“Xiaoyan.”
“Are you serious about Miss Su?”
Step by step, I climbed the stairs leading up to the rooftop, the kind that looked like stars had fallen upon it.
The misty night sky above was filled with countless twinkling stars, blurred at the edges by the lingering fog.
Shangguan Xiyue had just finished her routine student council work.
As with so many evenings in both real life and the game world, she’d made it a habit to come find me for a chat.
The rooftop had been left with several scattered concrete blocks from its original construction.
I smoothed out my skirt and sat on one of the blocks, leaning back with my arms behind me and tilting my head toward the hazy night.
“No one can really say what the future holds.”
“If fate’s on our side…” I left the sentence unfinished.
“Ah?” Shangguan Xiyue blinked.
She had thought I was just messing around with some vague online fantasy—she hadn’t realized that I genuinely liked girls.
There was an indescribable look in her eyes, and then, suddenly, she plopped down beside me, her tone thick with menace as she lunged at me playfully.
“You know Su Liumeng and didn’t tell me earlier?”
I dodged her wicked claws with a smile.
Hearing this only made her want to give me a good beating. Gritting her teeth, she said, “So I was just part of some sick little roleplay between you two, huh?”
The more she thought about it, the more upset she got.
Earlier that day, she’d noticed I was in a bad mood, and she’d held back from asking too much.
I quickly explained that Su Liumeng and I had only just realized each other’s identities.
I definitely hadn’t treated her as some kind of prop in our relationship.
That seemed to pacify the storm brewing in Shangguan Xiyue’s heart.
“You slept in the dorm all afternoon?”
“Yeah, pretty much. I went out to get some snacks, then napped for about three hours.”
A cool breeze played through my hair, and I closed my eyes instinctively, savoring the brief moment of calm.
Shangguan Xiyue didn’t speak again.
It had been a long time since either of us felt this peaceful.
There was a reason why we had become such close “bros” online.
From how our personalities complemented each other, to how our interests aligned, and how easily we got along—we’d become the kind of friends who could say anything to each other.
*****
The next day.
Military training, which had been going on for almost a month, was still in full swing.
Because of my physical condition, I wasn’t allowed to participate, so I didn’t bother wandering around the track just to draw unnecessary attention.
Among the girls in training, most were already drenched in sweat.
Li Mei was probably one of the few who hadn’t bothered with sunscreen.
After just a day and a half under the blazing sun, her face had already tanned several shades darker.
Combined with her tiny, slender frame, she stood out from the crowd at a glance.
She had sharp eyes. From behind a building up ahead, she spotted me just as I was about to leave.
A flicker of envy passed through her gaze.
Holding my student ID, I walked for about ten minutes and finally stepped out of Beiqing University’s campus.
This area was packed with universities—most of them top-tier—so the streets were full of energetic college students.
Today, I was wearing a light aqua-colored dress and holding a sun umbrella.
No matter where I walked, I stood out in the crowd.
I had originally come out to look for a job.
But what I didn’t expect was to run into Su Liumeng in the tutoring recruitment area.
She was wearing a dress that matched the color of mine almost perfectly.
Even the fresh, innocent style was identical to mine.
Clearly, this encounter was no coincidence—it was planned.
“……”
Silence basically summed up my mood in that moment.
They say girls hate copycats more than anything.
While I’m not a full-blooded, born-and-bred girl, I still felt a subtle wave of speechlessness.
If Su Liumeng had heard my thoughts, she would’ve definitely gone ballistic and shouted back in protest.
Who’s copying who?
She’d just wanted to dress like her goddess—what’s so wrong with that?
She had been feeling quite cheerful.
But when she noticed me glancing at her dress, she paused slightly, then straightened up, hands on her hips, and asked proudly,
“Well? Don’t we look like a perfect match?”
“P-Probably…” I answered awkwardly, catching the gazes of people around us from the corner of my eye.
Quite a few passersby had started paying attention.
Two first-rate beauties standing side by side?
Wherever we were, it became a scenic attraction.
Who wouldn’t want to sneak a few appreciative glances?
Su Liumeng giggled and—her petite frame full of agility and sweetness—squeezed herself under my sun umbrella.
As if that wasn’t enough, she even tried to link arms with me.
