Day 16

"Children will always be children, even now that the world has turned into this..."

Daly returned to his laboratory, a space filled with large and small transparent jars containing various organs and limbs.

Liu Feier sat at a desk, closing her laptop with a look of hostility. "I've finished reading it. What is this supposed to mean?" Her physical examination had concluded long ago, but Daly had insisted she stay.

"I wasn't one of the chosen. Heaven didn't grant me the chance to make a wish." Daly lowered his head and tapped on a transparent jar—the scraps left over from his experiments on Fusang ninjas.

"Are you planning to study me? Dissect me?" Liu Feier smiled dismissively. Though her strength was only F-rank, it was still terrifyingly powerful to an ordinary person.

"I believe that whatever exists has a reason. Resurrection was once nonsense, but now, it is a reality." Daly looked up at her, his eyes brimming with a glimmer of hope. "My wife passed away many years ago. In the past, we could never have met again. But things are different now. I want to see her."

"You died of leukemia at fourteen, yet here you are, back among the living. Don't you think that is worth studying?" Daly pointed to the investigative files he had shown her—proof that she was someone who had long since perished. "Let me study how you were resurrected. I want to find a way to bring my wife back to me." He looked at her with a firm, unyielding gaze. "Even if it was a wish, there must be a repeatable method!"

"Are you insane?" Liu Feier retorted, annoyed. "I’ve been alive and well all along!"

"The Saintess said that I am haunted by the resentful spirits of my subjects. Could it be that you are one of them—a ghost?"

Liu Feier’s parents had always favored sons. Being the eldest, she had three younger sisters before a brother was finally born. She had only managed to attend school in the city thanks to a public welfare program in her village. But her father only provided two months of living expenses, and soon, she couldn't even afford a meal. Later, when she was diagnosed with leukemia, her parents refused to pay for the expensive treatment, and she died in her hospital bed. They hadn't even wanted to spend money on a proper burial; her ashes were stuffed into a plastic bag and tossed into the school’s flowerbed. The only reason it was the school was because her father had demanded they claim her unused two-hundred-yuan subsidy for the impoverished. She was beautiful, but the only one who remembered her was Liu Lang, who had harbored a secret crush on her. Even for him, the memory had blurred with the passage of time.

She had become a ghost wandering the campus, finally daring to gaze openly at his handsome features. But she could never leave the school grounds, and after Liu Lang graduated, she lost sight of him forever.

She would have remained there, waiting for the day her spirit finally dissipated, had she not heard the call: "You may make three wishes, and they shall all be granted."

"I want to live again! I want to be like the vampires in Twilight—no sickness, eternal life, and unable to die! I want to be by his side!"

She had come back to life, and truly, she was by his side. He had grown taller, and his face had changed, yet she recognized him at a glance. That day had been chaotic; on the back of the military truck, she had been moved to tears.

"Do you remember now?" Daly dangled a necklace back and forth before her eyes. "Remember everything."

Liu Feier wept, feeling as though she had gone through a cycle of reincarnation.

"Cooperate with my research, and I will help you increase your power. You wouldn't want to be left far behind by Liu Yurong, would you?"

***

In the early hours of the morning, at the training center.

"You're still too weak. Let's stop here for today." Xiao Rong had finally allowed Liu Lang to rest after their grueling midnight sparring session. "Most of the Fusang ninjas outside are stronger than you. If you go out there now, you won't survive an hour."

Liu Lang felt indignant—he had defeated strong enemies before! But his protest was met only with the iron fists of Xiao Rong, the cultivator.

"Finally... a shower. Hey, Feier should be happy that I can shower freely now." Liu Lang stripped off his clothes in the public bathhouse, his body covered in bruises.

A small bat flew into the steam-filled room, transforming into Liu Feier. She wore a tight camisole and white hot pants, walking barefoot toward him. Liu Lang was busy scrubbing shampoo into his hair, his face covered in foam. She hugged him from behind without a word.

Warm water cascaded from the showerhead, soaking her hair and her top. Her fingers slowly wove through his hair, massaging his scalp. As he rinsed away the foam, Liu Lang turned around.

Her soaked camisole was nearly transparent, radiating the essence of youth. Her loose hair veiled her face. Liu Lang tried to brush the strands away, but the relentless stream of water kept them plastered to her skin.

"You seem different," Liu Lang remarked, noticing she appeared even more beautiful.

She stepped out from under the shower, tossed her hair back, and playfully spread her arms to show herself off. "Do I look good?"

Her skin was smooth and sweet like cream, her legs a bit longer, showing just the right amount of muscle definition. Her waist seemed small enough to be held in a single hand, and she still had those two tiny dimples when she smiled.

"You do."

Her fingers glided slowly along his arm, and she looked up, her large, watery eyes filled with tenderness. "Does it hurt? How did you get so many wounds?"

"I'm tough, this is nothing."

She unbuttoned her hot pants, letting them slide to the floor, leaving her in nothing but the completely transparent, water-drenched camisole. The shower space was small, barely enough for one, and they shuffled and nudged each other to "compete" for the spray.

Liu Feier wrapped her arms around Liu Lang’s neck, turning her back to him to let the hot water wash over her chest. His large hands slid over her skin, helping her peel off the wet camisole. Liu Feier swayed her hips gently as Liu Lang’s hands massaged her. They moved together as if savoring a song.

"Has your strength increased?" Liu Lang asked, drying his hair with a towel.

"Guess," Liu Feier replied, giving him a mischievous wink.

"It must have. You used to complain you couldn't take it, but just now you were perfectly at ease. Why aren't you wearing any clothes?"

Liu Feier blushed, her small tongue darting out to lick her lips. "Everything is soaked! Where would I have clothes?"

"What should we do? Maybe I can run fast while holding you... no, you can wear my clothes..." As Liu Lang began to undress, Liu Feier transformed into a small bat and landed on his head.

The bat squeaked in a small, thin voice, "I'm D-rank now, you know. I can stay as a bat for a long time. I’ve learned some Japanese, too. Hurry back to your room; I’ll teach you the ninjutsu from those scrolls."