Dixue had something dangerous and secret to do, and she couldn’t take Yue Liuyi along, like a moon slipping behind clouds.

The silver-haired girl said she’d be back by dusk, a soft promise like evening bells, so Yue Liuyi relaxed and moved under the name Dongfang Chen.

“Huh? Lord Body Pillow, where are you taking that bundle, like a squirrel with its stash?”

“Mm… to the restroom! And I won’t be back for lunch. Lia, can you direct everyone, like a steady lighthouse?”

“Mm… no problem…”

“Thanks, Lia!”

Watching Lord Body Pillow grow smaller along the path, Lia’s heart rippled with doubt, like a pond touched by wind. Did the restroom take that long? Or… did Lord Body Pillow and Dixue have something heavier to handle?

…

Wrapped in an oversized white robe seized from the White-Robed men, Yue Liuyi slipped into the trees, leaves whispering like fish scales. She peeled off her little dress, cheeks warm as sunrise.

Why do I feel guilty, like a thief under lantern light?

Her move felt exactly like a boy sneaking out in girl’s clothes, yet she was a boy by origin, which made the feeling twist like knotted ribbon.

No matter, transform first… Away from Dixue, my mana drains faster, like sand through fingers.

The blue-haired girl darted into the bushes with a swallow’s flick, and a boy in a white robe sprang out like a startled deer.

To hide his face, Dongfang Chen put on a White-Robed mask, vision narrowed like a slit window. Even if he met a friend, there’d be no drama spilling like wine.

I’ll use this window to clear that polluted cave deep in the jungle, a thorn in the green tapestry.

Dongfang Chen trusted his strength like a rock trusts the mountain. His magic sense fell short of Yue Liuyi’s fine-grained thread, but his overall combat weight hit harder.

Day favored him like the sun favors wheat. Yue Liuyi’s skills frayed under daylight, her edge dulled like a blade in sand. Dongfang Chen’s own skills brightened under the sun, enough to stand against the Third Princess head-on.

He wove through the trees, step by step, like a fox threading shadows, closing on his mark.

The Elven Forest stood primeval and deep, trunks rising like pillars that blotted the sky. Cool moisture hung in the leaves like breath from a river.

He hadn’t asked for the cave’s exact spot, but with the Stellar Moon Compass glowing like a star in palm, location was no hardship. When Yue Liuyi turned male, the compass colors shifted like dawn. Many hazards dropped a grade, and that cave icon cooled to blue.

General difficulty? With care, a winnable foe, like a chess piece held in check.

The map showed only twenty kilometers from camp, a swallow’s distance on paper. Cliffs rose ragged as broken teeth, and with no climbing gear, he detoured like water around stone. His body felt odd, chest hollow as an empty cup, and he slipped twice like moss under foot. It took three hours to reach the tainted cave, time stretching like afternoon shadows.

Uh… why is a boy’s body this stiff, balance like a warped plank?

Through the dense grass, a junkyard of giant machinery lay on the flats, metal bones glittering cold. Beside it sat torn cardboard and broken iron cages, blood spattered like rotten berries, the air thick with omen.

This machine… a helicopter?

The signature rotor was a windmill frozen mid-breath. Judging by the gutted belly, someone flew it here and crashed, cause unknown, like a story missing pages.

Tar reek threaded the clean air like black ink in water. The disaster felt fresh, like ash still warm.

Is the pollution from the helicopter? Or…

He scanned the ravine’s litter, ears tuned to offbeat whispers in the air. Each cage near the wreck had bite marks like crescent moons, and blood pooled at those jagged mouths.

So that’s…

Roar!

While his mind wandered, a beast burst from the black mouth of the cave, a shadow with claws.

A liger, agile as a tiger and strong as a lion, but twisted. Its hide was purple, mottled with rot, a bad omen like thorns under silk, a creature lacquered in black magic.

It leapt high, a storm of muscle, pouncing for his throat like lightning.

Uh!

Dongfang Chen reacted fast, palm blasting a pressure wave that whooshed like a hurricane. The beast flew backward, a heap of metal and fury.

Awooo!!

The purple-hide liger scraped up with stubborn rage, fangs slick with blood like garnets. It lunged to tear him in half, hunger bright as steel.

So this is the source. Execute the purge, like fire cleansing brush.

Feathers of flame rose around him like flaring petals. Beasts like this were thorny, but compared to Nightmare Rust or the Third Princess, they were fallen leaves. That voyage by airship had honed him, battlecraft sharpened like a whetstone’s kiss.

Fire-feathers danced, and under his guidance they spun a flaming cyclone, a red funnel caged by wind. The gale pinned the liger like a trapped hawk, the heat scorching hide until smoke curled.

Roar! Roar! Roar!

It thrashed like a netted fish, but the light-feathers circled tight, and soon it blackened to charcoal, silence falling like ash.

