Amber

This was Chen Miaomiao’s third day in Sixiang City.

At City Hall, the Emergency Special Operations Team had not gone off duty for three days.

The team was led by Commander Sun, with Director Jia as deputy leader. Among its members were several auxiliary Mystics whose abilities focused on earthquake resistance, bomb disposal, and firefighting.

Xi, the Fire Department’s consultant, had not escaped either. As the most efficient firefighter in the city, she had been kept from going home for three days.

These people were not wasting their time. The city and its outskirts had truly been “lively” these past three days.

Chen Miaomiao was not deliberately trying to cause destruction. Her [Mystery] was related to “explosions.” She did not actively throw out explosives; rather, depending on her mood, various objects around her would spontaneously explode.

When she was happy, red objects exploded.

When she was sad, blue objects exploded.

When she was excited, yellow objects exploded.

When she was angry, objects of any color might explode.

This was because she was simply too powerful. Her [Mystery] ability had nearly become conceptualized, causing the things around her to undergo a strange mutation.

It sounded somewhat like a passive ability possessed by an anomaly. The difference was that Chen Miaomiao could actively control it. Most explosions happened because she became distracted while thinking about something and forgot to control or suppress her power.

For that reason, Chen Miaomiao disliked staying in one place for too long. She also disliked staying in crowded cities.

South District, Building 1803.

“Chen Miaomiao, why have you stuck four-leaf clover pictures all over the house? Tell me—were you also the one who put all those pictures on my schoolbag and book covers when I was in school?” Chen Miemie glared at her suspiciously.

“Yes, that was all me.” Chen Miaomiao did not try to hide it in the slightest.

“Why did you do that?”

“Didn’t you notice? Places with lucky four-leaf clovers on them won’t explode, and my bombs won’t hurt you either.”

The anomalies had discovered this long ago.

Once, Chen Miemie and Chen Miaomiao had gone out of the city to “play,” and Chen Miaomiao had cheerfully given Chen Miemie a large batch of bombs.

Every time one exploded, the anomalies were sent tumbling head over heels. Yet Chen Miemie, standing right in front of the blast, was never harmed in the slightest. Every shock wave and flying fragment seemed to miss him by sheer luck.

Chen Miemie immediately found the four-leaf clover patterns around the house much more pleasing to the eye. After all, he had only just finished renovating the place. He could not let it get blown up.

Chen Miaomiao was someone even the anomalies wanted to avoid.

Of course, not every anomaly avoided her. Formaldehyde, for one, liked Chen Miaomiao very much.

It was not afraid of explosions, and it loved the irritating gases produced by them.

Tonight was Eternal Moon Night.

It was also Chen Miaomiao’s last night in Sixiang City.

“Eh? Why do I feel like all the anomalies have gotten stronger? Some of them seem several times stronger than before.” Chen Miaomiao looked at the anomalies in the house in surprise.

“What’s so strange about that? The dependents of the Eternal Moon are bound to become stronger during Eternal Moon Night.”

Chen Miaomiao accepted this explanation without hesitation. “That’s great. I wish I could suddenly become stronger during certain times too.”

“Unfortunately, you aren’t an anomaly, so you can’t.”

Chen Miaomiao was special to Chen Miemie. He did not want to draw her into [The Moon Endures].

“I’m going out for a while. I can sense that the ingredient I gave that young archwitch has been used. She should be making a major move tonight.”

Chen Miemie nodded. He had sensed it as well.

Mian Ruyan had seemed distracted throughout the day, occasionally muttering, “That idiot [Amber].”

Chen Miaomiao left the house.

Chen Miemie, meanwhile, had Origami bring out his [Sleeper’s Embrace], then flopped onto it.

No matter how many times he experienced it, the view from high above never failed to fascinate Chen Miemie.

He cast his gaze over Sixiang City.

The moonlight across the entire city seemed to have brightened slightly.

Chen Miemie steadily zoomed in on the map and soon found [Amber].

It was a small valley—a secret outpost belonging to the Mian family, originally intended for temporary refuge outside the city.

[Amber] stood at the lowest point of the valley.

Before her was a large cauldron. She tossed bizarre materials into it one after another while stirring rapidly.

Before long, an entire cauldron of thick, ocher-colored liquid had taken shape.

This was one of the differences between humans and witches when advancing.

For a human to advance from [Mystery] 5 to [Mystery] 6, they needed materials with an extremely high degree of compatibility, a ritual, and a [Blessing].

Witches likewise needed materials with an extremely high degree of compatibility and a [Blessing]. Compared to the strange and varied rituals used by humans, witches instead needed to refine their own unique potions.

In truth, there was no difference. For witches, refining a potion was itself a ritual.

At the edge of the valley in the distance stood several silent figures.

They were Mian Zhiyao and Mian Ruyan of the Mian family; Archaeologist Vera; the witch Distillation; and Chen Miaomiao.

[Amber]’s potion-making technique was extremely practiced. Clearly, she had trained until her movements were flawless.

