Unceasingly washed by the current, a fallen leaf continued drifting through her eighteen years of memories. Memories are a river that flows upstream, and the unconscious Alice was like that leaf, endlessly scoured and swept along through her eighteen years of recollection.
“Auntie, Auntie, I want to hear that fairy tale about the shadow again!”
“Oh, hasn’t little Alice already heard it ever so many times?”
Ailin tousled little Alice’s fluffy hair after her bath, gazing at the adorable girl, her voice brimming with affection.
“But, but, I just want to hear it one more time! Please?”
Being coaxed, little Alice shook Ailin’s arm with her tiny hands, flashing a sweet smile.
“I really can’t do anything with you.”
“A long, long time ago, there was a princess. She was virtuous and brilliant, and everyone adored her, just like little Alice.”
Ailin opened the storybook and began to read.
“I want to be a princess that everyone loves like that too!”
Little Alice’s eyes sparkled as she listened, her small hands patting the quilt.
Ailin smiled and continued, “But she had no friends—or rather, not a single close friend. She was too perfect, so perfect that she couldn’t fly kites, have water fights, or play with mud like other children, because that would shatter her flawless facade!”
“She kept suppressing her desires like that, enduring so much pain!”
“Until one day, an evil magician used his magic power to awaken the princess’s shadow.”
That pitch-black shadow looked exactly like the princess, but her personality was completely different. She fled the lofty imperial palace, yanked the magic teacher’s beard, and even dared to confess her feelings to her own childhood friend!”
Hearing this, little Alice’s face flushed crimson, and she shyly buried herself completely under the covers.
“This shadow is so bold! How wonderful! She can do the things she likes!”
The story continued.
The shadow princess grew more and more excited about everything around her. She became increasingly attached to this world, so she was no longer satisfied with sharing one identity with the princess.
“What everyone truly likes is me, not that stiff, posing fraud!”
“What’s so good about that girl who only pretends to be dignified? She’s so repressed inside, yet acts so noble—what, is she trying to run for Saintess?”
She began to burn with jealousy, envious that the princess could have everyone’s adoration.
She started to feel contempt, believing the so-called perfect princess was nothing but a lie. The princess had deceived everyone, while she alone was real.
The flames of jealousy had already ignited deep within her heart.
So in the end, under the dark magician’s influence, the shadow harmed the princess, wanting to completely replace her—not to gain anything, but to prove her own existence, to prove that even the friend the princess cherished most would choose her.
Seeing the little princess had quietly fallen asleep, Ailin carefully set down the storybook and gently tucked the covers around her.
The evening breeze outside the window ruffled the final page of the storybook, but the blurry words concealed the tale’s ending.
Black flames scorched the cracked earth, madly wringing out every last drop of moisture from the soil. In the distance, the clashing of ghost soldiers’ blades and the screams of civilians rang out without end.
Shadow Alice held a freshly plucked weed between her lips, stomping one foot on the ground as she gazed into the distance.
At last, she spotted a gleam of silver light appearing not far away in space.
“Ara ara, you’re finally here, my dear childhood friend. I’ve been waiting for you for so long!”
“Heh, watch closely, Alice. I’ll make you realize you’re nothing but your birth. I’ll make you witness with your own eyes your so-called only friend choosing me.”
She glanced at Alice, still deep in slumber beside her, and bit hard into the weed. The jealousy churning inside her surged like the deepest darkness.
Selina flapped her wings and landed steadily on this blazing land.
As she descended, she only felt a weight lift from her shoulders—Lilith and the White Fox were already nowhere to be seen.
Her companions’ disappearance made her even more anxious inside. She couldn’t bother with the unusual heat; time was pressing. She was in a hurry, truly in a hurry.
So her ice-blue eyes quickly scanned the surroundings, ignoring even the abnormal heat around her.
For every second she was late, Alice was in greater danger.
And that was exactly the situation Shadow Alice wanted. The more urgent things got, the harder it was for this not-so-bright big stupid dragon to think.
So she quickly snapped her fingers, commanding the ghost soldiers to further throw the whole scene into chaos.
Suddenly, the air exploded like a lit powder keg—civilians’ cries for help, monsters’ roars, the sound of nearby buildings burning—all of it blasted apart in a jumble, interrupting Selina’s thoughts.
At the city gate not far away, dozens of residents in tattered clothes fled for their lives through the rolling yellow sand.
Chasing behind them were ghost soldiers wielding long spears.
These soldiers, returned from the underworld, were like tireless wild dogs, their pursuit and biting growing faster and faster.
Seeing that the spear wreathed in black flames was about to pierce through the elderly man lagging at the back, she immediately lunged forward, kicking the pursuing ghost soldier and shielding the fleeing civilians.
She then nimbly sidestepped a black spear from behind, and her great tail, carrying ice-element runes, swept the enemies behind her clean away.
Finally, with a wave of her small hand, the ice swords condensing behind her shot through the ghost soldiers’ bodies in unison, piercing straight through their armor.
After cleanly disposing of the pursuers, the still-terrified old man stared at the silver dragon’s nimble figure. Ignoring the wounds on his body, he urgently grabbed Selina’s hand and pleaded:
“You’re a dragon? Whoever you are, please go save our princess!”
“She stayed behind alone to cover our retreat, holding off an entire squad of ghost soldiers!”
“Alice?!”
“Yes, it’s our Princess Alice! She’s in the city right now, in danger at any moment!”
The moment she heard Alice was in danger, the little silver dragon didn’t think twice. She spread her wings and flew swiftly into the now-empty city.
She didn’t consider whether the information might be false, nor whether this could be a trap set for her. She simply gripped her ice sword and continuously cut down ghost soldiers blocking her path, slicing them clean through the waist.
As she pressed forward, burning trees and shattered brick walls were cast further and further behind her.
At the city’s center, densely packed ghost soldiers huddled together like an airtight black wall. They stood in orderly formation, the flames on their bodies touching one another, burning higher and brighter.
“What’s the matter? Has our Princess Alice already run out of steam?”
At the center of the encirclement, an unusually tall ghost used its long spear to fling the exhausted girl into the air.
It rode a towering pale warhorse, its heavy armor ornate and exquisite, anything but ordinary.
Its forearms, perpetually wreathed in blazing fire, were as thick as an adult’s calf.
All the other soldiers stood respectfully at attention around it. Clearly, it was the leader of all the ghost soldiers.