Li Fei used tactful wording to lay out the Witches' Coven's current situation:
Infamous. The whole world its enemy. Dies the moment it's exposed to daylight…
Qiao'er said nothing. Her clear eyes stayed fixed on Li Fei.
An immortal sect? A demonic cult, more like!
"That's the general picture."
Li Fei's tone was pleasant and kind. "You still have the right to choose. If you'd rather not, Sister Genaya can help you forget all of this, and I'll arrange another organization for you. The two great academies, say, or a post at City Hall. You'd have to start as a lowly clerk, but I can put in a word and fight for a spot in the 'Enforcement Squad Talent Pool Training Program.' No need to worry about it interfering with your cultivation, and once you've learned the workflow, promotions and raises are only a matter of time…"
Qiao'er hesitated.
What Li Fei needed was an "assistant." Even if Qiao'er joined City Hall, she'd be perfectly capable of the work. So the decision in front of her now was about her own road ahead.
Thanks to two days of warm help from the sprite ladies, plus a few popular-science books, Qiao'er already had a rough grasp of Loxibrook. Add the stack of tax receipts at the Sparkfire Charity Organization, every one already stamped with City Hall's official magic seal but with the amounts and names left blank, and the scrap military ordnance so fresh it was still hot to the touch… Qiao'er understood perfectly well how bright a future awaited her if she joined City Hall on Li Fei's recommendation.
"Forget it, then."
Seeing Qiao'er stay silent, Li Fei sighed and sank into self-pity. "Come to think of it, it's not so bad having only one witch in the house. At least if my identity gets exposed, it won't drag anyone else down with me…"
Amid all that tea-laced talk, Qiao'er's eyelids fluttered. It suddenly dawned on her that none of Li Fei's housemates seemed to be witches…
The thought made the girl steal a glance at Eva.
The little sprite was circling the Tangerine Lake, gazing around with curiosity. She even hooked a bit of lake water on her fingertip, drew it out into a long glistening thread, and fed it between her lips, eyes closed as she savored it.
The mire in Qiao'er's heart began to stir.
If I agree, then apart from that hopelessly naive little thing, the one who already has a wife and daughter and calls Li Fei "Mother," the one without a shred of "competitiveness," I'd be the only witch under the same roof as Li Fei…
No. What am I thinking?
I'm only her assistant…
If I become a witch and slip up, would it bring trouble on Miss Wang? After all, she comes from the same place I do…
As her thoughts churned, Wang Yutong's shadow inexplicably surfaced in Qiao'er's mind, and the light in her eyes flickered.
Even when an old photograph that has hung on a wall for many years is torn down, the wall still keeps the traces of the glue.
That's a nuisance for a painter who wants to leave her own work there.
Fortunately, a skilled painter prepares her wall-cleaning tools in advance.
Seeing hesitation and confusion rise in Qiao'er's eyes, the corner of Li Fei's mouth curled. She fished a toasty-warm phone out of her collar, unlocked the locked folder titled Qiao'er Reading, and played a clip.
It was a video Li Fei had recorded with her own hands. Chapter 167—ah, no, the night before they met the Thousand-Year Tree Demon on the Demon-Sealing Continent.
Sasha and Eva opening a door to a new world for Miss Wang.
Eva had a bit of a sadistic streak and loved teasing people, so the voice coming from the phone, Miss Wang's voice, was trembling, hoarse, and shattered to pieces.
Boom!
In an instant the mire swallowed Qiao'er's heart whole, and bitterness crept up her throat to the tip of her tongue.
She had yearned for a fair-faced youth and endured everything meekly, and all she got in return was cold stares and harsh scolding, day after day, year after year, and even Betrayal.
But that didn't matter.
For a maidservant whose family had been destroyed and who didn't even dare to remember her hatred, a white moonlight she could see but never touch was the reason she kept living.
Humble love was never meant to beg for anything in return.
But if it were Li Fei, then fine, because Li Fei was the most dazzling star, one that even the bright moon willingly dimmed its glow for.