…

Sprites flickered in the trees, little lanterns bobbing with joy. Dongfang Chen knew the purge was done, like a knotted thread finally pulled free.

The task finished, the cave’s story had just begun. Curiosity tugged him forward like a hand in the dark. If he learned what happened here, maybe fortune would bloom, an unexpected flower.

Fire-feathers lit the cave, their glow washing bones on the floor like moonlight on snow.

What’s this?

Even with a steady heart, the sight of so many bones scattered like white petals shocked him pale.

Bones piled thick, big and small, a crowd of silence. Some looked like rabbits, some like birds, some lion-sized, and one pile shaped like a human, a chill like winter rain.

Broken muzzleloaders lay to one side like dead branches. Nets lay slack and iron cages dented, tools crumpled like fallen scaffolds.

Helicopter, iron cages… So it was…

His palm slapped lightly, a spark of understanding like flint. He crouched, studying the human corpses, eyes cold as night water. As expected, tooth necklaces hung from their necks, charms clacking like beads.

Hunter talismans. In the Elven Forest, only poachers wear them, a stain the elves despise like oil on spring water.

Elves hate oil machines that foul the green, so legitimate travelers come by carriage, slow but clean. Only those who skulk to do harm ignore that, iron cages ready to trap breath and song.

From the scene, a poacher helicopter crashed. The crew retreated into the cave like rats to a hole, and beasts broken free tore prey and handler alike. Wait… what’s that?

The light edged deeper, and behind a small stone, an iron cage different from the rest glinted like frost.

It was unique because it was whole, unmarred by teeth. Inside that cage sat a—

Girl.

A girl with long pale-pink hair, ears slender as willow leaves, an elf asleep like a snowdrop. Even in dream, her features glowed soft, a gentleness like spring petals, unlike Dixue’s ice-sharp beauty.

She wore a lavish pale-violet dress, frills layered like clouds and bows flitting like butterflies. Hairband, shoulders, waist, hem, cuffs—pleats stacked sevenfold, a cascade of silk. Under the seven-tier skirt lay smooth white thighs, and knee-highs with peach-blossom motifs hugged legs like painted clouds.

Her slim ankles and wrists were bound with iron chains, a harsh note like shackles in a flute’s song.

A girl? Why is there a girl here, like a rose in rubble?

He flinched, thinking first of a wax statue, stiff and perfect. But her breathing was gentle and regular, a lantern flame steady through night.

“Hey, are you okay? Can you wake up?” His voice dropped like a pebble in a well.

No matter how he called, the pink-haired girl didn’t stir, asleep inside iron like winter sealed in ice.

He searched the cave, fingers sweeping dust like combing grain. No key. The lock and bars held a refined ward, magic shimmering like glass. With his strength, it wouldn’t budge.

In that case…

By both instinct and decency, a found, unconscious, adorable girl must be taken home, like a stray cat in rain.

Otherwise, you’d be less than a beast, no warmth under fur.

Let’s bring her back to camp… let LittleSnow take a look, like snow touching a wound.

Resolved, Dongfang Chen dragged the cage toward daylight, iron groaning like old oaks. It wasn’t light, but the girl’s build was small, like Yue Liuyi’s. He blessed himself with strength, and the cage slid steady over roots.

Even so, a cage that size through dense woods was a task like hauling a skiff upstream. The mountain path bucked underfoot, rough as dragon scales. The route that took hours in, took a whole noon and afternoon out, time spilling like sand.

When he neared camp and saw a thread of smoke rise, dusk had already pooled, purple as plums.

The sun sank behind mountains like a coin into velvet, and home-bound birds carved black lines across a golden sea. The lone figure moved through tree-shadows, a brushstroke in shifting ink.

Almost there, about a kilometer, a last sip before the cup’s brim.

He stepped to finish the final stretch, and his legs softened, strength draining like tide. Pain speared his heart, a crimson thorn.

Huh?

The black-haired boy’s eyes widened, a chill like night water. He knew this feeling well, the same backlash that struck Yue Liuyi if she held daytime too long.

Mana overuse aftermath, a storm that strips leaves.

But… I’m in a boy’s body now!

Mana raced from his fingertips like sparrows scattering. Far beyond, past the mountains, a voice seemed to call him, a flute note thin and distant.

This is…

His head swam, knees dropping to earth like anchors. The white robe went loose, then tight, chest pressure blooming like a pressed flower. He shook himself awake, breath ragged, and the girl stood there again—Yue Liuyi, blue hair spilling like river silk.

What… what’s happening?

Blue strands curtained her eyes, the mask clattered down like a broken shell. Yue Liuyi stared at her small hands and the weight on her chest, panic fluttering like trapped birds.

It wasn’t just the sudden change that froze her. It was the cold truth beneath it—

Her transformation wouldn’t answer, as if the door had sealed and the key had gone silent.