Chixia, Chixia!

Behind Chixia, an immense aura surged into the sky.

If she was a puddle, then the presence right behind her was a raging wave that had swept across the sea.

Its pressure was overwhelming, leaving her feeling as though she stood in the middle of a furious ocean, tossed about like a leaf.

And yet, there was something faintly familiar about that aura.

Whoever it was had come to help her.

At that thought, Chixia nodded and closed her eyes.

In that moment, she chose to trust this stranger.

The hand withdrew, and raging waves swept in every direction.

The Darkmane Wolves let out miserable howls, as though they were facing some terrifying presence.

Chixia couldn't help entertaining a little scheme, her curiosity growing by the second.

Just a tiny peek. Just one.

She reassured herself and opened her eyes a sliver.

A pair of purple-black wings flashed through her vision beneath the moonlight. What a striking sight!

For some reason, Chixia felt as though she had seen them somewhere before.

The curiosity in her heart grew like sprouting ivy, urging her to open her eyes.

At last, she could no longer resist.

Her eyes flew open.

The next second, her vision went black.

That large hand had covered her eyes again.

"You look much better with your hair down," the voice remarked.

As those words fell, everything went quiet again.

Chixia opened her eyes without worry, only to gape in astonishment at the scene before her.

The two Overlord Class Darkmane Wolves and several Graymane Wolves in front of her had vanished completely.

Only a stretch of wreckage remained.

It looked as though a hurricane had just torn through.

Those had been Overlord Class Tacet Discords—and two of them, at that!

Chixia stood and looked around. Apart from the man in black and his accomplices lying on the ground, there was no one. The owner of that voice had long since disappeared.

Only a few seconds could have passed between her closing her eyes and opening them again.

Who could possibly deal with two Overlord Class Tacet Discords in mere seconds?

Chixia sank into thought.

Could it have been General Jiyan?

No. Even General Jiyan probably couldn't have done it so effortlessly, and he had no reason to hide his identity.

Could it have been the Magistrate?

Chixia shook her head, banishing that ridiculous idea.

The Magistrate was a woman.

The voice just now had clearly belonged to a man, warm and richly resonant.

Even after pondering it for a while, Chixia couldn't come up with an answer.

She glanced at the Fractsidus members lying on the ground, took out some rope, and securely bound them one by one.

Well, she hadn't found the cat thief, but she had stumbled into capturing a whole group of Fractsidus bandits alive.

That was a tremendous achievement.

Beneath a bright moon and scattered stars, Chixia brought her prisoners to the city gate, where a gray cat sat gracefully.

"Ling An! I'm back!" Chixia waved with a bounce in her step.

Seeing Chixia return, Ling An flicked his paw, shook off a few strands of Darkmane Wolf fur, and let a hint of amusement flash through his slit pupils.

The next day, at Pan Hua Restaurant in Jinzhou.

"Here you go, here you go! Piping-hot, fiery maocai!" Speaking in her familiar local dialect, Panhua brought over a steaming bowl of maocai.

"Thanks, Auntie Panhua." Chixia sat at the table in eager anticipation, her eyes lighting up at the sight of the food.

"Say, Xiaofang, I heard you cracked a big case yesterday. Is that true?" Panhua struck up a chat.

"Oh, not really. Hehe." Chixia rubbed her head sheepishly. "I got lucky and stumbled into it."

She deftly picked up some vegetables with her chopsticks and held them in front of Ling An. "Here, Ling An. This is Auntie Panhua's specialty. Give it a try."

Ling An stared at the vegetables coated in chili oil on her chopsticks and stubbornly turned his head away.

Are you trying to burn a cat to death?

"Hehe, almost forgot you were a kitty." Chixia tapped her forehead and laughed awkwardly.

"How could I leave him out?" As she spoke, Panhua brought another steaming bowl from the counter and set it before Ling An.

"Pan Hua Restaurant's exclusive secret-recipe cat food. Enjoy!"

Ling An froze. Looking at Panhua's smiling face, he felt a small ripple of emotion.

She had made a portion for him, too.

Panhua sat beside Chixia and asked curiously, "Xiaofang, why don't you tell Auntie Panhua all about your adventure?"

At that, Chixia set down her chopsticks and stood.

She cleared her throat twice, adopting the air of a storyteller.

"Last night was dark and windy. I had intended to tail a group of cat thieves, but who would have thought I'd accidentally uncover a band of Fractsidus villains!"

She gestured animatedly, bringing the story to life.

"Oh? Wasn't that dangerous?" Panhua tensed, looking Chixia up and down. "You weren't hurt, were you?"

Chixia waved a hand. "Of course it was! They had me badly outnumbered, and worse still, their leader could actually summon Tacet Discords!"

"Really? Then you must have been in danger!" Panhua played along.

"Exactly! I was all alone, and that villain summoned Overlord Class Tacet Discords. In the blink of an eye, I was trapped among wolves!"

"What happened next?"

"What happened next? Hmph! How could I, the Jinzhou Flying Feather Hero, back down? But who knew they'd have so many wolves? They surrounded me, and just as I was about to die-"

"The real Jinzhou Flying Feather Hero appeared! He had a pair of purple-black wings, and whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! In just a few moves, the Overlord Class Tacet Discords fell before him. He was so fast I didn't even get a look at his face."

Chixia shook her head in wonder. "Compared to him, I suppose I can only call myself the Jinzhou Little Feathered Hero from now on."

Pfft!

Cough, cough!

Ling An, who had been happily devouring his food, nearly choked.

"Oh dear, eat slowly." Panhua gently patted Ling An's back, then continued, "I'm just glad you're all right. Don't be so reckless next time!"

"Hehe, I know, Auntie Panhua. I won't do it again!" Chixia patted her chest in assurance.

"It's a shame, though. Those Fractsidus villains are in prison now, but they're all tight-lipped. They say they didn't see anyone else, and the people at the Border Fortress don't believe me either. They say all the credit belongs to me." Chixia sighed softly.

She continued, "But I really wasn't the one who did it. I can't accept the credit."

Panhua quietly listened and watched, filled with tenderness for Chixia, the child she had watched grow up.

"That's just how you are, child. Far too honest," she said helplessly, though her voice was full of praise.

"Oh, right. What about those missing cats?"

"Well, about that!" Chixia rubbed her head, looking a little embarrassed. "Someone found them in the hills behind Jinzhou. Apparently, all the missing cats were males. A female calico had lured them away."

"Hahahaha!"

Chixia turned to Ling An with a serious expression. "Ling An, don't you dare let some little female cat lure you away!"

Ling An nearly stumbled. "Meow?"

What did that have to do with him?

His preferences were perfectly normal, thank you very much.

You, on the other hand, Chixia-don't be so reckless next time.

For a while, Pan Hua Restaurant was filled with lively chatter.

Ling An quietly watched Chixia, her optimism and enthusiasm inevitably rubbing off on him.

Meanwhile, a small change had also come over her.

"Xiaofang, why the new hairstyle today?" a diner asked with a smile.

Chixia scratched her cheek. Her face was still slightly flushed from the fiery maocai, lending her a touch of girlish shyness.

It was as though a blazing sunset cloud had fallen from the horizon onto her cheeks.

Only now did the name she had chosen for herself truly suit her.

She smiled and said brightly, "I just think I look better with my hair down!"