Dawn broke.
Five figures descended to the ground, stepping into a tranquil snow-laden forest.
Their sudden arrival startled several rooks perched on the branches, sending them fluttering into the crisp air.
Not far off, an icy river lay sprawled across the snowfield, its surface gleaming like a mirror.
It reflected the hazy, grey sky above, creating an ethereal landscape.
Occasionally, dull thuds echoed through the air as the ice layers shifted and cracked under unseen pressure.
Along both banks of the frozen river, snow-covered coniferous trees stood tall and proud.
Clumps of pine trees were scattered artfully, their branches laden with white snow that the biting wind would occasionally dislodge.
****
Perched on a tree branch, Lina leaned against the trunk, her skirt fluttering up and down with the breeze.
Her gaze was fixed on the vast expanse of the sky, her thoughts drifting far away.
“Kuganawa…”
She whispered softly, but her voice was swallowed by the howling northern wind.
Indeed, they had left the Iris Feather Kingdom behind.
Yet, her fiancée, Kuganawa, where could she possibly be?
In this vast world, the hope of reunion seemed incredibly slim.
She couldn’t even detect a trace of Kuganawa’s aura, leaving no clues to follow.
Lina herself had no leads.
Her solitary journey northward had been guided solely by ‘destiny,’ leading her to the Northern World.
Lina buried her face in her arms, seeking a sliver of solace within her memories.
****
Nearby.
Silvia and Xia Naxin sat side-by-side on a large boulder.
In Xia Naxin’s company, Silvia found a rare moment of peace.
They conversed in low tones, their words muted by the wind and snow.
Their figures were stretched long by the rising morning sun.
****
Ling Qinghe and Ling Cheyin, meanwhile, stood by the icy lake.
From the frozen surface, over three thousand magical phantoms began to rise, resembling a spectral army of humanoid figures.
These were the very phantoms previously deployed in the Monan Fortress; now, it was time to retrieve them.
Among them, several magical phantoms swayed, each bearing a swirling vortex within their abdomens.
Upon closer inspection, these vortexes contained the arcane materials from Ling Qinghe’s laboratory—various ingredients and components.
Crucially, these included the very materials required for the upcoming gender transformation spell.
In essence, Ling Qinghe had prepared for a rainy day, having long planned her ‘departure’ and moved out a portion of her assets.
Ling Qinghe then gathered the phantoms, group by group, into her palm.
Turning to Ling Cheyin, she stated her need for a quiet, temporary residence.
“Go check nearby. Are there any mortal cities?”
“Alright~”
Ling Cheyin responded, then transformed into her Aisi Aimu form, soaring away as a streak of black light into the distance.
****
A frigid wind swept through the snow forest.
Silvia watched Ling Qinghe manipulate the swarm of magical phantoms, complex thoughts flickering in his eyes.
Xia Naxin’s hand tightened in his palm, and she nodded, subtly urging him to be bolder.
Only then did he speak, calling out:
“Professor He, would you mind coming over for a moment…”
Hearing him, Ling Qinghe turned, a flicker of understanding in her beautiful eyes.
She readily walked towards them.
“What is it?”
She settled onto the boulder on Silvia’s other side.
Silvia’s Adam’s apple bobbed.
“Tell me, how exactly do you plan to help me transition?”
Ling Qinghe didn’t rush to answer upon hearing the question.
Instead, she gathered magic at her fingertips, then flicked her index finger.
A section of the snow on the ground melted away, revealing a perfect circle beneath.
Immediately, interwoven black and white patterns began to spread across the snow.
Two ‘fish,’ head-to-tail, gradually took shape—the yin fish embracing yang, the yang fish containing yin.
Together, they formed a mysterious and profound circular design.
“Do you know what this symbol is called?”
Ling Qinghe pointed to the dividing line between yin and yang.
Magic coursed along the patterns, making the design grow even clearer.
At the same time, the black and white fish seemed to come alive, subtly swirling within the circle.
Silvia had never seen such a profound totem before, and he shook his head in bewilderment.
After all, the Iris Feather Kingdom’s internet censorship was stringent, prohibiting foreign access and effectively blocking external network information.
A flicker of realization, however, crossed Xia Naxin’s eyes.
She hesitated before speaking.
“This is… the Taiji diagram, isn’t it? If I recall correctly, hmm… this is something from the Eastern World.”
“Precisely.”
Upon hearing this.
Ling Qinghe nodded in approval.
“Look at the white pupil of the yang fish and the black pupil of the yin fish. In essence, these are metaphors for gender symbols.”
“Normally, when I browse the internet, I enjoy ‘climbing over the wall’—that is, bypassing the ‘firewall’ to access things within the country.”
“On one occasion, quite by chance, I stumbled upon a popular science video from the Eastern World about a book called the Dao De Jing, from Daoism.”
“A particular sentence within it gave me immense inspiration. I thought, ‘This must be enlightenment, right?'”
“Heh heh~ The cultivators from the Eastern World like to call learning ‘enlightenment.'”
“That sentence goes: ‘Taiji generates the Two Poles, and the Two Poles generate the Four Symbols…'”
“The ‘Two Poles’ refer to Yin and Yang, which in turn represent the male and female genders.”
