The room was unusually quiet that morning.
Mi Xingzhe searched around, but there was no sign of Li Luoning or Yun Qingyi. He hesitated at the door, fingers hovering as if expecting resistance — then found it pushed open with ease.
"…They forgot to set the boundary today."
A cautious relief loosened his shoulders.
He stretched as he stepped outside into the sunlight, letting the warmth spill across his face. The courtyard was empty. No footsteps, no voices — nothing but the faint rustle of leaves.
"Does Mirror Cloud Residence really only have Qingyi and Li Luoning living here?" he murmured.
He wandered a little farther, still not seeing anyone.
"Looks like neither of them is here today."
Mi Xingzhe stopped at the threshold and looked back toward the house.
He knew he shouldn't leave without a word. It felt improper — ungrateful, even. But Mirror Cloud Residence was not a place for someone like him. A Spirit Without Dan. A hollow spirit.
They had been kind. Too kind.
And kindness, to someone like him, always came with a cost sooner or later.
"If I stay, I'll only become a burden," he told himself. "Better to go now."
He stood at the doorway, taking in the courtyard one last time.
Blue flowers bloomed beneath the windows. Under the broad peach tree sat an exquisitely carved stone table. White stone paths cut through the yard, and the white walls with green tiles softened into a mountain-mist beauty that felt almost unreal.
Mi Xingzhe stared for a long moment — then turned his head away, forcing himself to move.
"Staying here this long…" His throat tightened. "It's hard to let go."
Mirror Cloud Residence was the kind of place ordinary people could only dream of.
"And yet…" He laughed under his breath, bitter and small. "Heaven, are you playing tricks on me? You gave me this flawed body, then dangled a miracle right in front of me."
With a sigh that carried more regret than he wanted to admit, he looked back at Mirror Cloud Residence one last time — then left.
Mirror Cloud Residence sat in the northwest corner of the mist-veiled Immortal Realm, close to the Peach Blossom Forest and Misty Peak. Mountains and deep valleys surrounded it, winding paths threading through swirling fog.
Mi Xingzhe didn't know the way.
At first he followed instinct, then stubbornness. Before long, he realized he'd lost any sense of direction at all.
The air thickened.
A pale mist seeped between the trees, gathering faster than it should have, swallowing the path beneath his feet.
"Why is there fog in the woods all of a sudden?" Mi Xingzhe hugged his arms tightly as cold crept into his bones. "I can't even see the road… and it's getting colder."
He waved his hand in front of him as if he could brush the fog aside, moving forward one careful step at a time.
Then his foot caught on something.
He looked down, frowning, and crouched. His fingers brushed over something coarse — like hair.
"Huh…?"
Curiosity got the better of him. He tugged.
A deep roar split the fog. Leaves shuddered overhead and fluttered down like startled birds.
Mi Xingzhe went still.
A murderous pressure rolled up behind him, heavy as a blade against his spine.
Slowly, he turned around.
At first all he saw was a face — too large, too close.
He stumbled back two steps, and the shape in the fog resolved into something monstrous: a beast with a sheep's body and camel-colored fur, its head crowned with four horns. Saliva dripped from sharp teeth as it stared at him.
And in Mi Xingzhe's hand —
He was holding its tail.
The creature's dark fur shimmered with a faint green-black sheen. Its four crimson-black horns glinted dully in the mist. Its pupils were wide and pale, almost white, and when it opened its mouth, rank saliva slid from its fangs in slow strings.
Mi Xingzhe's blood ran cold.
"W-what… what is that?" he breathed, backing away.
The beast lowered its head, voice deep and rough. "Who dares disturb my peace?"
"It — It talks…?" Mi Xingzhe let out a strangled laugh that sounded more like a sob. "I didn't mean to! Here — here, I'll put it back, I'll put it back — "
With trembling care, he stroked the tail as if it were a sleeping snake, then set it down as respectfully as he could.
The beast stepped closer.
Its nostrils flared as it sniffed him, slow and deliberate.
