"...That's how it went." Ying Xuan'er knelt like a startled hare under moonlight, small and shaking, her wronged face softening into a bullied little sub who didn’t dare bite back.

What happened just now? Who knows—smoke over water leaves no trace. There won’t be a fourth witness, and that maid with her head buried like an ostrich in a dune won’t chirp.

Smug, I tasted sweet annoyance like pepper on the tongue before I spoke. A kid like you dares play at going dark in front of me? You really think I’m the kind of girl who bows to brute force? As if.

That flicker of possessiveness was a guttering wick; no hunger to ravage, no storm in the eyes, just a dry well. You call that “blackened”? That’s your level? Hmph. Pin you to the bed, tease you a few times like wind tickling chimes, and you’re laughing breathless, spilling everything like pearls from a broken string. I wasn’t even warmed up.

“See? Talking nicely from the start would’ve saved us both a storm. Why make me use my hands?” I poured myself warm water, steam curling like mist on a lake at dawn.

Ying Xuan’er tilted her head, lips puffed like a carp, and muttered, “Too mean…”

“Mm?”

“Tangxue, what’re you going to do?”

“You switching the topic on me, Ying Xuan’er?” I smiled with the edge of a blade wrapped in silk.

“Little Aunt’s gone. Starfate City still has big names around, and Teacher Fangzhe’s here, but I’ve got a chill down my spine. I think Starfate City’s about to take another hit.” Worry filmed her eyes like rain on glass.

Silence fell in my chest like snow.

True enough. Outside, the blue-haired witch still drifted like a cold star that wouldn’t set.

Others don’t know it, but I do—clear as moon on water. She’s kin to Dreamsound. I was reckless before. If her story matches what Dreamsound said, joining a cult to burn the continent isn’t far-fetched.

And the pulse I sensed on her wasn’t rot; it was the heartbeat of the living, a warm current under ice. She’s not undead.

She seemed unwilling to hurt me, but as a follower of the Flower of the Other Shore, she’ll show others no mercy. My gut says they’re circling like wolves for a gap to strike this city.

If a cult slaughters one of the continent’s brightest cities, the shock will spread like wildfire on dry grass.

With Xuewei away, the gate’s unguarded like a house with its lantern out. Best chance.

If I end up facing that hag of unknown years, it’ll be awkward as a fish on dry land. If she tattles to Dreamsound afterward… I’m dead meat.

No, no—silver lining like dawn at the horizon. That gives me a reason not to go back, right? Dreamsound won’t chase me onto land… right? Still, I don’t want to fight her. By my quick math, the witch’s power is about 1.0 Dreamsound, or twenty male Vampires—a storm wrapped in velvet. Me… me… if I try my hardest, I might hold one of her hands.

Worse, I can’t go all out. Frostwhisper is ignoring me; years of water element study are a dry riverbed right now. When blades meet, I might not even hold that one hand.

If anyone spots something off, a friendly knife in the back could come like wind through reeds.

Why does trouble sprout wherever I walk, like weeds in spring?! I flipped a mid-sized table in my head.

Frustration clawed like a cat in a box; I scratched my hair till static crackled.

“I don’t wanna try anymore… I just want a nap.” I tipped over like a salted fish under a summer sun and flopped onto the couch.

“Tangxue… you’ve slept forever. You really won’t go out and, I don’t know, breathe some air?”

“You’re still a kid. You wouldn’t get it…”

A sudden scream rose from the street like crows startled from a tree.

“What’s happening out there?”

I shut my eyes. My spirit stretched out like a net over water, skimming the city’s surface.

“Bad. Very bad…” Ask for wind, get a storm; ask for luck, draw empty lots. Why do my lotteries pull nothing but dust?

I fumed, then exhaled, a bellows by the forge. “Ying Xuan’er, Yueqin, we’ve got to find the teachers, now. I’ll go to the City Lord. He needs to activate Starfate City’s defense system.”

Starfate City’s protection should have an inward-facing mode, like a shield that turns its teeth inward.

“What happened, Tangxue—?” Fear cracked Ying Xuan’er’s voice like thin ice. She’d never seen me this serious, like winter settling over a pond.

“It’s very bad. Edgar, that Vampire, broke into Starfate City with followers of the Flower of the Other Shore.”

“What! Impossible! The city’s outer ward repels everything. Unless the whole city’s dead, they can’t get in!”

“But they’re in.” I sighed, a leaf dropping. “No time. Ying Xuan’er, take Yueqin and find the teachers. I’ll go to the City Lord.”

She hesitated, a bird on a branch in wind, but she knew this wasn’t the hour for a tantrum. “…Tangxue, be careful.”

“Please. I’m terrified of dying. Do you think I’m the type to rush headlong like a moth to flame?”

Pitiable, weak, powerless.jpg

“Right… with how tiny your courage is, there’s no way you’d mess around. Ah—hahaha…”

“…”

Somehow that stung like a paper cut.

“Then Yueqin and I will go. Take care of yourself, Tangxue…”

“Mm. I’ve got my own mess to mop up.”

“…Tangxue?”

I pretended I didn’t hear, slipped out the door, and headed for the City Lord’s manor. What comes next, I’ll shoulder. I can guess it: the Flower of the Other Shore came for me. I don’t want to drag the city into my storm.

I smoothed my breath, steadied my heart like a boat on a lake, and sprinted toward the manor at my top speed.

“City walls are boiling, but the City Lord’s manor sits calm as a painted screen… that’s not how duty should look.” I frowned, a crease like a blade mark.

“Miss Maid, I’d like to see the City Lord.”

The maid who always worked here smiled like spring sun. “Little miss, what do you seek with the City Lord?”

“It’s urgent. The cult Flower of the Other Shore has invaded Starfate City. I… have something to discuss with him.”

“Is that so?” Her face grew solemn, clouds crossing the moon. “That’s indeed grave. Go right in. The City Lord should be in his office.”

“Got it.” I didn’t dither like a reed in wind; I stepped into the familiar halls of the manor.

This maid is one of the City Lord’s people. With that known, no need to dance around.

If I’m right, the gate was opened by City Lord Fan Chen.

After all, only he can turn that key in this lock.

The Merfolk aren’t short on charm arts. Unlike common lures that use beauty like perfume on the air, high-level Merfolk enchantment rides the voice, a tide on the ear.

It’s the siren-song everyone whispers about—the merfolk Dreamsound.

Most likely… the City Lord got charmed by that old hag even older than Dreamsound, a net cast by a deep-sea singer.

I should be able to break that spell. Dreamsound taught me how, like passing me a knife honed on coral.