Anxiety, fear, guilt, or perhaps the sting of conscience—so many emotions still clung to Zhang Yemiao even as she held Wang Qi’s arm.

She felt the warmth radiating from Wang Qi’s body like a winter hearth. It couldn’t banish the chill entirely, but it was the only heat left.

This night promised no sleep. Their journey of four had barely begun, yet their souls were already battered. If killing was a sin, who would punish them? If it wasn’t, why did those thieves fight to the death?

Twenty years of moral teachings shattered against this cruel world’s rules, shaking their hearts to the core.

But shake was all they could do.

The night stayed quiet. No one had the heart for anything else.

Dark circles shadowed their eyes the next morning. They stared at each other for a long moment, then forced faint smiles. No words passed between them. Wang Qi steered the Swift Dragon while the three girls sat in the carriage Zhang Yemiao had synthesized—a creation that finally proved useful.

Why hide in the carriage? Their clash with thieves started because a bandit had noticed the girls. Better to stay out of sight.

Li Pingtian used Divine Art to dull the carriage’s presence. Skilled observers might still spot it, but it was safer this way. The alternative was grim.

Silence filled the carriage. Zhang Yemiao watched the two withdrawn girls. She’d recovered somewhat overnight, but Li Pingtian and Zou Moan looked worse.

Truth was, Zhang Yemiao and Wang Qi had leaned on each other through the hard night. Li Pingtian and Zou Moan, though together, had numbed themselves the moment their magic returned—Zou with Arcane Magic’s "Tranquil Mind," Li with Divine Art’s "Calm Heart."

Like relying on drugs. Without spells, the pain returned.

“Our looks are a problem,” Zhang Yemiao said bluntly. “If we go out like this, forget achieving anything—we’ll be lucky not to *cause* trouble.”

Li Pingtian’s face, pale but shadowed with gloom, stayed expressionless. “Dorm Leader, what’s your plan?”

Zhang Yemiao never spoke without solutions. She pulled several sets of clothes from her spatial storage—men’s wear.

“Uh… cross-dressing isn’t the issue,” Li Pingtian countered practically. “But without makeup skills, we’ll stand out.”

Suddenly—

“Who says we don’t have a makeup expert?!” Zou Moan stepped forward, voice bright. “I’m actually great at it! I used to do my sister’s makeup on xQiu all the time…”

“What—” Even Wang Qi, driving outside, poked his head in. “You have a sister? Never heard—” Zhang Yemiao shoved his head back out. *Reckless driving separates families.*

*Damn Wang Qi, eavesdropping again.*

Not that it was secret. His hearing was just unnaturally sharp. Unless Zou Moan cast a soundproofing spell…

“Even without makeup, these clothes have minor illusion charms,” Zhang Yemiao added. “Enough to fool casual eyes.”

They began changing.

*We’re all guys—nothing to be shy about.jpg*

Poor Wang Qi suffered.

The rustle of fabric against skin teased his ears. He itched to peek—but how could he, when they trusted him?

“Oh! Dorm Leader, you’re… surprisingly well-endowed…” Zou Moan whispered. To Wang Qi, it rang clear.

Li Pingtian’s cool voice followed: “We should bind our chests. It’s unhealthy, but… this is a magic world.”

*So bandages won’t hurt us here?*

“What do we even use for bandages?”

“Cloth. Medical gauze doesn’t exist here.”

“Fair.”

Wang Qi swallowed hard.

*Why is this torture my punishment? Wait—Dorm Leader’s basically… available, right?*

Human morals eroded fast. He pictured forbidden scenes. Thank the empty plains—this carriage would’ve crashed in a city.

*Think, Wang Qi. You’re a harem protagonist! Three beauties on an adventure… Sure, they were guys before, but so what? They’ve got everything a heroine should. Just boost affection a little, and—*

*STOP.*

He killed the fantasy. One more thought like that, and his isekai life would veer into weirdness.

…

*Handsome youths?* The disguise felt off. Worldly men’s and women’s clothes differed little here. Their “male” outfits just swapped skirts for shorts—Wang Qi never understood their obsession with bare thighs, though he wasn’t complaining.

The real change was above the waist. *Supposedly* bound chests. Simpler clothes. Hair tied in single ponytails like bards…

*Still adorable.*

Boyish, yes—but anyone would spot them as girls. Some features even looked cuter.

“This won’t work,” Wang Qi said flatly. “Your ‘male’ disguises… nope.”

The three exchanged glances. Zhang Yemiao dropped her hair, frustrated. “Figures. Why do movies make cross-dressing look so easy?!” She tugged her golden locks.

“Maybe because they’re not as cute as you.”

Zhang Yemiao flushed, head ducking, fingers twisting a strand of hair. “…Y-you might be right…”

Wang Qi had a talent for unexpected charm.

The air turned thick—until Zou Moan broke it: “This’ll cause trouble. Thieves… nobles who love harassing ‘poor youths’… even non-humans. One misstep, Wang Qi, and you’ll be the ‘don’t scorn the penniless boy’ protagonist.”

Wang Qi grinned sheepishly. “Worse than a sky-falling heroine?” He glanced up—

A glint fell straight into his mouth.

Zhang Yemiao snapped alert: “Spit it out, Wang Qi!”

His Physical Enhancement let him force vomit. He tried—then stopped.

“Digested it?”

“No joke!” Zhang Yemiao panicked. “That thing glowed! No way your body digests metal at this level!”

Wang Qi met her eyes. “I… truly can’t find it inside me.”

*Internal sight.*

He’d mastered body control long ago—seeing blood flow, nerve signals. He’d swallowed *something*, yet it vanished like it fell into another dimension.

As he puzzled, Divine Power scanned him head to toe. Then Arcane Magic did the same.

Li Pingtian and Zou Moan exchanged confused looks. “Nothing’s there…”

Wang Qi gritted his teeth. “You two scanned me with magic and divine power?!”

Zhang Yemiao envied them. She could barely conjure a lighter-flame-sized fireball.

Zou Moan puffed her chest proudly—flat under bandages. “You could too! Magic reveals everything—outside *and* inside a person~”

She teased his magic illiteracy.

A dark energy current swept over Zou Moan.

She’d forgotten one thing: Wang Qi had near-zero affinity for most elements… except Dark. High affinity. Untrained, but real.

Zhang Yemiao suddenly remembered the blood-red bead buried underground.

“Eeek!!!!” Zou Moan shrieked like a startled girl, arms crossed over her chest. “Wang Qi! Pervert!!!”

How much that actually covered was another matter.