Shen Zhenyu let out a long, patient sigh. He ignored their chaos, set his perfectly drawn array in the center of the table, and infused it with spiritual energy. A faint glow spread across the lines. Warmth radiated gently from the array.

  No smoke. No fmes. No screaming. Just quiet success.

  Song Meiyu leaned in, touched the paper with both hands, and gasped loudly. “It works! It’s warm! We could use this to pack lunch!”

  He Yuying crawled out from behind his chair, eyes wide and shining. “We must mass-produce this. For snacks.”

  Linyue, who was still watching the glowing paper, nodded thoughtfully. “Maybe it can be drawn on cloth and warm my hands.”

  Shen Zhenyu looked down at his perfectly glowing array and then gnced at the other three. They were all staring at him with a mix of wonder and ink stains. He didn’t say a word, but deep inside, a quiet truth settled in his heart. If anyone could weaponize steamed bun technology, it would be these three. And heaven help whoever stood in their way.

  So, three wildly excited cultivators and one very patient, very tired honorary nanny sat together, continuing their sacred journey of inventing extremely specific magic arrays to keep dumplings warm and hands cozy.

  Eventually, all three abandoned the idea of making their own arrays. It was hopeless. Song Meiyu’s snakes kept growing extra legs, He Yuying’s stars refused to have the correct number of points, and Linyue’s worms still looked like they were suffering. Instead, the three of them crowded around Shen Zhenyu like slightly chaotic, ink-smudged ducklings, watching in awe as he created one perfect array after another. By the time they were done, Shen Zhenyu had completely covered the table with glowing arrays.

  There was a cool breeze array—Song Meiyu’s favorite, as she immediately discovered it was perfect for making her sleeves flutter dramatically. A simple defensive array—He Yuying’s favorite, because he cimed he could now snack in safety. A boiling water array—Linyue’s favorite, since tea emergencies were a very serious matter. And then there were several other arrays that had no real purpose whatsoever, except that they were strangely fun to poke to see what would happen.

  Finally, Linyue broke the long, companionable silence. “How long has it been? Master Yin Xue hasn’t given any news.”

  Shen Zhenyu gnced up from his test array masterpiece, still holding his brush. “At least two days since we started drawing.”

  Song Meiyu froze. Her brush slipped from her fingers and cttered to the table, spttering ink. “TWO DAYS?!” she shrieked. “We haven’t had dumplings. Or tea! Or… wait—more importantly, did the Demon King find the cure yet?!”

  Shen Zhenyu shook his head. “Doesn’t seem like it. He didn’t even come to check on us. Which means he’s still busy. And besides, if Master Yin Xue hasn’t found the cure yet, what are the chances anyone else could?”

  He Yuying, completely unbothered, nodded zily and reached for another snack from his never-ending sleeve supply.

  Song Meiyu slumped forward, her forehead hitting the table. “No dumplings, no gossip, no disappointed sigh from Master Yin Xue. This is cruel.”

  Linyue stayed quiet, but a small crease formed between her brows. Her calm face didn’t give much away, but her silence was heavy. She was thinking. Again.

  Shen Zhenyu noticed immediately, of course. He always did. “Linyue,” he asked gently, “what are you thinking about this time?”

  Linyue gnced at him. She never figured out how he always knew. “Just… this and that,” she said vaguely. “I’m not sure yet.”

  In Linyue-nguage, that usually meant she had already pieced together the entire situation, solved 70% of the puzzle, but wanted to double-check before telling anyone. Shen Zhenyu handed her a clean sheet of paper, in case her thoughts needed somewhere to nd.

  He Yuying leaned in. “If it’s a death array, give me a ten-second head start.”

  “Five,” Shen Zhenyu said dryly.

  Linyue looked at each of them in turn. Her face stayed calm, but her mind was racing. If she told them, she’d have to expin things. Complicated things. Things she had spent years locking away in a mental box beled "Do Not Open Unless Absolutely Necessary." But these three weren’t strangers anymore. They weren’t even just friends. Somewhere between stolen dumplings, their adventures to swamp, caves and haunted doll store, they had become family.

