Since that’s how it is, I won’t press you. By the way, Tangxue—about the bite last time, I’ve damped the effects down to the bare minimum. It won’t ripple through your life like frost on glass.

Mm.

Qingsheng Tangxue’s voice buzzed like a hive under her ribs, as if she were holding back a sneeze in winter wind.

Qianya leaned in like a quiet shadow and whispered, “In a few days, I might leave… the way smoke slips off a torch.”

Mm.

“If I keep staying, I’ll drag you into my storm. If I don’t kill Edgar, my heart-demon will gnaw me like ivy on stone, and I won’t advance. It’s not just my burden. It’s a promise I made to a senior, carved like a vow on jade.”

Mm.

Qianya frowned, a thin line like a paper cut. “Give me something, will you? Stop ‘mm’-ing like a sleepy cat.”

“…Tangxue? Why are you covering your nose like snow cupped in both hands?”

Qianya reached over and tickled under my arm, sly as a stray breeze.

“Ah! Haha… ah-choo!” The sneeze popped like a seed pod, sharp in the air.

…

Qianya ducked her head, awkward as a crane folding its wings.

“If you want to find me, drop by that dessert shop, the one sweet as starlight. And drink hot water—don’t catch a chill,” she said, and with a whoosh she blinked off the mountaintop like a falling leaf.

I’m doomed… there goes my image, crumbling like brittle sugar. Why did I say I don’t even catch colds? That’s pride strung like a kite, and the wind just snapped it!

Honestly, even I don’t get it. I’m ice-attuned, yet I caught a cold—like a fish drowning in water, not even remotely scientific, a paradox sketched in frost.

Right, Xuewei told me to see her later. Qianya’s matter can wait, like rain held behind clouds. I’ll stop by Aunt Yuqiu’s first.

…

Good thing the mountain’s close to Xuewei’s campus place. Half an hour of city-light drift and I reach her window like a moth. She’s been waiting, a candle patient in dusk… and I stood her up like a chair in an empty room.

Ah-choo! Do I go in or not, like a coin caught mid-flip?

If I go, I might be toast; if I don’t, I’m definitely toast. With odds like that, why am I hesitating, like a hare on a trail?

I push the door, wood sighing like a reed.

“You came,” Xuewei said, sitting by the window, face ‘kind’ as a blade sheathed in silk. Her feet, wrapped in black stockings, swung slow as a metronome. Sunset splashed honey on the black knit, painting colors that tasted like wine.

“You’re late by 2 hours, 21 minutes, and 12 seconds,” she chimed, sweet as a bell with iron inside.

…

“Sorry, Teacher Xuewei. I was contemplating life, like a monk staring at rain.”

“It’s fine,” she said, shaking her head. Her hair rippled like a dark stream. “I’ve long gotten used to waiting. A little time is nothing, like dew on grass.”

Facing Xuewei, my tongue tied itself in a sailor’s knot. She always feels like she’s hinting at something, like a fan half-closed. Whatever I say gets braided into her silk. Better to be quiet, a pebble in a stream.

“I called you here to tell you something,” she murmured, voice cool as moonlight. “I killed a duke of the Blood Clan. Next, I’ll go with my imperial sister to a high-level multination meeting. You’re coming with me, like a shadow that won’t leave its tree.”

“Teacher… you’re not gonna ask my opinion?” I muttered, small as a sparrow.

Xuewei only smiled, the curve of her mouth like a crescent blade.

…

“That’s settled. We leave tomorrow,” she said, neat as a stamp on wax.

“No way… You drop something this big now? At least give me time to prep, like sharpening a knife before dawn.”

“Late people don’t get to say that,” Xuewei snorted, frost on her breath.

… Looks like seeing Qianya gets pushed again, like a letter left unsent. I wonder if Aunt Yuqiu’s shop is open tonight, lamps like stars.

“Teacher, can I go now?” I asked, voice thin as thread.

“Do you hate being by my side that much?” Her words drifted like smoke, but stung like needles.

“I don’t. I don’t! I just have stuff to do… I’ll be back before eight-thirty, like a train on schedule!”

“Fine. Go then. Just… be back by morning,” she said, sigh loosening like a sash.

Don’t say more. My guard cracked like lacquer, ugh…

“I’m only dropping by the shop I used to work at. Won’t take long, like a cat’s walk.”

“I’m heading out. I’ll be home on time tonight,” I said, and shut the door, the click neat as a seal.

“Brother, you’re still like this…” Xuewei shook her head, a willow in wind. “Forget it. I’ll prep for tomorrow. Shame I can’t just kill that Vampire outright… how vexing, like a thorn under silk.”

