That evening, Ye Lan returned home.

She’d just come back from Bai Yu’s place.

Ever since Bai Yu found a friend she could talk to, she’d really opened up. The two of them had talked about all sorts of things.

Ye Lan was a clueless dork who wasn’t much good at chatting, so she’d spent almost the whole time listening. Bai Yu did most of the talking, while Ye Lan just chimed in now and then.

Even so, Bai Yu never seemed to tire of it.

Ye Lan figured all she had to do was smile.

Before leaving, Ye Lan had made a point of asking Bai Yu about her parents, but she hadn’t gotten any useful information.

Bai Yu had never seen her mother as a child, and had rarely seen her father, either.

She’d also been unconscious for several years.

After she woke up, her older sister told her that their parents had passed away.

Hearing all this, Ye Lan couldn’t shake the feeling that there were a lot of secrets buried beneath the surface.

That was what her instincts told her.

Ye Lan really wanted to help Bai Yu, but she didn’t know where to start.

“This is so annoying...”

She wanted to investigate, but she didn’t have any connections.

As a rookie who’d only recently joined the Night Watchers, she felt utterly powerless.

If only she had an amazing hacker friend.

In this age of advanced digital networks, a top-tier hacker could get the information they wanted without even leaving home.

Even highly classified information.

That beat a search engine by a mile.

Of course, if they got too reckless, they might end up making everyone furious.

Especially the Night Watchers.

Stars could do all sorts of things. If someone hacked into the Night Watchers’ network, they’d probably get found out in minutes.

“Looks like I’ll just have to work hard myself.”

Ye Lan’s instincts told her that the key to solving Bai Yu’s problems lay with her parents. Maybe all she needed was to learn the truth.

“But how am I supposed to find it...?”

Ye Lan and Yexing lay on the bed, spacing out together, thinking together, and feeling miserable together.

There were two pillows on the bed. One was hers, and the other was hers too. It was strangely sad.

As time passed, the two of them soon grew sleepy.

“If I were a Wish Machine, I’d wish to help Bai Yu...”

Ye Lan and Yexing closed their eyes.

The next moment, time and space slipped out of alignment. The two little girls in the room were swallowed by darkness.

......

Yexing opened her eyes, feeling dazed and having no idea what was going on.

The next moment, she heard a baby crying. It sounded like a newborn’s cheer at finally arriving in the world.

“Look, Qingya. This little girl looks so much like you. She’s beautiful.”

A man’s voice. It was gentle, and the affection in it warmed Yexing’s heart. For some reason, her eyes grew moist.

“She really looks like Bai Tu. They’re sisters, after all. I hope this little one grows up healthy and happy, too.”

A woman said this. She must have been the Qingya the man had spoken to. Her voice was gentle, too.

Yexing felt herself being held in someone’s arms. She’d never experienced such warmth before. It was as if she’d always been missing it.

“Let’s give her a name. How about Bai Yu? I hope she can be as free as a fish, without a care in the world.” Her father spoke happily, as excited as a boy.

“Bai Yu, huh~ Then that’s what we’ll call her. Little fishie~” Her mother agreed.

Only after hearing that name did Yexing begin to realize what was happening.

Could these two people beside her be Bai Yu’s parents?

And judging by their conversation, this was when Bai Yu had just been born.

What on earth was going on?

Yexing wanted to speak, but couldn’t get a single word out.

It seemed she was just a soul residing inside Bai Yu. She was more of an observer than a participant.

So all she could do was keep her eyes open and watch?

“Ugh...”

But before Yexing could stay frustrated for long, something changed.

The man’s voice suddenly rang out, full of panic and tension.

“Qingya, Qingya! What’s wrong? Wake up!”

Yexing suddenly felt unwell, and her expression turned serious.

From the information she’d looked up earlier, the woman’s Stars had already been showing signs of losing control.

As soon as she realized this, Yexing suddenly felt dizzy. Then she lost consciousness.

After who knew how long, Ye Lan opened her eyes.

“What on earth is going on?”

As soon as the question crossed her mind, she realized she seemed to be residing inside someone else again.

It was a little girl with long silver-gray hair. She looked a bit like Bai Yu, but on closer inspection, she looked more like Bai Tu.

“I see. Is this Senior Bai Tu as a little girl?”

Bai Tu looked to be only four years old. She still had all her childish innocence, and she was adorable.

When her mother gave birth to Bai Yu, she seemed to have been waiting outside the room.

Then the Stars inside her mother started to lose control.

Several Night Watchers rushed over and stabilized her in time, stopping her from turning completely into a Star Eclipse.

Bai Tu was just a child. All she could do was wait outside.

“Is Mom all right...?”

At that moment, Bai Tu heard the Night Watchers talking, but she couldn’t understand them.

“Ye Qingya’s Stars affected the newborn. Normally, a baby can’t awaken their Stars at birth, but Ye Qingya’s Stars nearly losing control forced the child’s Stars to awaken. Now mother and daughter have the same type of Stars. One is on the brink of losing control, and the other will be affected as well. We’ve managed to stabilize Ye Qingya’s Stars for now, but if we don’t separate them, the baby’s Stars will grow rapidly and be completely beyond her control. When that happens, her soul will simply collapse, and she’ll die.”

Those were the words of a researcher.

“So, for both mother and daughter’s safety, we should separate them right away. It’d be best if they didn’t see each other until we find a solution.”

Young Bai Tu didn’t understand what they were saying, but Ye Lan, who knew a little about these things, did.

She remembered Ling Miao saying that the descendants of the Night Watchers were a very special group.

Parents and their children might have Stars that came from the same source.

But children almost never awakened their Stars while they were young. Most awakened during adolescence, when they could also control them properly.

There was another problem: if someone awakened their Stars at an age when they couldn’t control them, they could easily lose control.

And even if they didn’t lose control, being near a parent with Stars from the same source could cause extremely frightening effects.

One person’s Stars could be far more likely to turn into a highly dangerous Star Eclipse.

The infant Bai Yu and her mother were probably in exactly this situation.

The two of them would likely be forced apart next.

Sure enough, after Ye Qingya had been stabilized, she heard the news and looked heartbroken. She leaned against the man’s chest and began to cry.

Ye Lan felt a pang in her heart.

Parents must be heartbroken when they’re forced to leave their child, right?

The more love you give, the greater the sorrow—and the harder it is to let go.

That was probably how it was, wasn’t it?

After that, the father went with the mother as she left the room, so they wouldn’t affect Bai Yu.

A Night Watcher with healing Stars stayed by Bai Yu’s side to examine and care for her, pulling her back from the brink of death.

“Waaaah—”

The baby began crying again.

Bai Tu, still looking bewildered, left with her parents.

Ye Qingya was moved elsewhere for a medical examination.

Young Bai Tu stayed by her side the whole time, allowing Ye Lan, who was residing inside her, to witness everything.

“Your Stars have become unstable and could run wild at any moment. I recommend that you never use their power again. With a Star Eclipse this severe, the Night Watchers have no other way to deal with it.”

No other way meant they could only let the host die.

“So that means I can’t be a Night Watcher anymore, does it?” her mother asked in a trembling voice.

“That’s right. Please get some rest.”

At that moment, Bai Tu saw the lonely sadness on her mother’s face.

She didn’t know what it meant, but she felt sad all the same.

“Mom...”

Ye Lan was affected by that emotion, too, and felt a faint sadness.