“The explanation for ‘Two Poles generating the Four Symbols’ is this: When Taiji moves, Yang is born. When movement reaches its extreme, it becomes still, and from stillness, Yin is born.”
“When Yin and Yang qi move again, they transform into Greater Yang and Lesser Yin, which embody masculine strength.”
“Then, Greater Yin and Lesser Yang emerge, representing ultimate femininity.”
As she spoke, the two fish within the Taiji diagram began to rotate synchronously in reverse.
“And the core theoretical principle behind my gender transformation magic lies precisely here.”
“When the Yin and Yang fish rotate in reverse, it triggers an exchange of Yin and Yang.”
“Greater Yang transforms into Greater Yin, and Lesser Yin transmutes into Lesser Yang, thus achieving gender transition.”
****
“Taiji… divides into Yin and Yang?”
Silvia repeated the unfamiliar concept, having never imagined that gender could be linked to such a profound philosophical symbol.
“So… there’s such knowledge, how fascinating~”
He offered a faint smile, the first truly heartfelt one he had shown since becoming a man.
Though, a hint of bitterness still lingered within that smile.
****
Ling Qinghe leaned against the boulder, having deliberately concealed the drawbacks of the gender transformation spell.
Her true intention was to observe Xia Naxin’s reaction.
The outcome was as she expected.
Xia Naxin also chose silence, fully aware of the truth herself, yet daring not to tell Silvia.
During the gender transformation spell, magical power would continuously drain, with the risk of losing control at any moment.
Even a slight misstep could lead to becoming an existence that was neither male nor female.
Yet, Xia Naxin understood even more profoundly that for Silvia, the agony of being trapped in the wrong ‘body’ was far more tormenting than the risk of failure.
They had to take the risk.
The fervent desire to return to being a woman was enough for him to sacrifice everything.
****
A while later.
A dark silhouette tore through the clouds as the little witch plummeted from the sky.
She had returned.
“Sister, southeast, about thirty kilometers away, perhaps? There’s a human city… its walls are all built from ice bricks…”
Ling Qinghe softly hummed in acknowledgment.
“Let’s depart in five minutes…”
Then, Ling Qinghe turned and walked towards a pine tree not far away.
Lina was leaning against the tree trunk, eyes closed in rest.
Her golden hair and blood-red skirt fluttered gently in the wind, but without revealing anything untoward.
“Miss Lina, here is the agreed-upon remuneration~”
With that, Ling Qinghe received bundles of blood vials from the magical phantom.
There were a full fifty vials within.
She then levitated the blood vials with magic, and Lina unceremoniously accepted them, tilting her head back to drink several.
“Miss Lina, what are your plans now?”
Ling Qinghe observed Lina’s blood-stained red lips.
The wind and snow howled between the two of them.
Lina remained silent for a moment, her aura growing even colder.
Her gaze drifted towards the distant, continuous snow-capped mountains.
“I will continue to wander until I find her, and then I will go home… Hmm, let’s part ways here. Perhaps we’ll meet again if fate allows.”
Immediately after.
Ling Qinghe then turned her head to look towards Silvia, giving a subtle nod of acknowledgment.
Meanwhile, Silvia was conversing in hushed tones with Xia Naxin.
Upon sensing the gaze, he instinctively looked up and met her eyes.
His gaze met Ling Qinghe’s, and following her line of sight, he saw Lina tilt her head back and drain the last drop of blood.
“What, you’re leaving without even saying hello to that person?”
Lina also followed Ling Qinghe’s gaze, but her expression grew even colder, devoid of any warmth.
“I… am not familiar with ‘her.'”
As she spoke, Lina transformed into a cloud of crimson blood mist.
Just like that.
Under Silvia’s watchful eyes, Lina departed into the distance.
She vanished into the depths of the snow forest, leaving no trace behind.
At this, Silvia’s fingers curled, gripping the fabric at his side.
Even though his interactions with Lina had been sparse, and their acquaintance only a matter of days…
Yet, at this moment, a strange sense of melancholy welled up within him.
When they first met, on a snowy night, Lina had been a naive, adorable, and somewhat clumsy little girl.
Silvia had delighted in teasing her then.
But later, after Lina drank his blood, she quickly matured, and the childishness faded from her face.
As a young woman, she was no longer naive; instead, she became aloof and distant.
Their relationship had gradually grown estranged.
Now, Lina had left without a word, unwilling to even grant him a proper farewell.
Silvia sighed inwardly, his gaze fixed on the direction she had taken.
A question stirred in his heart.
‘With such an unannounced departure, would a reunion ever be possible in the future?’
In this vast, boundless world, some encounters are merely fleeting intersections.
It is departure, perhaps, that remains the eternal theme.
“Travel safely…”
The wind scattered Silvia’s blessing, carrying it with snowflakes to his shoulders, where they melted away in an instant.
****
The snowfield remained vast, the cold wind still howled.
Yet, the vampire maiden, her body wreathed in a sanguine aura, had thus embarked on a new journey.
She did so without a single glance back.