Chapter 26: Drunk Again

The dream ended there. Yi Ke opened her eyes, fully awake.
After several days she had dreamed of the moon palace again—of Bai Yanci’s past.
Bai Yanci’s lost love had been named Xi Yue—also a fallen god. And the Qiyang Sword had been Xi Yue’s weapon.
Each dream lately grew clearer—image, sound, and feeling closer to waking life.
Bai Yanci had come back at some point and was busy in the kitchen.
“You’re awake?” Bai Yanci set a finished dish on the table, expectant, voice light. “Try it. How is it?”
A strawberry cake that looked perfect.
She widened her eyes. “You made this yourself?”
Under Bai Yanci’s hopeful gaze she took a fork and tasted carefully.
The cream melted on her tongue—fine sweetness and fresh strawberry. Richer than the little cake from the bakery that day.
“Eat slowly—it’s all yours. As much as you want.” Bai Yanci beamed and brought a cup of milk tea she’d mixed herself. “In the mortal world I heard girls your age love milk tea. I made one—want to try?”
Cake and milk tea—she could open a shop.
Neither was too sweet—exactly how she liked it.
“Sister, with this skill you could run a bakery and sell milk tea on the side—you’d make a fortune.” She teased. “Think about opening a cake shop here? When I graduate I’ll come help.”
“You’re leaving the SI team?”
“The team’s a side job. College is my real job.”
“No interest.” Bai Yanci’s tone was flat. “Humans don’t deserve what I cook.”
She laughed softly. “Sister, I’m human—and you still make cake for me?”
“You’re not like them.” Bai Yanci met her eyes. “Besides, you’re a fallen god, not human. Don’t sell yourself short.”
A small sting of loss. Her voice dropped: “I don’t think being human is bad. It’s not selling myself short.”
She still hadn’t fully accepted being a fallen god. If humans could live long too, being human wouldn’t be so bad.
She understood—the immortal realm had strict ranks. Bai Yanci had grown up in the moon palace, soaked in its rules.
By those rules a fallen god was nobler than an ordinary immortal—let alone a human.
Bai Yanci said nothing. She added, smaller, almost a whisper: “You also said—if I only have a fragment of a fallen god’s soul, my lifespan is still a hundred years. Same as a human.”
She didn’t notice Bai Yanci had already come close.
Bai Yanci lifted a hand and tucked stray hair behind her ear, gentle.
The cool fingertips on her cheek felt suddenly hot—cheeks and ears warming together.
“Ke-ke,” Bai Yanci said softly, “I didn’t explain well just now.”
She looked deep into her eyes. “It’s because it’s you that I’m willing—cake or anything else. Do you understand?”
The words were plain; it took her a long moment to catch the meaning.
The unease lifted. Bai Yanci wasn’t pretending—her gaze was steady and serious.
In her ears it sounded… almost like a perfect line of love.
“Sister,” she asked suddenly, “you knew Xi Yue, didn’t you?”
She watched Bai Yanci’s face carefully afterward and saw not a crack.
“I did. Xi Yue was one of the four great immortals, like me.” Bai Yanci answered at once, calm. “Xi Yue was a fallen god, like you.”
So direct, so open—it was her own heart that felt guilty.
She wanted to ask more but didn’t know what—anything would sound rude or too intimate.
Bai Yanci spoke first: “Why do you ask? How do you know any of this?”
“The dreams.” She told the truth. “Since I met you I’ve sometimes gone to the moon palace in sleep—as a bystander, watching pieces of its past.”
And not random past—everything circled Bai Yanci. She didn’t say that part.
“Dreams…” Bai Yanci’s voice was heavy. “See them and let them go. I don’t want you tied to the moon palace at all. Knowing too much about the moon does you no good.”
“Sister, I have power now. I can face this with you—”
“You don’t understand.” Bai Yanci cut in. “The moon’s ruler is suspicious and cruel. His cultivation is unfathomable—even I can’t gauge it. I was born and raised there; that’s my burden. I won’t have you dragged in because of me.”
“All right.” Soft. “I understand.”
After the Sun-Moon Cup was postponed, Ji Chengfeng spoke for the police on television to reassure the public.
