Although her teammates felt she didn't need to put too much thought into it, Su Cheng still wanted to make extra preparations.
So she asked Camus if he had any backup blood other than Vanessa's, and whether he could give her a different face so she could go out and enjoy a walk around town.
The blood mage agreed, transforming her into an ordinary-looking young woman with brown hair and blue eyes—a face that would easily blend into any crowd.
Su Cheng changed her clothes and headed straight for a bookstore in the East District. It was located on the edge of the commercial street, just before the sprawling residential area of the wealthy.
Because the area was filled with villas and manors rather than densely packed apartments, the surroundings were quite peaceful. Occasionally, a carriage would pass by on the bluestone-paved roads.
The street exuded an ancient aura. The buildings were all constructed from grayish-white stone, with smooth steps leading up to arched stone doorways. A few young people in mage robes walked out, chatting and laughing.
Su Cheng overheard them discussing school matters; it only took a couple of sentences for her to realize they were from Nanhe Academy.
The group didn't pay any attention to her. Assuming she was just an ordinary passing mage, they spoke without any reservations.
"...I didn't even know he was engaged."
"It's all the same now. It's been called off anyway."
"Pfft, you can't put it like that. Now he's offended the Divine Favored One—"
"Is she really a Divine Favored One?"
"Yes, absolutely. And she has ties to the Holy See. I heard she's very close to the Archbishop; His Grace Johnson personally welcomed her into the temple..."
"If that's really the case, she probably wouldn't even look twice at him. Murong Yue is indeed quite powerful, but what is he compared to the big shots of the Holy See?"
One of the boys curled his lip and said, "Walking around with that attitude all day, yet his rank isn't even as high as the one from Cross Star Academy. Yin Ning is about the same age as him, right? And he's almost at the seventh tier."
Murong Yue had an arrogant temperament. While some flattered him, others naturally despised him. Although he was of noble birth, many of his classmates were also nobles.
"Pfft, Cross Star has always had plenty of experts. Come to think of it, didn't the one who used to be engaged to him go to Cross Star? She's definitely a genius too..."
"Speaking of which, why didn't she break off the engagement with Murong Yue earlier?"
"I heard she's the favored one of His Highness the God of Magic. What engagement? She never acknowledged it at all, because that kind of agreement has no legal backing. Citizens of our Empire have the freedom to marry, and parents have no right to interfere. In her eyes, an engagement arranged by parents is nothing but a joke. It's only Murong Yue who is afraid of his father..."
The young mages burst into laughter.
"By the way, how exactly did Elder Li die? The school keeps saying there was a problem with his cultivation, but he wasn't even in the middle of advancing, was he?"
"...The school can hardly tell you he died of blasphemy, can they?"
"Say what you will, although I don't know what happened, if I'm being blunt, with his personality, he probably deserved it—"
"He totally deserved it. My sister said before that during training classes, that guy surnamed Li only taught Murong Yue and never showed a kind face to anyone else. I almost wanted to go and demand an explanation from him back then. What, did the rest of us pay less tuition?"
The distance between them gradually widened, and Su Cheng could no longer hear what they were saying. She walked into the hall where magic crystal lamps floated in the air and plunged into a sea of books.
The air was filled with the scent of agarwood, mixed with the smell of parchment and ink.
A very faint, low-frequency hum could also be heard.
It was the subtle energy field created by the convergence of numerous magical items and arrays.
The bookstore hall was incredibly vast, with a towering ceiling that seemed almost endless, and obsidian pillars engraved with runes.
Countless bookshelves formed a maze, separating out many private reading spaces, with platforms of various sizes extending along spiral staircases.
The labels above the bookshelves were not only in the Common tongue but also in Elvish, Ancient Human, and some strange hieroglyphs.
Different areas covered different fields, offering everything from basic elemental spells to all sorts of profound and obscure magic.
There were quite a few customers in the bookstore, though most were hidden behind bookshelves or sitting in corners by the windows reading.
