Shencheng was called the Eastern Magic City. Dreamy, flashy, stupidly prosperous—the kind of place people all over dreamed of making it in. But behind all that glitter and noise, there was always another side, the kind nobody liked to talk about.
North of Jiangdong District.
Once night fell, the streets got crazy lively. This place sat right on the edge between city and countryside, and loads of migrant workers who’d come to Shencheng to hustle gathered here.
A little girl with dry, yellowish hair moved through the crowd. She wore an old red winter jacket that had gone short on her, black pants ripped open at one knee, and two shoes that weren’t even the same color.
On her back hung a torn woven sack, stuffed with the plastic drink bottles she had picked up.
The weak streetlight by the roadside washed her face even paler, a waxy yellow under the dim glow. From her delicate features, still not fully grown in, she looked about six or seven.
Like she always did, the girl passed a tiny Chinese diner by the street.
Inside, a teenage boy was wiping down tables. His name was Desmond Rogers, and every night he came here to work part-time.
Desmond glanced up and immediately spotted the little girl standing outside, staring at him with wide, hungry eyes. He smiled, gentle as ever.
"Lily, you’re here? Hang on a sec."
He grabbed a plastic takeout box, packed up the leftovers from a customer’s table, then hurried over and slipped it into her hands.
"Thank you, Desmond."
The little girl clutched the box and quickly turned away. She was scared the boss might see. If that happened, Desmond would definitely catch hell again.
She walked a long way before finally squatting by the roadside. Then she opened the box and shoveled the leftover food into her mouth, eating fast and hard. To her, this meal was seriously delicious.
After she finished, she hoisted the woven sack back onto her shoulders and, out of habit, wandered to the mouth of a deserted alley. She stood under the streetlamp, spacing out in silence.
The little girl was called Lily.
Ever since she was born, she had no idea who her parents were, or where any family might be.
The only thing that hinted at her identity was the jade thumb ring hanging from a red cord around her neck. Inside the ring, one character was carved: Xi.
When Lily had first come into this world, someone had thrown her into a trash bin.
A childless couple had found her and taken her home. They raised her until she was five. But then, just like that, they had a child of their own, and Lily was abandoned all over again.
So now, Lily survived by scavenging trash, and lived alone in a shack near the garbage dump in the north of the city.
Whenever Lily Ashford picked up bottles or cardboard, she would haul them over to the old grandpa in the alley who bought scrap.
About a year ago, the old man suddenly noticed the jade thumb ring on Lily Ashford’s neck. He said it meant he had fate with her, and asked her to take him as her master.
But he only let Lily Ashford come to his little courtyard at night, where he taught her bit by bit.
So in the daytime, Lily Ashford still roamed around collecting trash like always.
The weird part was, every single night when Lily Ashford stepped into her master’s courtyard, she could feel a special kind of presence there. It wrapped around her whole body, warm and soft, making her feel crazy comfortable. Because of that, even when she studied with her master all night long, she never felt sleepy.
Later, her master told her that was spiritual energy. And apparently, only his little courtyard had it.
Lily Ashford had already been super smart to begin with. On top of that, the spirit-gathering array in the courtyard gave her an extra buff. In just one year, following her master, she learned calligraphy, painting, all kinds of instruments, chess, medicine...
Stuff other people couldn’t finish learning in several lifetimes, Lily Ashford had basically mastered in less than a year.
Half a month ago, her master suddenly started teaching her cultivation.
And then, just last night—
Her master suddenly said, "Lily Ashford, I’ve already taught you everything I should. As for music, chess, calligraphy, and painting, our Lily Ashford has got it totally covered."
"And when it comes to cultivation, you’ve already stepped into the early stage of Qi Refining. From here on out, you’ll have to rely on yourself. You must cultivate hard, okay?"
"Huh?" Lily Ashford froze on the spot, her eyes going wide.
"Master... where are you going?"
"I was never meant to stay here forever. It’s time for me to leave."
It came way too suddenly. Lily Ashford couldn’t process it at all. She threw herself into her master’s arms and burst into tears.
"Master, don’t leave Lily Ashford. Are you abandoning Lily Ashford too?"
