Sure enough, less than two hours after Lumine and Paimon entered, Ei successfully brought them both back to the cave. However, she looked somewhat downcast upon her return and remained quiet on the way back to the shrine.
Paimon, on the other hand, kept reproaching Yucheng along the way, saying that the so-called Shadow Clone he had created had nearly scared her and Lumine to death.
"All right, all right, Paimon. I'm sorry. I'll treat you to a feast tonight. Shinobu's cooking is just as good as Xiangling's."
"Really? ...Hmph! You hurt my delicate little heart. One meal isn't enough. At least three... no, five!"
"Fine, fine. Can you get off my back now?"
As it turned out, to keep the three of them from being scattered by the turbulent flow of time, they had held hands to avoid being separated. But after entering the Consciousness Space, the Shadow Clone Yucheng had created had aged before their very eyes, going from a handsome young man to a withered old man in an instant.
The sight had terrified Paimon so badly that she had burst into frantic tears, but nothing had helped. In the end, the Shadow Clone had reached the end of its natural lifespan and dissipated within the Consciousness Space.
Fortunately, Lumine had reassured Paimon that it was only Yucheng's clone. Even so, Paimon never wanted to experience that feeling again-being able to do nothing but watch someone beside her grow old and vanish while she held their hand.
The first thing the two of them did upon returning to the cave was hurry to look for Yucheng. Yet the moment they emerged, they saw him lying comfortably with his head on Miko's lap. Paimon ground her teeth in fury, flew straight at him, and delivered a headbutt.
*Lumine