Su Cheng wandered around for a while, took out a few books, flipped through them, found she really couldn't understand them, and put them back.
After a while, she finally found a book titled "Secret and Dangerous Spells: Volume of Elemental Magic."
The gold-stamped font on the book was exceptionally beautiful, identical to the author's signature, making it look as if it were handwritten by the author themselves.
The author did not leave a first name, only signing with the surname Hammerfield, a word that sounded like a blacksmith.
Su Cheng initially only intended to work hard on her role-playing—someone like Vanessa would likely be interested in this kind of book, and taking a look herself would give her a better idea of things.
To her surprise, upon opening the book, she was immediately captivated.
The Magic Guild did indeed regulate books related to forbidden spells, but they didn't send people to patrol bookstores every day, and these shops weren't strictly screened when stocking up.
To be able to open a shop on the commercial street of the imperial capital meant there had to be an extremely powerful force behind it, most likely imperial relatives or nobles.
Su Cheng found more than one book related to forbidden spells in the bookstore, but most of them were written in an obscure and difficult-to-understand manner, filled with all sorts of long, specialized terms.
This one, however, was different. It was written in great detail yet was very easy to understand. Anyone with some knowledge of magic could easily comprehend it.
She read the heavy magic book with rapt fascination.
It first discussed various methods elemental mages used to enhance their magic power, then listed the reasons why some of these were considered taboo, and finally provided relevant guidance on avoiding risks.
Before she knew it, it was already midnight. Dizzy with hunger, Su Cheng realized she had spent the better part of the day in the bookstore.
She leaned against the bay window. The window sash beside her was slightly ajar, letting in the warm night breeze carrying the sweet, milky aroma of a bakery from a short distance away.
Su Cheng felt even hungrier.
Then, the sweet scent seemed to grow even richer.
A few seconds later, a very petite figure stepped out from behind a bookcase.
It was an adorable white-haired child, looking no more than seven or eight years old, dressed in a cream-colored shirt, vest, and shorts, holding a bag of pastries in his arms.
He wasn't eating them, yet the sweet aroma of honey and jam still seeped through the greaseproof paper in delicate wisps.
Su Cheng heard the sound of hunger.
The child obviously heard it too and couldn't help but turn his head to look over.
They exchanged a glance.
Su Cheng subconsciously took a breath.
—What a beautiful child!
His hair was fluffy, his skin bright and white with a touch of healthy, rosy color on his cheeks, and his features were as exquisite as a carving.
Beneath his thick, curling, snow-white eyelashes were a pair of breathtakingly blue eyes.
It was a pure, unadulterated blue, like lake water in the midsummer sunlight—rich, vibrant, and luminous.
The texture of his irises bloomed like cornflower petals, radiating fine blue lines outward, surrounding a vertically elongated black pupil in the center.
Su Cheng suddenly felt something was amiss.
She raised her hand slightly, covering his eyes from a distance to reveal only the lower half of his face, and the more she looked, the more familiar he seemed.
"I'm sorry," Su Cheng lowered her hand. "Have we met before? In Bailu Town? Were you blindfolded at the time?"
The white-haired child blinked. "I'm guessing the person you saw was my brother."
Su Cheng: "?"
Su Cheng was extremely shocked. "So you're his older brother? You're that teacher? Your student ran into some trouble, and you—"
"That isn't actually trouble," the child said softly. "Trouble is walking down the wrong path yet remaining unwavering, unable to be called back, and refusing all advice. What he encountered, however, was a storm that swept him away from his familiar path and tossed him onto an unfamiliar wilderness."
He paused for a moment. "He will be confused, lost, and perhaps even afraid, not knowing which direction to choose to move forward. But this will also allow him to explore a new world, whether it's examining his heart to understand himself or establishing some kind of connection with others. This is a qualification. You must know, only deep lakes and seas can reflect the full picture of a storm, while a shallow puddle will only have a few ripples."
