“Uh… LittleSnow, could you… let me go…?” Her voice fluttered like a leaf in wind.

After Dixue’s teasing, Yue Liuyi felt her body turn soft and numb, like wet silk clinging to skin; strength slipped away like sand.

“Not yet. I’ve got something important to tell you, Xiao Yue.” Dixue pinned her gently, emerald eyes locked on the blue-haired girl like dew-lit jade.

“Huh? Something…?”

“Yes.” The words fell like petals. “I need to say I’m sorry. In the Lost City, you came to save me… and I was so cruel to you.”

“Mm…” The sound quivered like a plucked string.

Yue Liuyi knew what she meant. Back then, she’d turned into a boy to help LittleSnow, yet LittleSnow hadn’t accepted it—and almost killed her like a storm misreading a lighthouse.

“That time… yeah… it was my fault. I shouldn’t have turned into a boy… huh?”

“Turning into a boy was your mistake,” Dixue said, voice soft as rain, “but I failed too, as your sister. I didn’t recognize your boy-form at all.”

“Eh!?”

She pressed her cheek to Yue Liuyi’s skin and nuzzled hard, like a cat seeking warmth. The girl’s smoothness felt like silk sliding, cool and fine.

“So, as an apology, I’ll grant you one wish. Anything.” Her promise gleamed like moonlight on water.

“Eh? A wish?”

“Mm. Anything I can do.”

Dixue leaned back a little, motionless, eyes steady as still lakes, watching Xiao Yue.

Yue Liuyi didn’t know why Dixue suddenly said this… but in front of her rose the silver-haired girl’s soft white neck, cheeks tinted pink like dawn, and a chest rising and falling like tide.

Silver strands spilled everywhere, a thousand threads shining smooth and obedient, as if frost drawn in fine lines—too beautiful.

(I want LittleSnow… to stay by my side… forever.)

Her lips parted and trembled like a petal in breeze; the girl’s heart hammered like a drum.

Her desire felt clear, but the words stuck—her throat tight like a knot in silk.

Because the blue-haired girl realized how strange she looked—so embarrassing, like a sparrow cornered.

She’d lived with LittleSnow as a boy for so long. If her identity got exposed, shouldn’t it be Dixue, the girl, who blushed like a peach?

So what was this?

She was like a girl wall-pinned in an alley, forced to speak shy words from trembling lips.

LittleSnow was way too sly. I’m not saying it!

What she didn’t know: LittleSnow was blushing too, but the blush had that reckless edge—decide to roll with it, let the pot fall once it’s cracked.

Xiao Yue being a boy was far beyond Dixue’s expectations.

Every memory of living with Xiao Yue flooded back like a river breaking a dam, leaving the clever silver-haired girl adrift.

Eh—what?!

Xiao Yue had grown up as a boy?

A boy? The kind that… well, you can pull it out down there…

Ugh… but Xiao Yue’s a soft, bona fide cutie!

Must be the World Tree Maiden’s power…

Ugh—why is Xiao Yue’s gift such a terrible ability!

How am I supposed to push her down now… or do I get pushed down by her instead?

No, no! Xiao Yue’s so innocence-stupid. If she pushes me down, she won’t feel safe!

But… if Xiao Yue is a boy-boy…

What am I supposed to do?!

With no answer, the silver-haired girl chose to follow her heart like a kite to wind.

(Xiao Yue’s probably scared now. I’ll hold her tight.)

So that’s how we got here—Dixue clung to Yue Liuyi, refusing to let go like ivy gripping stone.

She hadn’t expected it: torn clothes, soft and helpless Xiao Yue hit every one of her moe-buttons. She went all in and simply pushed her down—like snowfall burying a path.

Afterward, Dixue sought a chance to make it up to Yue Liuyi… and to test Xiao Yue’s heart, too. If Xiao Yue wanted to push her down, she might stop resisting—like a door unlocked.

(But only if Xiao Yue’s a girl. A boy is absolutely no-go!)

…

That’s the storm of thoughts inside two girls—one blue, one white—eyes meeting like mirrors, both hearts swarming with birds, both mouths staying shut.

…

Right then, Shao Rong saw her opening and tried to slip away like a shadow at dusk.

The Fourth Princess’s magic shield had vanished; the biggest threat, Dawn Sky, lay defeated like a fallen star.

She hadn’t beaten Dixue, nor killed Qin Hui… but in this moment, survival mattered most, like breath in winter.

On tiptoe, the gold-brown–haired girl started to sneak off, steps light as a thief’s cat.

But how could Dixue let her go? Statues lined the place; Breeze lay unconscious like a windless flag. Beyond herself, the Fourth Princess alone knew Xiao Yue’s secret—letting her go would be a knife at Xiao Yue’s throat.

So Dixue stopped thinking and let instinct fly. She rose in one smooth motion; a silvery arrow whooshed toward the Fourth Princess like moonlight made sharp.

“Damn!” Shao Rong threw up her arm, a dragon-shaped shield coiling around her chest like a bronze serpent—yet it couldn’t stop the white piercing. The silver arrow slammed into her body, and cold lightning shot through her, leaving her numb and tingling.

“LittleSnow, are you okay? Don’t push yourself.” Yue Liuyi watched her with worry heavy as rain; Dixue had spent all her magic guarding against the white-haired girl. Attacking now could mean magic exhaustion.

