[Fan Yumei POV]
——
We stepped into the market side by side—two students, a sky whale trailing overhead, and an entire campus market city of flavors waiting to be picked apart.
I kept a sharp eye on my kiddos—Maxius flitting overhead like a proud sentry, Lufei already sniffing at flower-shaped jelly buns, Jin trailing behind quietly with his panda beast waddling beside him like a marshmallow on legs.
Watching them jostle, wander, and devour sample bites without a care… it hit me harder than expected.
I used to do this—after long deployments, I'd head straight to the orphanage. No rest, no paperwork first. Just scoop up whatever kids were around and take them out for snacks and useless little trinkets. Candy rings, wind-up turtles, singing beetles—anything to make them laugh.
I missed that.
Missed their sticky hands clinging to mine, missed pretending I didn't see them pocket extra sweets, missed dragging a whole trail of giggling chaos through every street market I could find.
Today felt like that again. Light and loud. Warm and crooked. My ribs still hurt, but something inside me was quietly healing.
I bought whatever caught their eye—sweet buns, skewers, iced fruit tea, and even that mystery fried stick Maxius tried to steal mid-air. Worth it. Worth all of it. For them? Always worth it.
⸻
[Third POV]
——-
The city was a world apart.
Fan Yumei walked beside Jin Minhe through the bustling market known as Snack Road, her eyes tracing the polished, sleek buildings and vibrant holographic signs. The area buzzed with students, vendors, and flickering lights from floating magic lanterns and high-tech monitors. Food stalls lined the road in both directions, some run by cultivators with enchanted tools, others operated with futuristic tech that wouldn't look out of place in a sci-fi movie. Drones hovered lazily overhead while voice-activated stoves shouted daily specials in cheerful tones.
Cities were in the future. Towns and villages? Stuck in the past. And now she could see why it was so expensive to live in a place like this.
From the host's memories, the original girl had never gotten to explore the city or even much of the school campus. She'd spent most of her time being bullied and beat up by other kids who had already awakened—punched, kicked, sometimes even hit by a stray spell. She wasn't weak in mind, not even a coward, but she still lost every time. They never went too far, but the bruises and burns still hurt. Afterward, she'd always drag herself to the infirmary, where the school healer would patch her up and whisper with soft encouragement: "You'll awaken soon… and show them what you're really made of."
Fan Yumei swallowed, remembering the host's anger, her stubbornness. She felt it all layered beneath her skin now.
This world was cruel. Life and death weren't distant tragedies—they were daily realities. Beasts didn't care if you were a child or not. Once you awakened, no one treated you like a kid anymore. The weak and coddled died first. That's why most families started training their children at three—teaching them how to punch, block, or at least hold a weapon. To survive wasn't optional. Survival wasn't just encouraged. It was required.
Jin Minhe, walking quietly beside her with his hands tucked into his slightly oversized uniform, was a perfect example. He looked expressionless again, but every few steps, his eyes would drift longingly toward the stalls. When they passed a particularly fragrant stall roasting thick skewers of marinated meat, he paused—fingers brushing his empty pockets before quietly stepping back in line with her, as if nothing had happened.
She watched all of it.
And her heart ached.
In her last life, she used to hate walking through markets. As an orphan, she never had money. The smells, the colors, the excited people chewing happily—it all made her stomach knot with hunger. She used to sit behind a certain pork bun stall and pretend to chew, just to see if her brain could guess what the food would've tasted like.
She never forgot that kind of pitiful.
So she bought everything her kiddos stared at.
That was what they were to her now: Jin Minhe, Lufei, Maxius, and the Glutton Panda.
Her kiddos.
If Jin Minhe's eyes lingered, she paid. Meat skewers. Pan-fried dumplings. A small bag of spicy dried tofu strips. A cream bun shaped like a rabbit. He never asked, but he always held the snack carefully in both hands, almost reverently. The Glutton Panda blinked up at her each time like a fuzzy, grateful loaf.
She didn't mind. Watching them eat and walk around happily reminded her of something she hadn't thought about in a long time: those rare days in her last life when she'd return from long missions and visit the orphanage where she grew up. She'd take the kids out to the street stalls near the capital—buying them candied hawthorn, cheap wind chimes, and little trinkets they'd never forget. A single coin could buy a memory.
It had been exhausting, but she loved every minute of it.
She was down to 17,180 Federation coins after purchasing their large bowls of spicy beef noodles—each with four extra meat slices—which had cost them 20 coins total. The stall owner had his meat on full display, dripping juices and practically singing with flavor. Jin Minhe had been staring at the roasting rack since they'd gotten in line.
As the aroma intensified, Jin Minhe quietly opened his beast pouch. A familiar thump and soft grunt followed as the Glutton Panda blinked up at her, nose twitching eagerly.
The panda sniffed the air and blinked sleepily. The moment the noodles came out, it perked up, tongue lolling out in greedy delight. Lufei and Maxius, having been let out beside them earlier, were also circling nearby. Maxius soared low overhead, one invisible wing flickering briefly as he zipped in a lazy arc. Lufei pranced between tables, horn shimmering faintly with qi energy as she guarded the snacks already purchased.
