“LittleSnow, don’t touch me there! It tickles like willow fluff on skin!”

“But there’s no other way, right? To reshape Little Yue’s body, we have to carve moonlit sigils.”

“Uu...” Her whimper fluttered like a moth against glass.

Flat on the bamboo mat cool as river reeds, Yue Liuyi watched LittleSnow paint magic arrays across her body like frost patterns.

They were runes of levitation and warding, feathers and shields etched into skin. They’d help her doll-body resist harm, and keep her nimble in the air, dodging arrows like swallows.

Camp was bare-bones, so the silver-haired girl used a brush, soft as a dragonfly’s touch. The bristles kissed skin and sent shivers like rain beads running.

(Uu... I didn’t expect a body pillow’s body to be this sensitive, like silk in a breeze!)

If she could blush, she’d be rosy as dawn clouds. But tucked inside the body pillow, Yue Liuyi’s face stayed placid as a lake. Dixue kept drawing, careful as snowfall, remaking her beloved Little Yue.

“First the arms, then the legs, and then...”

“Eh?” Dixue’s gaze drifted, arrow-straight, to Yue’s chest.

“Eh? LittleSnow?”

“Mm. This is the last spot, the final seal—like the heart of a constellation.”

She undid Little Yue’s buttons for that last array, not for any sneaky interest, just for the ritual’s core. She smiled, cat-like, then unclasped the blue-haired girl’s bra, grin wicked as a crescent moon, and lifted the brush toward that soft field.

“Wah—LittleSnow, not there!”

“Little Yue, bear with it a bit, like standing in a chilly stream. Only this step makes you a real body pillow!”

“Uu!! Why do I have to be a real body pillow!”

“Hehe~” Her laughter twinkled like wind chimes.

And with the final stroke, the whole reinforcement plan settled like a seal pressed in wax.

“Try moving. If anything feels off, I’ll tune it, like tightening a bowstring.”

“Uu...” Her body felt soft as moss, nerves keen as dew. Yet compared to before, she was lighter as a kite. Her fingers moved true and precise, like brush tips on rice paper—she could probably write now.

“Mm. This feels much better. My breath-magic flows like a clear spring.”

“Good. Now Little Yue can float low and free, like a drifting cloud. I added soul-protection too. Even electromagnetic interference will pass like wind through bamboo.”

“Eh? So... I’m kind of like Nightmare Rust now!”

She recalled that ugly gray-robed figure, reborn again and again through similar means, stubborn as a weed.

He’d hurt her, but she didn’t hate him now. If not for that brush with the Murder Fiend, Dixue wouldn’t have found her, and none of this starlit thread would’ve followed.

Otherwise, she might’ve crossed the New Land alone, under the name Dongfang Chen, with only her shadow for company.

“Mm! Wan Han probably used the same trick to rebuild Nightmare Rust’s body. But that Murder Fiend can’t hold a candle to my Little Yue! My Little Yue is the cutest > <”

“Don’t just hug me out of nowhere like a pouncing cat!”

“Hehe~ let big sis pat Little Yue’s head~ so soft, so comfy, like warm fur~”

The silver-haired girl’s smile bloomed like plum blossoms. She scooped Yue Liuyi up, whole and light as an armful of clouds.

After a long, quiet embrace, the two girls sat at the bed’s edge, legs swaying like reeds, and talked.

“Um... LittleSnow, you’re really going to be bait?”

“Mm... otherwise it’s hard to save Dawn Goose and the others peacefully, like smoothing ripples on a pond.”

“I trust you. But the Crimson Queen is fierce as a hawk... and they have numbers like a tide. You might get cornered.”

“It’s okay. If we target an unlawful force, Qiu Ruyi will back us, like a firm mountain. She’ll seek support in the Elven Parliament. Besides...”

“Besides...?”

“I called in outside help, like sending a signal flare.”

“Outside help?”

As they spoke, voices rose outside, rolling like wheels on gravel.

