Wisteria Trellis

Xiao Xiao finally breathed a genuine sigh of relief. Now that he knew Lin Zhenzhen's face wasn't beyond saving, things would be simple.

All he had to do was find Ban Zhen.

But "how do I make Ban Zhen cry?"

Ling Yao tossed out an answer as casually as if it were nothing. "Beat it up."

Xiao Xiao: ...

Suddenly, Xiao Xiao remembered something. He lowered his eyelids, hiding the hint of a "mischievous" smile in his eyes. His tone was casual, as if he were merely curious. "Could you beat it?"

Ling Yao flicked his beautiful long tail, his gaze haughty. "A little monster like that..."

The unspoken implication was obvious, and his contempt was plain as day.

Ling Yao glanced at Xiao Xiao from the corners of his eyes, seeming a little annoyed, as if Xiao Xiao's question had offended him.

Xiao Xiao took the slight without a care.

He'd gotten the answer he wanted, after all.

Everything was ready. All that was missing was the final touch.

And that final touch was Ban Zhen, who was still nowhere to be found.

Wisteria was a deciduous, climbing vine.

Its butterfly-shaped blossoms were blue-purple, purple, or deep purple.

It bloomed in spring.

So as Xiao Xiao surveyed the wisteria trellis before him, he saw that now, in November, only the withered remains were left.

In the deep darkness of night, the place seemed all the more desolate and eerie.

Earlier, at the hospital, Xiao Xiao had repeatedly asked Lin Zhenzhen what she'd been doing before her face broke out.

It had all been utterly ordinary.

The first time, Xiao Xiao hadn't gleaned anything from Lin Zhenzhen's fragmented, pale account.

But the second time, after seeing an image of Ban Zhen, he suddenly seized on something.

Lin Zhenzhen said that the day before she fell ill, she'd passed by the wisteria trellis in the distance. Out of the corner of her eye, she'd caught sight of a dazzling, vivid color. It was so beautiful that it had lit up the gloomy sky in her eyes.

She'd thought it was a flower, though she'd found it a little strange that there would be another kind of flower on the wisteria trellis.

She'd been drawn to it, even though there wasn't much time left before class.

Risking being late, she'd hurried over to the trellis, eagerly searching for that flash of color.

But she hadn't found anything.

Standing beneath the wisteria trellis, Lin Zhenzhen had looked up and around. As far as she could see, there had been nothing but a mass of bare branches and fallen leaves, all faded and withered.

Lin Zhenzhen had been disappointed, thinking that the color she'd seen had probably been a trick of the light.

That was where her description ended, but Xiao Xiao had felt there was something missing.

He thought that perhaps the color Lin Zhenzhen had seen at the time had been Ban Zhen.

After all, Ban Zhen had a coat of brilliantly colored feathers.

But that alone wasn't enough. There was still one question left unanswered: how had Lin Zhenzhen been poisoned?

Surely she couldn't have been poisoned just by spending a little while under the wisteria trellis?

If that were the case, Lin Zhenzhen wouldn't be the only one who'd been poisoned.

Even though it wasn't blooming season and hardly anyone went to the wisteria trellis, people still sat on the bench beneath it from time to time.

After all, the view of the rippling water in front was quite nice from there.

Even without flowers to adorn it.

Xiao Xiao patiently questioned her about each detail again.

At last, his efforts paid off. He found the answer in Lin Zhenzhen's account.

Lin Zhenzhen said that while she'd been beneath the wisteria trellis, she'd felt something land on her face and thought it was raining.

Then she'd realized she was about to be late and hurried off.

Thinking back on it afterward, she'd realized that it hadn't been raining at all.

But she hadn't paid it any mind. Things like that happened, didn't they? Two people might walk side by side, with one thinking it was raining because raindrops had landed on their face, while the other felt nothing and thought the sky was clear.

Maybe the rain had been too light, no more than a few drops, and had stopped quickly. One person had noticed it, while the other hadn't.

