Night had begun to descend slowly upon the city when Mo Xuan returned home.
The noise of the festival gradually faded behind her until only distant echoes remained, mingling with the soft whistling of the wind weaving through the narrow alleys.
She stopped before the old wooden door of the house where she lived.
Her hand rested on the handle for a brief moment.
Then she pushed it gently.
The door creaked softly as it opened.
Mo Xuan cast a quick glance inside.
Just as expected.
"No one is here."
She said it in a calm, certain tone, as if she had never needed to check in the first place.
She stepped inside and closed the door behind her.
A faint groan came from the old hinges before the door settled into place.
Silence followed.
A silence completely different from the lively chaos of the festival outside.
A heavy silence, yet strangely comforting.
Mo Xuan removed her outer robe and hung it over the back of the wooden chair near the table.
Then she walked slowly toward the center of the room.
The room itself was extremely simple.
An old wooden table.
A single chair.
And a small oil lamp resting in the corner.
She reached out and lit the lamp.
The flame flickered slightly before stabilizing, casting a warm yellow glow across the table.
Shadows stretched quietly across the silent walls.
Mo Xuan slipped her hand into her sleeve.
Then she pulled out a small pouch.
When she placed it on the table, a faint sound came from the stones rubbing against each other.
She sat down quietly.
But she did not open it immediately.
Instead, she stared at the pouch for several seconds.
As if her mind were reorganizing everything that had happened in the Hall of Fortune.
"One in twenty…"
she murmured to herself.
That was what the merchant had said.
The chance of finding a Shiao inside a stone.
One in twenty.
A faint smile barely appeared on her lips.
Then she added calmly,
"That probability applies to others."
She finally opened the pouch.
Four stones rolled out onto the table.
Rough, uneven stones.
Gray with hints of brown.
At first glance…
There was nothing different about them.
But Mo Xuan was not looking at them the way an ordinary person would.
In her previous life…
She had possessed sharp observation and a terrifyingly precise deductive mind.
Deceiving her had never been easy.
Not even attempting it.
She looked at the four stones and said calmly,
"For me… this is rather simple."
She paused.
Then a small smile spread across her face.
"And if I remember correctly…"
she said while leaning slightly over the table,
"I can store Shiao even without possessing a Shiao Aperture."
One eyebrow lifted slightly.
"It would be unfortunate if the shiao escaped."
She stood up and walked toward a small cabinet in the corner of the room.
She bent down.
Then pulled out a small box hidden carefully behind the wooden panels.
The box was black.
Plain in appearance.
Yet it clearly did not open in any ordinary way.
From her pocket she took out a finely carved copper wire.
She inserted it into a tiny hidden slot.
Then rotated it slowly.
"Trkk…"
A faint mechanical sound came from the lock as it opened.
She lifted the lid.
Inside were several small tools.
Thin metal needles.
Tweezers.
And other strange instruments that a child should not possess.
Mo Xuan looked at them with quiet satisfaction.
"Hmm… good."
Then she added,
"Very good."
She returned to the table.
Picking up the first stone, she held it toward the light.
Her eyes slowly traced its surface.
The tiny cracks.
The texture.
The weight.
Even the faint scent of old mineral dust.
She turned the stone between her fingers several times before placing it aside.
"In the end… just an ordinary stone."
In truth…
When she had been inside the Hall of Fortune, she had not been choosing stones randomly.
When the merchant gave her ten stones…
She broke most of them immediately.
Only the four most suspicious ones remained.
She picked up the second stone.
Examining it under the light once more.
This time…
Her eyes paused.
There was an extremely thin line across its surface.
A faint azure color.
She whispered,
"An azure vein…"
She leaned closer to the lamp.
"Nearly impossible to detect with the naked eye."
She set it aside.
Third.
Fourth.
Silence filled the room.
But it was not the silence of hesitation.
It was the silence of a mind working rapidly.
After several minutes…
Mo Xuan placed the four stones in a line.
She closed her eyes briefly.
Inside her mind…
Memories surfaced.
Books.
Research.
Records about shiao fragments.
Knowledge that did not belong to a child in this world.
She opened her eyes slowly.
Looking at the stones again.
Her hand moved forward.
It hovered above the third stone.
Then shifted slightly…
And picked up the fourth.
She lifted it.
"The outer fractures are slightly deeper."
Then she added,
"And the weight… lighter than expected."
A small smile appeared.