“What’s that...?”

“Is the support here?”

“Liuyi-chan! Sister Dixue! I heard you retur—waaah!”

That voice was unmistakable—our ditzy, adorable Ailuna, bright as a pink peony.

Ailuna had run into trouble. A heavy thud slammed from the door, loud even indoors, like thunder jumping close.

“Ailuna?”

“You okay?”

They opened the door and found Ailuna sprawled flat on the ground, like a giant character spread on parchment.

She’d fallen so thoroughly that even her boobs were squashed like steamed buns. Dirt flecked her, smudging her pale-pink dress into storm cloud gray.

“Ailuna, are you alright!?”

Yue Liuyi floated to her side, lifting her gently, light as a crane’s wing.

“It—ow, it hurts...” Ailuna sniffled like a damp kitten. She rubbed her reddened cheeks and swallowed tears like bitter tea. Then she saw dirt scattered around, and a single flower mixed in the soil like a dropped star—and she burst into sobs.

“Waaah! Why am I so useless! Uuu! Someone like me should just be kept in a cage like a silly bird!”

Tears ran through mud on her face, streaks like rain on clay, a sight as pitiful as a little rabbit dumped in a storm.

“Eh? That flower...”

Yue Liuyi noticed it. Pale-white, with petals thin as cicada wings, it was beautiful as girls’ white skirts in moonlight.

“Oh... Ailuna, easy. This flower can still be saved, like a lantern relit.”

The silver-haired girl’s eyes rested on the bloom for a heartbeat. She lifted the pink-haired girl and the flower together, careful as carrying snow.

“Eh? It can be saved?”

“Mm. Let’s talk inside, where the wind’s gentler.”

Like a warm big sister, Dixue and Yue Liuyi brought Ailuna in, set her on the bed, and patted dust off her like shaking ash from sleeves.

“Really... no need to rush?” The pink-haired girl raised her head, cautious as a deer, watching the flower in Dixue’s hand. Her eyes stayed rimmed red, like sunset.

“It’s okay. The roots are intact, braided like threads. Replant it, and it’ll grow.”

“I feel like I’ve seen it somewhere, in a garden of stories.”

“Little Yue, it’s called a Soul-Calling Flower, a very rare bloom, like a moon dropped to earth.”

“Oh! I remember.” Yue clapped, sound crisp as bamboo. In old books, the Soul-Calling Flower was said to wake souls—any sleep would clear under its fragrance, like fog lifting.

“Wow, that’s precious as jade. Ailuna-chan, where did you find it?”

“I—I didn’t run off alone. I was with Sister Lia. We found it by a mountain brook, water singing like bells...”

From Ailuna’s soft voice, they pieced together her path. She’d gone with Lia to find wild greens, leaves fresh as spring. By a little river, Ailuna found this flower... remembering it could wake Liuyi-chan, she sprinted back like a startled fawn. She ran too fast, tripped, the pot shattered like brittle ice, and the flower ended up in this fragile state.

“Eh? Ailuna rushed back for me...?”

“Uu... yes. But I’m useless, like a wet match. I wanted to help, but even a small thing slipped through my fingers.”

She lowered her head, shadowed like a willow. The tears had stopped, but self-blame weighed heavy as stones. A rare blossom, harmed by her—she felt it like a scar.

“It’s okay. Honestly, it’s amazing you found such a rare bloom—like finding pearl in sand. If Little Yue’s current body inhales a little, her soul should return to her original vessel.”

“Really?”

“Mm! Little Yue, wanna try...?”

“Let’s not, for now.”

“Eh? Why?”

“You’ll fight soon, right? If I switch back, I can’t stay at your side like a lantern in night.”

She swayed once, gentle as reeds, resolve bright as a steady flame. This time, she’d be with Dixue. She wouldn’t leave her alone like last time against the Third Princess.

“Hehe, got it! If Little Yue wants that, big sis is glad, like sunshine after frost.”

