The Star Script on my palm was still there, like an Imprint branded into my flesh. I looked down at it; the black lines had faded, but the Broken Chain against my chest was still vibrating. It wasn't directed toward the Sword Tomb, nor toward the north, but toward the East Side of the Academy—the direction of the Deduction Hall.
I clenched the Broken Chain and tucked it into my sleeve. The Steward had just come to rush me; he said if I missed roll call three times for Deduction Class, I would receive a demerit. I had no choice.
As I moved, the Purple Mark on my shoulder twitched again. What happened at the Sword Tomb last night weighed on me like a stone, but I couldn't stop now. Lu Jiuxuan’s words still echoed in my ears: "You aren't going to live long anyway, why bother remembering these things?" I gritted my teeth and headed toward the Deduction Hall.
Most people were already seated in the Deduction Hall. I chose a spot toward the back, far away from Situ Mo. He sat in the front row, his Black Robe open at the collar, his fingers resting on the edge of the desk, looking as if he were dozing. But the moment I entered, his fingertip tapped the desktop lightly—once, twice—as if counting my footsteps.
I sat down and opened the deduction booklet. Just as the pages were spread out, my vision blurred—the Star Script on my palm from last night had actually appeared on the paper, the ink still wet, carrying the scent of blood. Stranger still, overlapping the edge of this Star Script was a familiar pattern: the Demonic Power Rune Situ Mo had drawn on my hand two days ago.
The two marks overlapped, growing slightly warm.
I slammed the booklet shut. The Broken Chain began to vibrate again. This time it wasn't warmth, but a chill, like ice pressed against my skin. I pressed it tighter, but the sensation crawled up my arm, pressing straight toward my Heart Area.
“Ye Zhen.” Someone called my name.
I looked up. Situ Mo had turned around at some point, holding a jade brush, leaning lazily against the back of his chair. “Twin Star Track Deduction, you come up.”
I didn't move.
He smiled, his eyes crinkling slightly, “Not coming up? Or are you afraid I’ll touch your wrist again?”
The hall fell silent for a moment. A few students turned to look at me. I knew I couldn't refuse; refusing would show weakness. I stood up and walked to the front.
He didn't ask me to draw a diagram or hand me a brush. Instead, he reached out and directly grasped my wrist.
The instant our skin touched, the Star Script on my palm jumped violently. The Demonic Power Rune beneath his fingertips also shook, as if being Awakened by something. I tried to pull my hand away, but he increased his grip, pressing down with his fingertips, and Demonic Power flooded into me along my Meridians.
It wasn't an attack; it was an exploration.
But the moment that force seeped in, the Rune suddenly changed. The twisted purple lines began to reorganize, circle by circle, eventually forming a fragmented disk-like pattern—like a corner of a broken Star Disk, embedded beneath my skin.
Situ Mo’s pupils constricted.
He looked down, his voice so low only I could hear: “So… you swallowed it.”
I didn't understand. But his next sentence froze me in place.
He suddenly leaned down and swept his tongue across the Burn Injury on my wrist.
It wasn't a lick or a bite, just a light brush, avoiding the wound, precise as if he knew exactly where not to touch. But the action was too flirtatious, too familiar; my whole body tensed, and I wanted to retreat, but he held me fast.
He straightened up, the Red Light in his Purple Eyes receding, replaced by a layer of Gold. He stared at me and smiled: “The Star Disk is inside you. No wonder the Pendant recognized you as its Master.”
My head buzzed.
How did he know about the Pendant?
I yanked my hand away. The Star Script on my palm was still jumping, but that Demonic Power seemed to have taken root, drilling deeper along my Meridians. I stepped back twice, bumping into the corner of a desk. The deduction booklet fell open on the floor, the open page showing the Star Script and the Rune completely overlapped, forming half a Star Track Diagram.
“What exactly do you want?” I asked in a low voice.
He tilted his head to look at me, as if observing something amusing. “What do I want? I just want to know how the person I personally placed under the Star Disk Seal three hundred years ago ended up as a little beggar, pretending to be a man and sneaking into the Academy?”
My breath hitched.
He said, “personally.”
He said, “three hundred years ago.”
I couldn't speak. The Broken Chain against my chest vibrated faster and faster, as if warning me, or perhaps echoing something.
Just then, the door was kicked open.
Lu Jiuxuan stood in the doorway, his Battle Robe disheveled, his sleeve still stained with Medicinal Ash. His face was pale; he had clearly been interrupted right out of his meditation. But his gaze was cold enough to freeze things.
He strode in. His sword wasn't even drawn, but he was already in front of Situ Mo.
The Sword Tip pressed against his throat.
