After a brief silence, I met his gaze, just as I had done a thousand years ago when we first cshed, and said in the calmest voice, "You disgust me."

  Clearly, he remembered that scene from before—the time when my gaze was cold and unyielding, when I didn′t lie.

  "Get out." I turned and walked back to the bedroom. Before closing the door, I said without looking back, "I never want to see you again. Ever."

  When the door shut, I didn′t hear any response from him, nor did I want to.

  I despised being misunderstood by someone so selfless. I didn′t mind when others didn′t understand me, but how could he, of all people, not understand me?

  The result of this conflict was a secret, silent tear from me and twenty years of him disappearing without a trace.

  I rarely cry, and he had never been away from me for more than forty-eight hours. But because of that argument, which, in hindsight, seemed incredibly childish, we drifted onto two parallel paths that could no longer intersect.

  For creatures like us, twenty years is but the blink of an eye. However, during those twenty years without Ao Chi, every day, every month, felt like a slow-motion scene in a movie.

  As I calmed down, I began to feel some regret for my actions that day. After all, his protection, his companionship, and his real concern for me shouldn′t have been completely dismissed over a single piece of clothing.

  I tried many ways to find him, but he was nowhere to be found. It was as if he had vanished into thin air.

  I was really angry. Why did you listen to me this time? When I told you to leave, you left, and you left so completely, so endlessly.

  The only things Ao Chi left behind, aside from a wardrobe full of clothes and a basket of diamond rings, were this red-gold dragon-patterned peace amulet.

  I remember that on the day of our argument, I was so angry that I tore the string of the amulet and threw it out the window. But when I woke up the next day, it was back, neatly tied to my left wrist.

  No matter how many times I throw it, it always comes back.

  It had to be one of Ao Chi's tricks—he must have cast some spell on this amulet. I had no choice but to let it jingle on my wrist.

  Now, I finally understood the meaning behind the gift he had given me.

  He once said that his biggest fear was that I, this fool, would get eaten by other Yaokais when he wasn't around. That would be too embarrassing!

  I thought, with my thousand years of cultivation, I was a powerful being among yaokais, and there was almost no species that could threaten my safety. His worries would never come true. But I never expected that, to this day, it was still Ao Chi who, in a different way, saved me, this "fool."

  As I thought about this, my eyes reddened.

  -------

  Cang Tongkai and Xuan were confused by my sudden emotional outburst, unaware that my brief moment of distraction was because of him. Xuan waved his cat paw in front of my eyes, snapping me out of my trance.

  "I'm going to the 'Endless' shop." I rubbed my eyes and suddenly stood up.

  "What are you going to do there? The information gathering has already been taken care of by someone else." Cang Tongkai gnced out the window. "They should be back soon."

  Soon, a bck butterfly with beautiful wings adorned with dark blue patterns fluttered gracefully and nded on my shoulder.

  "I'm sorry, I can't help you break the curse. If they hadn't told me, I wouldn't have recognized you at all." The butterfly said to me with a sense of helplessness. "You really are unlucky, ending up like this."

  If this butterfly was not Ku Yue, who else could it be?

  "You′re here..." I suddenly didn’t know what to say.

  "I told you before, that woman has done something around this house. See? Every call you make goes straight to 'out of service area.'"

  "No wonder I couldn't reach her when I called. I went to the 'Endless' to find her, but she's always not there."

  "Right now, the one inside the 'Endless' isn't her, okay?"

  "Well, it's not completely wrong. At least that shape is still hers."

  "We should peel that woman's skin off!"

  "Wouldn't that just make her one of your kind?"

  "There′s no such scum among bone yaokais who use tricks to harm others! Don′t drag us into this!"

  A tall man, wrapped in a long coat, with a hat, sungsses, and a mask, resembling a mummy, walked through the door. Behind him came another tall, slender figure, with striking ke-blue hair.

  "Ah, you're awake?" Jiu Jue came over and sat beside me, casually touching my forehead. "Hmm, no fever. You little tree yaokai, you really never make things easy for me."

  His simple action, the familiar tone, and his eyes that held no trace of distance or awkwardness—suddenly, I felt a sense of grounding that had been missing for so long.

  "I told you, tree yaokai, don′t worry. That woman who stole your skin won′t be acting so arrogantly for long!" Gu Wuming took off his sungsses and spped the table. His two dark, hollow skull eyes burned with righteous anger. His temper was still as fiery as ever.

  "You guys..." I struggled to maintain my usual composure, but seeing the familiar faces around me, my nose started to tingle with emotion. The overwhelming feeling of gratitude and relief slowly bubbled up inside me, warming my blood.

  I knew it. I wasn′t alone.

  "She′s actually about to cry..." Cang Tongkai stared at me in surprise, muttering softly, "She used to only have that annoying, sly smile on her face."

  "This actually looks pretty good..." Xuan tilted his head, examining me. "At least now you look like a normal person, with real emotions—happy, angry, sad."

  The others nodded in agreement.

  "You guys..." I quickly wiped my eyes, then punched the nearest person, Jiu Jue, in the arm. Furious and embarrassed, I growled, "If you keep mocking me, I′ll chop you all up!"

  "You can only use a kitchen knife to chop people now; no magic left. How embarrassing!" Jiu Jue, never afraid to mock me, quickly changed his tone before I could explode. He turned to the others and said, "Have you guys thought about this? The more people who passively recognize Shā Luó, the fewer people who will actively recognize her. That means the chances of breaking the curse are lower."

  His words left everyone stunned.

  I suddenly realized something and asked them, "How did you all end up here, together? You′re all guests of ′Endless,' but you don′t know each other. And you said that `Sound of Twilight' tampered with things, so none of my information should have gotten out."