"I… have no name."
The boy shook his head, still clutching the hairpin he had snatched from Hua Ruoying as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.
Hua Ruoying took one look at him and understood—he didn't trust her. She had no intention of offering her own name either. In a place like the Extending Land, where dragons and snakes mixed and nobody wore their truths openly, such wariness was only natural.
She stopped wasting words. Turning on her heel, she started to leave.
She had taken only a few steps when she felt it again—the faint, persistent presence behind her.
She glanced back. The boy was following at a careful distance.
"Why are you following me?" Hua Ruoying flicked her hand in a shooing gesture, trying to drive him off.
She walked on.
A while later, she looked back again.
He was still there.
Hua Ruoying stopped, turned, and waved more sharply, signaling him to go.
The boy didn't move. He only looked at her—eyes full of mute pleading, as if he were asking for something he couldn't name.
Hua Ruoying stared at him for a moment, then something in her expression shifted. She took a breath and asked instead,
"Are you human or demon?"
In the Extending Land, an ordinary child did not survive for long.
The boy lowered his head. "I… my mother is human. My father is a shadow demon." His voice was so quiet it nearly vanished into the market noise. "Sister… I really don't have a name."
Hua Ruoying's gaze dropped to the hairpin in his grip. She didn't need much guessing.
"Is that hairpin your mother's?" she asked.
The boy nodded quickly, eyes fixed on her face, silently begging her to let him keep it.
"If it's your mother's," Hua Ruoying said, "How did it end up in this black market?"
"It was… it was stolen," he stammered. "A few days ago."
Hua Ruoying looked him up and down. His clothes were filthy. Bruises and small injuries showed through where the fabric tore. It wasn't hard to imagine what had happened—robbed, battered, and whatever he'd had pawned off in the market.
She exhaled through her nose.
"Then keep it," she said simply.
The boy's shoulders shook with relief. He bowed quickly, repeatedly. "Th-thank you."
Hua Ruoying studied him for a moment longer, then asked, "Little shadow demon… are you following me because you have nowhere else to go?"
The boy nodded without lifting his head.
Something tight in Hua Ruoying's chest loosened. For an instant, her own past flashed up—wandering, hungry, alone, surviving by grit and luck, the same way she and her brother once did.
"If you're willing," she said at last, "you can follow me from now on."
The boy's eyes widened. "C-can I?"
"I don't mind," Hua Ruoying said. "It isn't glamorous, but it's safer than wandering the Extending Land all day."
The gratitude in his eyes trembled like light on water.
Hua Ruoying tapped her chin as she walked, thinking aloud. "But first, you need a name." She muttered to herself, "Since you're going to follow me, I'll give you something tied to mine…"
Then her eyes lit up.
"Clothing steps on moonlight, bright as flowing water cradling green apples." She spoke the line with sudden excitement, savoring the rhythm. "Huaying… Qingping…"
She pointed at him decisively. "That's it. From now on, your name is Qingping."
The boy nodded hard, a smile breaking over his face like dawn. "Okay."
"Then you can follow me," Hua Ruoying said, patting her chest with blunt confidence. "I promise you won't go hungry with me."
She started walking again, already moving with purpose. "I have urgent matters to handle. Come—first we'll find you something decent to wear and something to eat. Look at you, you're all skin and bones. Anything you want?"
The boy didn't hesitate. "Steamed buns."
Hua Ruoying clicked her tongue. "Steamed buns alone won't do. Don't you want anything else? I still need to buy herbs. There should be a teahouse ahead—we'll pack some pastries for the road."
They walked on like that, talking in fits and starts as they threaded through the Extending Land—completely unaware of the dark figure watching from above, the pair of cold eyes under a mask following their every step.
In the Ice Bamboo Forest, Mi Xingzhe was chasing Bingo through the mist.
"Little Bingo, wait for me—slow down!" he panted. "I asked you to take me to find dragon bones, not to train me running with you!"
Bingo didn't even flick an ear in response. In a blink, the jade-green blur vanished deeper into the bamboo.
The Ice Bamboo Forest swallowed sound and direction alike. Within the drifting white haze, Mi Xingzhe lost his bearings.
"Bingo—! Little Bingo! Stop..." He waved his hand, trying to disperse the curling mist, and called again.
Behind him, among the bamboo shadows, a jade-green figure flickered.
A sharp gaze—deep black eyes—fixed on him.
