“I wonder if we can get out of the Dark Abyss Zone today…” Her voice drifted like mist over cold stone.

Tangxue twirled a straw and poked her milk tea cup, the motion like tapping ice on a pond.

“Elder Sister? What are you saying?” Qianya glanced over, her eyes puzzled like moths circling a lamp.

“Qianyue, do you think we can leave the Dark Abyss Zone today?” Her question fell like a pebble into dark water.

“Mm… Elder Sister, I don’t know…” Qianyue lowered her head, shame settling like winter frost on a leaf.

As a guide who knew nothing, she felt useless, her heart heavy like a rain-soaked cloak.

Yet Elder Sister kept forgiving her, warmth like a small stove in a cold room.

Thinking that, Qianyue felt even more ashamed, like sinking into soft, deep snow.

“If you don’t know, then forget it.” Tangxue looked back at the cup, her gaze flat as a still lake. “I made a little toy. If it works, I won’t run out of drinks for a long while.”

“What did Elder Sister make?” Qianyue leaned in, curiosity flickering like a firefly.

“An endlessly refillable milk tea cup.”

“I learned something on this road—when there’s no food, people die, like lamps without oil. Buying every meal won’t work; only growing and making it yourself is the right way.”

“What’s milk tea?” Qianyue asked, her voice blank as fresh paper.

“…A tasty drink,” Tangxue said offhand, her tone mild as lukewarm water. “But right now I can only make the water refill. No milk source, no tea, no syrup.”

“Even the refill takes me almost ten minutes to etch a magic circuit. When will I ever finish a truly endless drink…” Tangxue slumped over the table, like a wilted willow after rain.

“Self-grown, self-sold…” Qianyue swallowed, her eyes swimming like minnows. “I think Elder Sister can definitely do it…”

Tangxue shot Qianyue a cold glare, sharp as a knife edge.

“I think you’ve just eaten too much, Qianyue.”

She crawled across the table toward Qianyue, her movement like a cat on a wall, then pressed both fists against Qianyue’s temples like iron clamps.

“Today your Elder Sister’s teaching you what emotional intelligence means!”

“Ah—ow ow ow! Elder Sister, Qianyue knows she’s wrong—Qianyue’s gonna collapse—Elder Sister!” Her cry skittered like a startled sparrow.

“…?”

The old table bore weight it shouldn’t, groaning like an old beam in a storm.

Crack!

The collapse rang through the shop, a clear sound like ice snapping on a river.

Every gaze in the room snapped to them at once, eyes gathering like a flock of crows.

And the fat boss, just stepping out, saw it all, his face twisting like dough.

“My table—aaah!” He squealed like a hog at the slaughter.

“…”

“You two, I don’t care who you are, I—”

“Boss, what kind of table is this?” Tangxue turned, her eyes dim as ash. “Pretty lousy, isn’t it? Whatever. I’m magnanimous—free replacement for you.”

Cold bloomed in the air like winter breath, and at the ruined spot an identical table condensed, clear as carved ice.

The pudgy boss trembled, summer turning to winter around him, fear crawling like frost up his spine.

“How weird—why’d it suddenly get so cold? Hiss…”

“Holy crap—when did that table appear?!” The words burst like popcorn.

Tangxue eyed her handiwork and nodded, satisfaction smooth as polished stone. “Mm-hmm. This should do, right? Boss, I think your table’s quality was… questionable, so I tested it. See? One touch and it shattered. So I gave you a new one, for free. You… won’t blame me, will you?”

“…”

“No blame, no blame… haha. Noble lady, as long as you’re pleased…” The boss laughed thinly, retreating like a crab into its shell.

He’d wanted to test these two beauties, heat like cheap wine in his blood, but one ice table said enough; she could turn him into a statue in a blink.

He could only thank heaven he hadn’t done anything stupid, sweat drying like salt on skin.

“What are you staring at! Never seen a pretty girl? Keep staring and I’ll kill every last one of you!” Tangxue’s glare flashed like drawn blades.

The crowd’s gazes snapped away, scattered like startled sparrows into the eaves.

“Hmph… I was in a decent mood. Ruined by that trashy table.” She smoothed her long hair, silver strands like moonlight, the tips dyed deep blue by a touch of ice.

“Qianyue, we’re leaving.”

“Okay… Elder Sister, wait for Qianyue!”

Once they stepped outside, Tangxue felt more eyes on her, pricking like nettles under cloth.

She squirmed, feeling unclean, as if rainwater had seeped down her collar.

“Funny. That wasn’t happening before…”

“Elder Sister, you look unhappy. Did Qianyue make you mad earlier?” Qianyue’s worry hovered like a small, gray cloud.

“No. I just hate people staring. It feels gross,” Tangxue said, shaking her head, the motion like a branch shedding rain.

“Elder Sister’s so pretty—of course lots of people will stare~” Qianyue smiled at her profile, soft as melted sugar.

“…” Tangxue froze, thoughts crystallizing like frost patterns.

If Dreamsound walked here, wouldn’t she draw even more eyes?

No doubt—if Qingyu Mengyin were here, she’d be the center of every lantern, the moon above a tide. When I first saw Dreamsound, I was stunned—I’d never seen someone that… abundant.

Cough, cough.

Later I saw her often, and the shine dulled. Now she just looks like a goofy, lovable ox.

“But I can’t pretend I dislike hearing praise.”

“Elder Sister…?”

Tangxue took Qianyue’s arm and tugged her forward, their steps in harmony like paired bells. “Move. If night falls, we definitely won’t get out of the Dark Abyss Zone.”

“Elder Sister… do you know the way?” Qianyue asked, worry fluttering like a thin curtain.

“…”

“Qianyue, you lead.” Tangxue’s voice carried a shy kink, like a cat caught stealing fish.

“Mm!” Qianyue stepped ahead, her small hand gripping Tangxue’s palm like a warm pebble.

They stopped skirting strange alleys and walked boldly down the street, their shadows long as reeds at dusk.

Qianyue feared those pitch-dark places, caverns like ink. Even with Elder Sister beside her—no, because Elder Sister was beside her—she didn’t want to trouble her.

They didn’t linger near the center of the zone, the streets curling like a coiled serpent.

Night pressed close, deep as a well, and the Dark Abyss Zone gets wild after midnight, chaos swarming like rats.

It wasn’t that Tangxue couldn’t handle punks; there were just too many, fearless as moths to flame.

“Elder Sister, what are you doing?” Qianyue asked, as Qingsheng Tangxue crouched to draw, lines unfurling like vines.

“Etching a sigil,” Tangxue murmured, voice calm as a cool stream. “Remember the pattern we drew this morning? It’s similar. Once it’s done, next time we can arrive here in an instant.”

“Oh…” Qianyue nodded, understanding like dawn pale on rooftops.

Tangxue wiped her forehead with the back of her hand, sweat a silver bead like dew. “Done. Qianyue, we can leave.”

“Mm~”

A silver flash cut the air like a blade through silk, and they vanished on the spot, whoosh, like swallows diving into cloud.