“Qianya? You look happy, like sunlight on snow—did you find news of your brother?”

“Sadly, no.” Qianya shook her head like a willow twig. “Xuewei, didn’t you sense what happened outside just now?”

“What happened?” Xuewei’s brows rippled as she looked at Qianya.

The dorm was a sealed shell; without intent, not a whisper bled through.

“You didn’t hear…” Qianya’s face knotted like tangled thread, and she sketched out the scene in a few smoky strokes.

“You were attacked?” Xuewei jolted like a startled sparrow, then scanned Qianya with a worried lantern-gaze. “You’re not hurt, right?”

“Nearly died.” Qianya sighed, wind over ash. “Good thing the Water Deity next door stepped in like spring rain.”

“Water Deity… you mean Dawn Sugar Snow?”

“Haven’t I told you?” Qianya’s eyes pinned her, sharp as silver needles. “Even if I didn’t, the Bai Zhi Empire’s library should have the record, right?”

“I didn’t know.”

Xuewei’s answer was clear as spring water, pure as a dew-washed petal.

“Alright.” The word fell like a pebble into a deep well.

Qianya let the explanation go, her thought-kite veering, and asked, “Have you eaten?”

“Mm, I was going later—what’s up?”

“I brought you some.” The offer was a warm bowl in winter hands.

“Eh? Thanks…” Xuewei took the clear box, dazed. Inside, three meats and one veg glowed like a little lantern-feast, steam a thin cloud.

“This place is moving fast, like thaw-swollen water. If nothing derails us, we’ll have class daily. I’m curious what a gods’ school teaches. They say our teachers are seniors. If we study here, will our strength shoot up like bamboo?”

“I just want to find my brother fast…” Longing tugged like a kite string.

“Easy. Look to the bright ridge—since we found Tangxue’s mom, finding her isn’t far.”

“But my brother—she gets lost, like a duck in fog!”

“…”

“In short, we wait quietly, like tea steeping. We’ve got nothing else we can do.” Qianya’s sigh drifted like reed-mist.

“Mm…” The sound fluttered like a moth on a lantern.

Xuewei finally fell quiet. After washing, Qianya lay in her small boat of a bed, eyes closed, replaying firefly-moments. A thin frost of worry crept in—by morning, would it all be gone?

Morning came on rice-paper light. Everything stayed the same; they were still jar-trapped. Today, they had to report to the teaching sector. No roll call, but they should show their faces, then shoulder twenty classes a week.

With time like loose sand, Qianya tugged Xuewei to the second-year magic hall. The corridor funneled wind; the hall was a chalk cavern. There, two familiar faces perched on the same branch.

“Morning, Dawn Sugar Snow. Thanks so much for helping yesterday!” Her greeting bowed in sunlight; gratitude steamed like soup.

“No big deal. We’re classmates.” Dawn Sugar Snow’s crescent smile and wave hung across the air. Both sides left a ribbon of distance, to spare Rain Moon Willow’s thin-ice feelings.

As for Rain Moon Willow, Qianya’s thoughts were a foggy bamboo grove. Why did she bristle when Qianya neared Dawn Sugar Snow? Plenty chatted with her sister. Dawn Sugar Snow smoothed things like silk; Rain Moon Willow was dutiful before her sister—only thorny with Qianya.

What did I do to set her off! Frustration thumped like a drum; the thought splashed.

Calm down. Let your mind be still water. Don’t needle Rain Moon Willow’s coiled snake of a temper.

Qianya waved like a leaf to the sisters, then retreated to eave-shade, tugging Xuewei to a corner seat far away.

“Qianya? Your face looks weird…” Worry scurried like an ant on hot sand.

“Quiet, classmate Xuewei. Don’t forget—it’s a classroom.” Her words folded like a fan, a chalk-straight rule.

“… ” Xuewei threw her a pebble-glance, then turned, a small raincloud. By chance, her gaze crossed the sisters’ like two comets.

Dawn Sugar Snow’s tea-steam smile and wave came first; Rain Moon Willow tipped a reed-light nod. They liked Xuewei—sunlight for one window, shade for Qianya.

Good thing Qianya didn’t see, or her kite of mood would’ve nosedived.

“Lot of students today… quite a few freshmen.” A red-haired second-year held a magic notebook, her gaze brooming the room. Seeing over half were new, she clicked her tongue, a sharp spark.