"Dare to steal my book," a voice murmured, cold and precise. "Truly lacking discipline."
Two slender fingers lifted and flicked.
A pale purple spell streaked toward Mi Xingzhe's feet.
Mi Xingzhe, too focused on searching for Bingo, didn't notice the trap in the ground. His next step landed on emptiness. The world dropped out from under him.
He tumbled down the slope, struck his head against a stone—and went still.
"Heh." The hidden figure let out a soft, satisfied sound. "Fainting already? Then I'll take advantage of the opportunity."
The figure moved toward him.
Night had fallen by the time Hua Ruoying and Qingping—having obtained the Ice Bamboo Jade Token—emerged from the depths of the Ice Bamboo Forest, chatting softly as they walked. As they neared the border between the forest and the Extending Land—
Qingping suddenly stopped and tugged Hua Ruoying's sleeve. "Sister Ruoying… look. Is that something?"
Hua Ruoying followed his pointing hand and saw a body lying not far ahead.
Her instincts snapped tight. She pulled Qingping behind her, scanning the surroundings.
How could someone be lying here in the middle of the night? she thought, eyes narrowing. Judging from the clothes… a sect disciple. Alive, or dead?
They approached cautiously. Hua Ruoying picked up a stick and poked the figure once.
No response.
She stepped closer, checked breathing, checked pulse. He was alive—only unconscious. She lifted her hand and began to read his pulse more carefully.
Her expression shifted.
"There are traces of Wu Feng Zhu in his body?" The realization hit with a chill.
As a poison-maker, Hua Ruoying recognized it instantly. Wu Feng Zhu was her own creation—refined years ago with Blood Lotus from Kunlun Mountain. She had only ever given it a handful of times, and only to the Demon Lord and her brother Hua Qiuyuan.
How could traces of it be in the body of a sect disciple?
Qingping swallowed nervously, poking Mi Xingzhe's cheek with the stick. "Sister Ruoying… is he dead?"
"No," Hua Ruoying answered, still frowning. "He fainted." Then, more to herself than to Qingping, "Why would someone faint here in the middle of the night?"
Qingping hesitated. "Then… should we save him?"
Hua Ruoying looked at the empty darkness around them. No footsteps. No passersby. Only wind.
If they left him here, he would freeze before dawn.
She clicked her tongue, as if annoyed with her own soft spot. "It's late. Hardly anyone passes here. Leaving him alone, he'll catch cold." She sighed. "Fine. We'll save him."
Qingping glanced down, uneasy. "But… what about that thing you mentioned earlier—the bead?"
"Wu Feng Zhu?" Hua Ruoying's fingers brushed the sachet at her waist. "There are only traces. His pulse is stable. He should be fine."
Qingping's eyes widened. "Then he won't die, right?"
"We can't worry about that now." Hua Ruoying made the decision. "We save him first."
She pulled a pill from her pocket and slipped it into Mi Xingzhe's mouth, then used a little of the Ice Bamboo Jade Token to help him swallow.
"Qingping—help me. We'll move him aside. If a carriage passes, they might hit him."
She hauled Mi Xingzhe up with effort.
Qingping asked quickly, "Shouldn't we take him with us?"
"He's a sect disciple," Hua Ruoying said, shifting his weight. "Where would we take him? Leaving him here would be fine—his people would come."
Then her hand touched something wet and warm.
Blood.
Qingping stared at the red on her fingers. "Sister… he's injured."
Hua Ruoying's gaze sharpened.
This bleeding is serious. Her jaw tightened. No—he needs proper treatment. Quickly.
"Qingping," she ordered, voice clipped, "go find a carriage. Now."
That same night, in the study at Mirror Cloud Residence, Yun Qingyi stood pale and tight with panic, reporting to Li Luoning.
Li Luoning's head snapped up. "What?"
"Lost?"
Yun Qingyi's voice shook. "Master—I can't find Mi Xingzhe anywhere."
Li Luoning's gaze hardened. "Tell me exactly what happened."
Yun Qingyi swallowed and answered quickly. "After breakfast, I asked Xingzhe and Bingo to go to the Ice Bamboo Forest to find dragon bones. I reminded him to return by lunch. But by evening, only Bingo came back."
His fists clenched. "Bingo looked anxious—kept pulling at me. I followed it into the forest, but I couldn't find Xingzhe anywhere."