But why could a sprite she'd known for only a few days…
Why, why? Why!
Weren't you lofty? Weren't you too proud to look down at anyone? Why are you letting some passing-stranger pipsqueak ride you like a horse, looking that pitiful?
Where did your pride go!
In a silent, furious howl, memories flashed through Qiao'er's mind like film played in reverse.
The afternoon she first met Miss Wang, sunlight bright…
No, further back than that.
The Court Music Bureau.
Blood, shocking to look at. Her mother's last words. A jolting, swaying carriage. And then a branch of the Court Music Bureau in Luyuan County.
Not long after she arrived, Qiao'er acquired a little tail, a girl her own age called Wenwen.
Wenwen was simple, not precocious like Qiao'er. She was porcelain-doll pretty and loved to laugh. She laughed while eating, laughed while singing, laughed even when the matron hit her.
She was always trailing at Qiao'er's heels, too. Qiao'er hardly paid her any mind, but Wenwen's laughter eased the nightmares that had followed the destruction of Qiao'er's family.
Then came the day the matron summoned all the little girls to test their singing and dancing, her face wearing a rare, kindly look:
"Today I'll choose the one who performs best and send her to Lin'an, to the Drunken Spring Tower."
"So show me what you can do. Those who sing well and dance well will earn the right to walk through the doors of the Drunken Spring Tower, with riches and honor ever after, dressed in gold and silver. Those who do badly will just be sold off cheap as servants, to be beaten and cursed and made to carry chamber pots."
The little girls all believed it, except Qiao'er.
Because she herself had been sent here from Lin'an, and her father had more than once sighed that the women of the pleasure houses in the Drunken Spring Tower were all poor, ill-fated souls.
Compared to the matron, Qiao'er naturally preferred to believe her father.
"Qiaoqiao, let's go to the Drunken Spring Tower together, okay? Together?"
Wenwen's bright, wide eyes were still vivid in Qiao'er's memory, but back then she had answered with silence.
Because Qiao'er already understood what pretty meant, and among that batch of girls, Wenwen and she were the prettiest.
So after Qiao'er hid her talents, those people picked out Wenwen at a glance.
That laughing little tail was sent off to the Drunken Spring Tower to sell her smiles.
After that, Qiao'er went back to nightmares, night after night, until she met Wang Yutong chasing a butterfly. The Miss Wang of that first meeting was guileless and carefree, and her smile really did resemble Wenwen's a little.
The memory cut off abruptly. The mire coating her heart hardened for a moment, then a column of mud suddenly rose up and became the figure of a graceful woman.
Below the waist she was still pitch-black mire, but above it she was snow-white and bewitching. She laughed until she shook all over, her swaying hair like flying tentacles that pierced into Qiao'er's flesh.
And that lovely, alluring face was unmistakably identical to Li Fei's.
The peerlessly beautiful mud figure parted her crimson lips, and a hot, damp whisper echoed in Qiao'er's chest:
"Live for yourself, Qiao'er. All you have to do is…"
"…make a choice that's true to yourself."
Li Fei's lips slowly drew away from Qiao'er's ear.
"I…"
In a slightly dry voice, Qiao'er gazed at the smiling Miss Witch, her deepening eyes growing more and more like Li Fei's own:
"I want it all."
"I want to join the witches, and the Magic Academy, and City Hall, and the Enforcement Squad too."
Huh? The video worked that well?
In Qiao'er's jet-black eyes, Li Fei saw a familiar greed and ambition, which caught her off guard.
And the frail, delicate girl actually took Li Fei's hand in both of hers, her tone calm yet firm:
"I'll work twice as hard, the way you did at the Demon Suppression Bureau."
"I'll repay you, the way you repaid Sister Su Wen."
Hearing Qiao'er's words, the curve of Li Fei's lips grew even brighter, and she said happily:
"This Palace permits it."
As she spoke, she turned her hand to clasp Qiao'er's, lifted it lightly to her lips, and left a kiss mark on the back of it.