"That means…"
She paused.
"An internal cavity."
She placed the stone down.
Raised her hand.
And struck it with calculated force.
The stone cracked.
Splitting into two halves.
Mo Xuan paused.
Then looked inside.
Within the fracture…
There was something small.
A crystal fragment no larger than a fingernail.
Slightly translucent.
Inside it flowed a thin strand of yellow light.
Her eyes widened slightly.
"I was right."
She exhaled slowly.
Leaning closer.
The yellow thread inside the crystal moved slowly.
"Heh…"
she murmured softly.
"So I actually obtained a Time-Path shiao."
A real smile appeared this time.
"Time-path shiao are rare…"
she said quietly.
"And yet one appeared here."
She observed it carefully.
But soon noticed something.
"It seems weak."
"Low rank."
She shrugged lightly.
"That's fine."
Then she murmured,
"After all…"
"When a shiao senses that it is about to die…"
"It begins to freeze itself within a crystal."
She smiled faintly.
"Just as humans in ancient Egypt preserved bodies as mummies…"
"Waiting for another life."
She lifted the crystal slightly.
"What was the name of this shiao again…"
She paused.
Then remembered.
"River of Existence."
She retrieved an old book from the box.
Flipped through its pages.
Then read quietly,
"River of Existence…"
"A shiao belonging to the Time Path."
"It grants its user the ability to conceal their existence."
"Despite its low rank…"
"It holds considerable value."
She closed the book.
Smiling faintly.
"Even experts would desire it."
Using her tools…
She carefully extracted the shiao.
Slowly.
Precisely.
Finally…
She placed it inside a special container.
And sealed the box tightly.
Mo Xuan exhaled.
"How did I adapt to this world so quickly?"
"Only six months…"
"And yet…"
She looked at her hands.
"I'm already doing this."
But deep inside…
She felt something else.
Something resembling…
Enjoyment.
She sat again.
Thinking.
"The aptitude assessment happens at fifteen."
"That is when people open their shiao Aperture."
She tilted her head slightly.
"But…"
"Can I bypass that?"
Her eyes deepened.
"If my real age were counted…"
she whispered,
"Perhaps I could open it myself."
Suddenly—
"Knock… knock… knock…"
A faint sound came from the door downstairs.
Mo Xuan raised her head slowly.
Her brows knitted slightly.
"Who would come at such a late hour?"
She stood.
Walking down the stairs.
She approached the door and looked through the small crack.
Her eyes narrowed.
"Hm…"
"Isn't that Shui Lan's father?"
Her expression darkened slightly.
"But why is he here?"
She opened the door slowly.
The man looked directly at her.
"Are you Mo Xuan?" he asked in a strange tone.
"Yes."
she replied calmly.
"Do you need something, Uncle?"
The man hesitated.
"Actually… I'm looking for Su Yi."
"Do you know where she is?"
Mo Xuan shook her head.
"No."
Silence lingered.
Then the man quickly added,
"Alright… don't tell anyone I was here."
But before he could finish—
The door had already closed.
Mo Xuan stood behind it.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
"Strange…"
The door clicked softly as the lock settled back into place.
Outside, the man stood for a moment, clearly not expecting it to close so quickly.
But Mo Xuan had already walked away.
Her steps across the wooden floor were quiet.
She returned to the table.
But did not sit.
Instead she stopped in the middle of the room.
Her eyes deepened.
"Shui Lan's father…"
she murmured.
That man was not ordinary.
She recalled his face.
His voice.
The way he had looked at her.
Something about it felt wrong.
She rested a hand on the table.
Then whispered calmly,
"He didn't come looking for Su Yi."
She paused.
"That was only an excuse."
Her mind began rearranging every detail.
The late hour.
The hesitant knocking.
The strange look in his eyes.
And most importantly…
His final words.
"Don't tell anyone I was here."
A faint smile appeared on Mo Xuan's lips.
"If you don't want anyone to know…"
she said quietly,
"then you must be doing something that shouldn't be known."
She walked toward the window.
Lifting the curtain slightly.
The man had already disappeared.
But Mo Xuan was not thinking about him.
She was thinking about possibilities.
"Was he looking for someone?"
"Or for something?"
She paused.
Then glanced toward the table.
Toward the box containing the shiao.
Her eyes narrowed.
Then she laughed softly.
A very small laugh.
"No…"
She shook her head.
"That's impossible."