“That young lady seems quite happy today, and her temper isn’t all moody anymore. Did her lover coax her into a good mood?”

“What are you talking about! I heard that young lady hired people to catch several little birds. Not to keep them, but to pluck their feathers. Tsk tsk, how cruel! I was the one who had to dispose of the bird corpses. To dare do such things in a Taoist temple—it’s sinful…”

“For no reason at all, why pluck their feathers?”

“You said it’s to make that kind of jewelry called kingfisher work. I caught a glimpse once—those feathers really were quite beautiful, turquoise blue, and some soft feathers were snow-blue. Put together, they’d definitely be extremely beautiful.”

Lu Qiao, standing under the corridor, heard this and thought of Qing Yu, who had flown out early in the morning and hadn’t returned. She finally couldn’t help walking out and anxiously asking: “Auntie, could you tell me more details?”

Those two old women were gossipy by nature, and now that someone rarely came to listen, they enthusiastically chattered back and forth, but without any useful key points. The more Lu Qiao listened, the more anxious she became, wanting nothing more than to rush to her young lady and demand answers. She really shouldn’t have been so careless. Qing Yu was originally a free life that couldn’t be domesticated by humans. Now that it was accustomed to her kindness, it surely wouldn’t be too wary when encountering humans. And Qing Yu had such beautiful feathers—possessing such treasure brought guilt… The more Lu Qiao thought about it, the more frightened she became. She quickly bid farewell to the two gossipy old women and rushed into Xuanji Studio to question her young lady. Just as she reached the door, she heard her young lady inside entertaining craftsmen from the jewelry shop, their conversation faintly drifting out.

“…What did you say? These feathers aren’t enough to make one hairpin? Are these feathers not up to kingfisher work standards? The colors and texture are so similar!” This was her young lady’s exasperated voice.

“These feathers are indeed taken from kingfishers. Although I don’t know why kingfishers appeared in this area, the rarity of kingfisher work isn’t just because kingfishers are scarce, but also because the difficulty of catching kingfishers without damaging the feathers is extremely high,” the jewelry shop craftsman said with feeling. “Kingfishers are naturally small in build. Among all the colored feathers in the world, the most precious turquoise blue hard feathers are only ten on each wing and eight on the tail. The snow-blue soft feathers are only the down around the neck that can be used. If the catching method is rough and causes the kingfisher to struggle and shed feathers, there will be even fewer usable kingfisher feathers.”

“…Then these feathers can’t make anything at all?”

“That’s not the case. Mainly, hairpins are inserted into hair buns, so the requirements for kingfisher feathers are very high—they must be made from several complete kingfisher feathers. Of course, if making a not-very-large kingfisher feather hairpin, suitable ones can still be selected from these feathers. As for other damaged kingfisher feathers, they can still be inlaid on skirt hems as decoration. Since they won’t be examined closely, the effect will still be quite good.”

The room fell silent, clearly Yu Xuanji was hesitating and choosing.

With this delay, Lu Qiao also lost the courage to go in and question her. She bit her lower lip, analyzing the information from the conversation she’d just heard. It sounded like her young lady had sent people to catch more than one kingfisher. Qing Yu was so clever, it surely wouldn’t be caught! Lu Qiao wrung her fingers, hesitated for a long while, and decided to go back to her room to check. She tiptoed back to her side room and found that the small fish she had prepared for Qing Yu in the morning was still on the windowsill, with no signs of being eaten by a bird. Instead, because too much time had passed, it was crawling with ants.

“Qing Yu? Qing Yu?” Lu Qiao finally couldn’t help calling softly. The sun was already setting in the west, and night wind was rising. If it were usual, Qing Yu would have flown back long ago.

From childhood to adulthood, Lu Qiao had never truly liked anything. Whether handsome men or brilliant jewels, for a humble maid like her, they were like flowers in a mirror or the moon in water—visible but unreachable. So she couldn’t understand why her young lady would become crazy because of liking something.

But ever since keeping Qing Yu and taking responsibility for that small life, she knew what liking meant. Liking was a feeling of wanting to possess, a desire unable to leave, a constant concern.

She really didn’t dare imagine if Qing Yu were caught…

Lu Qiao’s voice began to tremble, but fortunately, just after she called a few times, a small blue figure rushed in and buried itself in her arms.

