More than a full day passed with no activity from the monitored area. Not only were the teachers and students in the monitoring room growing anxious, but even Michael, waiting in the wings, felt a prickle of impatience.
The smile had vanished from Lucifer’s face. While his every movement remained unhurried and composed, the slight tightening of his lips betrayed his current mood.
During this time, he and Michael had exchanged words. Michael was astonished that Lucifer could not sense his contracted partner, Bai Cha's, emotions at all. Conversely, Michael could grasp Mo Ziye's happiness, excitement, sadness, and even his affections, the moment they arose.
Dragons and their hosts shared a powerful empathic bond. A tenth of the host's joys and sorrows could be directly transmitted to their dragon, which was precisely why their relationships were the most intimate.
Lucifer, however, could not feel Bai Cha's inner world.
Bai Cha's heart was too serene. At times, Lucifer felt as though he didn't even have a contracted host.
Only in the occasional midnight dream could he faintly perceive a heart tremor that was almost imperceptible. Even so, the next morning, Bai Cha would be as calm as still water, leaving Lucifer with a sense of utter lack of control. Even the most powerful individual felt uneasy when faced with something they could not command.
Especially since Bai Cha was no trifle; she was the most delicious dessert he had reserved for himself.
Michael stood beside him, subtly fanning the flames in front of Lucifer. “You know, I can clearly sense that they seem to be fighting, but they’re not going all out.”
“Is that so?” Lucifer nodded politely, uninterested in further discussion.
“Yes, and I can feel that Ziye is very happy,” Michael continued to stoke the fire, a sense of hidden delight bubbling within him as he observed Lucifer’s slightly stiffening face. “My silly buddy wouldn’t confess, would he? Oh my…”
Lucifer: “……”
Lucifer had no desire to engage with this “former colleague” beside him. He had always felt that Michael had some distant connection to a certain black and white canine. Lucifer’s approach was direct: he simply walked away, ceasing to acknowledge the provocateur.
Meanwhile, Mo Ziye was already panting heavily, exhausted.
The hands holding his sword were trembling. In over a day, he had only managed to rest for two hours. Bai Cha’s footwork had transformed from ordinary to nimble, her warnings evolving into direct attacks, her movements unpredictable.
And he, after a full day, had finally managed to survive ten moves against Bai Cha.
“Alright, that’s enough for today,” Bai Cha said, clapping her hands to signal the end of the spar.
Hearing her clear, cool voice, Mo Ziye’s hands relaxed. The light sword in his grasp instantly dissolved into scattered points of light. His vision darkened, and he almost uncontrollably collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air, his face deathly pale.
“How does it feel, Protagonist’s Daily Check-up Card?” Bai Cha walked over to Mo Ziye. She remained composed, even managing a smile. The blend of her cool demeanor and captivating allure, contradictory as it was, caused Mo Ziye to pause, a hint of color returning to his once-pale face.
“What do you mean by ‘Protagonist’s Experience Card’?” Mo Ziye asked weakly from the ground, curious.
It wasn’t that he didn’t want to stand up; he was simply too exhausted. He was sprawled on the ground, unable to move even a finger.
“Well, isn’t that how it goes in novels? The protagonist meets an extraordinary master, receives guidance, and then their strength advances by leaps and bounds,” Bai Cha chuckled, indulging in a rare joke. “Your progress over the past day has doubled your overall strength, wouldn’t you say?”
“Ha… haha, now that you mention it, it does seem so.” Mo Ziye laughed weakly. After lying there for a while, he finally regained some strength and sat up.
The surroundings were quiet. With more than half a day remaining until the carnival ended, the two sat silently under a tree, listening to the gentle breeze and the chirping of insects drifting through the forest.
Mo Ziye was genuinely happy. The fact that Bai Cha was willing to guide him meant that she at least acknowledged him, and they could be considered friends. His ears tinged slightly red as he stealthily glanced at the girl resting with her eyes closed beside him, his heart beating faster and faster.
“But why did Bai Cha decide to guide me?” Mo Ziye finally voiced his confusion after a long silence. He actually didn’t want to speak; he wished they could just sit there together like this forever. But remaining silent for too long would be too awkward. “I remember our two factions have a very bad relationship. In school, our factions are always at odds.”
“Isn’t that just your side being unilaterally hostile towards us?” Bai Cha snorted, looking at her wristband with a hint of satisfaction in her eyes.
Good. The Shadow faction had many families, big and small. Out of over five hundred people, including herself, fifteen had secured fifteen of the top twenty spots. It seemed those youngsters hadn’t slacked off.
However, despite Bai Cha’s words, Mo Ziye didn’t quite grasp her meaning and remained somewhat perplexed.
Seeing Mo Ziye’s confused expression, Bai Cha, in a rare moment of good humor, decided to explain further.
“Think of us as a mirror. If you are kind, we naturally won’t seek trouble,” Bai Cha stated truthfully. “We’re busy enough with our own missions, where would we find the time to play palace intrigue with you? When we gather, we talk most about our missions and training.
What do you guys talk about the most? Who's researching what? Congratulatory remarks are just pleasantries. The real sentiment is how indignant you are about what we do, right? It’s like chatting with girls about gossip and denouncing ex-boyfriends as scum.”
