Before we cut to Lia’s war, let’s check in on those two girls, shall we?
The two girls who should’ve shown up long ago.
“Xia Jiajun! You useless fool, how did you get lost?!”
“S-sorry, Your Highness, Third Princess! I…”
Xia Jiajun squeezed her eyes shut; a bead of sweat slid from the girl’s brow and pattered into the dirt.
On her back rode a smaller red-haired girl—Sikong Qinhui—scanning the trees with anxious eyes, but nowhere did that graceful white silhouette appear.
She wore a pale-yellow hanfu; skin at her cuffs and collar showed faint pink scars. Weariness pooled between her brows, a sickly air clinging to her, stripping away the feral edge and leaving her fragile.
But a lion, even weakened, is still terrifying.
Boom! Boom!
Red fireballs bloomed around her, hammering branches. The thunder of it sent flocks winging away, and forest sprites dove for cover.
Right then, the redhead was a walking battery, blasting a road open.
“Annoying! Annoying! It’s all that little—Shao Rong! She took my maps and weapons! Next time I see her, I’ll tear her apart!”
They say anger is strength. The Third Princess, seething at Shao Rong, had only just woken, yet her mana surged. Fireballs poured out, unbroken, with no sign of running dry.
But Qinhui missed one thing—or rather, she’d never realized it.
“Huh?”
Her body lurched. Her view plunged.
“Xia Jiajun?!”
“Your Highness… thud!”
The loyal guard didn’t finish. A heavy crash followed.
Both girls slammed into the ground, a sheet of dust rearing up. The redhead fared better—she had a “big cushion.” The black-haired girl went face-first into mud.
“Hey! What’s wrong? Get up! Dixue’s in danger!”
No reply. Xia Jiajun lay like dead, silent.
“X-Xia Jiajun? What’s with you! Disobey my orders and I’ll strip you of rank! Get up! Damn it… get up!”
No matter how hard the redhead shook her, the black-haired girl on her back didn’t respond.
“Hmph! If you won’t get up, I’ll use puppet arts! Eh…?”
In her crimson eyes, a matching red glimmer—blood traced the black-haired girl’s cheek and seeped into the soil.
At that scarlet, Sikong Qinhui’s eyes widened. She scrambled off the girl’s back and dropped to the dirt beside her.
Her small frame strained, tugging the other’s shoulders.
“Damn! It hurts… why’s my strength so thin? Damn, damn, damn!”
With all she had, Qinhui finally rolled Xia Jiajun over. A horrifying scene filled her gaze.
Blood—everywhere, nothing but blood.
Bright drops spread from Xia Jiajun’s body; it seemed like every pore was leaking.
“Th-this is… mana exhaustion and muscle overload? Ugh… bad! At this rate, the kid won’t last an hour!”
“Y-Your Highness… did I… black out?”
Hearing Qinhui’s voice, Xia Jiajun forced her eyes open.
“Xia Jiajun, what is wrong with your body?!”
Qinhui glared, teeth clenched, with no sympathy in her eyes.
“I’m… too useless. But please, Your Highness… puppet my body. Then… we can keep going…”
She struggled to raise a hand, but only one finger stirred. Blood welled under the nail and dripped into the dirt.
“I’ll… hold out… until we find the Butterfly Snow President… Please, Your Highness, don’t worry…”
Xia Jiajun nodded with a steady look.
She didn’t even know if, after becoming a girl, she could still wear “steady.”
But if she could meet the Third Princess’s request—
then she was content,
like back when they were kids.
…
Sikong Qinhui fell silent.
A moment later, boundless fury surged around her, flooding her limbs:
“Damn it! You servant, shut up!”
“T-Third Princess…?”
“Why should I listen to you? What are you, anyway? Think turning into a girl lets you order me? You—!”
“Your… Highness…?”
“Go die!”
With a splash of heat, Qinhui cupped a small fireball and lobbed it at Xia Jiajun’s forehead.
It looked lethal, but the force was light—it only knocked the black-haired girl out and whisked the blood from her cheek.
“Hah…”
Sikong Qinhui let out a long breath.
She lay flat on the earth.
Her heart was a tangle of thorns.
She had just made a decision—one even she could hardly understand.
“Dixue… I’m sorry… I can’t go save you.”
She gazed up.
In this unknown Rainbow Sanctuary, even the sky wore color.
Two neighboring clouds drifted close,
yet different hues kept them apart,
sending them away on separate paths.
Truth is, from that day on, she had known.
She wasn’t going to be with Dixue.
Just as she only liked girls, Dixue would be drawn only to the World Tree Maiden.
That isn’t a sickness, nor something you can force.
It’s carved into gene and soul—a bone-deep instinct.
But the past her refused to believe.
She did so many wrong things,
and in the end, couldn’t even keep a friend.
Realizing that,
Qinhui came to the New Land.
Because she thought, even if she could only help Dixue in secret,
then let the unpayable guilt be,
let the hatred stand.
The one she loved
could live happy,
wouldn’t be swallowed by this boundless chaos.
“So what am I doing now… can’t even hold to it for Dixue?”
She looked at Xia Jiajun sprawled on the ground and let out a sudden, wild laugh.
If she used puppet arts,
Xia Jiajun would die.
Not just die—die ugly,
blood from seven openings, bones twisted, eyes bursting.
Those were things Qinhui once loved,
the only things that gave her a thrill in those days.
But now…
“Ahhh! Damn it! It’s all because this kid turned into a girl!!”
At the unconscious black-haired girl,
Sikong Qinhui used something she wasn’t good at—
healing magic.