Fan Yumei scanned the QR code using her Oni9X phone, and then settled down at an open table nearby in a quiet, happy silence.
Even though her body was seven, her soul and mind were not.
She knew how this world worked.
Once you awakened, you were responsible for your own growth. Age didn't matter when death could arrive on four claws and a roar. Children here grew up fast. Cultivation aged you from the inside out. Qi energy reshaped you whether you were ready or not.
This world didn't give you time to be soft.
Still, she reminded herself in that silence to call and thank her parents again for getting her the dome home on the outskirts. It might've been a little broken, but now she saw what living in the city cost. They'd done what they could—and that meant something.
As they ate, the broth's heat burned deliciously down her throat, and the beef—rich, oily, and slightly charred on the edges—tore apart with each bite. Jin Minhe didn't say much, but the way he held his chopsticks like a sacred relic said plenty.
After finishing their noodles, they continued walking along Snack Road, checking out the rest of the market to see what else they might bring back for later. The stalls here weren't just food—they sold accessories, small spell scrolls, beast treats, and even qi-infused candy.
She smiled faintly at Jin Minhe as he slowly munched on a roasted honey-chili skewer, walking beside her like a little duckling, his Glutton Panda waddling beside him with lazy determination. Honestly, he was a good kid—quiet, well-behaved, and very easy to bribe with food. But that wasn't a dealbreaker. Foodies were honest. You always knew what they wanted.
After grabbing a few more things—mostly beast treats for Maxius, Lufei, and the Glutton Panda—her total dropped to 16,765 Federation coins. It was worth it. But I need to register at the guild to start accepting missions.
She watched them as they trotted and flapped and waddled around her, cheeks full and paws busy.
Her kiddos.
They were full and happy, and that filled her chest with something warm and steady.
⸻
They made their way back to Mystic, who rumbled a soft greeting when she spotted them from her resting spot at the campus air dock. Her golden lightning flickered playfully in the background, flashing in little arcs across the base of the clouds she rested on. Her two elegant side fins glided through the air like double wings, lifting with each gentle breeze.
When they reached her, Mystic lowered a soft staircase of misty steps for them to climb. Lufei hopped on first, followed by the Glutton Panda (who needed a push from Jin Minhe), Maxius swooping up high and perching beside Mystic's dorsal cloud line.
Mystic lifted them into the air on a gentle swirl of clouds like an elevator.
Jin Minhe giggled. A real, boyish giggle. He looked his age for once. Not like a little old man.
Fan Yumei smiled at the sound, then looked away.
She climbed up beside him and took her seat on Mystic's back, resting a hand on the warm cloud-flesh beneath her. As they lifted into the sky, she began tracing the faint golden qi symbols along Mystic's spine—symbols that pulsed gently like breathing starlight under her fingers.
"Hey," she said, glancing at Jin Minhe. "I just realized… I don't actually know where your next class is. I'm sure we don't even have the same schedule?"
Jin Minhe shook his head slightly. "I have to go to the Healers Department. Sector B, Building 8. West side of campus."
"Alright. We'll drop you off first," Fan Yumei said, shifting direction in her mind as Mystic adjusted course midair. "I've got Bonding and Understanding the Soul: A Soul Function Course next anyway. Not your area."
He nodded silently.
As Mystic lowered altitude and approached the west campus, Yumei glanced over again. "You still coming to hot pot after school?"
Jin Minhe nodded. "I live in the dormitories. I'll come, but I have to be back before check-in."
"Got it. No problem. I don't live far. I'll only borrow you for a few hours—just some light labor… and maybe a little beast sparring."
He blinked.
"Nothing serious," she added with a faint smirk. "Lufei's got support-type powers and can heal. I can heal too. You're not getting injured. This is strictly beginner stuff. Combat light. Snack heavy."
Jin Minhe tilted his head. "…More snacks?"
Fan Yumei gave a mock sigh. "Fine. I'll give you more snacks to take home too. You can even feed the Glutton Panda."
He nodded, satisfied. "Deal."
Then, after a small pause, he reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out a beat-up old phone—screen chipped at the corner, case peeling at the edges. Without saying anything, he tapped a few times, then held it out toward her.
Fan Yumei raised a brow, amused. "You wanna exchange contacts?"
He nodded silently.
She pulled out her Oni9X, bumped it against his, and waited for the soft chime. A second later, a friend request popped up with the plain name: Jin Minhe and a profile icon of a sleeping Glutton Panda. She smirked and hit accept.
"Alright, Minhe. You're in," she said. "Now you can't run from my snack bribes even if you try."
He blinked once, pocketed the phone, and gave a small, almost invisible smile.
Mystic dipped slightly and released another cloud staircase. Jin Minhe stepped off, his Glutton Panda thumping after him, and turned to give a small wave before heading toward Building 8.
Fan Yumei watched him go, then exhaled and leaned back on Mystic's spine. "Alright, girl. Time for class."
Mystic rumbled in agreement and took off again, her golden lightning trailing behind in playful arcs.
They still had a few minutes left.