“Uh…” Mo Ziye felt a little indignant, but upon reflection, it did seem to be the case. He had attended many banquets with Mo Yuntian and had overheard much criticism and dissatisfaction directed at the Shadow faction. Thinking about it, he couldn’t really refute Bai Cha.
“But, by doing this, won’t you be gossiped about?” Mo Ziye hesitated before voicing his concern. “After all, we are still opposing factions, aren’t we?”
“Opposing factions?” Hearing this, Bai Cha’s face took on a strange expression, the mockery and disdain in her eyes almost undisguised.
“Little one, those words were told to you by the elders of your faction, weren’t they?” Bai Cha’s tone was filled with contempt and ridicule. “Do you know that even ‘Light’ and ‘Shadow’ were names they came up with themselves, purely to draw a clear line between us? We just didn’t care, so we went along with it.”
“Our Shadow faction is less of a faction and more of a clan, a unified whole. You probably don’t know that most of our descendants are not born to their families,” Bai Cha said dismissively. “And yet, they still inherit the position of clan leader.”
“Not born to them?” Mo Ziye could hardly believe his ears, exclaiming in shock. “How can someone not born to the family inherit the family business!”
“When we turn twelve, everyone must make a choice – to be a Shadow, or to become a normal person,” Bai Cha stood up, looking up through the canopy at the scattered lights in the sky. “If they choose to become normal people, they must sever all ties with the family. The family will give them a large sum of money, or arrange for them to be adopted into a good family.
We encounter all sorts of orphans during our missions. Those willing to follow us are adopted. After three years, if they still wish to become normal people, we will still provide them with the best treatment. ‘Clan leader’ is just a title.”
“And so, generation after generation, year after year, the original bloodline has dwindled to less than a third, yet not a single family within our Shadow clan has fallen,” Bai Cha smiled, her gaze towards Mo Ziye carrying a hint of unspoken pride. “Do you understand now? We couldn’t care less about your hostility.”
Shadows, to you, are the objects that highlight your light and righteousness, the bats of darkness that you imagine. But for us, it is not so. This is what we willingly embrace and are proud of!
To put it bluntly, ‘Shadow’ is merely a spirit, directly subordinate to the Neutral faction, carrying out orders. How would we have the time to be hostile towards anyone?
“But, why would you do this? I mean, are you really willing to let people with no blood relation inherit the family business?” Mo Ziye’s lips trembled slightly, a strange emotion surging within him. Looking at the pride in Bai Cha’s eyes, he felt a pang of envy.
He had seen Bai Cha’s home – the luxurious palace, the expensive machinery, the sophisticated systems… everything was astronomically priced, and that was just the surface wealth.
Other families, even if not as magnificent as the Bai family, still possessed astronomical assets. And they would just hand them over to adopted children?
“Never seen it? It’s right that you haven’t. Since you haven’t been contaminated by your hypocritical ways, that’s why I’m telling you so much,” Bai Cha smiled. “Compared to you, we are constantly on the brink of life and death, but the spirit of the Shadow will continue to be passed down.”
Bai Cha smiled, waved her wristband, and tapped it lightly. The light on the wristband immediately dimmed.
“Xiao Bai? What are you doing!” Mo Ziye was startled and quickly looked at his own wristband.
Indeed, Bai Cha’s name on it had dimmed, and he had naturally become number one.
“You just accept it. This Junyao has been established for so long, when have you ever seen someone from the Shadow faction become number one?” Bai Cha pouted. “Number one has to be displayed on the big screen for a month. Whoever wants to hang there can hang there. I don’t want to be socially executed.”
A huge, high-definition photo plastered on the big screen? That would be incredibly embarrassing.
“In short, keep this a secret. Just say you won.”
And so, when the two leisurely walked out of the training grounds, the teachers and students stared, their eyes nearly popping out, at Bai Cha, who looked as serene as ever, her clothes not even wrinkled, and then at Mo Ziye, who was incredibly disheveled and covered in dirt.
Anyone with eyes could guess who had won in the end, right? But the fact was, it was the opposite! Shouldn’t both of them look a bit disheveled?
Like, for example, a desperate struggle!
“Has the brainwashing worked?” Meng Qinghuan leaned over, whispering to Bai Cha. “Xiao Bai, have you managed to pull Xiao Mo over to your side?”
“You’re dreaming. I went for brainwashing, not to change someone’s ancestral registry,” Bai Cha said speechlessly, glancing at Meng Qinghuan, who was smiling with a sly look. She felt that his smile contained some strange hidden meaning.
What bad intentions did this kid have now?
Bai Cha looked at Meng Qinghuan strangely. Although Meng Qinghuan’s eyes were tightly closed, the micro-expressions on his face, which was more delicate than a woman’s, were extremely rich. Bai Cha never needed to look at his eyes to know that this guy was brewing mischief.
For instance, right now, Meng Qinghuan’s smile was shifting from radiant to even more radiant, with a hint of mischievousness that gave Bai Cha a bad premonition.
“What exactly do you want?” Bai Cha, feeling increasingly unnerved by Meng Qinghuan’s gaze, finally asked directly.
Before her words could even fall, a sudden warmth touched her shoulder. A plain black suit jacket, radiating warmth and a faint scent of sandalwood, was placed upon her shoulders.
“Welcome back, my Master.”