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."