Su Cheng's heart stirred. "You're right. Some people will never have such troubles in their entire lives, and I believe your student must be, hmm, a gentle, sensitive, and emotional person."
The child raised an eyebrow slightly. "Why do you think people build fortresses with towering walls and covered in iron thorns?"
Su Cheng: "To protect the things inside."
"Yes. Behind those seemingly indestructible walls, there might be a newly bloomed, fragile, soft flower that could wither at any moment."
His gaze fell on the young girl's face in front of him. "So, don't let the walls block your vision."
Su Cheng nodded slowly. "...Then how do you solve this flower's trouble?"
"I wouldn't call it solving a problem."
The child spoke unhurriedly. "I just let him look at his reflection on the shop window glass. Before this, he always wanted to see himself clearly through other people's eyes, through the ballads of bards, and through worldly judgments, but what he saw was always a blurry, distorted, and dust-covered image. I told him to go and look at that confused, doubtful, expectant yet fearful self. What you see is no longer the problem, but the answer—an answer that, although troubling, is incredibly real. Accept yourself, no matter what that looks like."
Su Cheng listened with some surprise. "Wait, you just said—"
Before she could finish her sentence, she heard the rumbling of her stomach again.
The child tilted his head to look at her and held up the oil paper bag in his hand. "Do you want something to eat?"
Su Cheng kept smelling the aroma of bread and only felt hungrier. "Are we allowed to eat in the bookstore?"
She wasn't sure if this place was like the church temples, which had magic that automatically cleaned the air, so the clerics could eat as they pleased.
—But that was for the convenience of those people working and researching, whereas this place seemed more focused on anti-theft and noise reduction.
The white-haired child was noncommittal. "There are no rules prohibiting such behavior. If you're worried about affecting others, you can use a small magic trick to solve it. You are wind-element, right?"
Su Cheng wasn't hiding her emblem at the moment, so she wasn't surprised he could recognize it. "I am, but I haven't learned magic like that... Wait, are there any spells below the third tier that can achieve the effect of dispersing smells or blowing away crumbs?"
"Spells are all created," he smiled. "The early stages of learning wind magic focus on pushing and cutting because it's easier to grasp. In fact, the essence of wind also includes carrying and transmitting, like falling pollen, or like the message of rain from afar. It is a brilliant messenger and a hidden scavenger—"
The child handed the paper bag to her and then extended his other hand.
He had a petite figure, and his fingers weren't long. There were cute little dimples at his knuckles, and his skin was very white, like kneaded dough.
His neatly trimmed nails were round and smooth, glowing with a pinkish hue like seashells.
"Ah?" Su Cheng opened her mouth. "Do what?"
"Don't worry," the child said patiently. "I won't do anything bad to you."
Su Cheng blinked. "You swear?"
"Of course," he widened his beautiful blue eyes. "I don't have much magic power, but I can help guide you a bit."
The two hands, one large and one small, clasped together.
Su Cheng carefully reached her hand over, and the child gently held a few of her fingers.
A wisp of airflow, invisible to the naked eye, suddenly surged between their touching skin.
"Don't command it, and don't plead with it. Instead, perceive its intentions—"
Su Cheng released her spiritual power.
Among all the elemental spirits, wind spirits were the most unpredictable, their trajectories hard to capture, and their actions difficult to foresee.
"You see," she heard the child continue, "they inherently desire freedom, so let them leave, just taking along those guests who do not belong here. Now, adjust your magic power, and then strengthen your will..."
The wind spirits gathered by their hands, converging into a stable and gentle vortex.
Su Cheng tentatively opened the oil paper bag.
The rich aroma she expected did not immediately dissipate; instead, it was quickly swept up by the air current, floating lightly toward the window like an invisible ribbon.
Even the crumbs from when she bit into the almond pastry were swept away together with it.
She ate two pieces of pastry without leaving a single trace.
Su Cheng widened her eyes in pleasant surprise. "Thank you!"
