The girl's shout gradually faded through the valley, and the cliffside fell silent for a moment.

Until Nan Mengling, who had been gazing up at the night sky, broke the silence.

"Young Master, the moon is beautiful tonight."

Zhou Jiuyu had planned to stay quiet and give the girl some space to vent. But when he heard the words "the moon is beautiful," he froze for a second, then quickly realized he was overthinking it.

This dumb maid only ever looked up stuff like "what to wear to look the sexiest and seduce men best" online. There was no way she'd understand this kind of anime-style line.

So he answered casually,

"Yeah. The moon is beautiful tonight."

Nan Mengling pressed her lips together, then glanced at him. "Actually, Young Master, you're an idiot too. A huge idiot."

"Oh? Sounds like you're asking to be punished again, huh?" Zhou Jiuyu's easygoing smile turned into a smile.

"Not tonight. I want to sleep alone for one night today," Nan Mengling said softly, sounding a little guilty.

"Heh. Now you want to sleep alone? Who was it that blew the tent away just now?" Zhou Jiuyu let out a cold laugh.

Nan Mengling lowered her head and poked at her fingers. Then suddenly, something was dragged up from the valley below by the airflow.

It was the tent that had just been blown down.

"Look, Young Master. It came back on its own. This is heaven's will," Nan Mengling said seriously.

"Ow..."

Then she got flicked on the forehead.

"It's fine if you want to fool yourself. Don't try to fool your young master too."

Nan Mengling covered her forehead, then said quietly, "But I really do need some time alone. I want to... think about the future. I think very slowly, so I need one night."

"What are you going to think about?"

"Mm..." The moment the topic came up, Nan Mengling seemed to perk up.

"I want revenge."

"And what else?"

"I want... after I get my revenge, to become the new Sword God. I don't want my master's kind of schemes hurting anyone else again. I want to take in a girl with a background like mine as my disciple. And then... have her keep taking disciples too. Not many. One or two each generation. It won't be too lively, but it won't feel too lonely either."

"Sounds pretty good. What else?"

"I want to buy back my freedom! Then keep Young Master as the Sword God's wife and dote on him every day!" Nan Mengling got a little too into it and blurted it out. The moment the words left her mouth, she realized she'd said the wrong thing. She immediately covered her mouth and looked at Zhou Jiuyu carefully.

"Alright. What else?" Zhou Jiuyu wasn't angry. He just smiled at her.

"Young Master isn't mad?"

"You said it yourself. They're just thoughts. Some things are fine to dream about, but don't take them seriously."

"...Oh. Then that's all." Nan Mengling let out a sigh of relief.

"That's all, right?" Zhou Jiuyu's smile brightened. "Since you're done thinking, go warm the bed for me."

Nan Mengling, who had just relaxed, instantly widened her eyes. Her lips parted slightly.

How could he still... do that?

"Go on, hurry up!"

"...Okay..."

Nan Mengling trudged toward the tent. It wasn't that she was unwilling. It was just... she'd been tricked by Young Master again.

When would she ever get to turn things around and become the one in charge?

Come to think of it, she really was stupid too!

She could obviously become Young Master's master!

Why lower herself and become some kind of doll instead?

"Sigh, why are you still this silly?"

Zhou Jiuyu shook his head. But he didn't get up and follow Nan Mengling into the tent. Instead, he gently closed his eyes first.

From that moment just now, his vision and consciousness had started to blur a little.

That familiar feeling... he was about to wake up again.

Almost the very next second, his consciousness sank into darkness.

—

"Hey, y-you, wake up...! Airi deleted the only friends she had left for your sake! Y-you're not allowed to leave Airi behind!"

Feeling dizzy and lightheaded, Zhou Jiuyu struggled to open his eyes. He looked blearily at Akizuki Airi by the bed, and somehow felt like there was still a faint lingering fragrance of jade-like feet on his forehead.

"Stop shaking me. I'm back alive."

Afraid he'd pass out again, Zhou Jiuyu quickly grabbed Akizuki Airi's hands as she shook his body.

"Y-you're okay... It's good you're okay..."

Akizuki Airi finally let out a breath of relief. Her petite, half-propped-up body immediately collapsed to the floor in a duck-sit.

"Why are you crying? Didn't I say I was just catching up on sleep?"

Zhou Jiuyu handed her a tissue.

"Who's crying?! I'm not!" Akizuki Airi turned her head away in a panic, got up, opened the door, and walked out.

Before closing it, she seemed a little unwilling to leave it at that. She turned back, bit her lip, and glared at Zhou Jiuyu.

"You pervert! Next time, Airi won't satisfy such disgusting requests of yours again!"

Bang. The door slammed shut.

A few seconds passed.

Click. The door opened again.

Akizuki Airi still had her head turned to the side, still biting her lip. But this time she wasn't glaring at him. Her eyes were lowered, and she looked a little embarrassed.

"Y-you... what do you want for breakfast? Airi can make it for you. Or maybe go buy it."

Zhou Jiuyu froze, then rubbed his chin.

This wasn't right.

It felt like he'd accidentally trained this bratty little gremlin into a simp.

She was supposed to regret it for the rest of her life.

Whatever. If he could freeload breakfast, why wouldn't he?

"Anything's fine. As long as you made it, I'll eat it," Zhou Jiuyu replied casually.

"...Oh..."

Akizuki Airi answered softly, then closed the door again. After that, she couldn't help pursing her lips into a silly smile.

That made Marina Tsukizuki, who happened to be passing by, frown again and lightly bite her lip.

Inside the room, Zhou Jiuyu stretched lazily. Now that he felt completely refreshed, he was ready to start another wonderful day in reality.

Bzzz—!

But the sound of a message notification made his expression stiffen for a moment.

[Xiao Lü: damn, you dream fast. Lemme update your score. It's 70 now.]

His tightly furrowed brows instantly relaxed.

Now that felt even better.

It wasn't like he absolutely cared about that stupid score. It was just... a passing grade looked nicer.

Still, there was one thing he'd been curious about for a while.

So he picked up his phone and typed.

[Zhou Jiuyu: By the way, can you see my dreams too?]

[Xiao Lü: What, scared I'll catch you jerking off alone in your dreams?]

[Zhou Jiuyu: Doesn't matter. I'm pretty confident in that department. If seeing mine makes you unable to resist rubbing one out, it'd be this humble one's honor]

[Xiao Lü: Who are you saying rubs one out? Who?]

[Zhou Jiuyu: You really are stingy?]

[Xiao Lü: N-no such thing]

[Xiao Lü: ...]

[Xiao Lü: Fine. Since you want to know, I'll show you]

[Two screenshots. One was of a book cover. The other was a screenshot of the inside after opening the book.]

And the moment Zhou Jiuyu saw the first screenshot, his expression froze.

There was nothing especially shocking about the cover. Just five simple words, the title written plainly on it:

—The Fallen Cheap Fairy Immortal