A black sky and a white earth—the whole world sketched in ink and chalk.

Where... is this place? Confusion surged like muddy floodwater. He didn’t want to think, didn’t want to remember. Stars bloomed across the ink-dark vault like silver frost, but the ground stayed a blank sheet of snow.

Is this... what you lost?

The voice drifted like a warm breeze at dusk, a lullaby wind that made your eyes want to close like tired petals. Worries slid off like rain from leaves; thoughts sank like stones into a still lake.

Ouyang stared, dazed, at the woman before him, a face both familiar and strange, like a reflection in rippling spring water.

Her long silver hair floated without wind, each strand scattering starlight like a comet’s tail. A robe of silver constellations wrapped her, and her flawless smile opened like a moonflower, soft and disarming.

She cupped something in both hands like a priestess carrying a flame, yet no matter how he widened his eyes, it remained a blur like mist over a river. She was inches away like a lantern within reach, yet distant as a shoreline beyond fog.

Wine-red eyes held a silver moon like a seal upon night. She sighed like wind through pines and drew back whatever she had cradled, slow as the tide retreating.

Her bright lips moved like a prayer on a shrine, but static rushed his ears like cicadas in summer heat. He couldn’t hear her; the noise hooked his attention like a fish pulled from water.

It was a crowd’s clamor, familiar words like bells in a hometown lane. And horns—sharp and metallic—honking from a world of steel and concrete like iron forests and stone rivers.

The world split like torn silk, and light poured in like a blade of dawn.

Big brother, you’re awake! A tiny girl clutching a teddy bear sat at his bedside like a kitten hugging a cushion. From the hall, a sharper voice cracked like a whip. Xian, how many times have I told you, stay away from that Demon King! He’s dangerous!

Got it! Xian winked at Ouyang like a firefly’s blink, then scooped her bear and scampered out like a sparrow.

What... was that?

Wind the clock back to a week ago, to the day it all broke like thunder.

Facing Xi’s eyes—eyes that promised to go down together like flint and tinder—Ouyang felt a cold drop in his gut like winter rain. There was no room to bargain; the girl who feared for her sister had one foot over the edge like a bird on a cliff.

Even a wrong tone might snap her like a taut string, and then—

Even if going down together couldn’t kill Ouyang, pain would come like a falling mountain. So the Demon King bowed like a bamboo bending in wind.

Once he sent everyone away, Ouyang studied the little loli’s corpse with a frown like a storm cloud. He poked here and prodded there like a suspicious old fox; it looked bad, like a creep at a grave. If Xi had seen this, she would’ve drawn blood like a viper.

His strange testing went on for a while, and even the corpse seemed fed up like a drumskin finally twitching. Xian’s body shivered, a faint ripple like a leaf in wind.

Then—

Enough, you pervert! Xian’s eyes snapped open like knives from a sheath, and her palm cracked across his face like thunder. Ink-black pupils pinned him like nails, and one arm shielded her chest like a gate.

The instant he saw those eyes, he knew he’d called it right, clear as sunrise after fog.

Hmph. Even with Oscar-tier acting, you can’t keep playing dead under harassment like this. Since I started this gig, no one’s faked death in front of me and got away with it.

At first, he hadn’t been sure whether Yuan had left Xian’s body, doubt gnawing like mice. So he trusted the old rule—practice tests truth—like a plow tests soil. The sudden corpse-sits-up proved his guess like ink on paper.

In his plan, even if Yuan had slipped out, he’d slip back like a shadow to its den. Xian’s body felt like Yuan’s lair now, snug as a burrow.

Anyway, give that kid’s soul back. He rubbed the red handprint on his cheek like a brand and cut to the point like a blade.

Fine. Trade me your body.

Even if you take my body, you won’t take my heart. Kid, love takes time, like tea that needs to steep.

Silence pooled like a dark pond. Ouyang noticed Xian’s body tremble, a quiver like a bowstring. Then black fire climbed her like night ivy; even with her head lowered, her murderous gaze pressed like a mountain. He stumbled back several steps like a startled stag and lifted the Divine Sword as a silver shield.

Clothes are such a hassle. Better to burn them to ash like dry leaves.

Her smile crooked like a crescent blade, and Ouyang felt a cold prickle like frost. Her next words cut colder, sharp as sleet.

