Endless heavy snow covered the entire world.
One could not see the end of the white expanse.
Flames burned in his eyes.
Countless human figures struggled in agony within the firelight.
Faintly he heard someone shouting at him, “Run!”
His feet felt as if they had been filled with lead and could not move even half a step.
Strange, misshapen monsters seemed to be roaring within the flames.
Ying An helplessly watched everything before him until a pair of sharp claws lunged out from the fire and tore his body apart.
Ying An abruptly woke from the nightmare.
He gasped for breath and looked around in panic.
Fortunately, it was still his room.
Everything was still the familiar things he knew.
“Did you have a nightmare?”
“Mm…” Ying An nodded, yet realized the voice speaking to him did not sound quite right.
He turned his head and saw Chu Jiuer sitting at the edge of the bed looking at him.
“Sister Jiuer, what are you doing here?”
“I’m taking you out to play. Didn’t we fail to go last time?” Chu Jiuer said as she picked up the clothes from his bedside. “Hurry, hurry, hurry. Sister can’t wait any longer.”
“Even if you can’t wait, first brush your teeth, wash your face, and eat breakfast.” .
Li Jue leaned against the doorway of the room, wearing an apron and still holding a spatula in her hand.
“Xiao An, Sister has requested a half-day leave for you today. Finish your business and return to school early.”
“Business? What business?”
“You’ll know in a moment.”
Ying An looked at Chu Jiuer in confusion.
She did not say anything more either.
Ying An could only get up first to wash up and eat, then go out together with Chu Jiuer and sit in the Koenigsegg she had parked at the door.
Watching their figures as they left together, Chu Jiuer holding Ying An’s hand, Li Jue unhappily furrowed her delicate brows.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
Just then a butterfly landed on the potted plant on the windowsill.
Li Jue turned and returned inside the house.
A streak of black ash fell into the soil of the potted plant.
***
“Sister Jiuer, you’re driving too fast!”
“Don’t worry. We’re not over the speed limit yet.”
The sound of wind echoed in his ears.
The recoil from the sports car’s high-speed rush pressed his body tightly against the seat back.
He did not even have time to clearly see the street scenery.
Every time a vehicle appeared ahead, Ying An felt they were about to crash into it, yet Chu Jiuer was always able to precisely control the Koenigsegg and adjust its position.
Li Jue would never drive this fast.
The ordinary car at home did not have such wild speed, nor a convertible top that allowed him to so immersively feel the fierce wind assaulting his body.
The so-called sensation of being pushed back had at this moment become the ultimate torment.
For the first time Ying An felt such deep gratitude toward the person who invented seat belts.
It seemed a demon’s human form truly could reflect its master’s personality.
Although Li Jue often teased him, her nature was still steady and calm.
Chu Jiuer was purely the type who loved wild fun.
The car finally drove to the suburbs, onto a mountain of not low elevation.
A wide mountain-winding highway had been built through the dense forest.
Near the summit, Chu Jiuer finally stopped the car.
Ying An gasped heavily in the seat, his heart racing madly.
“All right, Xiao An. We’re getting out.” Chu Jiuer opened the door and got out of the car.
Ying An unfastened his seat belt yet still sat in the seat. “Xiao An?”
“Sister Jiuer, I’m never riding in your car again.”
“Then next time Sister will drive slower. Xiao An will gradually get used to it.”
Ying An recovered for a while.
When he got out of the car his legs were still a little soft.
He followed Chu Jiuer to the edge of the cliff.
This position happened to overlook the entire city of Shenchuan.
At some point the girl had also taken out an oil-paper umbrella.
The umbrella surface was white, with many blue patterns crawling across it.
The craftsmanship looked extremely fine, like a collectible work of art.
“Sister Jiuer, what are we going to do?”
“You’ll know right away.”
Suddenly many streams of azure water began flowing through the air, continuously gathering toward Chu Jiuer’s body.
Before long they enveloped her inside a water sphere.
In the next second the water sphere burst open, and the clothes on her body transformed into a blue-and-white long robe with wide sleeves.
A trailing sash hung from her waist, elegant and immortal-like, resembling the grand attire worn by ancient imperial princesses.
She opened the umbrella in her hand and looked up at the clear azure sky.
All the demon power throughout her body gradually concentrated toward her upper body, transmitted into the umbrella, and finally spread outward from the umbrella surface, rushing straight toward the heavens.
The patterns on the umbrella surface emitted a glowing radiance.
A faint tracery of patterns appeared on Chu Jiuer’s face.
In an instant fierce winds rose from all directions, and countless thick dark clouds gradually covered the originally clear and bright sky.
“Sister… Jiuer?” Ying An was somewhat speechless from the scene before him.
Although he had previously seen Li Jue using demon power, this was still the first time he had witnessed Chu Jiuer releasing her demon power with full force.
Countless elemental streams surged madly through the air.
The surrounding temperature and humidity were slowly changing.
Chu Jiuer turned her head and smiled at Ying An. “It’ll be done in a moment. Don’t be afraid, Xiao An.”
Within the cloud layers overhead it seemed a massive silhouette swam past.
Countless dark clouds slowly moved toward the distant city.
The entire sky was covered by black clouds.
After a while the surging, boundless demon power on Chu Jiuer’s body gradually converged.
She closed the umbrella, feeling a wave of exhaustion throughout her body.
“How is it? Is Sister amazing?”
“So amazing. But… what is this for?”
“To make it rain.” Chu Jiuer patted Ying An’s head and led him back into the sports car. “Once it rains Xiao An won’t have to do military training. Sister did this for you.”
“Really?! Sister Jiuer is so good.”
The Koenigsegg once again raced wildly along the road.
This time Chu Jiuer controlled the speed so that Ying An would not be blown into a daze by the wind.
He gazed at the dark clouds that blotted out the sky, as if storing ten thousand tons of rainwater.
Everything that had just happened was far too transcendent of reality, and he still had not fully recovered.
“Sister Jiuer… is a demon’s power… originally this powerful?”
Ying An asked softly.
“Only a thousand-year great demon like Sister can do it. Moreover, that just now has already completely exhausted Sister’s demon power. If we encounter danger next, Xiao An will have to protect Sister, okay?”
“No problem.” Ying An shook his left hand.
On his wrist was a black-gold bracelet. “I have this that Sister gave me.”
Chu Jiuer turned her head and glanced at it, looking somewhat surprised. “She really is bold, daring to give you this thing.”
If a human’s flesh-and-blood body were struck by Zhuyan, no matter how many-stone the bow was drawn, death was certain.
Letting a teenage boy hold this thing was no different from giving him a light machine gun fully loaded with bullets.
By the time the sports car reached the city it had already begun to rain.
Chu Jiuer closed the convertible top.
Raindrops fell sparsely from the sky, and pedestrians on the street opened their umbrellas.
“Sister Jiuer, where are we going next? I only have half a day.”
“Wait a moment.” Chu Jiuer took out her phone and made a call.
“Hello, Principal Ren. About your student Ying An—change the leave return time to tomorrow morning and inform his homeroom teacher.”
“Understood, Director Chu.” The voice on the other end was very respectful.
“May I conveniently ask… this student, what is he to you?”
“Him…” Chu Jiuer looked at Ying An’s fair, tender face, the corner of her mouth curling into a mischievous smile. “He’s my boyfriend.”