“Eh? You agree?”

“Of course. If that’s what you want, I’m happy, like tea warm in the palm.”

“Are you both going out to fight? Ailuna wants to... uuu, Ailuna will be good and stay home like a well-tied kite.”

She lifted her head, excitement flaring like sparks, then lowered it, remembering her clumsiness.

“It’s fine this time. If Ailuna wants, she can come along, like a chick under wing.”

“Eh? I can? I won’t cause trouble?”

“Mm... because...”

“Butterfly Snow President, we’ve arrived!” Voices called from outside, lively as birds at dawn.

...

...

“Uu—how!” Seeing them, Yue Liuyi almost floated to the ceiling like a startled feather. They were all familiar faces, lit like lamps in memory.

Leader of the Thunder-Smuggling Group, Chulei. Sky Voyager’s police unit—Officer Chen and his colleagues, badges gleaming like tin stars. Captain of the Sky Voyager, Duanmu Liang. The adventurer Mino, and many who’d been healed aboard the Skyship, their eyes clear as mountain lakes.

And of course, Gong Linxun came too—though compared with the others, he was clearly here to join the bustle like a curious sparrow.

They’d slipped into the Elven Forest in secret, travel-worn as stones in a stream. Dust clung to coats like dry earth after wind.

But no one complained. Ten days since their last meeting, resolve filled faces like steel under sunrise.

“Is that... President Dixue? That disguise was wild, like paint on bark!”

“Thanks for taking care of my juniors. I’m obliged to take part, like a sword answering its call.”

“We came as soon as we heard your request—like arrows to a target.”

“Haha, you saved the Sky Voyager last time and I never thanked you. This is perfect, like rain after drought.”

Looking at those faces, Yue Liuyi understood. She’d thought their bond was a brief crossroads, a tide that ebbed once the Skyship storm passed. She’d thought everyone would take separate roads like leaves on currents.

But the people of the Skyship gathered again, for a shared purpose, like stars forming a constellation.

The blue-haired girl realized it. There’s no baseless hate, no baseless love. Help someone in their darkest night, and they’ll come for you when your lamps dim.

Tracks carved into a life aren’t wasted—like footprints kept by the sand. You might not feel it then. Much later, you see how bright that moment was, like moonlight remembered.

“Are you adventurers rescued from elsewhere?”

“Companions? That’s great!” Adventurers in camp spotted the reinforcements, and joy bubbled like spring water.

In the isolated Elven Forest, seeing human companions felt like a bonfire in snow.

In a blink, over sixty people gathered, like flocking birds. Even here, that was a sizable band.

The ice-and-snow girl, Yedie Snow, stepped forward, calm as winter ponds. “Sorry for hiding this so long... I’m actually the branch president of Dragon Heaven’s Rangers Lodge, Yedie Snow. Butterfly Rain was just my alias.”

“Eh!?” Many gasped, especially Emily and Tiger Girl, staggering like dancers missing a beat.

It wasn’t the anxiety of being deceived. The Rangers Lodge title steadied hearts like anchors.

“It’s the Rangers Lodge?”

“L—Lady Elf, why didn’t you tell us sooner?”

“Because the situation wasn’t stable, like wind over loose tiles, so I hid it for a while. But from now on, the Azure Front finally lives up to its name, like the sky clearing after storm.”

We’ve secured support from Dragon Heaven, the Sacred Radiance Alliance, Linyun Academy, and the Elven Parliament, flowing to us like four rivers joining one sea.

Oh? Then—like a door swinging open!

Are we launching a rescue, like cutting through stormclouds?

Do we have the heart to pull our comrades from the whirlpool?

We do—our blood’s up like fire catching pine!

Been waiting for this day, like arrows held at full draw!

Then from this moment, we begin our operation, drums rolling in our chests.

The silver-haired girl stood like a winter moon; her aura was frost, her voice a blade calling total mobilization.