Yun Peilan's scream rang through the courtyard so sharply that even the leaves on the old pomegranate tree seemed to shiver for a moment, and the entire warm birthday atmosphere that had only just been stitched back together with food, laughter, and soft morning light was stabbed full of holes again in the blink of an eye.
The reason for her scream was very simple.
Only now did she properly see Little Black.
Earlier, when she had stormed into the courtyard full of grief, anger, and the confidence of a woman who believed she still had the right to scold and strike the girl before her.
She had only swept her eyes over the small black beast at Bai Lingling's side and dismissed it carelessly as some strange little dog, perhaps a pet kept for comfort, perhaps some ugly little thing the girl had picked up in her loneliness. At that time, Yun Peilan's eyes had been too busy burning with outrage and self-righteousness to truly look.
But now things were different.