“Too bad Xiao Jiuchi can’t attend. If she were there, killing that Vampire on the spot would be fine, like thunder invited to dinner.”

“Xiao Jiuchi’s been bedridden for over a decade, still not healed… She hit too hard back then, like a hammer that broke its own handle. Sometimes I feel she’s Brother’s real sister more than me,” Xuewei said, palm to her brow, a swan with a headache.

“Right now, Sister Xi should be taking care of her. Maybe I’ll drag that little brat to the Demon Dominion someday and see how she faces her old teammates, like stars meeting old clouds.”

…

In Starfate City, by seven the night sky already spills a bowl of brilliant stars, glitter poured on velvet. The city’s famed for a sky so pure it rings; legend says every thirty years the stars gather like elders at a council. Lovers who wish then get the gods’ blessing, a promise braided for life.

“That legend’s fake for sure… What if that day a righteous zealot charges in with a torch to test whether gods will shield you?” I sat beside Qianya, my tone to Aunt Yuqiu dripping like vinegar.

“Don’t argue, you little brat!” Aunt Yuqiu crawled over the table like a cat and tapped my head, gentle as a spoon.

“Quit tapping people’s heads, you old aunt!” Fair’s fair—I crawled over and tapped hers, knuckles light as rain.

“You—you—you!” Aunt Yuqiu clutched her head, wide-eyed like a startled doe. She’d never met many who’d tap her like that. Can she even stand this?

Qianya couldn’t watch anymore. She pushed us apart, palms steady as oars. “You two… enough.”

“Let me go, Xiao Ya! Today I’ll settle it with this half-starved wolf cub!” Aunt Yuqiu flared, tail metaphorical and bristling.

“Stinky aunt, I’ve tolerated you forever! You always make me wear those shameful outfits, take advantage in new ways, squeeze me for labor, and sneakily touch my butt while I’m working!” My words flew like sparks.

“Waaah! I treat you so well—what’s wrong with skimming a little profit?” she shot back, shameless as a gull.

“Shut up, you creep with that loli fixation!” I snapped, lightning in my throat.

…

Qianya’s expression cracked, a mask with hairline fractures. If they didn’t say it, she’d still be in the dark about how much they’d done behind her back.

“Stinky aunt, you grabbed my chest again—I’ll bite you! Ahm!” I lunged like a fox.

“Ahhh! You bit me! Why are your teeth so sharp, like little knives?” she yelped, hopping.

“Mm-mm!” My mouth was full, feral as winter.

“I’m furious! Xiao Ya, don’t just watch—come help Aunt pull this wolf cub off!” Aunt Yuqiu pleaded, flustered as blown ash.

…

She wanted to smack them both, honest as thunder itching to strike. But these two are the most important people in her life, twin lamps in her night. She couldn’t hit either, no matter how her knuckles itched.

Afterward.

They sat across from each other, clothes rumpled like crumpled paper, neither willing to meet eyes.

“Qianya, I heard from… my teacher Xuewei that she’s going to a multination meeting tomorrow. Duskmoon Empire’s in the mix. Will you go?” I asked, voice smooth as oil.

“Me? I’m not going. I don’t control the Duskmoon Empire now; going’s useless, like throwing stones at fog,” Qianya said, calm as slate.

“Don’t look at me. I retired ages ago. I don’t care about that country’s mess. And I’m still your dean, you little brat—so disrespectful! I’ll make you write a two-thousand-word reflection, heavy as a brick,” Aunt Yuqiu huffed, puffing like a kettle.

“Huh? Dean?” My surprise popped like corn.

“Of course! Honorary dean, though. Besides me there are two others,” she preened, feathers silky.

“Then on the day academy teachers went out to fight Vampires, what were you doing?” I shot back, a needle glittering.

“I was commanding from behind, obviously! Many teachers don’t even know me. I’m the mysterious dean who shows up least but contributes most,” she said, smug as a cat on a windowsill.

“Pah! You were slacking for sure,” I said, words dry as dust.

“How could I! I’m the dean. When the academy’s at stake, I’ll help, like steel under silk.”

“Enough, Tangxue,” Qianya cut in, a knife to rope. “Aunt wasn’t even in the city then. She went to the Demon Dominion.”

“Exactly! Am I the kind to laze?” Aunt Yuqiu tried to glow like moonlight.

“Yes,” we said in unison, the word landing like a pebble.

“Hey! You two!” she squawked, feathers ruffled.

“Demon Dominion…” The phrase made me shrink like a snail, a memory pricking like thorns.

