Dongfang Minghui watched their silhouettes disappear into the night, then returned to the inn and paced back and forth alone in her room, sighing from time to time. Paired with her old-woman appearance, she made a vivid picture of the sorrow of twilight years.
"Could you stop walking around? You're making my eyes spin." Little Lecher extended a vine, dragged a stool over from a distance, and placed it behind Dongfang Minghui. "Sit down."
"I can't sleep." Without Ding Ding and Seventh Sister, Dongfang Minghui felt that the little room had suddenly become empty and spacious. Nothing felt right. She knew she would have to wait at least five days, or perhaps more than half a month, before seeing Seventh Sister and the others again. Her heart hung suspended, unable to settle.
Dongfang Minghui simply took Little Light out of her storage space and stroked its fur idly. With the little creature in her arms, she had something soft to touch, held close to her heart. She could even feel its belly rising and falling. It felt reassuringly real.
Little Light gave a token little howl of protest, then lazily sprawled across her lap and obediently went back to sleeping soundly, utterly oblivious to Dongfang Minghui's loneliness.
"You miserable scoundrel, where have you been fooling around-"
"Ow, be gentler."
"..."
Voices like these drifted toward her from afar, then drew closer. At some point, everything around her fell quiet.
The candle flame flickered in the room. Beneath its light, a dark silhouette stretched longer and longer, gradually covering Dongfang Minghui as she sat lost in thought. Slowly, a head emerged within that elongated shadow.
"Awoo-"
Little Light rolled right off Dongfang Minghui's lap. A Light-Type Energy Barrier enveloped her just in time, while it boldly roared twice toward somewhere outside