Soon, the potion was complete.

She held the potion in one hand and the prepared anomalous material in the other. Then she closed her eyes and held her breath.

After a long while, she restored herself to her best possible condition and opened her eyes.

She called out toward the people in the distance:

“Archwitch Chen Miaomiao, Distillation—tonight, I, Amber, Seventh Seat of the Tea Party, will attempt to break through to [Mystery] 6. With the two of you as witnesses, I hereby declare that I am too young and have no descendants. Should I fail and die, please take my seat back to the witch who was formerly the First Seat, [Chenpi], and have her choose my successor.”

“Chen Miaomiao, Third Seat of the Tea Party, hereby bears witness to this act and these words.”

“High-ranking witch Distillation hereby bears witness to this act and these words.”

[Amber] glanced once more at the three members of the Mian family.

She had already said everything that needed to be said before coming here. She did not say anything more, merely allowing her gaze to linger on Mian Ruyan for a long while.

Then she withdrew her eyes and swallowed the entire tube of potion in one gulp.

At the same time, she stuffed the anomalous material into her mouth. It was an insect specimen that looked extremely ancient.

The advancement ritual began.

[Amber]’s entire body began to melt like wax.

Amber was the fossilized resin of pine and cypress trees. Buried underground for tens of thousands of years, it could preserve plants, animals, and time itself if tiny creatures such as insects happened to be trapped inside the resin.

[Amber] melted herself with remarkable evenness and slowness. Clearly, her control over her power was extremely precise.

She was in her best condition, had accumulated strength for a long time, possessed the most suitable material, and had prepared a potion of the highest quality. [Amber] had done everything she possibly could.

Everything was ready.

All that remained was the [Blessing].

[Amber] did everything in her power to slow the rate at which she melted. She could only advance and survive if she received the [Blessing] before she completely melted into a puddle of resin.

Time passed bit by bit.

Given [Amber]’s control, she should have been able to hold on for about an hour.

But twenty minutes after the advancement began, something unexpected happened.

The insect specimen serving as the advancement material could not withstand the force of the melting. It dissolved completely.

“It’s over!”

[Amber] understood perfectly that she had already failed.

It was not her fault. She had done everything she could. However, the anomalous material could only be used once, making it impossible to accurately estimate how long it would last.

That material had become the shortest plank in the barrel of her path to advancement—the weakest link that had doomed the entire attempt.

Unfortunately, by the time they realized it, it was already too late.

[Distillation] let out a sigh.

Mian Zhiyao’s eyes reddened, while tears glimmered at the corners of [Archaeologist] Vera’s eyes.

Only Mian Ruyan, whose strength and experience were the weakest, failed to understand what was happening.

She didn’t understand advancement, but she could read her father’s and Vera’s reactions. Two little pearls of tears immediately rolled down her cheeks.

[Amber] gave up trying to slow the rate at which her body was melting and exchanged one last look with everyone.

Mian Ruyan stared wide-eyed at her older sister—the one she had never gotten along with since childhood, whose tongue was the sharpest, but who had always protected her.

The moment their eyes met, Mian Ruyan suddenly remembered what had happened at noon that day.

At the time, they had been in Room 1803.

Mian Ruyan had prepared a whole table of dishes. The oddities were eating happily, while she and Chen Miemie sat off to the side gnawing on chicken legs.

Chen Miemie looked at the lively, bustling hall, clearly in high spirits.

“Mian Ruyan, they’ve been much happier since you joined us. You’ve done a good job.”

“It’s rare for you to praise me. But it’s nothing special. Once you get familiar with them, they become your friends too.”

Chen Miemie stared at Mian Ruyan for a long while. He rummaged around in his pocket, then finally pulled out a tiny fragment no bigger than a fingernail.

“Here.”

“What is this?” Mian Ruyan couldn’t tell what the little stone fragment was at all.

“That’s your salary for the next five years. You’ve been performing pretty well, so I’m paying you in advance.”

Mian Ruyan only wanted to beat Chen Miemie senseless. “You’re certainly generous. How am I supposed to use this?”

“That depends on you. You can use it whenever you think it’s needed.”

Mian Ruyan shook her head and snapped out of her daze. Before her were [Amber]’s farewell eyes.

She raised her five years’ wages high into the air and, struck by a sudden flash of inspiration, shouted, “Quick, switch to this!”

Before anyone else could react, Chen Miaomiao responded with lightning speed, extending a finger and pointing from afar.

A force hurled the tiny stone fragment from Mian Ruyan’s hand into [Amber]’s melting body.

Mian Zhiyao and Vera shouted almost simultaneously, “What is that?”

[Distillation] also cast a puzzled look her way.

“I don’t know either...” Before Mian Ruyan could finish explaining, the yellow moonlight around them suddenly blazed brighter.

The witch [Amber] had received the Evermoon’s blessing.

“The light of the Evermoon is like resin, while [Amber] herself is that little insect. This is what true amber is,” Chen Miaomiao murmured in a low voice.