“Spare me the useless chatter.”

As the blonde girl hit the floor, the corridor bled back in, the world smearing like fog over a lake. The Student Council swept in like a gust. The enforcers read the scene, then slammed the blonde onto the tiles cold as winter stone.

Taoran’s gaze settled on the blonde, a tangle of shadows and light. “Never thought the intruder would be you… You sisters never learn, Heng Lan.”

“Tsk. Why is it you.” Heng Lan’s brow cinched tight, like a bowstring drawn to breaking.

“Here’s my advice. Come clean and the rope loosens; lie, and it tightens. Your sister won’t fish you out right away, and you’ll be stuck with us. Don’t make this harder.”

“…” Heng Lan bit down on her pride, a bitter taste like iron. She didn’t mouth off. Clearly, this wasn’t their first dance.

Taoran stepped close and set a palm on Heng Lan’s head. Heng Lan’s face warped like wax under a flame, something torn free like threads from a loom. Her eyes went glassy, the light gone still.

“Got it. This little punk has cursed a handful of girl students.” Taoran’s voice snapped like frost. “Go get those kids out. I’ll mop up here.”

“Yes!”

Once she gave the exact locations, the Council peeled off like starlings taking wing. Only Taoran, Heng Lan, and Dawn Sugar Snow remained, three lanterns in a dim hall.

“Thanks for the help today, Dawn Sugar Snow~” Taoran’s smile was the curve of a crescent moon.

“Just lending a hand.” Dawn’s voice was steady, cool as morning dew.

“Beating Heng Lan of the Black Flame Serpent God should shake the rafters… mm, but if the opponent’s Dawn Sugar Snow, it’s barely a ripple.”

Those who knew Dawn Sugar Snow’s name were old trees with deep roots. Outside, the board was run by newer branches fighting for sun. Heng Lan running face-first into Dawn was blood-drenched misfortune, a storm meeting the sea.

“Humph… next then—” Taoran turned, eyes like knives catching light, to the girl behind her. She had what she wanted, but trespass in Heavenly Deity Academy still needed its price.

“You—what do you want!? Touch me and my sister won’t spare you!” Heng Lan’s shout had edges of steel, but a cold hollow sat beneath like winter water.

“Oh? If you’re that scared, why come here courting death?” Taoran’s smile rang like wind chimes. A transparent crystal orb bloomed in her right palm, clear as ice, vast like a night sky.

“You—” Taoran didn’t let the noise pile up. The artifact pulsed, and the orb swallowed Heng Lan like a rain drop falling into glass, vanishing in a blink.

“Think about the price your sister will pay to drag you back. This isn’t a place you drift in and out like mist.”

“…Right, there’s one more in my room.”

“Hm? Oh, which little one?” Taoran laughed, soft as spring rain. “Let’s go look.”

My heart clenched like a drum skin. Outside was too quiet, a snowfield with no footprints. Dawn Sugar Snow won’t have been taken down, right? That bastard looked nasty; if she’s alone…

The door clicked open.

Qianya snapped her eyes to the doorway. Two familiar silhouettes stepped in, the vice president Taoran and Dawn Sugar Snow, like twin lanterns easing night.

“Whew… scared me to death.” Qianya exhaled, breath thin as mist.

“Looking solid, junior Qianya~” Taoran’s tone danced like sun on water. “Cursed by the Black Flame Serpent God, and you can still talk. That’s impressive~”

“…That doesn’t cheer me up.” Qianya’s voice was limp, a wilted leaf. “And me talking is thanks to Dawn Sugar Snow, not my strength.”

The moment that golden hair locked onto her, her voice was frozen like ice in a cup. Both times she moved, it was an outside shove. She could admit she was a mob doomed in one hit.

“Heh-heh. Luck’s part of strength. Fate ferried you here~ and at the cliff’s edge you met Dawn Sugar Snow—fate on fate~”

Please stop talking… keep it up and I’ll actually die!!

Behind the door, Dawn Sugar Snow felt a blade of cold killing intent slide to her like a shadow under moonlight. That terrifying sister-obsessed one, pushed by Taoran’s words, teetered on the verge of a storm.

“Pfft-pfft~ Qianya, your face is getting interesting. Little Yueyu is back, isn’t she~?”

A cold right hand settled on Taoran’s shoulder, frost sharp enough to bite at Qianya a meter away. Taoran kept smiling, a lantern in winter, as if not a snowflake touched her.

“Good evening, little Yueyu. How’s the dinner here?” Her voice flowed like tea steam.

“Average.” Yueyu’s reply dropped like a pebble in a pond, barely a ripple.

Do they know each other…? The question piled in Qianya’s chest like stones, but she didn’t dare breathe a word.

“Hmm-hmm~ Seems it suits little Yueyu’s taste. Good.” Taoran’s smile held. “Next I’ll help Qianya clear her curse~ We won’t steal your time. Qianya, let’s go.”

“Uh… yeah.” Qianya nodded, stiff as a twig. She wasn’t Xuewei; she could read the weather.

If we don’t go now, we’re dead!!

Qianya feared the two might clash and shatter her like a brittle cup. She hadn’t sorted Rain Moon Willow’s nature, only heard she was obsessed with her sister, a storm tied to a single moon.

“Heave-ho~” Taoran crouched, slung Qianya over her shoulder like a bag of rice, and slipped out fast, swift as a cat.