Hee-hee. If this body’s big sister finds her little sister standing bare before you, what do you think happens?

What happens? If Xi saw him not even sparing a corpse, she’d go berserk like a storm-tossed sea. Especially when the corpse was her sister. The picture alone chilled him like a bucket of snow.

That madwoman would go down together without blinking, like a moth flying into flame.

Hey, hey, let’s talk. No need to go all-or-nothing; win-win is the Way, like two boats sharing a current.

Cooperate? On what?

Her scorn stung like nettles. He swallowed pride like a bitter pill, but seeing a crack to negotiate, he cleared his throat like a herald.

For example, I help you beat Sin.

He’d learned of Yuan and Sin’s tangled knot back in the misty illusion, like threads snarled in a loom. From her calm speech, he was sure this was Yuan, not Sin; if it were Sin, it would be destruction-only, like fire eating dry grass.

Of course, it was still his guess, a coin toss in fog.

Are you an idiot?

The pause pressed like a lid, and the insult dropped like a pebble in a well. What did that even mean? He didn’t dare say it out loud; the air felt sharp as glass.

That sword... where did you get it?

She broke the silence like a twig.

A diary gave it to me... well, a thick book like a brick.

I see...

What is that book, anyway?

Yuan didn’t answer; Xian’s body folded to the floor like a puppet with cut strings.

Hey, don’t leave. You haven’t answered me! And put the girl back before you go! He shook Xian like a willow in wind. Come out. Come out!

He shook for a while; Yuan didn’t emerge, slipping away like smoke. Instead, Xian stirred awake, slow as a thaw.

Big brother, don’t shake me. I’m dizzy... Her syrup-soft voice popped his mood like fireworks. He didn’t care about Xian herself, but her “revival” meant Yuan’s attitude could bend, like bamboo.

She said nothing, but she let the girl go. Looks like we can talk, like traders under a lantern.

Hearing his shout from afar, the others rushed over like waves. Perfect timing: Ouyang was holding Xian by the collar like he meant to thrash her. Xi saw it like lightning striking a dry tree.

Ouyang, my sister’s like this and you still want to flog her corpse? If you’ve got a problem, come at me!

His tongue tied like a knot; he couldn’t explain. Xi’s anger burned like a brazier; cold sweat beaded his brow like dew. He set Xian down, and only then did Xi notice her sister could move like a waking fawn.

Learning her sister had returned to life, Xi let earlier things slip like sand through fingers.

She tugged her clothes and pressed her knees together, shy as a lily in rain. After fidgeting forever, she finally said, Ouyang... thank you.

Ouyang felt Xi was a strange creature, mercurial as spring weather. One moment she thundered; the next, a new event drew her like a moth to a lantern, and the old storm blew past like a cloud.

He rolled his eyes like a lazy cat and said nothing, already threading the next plan like a needle.

He’d wanted to use that secret place to reach somewhere else, like a ferry to the Other Shore. But the rules there rejected them like oil rejects water. Twice they were a step from crossing, and each time something rose up like a wall.

Helpless, they withdrew like the tide. Now it was a week later, and the place was Ancient Memory Town, quiet as pottery on a shelf. For some reason, the demon army had retreated like crows taking wing, so they returned smoothly. With their fighting power sky-high like peaks, even if the demons were there, they might not have held.

He rubbed his eyes and yawned like a sleepy lion; the dream blurred like ink in rain. He couldn’t even recall the girl’s face, a moon behind clouds.

What did I lose? What was she holding in both hands like a treasure? He threw open the window, drew in fresh air like cool spring water.

Meh, too much trouble. Let time untie that knot like a patient old monk. Still, the demons are getting bold, like wolves in daylight. A Demon Emperor? That’d put him above our Demon King, like a crown over a crown.

Vice-captain, get ready. It’s time to teach that lot a lesson, like thunder teaching silence. They dare call themselves Demon Emperor? They’re clearly not putting us in their eyes.

With one foot over the threshold, Devila broke into a sweat like ice under sun. He was sure Ouyang’s back faced him like a wall; yet the man’s instinct cut like a hawk’s gaze. Devila began to draw his foot back, inching away like a bat into shadow.

I’m talking about you, bat fiend! Don’t think I don’t see you. I’ve got eyes on my back!