Li Luoning's brows drew together, but he didn't immediately panic. Xingzhe wasn't a child.
Yet Yun Qingyi's unease didn't lessen. His mouth opened—then closed. He hesitated, eyes flicking away.
Li Luoning caught it at once. He set the book aside and looked up, gaze steady and sharp.
"Qingyi." His voice turned solemn. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Yun Qingyi's throat worked. Then, as if the guilt finally outweighed the fear, he dropped to one knee with a heavy thump.
"Master… this morning, when I was tidying Junior Brother's clothes, I found this."
He held something out.
Li Luoning took it, and his calm cracked instantly. "This is…" His eyes sharpened. "Dian Qie Dan!"
Yun Qingyi spoke quickly, ashamed. "A few days ago, when I helped Junior Brother tidy his clothes, it fell out. At first I thought it was Long Kui Dan. I wondered why he'd want it. But then I thought—Mirror Cloud Residence never uses Long Kui Dan. So I examined it carefully and realized it was Dian Qie Dan."
Li Luoning said nothing for a beat. Long Kui and Dian Qie were indeed easy to confuse at a glance. The real question was how Dian Qie Dan ended up in Mi Xingzhe's clothes.
He looked up. "Do you know who gave him that sachet?"
Yun Qingyi's voice turned quieter. "Judging from the sewing and the women who make these sachets… it should be Yue Ruling."
Li Luoning's eyes narrowed. "Yue Ruling?" He murmured, thinking fast. "She doesn't know enough medicine to distinguish Dian Qie from Long Kui. This was switched deliberately by someone."
Yun Qingyi's anxiety surged. "Master… is Junior Brother in danger? What if he ate it?"
Li Luoning checked the sachet's contents and answered firmly, "He won't be. With the amount inside, he likely never remembered to take it."
But Yun Qingyi's fear didn't ease. "Master—he's been out all day, and it's already night. I'm afraid something happened."
Li Luoning's expression turned decisive.
"Qingyi—go to Mu Han's place. Have him send a few celestial children with you to the Ice Bamboo Forest to search. I'll go to Xuanming Xingjun and borrow the Yinyue South."
Torches blazed through the Ice Bamboo Forest that night. Celestial children called Mi Xingzhe's name in every direction, their voices scattering into the mist.
In Li Luoning's hand, the Yinyue South flickered with faint golden light—bright one moment, dim the next.
A shout rang out.
"Brother Qingyi—there's something here!"
Yun Qingyi rushed over.
It was the spot where Mi Xingzhe had fallen. Bloodstains lay on the ground, nearly dried.
Yun Qingyi's breath broke. "Master—over here!"
Li Luoning arrived at once. He crouched and touched the darkened blood with his fingertips, then pressed that trace onto the Yinyue South.
The moment it took Mi Xingzhe's blood, the Yinyue South reacted violently—its light snapping into clarity.
Li Luoning and Yun Qingyi moved at once, flying in the direction it indicated.
Hua Ruoying, with Mi Xingzhe unconscious, was heading straight toward the Extending Land.
On the carriage, she had already bandaged the wound on the back of his head. Qingping stared at the stranger with restless curiosity.
"Sister Ruoying…" Qingping asked quietly, "do we really have to bring him back to the Extending Land with us?"
"What else?" Hua Ruoying replied, eyes fixed on Mi Xingzhe's pale face. "In his state, we can't leave him in the forest. We'll return to the Extending Land first and settle him there for now—"
The carriage jolted to a stop.
From outside, the old coachman called, "Miss, I can only take you this far. Ahead is the Yao Forest of the Extending Land. My carriage can't enter."
Hua Ruoying didn't argue. "I understand. Thank you." She paid him, then climbed down with Qingping, hoisting Mi Xingzhe's weight between them.
They entered Yao Forest and found a cave where they could lay Mi Xingzhe down.
The moment they crossed into the Extending Land, not far away among the trees, a figure flickered into view—watching their retreating backs as they carried Mi Xingzhe deeper.
A deep voice whispered beneath a sinister smile, "I've done what I can. Now it's up to you."
On the other side, Li Luoning and Yun Qingyi followed the Yinyue South out of the Ice Bamboo Forest and stopped at the border of the Extending Land.
"The Extending Land…" Li Luoning's brows tightened, confusion cutting across his face.
But the Yinyue South's guiding light didn't waver.
It was pointing forward—unmistakably—into the Extending Land.