After stepping out of the interview room, Luo Qingwan felt nothing in particular,.. no flutter of nerves, no wave of anxiety.
Just… a strange, excitement inside her.
"Seems like… I'm in," she murmured to herself with a faint smile.
The fog in her chest didn't lift, but she brushed it off. Pulling her ribbon tighter against the city breeze, she walked home without looking back.
The apartment door clicked open with a soft creak.
And then she froze. Right at the doorstep. Her breath caught.
The egg shell shattered across the floor like broken porcelain.
Not just cracked.
Split.
Emptied...
Her knees buckled, and she collapsed to the floor with a jolt like lightning had struck her chest.
"Ahhhhaaaa... Mianmian!" she screamed. "What have you done?!" In a pestered way.
No answer.
"Mianmian! Mianmian!"
Her voice echoed through the silent flat, louder and more panicked each time. She rushed in, scanning every corner.
The apartment was in complete disarray.
Pillows torn. Her desk knocked sideways. A trail of paw prints ran across the shelves. One of her relic books was shredded, pages scattered like snowflakes across the floor. The curtains were half-pulled down.
It looked less like a home, more like a storm had torn through it.
"Mianmian?!" she shouted again.
She yanked open cabinets. Pulled aside blankets. Checked under the table, the couch.. but not founded.
Then she reached for her dresser drawer.
It flew open.
And the golden fluffball leapt out and scratched her arm.
"AAH! OUCH! Haa— Mianmian?!"
The cat landed with a hiss and crouched in the corner, its fur fluffed like a frightened ghost. Eyes wide, breathing ragged. It didn't move. It didn't blink.
It looked terrified.
Qingwan winced, clutching her scratched arm, but quickly softened.
She knelt down and slowly reached her hand out.
"Hey… hey, it's okay…" she whispered. "You're safe now. It's me. I'm here."
Her voice was quiet, slow. She gently rubbed her fingers against Mianmian's back.
The cat trembled.. but didn't back away.
After a moment, its breathing eased just slightly. The trembling stopped. Mianmian blinked, eyes dull and exhausted, and finally curled into her palm like it always did.
Qingwan held her close.
"What… what happened…?" she whispered. "Why was the egg cracked…?"
She looked toward the floor where the now-empty relic egg once rested—an egg, which is accompanied her from her birth. A mistake she never expected to matter.
The moment her fingers touched the fragments, Mianmian let out a blood-curdling screech.
"Okay, okay—!" Qingwan gasped, dropping the shards. "I won't touch it! I won't!"
She held Mianmian tighter. Her mind raced.
"What's going on…? Why is Mianmian acting like this? Did someone… break in?"
"But the locks weren't broken… the mess—it all looks like it was her."
Golden fur was everywhere. Yet nothing explained the egg. Or the fear.
Then...
a sound came from the kitchen.
A soft rustling.
A plastic clatter.
Something shifting.
She paused....
Mianmian immediately hissed and jumped into her cat house, vanishing from sight.
Qingwan stood. Slowly.
It's nothing.
Maybe... just a rat. Or the wind. Right? "whispered to the cat."
She tiptoed toward the kitchen.
Each step felt slower than the last.
Her heart pounded. Her fingertips were cold.
The sound grew louder.
A soft... munching.
The fridge door was slightly open.
Her breath hitched.
The air felt too cold for the time of year.
She reached toward it, each second stretching into eternity.
Her fingers brushed the handle.
Then she pulled.
> The fridge door creaked open fully.
And her eyes went wide with horror.
> A small demon... barely the size of a toddler was squatting on the lower shelf, happily gnawing on a raw chicken leg.
Its skin was pale gray, speckled with black runes. Tiny curved horns poked out from its forehead. Its eyes were purple, unnaturally bright and its tiny fangs glistened with meat juice. It looked up, face smeared with red.
Both of them froze.
"...haAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA—!!"
Qingwan screamed at the top of her lungs, her voice ripping through the entire building.
Startled, the demon dropped the bone with a yelp and leapt onto her chest like a frightened squirrel. Its claws dug into her shirt, and it latched on with all four limbs.
She staggered backward, blue in the face, legs shaking.
Eyes wide. Mouth frozen mid-scream.
Her entire body locked with shock.
> "W-what—what is THISss... WHAT EVEN ARE YOUuu?!"
She couldn't breathe. Her back hit the wall.
The demon clung to her like a baby koala. shivering, growling, confused.
