“Sister Dixue, up you get—Sister Dawn Goose needs you.”

“Mm~ coming…”

A drowsy murmur brushed my ear like a sparrow in reeds, and Yue Liuyi opened her eyes to find—Yue Liuyi stretching like a lazy cat on the bed.

(Hold on… Yue Liuyi?)

My heart kicked like a startled deer; I blinked—no mistake, a blue‑haired cutie was yawning, her aquamarine strands spilling over the sheets like waterlight.

(That’s Yue Liuyi—then who am I… did I turn back into Dongfang Chen?)

I grabbed for my chest; the weight felt lighter, the skin smooth as river‑worn jade, a touch that was dangerous in its softness.

(Meow meow meow???)

“Ah, Little Yue, morning… Huh? Huh—HUH?!?!”

The blue‑haired girl turned, saw me, and toppled onto the mattress like a windblown leaf, a face like she’d spotted a ghost or a creep.

(I’m done for—did I become some neither‑man‑nor‑woman shape?!)

A silver strand slid before my eyes like moonlight.

“Wait… my hair’s silver… no—no way!!!!”

I screamed; the room quivered like a plucked string.

—

“So… you two swapped bodies?”

“Mm~”

“Yue Liuyi” nodded, bright as spring water—no, Dixue nodding inside Yue’s shell—blue hair blazing like sky silk, now in her most glamorous blue dress.

“No wonder when we called for Sister Dixue, Sister Liuyi answered—totally spooked me!”

Zero Wei’s cat ears twitched, soft as grass; dusk spilled gold through ragged clouds, painting Lingwei’s white tail the color of warm honey.

“So… we can’t just topple Sister Yue now? Because Sister Dixue’s inside?”

Zaocun’s ears flicked like playful fans; the catfolk girl spent all day on the Skyship, either roaming like a breeze or sprawled on the big couch like a sunbeam.

“You can’t topple anyone anytime!”

I waved in protest, plain dress hanging like a quiet curtain; inside the silver‑haired body, my worry wasn’t just the swap—it gnawed like winter wind.

(Powers shouldn’t swap—probably. I need to shadow LittleSnow; if she senses that strange mana drain, I won’t be able to explain.)

“Little Yue’s grip is tiny, and with this bust, walking must be a workout, huh?”

The blue‑haired girl pressed her hands to her chest, squeezing with the mischief of a kitten.

“B‑bust?!”

I nearly head‑butted the table like a charging ram; how do you answer that—me, a guy, inside another girl’s body, discussing… her boobs?

This one line could headline a light grimoire—it’d sell like hot buns.

“Your magic paths were already similar; this outcome isn’t surprising.”

Maria lifted a tiny pipe like a moon‑white reed, eyes sharp as a hawk’s: “I noticed during Little Yue’s Collaborator test; Butterfly Whisper, Sakura Scatter—Dixue’s signature—popped out for a reason.”

“When can they switch back?”

Xiang Xiaoyan’s gaze drifted between Yedie Snow and me like a pendulum, worry woven tight as ivy.

“Probably after one more sleep. In sleep, the soul wanders like mist outside the body; on return, their paths are so alike there’s a tiny chance of mixing.”

“Eh? Lady Maria, can someone even mistake themselves?”

“It’s possible. In dreams, many people redefine the self like painters repainting the dawn.”

“So… we wait for the next grilling?”

Dawn Goose muttered; her deep‑purple hair fell like night rain.

“Grilling? Like putting dried fish over flame, sniffing, then munching~ Zaocun loves that~”

“No, Zaocun—grilling is grabbing someone, using tools to train them till they submit!”

Zero Wei explained with priestly gravity, to a kitten’s wide‑eyed wonder.

“Alright, alright—you two catfolk perfectly show pure at two extremes. The adults have work; go play elsewhere~”

The blue‑haired girl stood, shooing them like kittens; then she threw Maria a glare sharp as a needle: “Maria, what are you feeding Lingwei—‘training’? We’re the righteous Rangers Lodge, not some cult villain crew!”

“To keep my upright image, next time we’ll play a pure‑love gal.”

“Either way, if ‘interrogation’ fits here, we’re not much of a justice group…”

I sighed, breath drifting like steam; somehow I’d already slipped into everyone’s rhythm.

“It’s a police commission. They couldn’t crack her, so it’s on us.”