“Whew, scared me to death.” Once outside, Taoran’s mask cracked, sweat beading like rain on stone.

“Senior Taoran, you’re scared too…” Qianya’s voice was a whisper, the edge of a leaf.

“Ha? Listen.” Taoran’s grin was lopsided, like a crescent. “I told you little Yueyu’s habits are kind of… Zen. But she’s still Dawn Sugar Snow’s sister. Even if her ceiling’s low, her floor can crush me.”

“Senior Taoran, looks like the other side hid a lot back then…” Qianya’s words were careful, like stepping stones.

“Some things are better left under the leaves.” Taoran set Qianya by the balcony, night wind brushing like silk. “I’ll break the curse now.”

Heng Lan’s curse wasn’t thorny for Taoran, but Qianya’s body was glass-thin, a bird-bone fragile. Most methods couldn’t be used. She had to clear the warped spots bit by bit, like picking burrs from wool. If not fully purged, the petrification would creep like frost across the fields.

“Next I’ll slip into your body to clean it. Don’t resist… or you’ll only cut yourself.” Her voice was a steady river.

“Mm…” Qianya finally understood why Taoran volunteered like a lamp in the dark. If it were Dawn Sugar Snow, she’d rather be a statue in the garden.

The process went smooth, like a blade through silk. Taoran stretched, leaned on the balcony rail like a lazy cat, and let out a breath. “Whew. Good thing the erosion’s shallow. Otherwise you’d be in the hospital for a while.”

“Senior Taoran, if you can’t tell me about Dawn Sugar Snow, then what about Heng Lan?” Qianya’s eyes were clear pools. “Why attack our academy’s students?”

“Ah… that’s fine.” Taoran’s answer came like a slow bell. “Heng Lan’s deity is the Black Flame Serpent God. Their side opposes ours. Our Council President and Heng Lan’s sister, Heng Zi, are sworn enemies. Their ideals split like roads at a mountain pass. They clash at times but keep it mostly calm. Only her little sister…”

“Heng Lan,” she sighed, breath like smoke. “That little troublemaker keeps slipping in to stir the pot, changing masks. Plenty of students suffered. We warned her again and again, even squeezed good favors out of her sister, but she never learns. Sigh.”

“So that’s it…” Qianya’s voice was ash-soft. “She struts because of her sister? Right, Senior Taoran, is Heng Lan afraid of her?”

“Yeah!” Taoran’s tone snapped, a twig underfoot. “But what use is fear? Even shaking inside, she still comes courting death. Because of her sister, our hands are tied like reeds. If we want to sicken this obnoxious gremlin, we squeeze her sister. This time, we’ll extort her hard.” Her words rang like iron under frost.

“Ahaha, don’t tell me the academy’s income all comes from Senior Heng Zi?” Qianya’s laugh fluttered like a paper fan.

“Of course not!” Taoran straightened, spine a spear. “Last time’s squeeze from Heng Zi only covers a few years. Mostly, we grow on our own roots.”

“…” Qianya fell silent, a pond without ripples.

“It’s late. Go rest.” Taoran twirled the crystal orb, stars caged in glass. “After all this, tomorrow the academy will be lively~”

“Senior Taoran… is that what you used to lock up Senior Heng Lan?”

“Mm-hm. Yup~ It’s a jail for deities.” Her smile flickered. “Don’t be fooled by its size—smaller than a fingertip. Inside, it’s as boundless as a cosmos, a pocket sky. Plenty of space for her to thrash.”

“…” Qianya’s eyes widened, dusk in their depths.

“What~ You look curious. If you want one, just say it. I’ve got spares…” Taoran’s tone was a soft breeze.

“Really? Senior Taoran, isn’t this super rare?” Qianya’s hope rose like a kite.

“Plenty.” Taoran rolled her eyes, a playful wave. “Back when the academy was founded, hostile forces slipped in like weeds, plus problem students who wouldn’t bend. We mass-produced these. If you want one, I’ll gift you one~ Consider it compensation for today.”

“Thank you, Senior Taoran… Please, if possible, give me one!”

Qianya’s eyes shone like stars caught in dew. To Taoran, she was a child with a new toy, everything fresh as spring.

“Chuckle~ Junior Qianya really is cute. Then I’ll give you one.” Taoran pressed the orb into her palms, cool as moonlight.

Qianya cradled the crystal, studying the inner weave like frost filigree in a lantern.

“It’s simple to use.” Taoran’s voice traced neat lines. “Link your raw mana and you can steer it. But you can’t bag every deity. They need to be unable to resist. Oh, and if their power exceeds a single-universe threshold, they can force it open. I haven’t seen that, but storms come when they will.”

This feels suspiciously like a Poké Ball…

“Thank you, thank you, Senior Taoran.” Qianya bowed again and again, then tucked the gift away with a bright smile and drifted off like a small boat.

“Mm-hmm~ Easy to satisfy. Cute kid.” Taoran smiled, a touch of helplessness, like rain that won’t stop. “Feels a little guilty.”

The crystal orb wasn’t precious, though not cheap. Compared to what Qianya could claim from the academy, this artifact was just a ribbon on the box.

Whoa!! I finally got a god-tier artifact in this ghostly place! If I make it back to the Empire, even true-god-level powerhouses are one-shot kills, right? Hah. That cult bastard—next time, you’re eating dirt!

Qianya’s heart pounded like festival drums, excitement rising like a red sun. She didn’t even think whether dream-born tools could cross the veil back out.