Eve blinked. "Wait, what?"
But before she could say more, Qian Renxue stood up. Her body began to shimmer, her form dissolving into ripples of bubbles of dreams that scattered into the air like fragments of reality slipping through a mirror.
"Now that we've decided on our next steps," Qian Renxue's voice echoed softly as her form faded, "I'll be going."
"Hey! Wait!" Eve reached out, half-exasperated, half-intrigued. "At least tell me where you're sending me to have fun!—"
Before she could finish, Qian Renxue was gone.
The room fell silent, save for the soft purr of the tabby cat. Eve sighed and rubbed her temples. "You could've just told me instead of vanishing dramatically as usual…"
Then after some time—
Knock Knock
Her eyes flicked toward the door, a faint spark of curiosity lighting up her expression.
"Come in," she said lazily.
The door opened, revealing an unremarkable young man dressed in plain travel robes. His presence was forgettable. But Eve nodded slightly in recognition..
He was a member of the Twilight Hermit Order, who had carried out many tasks for her.
The man bowed respectfully and stepped forward, handing her a single folded parchment. Eve took the document, unfolding it carefully. Her purple eyes scanned the neat handwriting across the top — and for a moment, her lips curved into a slow, knowing smile.
"'Teacher Application Form — Junior Soul Master Academy of Nuoding City,'" she read aloud, amused.
Her laughter came softly, almost melodic. "So that's what you meant by sending me somewhere fun..."
She twirled the form between her fingers, her expression glowing with mischief. "Nuoding City, huh? The little Blue Silver brat just awakened his martial soul will study there. How thoughtful of you, Renxue... You really do know how to make things interesting."
----
There was darkness all around.The only source of light was the small brass lamp she held in her hand.
An empty stone path stretched endlessly ahead, cutting through the abyss like a scar across reality. Its dull surface reflected the flickering glow of her lamp — faint, trembling, alive. Beyond that circle of light lay nothingness, a darkness that swallowed even sound itself.It was as if the path invited her — the owner of the lamp — to walk forward, to seek something hidden at its end.
Qian Renxue did not recall how she appeared here.No, she could not recall anything at all.
Her mind was foggy, her thoughts sluggish, as though she had been submerged in an ocean of memories that refused to surface. All she could remember was her name — Qian Renxue.Everything else was blurred and distant, like a dream glimpsed through mist.
A faint sense of déjà vu gnawed at her heart.She had walked this road before. She was certain of it.
With no other choice, she began walking.Her footsteps echoed softly on the stone path , a steady, lonely rhythm. It felt as if time had no meaning here; neither fatigue nor hunger touched her body. It was as though the act of walking itself sustained her.
As she advanced, flickers of forgotten scenes began to emerge from the haze of her mind.
Each step drew forth a fragment — a memory of her when she was very young and the memories afterwards
A woman's sobbing voice.A pair of strong hands lifting her high into the air — the face above blurred, but the warmth unmistakable.Clumsy hands trying to gather flowers to gift it to someone.An big golden hall — and a lonely little girl staring at the sky.It was as if a calm before she learned to wear masks.
But as her recollections grew clearer, something around her changed as her memories went past 5 years of age.
The darkness thickened.It grew gloomy, oppressive, alive — as if some unseen presence had begun to breathe within it. Even though her eyes could not discern anything new, her instincts screamed that something had shifted.
Qian Renxue gripped the lamp tighter, its flame trembling.Yet she did not stop. Step by step, she pressed forward — and more memories gathered, swirling within her mind like drifting feathers.
After walking for what felt like eternity, she halted.The road no longer stretched infinitely; it ended before her.
Under the weak glow of her lamp stood a solitary stone slab, and on it, someone sat waiting.
"Someone… is waiting for me," she whispered.
The thought rose unbidden — not from her reasoning, but from that same feeling of déjà vu that guided her here.She felt knew that person was the answer at the end of this road.
Drawing closer, she could make out faint outlines — long hair glinting gold like sunlight reflected on water, and garments identical to her own. The resemblance was uncanny.
When she stepped within reach of the light, her breath caught.
There was no face.Only countless faint pupils swirling where features should be — layered reflections, fragmentary eyes upon eyes, like broken mirrors turning endlessly inward.
Then every one of those pupils turned towards her.
The world tilted, and she sensed the weight of innumerable gazes pressing down upon her consciousness — staring, analyzing, knowing her.
-----
"Haa—ah—haa…"A ragged breath tore through the silence as Qian Renxue's eyes flew open.
Her body jolted upright inside the moving carriage.Sweat beaded her forehead, trickling down her temple. She gasped, trying to calm the wild rhythm of her heart. With trembling fingers, she pulled aside the curtain.
A flood of sunlight and wind rushed in.The rhythmic clatter of hooves and the soft chirping of distant birds filled her ears. Trees blurred past outside the window — green and vivid, alive.
They were on their way to Spirit City.
For a long moment, she simply stared at the scenery, her purple eyes unfocused. Then she exhaled slowly.
"I don't know when this nightmare will stop," she murmured to herself, "but for a demigod like me… a dream of that kind means only one thing."
'A message from my psyche.'
This is the dream that has started to haunt her since she became a demigod.
If there existed a true Spirit World in this realm, she could have tried to understand it's meaning by divination.But the the rules of this world does not allow it.
She leaned back against the seat, half-lidded eyes reflecting the passing light.
"There can only be two interpretations…" she mused softly."Either… I have many eyes.""Or… there are many eyes watching me."