The organizers escaped the worst of the outrage and resumed the competition, posting the rematch schedule online.
Yi Ke spent one night rushing a submission—and unexpectedly passed the first cut into the rematch.
After the judges voted in the rematch, the top ten would go to the venue for the finals.
“After the rematch you have to design a whole new outfit? Another open theme?” Bai Yanci raised a brow. “Have you thought what you’ll do for the finals?”
“The rematch isn’t even settled—why think about finals?” She said it, but she was confident.
This submission had been a burst of inspiration, and with Bai Yanci as her authority-level mentor, making the Sun-Moon Cup finals was certain.
After thinking a long while she said slowly: “For the final theme I still want freedom.”
The idea was too broad—no clear design hook yet.
Bai Yanci laughed. “You’re not planning to reuse that scrapped draft from the preliminary round?”
She shot back at once: “What’s that supposed to mean! I rushed the preliminary piece, but I still put my heart into it!”
After the retort she looked up at Bai Yanci—and inspiration struck.
Bai Yanci had been bound in the moon palace for ages, doing only what the ruler commanded—no sky, no freedom.
The immortal sister was her muse.
She grabbed her tablet and sketched the design in a few strokes.
Bai Yanci leaned in, glanced, and startled: “This is—?”
She smiled. “A moon-palace themed design. How is it?”
“Acceptable.”
If Bai Yanci didn’t frown at her draft, it was more than acceptable.
---
Days passed immersed in the finals design; she barely touched the rematch.
When the draft was done she dragged Bai Yanci to the fabric district—fabrics, trims, bringing the sketch to life, busy and happy.
One day Teacher Wang called, excited on the other end: “Xiao Yi, you took first in the rematch—you and Jiang Ci are in the finals!”
She had speakerphone on. Bai Yanci heard, smiled, thumbs-up, mouthed: Great job.
Teacher Wang went on: “Celebration tonight for you two—same little pub. Don’t be late.”
She thought of last time she’d been drunk and glanced at Bai Yanci, uneasy.
Since that night Bai Yanci’s attitude toward her seemed subtly different.
Most of that night’s memory was gone. She kept worrying she’d done or said something she shouldn’t.
“Don’t drink too much this time.” Bai Yanci sniffed. “Not every time will someone fetch you when you’re wasted.”
She smiled: “Okay, I got it.”
At the pub Teacher Wang had only invited her and Jiang Ci—no one else.
Teacher Wang claimed a thousand cups couldn’t floor him; Jiang Ci was allergic to alcohol—so only she could drink with him.
Remembering Bai Yanci’s warning, when Teacher Wang pushed another round she refused fast: “Teacher, I really can’t.”
Teacher Wang frowned. “We’re celebrating—why not?”
“If I drink too much, the rabbit at home will kill me…”
“Huh?”
Jiang Ci laughed dryly and steered the talk back: “Teacher, she’s already tipsy! She means—if she gets drunk out, her sister won’t let her in the door!”
Teacher Wang still looked puzzled. “But her file says she’s an orphan?”
Orphan? Jiang Ci’s heart skipped—first time she’d heard anything private about Yi Ke.
She kept her face calm and pushed through: “Ah… Teacher, I’ve met her sister! Maybe a cousin from far away!”
When they finally escaped the pub, Jiang Ci grabbed Yi Ke. “Hey—call your sister now. Have her pick you up.”
Yi Ke was drunk but still remembered Bai Yanci’s parting line: If you drink too much, I won’t come get you.
If sister wouldn’t come, she’d go home alone.
She waved at Jiang Ci. “It’s fine. I can get back myself.”
Not convincing.
Jiang Ci watched a drunk weave down a snowy main road, unable to walk a straight line.
“I must’ve owed you in a past life.” Jiang Ci rubbed her forehead. “Where do you live? I’ll take you.”
Who would believe this was SI team leader Yi Ke? Pure drunk.
Jiang Ci finally got the address and called a cab.
In the taxi Jiang Ci asked: “You’re an orphan? How come I never knew?”
“You don’t know a lot of things.” Yi Ke looked up at her. “Jiang Ci—do I look drunk to you?”