Qianya noticed, eyes keen as hawks. “Tangxue… do you know that Demon King?”

“We do,” I said, simple as a drop.

This girl… does she know every top-tier powerhouse in the plane, names carved in thunder?

She knows that little demon sovereign. I visited when she ascended; if my strength’s the continent’s ceiling, hers is sky above it. Baseline true god, a mountain beyond mountains.

My impression of that short demon is mostly from reports. They say she’s very lazy, a cat basking forever. She built a federation so she wouldn’t have to micromanage. With her power she could be an empress, but she oddly prefers her people calling her “Lord.” She staged a coronation, built a palace—maybe that’s demon tradition, banners flapping like bat wings.

They say she’s a hybrid of Demon God and purebred succubus, a strange flower. Judging by her vibe, a pure-hearted succubus—cherry blush, thorn tucked. At about one point four meters tall, how could she not be, like a small cup brimming with sweetness?

“Qianya… what are you thinking? You’ve been staring off, like a crane lost in fog.”

“It’s nothing, just little life thoughts, ants on a leaf… Tangxue, you really won’t go with me? Your identity…” Her worry rippled like a pond.

“Relax. They can’t do a thing to me. I’ve got real business here. Besides, once I wrap this, I’ll go find Xiao Jiuchi. Then no one will dare touch me, like wolves kept at bay by fire.”

“Xiao Jiuchi…” Qianya’s mouth twitched hard, a bowstring on the verge.

If she remembered right, that’s the Demon King’s name. Their bond’s tighter than she thought, like silk braided into rope…

But if they’re that close, why didn’t she see Tangxue at the coronation back then? Strange, like a river running uphill.

“So, Qianya, will you leave after saying your goodbyes tomorrow?” I asked, voice soft as dusk.

“Mm. I said what needed saying days ago. Given who I am now, staying would be unbearably awkward, like a mask worn too long,” she said, smile thin as rice paper.

“I see. Then after you leave… what will you do?” Curiosity pricked me, a thorn under thumb.

Qianya smiled secretively, moon behind cloud. “Secret.”

…

“Tch, isn’t it just—mmph!” Aunt Yuqiu didn’t finish. Qianya swooped and covered her mouth, swift as a swallow.

“Ahem! Xiao Ya, you’re too sensitive. You won’t even let me say that?” Aunt complained, sputtering like rain on stone.

“Qiuqiu~ I remember under your bed—” Qianya tried to sing-song, but Aunt Yuqiu blurred faster and clamped her mouth, a hawk to a mouse.

“Aiya~ you’re this big and still this naughty,” Aunt crooned, sugar over steel.

Feels like Qianya knows a pile of Aunt Yuqiu’s unspeakable secrets, tucked like letters under floorboards… I need a chance to pry them all out, one by one, like pearls from shells.

Enough talk. I gotta head back, or I’ll be late like a sun caught behind mountains. Old aunt, Qianya—see you!

“Hey! Who are you calling old! You little brat, don’t go!” Aunt flailed, a rooster at dawn.

Mouth covered, Qianya couldn’t speak. She just smiled at me, warm as lantern light.

We’ll meet again soon, she thought, words fluttering like moths.

I closed the door and walked out, steps light as frost. Coming to Aunt Yuqiu’s to mooch is always worth it—free feast like a banquet in starlight. Desserts worth tens of thousands, all you can eat, sugar piled like snow.

Mm-hm-hm—it's only seven-thirty; I can go back and surprise Xuewei, then cook a midnight snack, and watch her smile like a crescent moon.

Lighthearted, my chest felt like a kite in fair wind, and my steps picked up; in minutes, I reached my old home.

Ding-ding—Xuewei, I’m back—

In the wide hall, two people I knew by heart were entwined, eyes steeped in honeyed heat like dusk pooling in a bowl.

My face went rigid like ice; one was my sister, the other… my roommate.

I felt like mist at noon, extra and pointless, a shadow with nowhere to cling.

Ah—ha… ha… sorry to intrude; my voice fluttered like torn paper; I’ll come back later…

I turned to close the door, slow as a leaf drifting off a branch.

He barked, his voice cracking like a whip: “Stop! Get back here!”

My throat tasted of salt; “Xuewei… Teacher, I’m glad you found true love,” I forced out like a stone rolled uphill.

Making a move on someone under fifteen is… yeah, that’s a problem; but I’ll bless you anyway, like tossing a lantern onto dark water.

Even if you say, “You came right on time,” I won’t stay; goodbye, a leaf falling past the door.

Slam.