breeze.

Regretting knowing this devil!

Yun Shi’s earlier fondness evaporated like rain on hot stone; even that shy look turned infuriatingly smug.

“Just put your clothes on already!”

Right now, clothing was the battlefield that mattered.

Only when Sham finished dressing did Yun Shi truly breathe; any longer under that honeyed torture and she’d be nosebleeding on the floor.

“Ahem. Back to business—why were you fighting there?”

The knot had to be untied; otherwise nothing could be fixed.

“Simple. I had something they wanted, so they chased me down to kill and rob. That’s all.”

Sham spoke like it was weather, munching snacks with the calm of someone who’d earned a pass to raid the pantry.

“Details.”

“Not much, really. I told you before—I have something called an Artifact Spirit. That’s probably what they’re after.”

“I still don’t quite get it. What is an Artifact Spirit?”

“It’s nothing like a normal Magical Stone. In short, the Church fused techniques from the Magic Institution and the Clan Head to create it. It’s rare—only three in the world.”

“Fusing two great powers to make one stone—is that even possible?”

The Magic Institution and the Clan Head’s side were a tangle of alliances and feuds—partners and rivals, profit and harm, sometimes a clean cut, sometimes a knot.

To fuse those forces—was that truly doable?

“That’s what the Church claims. What’s inside, nobody knows. What’s certain is, they started this plan ages ago. Now it’s done, they need test subjects. Contracting an Artifact Spirit Witch—that’s probably the point.”

Sham tore open a bag of chips, words drifting out between crisp bites.

“Why did the Church make a thing like that?”

“How would I know? Once they finished, they gave us one Magical Stone; the other two they kept. Who knows what they’re planning.”

Her answer was fog over water—full of unknowns. Which meant she had no clue whether the Church crafted Artifact Spirits to save or to ruin; the intent was hidden.

“What’s certain is, an Artifact Spirit holds power no normal Magical Stone can match. Most important, its power is… unknown.”

Yun Shi listened in quiet like snow settling; every so often a thought stirred like a bird wing.

She hadn’t imagined a stone with a past this vast. No wonder Sham was desperate to recruit her. Artifact Spirits choose their own master; if Sham had found the one it favored, why would she let Yun Shi go?

Only Yun Shi didn’t understand why an Artifact Spirit chose her.

“By the way, you’re a girl. Why dress so masculine? Not cute at all.”

Sham tossed the question like a pebble into a still pond. When she first met Yun Shi, she couldn’t tell if she was male or female; if she hadn’t accidentally seen Yun Shi naked, she’d still be guessing.

Since she knew now, she wanted to know why Yun Shi dressed like this.

Yun Shi went quiet, head bowed as if to shelter from rain; the room sank into awkward calm like fog at dawn.

“Sorry. Did I say something wrong?”

The mood dulled the taste of snacks; Sham spoke soft, careful as fingers touching glass.

“It’s fine. I’m going out to buy things. You stay and watch the place. Don’t wander.”

Yun Shi left the words like a leaf on the table, then turned and stepped out, as if avoiding something sharp.

Sham nibbled in confusion, silently watching Yun Shi’s back slip away like a shadow.

“Come to think of it, I’ve been clinging to her this whole time.”

From the start till now, she hadn’t really left Yun Shi’s sight.

Call it fate—thorned and tangled.

Yun Shi closed the door and walked the street alone; somewhere along the path, her face took on a look of remembrance, soft as dusk.

“Why dress like a boy…”

She glanced at her hands—small and delicate, unlike the broad hands in her memory, like two worlds laid side by side.

Her body had changed long ago; only memory remained, a relic she carried like a charm in her sleeve.

“Maybe I never needed to dress this way.”

Yun Shi gave a bitter smile, then stopped thinking and let her feet drift along a path with no landmark, like a leaf following current.

Inside, she counted herself male; outside, reality said otherwise. Dressing this way was just escape—dodging a truth she feared to face.

Or it was mourning—a rite for a past she couldn’t return to.

It might even be forgetting—letting the good and the hurt fade, so the days would grow gentler, like fog lifting from a valley.

“I still can’t forget the day Mia and Eil died before my eyes. Their deaths taught me the world isn’t as simple as a dream. Reality is cruel; those who can’t cross its river have no right even to survive.”

Yun Shi walked the broad road, brushing past countless shoulders like leaves touching in wind, yet never tangling with a single branch.

“If I could forget everything—if nothing had ever happened—so many things would be simpler. Those who live inside pain can’t taste happiness. If I can’t have it, then let it all go—joy and sorrow alike. Maybe living would feel lighter.”

A cold wind slipped through, lifting a few strands of her bangs like reeds swaying; her gaze looked flat as calm water, but anyone who looked closely would see the quiet helplessness hidden in her eyes.