Chapter 1: Equivalent Exchange

[The time is now 7:00 p.m., Beijing time.]

Wu Xiaomi stared silently at the radio.

A trembling voice came through the speaker, the announcer on the verge of tears.

[This is FM106.4, Voice of Asia. I’m your host, Huang Xiao. It’s been an honor to exist in this world, and to broadcast to you for the last time.]

[There are ten seconds left until the end of the world. Ten… nine… eight… seven—]

White clouds were torn apart as a massive fireball split the sky, hurtling directly toward Wu Xiaomi.

She held the girl beside her tightly.

As the older sister, it was only right to protect her little sister.

Even if it was the end of the world— she would shield her until the very last second.

…Although, just an hour ago, she was still with her older brother.

……

One hour ago.

“The patient’s condition is critical,” the doctor said gravely, studying the lab results in his hands. 

“All her organ functions are declining, but we still haven’t found the cause.”

“How long can she hold on?” Wu Xiaomi asked, head hanging lifelessly.

“You have to understand, the human body is a delicate system. Even the slightest disruption can trigger a chain reaction. And this… all five organs are failing together…” The doctor shook his head. 

“She won’t make it through the night.”

“Thank you, doctor,” Wu Xiaomi closed his eyes. “I know you’ve done your best.”

Receiving comfort from the boy only made the doctor feel worse.

“I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

Wu Xiaomi nodded without replying and walked out of the room.

“Both are just seventeen…” The doctor sighed, polishing his glasses. 

“No guardians. Orphans. They’ve grown up relying solely on each other.”

“The poor girl is unlucky,” the assistant added with a sigh. 

“And her brother’s been through a lot too. Ever since he found out modern medicine couldn’t save her, he’s tried everything—seeking miracle cures, climbing mountains, praying at temples. He even got arrested at some cult gathering recently. They let him go because it was his first offense and he’s a minor…”

“That kid has done everything—whether it made sense or not.”

“Ah… such is life.”

……

Wu Xiaomi left the consultation room and headed to the hospital ward.

The girl lay unconscious, her life hanging on by machines.

He thought he had no more tears left to cry.

But the thought that today would be the final farewell…

His eyes stung.

“It’s been… What, ten years since we started wandering?”

He had never known what their parents looked like. 

He grew up in an orphanage, and once funding dried up, he and Bai Xiaozhi ended up on the streets together.

Humans are social creatures. 

The need for familial love demands something to fill the void.

So he became Xiaozhi’s big brother.

Life had been hard, yes— but he had thought that if they just kept going, growing stronger, things would eventually work out.

Until Xiaozhi collapsed.

She just… fell.

No one knew why. 

The hospital couldn’t help. 

No one could.

With nowhere left to turn, he foolishly chased after the supernatural, hoping for some otherworldly salvation.

But nothing was answered.

“God, demon, I don’t care. If you can save Xiaozhi,” Wu Xiaomi whispered through clenched teeth at her bedside, “I’ll pay any price!”

But…

This was Earth. No gods. No demons.

At least, none he had ever seen.

Maybe stories were just stories, after all.

[Demons have no need for sniveling cowards.]

“Oh yeah? Easy for you to say. Try dying with your whole family wiped from the census,” Wu Xiaomi snapped back at the sarcastic voice.

He had no idea where it came from. Probably some rude patient in the ward.

Hospitals saw all kinds.

[Funny, my census record only has me on it. But if you want, I can add your name too— Wu Xiaomi, right?]

They knew his name?

Not a fellow patient, then. 

Maybe a nurse or doctor? 

But even they wouldn’t be this twisted…

Wu Xiaomi looked up.

Cold sweat broke down his back.

There was no one else in the room.

Just him and Bai Xiaozhi.

Outside the window, the sky had turned blood red. 

The newly risen moon looked like it had just been fished out of some vile fluid, dripping with blood.

“Who… are you?” Wu Xiaomi tried to stay calm.

But he felt no fear.

Only excitement.

If this wasn’t insanity, then this… this was exactly what he had been desperately seeking.

[Me? Heh, I’m the demon you’ve been praying for.]

The ivy vines on the hospital wall suddenly surged with wild growth, prying open the window and slithering into the ward toward him.

They twisted and tangled, forming the silhouette of a woman.

Even just an outline, she was irresistibly seductive —an ethereal beauty that made his throat dry.

She moved with elegance, a vine-like finger stretching toward him.

Wu Xiaomi instinctively shut his eyes, but a vine lifted his chin.

Then his neck was coiled.

Then his whole body.

He clenched his teeth, trembling slightly as the vines wrapped tighter, paralyzing his limbs.

His instincts screamed, but he didn’t resist.