She'd almost forgotten such a minor detail. Only when Xiao Xiao asked her repeatedly had it suddenly come back to her.

Xiao Xiao immediately understood.

So that was it.

He'd asked Ling Yao earlier and learned that Ban Zhen was poisonous all over. Even its saliva was poisonous, except for its tears.

Xiao Xiao thought the raindrops Lin Zhenzhen had felt were very likely Ban Zhen's saliva.

Everything made sense now.

Xiao Xiao kept his eagerness in check and waited until the night grew deep before coming to the wisteria trellis to look for Ban Zhen.

After all, it was easier to get things done after dark.

Xiao Xiao turned on his phone's flashlight and searched for Ban Zhen, pretending to look for something.

He was sure it wouldn't be difficult.

He'd searched for Ling Yao many times before without success. At this point, he had to admit that if a monster truly wanted to hide from him, he could have a hard time finding it.

But this monster had no idea he could see it. It wouldn't deliberately hide to avoid him.

How could he fail to find a monster that was out in the open?

Besides, the wisteria trellis wasn't terribly large, and with the flowers gone, there was even less to obscure his view.

With so many advantages on his side, as long as Ban Zhen was still here, it wouldn't escape Xiao Xiao's eyes.

Xiao Xiao strolled slowly around the wisteria trellis, checking every corner.

Though, really, he didn't need to be so thorough, because... Ban Zhen's multicolored feathers shimmered brilliantly. That was especially true with the darkness all around it.

Xiao Xiao couldn't help smiling.

But he didn't let his guard down. He hadn't forgotten that the creature was poisonous all over.

Perhaps Xiao Xiao's gaze was too intense, because Ban Zhen turned to look at him.

Its pupils were scarlet, ringed with a vivid purple, and that purple was in turn tinged with a faint blue-black hue.

A single glance made it feel as though one might be sucked in, never to return.

A golden glint flashed in Xiao Xiao's eyes, and he snapped back to his senses.

A chill ran down his spine. The feeling of being swallowed had been so real that it left him shaken.

Daring not to look into Ban Zhen's eyes again, Xiao Xiao lowered his gaze and fixed it on the downy feathers on its chest.

He'd better finish this quickly.

Xiao Xiao summoned the Monster Compendium in his mind. A black book appeared out of thin air, its pages flipping until they stopped on one.

Ling Yao, you're up!

Xiao Xiao suddenly felt like he was playing Pokémon.

Ban Zhen versus Ling Yao. Ling Yao won, but the fight hadn't been nearly as effortless as he'd claimed it would be that afternoon.

And Xiao Xiao felt as if he were about to collapse.

He was utterly exhausted mentally, and his brain throbbed as if it had been struck by a heavy hammer.

Xiao Xiao knew he'd overestimated himself.

Summoning Ling Yao had clearly taken a heavy toll on his mind.

He had a feeling he'd be in a slump for a long time.

Was Ling Yao really that powerful—that summoning him had been beyond Xiao Xiao's current ability?

And perhaps the Ling Yao he'd summoned had been limited by Xiao Xiao's strength and hadn't been able to show his full power.

That was why an opponent who should have been beneath him had put up such a difficult fight.

Xiao Xiao slumped to the ground, weak all over, his head aching as if needles were stabbing into it.

"Ugh... ugh..." Xiao Xiao drew in several sharp breaths. After finally gathering a little strength, he struggled over to the front of Ban Zhen.

Looking at Ban Zhen, half-dead, Xiao Xiao felt no sympathy at all.

Lin Zhenzhen's suffering was still fresh in his mind.

But "it really cried?!" Xiao Xiao was a little surprised. It wasn't that he didn't believe Ling Yao. It was just hard to imagine a monster crying because it was hit. Didn't that sound ridiculous?

Yet it was true.

How could a creature poisonous all over be so fragile?

Xiao Xiao felt he'd learned something new.