"May all your wishes come true!"
After a pause of several seconds, Mendi murmured these words. He didn't even notice the awkwardness in his own tone, let alone Abao.
"Thank you. With those words, I feel even more confident. I should go and train now. Lan'er possesses extraordinary strength; if I am not truly powerful, I am not worthy to stand by her side and walk alongside her. Mendi, let's go!"
"Mhm."
Mendi followed in Abao's footsteps, but a clear, beautiful face kept drifting through his mind, lingering for a long time. Being uninitiated in the ways of the heart, Mendi assumed he was just being overly concerned about that strange destiny of Yue Anlan’s. He decided he must get to the bottom of it, so he would stop dwelling on it.
He did not know that love often begins with the simple act of trying to understand someone.
The more some people interact, the harder it becomes to forget, until their entire world is filled with only that one person.
Gradually, Anlan realized that many changes were occurring in her life.
Abao would come to find her and play from time to time, occasionally accompanied by Mendi, who seemed to suffer from something akin to autism. At first, Anlan wasn't quite used to it. After all, apart from Abao showing up frequently, why would Mendi—who preferred studying the stars—also like running over to her place?
But slowly, she discovered that these two little boys were true geniuses. Not only could they fully absorb the training knowledge she imparted, but they could also draw inferences about other cases from one instance, and their cultivation progressed by leaps and bounds.
This provided Anlan with a new source of joy during her monotonous days of training. After all, who could refuse the company of two genius students? Whenever Anlan thought back to the clumsy, infuriating disciples and grand-disciples she had in her past life, and then looked at Abao and Mendi, her happiness was multiplied exponentially.
Because of this, Anlan became even more delighted to hang out and train with them.
Sometimes, two other children would join in: Yueye and Leng Xiao.
Besides Yueye, Leng Xiao also possessed astonishing talent, which pleased Anlan greatly. However, because Yueye had fallen out with her and couldn't stand seeing Anlan surrounded by everyone like the moon among stars, Yueye rarely let Leng Xiao participate.
Whenever Leng Xiao insisted on joining, Yueye would always manage to cast malicious glares at her from unseen corners. Anlan, however, was not the least bit intimidated. It was just malice; if Yueye dared to make a move against her, she would see. Did she really think her Half-Demon Ancestor was a pushover?
And so, a year passed by.
"Anlan."
"Hmm? You're here, Mendi? Why are you alone? Where is Brother Bao?"
Seeing Mendi arrive alone today and not seeing the Abao who seemed particularly attached to her, Anlan asked offhandedly.
Who would have thought that these words would instantly wipe the faint smile from Mendi's eyes.
He pressed his lips together slightly and reached up to touch the light veil over his eyes. This was a birthday gift Anlan had given him some time ago. Because he once mentioned he disliked others commenting on his eyes and couldn't bear the filth of the world, she had remembered and personally made this for him. She said it was woven from moonbeams, the softest and most precious material in existence, which would not obstruct his vision even while covering his eyes. He loved it so much that he wouldn't even take it off to sleep. This had made Abao extremely jealous, leading Anlan to promise him a most precious gift as well before he finally let it go.
Anlan was just that gentle and considerate. Even though she was younger than them, she could gently embrace everything about them—the good and the bad. This allowed even someone like him, who usually disliked interacting with others, to sincerely regard her as a close friend. But now, his only other close friend was ignoring him to ask about yet another friend, and he felt... unhappy?
"His Highness Abao went to see his mother. He said he would arrive shortly."
"Oh, I see. Then never mind that, let's start ourselves..."
"Sister Lan, wait for us! We're here too!"
As she spoke, Leng Xiao and Yueye arrived.
Anlan smiled, looked at the little one rushing over, and gently tapped her nose.
"Oh, great! You're just in time, Xiaoxiao. We were just getting started!"
"Really? Yay! Sister Lan, did you miss me these past few days?"
"Of course I did..."
Yueye watched as her sister, Anlan, was surrounded by everyone like a star, and felt that no matter how many times she saw it, it was an eyesore. *Why, Yue Anlan, why must you oppose me and steal everything that belongs to me? First Father, then Brother Bao, and now you’re even trying to take Leng Xiao away!*
*And that guy Mendi—no matter how I tried to please him before, he never gave me the time of day. How is it that now, seeing Anlan, he acts like a dog seeing a bone? What a pathetic wretch!*
Yueye felt her chest burning with jealousy, her long fingernails nearly digging into her palms. Yet, even as angry as she was, she dared not move against Anlan. If she were to fall out with Anlan now, these people would immediately stand on the side of that bitch, including the father who used to dote on her.
It was simply because that bitch Anlan had already reached the peak of Tier 4. That made her an incredibly rare genius among the Demon Race! In a race that valued strength above all else, even a fool knew not to go head-to-head with her.
*It doesn't matter. There will be plenty of time. Anlan, you will eventually fall into my hands!*
After comforting herself this way, Yueye put on a smiling face and moved closer. Anlan and Mendi looked at her in unison, then exchanged a glance, but neither said a word. One for the sake of his sister, and the other for the sake of Anlan's sister—in any case, they remained at peace.
Training time passed quickly, but even when everyone finished, Abao still hadn't appeared. This made Anlan wonder. *Did something happen to Abao? No, maybe he just hasn't seen his mother in a long time, so he stayed behind.* Thinking this, Anlan put the matter of Abao to the back of her mind.
But after an entire week passed without seeing him, Anlan finally realized something was wrong.
"What's going on? It's been a week. Did something actually happen to Abao? No, I have to go check his chambers later to see what the situation is."
And so, after training that day, once Anlan had sent off the last person, Mendi, she headed toward Abao's chambers in the moonlight. Upon entering, she found the entire hall pitch black, without even a single lamp lit, which made Anlan frown.
"What is going on? It's so dark, and no one lit the lamps? The maids in attendance are too careless."
Having said that, Anlan relied on her superior eyesight to enter the chamber, searching for a long time before she finally saw Abao sitting on the floor in a corner.
"Brother Bao?"
At her voice, Abao, who had been sitting with his head lowered, slowly looked up.
"Lan'er, you're here!"
"Mhm. You haven't appeared for a week, and I was worried about you. What happened?"
Anlan asked as she walked toward him.
"I..."
Just as she got close, his broad body suddenly leaned toward her, giving Anlan quite a fright. She prepared to push him away, but he stopped when he was only a finger's width away from her, leaving Anlan in a position where she didn't know whether to push or not.
As she hesitated, Abao spoke.