She returned the oil paper bag, then put down the book, and looked at the child solemnly.
Su Cheng: "Master, are you still accepting apprentices?"
The child shook his head slightly. "Knowledge should not be bound by the titles of teacher and apprentice. Truth will not enter your head on its own just because you call me teacher, nor will it refuse to be understood by you just because you are a passerby. I will always answer your questions, my dear lady. Of course, I am also willing to teach you how to find the answers—"
He said this and looked out the window. "But I think you might not need guidance. The process of exploration can also yield many rewards."
Su Cheng hesitated to speak. "Are you leaving? Where else can I see you, or, um, your brother? You two are twins, right? I think I still owe him a story ending."
"I believe there will still be such an opportunity."
He spoke very seriously, and because of that cute face, he looked exceptionally well-behaved. "Besides, there are still many stories that haven't ended yet."
After the white-haired child finished speaking, he went down the stairs.
Su Cheng hugged her book and went to the checkout counter, looking back every three steps until she could no longer see him.
"Ten silver coins."
The employee behind the counter took the book, briefly checked it, and said, adding another question: "This author has other works. Would you like to take a look?"
Su Cheng: "?"
She looked down at the overly thick book in her hands and found that, judging by the title, this was only the Elemental Magic volume.
Su Cheng: "What are the other works?"
"Wait a moment," the employee quickly brought back three other books for her. "There's also the Arcane Magic volume, the Exotic Magic volume, and the Spiritual Magic volume."
Su Cheng took a closer look and realized they were all by the same author. She couldn't help but be shocked. "They were all written by one person? Or is 'Hammerfield' the name of some organization? A group of people are the authors?"
"I wouldn't know about that," the employee shrugged. "These books are from a long time ago and have been reprinted many times. Although the sales aren't very high, they do pretty well compared to others in the same genre..."
"Alright, how much in total?"
"You can get a ten percent discount if you buy the whole set."
A minute later, Su Cheng walked out the door carrying four massive ancient tomes. Passing by a shop on the way, she conveniently bought a bouquet of roses.
Not long after she arrived at the hotel, the disguise on her face reached its time limit.
Kai and Sasha were both in the lobby. The former was reading a book, while the latter was sharpening a dagger. Under their subtle gazes, Su Cheng stuffed the bouquet of vibrant, dewy red roses into Camus's arms.
The blood mage looked at her in astonishment.
Su Cheng: "The flowers you wanted. I hope you're not mad anymore, because I still have something I want to discuss with you."
Camus: "..."
Camus: "I didn't ask for this."
However, the other two didn't look like they believed him.
They even cast him a knowing look.
Camus: "..."
He grabbed the girl beside him and pulled her into the room, swiftly shutting the door the moment they stepped inside.
Then he turned around to look at her. "What do you want to say?"
"It's like this," Su Cheng thought for a moment. "Tell me honestly, do I have a bit of a talent for blood magic? Don't ask anything else, just answer this question first!"
Those blue eyes with a cold, hard grayish tone stared at her. "...Yes."
The last time they broke the curse, she had obtained some of his magic power. Then, applying what she had just learned, she used a blood spell and depleted that magic.
"If your talent was poor," Camus said in a deep voice, "even if you had the magic power, you wouldn't be able to cast a spell directly."
Su Cheng nodded in satisfaction. "So my talent is considered very good? Exceptionally good? As good as it gets? Which one is it, roughly?"
Camus looked at the rather smug young girl in front of him.
She seemed very pleased, unable to resist clasping her hands behind her back and rising slightly on her toes as if she were jumping for joy, her curly braids swaying behind her.
Camus: "..."
Camus: "Exceptionally good. Better than any human I've ever seen."
Su Cheng gave a happy little jump. "Hehe! Then I have an idea, but I need you to give me a bit more magic power."
She recalled the quest process in the original novel, as that part was written in a messy and vague way—any slightly complex plot in the book was basically a jumbled mess.
