On the morning of August 21st, Lin Xingshi and Zhou Jiuya walked along the wooden corridor of the mansion.

One of them slightly nodded, undoing the long braid behind her head, while the other tucked his hands into the pockets of his Zhongshan suit, looking up, gazing at the wavering shadows of trees on the ceiling.

Following the shadows outward, they saw a row of osmanthus and ginkgo trees planted in the yard. When the sea breeze blew, the branches rustled, and the emerald green of the osmanthus and the golden yellow of the ginkgo danced together in the wind.

"Old Crow, what did the Gu Family say?" Lin Xingshi asked.

Zhou Jiuya replied, "That guy Zhuge Hui played a little trick. After agreeing with the Gu Family, he told President Su Wei about the Gu Family father and son's plans to deal with the White Crow Travel Brigade. Once the President hears about it, he'll most likely come over and join them in intercepting the brigade."

"Hmm... Why do I feel like their family foundation rivals that of our Lake Hunting Clan?"

"Captain, could you stop saying such funny things; they're not even on the same level."

"Alright, alright."

"So... the friend you mentioned in the office earlier, who exactly is it?" Zhou Jiuya yawned and changed the subject.

"What's there to worry about? Are all you antique dealers this gossip-hungry?"

Lin Xingshi replied casually, undoing her long braid, letting a bunch of fiery red hair fall like a waterfall, scattered behind her head. Then she gently shook her head, letting her long hair spread out.

Her hairstyle was already quite peculiar, but when it was let down, it was even more special—black medium-length hair at the front and a cascade of fiery red hair at the back, extending down to her waist, swaying slightly in the sea breeze and sunlight.

"Old Lion, you usually speak your mind, don't you?" Zhou Jiuya said coldly, "How rare to see you being coy. What, are you acting like a woman now?"

"What are you saying? Aren't I a woman?" Lin Xingshi said lightly, elbowing his arm, "What, looking down on the world's number one Exorcist?"

"So, what are you hiding? You've seemed distracted these past few days."

"Well..."

Lin Xingshi murmured to herself, as suddenly a purple-red lion shadow flashed in her mind; with a battle against the Year Beast Monarch imminent, she wasn't sure if that shadow from her memories would appear during the fight...

Because these days, her thoughts had been filled with memories of that summer many years ago... two runaway children, the smuggling ship, the old apartment, the starlight from the rooftop, the neon and hustle that didn't belong to them.

"I didn't expect our captain to have someone she finds hard to talk about, it's truly rare." Zhou Jiuya said, with emotion.

Lin Xingshi shrugged, indifferent, "Say what you want."

"Is it a man or a woman?" Zhou Jiuya pondered for a moment, then asked.

He asked because he wasn't sure of the captain's sexual orientation, especially since Lin Xingshi was raised by the family as male from childhood, and she had never shown interest in men.

Lin Xingshi thought for a while, then suddenly spoke up.

"Male." She said earnestly, her tone not like she was joking.

Zhou Jiuya fell silent.

After a while, he turned his light gold eyes to Lin Xingshi's eyes. Lin Xingshi also turned her head, playfully meeting his gaze.

"... Captain, this is a bit bizarre." Zhou Jiuya said after a moment of silence, raising a hand to rub his forehead.

"Is it so bad?" Lin Xingshi slightly raised the corners of her mouth. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Zhou Jiuya avoided Lin Xingshi's gaze, sighing, "So what's the origin of this male?"

"Well... to be precise, it's less of a romantic entanglement and more like I feel he's... my brother?" Lin Xingshi thought for a moment, then said.

"The time when you ran away from home?" Zhou Jiuya folded his arms, expressionless, "I remember you seemed to have left for about half a year, the whole Lin Family was in chaos, not to mention you disappeared simultaneously with the Child of the Year Beast, the situation blew up, causing panic."

Lin Xingshi nodded, "To be honest, when I look back on that time, it still feels surreal..."

"Why?"

She said softly, "It always feels like perhaps that was the only time in my life I was truly free."

"Only 19 years old and acting all artsy and sentimental," Zhou Jiuya said lightly, "don't end up like Old Hui, getting accused of having an old man vibe."

"By the time I retire, I'll be old, no chance for artsiness or sentiment then."

"That's true." Zhou Jiuya thought for a moment, then suddenly asked, "So on that smuggling ship, you really didn't recognize the child was the Child of the Year Beast?"

Lin Xingshi paused, then was silent for a moment before shaking her head and laughing softly.

"Of course not, otherwise I'd have killed it with one hand." She joked, "Don't be like those old men from my family, relentlessly scolding me... they all suspected I'd killed the Child of the Year Beast; if only I had had the ability to do that then."

After speaking, she casually stretched, then crossed her arms.

"Oh, but it's not easy... a living Demon disguised as a human before you, and you didn't recognize it, how oblivious can one be?" Zhou Jiuya mocked.

"After all, I was only eight years old then, what can you expect an eight-year-old child to do?" Lin Xingshi asked lightly.

"But you were our world's greatest celestial genius, awakening the Celestial Driver at the age of four."

"Great celestial genius isn't human? You were playing with mud at eight, Mr. Antique, remember when I was four and those little girls bullied you, and I chased them away, don't you?"