"Tsk tsk~ Sis, look, look~"
"Who would've thought we both misjudged this."
"Ganyu-onee-san's so gentle and soft, and she's insanely introverted…"
"And yet on the very first day she's already getting along with Sensei this well?"
"Mhm. She really was hiding it."
"Seriously~"
At the entrance of the Seraph War Fortress inside the Cang Tian Small World, Yingda and Fanan each took a corner, quietly peeking at the two people on the balcony chatting happily. Their expressions were, inevitably, a little strange.
They had originally thought that between Ganyu and Shenhe, Ganyu would be the harder one to fit in. Who would've guessed that not only did Shenhe chat and laugh with them and blend into their little group at lightning speed—Ganyu was also getting along with Sensei in private this smoothly.
This scene…
really was hugely beyond expectations.
"Alright~"
Fanan's lips curved into a small smile.
"Let's not go disturb Sensei and Ganyu-onee-san."
"With Ganyu-onee-san's personality, if the two of us bump into them at a moment like this…"
"…later she'll probably be so embarrassed she won't be able to lift her head."
Even though she didn't know how Ganyu had gotten so immersed in talking with Sensei, based on Fanan's understanding of Ganyu… if the two of them showed up right now… tsk.
"Oh-ho~"
Hearing that, Yingda raised an eyebrow.
"Sis, by your logic…"
"the one 'hiding it' isn't Ganyu-onee-san—it's Sensei, right?"
Sensei taking the initiative to flirt with girls?
Yingda didn't buy it.
Before, it had always been them making the first move. Sensei was the one passively accepting it.
Could it be… like those novels say—Sensei was actually a high-end hunter disguised as prey?
"That's not what I said."
"If you wanna keep guessing, go ahead."
"Just watch out for house punishment."
Fanan shook her head decisively and turned around to leave. That line was not something she dared to touch.
What the truth was—everyone had their own answer.
But if those words reached Sensei's ears… a round of house punishment was absolutely unavoidable.
Huoliya, that hoofed woman, would definitely be delighted to see it happen.
"House punishment again…"
"Can't we switch to something else?"
Yingda puffed out her cheeks, but in the end she still chose to follow her sister's pace.
She'd behave. She wouldn't talk. She wouldn't guess anymore.
So be it.
Anyway, by now they were already in Sensei's "shape."
Who was the hunter and who was the prey—did that really matter?
They cared about Sensei, and Sensei cared about them.
The days ahead were long, long.
That was already enough.
"Hmph-hmph, Ganyu-onee-san's already been handled by Sensei."
"Looks like Shenhe-chan won't be far behind either."
"Sis, what do you think—will that little girl Mona fall in too?"
Ganyu and Shenhe were immortals, and it was Fanan who had helped connect the line—so that part was within expectations.
But Mona… that really was unexpected.
"Probably not."
Fanan thought for a moment, then shook her head.
"That kid has her own ideas. Her will is firm, and her mindset is extremely strong."
"If Sensei doesn't take the initiative, it'll be hard."
Mona was truly outstanding.
So young, and already accomplished.
Her mentality was far beyond ordinary people's.
Sensei had guided her, sure—but it wasn't some overwhelming grace that couldn't be repaid.
The odds were negligible.
Unless… she lived with them for a long time.
Feelings growing over time?
"Forget it. What's the point of thinking so much?"
"Even though that Huoliya is really annoying, what she said wasn't wrong."
"Our time is long, long."
Yingda shook off the extra thoughts in her head and put on a faint smile. She lifted her hand first and knocked on Shenhe's door.
"Shenhe-chan, are you asleep?"
"Yingda-onee-san?"
In front of the mirror, Shenhe decisively set down the book in her hand, rose, and gently opened the door.
"I'm not sleepy at the moment. Does Yingda-onee-san have something you wish to instruct me in?"
"No, no—what would I need you for?"
Yingda shook her head decisively, reached out to tug Shenhe's hand, and headed toward the side door.
"Come on. You probably haven't been to Sensei's Cang Tian Small World yet, right?"
"I'll take you for a stroll, how about it?"
A personal realm… the kind created by an adeptus technique?
Sensei's private world…
Shenhe was curious.
"Alright."
She nodded lightly. "Then I'll trouble you, Yingda-onee-san."
"I also want to see what kind of scenery a man my master praises so highly could create in his realm."
Training with the immortals for twenty years, aside from Rex Lapis, this was the first time Shenhe had seen anyone praised by her master to such a degree.
Even though she had already met him and was living here now, still…
"You're being too polite."
Yingda wore a mischievous smile and pulled Shenhe through the side door.
"Come, Shenhe."
"…Mm."
Shenhe followed Yingda into the side door.
Walking out of the Seraph War Fortress, they arrived at the platform on the lowest level. The world before their eyes shifted along with it.
Yingda raised her hand and pointed, introducing softly:
"Look—over there is the center of this world. It's called Divine Peak."
"Right now, in the Cang Tian Small World, only the area within about a thousand-li radius has been decorated. The rest is mostly barren land."
"…"
A thousand-li radius?
Shenhe froze on the spot.
And that was only one part?
She had visited immortals' pocket-realms before—more than one. The biggest of them was only about the size of three Liyue Harbors put together.
A realm spanning a thousand-li radius… she truly had never seen.
"Yingda-onee-san, how big is Sensei's realm?"
"And the stars outside… are they real too?"
Shenhe unconsciously lifted her gaze to the sky.
Above them, three bright moons shone at once. Around the moons, countless stars glittered.
"If I say they're real, would you believe me?"
Yingda narrowed her eyes and asked with a grin.
"I would."
Shenhe nodded heavily, her eyes full of sincere certainty.
"…"
Yingda pressed her lips together.
Alright. You guessed right.
"The Cang Tian Small World we're in—just as the name says—is a world that belongs to Sensei alone."
"And this is still only the 'outer-layer' of it."
"It's a real world."
"A world with sun, moon, and stars. With four seasons that turn."
"A real world…"
Shenhe thought for a moment, then silently nodded.
It was as if she accepted the setting with ease—without the slightest shock a normal person should've had.
"…"
Yingda fell silent.
When she first learned this, she'd been utterly shaken. She hadn't expected Shenhe to be so calm and composed.
That level of steadiness—Yingda couldn't match it.
In truth… Shenhe simply didn't have those concepts. She didn't understand, and she didn't care, so she wasn't shocked.
When she was little, her world consisted only of a small house, a patch of rapeseed flowers, and two people.
Later, she lost those.
But then she had a master, several senior disciples and elders, a senior sister who existed only in her master's stories, and an immortal abode-realm on Mt. Aozang.
As for what the world below the mountain—beyond the mountain—was really like…
No matter how beautiful it might be, it didn't belong to her.
So she didn't care much about it either.
(End of Chapter)
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