Her master was just as reluctant to part with her. His voice turned soft as he said, "The time has come. I can only walk with you this far. Let me leave you a gift."
Then he lifted a finger and tapped Lily Ashford lightly on the forehead.
"Lily Ashford doesn’t want any gift. Lily Ashford just wants to stay with Master."
"Sweetheart, your good days are still ahead," her master said softly. "When you find your family, and when your cultivation improves, you’ll be able to receive the gift I’ve prepared for you."
"But Master, you always say I’ll find my family... where are they?"
Her master gently rubbed Lily Ashford’s head. "Lily, remember this well. As long as you have that jade thumb ring, you will find them one day. And if anyone wants to see it, just let them look."
"Alright. Head back early today."
Before Lily could say another word, a gentle but unstoppable force wrapped around her and eased her right out through the gate.
She was so reluctant to leave. She still had a mountain of things she wanted to say to him. But all she saw was her master lifting a hand in farewell, and then the courtyard door quietly shut.
Lily turned back every few steps as she cried her way out of the alley. By the time she got back to the shack where she lived, she cried until she had no strength left and fell asleep.
And now, without even noticing how she got there, Lily was standing at the mouth of the alley again, blankly staring under the streetlamp.
The moment she thought about yesterday—about how her master had said he was leaving—her nose turned sore, and she wanted to cry all over again.
A wave of unwillingness hit her out of nowhere. No matter what, she wanted to go back and take one more look at her master’s little courtyard.
But when she reached the gate and peeked through the crack, all she saw inside was darkness.
It had only been one single day, yet the walls were already covered in withered weeds. In the cold wind, the whole place looked bleak and empty, like it had lost its soul. Most importantly, Lily could no longer feel even a trace of spiritual energy from inside the courtyard.
So... her master had really left.
Lily sat down by the door, and her tears spilled out again in an instant. But deep down, she knew it. Her master hadn’t abandoned her. He had only gone away.
After staying by his side for so long, she understood that some people only meet because of fate, and when the bond runs its course, they part. She understood the logic... but wow, it still hurt so bad. Like, ridiculously bad.
Just then, she heard a burst of tiny "squeak squeak" sounds.
A little hamster suddenly hopped onto her knee. It raised its tiny paws and kept patting the hand she had resting there, as if trying its best to cheer her up.
"Little hamster... are you comforting me?"
The hamster let out two quick squeaks.
Lily recognized it right away. Back when she studied with her master in the courtyard, this little hamster would often jump onto the stone table and quietly watch from the side, like a tiny audience member who never missed a class.
"Then... would you be willing to stay with Lily from now on?"
The little hamster let out two more squeaky "chee-chee" sounds, then hopped straight into her pocket.
Lily Ashford pushed herself to her feet. All of a sudden, the ache in her chest didn’t feel quite so crushing anymore.
Her master might have left, but he had taught her so much—real stuff, precious stuff. Reading, skills, medicine, cultivation... all of it. And now, she wasn’t completely alone either. She had this tiny little furball with her.
"Little hamster, from now on, I’ll call you Xiaodou, okay?"
One girl and one hamster headed out of the alley together.
When Lily passed the underpass beneath the overpass, she glanced over there out of habit. Two days ago, construction work had busted a water pipe, and the whole area under the bridge had been flooded. Even now, nobody had come to deal with it. No barriers, no warning sign, nothing. It was honestly kind of outrageous.
Lily thought, Good thing barely anyone uses this road.
The thought had just popped into her head when an uncle on an electric scooter came riding over.
Her heart skipped. She rushed right into the middle of the road.
"Uncle! The road ahead is flooded! It’s dangerous!"
The man flicked his eyes over her, then flat-out ignored her.
Lily could only watch as he twisted the throttle and charged straight into the water. The next second, the scooter lurched and plunged forward hard. After quite a while, the man finally crawled up from farther away, soaked all over, dragging the electric scooter behind him like a drowned stray dog.
Lily let out a breath of relief. At least he was alive.
She shook her head and was just about to leave when headlights swept over from up ahead again.
Even an electric scooter couldn’t get through, let alone a car.
Lily instantly panicked. She ran back into the middle of the road and waved both hands with all her might.