“I’m fine. Xiao Yue Energy’s fully recharged.” Her voice rang playful as a bell.

She reached out and pulled Yue Liuyi up, gentle as lifting a fern. Yue noticed it then: though her clothes were torn, the silver-haired girl’s body had healed, whole and bright like polished jade.

“Wait… Xiao Yue Energy wasn’t a joke?”

“Of course not. Xiao Yue Energy means the bond between me and you—the World Tree Maiden. If I tease you, we cycle magic; I recover, and you restore too.” Her smile curved like a crescent.

Handy power, this. As long as she stuck with Dixue, both could refill magic quickly—like cups under a spring.

But—teasing? What the heck!

Do we have to flirt mid-fight? That’s too much!

Wait, even when we restored Breeze earlier…

“Ugh…” Yue Liuyi sighed, despair thinning like steam. On the other side, Shao Rong shook off the paralysis, dragged herself upright like a battered reed.

“Di—Dixue… are you… openly making an enemy of Dragon Heaven’s royal house? You’ll… be punished for this.” Shao Rong clutched her shoulder, pain creasing like cracked ice.

“Oh? Thank you for the reminder, Fourth Princess.” Dixue’s tone turned bright as a blade. “Seems time to dig a pit and bury our noble Fourth Princess in it.”

“Eh…!?” Shao Rong froze like a deer in torchlight.

“That way, no tombstone, no witnesses. No one will know how Shao Rong died. We’ll pin it on the Murder Fiend. Perfect.”

Dixue clapped lightly, as if she’d found a clever knot to untie.

“Um… LittleSnow, isn’t that… a bit much?”

“Don’t pity her, Xiao Yue. See the lightning scars on the white-haired loli? There’s nothing here worth pity.”

“Mm… true. But I don’t mean that. Killing her by hand would dirty yours. Let’s lock her with the white-haired girl instead.”

“Eh? Electro-shock play? That sounds… fun.”

“Don’t you dare!” Shao Rong’s voice broke like brittle glass. “Her past has nothing to do with me!”

“Nothing to do with you? You called her a secret weapon.” Dixue’s words landed soft yet heavy.

“I’ll never use that as a weapon again!” Shao Rong’s anger flared like sparks.

Under Yue Liuyi and Dixue’s “gentle interrogation,” Shao Rong spilled Dawn Sky’s origin, detail by detail, like beans from a torn bag.

…

…

She emphasized, again and again, that the perverted Electrode Cult wasn’t tied to her—like hands held up to show they’re clean.

“I’m the Fourth Princess of Dragon Heaven. How could I have ties to that filth? When I sent Master Mengyi to wipe them out, they surrendered their secret weapon and instructions just to live.”

“And the Electrode Cult members?” Dixue’s tone turned cool as shade.

“I killed them all. Those damned—” she spat a Dragon Heaven swear, raw as pepper. “I shouldn’t have finished them so cleanly. They gave me this cheap trash and called it a World Tree Maiden!”

Shao Rong’s fist tightened like iron. She’d used Dawn Sky to execute death-row inmates in secret; the power was impressive. She hadn’t expected it to go out of control this time.

“If it hadn’t, the Electrode Cult would’ve used her long ago. No way they’d hand her over.”

Dixue rubbed her brow, thoughts circling like swallows. Every civilization had organizations that draped themselves in lofty flags while scamming the world; nothing new there.

But she hadn’t expected those lunatics to try manufacturing a World Tree Maiden. If a World Tree Maiden could be made, the Night Clan wouldn’t wander, wouldn’t keep abducting real ones under moonlight.

Dawn Sky’s energy was vast, and her strikes carried life-force conversion magic, far beyond human dust.

But she differed from a true World Tree Maiden at the root.

She couldn’t sustain conversion.

Nature’s greatness isn’t brute force; it’s continuity—like spring water that never runs dry.

Think of it this way: Dawn Sky is a rechargeable battery. Use her, then burn fuel to charge again. A true World Tree Maiden is self-generating—windmill on a hill.

The latter’s peak power might be lower in moments, but she’s greener, steadier, kinder to hands and hearts—push-downable, outfit-changeable, teaseable, head-pattable, and perfect to hug to sleep. Perfect.

With that thought, Dixue stole a glance at Yue Liuyi. Even in torn clothes, she was lovely like a lotus after rain.

…

If Yue Liuyi could hear Dixue’s mind, she’d start another round of complaint. For now, she watched the white-haired girl sprawled on the ground, and murmured like fog drifting:

“Those girls who were with her… are they all dead?”

“How would I know? When I hit the Electrode Cult, there were no innocents left—only her. Those perverts probably ‘processed’ them.” Shao Rong’s words fell cold as ash.

“Uh…”

Realizing Shao Rong wasn’t the mastermind of the human experiments eased Yue Liuyi’s hostility like snow melting. Besides, Shao Rong had slaughtered the Electrode Cult’s freaks—still a merit.

What to do with Shao Rong and Dawn Sky became a heavy stone on the girl’s path.

And when would Breeze wake? Could the petrification be undone? Questions circled like crows.

As Yue Liuyi weighed the mess, a girl’s figure staggered toward them, tripping and running like a foal through mud.

She carried a wooden staff; a pointed wizard hat tilted like a bent reed. Dirt smeared her face; the black stockings on her legs were torn like nets.

“Emily?” Yue Liuyi froze, and spoke her name like a bell struck.