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I grimaced, knowing that he had a right to be worried about my encounter today given how much danger I got myself into at the cave. "I won\'t make any more rash moves," I promised. "I hadn\'t expected to see her tonight … But now that I know what she wants, I won\'t let her sneak up on me like that again. The next time our paths cross, she\'ll be the one taking the blow from Twin Stars."

His smile grew more relieved. "Rightfully so. She needs someone to show her what it really means to be a sword spirit." Then he hesitated a little before adding, "If you can though … try to just steer clear of her for the time being. It\'s hard to control the outcome once you draw your swords, and it might be in our best interest to keep her unharmed for a little while longer."

I looked up at him in surprise. I wasn\'t confident enough to guarantee that I\'d be able to harm her in the first place, but the warning implied something different. "What else did you find that you haven\'t told me?" I cocked my head and asked, remembering the ancient tome he was reading after our first trip to Vermilion Shrine. He had mentioned back then that our new discovery might end up opening a new door for us to gain deeper access to the power of Twin Stars. "Is this about that purging symbol?"

He glanced at the scattered books on the desk. "That … and maybe more. Give me a few more days to parse through these scrolls, Qing-er, and I\'ll tell you everything once I piece it all together." He rubbed his temple with a long finger. "I promised not to keep anything from you again, but this one is … complicated. I need to think about how to explain it to you."

The ambivalent words sent a mix of uncertainty and excitement pulsing through me. Was he really getting close to finding the solution that we desperately needed? "I hope it\'ll be news worth celebrating," I said, fighting back the urge to push him for more details. "Don\'t make me wait too long."

He laughed softly and picked me up from my seat, placing me on his lap. "How could I? I\'ve been waiting long enough myself to see Twin Stars put in its place, and I can\'t think of anything more satisfying than to have you finally do it for me."

With a lingering kiss, he swallowed the rest of my comments.

~ ~

It was almost lunch hour when we arrived at the village the next day. Despite the bright sun hanging in the middle of the sky, the scenery around us was just as eerie as the night before, devoid of holiday jollies or even the hassles of any normal day. Only a handful of people were in their yards chopping firewood, and they quickly retreated into their houses at the sight of us.

"They are hiding from the sword spirit," I sighed. "They don\'t know that simple house walls like these can\'t stop her at all. We can set up a basic shield to protect them temporarily … But once the three-day ultimatum is up, I\'m afraid it won\'t be sufficient."

Bai Ye considered it. "Three days should be enough time for me to sort out all the answers and come up with a plan. All we need to do for now is to make sure she doesn\'t make a surprise move. We can start with a shielding spell, and then—"

He paused at the sound of footsteps approaching us from behind, shuffling somewhat unsteadily. We turned, and my hands were just starting to move towards my swords when my eyes landed on a little boy at the end of the road. Startled by us noticing him, he stopped, staring at us quietly from a distance.

"Yang-Yang!" A hushed but urgent cry came from a house not far behind him, and a woman dashed through the door, catching the boy in her arms. "What are you doing? Have you forgotten how dangerous it is out here?"

The boy kept his round eyes fixed on me as the woman picked him up and started to carry him away. "I saw you chase the devil away last night!" he called to me over the woman\'s shoulder.

The woman froze in her tracks. Slowly, she turned around and studied me, a mix of fear and hope fighting for dominance over her face. "You were here last night?" she asked cautiously after a long silence. "My son said he saw the devil over our neighbor\'s roof. Did you save us? Are you a cultivator?"

I hadn\'t realized until now that some villagers might have witnessed my exchange with the sword spirit. "I\'m sorry that I let her get away," I said. "Yes, it was me, and I\'m here with my daoist companion to offer our help."

The woman\'s eyes widened. Before she could utter a response, however, the boy wiggled out of her arms and ran towards me. "That devil is so scary!" he cried. "She tied me up and said she\'ll eat me … I thought I\'ll never come back home again! Please keep her away!"

I blinked. The sword spirit had spoken to this boy? Was this the child that she took away the day before?

With a downpour of tears, the boy slammed into me, and I had no time to think more before instinctively picking him up with a firm hug. Glancing over his head at Bai Ye, I smiled a little awkwardly—holding a child was still something too new to me. "It\'s alright," I coaxed with a gentle voice. "She\'s gone now, and we\'re here to protect you."

The boy sobbed and clenched my shoulders. "I\'m so scared … I can\'t sleep at all for two days. Can you come sleep with us tonight and keep us safe?"

I blinked again, and I think my smile towards Bai Ye just turned even more awkward.