Lu Qiao’s heart, which had nearly jumped out of her throat, fell back down as she hugged the little kingfisher tightly. After this feeling of loss and recovery calmed down, Lu Qiao began to worry about what to do. Given her young lady’s almost obsessive madness for kingfisher feather jewelry, she definitely couldn’t keep Qing Yu anymore. But how could she communicate with Qing Yu to make it fly far away and never come back? Or perhaps in a few days, find an excuse to go on a long journey, taking Qing Yu along, and then choose a place to release it?

But… winter was gradually approaching, and whether this little one could take care of itself… Lu Qiao could feel Qing Yu in her palm restlessly burrowing around. Just as she was thinking about how to comfort Qing Yu’s emotions, she heard the sound of a door opening.

Her young lady was gracefully entering the room, laughing smugly: “Worthy of being my good Lu Qiao, knowing what I like.”

Lu Qiao’s whole body shuddered. Just as she was about to let go and throw Qing Yu out the window, she heard a “clang”—the window was firmly shut from outside.

Qing Yu lay dying in the cage, purely from starvation.

The cage holding it was made of cotton and hemp rope, fine and dense, sturdy yet wouldn’t hurt its wings when it crashed against it. It knew it was about to die, and after death, its feathers would be plucked and worn on that hateful human female’s head as decoration for showing off! If that human female hadn’t wanted to try keeping it, it might have been plucked alive long ago.

But how could it live ignominiously? It knew its mother and siblings had all been killed by that human female!

Hateful! It truly regretted not listening to its mother’s words. Humans were indeed all terrifying. But not all humans were terrifying.

Qing Yu struggled to open its eyes, looking out through the gaps in the cotton and hemp rope, weakly watching that hateful human female whipping its servant. Just because its servant had tried to let it escape. The force of the whip and the bloodstains it created made Qing Yu feel dizzy just watching. No, if this continued, its servant would be beaten to death!

“You lowly slave! Knowing this young lady likes kingfisher work, you actually hid a kingfisher and didn’t turn it in. Speak! What exactly are you thinking?”

…What? Why could it suddenly understand the language between humans?

“Speak! Are you still not giving up on my Young Master Wei? Wanting to keep that kingfisher to make kingfisher jewelry yourself to seduce Young Master Wei?”

“Young lady, it’s not… it’s not like that… please let Qing Yu go! It’s a living creature—how can you bear it, young lady…”

“I like it! It’s just a bird. Since it doesn’t know what’s good for it, making it into jewelry isn’t bad either. The feathers on its body are even more beautiful than those I obtained. The jewelry master said they’re enough to make a top-grade kingfisher feather hairpin. Don’t worry, it will live forever as a kingfisher feather hairpin.”

“Young lady… please spare Qing Yu…”

“You actually don’t put me in your eyes for the sake of a bird? What use are you!”

The sounds of whipping and pleading rose and fell alternately. Before long, the pleading gradually quieted down and finally fell silent.

All the strength in Qing Yu’s body could only allow it to slightly move its wings. Never mind saving its servant—it didn’t even have the power to break free from this cage.

Humans were truly terrifying. For a trivial reason, they could not only harm other living beings but also casually torture and kill their own kind.

Liking was truly the most cruel two words in this world.

As if having these two words provided the most perfect excuse.

Using liking as justification, one could do all kinds of cruel things…

So hateful… If it hadn’t coveted the warmth of that palm, if it hadn’t flown back seeking comfort because it couldn’t find its mother and siblings and was afraid, perhaps its servant wouldn’t have died.

So hateful… Qing Yu couldn’t see that its black eyes were gradually being dyed red by the blood color of hatred.

What pure and sweet hatred…

Qing Yu didn’t know where this voice came from, because the human female outside the cage obviously hadn’t heard it and was arranging for servants to carry away Lu Qiao, who had been whipped to death.

Some people’s liking is plunder. Some people’s liking is devotion.

Yes… its servant’s liking for it was devotion… But so hateful…

Do you want revenge?

Yes… Qing Yu answered hatefully in its heart. It wanted revenge! Revenge for its mother and siblings! Revenge for its servant!

Even if your soul will be trapped? Even if you become a cursed evil entity? Even if you can never again be touched by the person you want to see?

