Xia Le followed the three little girls under Cloud Retainer's guidance to light fireworks at the plaza's statue.
The fireworks were beautiful, but Xia Le was honestly more interested in Xia Lin.
She tilted her head back as if watching the bursts in the night sky, but her gaze kept flicking sideways at Xia Lin.
Xia Lin seemed distracted. From time to time, she glanced at Xia Le, her face showing a tangle of emotions—fear, longing, envy, resentment, inferiority, pride, grievance…
Xia Le grew more and more puzzled.
She couldn't understand why this girl—whom she was meeting for the first time—looked at her with such complicated eyes.
That afternoon, with some subtle probing, she'd already confirmed from Diona that Xia Lin wasn't big brother's biological daughter, but rather the third disciple he had recently taken in.
Once the fireworks ended, Cloud Retainer led them back to the Favonius Cathedral.
Xia Lin trudged back to her room, head down.
She sat dazed on her bed for a while, then suddenly grabbed her pillow and dashed off to Xia Zhi's room. She knocked and, the second the door opened, flung herself into his arms.
"Papa…"
"What is it?"
"N-nothing…"
The little girl just buried her head against his chest, saying nothing.
Xia Zhi could guess well enough. He held her close, sat down at his desk, and went back to refining medicine with the [Yin-Yang Medicine Furnace].
But before he even finished one batch, the door was knocked again.
From his god's eye, Xia Zhi peeked at who it was, and his expression turned odd.
"Xia Lin, go open the door for me."
"Okay, Papa."
She slipped from his arms and scampered over.
At the door stood Xia Le.
The girl froze. "Y-you… why are you here!"
Xia Le tilted her head. "Why wouldn't I be?"
Panic flitted across Xia Lin's face. Suddenly, she spread her arms wide across the doorway like a little guard dog. "You… you're not allowed in!"
Xia Le laughed. "This is big brother's room, not yours."
Her bravado faltered, but she still insisted, "You're still not allowed in!"
So Xia Le turned her gaze to Xia Zhi inside the room and pleaded pitifully, "Big brother, look at her…"
Xia Zhi shook his head, smiling helplessly. "Xia Lin, don't fuss. Xia Le, what did you come for?"
Xia Lin reluctantly stepped aside, sulking.
Xia Le walked in, curious eyes darting around his room. "Big brother, where am I sleeping tonight?"
"There's still a spare bed in Cloud Retainer's room."
"But I'm not that close with her. I don't want to sleep with someone I barely know."
"You're not close with many people in this house either."
"I'm close with you, big brother!"
"…"
"Anyway, there's another bed in here. I want to sleep here!"
Before Xia Zhi could speak, Xia Lin blurted, "No! You can't sleep here!"
"Why not?"
"Just—just no!"
"Well, I say yes!"
The two dragons squared off like rivals.
Xia Zhi sighed. "Alright, enough bickering, both of you."
Xia Le blinked innocently. "I wasn't bickering. She's just being unreasonable."
With [Whispered Melody], her voice was so melodious it sounded like she was singing, even when sulking.
Xia Zhi patted Xia Lin's head. "Let me introduce you properly. This is Xia Lin, originally Durin."
Durin?!
Xia Le froze, then her expression shifted to shock. "Durin… but wasn't she already—"
Xia Zhi nodded. "Yes, she was bitten to death by you five hundred years ago. But she didn't completely fall. I made a Contract with her, brought her down from Dragonspine. She's now my third disciple."
Xia Le went quiet, then asked softly, "Then why does she call you 'Papa'?"
Xia Lin hugged his arm tightly. "Papa gave me a second life, so Papa is Papa!"
Xia Zhi continued, "And this is Xia Le—originally Dvalin."
Xia Lin pouted. "I knew that already."
Now Xia Le finally understood the complicated look Xia Lin had given her. Their fates were far too entangled.
Suddenly, Xia Le walked toward her.
Xia Lin bristled. "What are you doing? I'm not scared of you!"
Xia Le, taller than her, looked down and asked, "So… do you still hate me?"
"I… don't…"
"Really don't?"
"I don't!"