Mi Xingzhe's legs nearly gave out. He pressed his back against a tree, eyes squeezed shut, as the creature's foul breath sprayed his face.
Then the beast's voice turned sharp with disgust.
"A hollow spirit."
Mi Xingzhe's eyes flew open.
The beast's pupils flooded with green-black smoke — thick, sinister — and its claws rose.
"Exterminate."
"What — exterminate? What does that — " Mi Xingzhe's mind blanked as the claws came down. "Help — !"
He ducked, the wind of the strike scraping past his scalp, and bolted.
Behind him, the beast's claws sank deep into the trunk with the force of the blow. With a furious heave, it shattered the tree aside as though it were rotted wood and surged after him.
"kill I must kill spirit… perish…"
"Stop chasing me!" Mi Xingzhe ran blindly through the forest, lungs burning, feet slipping on wet ground. "I already apologized — please — help!"
The fog made everything worse. It swallowed distance and direction. Every turn looked the same.
Then the trees ended.
A rock wall loomed ahead, blocking his path like a prison gate.
Mi Xingzhe skidded to a stop, chest heaving.
He turned —
And saw the beast emerging from the brush, step by slow step, closing the distance as if it already owned him.
Mi Xingzhe's whole body shook. He backed up until his spine hit cold stone.
"Mr. Sheep…" he stammered, voice cracking. "L-let's… let's talk about this…"
"Kill it… the hollow spirit…"
The smoke in the beast's eyes thickened. It lowered its head, angling the four horns toward him. Its front claws scraped against the rock, sharpening like blades.
Mi Xingzhe's heart dropped into his stomach.
This is it.
He squeezed his eyes shut, crouched, and threw his arms over his head.
"I'm doomed," he blurted in despair, words tumbling out. "I thought I'd disappear as a wisp of nothingness someday, not — not get killed by a sheep! Help — ! Someone Help me — !"
The ground trembled.
The beast charged.
"Stop!"
The voice came like a blade from above, cold and absolute.
Mi Xingzhe flinched, still crouched, still waiting for the impact that didn't come.
He cracked his eyes open.
A golden figure descended from the cliff edge and landed between him and the beast with effortless authority.
A second figure — faint cyan — dropped beside him, steady as a shield.
Li Luoning and Yun Qingyi.
Only then did Mi Xingzhe manage to stand, knees wobbling so badly he nearly fell again.
Li Luoning's gaze pinned the beast. "To trespass into the Liao Yin Immortal Realm and run wild — what nerve."
Yun Qingyi stood in front of Mi Xingzhe with one hand on his sword, the other lifted back slightly, guarding Mi Xingzhe without looking away from the threat.
"Are you alright?" Yun Qingyi asked, voice tight with concern.
Mi Xingzhe didn't answer with words — he surged forward and grabbed Yun Qingyi's arm as if it were the only solid thing in the world, then ducked behind him.
The beast, struck on the head by Li Luoning's spell, grew more violent. Its front claws tore at the stone, leaving deep grooves in the mountain rock.
Li Luoning didn't spare it another glance. He turned his head sharply. "Are you injured?"
Yun Qingyi shook his head.
Only then did Mi Xingzhe's breath come out in a shaky rush.
"I'm fine — " he tried to sound casual as he brushed dirt from his clothes, but his hands wouldn't stop trembling. "Qingyi, you came just in time. Otherwise I'd… I'd have been turned into a sieve by that thing."
Li Luoning's voice cut in, stern as iron. "Retreat, now!"
The creature ignored him.
"The demon… perish. Kill it… the hollow spirit. I must kill all…"
It lunged again.
Li Luoning's right hand lifted. A magical tool flared into being — bright, sharp, and clean — and met the beast head-on.
The fight erupted.
Among fierce beasts, this worm was not the most notorious, but it was enormous and brutally strong. Its four horns were terrifying weapons, and though its body resembled a sheep's, its front hooves ended in sharp, claw-like digits that struck like knives.
