"Dreamsound, you’re here," Qing Feng Yuelian said softly, her voice a breeze skimming lotus water.

Worry fluttered in my chest like a trapped sparrow. "Mm. Auntie, did you get everything handled? They didn’t hurt you, right?"

"Don’t worry." Qing Feng Yuelian smiled, moonlight-thin. "You know my strength best. That woman and I have a pact carved like lines in jade. I acted within it. Even if she grumbles like wind against stone, she can’t say much."

"That’s good... phew." My breath leveled like ripples after a stone. "Oh—Auntie, your body, are you alright?"

"Dreamsound, you’re still so hasty, like spring thunder chasing rain." Her tone was steady as pine. "Don’t worry about me. Tangxue’s sword hit hard, a winter streak across the sky, but it never touched my life. She held back. The strike looked fierce, but she didn’t lace it with her special frost. A few days’ rest, and my roots drink enough dew. I’ll be fine. By the way, how’s that child?"

"Shengsheng... she’s forgotten a lot. But she still remembers I’m her mom. Hehe." My laugh bubbled like a stream.

"Stop grinning, silly," she said, a fan’s tap of reproach.

"Oh, Auntie, Shengsheng doesn’t remember what you did. Won’t you go see her?" Dreamsound blinked like a pair of fireflies, hinting with both hands.

Qing Feng Yuelian hesitated, tide pulling and ebbing behind her eyes. Temptation gleamed, then she gave a bitter smile like a blade hidden in silk. "No, Dreamsound. I’m afraid I won’t hold back. And I’m leaving soon."

I could bear the dark, if I had never seen the light—like a cave dweller who glimpsed dawn.

"Oh, Dreamsound, this is for you. I took it from that Vampire." Qing Feng Yuelian drew from her breast a pearl, clear with a milky moon-glow.

"This... a Mermaid Tear. Auntie, did you risk yourself for this?"

"No. I’d planned to do it anyway. The Mermaid Tear was just a gift washed up by the tide."

"Dreamsound, I’m going. Remember, don’t let that little one at home run wild like a sparrow in wheat. As things are now, it’s fine." She gave Dreamsound a steady look, deep as still water, then turned to leave.

"Auntie...!" I stepped forward, words crowding like a flock at my lips. "Travel safe..."

"..."

"Mm." Qing Feng Yuelian offered a small smile, dawn-pale, and left.

"Auntie..." Qingyu Mengyin watched her fade like a lantern swallowed by mist, and her gaze went dim.

She wasn’t like this before. After that calamity—wildfire through a forest—even the aunt famous for laziness and unreliability turned to tempered iron, doing anything for revenge. At the root, the blade she lifts is for me.

"I’m sorry..." The whisper fell like ash in still air.

Qingyu Mengyin drifted over the sea, staring at the place she vanished, horizon a taut thread over ink-blue water.

...

"What’s wrong, Shengsheng? Is there something on Mommy’s face?" After she woke, I found her staring, wide-eyed like a little owl.

The girl shook her head, hair swaying like willow catkins. "No. Mommy’s face is pretty, so I want to keep looking."

"..."

Heat rose to my cheeks like a coal under snow. "For dinner, little Shengsheng, what do you want to eat? Mommy will prep it."

"Anything. If Mommy makes it, I like it," she said, words soft as a warm quilt.

Here we go again, the wheel rut I keep slipping into...

I love and hate that answer—grr, a small kitten puffing its fur.

"So what do you actually like? What am I supposed to do with this foggy reply? Ugh... hmph." My complaint fluttered like a paper fan.

Forget it. I’ll make some things Shengsheng likes. She used to love cream cake—snow-sweet sugar drifting like fresh frost. But... cake for dinner feels a little wrong, right?

Then... something sweet it is. Maybe flower-nectar-braised drumsticks, honey shining like liquid amber.

"Ahem... little Shengsheng, Mommy’s decided the menu. Wait here for me, okay?"

"Mm. I’ll be good and stay right here, not going anywhere," she said, the last words falling like pebbles with extra weight.

Is it my imagination? Those last syllables sounded deliberately heavier, like bells struck twice. Oh no, she’s staring again. My face warms, a persimmon ripening in sun.

Unable to bear Tangxue’s steady snowflake gaze, Dreamsound ducked her head and ran, a startled deer through reeds. Tangxue watched the fleeing Qingyu Mengyin, thoughtful as frost tracing glass.

A dozen minutes later, Dreamsound drifted back, a leaf on quiet water.

"It’s ready. Shengsheng, let’s bathe first. We’ve got nothing else to do. Come to think of it, it’s been a while since we bathed together," she said, steam curling like pale dragons.

"Mm..."

Actually, it’s only been a dozen hours...

Qingyu Mengyin had a fierce cleanliness streak. Even in a Soulwater environment where dust never births, she cleaned daily—broom whispering like rain on tiles. More than keeping the house glossy as polished jade, she loved the cleaning itself. It’s one of the rare chores this lazy cicada enjoys.

Bathing, too.

In Soulwater, you could purge every speck from your body with a thought, so baths were needless. But Dreamsound loved soaking in warmth—spring-pond ease, heart floating like a lotus leaf. In hot water, she felt safe.

And if she could cradle soft jade in her arms while she soaked, it was even better.

"Mom... why do you add so many strange things to the bath every time?" The girl in her arms asked, voice rippling like light on water.

"Eh? Are they that strange?" I said, surprised, eyes bright as glazed porcelain. "Milk and water, one to one. Then flower honey and my special seasonings. Sprinkle petals for decoration. That’s pretty normal..."

Well, the nectar is uncommon. It’s brewed from flowers I grow—many already gone from this world. If I sold it, it could probably buy an apartment in the imperial capital, towers crowding like a stone forest.

"Bathing matters for girls. Add the right things, and Shengsheng’s skin gets smoother, peach-blossom soft. You know... that natural baby softness won’t last forever. Time’s wind dries dew."

"...Is that so?" The girl lowered her head, thoughts leaping like fish beneath clear water.

"Enough talk. The water’s right. If you don’t come down, I’ll help you undress," I said, grin wicked as a fox, steam rising in curling ribbons.

"Oh..." The girl answered lazily, a drifting cloud, not minding much.

Was that consent?

Sigh... Shengsheng’s grown up. Not shy like when fireflies lit our nights. Daily fun minus one.

"Mm...? Without noticing, you’ve grown this much. You’re almost Mommy’s size now," I teased, laughter sprinkling like rain.

Shengsheng shot me a look, a sliver of moon. "...Liar." Nowhere close.

"Let Mommy check how you’re developing, little Shengsheng. Hehe~" My hands hovered like warm wind.

Shengsheng covered her chest and backed away, alert like a rabbit ready to dart.

"Alright, alright, don’t fuss. It must’ve been uncomfortable clinging to my back like ivy before, right?"

"It wasn’t..."

"It’s okay. I’ll rub it for you~" My fingers promised gentleness, a knead of soft clouds.

"..."