Now she couldn't remember the details, only having a vague impression.
"...Don't we still have two days?" Su Cheng said enthusiastically. "I want to try learning that spell that uses someone else's blood to transform? Is that okay? Does blood magic have any prerequisite skill requirements? I mean, do I need to start learning from introductory basic spells, and if I don't master those, I can't learn more advanced ones?"
She looked expectantly at the blood mage before her.
Camus glanced at her, then shifted his gaze away. "If it's merely simulating the outward appearance, you can learn it now, but it's a bit troublesome."
Su Cheng understood.
This world also had various spells for verifying identities. If she wanted to pass those, there would probably be higher requirements.
Su Cheng: "Actually, I mainly feel that if I ever need to do something bad, I should try my best not to use Vanessa's identity. Even changing my face on the spot would work. She is a member of the Ring of the Silencers, after all. If the Aulu family looks into it later, wouldn't we have to take responsibility?"
Camus was just about to speak when he heard her continue: "...And you got the invitation from your teacher. Ultimately, it would just cause trouble for you."
He raised his eyebrows slightly. "I thought you didn't care."
Su Cheng looked completely baffled. "How could I not care? We're teammates. If I didn't care about you guys, I wouldn't even need to do this quest. It's not like I want the dragon bone for myself."
"You're doing it for the commander," Camus said coolly. "He's definitely different, right?"
Su Cheng hesitated for a moment.
It was this brief hesitation that seemed to further ignite the blood mage's anger. He looked as if he was about to explode.
However—
He also felt that this reaction was quite unjustified; he had no standing to express dissatisfaction over this matter.
Camus turned to leave.
Su Cheng grabbed him. "So, is our lesson still on?"
He looked down at the slender, pale fingers gripping his cuff. "...That spell consumes a considerable amount of magic power. Not to mention you'll need to practice it at least dozens of times, all of which require magic."
Su Cheng let go. "If it's going to overdraw your magic power, then forget it—"
Camus took a deep breath. "Given my magic power cap and recovery rate, casting it thousands of times a day wouldn't be a problem. It's just that if I need to transfer magic power to you, while your curse mark isn't activated and without deep physical contact between us, it will be extremely slow."
Su Cheng understood. "So I need a lot of magic to practice, and if I want to get that much magic as quickly as possible, either the curse activates, or something happens between us?"
Camus gave a cold nod. "Yes."
"Sure," Su Cheng spread her hands. "It's not like we haven't done it before, and the experience last time was pretty good. In fact, as long as you don't mind, I'm ready anytime—"
Before she could even finish her sentence, she was pinned against the door.
Su Cheng smelled the scent of fir and pine needles, mixed with the bitter and fresh aroma of herbs, pressing down on her overwhelmingly.
Her back pressed against the carved reliefs of the wooden door, making a slight thud.
With the protection of her battle aura, this kind of collision didn't even hurt.
But.
The noise wasn't exactly quiet.
Just as Su Cheng wanted to speak, the man in front of her had already lowered his head and kissed her.
"...Then let's begin."
His voice was low and suppressed, as if squeezed from deep within his chest.
Every single word seemed to carry an indescribable trace of anger.
The blood mage's scorching lips pressed down, biting the corners of her mouth, tracing every line on her lips, and then driving straight in to capture her tongue.
Su Cheng reached out and wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her fingers into his warm, soft golden curls, and kissed him back.
They bit and chased each other, tangling and pulling, plundering the air from each other's mouths.
Trapped in the space formed by his broad chest and the door, she rubbed against the fine fabric of the man's robe, feeling the stiffness of the silver embroidery.
There was quite a height difference between them. As he leaned down to kiss her, his knee nudged its way between her legs.
Su Cheng was lifted off the ground, resting on his leg. "...You do remember there are people outside, right?"
She mumbled, a hint of a smile in her voice.
"Let them listen."
The blood mage whispered in a brief interlude before kissing her again.