Steel-bright light clashed against horn and claw.
Li Luoning's movements were precise, controlled — but in the middle of the exchange, something flashed wrong in his mind.
This worm was different.
Stronger. Larger. Faster than it should be.
And that green-black smoke in its eyes —
"What is that?" Li Luoning's thoughts snagged for a fraction of a breath.
In that moment of distraction, the beast's claw ripped across his arm.
Blood sprayed.
"Master! watch out!" Yun Qingyi shouted.
Li Luoning's breath hitched. The cut burned — wrong, poisonous. A faint black smoke curled from the wound.
He grimaced, drew in a sharp breath, and forced his hand through a sequence of seals. A golden net talisman snapped outward, dropping over the beast and tightening with a metallic glow.
Then Li Luoning was already moving — fast, decisive — grabbing Mi Xingzhe by the arm.
"Go."
Before Mi Xingzhe could protest, Li Luoning pulled him up into flight. Yun Qingyi rose with them, flanking Mi Xingzhe on the other side as they left the chaos behind.
They landed at the gate of Mirror Cloud Residence.
The moment Mi Xingzhe's feet touched the ground, his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the stone, breathing hard, face pale.
"That… that was terrifying," he rasped, looking up. "What was that thing?"
"Something you should not run in to," Li Luoning replied coldly. He withdrew the magical tool, his expression darkening as he strode inside.
Mi Xingzhe glanced at Yun Qingyi, who gave him a quick look — warning, urging, follow.
Mi Xingzhe scrambled up and hurried after them, still shaken and talking because silence felt worse.
"This is supposed to be an immortal realm, right?" he muttered, almost to himself. "How can there be monsters like that here?"
Yun Qingyi frowned, clearly troubled. "The god-beast should be under Yingzhao's watch at Kunlun Hill. It shouldn't be in the Liao Yin Immortal Realm at all."
Mi Xingzhe blinked at him, incredulous even through fear. "That thing is a divine beast?"
Li Luoning didn't respond.
He entered the room and slammed the folding fan in his hand onto the table with a sharp crack.
Mi Xingzhe startled so hard his shoulders jumped. He froze in place, suddenly unsure where to put his hands, his eyes flicking between Li Luoning and Yun Qingyi.
"Master, please calm down."
Yun Qingyi dropped to his knees at once. He kept glancing toward Mi Xingzhe, signaling urgently — don't speak carelessly.
Li Luoning's gaze slid to Yun Qingyi kneeling, then lifted to Mi Xingzhe.
Cold. Heavy. Unforgiving.
Mi Xingzhe's mouth went dry. He looked at Yun Qingyi on the floor, confused for a heartbeat — then understanding hit like a stone.
Li Luoning knows.
He had tried to sneak away. He had walked straight into danger. And Li Luoning had been forced to save him — again — only this time he'd come back bleeding.
Guilt crawled up Mi Xingzhe's throat and tightened there. He dropped his eyes and said nothing.
"Sorry , that was my mistake," Yun Qingyi said, still kneeling, voice steady despite the tension. "I nearly cost Xingzhe his life — and you were injured, Master."
Mi Xingzhe's chest pinched. He stepped forward, words rushing out too fast.
"It's not Qingyi's fault!" he blurted. "It's — I just… the weather was nice, so I wanted to… take a walk. I didn't know the way. I wandered into the forest and ran into it."
His nervous stutter returned at the worst possible time, making the lie sound exactly like what it was.
Li Luoning raised an eyebrow, voice slow and cutting. "Oh? Just… a walk?"
"Master… Xingzhe, he — " Yun Qingyi started, trying to intervene.
"Qingyi." Li Luoning's tone flattened. "Leave here."
Yun Qingyi stiffened. He hesitated, clearly wanting to say more, but Li Luoning's gaze was stern enough to stop him mid-breath.
"…Yes, Master."
He stood, bowed, and gave Mi Xingzhe a look — half warning, half apology — before exiting the room.
The door closed behind him.