Startled, I flinched.
Getting under my umbrella was one thing, but what’s with the arm-linking?
Su Liumeng stuck out her tongue.
“Oops, I forgot—I’m so used to hanging out with my girlfriends that I almost forgot…”
Her tone paused, then took on a mischievous lilt.
“Almost forgot—you’re my ‘gege’…”
That last word came slowly, deliberately, each syllable playfully drawn out—completely cheeky and cunning.
“Since you’re my ‘gege’, obviously you’re still not used to this kind of interaction, right?”
I instinctively glanced around to make sure no one had heard her, then gave her a sharp glare.
You… you really dare say anything, huh?
If someone had overheard, I’d be labeled as some cross-dressing weirdo in a flash.
I continued wandering the tutoring section, chatting casually with parents.
It was the first time I truly understood the downside of being attractive.
Originally, with my qualifications, I could’ve crushed the competition in the tutoring market.
But after seeing my face, many parents suddenly became hesitant.
They worried their sons wouldn’t be able to focus on their studies if they were being tutored by someone this pretty—and so, they declined, albeit politely.
“I’ll go get you some water.”
Suddenly, Su Liumeng raised her hand and wiped the sweat off my forehead while I was still in a daze.
Like a cheerful little lark, she didn’t even wait for my response before skipping off into the distance.
The summer heat, coupled with the fatigue from constant conversations, had already drained me both physically and mentally.
As I sat there, a thought crept into my mind:
Su Liumeng had already given me over half a million.
Did I really still need another job?
The answer, of course, was yes.
Depending on others always comes with an expiration date.
Only the money you earn yourself will never betray you.
I needed to think about my future.
Only when I became my own foundation could I have the confidence to face anyone.
Not long after, Su Liumeng walked out of the convenience store carrying two bottles of water—both warm, not chilled.
But before she could take a step, she caught sight of a figure lingering in the corner.
A cold smirk appeared on her face, and she strode straight over.
“Well, well, look who it is. Isn’t this the holy maiden of Mount Kunlun?”
The girl standing there wore plain clothes—light, almost threadbare—but her aura was ethereal, entirely unlike anyone else around.
It was obvious the two had bad blood.
As the old saying goes, enemies meet with burning eyes.
They’d barely exchanged one sentence before the air was thick with tension.
“I told you—the final trial of your fifth test had nothing to do with me. Why won’t you believe it?” Su Yi’s tone was calm as ever, her voice light and serene.
Su Liumeng clenched her fists, the butterfly-shaped mark on the inside of her thigh faintly aching once again.
“Heh. Can’t even own up to what you did, huh?”
“If you hadn’t pushed me into the Frozen Pool, would I be suffering from cold poison now?”
Su Yi’s expression shifted ever so slightly into something unreadable.
“Ever consider that maybe… someone else looks exactly like me?”
Su Liumeng didn’t believe a word of it. “Oh please, what are you going to say next? That you’re a twin? That you’ve got a sister who’s your carbon copy?”
Su Yi let out a soft sigh.
“That’s exactly it. She’s my twin—born of the same mother—but she’s a cursed child by nature… and she was born with eyes that see through all illusions…”
Meanwhile—
In the shadows of the recruitment area, a girl clad in black robes was staring directly at me, a strange glint flickering in her eyes.
Unlike normal people, she seemed born with double pupils.
Her gaze lingered right on my lower abdomen, and a twisted smile crept onto her lips.
“Found you at last… The one who recently crossed paths with my detestable sister… Born under rare destiny, with a body of pure yin…”
She licked her lips, her expression greedy, as though savoring something delicious.
“The flavor of your untouched yin essence… must be divine.”
“It’s so rare… A pregnant woman who hasn’t lost her virgin yin. The taste must be even richer than that of a typical yin-imbued body.”
She slowly pulled down the hood of her cloak, revealing a face nearly identical to Su Yi’s.
In an instant, her expression morphed into Su Yi’s exact likeness.
Then, step by step, she began walking in my direction.
Sensing someone’s gaze, the ghost fetus inside me suddenly frowned—and immediately concealed its presence, hiding itself like an ordinary human fetus.
Not like the last two times—this time, it wasn’t seen through.
It had become… stronger.