Chapter 3: Ou Jia · Wendi

Year 156 of the Ji Yuan Era.

“Ye Cheng, you have nowhere left to run. You might as well surrender obediently!” The man’s long purple hair fluttered slightly in the wind, his captivating purple eyes narrowed with a hidden murderous intent.
His slightly wide longsword glinted with a cold light, menacingly pointed at Ye Cheng’s neck.

Ye Cheng’s body was covered in wounds of all sizes and bloodstains.
He smiled grimly.
“Third Prince, Hu Qingyu. No matter how hard you try, the common people will never accept a monster like you.”

“Even so…” Hu Qingyu tightened his grip on the sword in his hand, “I will still take you, a scourge upon this world…”

Suddenly, a strange feeling flashed through his heart.
Hu Qingyu’s left hand immediately clutched his chest.
“This is… what… the Holy Throne…”

A sound like a clap of thunder exploded in both their ears.
A massive purple moon, at a time when the sun was shining brightly, abruptly hung high in the sky.

Year 44 of the Third Epoch.

A purple moon, a silver moon, stood guard opposite each other in the lonely night sky.
Under the twin moons, a bonfire danced with boundless youthful energy.

Mianbao had managed with great difficulty to handle the greetings from the many girls.
Although she was happy to chat with so many beautiful girls, when there were too many, it became a bit overwhelming.

“Big Sister… Mianbao, where is your home?” Xixi sat beside Mianbao, hugging her pet cat named Water Dumpling.

Mianbao lay on the grass with one hand behind her head, scratching Water Dumpling’s fluffy back with her finger.
“My home? It’s in Lange Village.”

“Lange Village? Then Big Sister Mianbao, our route will pass through there, though it’s still a little ways off,” Xixi said.

“We’ll pass through… really!?” Mianbao’s heart thrilled, and she subconsciously sat up straight from the grass.
“Then where are we now?”

‘Doesn’t this mean I have a chance to escape!?’

Xixi produced a map from somewhere and placed it on the grass.
After tracing and gesturing a few times with her hand, she answered, “Big Sister, we are now in the Wind Forest, twelve kilometers from Lange Village.”

‘Six aoduo?!¹ How did I end up so far from Lange Village for no reason??’

“Also, Big Sister, there are many magical beasts in the Wind Forest. If Grandma Kunta and the others weren’t protecting us, we wouldn’t be able to take this path through the Wind Forest at all, right? Grandma Kunta and the others are really amazing!” Xixi said, her eyes filled with admiration and longing for Kunta.

‘As expected, that old hag Kunta is no ordinary old woman.
To be able to protect a group of girls with no strength to even truss a chicken in the magic-beast-infested Wind Forest.’

“Amazing is amazing. Ouch, that hurts!” As Mianbao sat up, she had the bad luck of sitting on her own long hair, a sharp pain shooting through her scalp.
“Actually, I’m pretty amazing too!”

Seeing Mianbao’s contorted face, yet hearing her boastful words, Xixi couldn’t help but laugh.
“I find that Big Sister Mianbao is a very interesting person, hahahaha… But, where are you amazing, Big Sister?”

Hugging Water Dumpling, Xixi pinched Mianbao’s bicep, poked her flat stomach, and then gestured at her slender waist.
“Big Sister’s figure is quite good, but you’re probably not a swordswoman, are you? And you don’t look like a magician either.”

“So what if I’m not a swordswoman or a magician? What do kids know… Also, you have to call me big brother!” Mianbao looked defeated, then once again attempted to get Xixi to change how she addressed her.

“Why?”

“Because I am a man!” Mianbao said with righteous indignation, her face completely serious.

“Oh~” Xixi struck a pose.
“Then why would a man wear clothes like these, have such long hair, and such a fine figure?”

“Th-th-this…” For a moment, Mianbao was at a loss for words.
“I’m not talking to you anymore!” She sighed and lay back down on the ground.

Mianbao decided not to try escaping for the time being.
Since the Kunta Song and Dance Troupe would be passing through Lange Village, she would figure out a way to escape then.

In the last room of the magi-mobile, Kunta sat before an old woman dressed in a purple magic robe.

“Hey, old thing, what brings you to see me?” the purple-robed old woman asked.

“Wendi, I told you decades ago, if you dare call me ‘old thing’ again, I’ll pull out all your teeth!” Kunta said, expressionlessly poking the floor with her cane, her words fierce.
“That girl, what do you think of her? Don’t tell me you haven’t been peeking at us with your ‘Eye of Spiritual Insight’.”

“Her aura is very strange. That feeling, I can’t quite describe it,” Wendi said with a tremble in her voice.

“When I found her, her clothes had a hole pierced through the heart by a sword, but I couldn’t find any trace of injury on her body,” Kunta said.
“And I didn’t sense any aura of healing magic on her either.”

Wendi fumbled with the crystal ball placed before her.
“It feels very strange, so you kept her?”

“Yes. And the pattern on her back, it doesn’t look like any kind of magic circuit either.”

“Perhaps she will be a very interesting existence… she might even be the Holy Moon Princess, hehehe…” Wendi tugged at her purple robe.

“You still remember those old matters? But these things are all forbidden, you know.”

“What does it matter? Our great Mr. Edis is far away in the prosperous city of Meiluos.” Kunta wore a fearless expression.

“Wow, Big Sister Mianbao, there’s a shooting star!” Xixi’s eyes lit up.
She nudged Mianbao, urging her to look at the two meteors slowly streaking across the sky.

Mianbao had actually already seen the two “shooting stars” with their splendid colors and long tails.
She said, “Those aren’t shooting stars, they’re comets. See the tail trailing behind it? That’s a comet’s tail.”

“Eh?! Is that so? Big Sister Mianbao, you know so much. But it’s okay, I heard you can make wishes on comets too. Big Sister Mianbao, let’s make a wish quickly!” With that, Xixi clasped her hands together, closed her eyes, and struck a standard wishing pose.

The other girls who were also resting outside followed Xixi’s lead, their faces filled with excitement as they began to pray.

‘Since that’s the case—’

Mianbao followed suit, clasping her hands and slightly closing her beautiful eyes.
“I hope Dad and Mother can always be happy, and also, let me turn back into a man!”

“There’s a comet passing outside. Our lovely children are all making wishes,” Wendi said to Kunta, observing everything outside with her ‘Eye of Spiritual Insight’.

“Ha, to think that when I was young, I was just as lovely as them.” Kunta turned and pushed open the door, raising her head to gaze at the two comets streaking across the night sky.
“Whether it’s a shooting star or a comet, one must always make a wish.”

“Comets really are beautiful,” Mianbao said after making her wish, having seen a comet for the first time in her life.

¹Aoduo: A fictional unit of distance.