After leaving Purple Illusion, Yue Liuyi sprinted back, anxiety pricking like sleet. She feared it was a decoy to draw the tiger from its mountain.
“Little Rose, you okay?”
“I’m fine!”
Relief loosened her chest like a thaw; Little Rose sat in her wheelchair, calm as dusk water.
Only the red-haired sprite clutched a spray of multicolored paper, bright as market banners, like discount flyers.
“Eh? Little Rose, what’s in your hands?”
“Oh… some strange sisters came by. They stuffed these at me, said I had promise, told me to join them.”
“Huh…?”
“I can’t even read what this stuff means.”
“Let me see.”
Yue Liuyi took the flyers, and her mind blanked like a lantern blown out.
Photos jumped at her: a uniformed girl with cat ears and tail, and a maid in snow-white frills; a long-legged sister in a qipao, and a girl in a sailor suit.
Each girl posed like paper cranes in a breeze. One stood pigeon-toed, shy as a fawn. One lifted her hem, teasing like a finger on a harp string. One bit into a yellow banana, suggestive as a wink in candlelight.
“Huh?”
Not just girls—boys were printed too, and their look skewed like shadows at noon. One wore a black hood. One was strapped in odd belts. One had a necklace of teeth. One wore only black leather pants.
They stood facing each other, grappling like mock wrestlers, their contortions eerie as spider legs. Cold sweat slid down Yue Liuyi’s back like rain off slate.
“Angel Sis, it says… we’ll satisfy your darkest fantasies. You can be S or M. Every deep, dark wish, at Mystic Illusion Cafe. What does ‘chrysanthemum’ mean?”
“Ugh… none of this is for girls… Wait. Mystic Illusion Cafe?”
“Mm! It’s written right here.”
Little Rose pointed to the big characters, and the name Mystic Illusion Cafe burst like neon in fog.
“Eh? Purple Illusion!?”
Yue Liuyi scanned the bold line, then the fine print scattered like nettles. The activities were unseemly, enough to redden even a “boy.” She swallowed hard, throat dry as sand.
Lift-the-little-skirt.
A kiss of midnight.
Run, Patchouli.
And…
“Why is there even a swimsuit body-plating banquet?! Ugh!”
Face burning like sunset, Yue Liuyi stuffed the flyers away. Little Rose was still very small; she couldn’t let her see this stain of a world.
“Angel Sis, what place are these from? They look fun.”
“They’re from our enemies! Ugh… No wonder Luyao…”
She finally understood why Luyao had stumbled for words in the Flame Ruins Gang’s hall. Purple Illusion ran a pleasure house, the kind rotten down to the roots.
(So… when Purple Illusion said I’d be the headliner, did she mean a maid?)
(Can you really make that much money? If I…)
“No. No!”
Yue Liuyi shook her head hard, chasing away her own dangerous thoughts like birds from a field.
She was a “boy.” She wouldn’t trade her looks like petals for coin.
“Little Rose, you said one black-clad didn’t get dealt with. Where is she?”
“Oh… I locked her in the kindergarten. Angel Sis, are you going to torture her?”
“Not torture. I’ve got questions.”
“Mm… let’s go together. My broom’s there too!”
Together, they reached the old kindergarten, once silent as frost, now lively as spring grass.
Dozens of little rabbits hopped and bobbed, playing with toys children left behind, happy as beans boiling.
When they saw Yue Liuyi, the rabbit sprites flocked like sparrows to their favorite sister.
“Squeak, squeak, squeak~”
“Chirp, chirp, chirp~”
“Coo, coo, coo~”
“Thanks for the welcome! How’s the fruit harvest?”
“Eee, eee, eee!”
The rabbits, thrilled, bounded toward the trees. There, neatly piled, lay the fruits they’d gathered: honeydew like golden moons, tangerines like sunset coins, little apples red as lanterns. A bounty under green shade.
“Nice! You did great. Head pats for all.”
Smiling, Yue Liuyi scooped up a rabbit, stroking her head, gentle as rain on moss.
“Ya! Angel Sis is so popular!”
“Mm…”
Hearing Little Rose, Yue Liuyi set the rabbit down, heat brushing her cheeks like a soft breeze. Petting cute animals felt heavenly—yet… it was too girly.
She felt like a tender, coaxable maiden, with none of a boy’s broad air.
“Thank you, everyone. Keep collecting a bit more. I’ll come reward you another day.”
“Squeak, squeak, squeak~”
Under her touch, the rabbits accepted the order, happy as tomcats in sun, and bounced off to gather fruit.
The blue-haired girl pushed the wheelchair, rolling deeper into the kindergarten, wheels whispering like reeds.
“Little Rose, is the captured black-clad inside?”
“Mm! Yes! I locked her in the nap room!”
“Why the nap room?”
“Because Little Rose hates naps!”
“That can’t be the reason!”
…
Yue Liuyi slid Little Rose’s red broom free from the door latch, then leaned in and peered into the nap room.
The black-clad woman lay with her hands bound behind her, sleeping on the bed like a stone in shade.
The sunlight was poor, ashen as dusk, but the room had a bed. She slept deep, unmoving even as Yue Liuyi stepped in, quiet as a cat.
“So this is a gang woman? It’s my first time seeing one.”
Unlike the Crimson Baroness’s swagger, unlike Senior Dawn Goose’s air, this woman carried only a withered breath, like a wilted reed. Curiosity pricked Yue Liuyi like thorns.
Back then, even the black-clad goons had given up. Yet this woman drew a gun and pulled the trigger at Yue Liuyi.
Was it courage? Or…
“Angel Sis, I think she isn’t with the gang.”
“Eh? Why?”
“I watched closely. No tattoos on her arms. The dead black-clads all had the same tattoo.”
“A tattoo…”
“Mm. Also, I can’t use my broom to knock her into amnesia.”
Little Rose hefted her red broom, eager as a sparrow before flight.
