A bell-like voice rose from the first floor, cutting the still air like a pebble into a pond: “Hello, guest—would you like breakfast?”

…

Don’t just pop up and talk like a ghost in fog, she griped inwardly, heart skipping like a startled sparrow even though she knew a communication array was carved into the room.

On the surface, she let her face be still as winter water, pride held like a fan behind a sleeve because others were present and face was a lantern you didn’t drop.

Tangxue glanced at sleeping Qianyue, moon-pale against the pillow, then whispered like drifting mist, “Please prepare a breakfast for me.”

“Certainly, guest,” the waitress replied, her words neat as stacked plates.

Morning in the City of Woe was black as a lidded well, a night that never lifted like a heavy curtain.

This city belonged to the Blood Clan, whose eyes cut the dark like knives, so most had grown used to shadow, though magelights still bloomed like caged stars for the few outsiders who wandered in.

Few came, because the air here was a coal-dark river, and most travelers feared drowning in it.

They said this endless night tied to a national treasure of the Duskmoon Empire, a single jewel like a swallowed moon that kept the land in perpetual dusk.

The Blood Clan disliked sunlight, but it wasn’t death to them; it was just that in darkness their fangs felt like swords and their senses like lightning.

After a dozen minutes, a knock tapped the door like rain on a drum.

“I’ll get it. Frostwhisper, hide first,” Tangxue said, her voice flat as frost on glass.

…

You turned back just like that, she thought, the complaint fluttering like a moth.

Forget it…

Tangxue sighed, breath a soft feather, slipped from the bed to take the tray, tipped like a clink of coins, and carried in the pastries like a small harvest.

Blood cake again—of course, she thought, the inevitability heavy as iron.

Ugh.

She set the blood cake on the table’s edge like an unwanted gift, then drew a bag of cookies from her spatial ring, the bag rustling like dry leaves as she bit down.

The scent of blood cake flooded the room like warm wine, and her appetite shrank like a tide going out.

“So fragrant…” A voice rose like a thread of smoke.

“Hm? You’re awake?” Tangxue slanted a glance at Qianyue, eyes cool as shade.

“Mhm…” The white-haired girl nodded, small and careful as a snowflake.

“Then eat the blood cake on the table. I don’t want the breakfast I ordered to go to waste,” Tangxue said, words clipped like snipped string.

“…My lady noble?” the girl asked, her tone trembling like a leaf.

“I have a name—Qingsheng Tangxue,” Tangxue said, pushing a cookie into her mouth like a stone into still water.

“Miss Tangxue… you aren’t Blood Clan, are you?” the girl asked, breath drawn in like a shy tide.

“I don’t like this taste. Also, why do you think I’m not Blood Clan?” Tangxue’s smile curled like a cat’s tail.

“Because blood cake tastes sweet on the Blood Clan tongue… and you’re eating cookies that are very sweet,” Qianyue said, drawing a deep breath like one smelling rain.

…

“Is that so? So you saw it from that.” Tangxue looked at the tiny cookie in her hand like a pebble in her palm, then tossed it into her mouth like a coin into a wishing well.

“I’m not Blood Clan, it’s true. But… Qianyue, neither are you, right? Qianyue…”

“Qianyue…” The girl blinked, then blushed like dawn on snow. “Yes, I’m called Qianyue now… Qianyue is Blood Clan, Miss Tangxue.”

“No. Qianyue, don’t you feel you’re a little different from those around you?” Tangxue narrowed her eyes, gaze like a thin blade.

“Yes… Qianyue also feels different, so Qianyue always wears a gray coat outside,” the girl said, nodding as prim as a sparrow on a branch.

“Then how did you get into my room last night? This is the sixth floor,” Tangxue asked, voice light but edged like ice.

“Qianyue can fly…” Qianyue lowered her head, shy as a bud.

…

Alright, so she’s a Vampire, Tangxue thought, the word dropping like a stone.

Young Blood Clan can’t fly—she knew that as firmly as carved bone.

“How well do you know this city?” Tangxue asked, resignation drifting through her like slow smoke.

“Very well… Qianyue has lived here almost several years,” the girl answered, the years hanging like beads.

“I see… I need a guide. Can you take me sightseeing through the city, Qianyue?” Tangxue asked, the last word soft as a flute note.