Her knees wobbled. Her vision blurred.
> "Am I dying?! Did I go mad?! Mianmian, YOU BROKE THE EGG, DIDN'T YOU?!!"
The cat was nowhere in sight.
And in her arms, the tiny demon gave one short burp… and sneezed.
A puff of black smoke hit her in the face.
She fainted instantly.
Darkness covered the whole place..
She didn't know how long she'd been unconscious, only that she was warm. And something was… breathing on her.
A puff of air hit her cheek.
Qingwan's eyes fluttered open.
The ceiling spun. Her vision was blurred, her chest heavy. Then she saw something on her. small, dark, and curled up on her like a frightened animal.
It was sleeping.
The little demon had nestled itself in the crook of her arm, claws loosely hooked into her T-shirt. Its little tail lay across her ribs. The purple of its eyes was hidden beneath its fluttering lashes.
It almost looked… innocent.
Qingwan didn't move. Her heart raced.
> "This isn't real. It's just a dream." she whispered herself and pinched her left cheek with her left hand. and reacted as, "Ouchhhh...!"
"Or maybe its because of stress to find about myself. Right? Right??" she whispered again to herself.
but, she finally came into her senses..
As that, the demon turned and shifted to the other side, yawned, and stretched like a cat. Two tiny horns glinted under the kitchen light. It rubbed its eyes and looked straight at her.
And then-
It smiled.
With tiny fangs.
"AHHHHH—!!" she screamed, and leaved the little demon from her hand and then the little demon landed beside her. she launched herself off the floor and dragging the floor carpet (and half the demon) with her.
The creature yelped in surprise, somersaulted into the wall, and tumbled onto the floor. Then it hissed — startled, puffed, eyes wild again.
Both of them froze again in shock..
Breathing hard. Staring.
Silence fell between girl and the little demon.
Until… it made a soft, whimpering sound.
And curled into itself.
Like a child who'd just been scolded and the next moment it smiled.
Qingwan hesitated, still half-hiding behind a rolled-up floor carpet. Her voice trembled.
> "W-What… are you…?"
The little creature didn't reply. Instead, it held out its tiny hands and slowly pointed to the egg shards on the table.
Her breath caught.
"No… no way. Y-you were inside that?"
It nodded once.
She stepped closer. Just one step. Her legs still trembled.
"You… broke out?"
Another nod.
Her eyes scanned the demon again. Its grayish skin shimmered faintly. Its horns weren't sharp. Its eyes are bright, purplish, but filled with something else. Sadness? Fear? Or was that just her imagination?
Her heartbeat slowed just a little.
> "...Mianmian," she turned and shouted suddenly.
The golden cat had climbed out of her hiding place and was now watching the demon from the bedroom door secretly. back arched, fur still puffed. She didn't growl, but her tail was thumping the floor. Slowly, reluctantly, she walked over to Qingwan's side.
Qingwan bent down and picked up the little demon carefully, in both hands.
He was light. Too light. Like he barely existed.
"Why do I feel like I… know you?" she murmured, staring into his eyes.
He blinked. Then reached up and touched her cheek just another once, gently.
In that moment…
Flashes surged through her head.
-----------------
Blood on a mountaintop. A man screaming in agony. Her own voice whispering a goodbye. The pieces of shattering soul floating into stars.
> A sword.
A promise.
A crown made of light.
And the look in someone's eyes, filled with eternity.
Qingwan gasped and stumbled back, dropping to her knees.
> "Wh-what was that…?"
The demon climbed into her lap and curled up again, trembling this time.
She looked down at him, too shaken to speak.
"Is it your dream..." she whispered slowly to the demon.
the little demon nodded his head.
"but, how can I able to see it..." she muttered.
"does that mean, we can communicate with our mind's.. right!" she whispered to the little demon and he nodded his head.
> "seems like you're also not… a normal demon, are you?"
> " and I don't have a heart.."
"seems like, we both really have a connection.. okay! let's find out." she whispered to the little demon.
His small claws gripped her sleeve tightly. He made a sound - soft, like a hum and buried his face into her side.
---
In the dim corner of the world, beyond human sight, a ripple pulsed through the spiritual realms.
On a distant cliff soaked in shadow and howling wind, a man in black robes who is waiting for his beloved lover for almost two hundred billion years.
His breath hitched.
"The heart..."
He clenched his fist.
"…has awakened."
His crimson red irises flickered and the moon cracked faintly behind him.