“Little fox from the Situ family,” Lu Jiuxuan’s voice was low, as if coming from the depths of the earth, “Try moving her again.”
Situ Mo didn't move. He even smiled.
In that moment of amusement, the temperature in the hall plummeted. Beneath the Black Robe, Nine Illusory Shadows slowly emerged, like mist, like flame, swaying gently behind him. The Barrier set up by the Instructor in the hall began to crack, and Talisman Papers burned to ash one by one.
All the students froze. Some tried to run, but their legs were too weak to move.
Lu Jiuxuan pressed the Sword Tip deeper, and a trace of blood seeped from the side of Situ Mo’s neck. “You are not human,” he said.
“I am not,” Situ Mo raised a hand, wiping the blood, then brushed his fingertip across his lips. “I am a demon. Half-human, half-demon, the last Great General of the Fox Clan. You don't remember me, but I remember you—in your last life, you died by my blade.”
Lu Jiuxuan’s expression didn't change, but the Sword Body began to hum. The Remnant Soul within the sword was restless.
“So you want to reenact it now?” he asked.
“I don’t,” Situ Mo took a step back, the Sword Tip leaving his throat. He adjusted his collar, the Black Robe concealing the Illusory Shadows. “The game has just begun; why would I rush to kill you?” He looked at me, the Gold Light in his eyes undiminished. “Ye Zhen, wouldn't you agree?”
I didn't answer.
He turned, and the Half-broken Saber in his sleeve made a soft sound as he walked to the door. Before leaving, he paused, not looking back.
“The Star Disk in your body won't last long. The Demonic Power Backlash will burn through your Meridians, and the Gender Swap Technique will collapse. You can’t escape it,” he said. “Unless—you trust me.”
The door closed.
The hall was so quiet you could hear the sound of Talisman Paper ash falling.
Lu Jiuxuan sheathed his sword and turned to look at me. His face was even paler, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
“You heard him?” I asked.
He nodded, his gaze falling on my palm. “The Star Disk is inside you?”
I opened my hand. The Star Script was still there, but its color had faded again. The Rune’s trace had vanished, but beneath the skin, something seemed to be moving, circling, like a Heartbeat.
“He wasn’t wrong,” I said. “The Pendant recognized me as its Master not because my mother left it behind. It’s because… it was originally part of the Star Disk.”
Lu Jiuxuan fell silent.
He suddenly reached out, intending to touch my palm. I instinctively dodged.
His hand stopped mid-air and didn't move again.
“Do you believe him?” he asked.
“I don’t,” I said. “But I remember everything he said. Three hundred years ago, the Star Disk Seal, the Star Gazing Clan Clan Extermination, someone violating orders to release the last of the Bloodline… I’ve seen these things in my dreams.”
His eyes tightened.
“What did you dream about?”
“I dreamed of a Fox Clan General in a Black Robe, standing under a Blood Moon, holding a child. The child was wearing an Amber Pendant around its neck.” I looked at him. “That child was me.”
Lu Jiuxuan’s fingers twitched.
He was about to say something, but just then, my palm suddenly grew intensely hot.
The Star Script lit up again.
It wasn't blood-colored, but Gold. A Golden Thread crawled out from my palm, moving along my Meridians toward my arm, as if searching for something. I raised my hand, and the Broken Chain touched it; it vibrated so violently it almost jumped out.
The Golden Thread finally stopped on the inside of my wrist, tracing a Symbol—identical to the Rune Situ Mo had drawn, but this time, it was complete.
Lu Jiuxuan stared at the Symbol, his expression changing.
“This is the Imprint of the Great General of the Demon Clan,” he said. “Only direct Bloodline or a sworn contractor can Activate it.”
I froze.
“You mean…”
Before I could finish, my wrist turned cold.
The Golden Thread suddenly snapped, as if cut by something. The Star Script on my palm instantly dimmed, and my skin returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.
But the Broken Chain was still vibrating.
I looked down and saw it swaying gently, pointing outside the door—in the direction Situ Mo had left.
Lu Jiuxuan glanced at me and turned to leave.
“Where are you going?” I asked.
He didn't look back. “To check his background.”
I stood still. My palm felt empty, but the warmth remained, as if someone had branded an Imprint there.
I slowly clenched my fist.
Wind blew in from outside, flipping the pages of the deduction booklet. The last line was exposed by the wind, the ink still wet, reading: “On the day the Star Tracks converge, the moment the Soul returns to its Position.”
I reached out to press down the page.
The moment my fingertip touched the ink, a drop of blood slid out from my sleeve and landed on the characters.
The blood did not spread.
It stopped on the paper, like a star unwilling to fall.