“Of course. When it’s done, I’ll pay you plenty of gold,” she added, smothering a yawn like a waning ember.

“Miss Tangxue…?” Qianyue’s small mouth parted like a shell, disbelief shining inside.

“Just tell me if you’re willing,” Tangxue said, voice even as a line on water.

“I’m willing!”

“Then I’ll be in your care for a while,” Tangxue said, the tease bright as a tassel in wind.

“By the way, do you know the place I’m heading?” she asked, words landing like seeds.

“Please say it, Sister Tangxue,” Qianyue said, blinking like an owl.

…Better than her calling me Mom, Tangxue thought, relief like cool tea.

“Over ten years ago, Frost Valor slew a Vampire that escaped a tomb. Do you know where that tomb is?” Tangxue asked, her tone calm as deep snow.

“I know, Elder Sister. Are you going there?” Qianyue asked, voice tight as drawn string.

“Mhm,” Tangxue said, the answer simple as a nod.

To pay a visit, she thought, the idea quiet as a shadow.

“Elder Sister, many people in the City of Woe went to that tomb before,” Qianyue said, worry pooling like ink. “They wanted treasures, but few returned… Qianyue advises you not to go.”

“If you’re afraid, you can wait outside,” Tangxue said, her gaze steady as a lantern. “I’ll go alone. I came to the City of Woe for this. Will you stop me, Qianyue?”

“No, I… Qianyue is just worried about you,” the girl said, voice small as a curled leaf.

“I’m strong. Your worry is extra snow on a roof,” Tangxue said, dismissing it like dust.

“Elder Sister, are you from another country?” Qianyue asked, curiosity bright as a firefly.

“I’m not from the Duskmoon Empire, that’s for sure,” Tangxue said, the line dry as sand.

“Qianyue understands. Qianyue wants to go in with you, may I?” the girl asked, lifting a blood cake like an offering and taking a bite.

“You’re not afraid?” Tangxue teased, a smile flicking like a fishtail. “We might die, you know.”

“Qianyue isn’t afraid. Elder Sister saved Qianyue’s life and gave Qianyue a name. Qianyue wants to follow Elder Sister,” the white-haired girl said, sudden resolve hard as crystal.

“…Qianyue, you’re actually a Vampire, right?” Tangxue asked, the word soft as falling ash.

“…Vampire?” The girl tilted her head, puzzled like a doe.

“I mean… Blood Clan,” Tangxue said, tone steady as a drawn line.

“Mhm. Qianyue… is Blood Clan,” the white-haired girl said, nodding with sudden gravity like a sealed vow.

“Then, if you’re done with breakfast, let’s go. The road’s long, isn’t it?” Tangxue said, slipping her cookies away like a magician, then turned to carve a sigil on the wall, lines clean as frost patterns.

“Mhm… If we walk, it takes about a week… Qianyue can fly, so three days should be enough,” the girl said, eyes bright as stars.

“Oh… but I can’t fly,” Tangxue puffed, cheeks swelling like a pufferfish.

“Elder Sister… Qianyue can carry you,” the girl offered, earnest as spring water.

“No need,” Tangxue said at once, the refusal sharp as snapped ice.

Let a little girl carry me? You’ve got to be kidding, she thought, pride bristling like quills.

Almost done; let’s go, she thought, the decision settling like snow.

“What is Elder Sister doing?” Qianyue asked, curiosity rising like steam.

“Just carving a mark. It’ll make it easy to return. I paid for this room, so I’m coming back to sleep,” Tangxue said, clapping her hands once, sound crisp as flint.

I’ll just jump back with space magic later, she thought, confidence like a silver thread.

Spatial force gleams silver, and if I suppress my water and ice affinity, then wrap myself in space, I can dye blue hair silver like moonlight on steel.

It feels awful though, like knotting your hair into a ball and pulling a wig over it, a constraint tight as a net, and power limits bite like cold iron.

This trick demands a high affinity for space, a talent rare as a qilin’s scale.

Since entering the City of Woe, Tangxue’s deep-blue gradient had given way to plain silver, a river’s color turned to frost.

Blue hair here was a beacon in dark water, too bright, too risky by far.