“Even the police couldn’t… Dawn Goose, you mean—”

“Blood Dancer’s interrogation request. I locked her in the Beast Chamber.”

—

The Beast Chamber—named for beasts—held its silence like a cave.

The Skyship has no prison or black cell, so Xiang Xiaoyan confined Blood Dancer there, anti‑magic shackles and iron bars biting like frost, keeping her still.

This afternoon, Dawn Goose tried all kinds of methods; Blood Dancer wouldn’t bend to sweet words or threats, giving the purple‑haired girl a headache like a drum.

No choice—time to ask Dixue.

“Interrogation… but I’m in Little Yue’s body! It’s too cute to glare—bad for questioning!”

Blue hair swirled as she lifted her skirt hem and spun, a bright wheel like a festival lantern.

“Then dress fierce.”

Dawn Goose propped her cheek on one hand, thinking hard, thoughts like flint sparks.

“Leather whip, leather suit, high heels? Sounds fun~”

“Don’t use someone else’s body for weird stuff!!!”

An image of me in leather, whip in hand, flashed cold as iron; I shuddered.

“Mm… then my own body can wear it. Never tried; might look cool.”

Dixue nodded, eyes bright as stars, looking at the silver‑haired me with expectant glow.

“Still no!!!”

“Then I’ll wear it. Maybe I failed earlier because my look was too casual.”

“Why must it be leather?!”

I ranted till my lungs felt like bellows—again being teased without noticing the trap.

“Hmph! Thousand Night Snow, whatever you try, I won’t speak.”

Behind the bars, Blood Dancer stood in a torn blood‑red kimono, mature curves like willow arcs; her sultry face, worn down by last night’s battle and endless questioning, was now a bit haggard.

“Uh… I’m not Thousand Night Snow now. If you want Yedie Snow, she’s right here.”

I gestured politely, pointing like a quiet spring toward the blue‑haired girl.

“Mm. That’s me.”

Arms crossed, the blue‑haired girl nodded, face frosted like a winter lake—but no matter how hard Dixue tried, Yue’s features stayed cute as a fawn; her Imperious Stare softened into a girlish pout.

“Pfft…”

Seeing the effort, I burst into laughter, a bubble rising like air from a pond.

“Hey! Little Yue, why are you laughing? You made me break character!”

“Hehe… it just looks so silly.”

I didn’t realize I usually look exactly like that—mirror and moon trading faces.

“What can I do? I’m trying my best!”

“Are you two playing me?!”

Watching us joke in front of her, Blood Dancer surged up like a flame, but the bars caught her anger like a net.

“Okay, okay, don’t be mad. Interrogation starts~ Little Yue, what’s first?”

Dixue straightened the files, aiming for stern and steady like a judge’s bell.

“Name, probably.”

“Isn’t it Blood Dancer?”

“That’s a title. Who has ‘Blood’ as a family name?”

“But I remember one… in a prehistoric kingdom, a Murder Fiend called Blood Ghost killed tons for the crown!”

“That’s Xue Rengui! And not a Murder Fiend—a brilliant general!”

“Hehe~ is that so. Little Yue’s clever.”

She rose, hand lifting to pat my head like a breeze meeting grain.

“I’m taller now; harder for you to pat. How about that?”

I stood too, blocking with a hand like a leaf shield.

“Then I’ll grab your arm and make you pat me~”

The blue‑haired girl snatched my wrist, set my hand atop her head, smug as a cat stealing fish.

“Wow! Too sly!”

“…”

Watching two girls banter like sun and river, Blood Dancer’s head throbbed like thunder—she’d seen every torture, feared no pain, life stripped of mercy like bark from a tree.

She lived by a creed wild as brushfire—one more day, one more desire, law be damned.

But a girl’s bright laughter? She loathed it like poison; she longed to lace the air with bloodlines, to watch innocence fall to ash.

Now, shackled in an anti‑magic beast cage, she could do none of it—only claw at the ache until her skull felt like it’d split.

“AAAARGH!!! I’ll talk—I’ll say it all! Just—shut up!”

Blood Dancer squeezed shut her eyes, yanking her hair like tearing silk.

“Eh? Little Yue, we haven’t asked yet… why’s Blood Dancer confessing?”

“No clue—but it’s a win!”

“Shut up! Both of you! I’m talking now!”

And so, by two girls’ clever chaos, Blood Dancer spilled everything—one thread after another, like a tangled skein unwinding in the light.