Yes! Qing Yu answered without hesitation. Having reached this point, what else could it hope for?

Very good. The contract is established.

In the deep night museum, even the chattering antiques had all returned to silence.

The inorganic cold fluorescent light at the top of the display case glowed faintly, making the colors of the kingfisher feather hairpin on the black velvet appear even more bewitchingly beautiful.

Qing Yu, as usual, silently watched its reflection cast on the display case glass—a strange and incomplete beauty.

It thought again of today during the day, the young woman who had stood here silently from dawn until the museum closed. Its servant still liked it as before, despite its changed form.

Back then, after it died, it was made into a kingfisher feather hairpin.

This kingfisher feather hairpin became Yu Xuanji’s new favorite, but the hairpin condensed with all its hatred would make whoever wore it no longer be liked by anyone.

Soon, Yu Xuanji was abandoned by all her lovers, becoming universally despised. Someone reported her evil deeds, and Lu Qiao’s corpse was also dug up under the wisteria flowers in the backyard of Xuanji Studio. With both human and material evidence complete, even the prefect who had once adored her no longer showed her mercy.

Yu Xuanji was quickly sentenced to death, to be executed after autumn.

Its revenge was finally achieved, but the curse on the kingfisher feather hairpin was not dissolved. Each of its subsequent owners was no longer liked by anyone and met bad ends. Finally, it was buried with its last owner in a tomb.

In the underground darkness without sun or sky, it had prayed to that unknown demon for a thousand years before finally seeing its servant again.

Do you regret it? Don’t you want me to let you return to her side?

No need. It would only bring her misfortune anyway.

Even if it missed the warmth of her palm, it absolutely couldn’t.

It liked her, very much, but there was no need to let her know.

Boring.

The cold fluorescent light at the top flickered twice and suddenly went dark.

After taking Tang Yuan to the museum for a whole day yesterday, the doctor had also bought some museum souvenirs and books. Today after work, he took time to organize his bookshelf, planning to make some space for these things.

Then behind a medical dictionary, he found a shuttlecock made with beautiful feathers. This shuttlecock had both turquoise blue and bright red colors, and didn’t look like cheap dyed feathers at all. It was completely comparable to the level of the kingfisher feather hairpin seen at the museum, making one’s eyes light up at first glance, wanting to cup it in one’s palm and play with it. But it had been wastefully made into a shuttlecock—the kind you could kick…

Strange, when had he gotten these feathers? The lab animals at medical school were usually white mice or white rabbits—when had there been birds? And the old coin under this shuttlecock seemed quite aged too…

Before the doctor could recall properly, Tang Yuan came running in with a newspaper. The doctor quickly put the shuttlecock back, afraid Tang Yuan would see it and insist on playing with it, meeting a tragic end.

“Uncle! That kingfisher feather hairpin we saw at the museum yesterday was stolen!” Tang Yuan shouted as if the world weren’t chaotic enough, his tone suggesting he was gloating.

“Huh?” The doctor took the newspaper in surprise and found that the reporter hadn’t dug up any details either. It just said that today was supposed to be Monday when the museum was closed, but when security came to work, they discovered the kingfisher feather hairpin had disappeared. Strangely, the glass case showed no damage and no alarms had been triggered, so police suspected it was theft by museum internal personnel.

“Uncle, do you think this was Phantom Thief Kid’s work?” Tang Yuan had been watching anime lately and was full of wild ideas.

“Nonsense.” The doctor only treated this as ordinary news and didn’t take it seriously.

“Ah, speaking of which, it’s fortunate we went to the museum yesterday, otherwise we wouldn’t have been able to see that kingfisher feather hairpin!” Tang Yuan paused, remembering how the little white snake had kept its distance from that kingfisher feather hairpin yesterday—thinking about it now seemed rather strange. “Uncle, you took so many photos of antiques yesterday—did you photograph this kingfisher feather hairpin?”

“No.” The doctor recalled his feelings yesterday after learning how kingfisher feather hairpins were made, frowning as he shoved the dictionary back onto the bookshelf.

It seemed… he had once kept a turquoise-colored little bird before…

But there were no bird cages, perches, or bird food at home, so it should… be his imagination…

The doctor’s efforts! Quickly remember!