“Hello—morning, little Tangxue!” Next-day breakfast, spirited Xuanxiao slipped past my window like a sparrow through dawn light and perched by the sill. The door was locked, so she came like a breeze over frost. I sat on my bed, face blank as a still pond, in the pink pajamas Dreamsound bought yesterday, soft as cherry petals.

Some not-so-good things brewed yesterday, like storm tea. After dinner, Sister Sasa left like a dusk shadow. Xuanxiao, shameless as a street cat, slipped in and slept the night. She grabbed Dreamsound’s “got things to do” like a fox stealing a hen, and took my guardianship. So today, Sis Xuanxiao is my parent, a paper crown stuck on my head.

And this is what knots my temples like a tight drum.

“Hmm? Little Shengsheng, you actually have a cleavage line now?” Her voice fluttered like gossip sparrows. Sis Xuanxiao covered her mouth and nose with both hands, drama as thick as rouge.

“Get out, you jerk!” My temper popped like a spark. I grabbed a pillow and flung it, a pink cloud arcing through morning air.

“Wuaa!” Her yelp burst like a soap bubble.

“Huff! This is maddening—pestering me at dawn, and I still have to cook for her.” My breath steamed like a kettle. I squeezed the ketchup bottle; a red ribbon burst out like a small geyser.

Whatever. I’m not the one eating; I’ll just feed it all to Sis Xuanxiao. No… fine, I’ll at least fix it a bit, like smoothing wrinkled silk.

“Little Tangxue, why is my ketchup red?” She sat at the table and tapped the crimson fried egg with her fork, light as rain. “Fried egg with ketchup. Eat it or don’t.” I cut a small red piece, dipped it in honey like amber, and took a bite.

Mmm. It doesn’t taste as horrible as I imagined; the sweetness rose like a sunbeam.

“Waaah, this is crazy good!” Xuanxiao cried like a cat hitting a sugar high, her tail spiking up and swishing side to side like a pennant. Heat brushed my cheeks like a peach blush. “Even if you praise me, I won’t be happy,” I muttered, stiff as a reed.

“But it’s truly delicious,” she sang, eyes bright as stars, even if it looks like you overdid the ketchup and patched it up.” Crack. Something snapped like thin ice. “Still, this strange crimson turns tenderly sweet, and with honey it’s the perfect first-time sweetness—like first love melting in the mouth.”

Ah, the fork broke. How did my fork break? It’s an enchanted silver fork, gleaming like moonlight. Weird.

Xuanxiao, danger. The air held a tiny pause like held breath.

“U-uu, that hurts…” On her lotus-white hand bloomed a bite mark, edged by skin bare of translucent dragon scales. “Serves you right.” I shot her a glare sharp as a needle.

“Don’t be mad,” she pleaded, voice soft as wool. “It was a joke, and I meant every word.” Seeing my sulk hang like a rainy curtain, Xuanxiao slid behind me and kneaded my shoulders, gentle as warm sand.

“If you’re still angry, how about Sis takes you to the city?” Her tone dangled like a cinnamon stick. “You’ve got nothing pressing lately, right, little Tangxue? The Far North just opened a new snack street.”

My appetite perked up like a fox ear. “Mm…”

As expected, little Tangxue has no resistance to food, she thought, smugness flicking like a cat’s tail.

“They’re running a big promo. Foods from everywhere, stalls like a patchwork bazaar. Don’t you want to look?”

“I do! … But how do we get there?” My worry fluttered like a moth. “Dreamsound isn’t here, so we can’t just teleport.”

“Mm-hmm~ Sis can fly,” she chimed, measuring the span of the wings she usually keeps tucked away like folded frost.

“Right. I forgot Sis Xuanxiao’s an ice dragon, scales like winter glass.”

“Then let’s go.” She swept me up, arms firm as willow roots, and skimmed us out the window on a ribbon of soul-water. Just like that, we were off. A food street? I’m actually a little excited; I could almost slurp the air like broth.

Thanks to Xuanxiao, I skipped shifting to mermaid form and swimming up through the blue. Past our home bounds, she transformed into a giant dragon, frost wings unfurling like glaciers, and set me astride her dragonback. We burst from the water like a blade through glass and rose into the sky like a silver kite.

