“Don’t be impulsive, this is just a misunderstanding. I didn’t hurt this kitten—I just happened to be passing by.” Emily Bennett raised the little wildcat in her hands, seizing the chance to try to explain.

But the cat demon, its eyes red with rage, couldn’t hear a word she said. It attacked furiously with its claws, and this fragile human could easily lose her life with just a single swipe.

No matter how angrily it shifted its angle of attack, that golden round shield always appeared precisely in front of it, flawlessly blocking every blow.

The great demon’s oppressive aura and ferocious assault whipped up clouds of dust, shaking the earth and sending sand and stones flying. Amidst the darkness, only that seemingly fragile golden rune shone with a steady light, unwaveringly shielding Emily Bennett.

Emily Bennett forced herself to stay calm. She had come out to play and brought nothing with her, so she could only bite her finger, focus her mind, and draw in the air a Five Thunder Talisman to summon heavenly lightning.

The talisman technique passed down by Ethan Young was different from the world’s usual complex rituals for making talismans. It emphasized the natural Dao: a single spark of inspiration was enough. It seemed much simpler, but was actually quite capricious. That so-called spark of insight was extremely hard to grasp. Even after much practice, Emily Bennett still couldn’t quite get the hang of it—out of every dozen or so talismans, less than one would actually work.

Her master Ethan Young didn’t really mind, and would say every day: “Xiang’er, you’re amazing, that’s good enough. Go play, go play.”

Now, with her life hanging by a thread, Emily Bennett dared not be careless. She focused her energy and completed the talisman in one stroke.

A red rune faintly appeared in the air.

Success!

Emily Bennett barely had time to rejoice before she saw a few thunderclouds drift lazily across the sky, and a thin bolt of lightning struck down, hitting the mountain-sized cat demon. It had no effect at all—if anything, it only made the demon even angrier.

Stomping her foot in frustration, Emily Bennett could only form a sword gesture and try again.

Just then, a small blue fish suddenly appeared before her eyes, swimming through the air.

The little fish wagged its tail and quickly circled in the air. Emily Bennett rubbed her eyes, and it split into two—one red, one black.

The two fish chased each other head to tail, circling again and gradually growing larger, forming a giant double-fish yin-yang symbol.

Suddenly, everything around her fell silent, as if a huge transparent dome had descended. The wind and sand stopped, the earth no longer shook, and the scattered grass blades in the air drifted down slowly.

A familiar figure appeared before Emily Bennett. With a light wave of his finger, the cat demon outside the shield tumbled far away, flattening a swath of sturdy trees along the way.

A cry echoed between heaven and earth, like a baby’s wail. The silhouette of the xiqu leapt from underground, its hind hooves pawing the earth as its black body instantly grew enormous. With a pair of sharp long horns, it pinned the just-risen cat demon to the ground.

Ethan Young conjured four transparent water pillars in midair, restraining the cat demon’s movements. He picked up the trembling kitten from Emily Bennett’s hands and tossed it far away.

“Take it back. Don’t show up again, or I’ll seal you for a hundred years.”

The ferocious beast arched its back and growled low. In the end, it gave up on attacking, picked up its child, and with a few leaps, disappeared into the mountains.

Emily Bennett’s terrified heart instantly calmed, her limbs went limp, and she plopped down on the ground.

Ethan Young turned to her, smiling as he patted her head. “Ah, Xiang’er can already write talismans in the air. Looks like you’ll be ready to graduate soon.”

Emily Bennett gave a silly, nervous laugh. At that moment, she felt her master’s talk of graduation was just a joke.

That beast, which had nearly taken her life and seemed as unmovable as a mountain, had been dealt with by her master with a mere wave of his hand. She was still far behind him—how could she possibly graduate?

With her master around, it seemed her carefree childhood could go on forever: learning spells at her leisure, playing with friends or little spirits, time flowing by like a gentle stream, quietly slipping away.

When the leaves of the parasol tree in the courtyard turned yellow again, her shimu’s illness seemed to worsen. She stopped teaching Emily Bennett, lying on the dim bed, barely able to get up.

When Emily Bennett went in to see her, she found her face pale and her eyes dull. If not for the faint breath she occasionally exhaled, she would have seemed already dead.

During this time, her master Ethan Young no longer left the house, spending most of his time sitting by the bed, holding that pale, weak hand, silently watching his wife.

Since they had met, her master had always been easygoing and carefree, even with a childlike innocence rare in adults. This was the first time Emily Bennett had seen him look so quietly sorrowful.

On a particularly fine day, Emily Bennett stood under the parasol tree and couldn’t help but ask the demon lounging lazily on a branch.

“Clifford, do you know what illness shimu has?”

A mocking laugh came from the treetop, and a drifting white feather floated down. “That’s no illness—her lifespan is simply at its end, and there’s nothing left to continue.”