NOVPUB"I wonder how my only son will be doing..." Xiao Ziyun murmured, her tone unusually light.
Then, with a giggle that echoed off the marble walls, "I hope he can raise that mad little girl for me, she's the perfect successor for me," she said with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
Outside, the cherry blossoms rustled in the breeze, petals falling like whispers onto the palace tiles.
Xiao Ziyun paused, gazing out the window. "Ah, youth… such chaos, such fire. It reminds me of myself, once upon a time." 𝓷ℴ𝓿𝓹𝓾𝓫.𝓬ℴ𝓶
Her giggle echoed again, lilting and fond.
She clasped her hands behind her back and strolled leisurely, utterly ecstatic at the image forming in her mind. The chaos, the drama, how delightful.
Meanwhile, at the palace…
Shan Yifeng was bent over, hands on his knees, drenched in sweat.
"Liu Mei… can I take a break?" he panted, struggling to catch his breath.
"I have been running at this for hours…"
Liu mei blinked at him innocently. "Oh? I thought you'd only just begun."
"Achoo!", suddenly she gave a sneeze.
Liu Mei wrinkled her nose. "Weird. You'd think as a cultivator, I'd be immune to sneezes."
"Maybe the dust here is above your cultivation level," Shan muttered.
"Or maybe I'm allergic to your complaining." Liu Mei retorted back without hesitation.
"I'm not complaining. I'm suffering. There's a difference."
"Oh please. You haven't even run half as long as Little Aoki."
"That's a freaking spirit monster! How dare you compare a human to one! You're insane, stupid."
The two continue the bickering back and forth, with none ready to give up the fight.
They were currently stuck in a strange mural room, running on what looked like a massive, archaic treadmill.
Up ahead stood a sealed gate, humming faintly with dormant energy.
From what Shan Yifeng had figured out, the mechanism required sustained power —generated through the treadmill — to unlock the gate.
He had suggested they take turns running to power it up and open up the gate, *legally* in the terms of Shan Yifeng.
Naturally, Liu Mei had sent Little Aoki to run first.
As they say, why do the hard work, when you got someone else who is willing to do it for you.
Well, for little Aoki, it may have not so much have been willing and more of a coercion, but the saying still applied.
The bear *bear*ly lasted four hours at most.
Now, Shan Yifeng was also the one running, his breath felt ragged, sweat soaking through his robes as he pushed soul energy into every step.
Liu Mei twirled a strand of her hair.
"Honestly, I'm impressed. You've managed to sweat through three layers of robes. That's talent."
"Why don't you give it a try now, Liu Mei?" he called out between gasps.
Liu Mei glanced lazily at the treadmill, then at the door, then back at him.
With a flat tone, she said, "No."
"What do you mean no?!" Shan Yifeng exploded. "It's because of your goddamn carelessness that we are stuck in this pit in the first place! That door is the only way out!"
Liu Mei waved him off. "Relax. I know what I'm doing."
Then she casually walked up to the massive gate and—BAM!—kicked it.
The door didn't break, but it shuddered slightly under the force.
"See? This is more productive." She folded her arms smugly.
Shan Yifeng stared in disbelief. "Are you freaking dumb?! What if you trigger another wrong mechanism?! What if a spike shoots out and impales us all?! What if—"
"It's fine, it's fine," she interrupted with a dismissive smile. "Look at me, I'm already at Legend rank. I can fly, carry you and little Aoki out of here easy-peasy."
He scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like you've even had the time to cultivate."
BAM!
She kicked the door again, harder this time.
Shan Yifeng sighed in surrender. His legs were sore, his soul energy nearly drained.
He stumbled off the treadmill and collapsed beside Little Aoki, who was curled up in a fluffy, snoring ball.
Leaning against the bear's warm fur, he let his eyes drift shut.
BAM. BAM.
The background thudded with Liu Mei's persistent door-kicking.
But wrapped in the bear's cozy warmth, Shan Yifeng felt sleep tugging at him with a gentle lull.
After a few more determined kicks. BAM! BAM! CRACK! The massive door finally gave way with a groan and collapsed inward in a cloud of dust and ancient rust.
Liu Mei grinned, hands on her hips.
"See? I am quite the strong girl."
She turned around, expecting cheers or at least a wide-eyed look of awe.
Instead, Little Aoki was curled up in a sleepy furball, softly snoring.
Shan Yifeng was slumped beside him, using the bear's belly as a pillow, absolutely dead to the world.
Both of them were completely knocked out.
Liu Mei blinked, then sighed.
She hefted them both without effort, one over each shoulder like sacks of flour.
Little Aoki's tongue lolled out, drooling on her back. Shan's hand reflexively clutched a strand of her hair like a security blanket.
"Hmph. They always blame me, but in the end, I'm the one carrying the weight—literally."
As she strolled through the next corridor, she started mentally replaying everything that had happened.
"Let's see…" she muttered. "Liu Mei threw little Aoki. Little Aoki triggered a trap. Little Aoki triggered another trap. Everyone screamed. Bear fell. I fell. Junior brother fell. Somehow, the blame lands on me. Totally not fair."
She pouted slightly, then continued her train of thought.
"But then! Bear ran on the running machine. Bear got tired. Shan Yifeng ran on the running machine. Shan Yifeng got tired. So—"
She smiled triumphantly.
"I had a genius idea. If running makes you tired… what if I kick the door instead?"
She nodded to herself, pleased.
"Door got kicked. Door gets broken. And I'm the only one not tired. That means—my solution is clearly the best one."
Still grinning at her irrefutable logic, she marched forward.