That was the Ascension Ritual of the Sequence 9 Witch: receiving the Witch's Kiss.
Splash!
The girl had meant to add a few more encouraging words and a pledge of loyalty, but the sound of something hitting water made Li Fei turn her head, puzzled.
Wasn't something missing?
She thought for a moment, then her expression turned startled.
Where's my Eva?
Where's my great big Eva?
Lady Gnaea softly blew out a puff of smoke that drifted across the Tangerine Lake and lifted up a dizzy, dripping Eva.
She looked as if she'd fallen into a honey jar. Even her crystalline butterfly wings were coated in thick, translucent honey, stretching in strings.
"That water's a little intoxicating."
Genaya laughed. "You know how it is. Sisters who've made mistakes, or sisters who are just truly short on funds, also… and some of them are occasionally high-Sequence. So the lake water carries a high concentration of high-intensity witch factors. Nine times out of ten, an ordinary woman who takes one sip catches Witch Sickness. But Eva already carries your Witch Sickness, and she's about to become one of us anyway, so there's no real harm done."
"It's my fault for not disciplining her properly."
Li Fei covered her face.
"Disciplining? Every witch is one of a kind, and Eva's personality is especially distinctive. That's a necessary condition for becoming an outstanding witch."
Genaya shook her head lightly, then raised her chin. "I have high hopes for her."
Li Fei: …
A worry crept in. Eva wouldn't one day volunteer as a "generator girl" to earn Witch Points, would she?
Me, a proud Miss Top Courtesan, and I've raised such a rebellious daughter. What a misfortune for the family…
After Eva was woken up, Li Fei left the Folded Space with mixed feelings and her head hanging, and returned to the wine cellar.
Next, Lady Gnaea would personally preside over their [Witch's Blessing] ritual and help them transform into witches.
As soon as Miss Top Courtesan walked back into the hall, the fervent atmosphere enveloped her.
Since everyone there was family, the sisters were all very uninhibited. One sister with a passion for pain swept her long hair aside and tilted back a swan-like, snow-white neck to invite the vampire hostess to drink her fill. A water elemental witch and a fire elemental witch were cuddling in a self-destructive way, throwing off billows of steam. The smoky-eyed goth big sister Eleanor was tattooing a sister dressed as a nun, on her lower belly, in a pattern a little like the one on Li Fei's stomach. Someone was even playing tangerine roulette! The dealer was Lady Daisha the Serpent-woman, since certain abilities of a serpent tail are the same as a succubus's tail…
Some sisters in skimpy outfits had volunteered as waitresses, carrying trays back and forth across the hall. Their uniform was the Emperor's New Clothes paired with red garter stockings, and their high heels clicked crisply against the floor.
The bewitching hostesses were like layer upon layer of uncanny blossoms, each one vividly alive, flowing with blood and poison, blooming to the point of rot and refusing to stop until death, giving off a startling allure.
"A riot of flowers is beginning to dazzle the eye…"
Li Fei sighed softly, almost envying the Lady of Sinking for being buried in such a wonderful place.
"Fei-bao, your birthday's coming up. Why not put on a show?"
A sister egged her on, giggling.
"Totally agree."
"Yay!"
"Do one, do one!"
The sisters cheered one after another.
"Aww, I'm really not good at putting on shows, you know."
Li Fei smiled shyly.
…
The night was deep. Qin Zhihua gazed at the desolate moonlight outside her window, still waiting for that person to come home.
Suddenly she clutched her lower abdomen.
Her True Qi was stirring again, but Qin Zhihua didn't feel the usual sourness. Instead, a spontaneous surge of joy and delight welled up in her.
It had happened a few times before, only lately the frequency had picked up.
As if, somewhere in the unseen, another of their kind had been born.
Along with the True Qi, the demon in the mirror, the Forbidden flower, and the uncanny tattoos had also begun to stir.
Several women whose minds had been thrown into turmoil all saw, in a daze, a stretch of mire, and in it the woman who haunted their dreams, singing and dancing lightly.
