As the sun sank in the west, the sky gradually began to darken.
But the little bamboo courtyard outside Beijing was still quiet. For some reason, the sounds of pots and pans and knives chopping vegetables—which should have started long ago—had yet to ring out.
A little while later...
When not a trace of sunlight remained in the sky, and only a brilliant golden-red glow like a fiery sunset remained, a beautiful, golden-red carp suddenly leaped out of the lotus pond in the courtyard. For some reason, it sprang right out of the water, bounced twice on the stone paving, and then burst into a cloud of smoke.
Next, a little girl with two buns on her head appeared from the smoke. She wore a red robe patterned with fish, and a dainty flying-fish scarf around her neck. Her short legs sped her toward the hall of the two-story wooden building.
"Master, Master!"
"Master!"
Before she even arrived, the little girl was already shouting incoherently and frantically, with a hint of excitement in her voice.
That's right!
Who else could this little girl who had appeared from the smoke be but Jin Xiaoli, the guardian fish under Flame Immortal, supposedly a demon with two thousand years of cultivation?
"Something terrible has happened!"
"Master!"
"Master!"
"We're doomed!"
"Something awful has happened!!!"
Still shouting frantically, Jin Xiaoli raced into the study and leaped over to the crescent-shaped daybed. She dropped to her knees and leaned over it, gazing up at her troublesome little girl of a master, who was dozing on top.
"..."
(っ?-?)
"Oh~?"
?(?′0`?)?
Woken from her nap, Annie didn't hurry to respond. She merely rubbed her eyes and stretched.
"..."
(′???`)
Then she turned to look out the window. When she saw the golden sky and realized the sun