It wasn’t my first time on dragonback, yet the shock still thumped in my chest like a drum.

Soon, at her terrifying speed, we reached the Far North, a land white as bone and blue as steel. Without the wind-warding charm she set on me, that air pressure would have shredded me like paper in a storm.

I truly sampled what a death flight feels like, cold rushing in like knives.

“Mm-hmm~ How was it? Thrilling?” Sis Xuanxiao’s smile tilted like a crescent blade.

“I don’t want a second time.” I gave her a look as flat as slate.

“Hey?! Don’t say that,” she fluttered, words tumbling like snowflakes. “I didn’t mean to go that fast, it’s just…”

“Alright, I’m teasing. Let’s hit the food street; it’s nearly noon.” My mood steadied like a compass.

“Mm! I knew little Tangxue’s the best.” She laughed, bright as bells.

After that, Xuanxiao led me roaming, pointing out sights like fireflies and buying odd souvenirs like magpie trinkets. With Dreamsound away, Sis Xuanxiao served as my pack mule, bags trailing like a parade. By the time we reached the snack street she promised, the sun was high like a golden wok. It was truly bustling, a tide of people and scents, noise rippling like river light.

Besides the Far North locals, I spotted the Blood Clan selling their signature blood cake, dark as garnets. Next door, an Elf from the Elf Clan poured honey-ice crystal fruit tea, pale and sparkling like frost. A black-haired human girl sold doughnuts, rings golden as suns, and a dragon girl sold cream cakes, soft as clouds.

There were all kinds of roasts and harsh-north specialties—braised seal head steaming like an iceberg in broth. I mean, does anyone actually eat that? The thought clacked in my head like pebbles.

It was so lively, so bright, and so full of foods I’d never seen, a bazaar like spilled paint. Sis Xuanxiao didn’t lie. Trust meter +1, a tiny star twinkling in my chest.

“Little Tangxue, you play here first,” she said, voice gentle as warm milk. “I’ve got something to handle. Should be… fine, right?”

I’d just bought a string of tanghulu (candied haw), red beads like winter berries, and my mouth was full, so I only nodded.

Kidding me? Even without weapons, I’ve got half my old strength, coiled like a spring. Since I was reborn, my cultivation’s almost ten times faster, rising like tide. Maybe my mana never dispersed; maybe it was sealed, sleeping like a dragon under ice.

“Good. I’ll go deal with family stuff, then I’ll come find you, little Tangxue.” She walked off with a forced smile, thin as paper in the wind.

“Mm-mm!” Awoo—the tanghulu was so sour, it stung like a lemon on snow.

After that, I sampled foods from every corner and clan, a path like crumbs on a map. Doughnuts—delicious! Sweet and soft, warm as a pocket, yielding like pillow bread. Tiger Beastman barbecue—delicious! The smell alone carried wild boar charm, smoky as campfire dusk. The beastman bro was clearly a grill master; cumin and chili powder danced like twin sparks. The oil was handled just right, keeping the meat unburnt yet crisp-tender, a bite like fireworks. Super tasty!

The Elf Clan’s honey-ice crystal fruit tea was very, very good, cool sweetness like river glass. Time permitting, I must learn it. As for the Blood Clan’s specialty blood cake… spare me. I never want a second bite; copper notes burned like rust.

Of course, I didn’t dare try some of the curiosities—braised seal head, and those myna mini-burgers, feathers lingering in my mind like ghosts.

“Hey, little miss, you seem to love sweets. Want to try this?” A peculiar middle-aged uncle appeared, holding finely wrapped candies that gleamed like gems. I gave him a cool glance, eyes steady as frost, picked a candy, and sniffed it like a fox at a stream. Slurp. No poison. Safe to eat.

“Ah—mm. The taste… not bad.” He looked like he finally exhaled, relief flowing like warm tea.

“Of course, of course,” he said. “But my stall isn’t here. If you want more, we’ll have to walk a bit.”

“Oh, then let’s go.” I patted my belly like a drum. “I’m pretty full, and a little post-meal exercise sounds nice.”