Xia Le gave a strange little laugh.
She slowly lowered her head.
Xia Lin froze, face burning as her senior's face drew closer and closer.
From the side, Xia Zhi watched this scene unfold.
Xia Le kept lowering until she was hovering right by Xia Lin's pale neck.
Xia Lin shivered at the warmth of her breath.
It was the spot that Dvalin had once sunk her fangs into. The scar of five hundred years of torment.
"Really don't?" Xia Le whispered, then without waiting for a reply, opened her mouth and lightly bit down.
A rush of memory surged up.
Xia Lin's mind went blank.
Instinctively, she shoved her senior away.
Xia Le stumbled back a few steps.
"See? You still hate me."
Xia Lin clutched her neck, feeling the faint dampness on her skin.
"I… it's not that…"
"Alright, enough," Xia Zhi interjected. "I know you two have a history. That won't be undone in a few words. Let's leave it for later."
"Mm. Big brother, can I stay here tonight then?"
"Just tonight."
"Yay!"
Xia Zhi resumed refining medicine, the two dragons standing at either side watching curiously.
"Big brother, what kind of medicine is this?"
"Poison. And antidote."
"Eh?"
"But it's useless to dragons like you."
"Oh."
Once finished, he stored away the furnace and prepared for bed.
The room had two beds, but since he'd always slept alone, Shenhe had only set up one. The other was bare.
"Big brother, I don't have a sheet or pillow."
"I'll find you some."
"Or… I could just sleep with you!"
"The bed's too small."
"You don't know until you try. I'm not heavy."
"That's not the issue."
"Big brother's biased! Xia Lin gets to, but I don't?"
"…When did you climb up here?"
"See, there's still space!"
"Too cramped to sleep well."
"Big brother can hold me. Then it won't be cramped."
"…"
In the end, Xia Zhi lay in the middle, Xia Lin tucked under his left arm, Xia Le under his right, finally settling them down.
He'd thought having Dvalin here would calm Xia Lin. Instead, it only made things livelier.
"Just for tonight. Tomorrow you two will share a bed and bond properly."
"Okay!"
"Tomorrow night I'll take you both to an internet café."
"Internet café?"
"You'll see."
---
That night, three new arrivals entered the dream world: Xiao, Xia Lin, and Xia Le.
Xia Lin curled up in a corner, watching an anime Xia Zhi had put on for her, completely absorbed.
Xia Le sat between sisters Xia Ci and Xia Zhen, watching them game.
Xiao stood behind Zhongli, observing his skilled maneuvers on the screen.
"Xiao, learning anything?"
"Yes."
"Then this round is yours."
"I… I'll try."
Xiao played a match and found himself unexpectedly hooked.
"Another?"
"Yes."
---
As dawn approached, Xia Zhi left his Meditation Space and entered Cloud Retainer's dream.
Today's dream was a grove of tea trees.
She stood before a towering one.
Xia Zhi approached. "Where is this?"
"Chenyu Vale."
"Where Qiaoying Village lies?"
"Yes. The immortal mountain has tea, named after Qiaoying."
"No wonder there are so many tea trees. Why dream of this place suddenly?"
"Perhaps because I thought of old friends today."
Her expression dimmed.
"If you don't mind, tell me. It might ease your heart."
"It was long ago, before the Archon War. A carp named Fujin cultivated into an Adeptus, befriending the white serpent Herblord and the beast lord Lingyuan…"
She recounted ancient secrets slowly.
After listening, Xia Zhi asked, "That white serpent Herblord—could it be Changsheng?"
"Yes. Though it's lost much of its memory, it still remembers its wish to heal and save lives."
"I see."
"I wanted to ask—could the Transformation Pill you gave me help Changsheng and Fujin regain their cultivation?"
"It helps with transformation, so it may aid Changsheng. But Fujin would need another medicine to restore her realm."
"Another medicine…"
"Don't worry. It's not difficult. We'll visit Qiaoying Village later, and I'll help her recover."
"Truly?"
A smile broke across her face.
She'd searched for millennia without success, and now there was finally hope.
All that effort… and in the end, finding the right helper was what mattered.