“You’re so obedient,” she said, leaning in with a tender smile, studying his face. “Let’s make a deal.”

“If you can heal Bai Xiaozhi, name your price. If it involves hurting others… we’ll discuss it.”

“Tsk~ Such enviable love.”

“What’s there to envy? Are you the sin of Envy or something? One of the Seven Deadly Sins?” Wu Xiaomi chuckled.

“No. I’m Lust.” 

She said it perfectly seriously.

“….”

Wu Xiaomi stopped laughing.

“I’ll heal the girl,” the vine-woman said. 

“In exchange, you’ll become my executor.”

“Executor? What’s that supposed to mean?”

“There’s no time for questions,” she replied, vines tightening. 

Her face was inches from his, gazing into his eyes. “Yes or no. Choose.”

“…I accept.”

There was no other option.

“Excellent.”

She smiled slyly.

With a flick of her fingertip, she tore open a door in the air. 

On the other side was a garden blooming with intoxicating fragrance— an ancient courtyard of some sort.

Vines dragged Wu Xiaomi toward the gate.

“Then it’s time to say goodbye to your old self.”

Wait… say goodbye?

Why?

A bad feeling crept in.

Before he could ask, a flower-stamen-like vine pressed against his lips, flooding his mouth with a sweet, paralyzing numbness.

Leaves covered his eyes.

His body sank into something soft.

Drowsiness took over.

His consciousness faded.

……

Late autumn.

The park bench was cold.

Wu Xiaomi awoke shivering, hugging her knees tight, curled into a tiny ball like a frozen shrimp.

“She’s awake!”

“Start filming!”

So noisy… What the hell?

Pouting, she buried her face deeper between her knees to block the flashing lights.

Long hair spread across the bench beneath her cheeks like a blooming lotus.

“She’s so… so cute!”

“She’s like a second Long Qingsnow— no, even better!”

“My life is complete!”

What the hell are they yelling about?

Wu Xiaomi sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes.

Her vision slowly cleared.

“…?”

Mouth agape, she stared at the crowd like a startled duckling, mind blank.

So many people.

They were filming something.

Me?

Why are they filming me? 

I don’t—

Wait. When did my hair get so long?

Silky white strands with soft pink at the tips. 

Natural. Not a hint of dye.

Then there were the delicate, pale hands. 

The slender, fragile arms with zero muscle tone…

“…!”

Something’s wrong.

Wu Xiaomi stood up.

The cold air brushing beneath her skirt gave her an immediate sense of unease—

Her Xiaomi was gone.

So this is the price of the deal, huh?

She had no idea how Xiaozhi was doing.

“Ugh—”

Still unaccustomed to this fragile body, she stumbled with every step, nearly falling.

“E-excuse me… please move…”

Her voice was gentle and airy, like the perfect ASMR—whispered pillow talk from a lover in bed.

The crowd instinctively made their way. 

By the time they realized what happened, she had already slipped past them.

“Tch—”

Wu Xiaomi hugged her shoulders.

Her clothes had turned into a schoolgirl’s white blouse and a short skirt— not warm at all. 

Her pale legs trembled from the cold.

But her mind was elsewhere.

The hospital was right beside the park.

She stumbled inside, rushing to the ward.

A crowd of doctors surrounded Bai Xiaozhi’s bed, talking excitedly.

“It’s a miracle! From what we can tell, all her vital signs are back to normal. Every failed organ is functioning again, even the complications are gone. It’s unexplainable!”

“The gods must’ve answered her,” someone muttered.

The chief physician shot a glare. 

“You’re a doctor, not a preacher.”

“I know, I just remembered her brother,” the assistant scratched his head sheepishly. 

“Didn’t he do everything for her? Even joined a cult…”

“He got arrested?” the girl on the bed frowned, trying to sit up. 

“That idiot… What happened to him?”

“Don’t worry, he’s fine,” the nurse quickly reassured her. 

“He did all kinds of foolish things for you. Prayed at temples, did rituals by your bedside three times a day…”

“Yeah… that sounds like him.”

 The girl gave a pained smile.

“Eventually, when the gods didn’t help, he turned to demons. Joined a cult, even. But the authorities raided the place. He’s back on track now.”

Back on track, my ass, the girl thought.

“He should be coming to see you soon,” the nurse smiled.

The doctors resumed discussing her miraculous recovery.

But Bai Xiaozhi heard none of it.

Her thoughts wandered, imagining everything Wu Xiaomi had gone through.

“…U-um…”

A timid voice came from the door.

Everyone turned to look.

A beautiful girl stood there.

Stunning.

[Translator’s Note: Wu Xiaomi is a gender reversed character]