Zheng Qing stood by the pond.
He silently gazed beyond the wall at the deep night, his heart a tangled mess, filled with conflicting emotions.
Behind him.
The Yellow Flower Cat and the Little Green Snake, which had somehow slipped down from his ear, were whispering to each other loudly enough for the boy to hear.
"—Do you know who that little girl from the Jiang family was cursing?"
The tabby's tone carried a trace of confusion.
The Little Green Snake pondered for a moment, then finally shook its head uncertainly. "—Anyway, it wasn't me."
"You mean she might have been cursing me?" The tabby immediately sounded indignant. "I can understand her cursing Little Su, and I can accept her cursing that little scumbag... but what did she mean by cursing me?"
"It means you didn't act when you should have."
The Little Green Snake flicked out its tongue, its tone carrying a deeper meaning, as though it was not speaking only to the tabby. "You always think it's clever to stay out of certain disputes, but you don't realize that this fence-sitting choice hurts both people at once."
Zheng Qing could no longer pretend he had not heard their conversation.
"You two, shut up!"
The young wizard rubbed the ring on his hand and cut them off irritably. "If you're really that bored, go catch me a few Seven-colored Deer in the Silent Forest, so this courtyard won't feel so empty... Or rebuild a Guardian Formation nearby, so those Demons and Monsters outside won't come looking for trouble!"
"Do we look like the kind of people who fear trouble?" The Little Green Snake flicked the tip of its tail, making it whistle through the air.
"First, you're not a person. Second, cleaning up corpses is really troublesome." Zheng Qing