Three hours flew by as they wandered and window-shopped.

Lifting his head, Nangong Shiyu saw the city’s skyscrapers now looked like monstrous jaws, tearing the dying daylight to shreds. The feeble day struggled under their assault, staining the sky and clouds crimson with its own blood.

Sunsets always carried a lonely weight. Their very existence seemed to symbolize parting and endings, stirring only sorrow.

Bathed in the dying light, Shen Yining’s figure looked fragile and alone—a paper window that seemed sturdy but would tear open with just one poke.

“I had fun today.”

Shen Yining spoke while waiting for the bus outside Lingyang Lake Park’s east gate.

She meant it.

“Yeah.”

Exhausted, Nangong Shiyu nodded, drained his water bottle in one gulp, and tossed it into a roadside bin. The plastic bottle clinked sharply against the empty bin’s metal walls.

“If we get the chance next time… let’s go out again. Just us two.”

Shen Yining held his gaze, hoping for the answer she wanted.

“Sure.”

Nangong Shiyu saw no issue with that.

If it was just hanging out.

“Really?”

“Yeah. Really.”

Though their afternoon together had been brief, his earlier disgust toward Shen Yining had faded. He didn’t know if that was good or bad. The outcome defied his original intentions, yet it didn’t feel wrong.

Just then, Shen Yining’s bus rumbled to a stop. As the doors hissed open, she darted aboard. Before they closed, she turned back and flashed Nangong Shiyu a sweet smile.

“Don’t break your promise, okay?”

The doors sealed shut. The bus pulled away, carrying her into the distance.

Nangong Shiyu watched it vanish, silently answering in his heart:

“Yeah. I won’t break it.”

“Is this what you wanted?”

Only after Shen Yining left did Xia Zixin step forward. For three hours, she’d trailed silently behind them, wordless. Without her visible form, anyone might have thought her invisible.

Unlike Nangong Shiyu’s hopeful eyes, Xia Zixin’s expression was calm as still water. She’d witnessed everything without a flicker of anger—just quietly observing the pair’s cheerful chatter.

Like a temple monk in meditation—that was the only fitting description for her state of mind.

“Honestly? I don’t know.”

With Shen Yining gone, Nangong Shiyu’s emotions cooled.

He stared at the road where the bus disappeared. A hollow ache spread through his chest.

“You’re too kind, Shiyu.” Xia Zixin crossed her arms, her gaze drifting to the distant sky. “If you truly dislike her and want her gone, be ruthless. This half-measure hurts you both.”

“I know.”

Nangong Shiyu’s voice carried a hint of impatience.

His mind agreed with her. But when facing Shen Yining’s desperately brave front, pity always overruled him.

She’d endured a “date” with a third wheel. Despair must have flooded her heart—yet she’d pushed forward anyway.

It made no sense.

So…

Her afternoon enthusiasm must have been pure pretense.

“You’re only making things messier.” Xia Zixin shot him a glance. “Stop this pointless act. Watching you play along today was painful. You’re giving her false hope—it’ll only deepen her pain later.”

“I get it. Don’t say more.”

“You don’t get it.”

“I’m tired. My head’s a mess.” Nangong Shiyu’s eyes fixed on the bus heading home. His voice sounded weary. “Let me be alone today, okay?”

◆

In pitch darkness, Lotali knelt on one knee atop a floor like ice, head bowed as if offering reverence.

The room’s air hung silent and frigid—a single step inside would chill anyone to the bone.

Anyone human, that is.

The girl kneeling there was no ordinary human.

She wasn’t human at all.

Her true nature shared no kinship with mankind. Humans wouldn’t call her one of their own. They had another name for her kind—

Fiend.

No metaphor. No exaggeration.

By blood and origin, Lotali was a genuine Fiend. Hellfire coursed through her veins—a truth beyond fabrication.

“Master.”

Her whisper echoed in the empty, frozen chamber. No one seemed present to hear her.

But they were wrong.

Fiends never came to the human realm unbidden. Though branded as evil, they never interfered—unless summoned.

Unless a human sought a contract.

Humans paid a price; Fiends fulfilled the wish. Myths painted them as tempters, burdening them with all sins. They never protested the slander. To Fiends, humans were mere ants. Their curses were meaningless noise.

Their deals were always fair: a price paid, a service rendered.

Thus, every Fiend in the human world had a master. Without payment, they’d never stoop to serve here.

This held true for ordinary Fiends.

Lotali was the exception.

Even Fiends couldn’t escape the world’s iron rule: exceptions exist.

“You dare show your face again, weakling?”

A man’s voice cut through the darkness, echoing in the hollow room.

“A Fiend should feel shame for defeat. If you had any, you’d have killed yourself already. Only your death would break this flawed contract—freeing me to summon a useful Fiend to grant my wish. Worthless. How does Hell even tolerate trash like you?”

“I-I’m sorry… Master.”

Lotali’s arms trembled slightly under his scorn. She knew she’d failed—catastrophically. Even in Hell, she was scum, despised and forgotten by her own kind.

Everyone had purpose. Fiends included. Especially Lotali.

She had a mission.

“Master… I wish… to drink your blood.”

Ignoring the risk of his wrath, Lotali forced out her request.

She needed her contractor’s blood.

Desperately. To strengthen herself.

“Oh? The useless one finally asks for blood?”

“Yes.” Lotali nodded, reciting rehearsed words. “The n-new… Thunder God… is still… in assimilation. I must… kill him now… to fulfill… your wish…”

“Hmph. I see.” A cold laugh slithered from the shadows.

“P-please… grant me this…”

“Since it’s for that purpose—take it. Drink your fill. Just don’t kill me.”

“Thank you, Master!” Lotali’s head snapped up, elation nearly lifting her off the floor.

“Wait. I’m not finished.” The voice turned icy. “Fail this time after drinking my blood, and you’ll regret it. Your body’s quite serviceable… for taking out my frustrations.”

Lotali’s muscles locked tight. She knew he never joked about pain.

“One chance.” The darkness promised. “Fail, and I’ll make you wish you were dead.”

Lotali gritted her teeth.

No.

Even one chance was enough.

She had a purpose worth any risk.

If asked her goal, this lowly Fiend had only one:

To make the heartless Thunder God pay for slaughtering that innocent child.

To end this war.

No more innocents would die once it was over. That’s what she naively believed.

Her fangs pierced her master’s arm. She drank deeply, sealing her fate.

She didn’t realize—this moment offered no turning back.

The blood would chain her to the contract. Failure would reduce her to a slave. Forever.