"Dreamsound... I want to go out and play." Her voice skipped like a pebble over a quiet pond.

"Now? It's almost lunchtime." The sun already hung like a bright coin at mid-sky.

"I know! I'll just be out a bit and hurry back, like a swallow darting out and in."

'Restless, like ants under my skin. I feel like I forgot something... Ugh! So annoying. Stop. I'll go walk and clear my head.'

After waving goodbye to Dreamsound, Tangxue stepped out of the wooden cottage onto the beach, where the sun lay on her like a warm quilt. Comfort soaked her skin, yet her chest felt heavy, like a stone in soft sand.

"Yaya... looks like Granny went back inside." She sighed like a fading breeze. "I should head back soon too." Before turning, she glanced north at a sky black as ink, and unease crawled through her heart like a shadow.

After lunch.

"Ah, looks like it's going to rain, a silver curtain ready to fall..."

"Yeah." Yaya watched the sky grow darker, a bruise spreading over the world. Living under the sea, she had rarely come ashore. The last overcast sky she saw was at sixteen.

"Dreamsound, I want to go out and play."

"Now?" Dreamsound blinked, thought for a beat, then met Tangxue's eyes like a steady lake. "Can you tell me where?"

"Where I used to live. I want to see Xuewei. Can I, Mom?"

"Of course. Why would I stop you from catching up with your sister?" Dreamsound smiled, a crescent moon rising on her lips.

"Great!" Tangxue hugged her, then, after a bit of prep, skipped out the door like a breeze.

To ride the sea's teleport, she needed Dreamsound's consent. Otherwise she'd swim inland for days, dragging time like an anchor.

"Bye, Mom~!"

"Come back early." Dreamsound waved from the balcony, watching until the girl's figure slipped from sight like foam sinking.

"...Dreamsound." From a chair inside, Yaya looked at her daughter, emotions tangled like seaweed. She had never imagined their first night reunited would be spent plotting how to fool little Tangxue.

"What's wrong, Mom?" Dreamsound turned with a smile, gaze steady as the tide.

"Is this really okay?"

"Of course. Unless you want to watch Tangxue sacrifice herself again to save us?" Dreamsound tilted her head like a curious bird.

"I..." Yaya's words died, swallowed by the waves.

Those who lived it know the pain best, like scars that ache in rain. If Yaya had to choose, she'd likely make Dreamsound's choice. So the two of them deceived Tangxue together, a lie woven like a net.

For decades, Dreamsound hadn't been idle. After reaching the top of this world, she set off to roam it like a wandering current. She began with revenge in her heart. Then, by chance, she learned Tangxue's origins and chased to the far north like a storm.

As she guessed, the Ice Dragons did know Qingsheng Tangxue's origins. She raged and demanded why they hadn't told her, thunder in her voice. Then she remembered she was only a teenager back then, small as a shell.

"I can guess what she wants. In the prophecy, the Ice Deity left what little power remained. It's far from their peak, yet enough to change the world like a shifting tide. Tangxue likely knows where it rests and what price it asks. She wants to carry it alone, behind our backs."

She looked at Yaya a beat, with emotion unspoken like a shadow on snow.

Yaya gave a sheepish smile, a cracked shell trying to hold. This child still clings to the old days?

"Mom, as a mother, protecting your child is a given, right?"

"Mm..."

"Then please don't stop me."

...

Their talk didn't last long. Sleep dragged at Yaya, and she soon went back to bed like a stone sinking. Dreamsound lay alone on the recliner, staring at the far sea, glass-bright and distant. For some reason, she recalled her first standoff with the Ice Dragons.

"Are you sure about this? By becoming a vessel and blocking Tangxue's reincarnation, I can't be certain. She may resist you. If there's an accident, the best outcome is you being—"

"I'm very sure." Dreamsound's face stayed calm, a sheet of ice. "This is my only chance. Telling me to give up is telling me to die."

"...Fine, if you insist."

Merfolk secret arts can't change a race. But Dreamsound had her own way. She found it in a dead Vampire graveyard, cold as ash. It was another form of familiar-binding. With the Trident of the Sea God, it could keep the subject's soul intact like crystal. If Tangxue cooperated, her success rate was a hundred percent.

It proved Dreamsound had bet right. Even without her memories, Tangxue trusted her on instinct, like a fledgling trusting the wind. Everything moved as she had planned, a river following its bed.

"Hope..." She stopped. "Forget it, don't jinx it." She shook her head and brushed the thought away like a moth.

But would things really go so smoothly? The question hung like thunder.

...

"Haah, it's been a while." Tangxue looked at the familiar beach and the plain, nostalgia rising like mist. She jogged a few steps, then flopped onto the sofa, eyes closing for a few seconds. She sat up again.

'Torn first, like a knotted rope—where should I go next?' 'By plan I should find Xuewei and catch up.' 'But... something more important tugs at me.' 'Did I forget something?'

"Mm..." Tangxue pressed her head, pain needling like cold rain. "My head hurts."

'Leave it.' 'Don't overthink.' 'Let's find Xuewei first.' 'Radiant Empire, right.'

Tangxue dug through her memories for the Radiant Empire's location, sifting like fingers through sand. She spent a few minutes recalling where Xuewei's home was. When she rose to leave, she found herself ringed by a crowd like reeds around a pond.

'Huh? Since when...' 'Why didn't I feel them at all?' 'Weird...' She scratched her head, baffled. She looked the people over. Curiosity, caution, greed, and fear bloomed like lanterns. To her, emotions had color; if she wanted, she knew what they were thinking.

Most held ill intent, a dark slick of oil on water. Tangxue didn't mind. She bent and patted the sand from her clothes like dust from a leaf. A ripple of daze spread through the crowd. With a soft whoosh, the girl vanished on the spot.

On the Radiant Empire's soil, memories surged from her depths like a tide. Everything felt familiar, and warmth wrapped her like a shawl.

"I remember! This was where Xuewei and I began our adventure..." Tangxue looked fondly at the city, the view warm as evening light. When we were small and broke, craving sweets, we'd comb the junkyard for anything worth selling. On lucky days, we'd earn enough for a slice or two of cake.

But that only lasted three days. The orphanage's nasty aunt caught us and beat us like a storm, and we never did it again.

'Speaking of which, I wanted to bring Xuewei to visit that old lady someday... No chance left?'

'No. Today works, doesn't it?'