Zheng Qing had heard that magical creatures such as Horse-Men, Minotaurs, and Fairies possessed magical ways of thinking that were entirely different from those of Wizards.

However, no matter how magical they were, the way Luna Huisu greeted him, proposing to give him a foal upon their first meeting, left the young teaching assistant at a loss, frozen in place.

Out of politeness.

Also out of habit.

Even in his daze, he didn’t forget to extend his hand, intending to shake the beautiful ’little hoof’ that was reaching out to him, to maintain a sense of decorum between them.

But a hand from the side interrupted the Warlock’s intention—Jiang Yu grabbed Zheng Qing’s wrist, pulling it toward her, preventing him from accepting that little hoof.

Luna glanced at the Witch again, a trace of displeasure on her face.

"Good evening, Miss Luna."

Jiang Yu wore a friendly expression, her tone cheerful, as if she hadn’t noticed the displeasure on Huisu’s face, nor heard her slightly abrupt and impolite request: "...We met before, didn’t we? At the ball hosted by Miss Buyu last August at the Dark Blue Castle, I remember seeing you that day."

"Dark Blue Castle?"

Luna showed a hint of hesitation. She indeed visited the castle of the Ghost Tribe last August, but whether she had met this Witch, she was uncertain. After all, Wizards’ faces all seemed somewhat similar to Huisu, so she could only vaguely reply, "Hmm, I went with Elder Cai Si last year..."

"What a coincidence..."

Jiang Yu smiled and greeted—fact is, she didn’t remember if she had seen this little hoof last year; maybe they really passed by each other in one of the castle’s corridors, or raised their glasses in a hall. Who knows? The only reason she said this was to interrupt the momentum the little mare had been building.

This old and simple tactic of changing the subject was always very useful.

With this interruption.

Zheng Qing finally came to his senses.

He resisted the strange thought of looking at the little mare’s swaying tail in front of him, his gaze sweeping over the luxurious silk clothes and the beautiful hair accessories on the little brown pony, his expression wooden.

The strong impact of her intention to ’give him a foal’ had not entirely dissipated until now.

If the other party were a Witch from the Centaur Clan, Zheng Qing might have considered the proposal on some level, given the half-human body—of course, this was purely hypothetical and didn’t mean he would really accept, just that there would be a possibility.

But a real horse was absolutely impossible.

One must know that Su Shijun is not truly a fox either! She just can transform into a fox, and to Zheng Qing, who doesn’t care about lineage, Su Shijun turning into a fox is essentially no different from him becoming a black cat.

Just like how if a little she-cat from a Cat Fruit Tree wanted to sniff a black cat’s backside, the only thing Zheng Qing could do was to kick it off the Cat Fruit Tree. This happened a few times every spring.

"...Speaking of Dark Blue Castle, I remembered the story of Little Miss Qian from Mr. Liaozhai’s collection of strange tales," Jiang Yu raised her wine glass: "Little Miss Qian was also from the Ghost Tribe, who was in love with Ning Caichen. Despite enduring many hardships, they finally became a couple and had three children... Do you think this story is good?"

Luna Huisu hadn’t read this story, but her instinct, stemming from her spirituality, told her that her response needed to be very careful.

"Good."

The little mare put down her hoof uneasily, kicking the ground twice, and finally gave her answer.

"Not good."

Jiang Yu shook her head, calmly correcting, "The reason strange tales are just tales is that they are fictional, containing Wizards’ longing for beautiful possibilities in the lines... In fact, I heard another version of the story at the Dark Blue Castle. Little Miss Qian and Ning Caichen fell in love and got married, but since she was a ghost, constantly emitting erosive Yin Attribute Magic, Ning Caichen eventually froze to death in a warm bed."

Luna squinted her eyes slightly.

Huisu’s thinking might be simple, but it didn’t mean she was stupid. On the contrary, because of her straightforward thoughts, she could easily grasp the meaning the Witch wanted to convey.

"Technically speaking, Ning Caichen could transform into a ghost." The little brown mare flicked her tail, glancing quickly at Zheng Qing: "...That way, their marriage might even last longer."

"It’s not about technique, Luna. You need to consider whether Ning Caichen wants to become a ghost. In this world, where most people are alive, no one truly wants to become a ghost and constantly stimulate their bland taste with the strong odor of decay." Jiang Yu looked at Huisu with a faint smile, throwing out another challenge—seeing if she could think from ’Ning Caichen’s’ perspective to find a solution.

Luna looked up, scanning her surroundings.

They were at the edge of the dance floor, yet they attracted more attention than those dancing in the center.

"This is a world with magic, Miss Jiang, and it’s a very inclusive world as well." The brown little mare looked politely at the Witch in front of her, reminding: "...A world where Hybrid Giants, Half-fairies, and even Half-dragon people can be born. As far as I know, the first admissions list of Edge Academy included several Half-Giant students."

Jiang Yu seemed to have something more to say.

Zheng Qing stopped her.

He finally remembered that this was his matter, and not something she should handle.

"Sorry."

Looking into the Witch’s eyes, the Warlock uttered these two words, then turned to the little brown mare and repeated, "Sorry, it’s a pleasure to meet you... May I refuse your request?"

Though it was a very gentle rhetorical question, the Warlock’s firm gaze clearly expressed his stance.

Luna immediately realized that if she continued entangling now, the response she would receive might be even worse. So, after a moment of hesitation, she simply flicked her tail and nonchalantly replied, "Of course, having a foal isn’t something that happens overnight. I have the right to pursue, and you naturally have the right to evade... but evasion doesn’t solve the problem."

Her wording was typical ’Huisu’.

With that, without waiting for the Warlock to decipher, she trotted off the dance floor with a light step. The other few large horses lingering around hesitated, glanced at Zheng Qing, and eventually chose to follow the little brown mare’s departure.

Zheng Qing sighed.

"Next time, I’ll be more resolute." He turned to Jiang Yu and said very seriously, "This sort of thing shouldn’t be yours to handle. My mistake. There won’t be a next time."

The Witch smiled softly, saying nothing, only quietly squeezing his hand.