Upon hearing the witch’s final words, Zheng Qing’s heart skipped a beat. The suggestion made by the elder wizards on the Magic Stage earlier echoed in his ears again. He subconsciously tugged at his sleeve.

"Hmm, speaking of those talismans..."

The warlock mumbled, testing the waters with a vague tone, "I heard that achieving a high score on the Magic Stage might earn you some invitations? Do you know anything about that?"

"Just heard?" Jiang Yu glanced at him with a teasing smile.

Zheng Qing shifted his eyes guiltily and coughed heavily before honestly pulling out a thick stack of invitations from his sleeve.

"Quite the haul you’ve got there."

The witch took the invitations, flipped through them casually, and her lips curled into a slight smile: "Let me see, hmm, O’Brien Family, Black Family, Hongnong Yang Family, Zhou Family of Shaoxing...Wow, even the Tianmen Zhang sent you an invite. Zhang Ji Xin treats you as a brother, yet you plan to be his little uncle?"

She shot the warlock a sidelong glance.

Zheng Qing shook his head like a rattle drum.

The witch didn’t continue to look into the specifics of the invitations. She gently rubbed her fingers together, igniting a real flame at her fingertips, reducing them to a pile of ash: "...The biggest concern for wizarding families is the lack of successors, so during hunting parties like those at Shanglin Garden, every family will extend an olive branch to interested ’new blood’... Though it doesn’t necessarily mean they want you to breed."

Listening to Jiang Yu casually say such ’beastly words,’ Zheng Qing was taken aback. He almost choked on his own saliva.

The witch turned a blind eye to it.

"...But whether it’s a consultant, a retainer, or a worshipper—these roles with different names but similar obligations are meaningless to you."

Saying this, she took the warlock by the arm again, straightening up as they continued along the winding, quiet path: "Just like the terms in those invitations. What they can offer, my family can provide; what they can’t offer, my family can also provide. Even what my family can’t temporarily provide, the Qingqiu Family can... So, you don’t need these things."

Her attitude seemed a bit domineering.

Yet Zheng Qing didn’t feel any resentment, only thinking that she spoke the truth.

Only the phrase ’the Qingqiu Family can also provide’ seemed abrupt, making him sneak a glance at her, trying to decipher the deeper meaning behind her words.

Perhaps sensing the boy’s gaze, the witch turned her head, looking at him warmly: "Are you wondering what my family can’t temporarily provide that the Qingqiu Family can, right?"

"Uh-huh, huh?" Zheng Qing nodded twice before realizing what she said, quickly shaking his head in denial: "No, no, I wasn’t thinking like that..."

"It’s no harm telling you."

Jiang Yu pursed her lips, seemingly indifferent to the boy’s caution: "...At the very least, ’the most beautiful woman in the wizard world’ and ’a little fox closely related to you,’ my family can’t temporarily offer."

Zheng Qing took a gentle breath, inexplicably feeling a toothache.

He just felt that the witch beside him was wholly different from usual, as though the quiet, secluded environment emboldened her, giving her a mischievous air.

Perhaps the witch also felt something amiss, changing the subject to the events on the Magic Stage earlier: "Speaking of which, what were you thinking before, rushing onto the Magic Stage recklessly and interrupting someone else’s challenge match!"

Though there was some reproach in her words, the joyful tone was unmistakably clear.

Zheng Qing knew this time it worked in his favor.

"I just saw you in danger and didn’t think much."

He rubbed the back of his head, replying honestly: "You weren’t down there, you didn’t see how dangerous it was, so many fire serpents were crawling over you as if crazy, the entire Magic Stage seemed to be on fire, the air so distorted from the heat, I could barely breathe even across a lake!"

His description wasn’t exaggerated at all.

Just recalling the scene in his mind, he knew he would rush in again if he saw such a situation next time.

The witch turned her face to look at him gently, though her words made Zheng Qing stop rubbing the back of his head.

"Don’t trust any fox, they are all big liars."

She seemed to be talking about what happened on the Magic Stage, but also hinted at other things: "Especially the fox race from Tu Mountain, also very skilled in illusion techniques... Coincidentally, light and shadow can easily create illusions, so be particularly careful of the scenes you see in the firelight, don’t be easily deceived! Didn’t Professor Yi repeatedly emphasize in Divination Class to be cautious of the scenes seen in the firelight?"

Zheng Qing analyzed her words meticulously.

In the end, he was sure the witch was talking about more than just the Tu Shan Clan’s foxes being good at illusion techniques.

Pop!

In the distance, outside the grove, it seemed a few more fireworks were rising into the sky.

This time, neither of them looked back.

Because the ancient castle at the end of the path was getting closer, seemingly like a giant toad squatting on the hill, greedily swallowing every passerby.

"...The order on stage during the day doesn’t seem to be arranged by the strokes of the surname or the initial letters of the pinyin?"

Zheng Qing felt as if there was an endless conversation between them, each question ending only to lead to another more interesting topic.

"Of course not."

Jiang Yu gave him a surprised look: "Ordering by surname strokes? That’s funny! Wouldn’t that level the status of big clans and small clans? The order for performing magic is decided by clan prestige, seniority, age, strength, and other factors by the clan elders on-site. Of course, just like with your turn and Tu Mountain, it often doesn’t strictly follow the order of the roster..."

The two exchanged words, each syllable shortening the distance between them and the ancient castle.

The shrubs along the side of the path grew more orderly, fewer flowers and plants by the roadside, the path beginning to show sparsely scattered pebbles, then neatly arranged pebbles, then blue stone slabs and flower beds, stone Houdou and stone deer, and low tree men trudging along tending the lawn.

Finally, the path reached its end, and the two stood beneath a tower at the side of the ancient castle.

"Alright, it’s about time, I really should go prepare dinner now... You certainly don’t want to attend the ball hungry later, right?"

Jiang Yu said half-jokingly, letting go of the warlock’s arm, straightening his collar, and dusting off non-existent dust from his shoulders, suggesting: "There are a lot of strangers on the island, don’t wander around aimlessly. If you’re really bored, you can go play with Damao at Fallen Dragon Rock... Of course, if you find the smell at Fallen Dragon Rock unpleasant, you can also go play with Vivian."

Zheng Qing inexplicably felt this ’suggestion’ seemed more like some kind of subtle ’warning.’

"No need, I’m not bored at all."

He righteously rejected the witch’s suggestion, looked up at the ancient castle in front of him, and added: "...This ancient castle seems pretty worth exploring... I could easily spend an entire afternoon here by myself!"