  She drew in a small breath and nodded to herself. “Do you remember when we first met outside the wall of Luyan?” she asked quietly.

  Song Meiyu perked up immediately, eyes sparkling with excitement. “Of course! You were so cool and beautiful! Wearing bck from head to toe, blue fmes everywhere, demons running away, so majestic! Everyone’s jaws dropped. And when Master Tian Mo saw your blue fmes, he immediately tackled you like, That’s it. This one. This is mine now. Boom. Instant disciple.”

  Linyue gave them a small smile. She remembered those days too, though her memory cked all the sparkles and imaginary sound effects Song Meiyu insisted on adding.

  “Yes,” she said simply, “but I didn’t say anything at that time.”

  “Oh right!” Song Meiyu cpped her ink-stained hands together. “Even Prince Lu, while stabbing a demon, paused to propose to you. That was the first time, right? You ignored him completely! Cssic. And then he just kept proposing over and over again after Master Tian Mo dragged you to Xuanyi Pavilion. But you still didn’t talk. We all thought you were just mysterious. But then…” She leaned forward, lowering her voice. “…And then it turned out you couldn’t talk!”

  He Yuying froze mid-chew. Shen Zhenyu, as always, didn’t move much. But his eyebrow lifted slightly. It was the symbol for “Ah yes, I remember that nonsense.”

  Song Meiyu continued, “And we were like, What?! We’ve been monologuing at a completely silent girl this whole time?! Honestly, it was kind of impressive how expressive your silence was.”

  Linyue blinked slowly. “Thanks… I think.”

  He Yuying nodded. “I genuinely thought you were just ignoring us because you had taste.”

  Shen Zhenyu, still holding his perfectly drawn array, didn’t say a word. But there was the faintest twitch at the corner of his mouth. For him, that was basically a ugh.

  Linyue gnced at them again, her chest felt oddly warm. Even with all the ridiculous comments flying around, these were the people she trusted.

  Yes. She could tell them.

  She took a quiet breath and said, “Indeed. I couldn’t talk because I ate something from outside the wall. It turned out to be poisonous. It damaged my throat and I lost my voice. I only got better after I went to Xuanyi Pavilion. Master Yin Xue cured me.”

  “But… why did you eat something from outside the wall?” Song Meiyu asked, her brows pulling together. “And you never told us where you came from either.”

  Linyue lowered her gaze to her hands. “It’s a long story. And right now, we have more important things to focus on.”

  Song Meiyu narrowed her eyes. “Fine. But you’ll tell us after this, right?”

  “I promise.”

  “You can’t take that back.”

  “I know.”

  There was a beat of silence before Linyue continued. “I saw Master Yin Xue prepare the herb she used to treat me. It looked almost the same as the thing I ate.”

  He Yuying’s eyes narrowed. “Almost?”

  Linyue nodded once. “Same shape. Same leaves. Same little round fruit hanging on the twig. The only difference was the color.”

  Song Meiyu gasped. “Wait—what does that mean?!”

  Shen Zhenyu had already pieced it together. Of course he had. He was practically a walking transtor for Linyue’s quiet thoughts. He gave her a knowing gnce and said quietly, “You’re saying… the herb Master Yin Xue used to heal you is basically the same as the one you ate?”

  Linyue nodded again. “Yes.”

  Song Meiyu stared at in disbelief. “But… but how is that possible?! How can the same herb be both poison and cure?! What kind of evil herb is that? That’s cheating!”

  Linyue began to expin slowly. “Do you remember the story about the realm before demons appeared? Back then, the nd was full of spiritual energy. People and spirit beasts lived peacefully. Everything was healthy and full of life.”

  Song Meiyu’s face lit up. “Yes! Like a giant magical garden! I heard the rivers sparkled, and spirit rabbits used to hop around delivering luck and vegetables or something.”

  “…Sure,” Linyue nodded once. “But yes, after the demons arrived, everything changed. The nd turned barren. Spirit beasts vanished. Pnts and animals started to wither.”

  “Yeah, I remember that part too,” Song Meiyu said with a firm nod. “Like how eating wild berries is now more of a gamble than a snack.”

  Linyue continued, “And back then… people didn’t call them demons. They called them Tainted.”