I have to reach Sequence 4 as soon as possible.
When her thoughts settled, Qin Zhihua sighed to herself, feeling her steadily growing True Qi.
…
"Raaaaugh—"
Li Fei puffed out her cheeks, flicked her head, and spat out a roaring blaze.
The flames didn't dissipate into the air. They churned and gathered into one mass and became a bewitching woman with a head of red hair.
Just now, Miss Top Courtesan had performed "Three Gulps per Fire Elemental Witch."
The show was a hit and drew rave reviews.
Li Fei felt pretty good too, warm all over.
"Fei-bao's windpipe is pink, fragrant, and soft…"
Only the fire elemental witch didn't look too well. She staggered as she walked as if she'd had a very strong drink, and heart-shaped sparks ❤ kept bursting from her pupils.
"Um, Fei-bao."
The vampire hostess, glass in hand, sidled over.
Miss Isabella had clearly dressed up carefully tonight. The tips of her soft silver hair curled slightly, setting off her exquisite face, with its cold vampiric nobility, in an even daintier light. Having just fed, her lips looked especially rosy, and her white, sharp fangs flashed faintly, striking and alluring.
A close-fitting black sleeveless dress outlined a lovely, slender, model-tall figure that matched her moon-pale skin, with a small pendant resting between her two delicate collarbones. The slit hem clung to her soft, straight legs, and her dainty bare feet were in silver crystal sandals, the snowy tips of her toes glowing with a warm sheen, probably from clear nail polish, which gave her a girlish air of calculation.
It was hard to imagine that this woman before her, graceful as moonlight and pitiable as a little white flower, had once been a master of metal smelting in a leopard-print miniskirt…
"What's up?"
Li Fei affectionately hooked her arm and nuzzled her cheek against it.
"It's just… um… have you found a new assistant yet?"
Isabella stumbled over her words, her voice small and soft, bashfulness in her blood-red pupils and her eyes drifting.
Why are you asking that?
Li Fei thought it over briefly, and then it clicked.
Back when she'd first founded the Sparkfire Charity Organization and was badly short of people, she'd planned to poach from Lady Gnaea and persuade the vampire hostess to go straight. A hostess transformed overnight into a polished, respectable executive of a charity, a revered living bodhisattva. How fun would that be?
"Well, you wouldn't come help me."
Miss Top Courtesan, who had long since forgotten the matter, complained, then added sincerely, "But I've been keeping your spot open for you the whole time… Have you decided to come help me now?"
"No, no, I'd definitely mess it up, I was just asking… Ah, I'm off to drink some blood."
Isabella let out a breath. She was trying to look calm, but her tone had clearly turned cheerful.
After a couple of steps she suddenly turned back, planted a kiss on Miss Top Courtesan's cheek, and then ran off, heels and sandals clicking.
Can't go back, my dear sister, can never again be that gorgeous creature of Depravity I used to be, waaah. I'm crying to death.
All I can say is, first-class at serving tea to her customers, a top-tier "green tea" hostess, hehe.
Miss Top Courtesan watched the retreating back of her dear sister, now a completely different person, and sighed with false sincerity.
"Sister, I have to warn you about something."
Daisha "swam" up beside Li Fei, her long, graceful green serpent tail dragging a lengthy trail of water across the floor.
"Mm-hm?"
"Ever since your invitation arrived, Isabella has truly been doing nothing but drinking with customers."
"Uh… maybe she's just taking care of her health?"
Seeing Miss Top Courtesan still stubbornly in denial, Daisha sighed.
"There was once a girl who answered Isabella's feelings with Deception."
"And then?"
"That girl 'stayed' in a basement outside the city for several years, supplying Isabella with food for free. Her life was never in danger, but the chains were really, really heavy."
"…"
A bead of sweat rolled down.
Li Fei was silent for a moment, then couldn't help asking, "How do you know that?"
"Because Isabella asked me to lure that girl outside the city to pick up goods, under the pretext of selling Serpent-woman scales. And I agreed."
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