“Coming to high-level magic class as freshmen isn’t a good habit. Every lesson’s a rare herb. If you don’t get it, you waste energy and gold-sand time. Got it?”

“Crystal clear—so, senior, can we start?” The voice rang like a bell, impatience an arrow twitching on the string.

“Hmph… you’re Dawn Sugar Snow, right? Junior, your sail sits high.”

“Just so-so, senior. We came to grow stronger, bow strung tight. Your advice is kind as a warm lamp, but it doesn’t fit everyone.”

“Ha, first time I’ve met such an interesting freshman.” The redhead laughed like clinking cups, then etched the board with magic, ice-scratch on dark water.

“At Heavenly Deity Academy, my name’s Chihuang—a second-year from Combat Division. Thanks for coming. I’ll pour out what I can; how much you harvest is on you.” Her name rustled like a red bamboo grove; her thanks rose like incense; knowledge promised rain on fields.

Chihuang waved, a fan-stroke; flame, a fox tail, erased the script.

“Then let’s begin…” The curtain lifted.

No sparring in a classroom. Qianya sat an hour under cloud-words, slate-mind empty. Divinity? Authority? Bees in a jar.

But afternoon granted their wish. They crossed into the sparring zone, and the world swelled like a breathing lung. Qianya felt like a single cell in an ocean; one heavy ripple could pulp her like paper.

“So why did we come here to die…” Her voice was a thin thread in thunder.

“Didn’t you say we should keep pace with Yueyu and Dawn Sugar Snow? They came, so we came.” Xuewei’s resolve drew a straight line.

“… ” Memory slipped like sand. Qianya shivered like a leaf; after a noon of reading, her brain felt like a steamed bun.

“Xuewei, don’t you feel it?” The question tested the wind.

“Feel what?” The reply was a blank page.

“This space… the pressure’s heavy.” A mountain on the chest, air thick as syrup.

“I feel it.” Acceptance bowed like a reed.

“Then why do you…”

“What else can we do.” Xuewei rolled her eyes, a tossed stone. Helplessness drummed like rain on tiles.

“We’re already here. Are we going to fear this risk?” Her step set a print in wet sand; fear shrank like a noon shadow.

“True…” Her assent caught like a small flame.

“You two kids, it’s too dangerous here. You can’t come in.” The warning flashed like a red flag at a cliff edge.

A student in charge spotted them and hurried over, shepherd’s hook sure, leading them away on a gust.

“Phew. If you’re interested, watch from the viewing area. Next time, never step into danger!” Her breath steamed winter-white; the viewing area perched like a safe ledge.

“I’m not a kid…” Qianya saw the mirror’s short version of herself and swallowed, pride a pricked balloon.

“Hehe… Today it’s Senior Chihuang versus the strongest freshman, Long Yu. I get your excitement, but tie this to your wrists—never go where it’s dangerous.” The unknown senior smiled a curved moon, warned again with red strings, then swept off to keep order.

“What now, Qianya?” The question flipped like a coin.

“What else? We stay put.” Patience sat like a rock; her sigh slid like wind under a door.

Luckily, the viewing area showed what they wanted. On another sunlit ring, Rain Moon Willow clashed with a second-year. At Heavenly Deity Academy, second-years stood like ridge pines among gods; the underpowered lingered as first-years forever.

“Hey, Qianya, do you think Yueyu can win?” Hope floated like a paper lantern.

“… No, but I think Rain Moon Willow’s far stronger than that second-year.” Truth was cold water; strength, a coiled spring.

“Huh? If she’s stronger, why can’t she win… Oh! You mean Yueyu’s throwing the match to hide her strength!” Realization broke like dawn; the secret fogged like a veiled mirror.

“… Something like that.” Her answer was a shaded nod.

Dawn Sugar Snow could one-shot second-years; as her sister, Rain Moon Willow’s star burned no dimmer. At worst, beating one second-year should’ve been fruit within reach.

“Honestly, I’m really curious about Rain Moon Willow’s fighting style…” Curiosity tapped a sealed box.

Will the Ice Deity’s style be like Tangxue’s? I didn’t see her sister Dawn Sugar Snow fight then, and she isn’t dueling today. Rain Moon Willow… Tangxue’s mother, why did you shatter this world back then? Even now, I can’t grasp it.

If I can find the reason, maybe I can cut this silk-cocoon dream.