Qin Suyi’s first memory was a sliver of blue.

The blue sea made a sound as the waves brushed against her feet. A young Hata Sougoromo was standing by water's edge

I don't know why, but every time she remembers the sight makes her happy.

I lower my head to see soft sand and white waves. Looking up, there's a blue sky with clouds in the distance...

Someone seemed to be talking nearby, and I could hear their voices. But Qin Suyi didn't turn around

A strange sound surprised the seagulls, and their wings slowly fell.

My master came up behind me, lifted her to my feet and took us home.

Master’s sleeve was dyed red, but his arm felt very warm.

Being in this person's arms makes me feel calm.

Qin Suyi no longer remembers what happened before that.

That year, the Sacred Ancestor exterminated an unearthly beast from Liyue in Tokai.

In the same year, Qin Suyi who was eight years old became a disciple of Taixuanzan and Celestial Phoenix to become his seventh apprentice.

His first disciple, Lin Zhaoyu was by Suyi’s side when he came to a place she didn't know and felt uneasy about it. He cleaned up the room in her stead so that they could get their daily necessities together

At first, Qin Suyi had forgotten to say a word. But Lin Zhaoyu went along with each and every one of them

To her, it was the most fun time she had since being able to remember. Even after years of suffering and despairing more than anything else in life—she would often think back on those days

After spending three days with her, Lin Zhaoyu said he would return to take care of his sixth disciple Lord UmaYanqing.

A disciple of the Taixuan school is determined by when he or she enters. Qin Suyi may have become his apprentice at last, but it's not as if they are youngest

She was the same age as his fifth disciple, and three years older than him.

She knows about the sixth disciple. When she brought her to a mountain, six disciples—five women and five men — came out for one man: The oldest of them was not much older than him; there were children with lost expressions on their faces in his arms

Qin Suyi had seen the child many times out of curiosity, but he couldn’t tell if it was a man or woman.

Beside her were two girls with the same face. One was observing their bare robes, while another turned his eyes to one side and seemed hidden from something

To the left of it was a red-haired girl. She put some sugary fruit in her mouth and closed one eye to face Suyi—a beautiful smile

I looked to the right and saw a girl standing behind everyone. She was holding her golden sword, expressionless

Three days passed in the blink of an eye, but my first disciple didn’t return.

Perhaps because his body was weak or perhaps due to the lack of environment, Hata Sougoromo had fallen ill. At first he felt chills all over him but then came down with a fever so bad that it would burn up afterward—Lin Zhaoyu changed her clothes and took medicine; she spent an entire night taking care

Hata Sougoromo didn't sleep all night, either. His high fever had left him hazy and his memory was fuzzy

For some reason, she remembered that the red-haired girl had come to visit her with a pretty boy. She felt like they’d put something round under his pillow when he said it would exorcise evil spirits—but nothing happened after waking up

I felt like those twin sisters had come, too. One of them was by my first apprentice's side and changed his hand towel for me; the other grabbed her hands as she wept sadly

I was also curious about the expressionless girl with her golden sword, but didn’t know if she had come or not.

It was noon the next day, and strong sunlight poured down on them. The heat of Hata Sougoromo had dropped; it felt as if he'd been reborn

When Sougoromo sat up and looked around, he saw not the first disciple but a red-haired girl. She walked into her room with light steps unlike that of calm First Disciple; she circled about his robes before pulling candy out from underwear

The red-haired girl held her shoulders. She felt as if something had fallen into their clothes

This was the second time Qin Suyi had been embraced by someone. Unlike her master's warm warmth, she felt cold on his arm—as if crushing him until he became a dot of nothingness