Everything seemed to unfold at double speed: Fang Tingling’s dazed stupor, the abrupt mission, the shocking grief at learning of Shi Wen’s death, the vehicle roaring off into the night…
The upheaval came so swiftly that when the captain shook Ye Jingqiu awake, she still imagined it had all been one long, lingering dream.
“Xiao Qiu.”
Shi Zui brought the car to a steady halt and spoke softly to her right.
Ye Jingqiu blinked her eyes open in confusion, instinctively peering out the window. The night was deep and inky as water, like a vast beast with jaws agape, lying in wait.
She shook her head, dragging her awareness back to the real world.
Just half an hour earlier, she and the captain had received a special assignment from the Base Leader. They were to set out at midnight and rendezvous with Xie Pingzhi before five o’clock tomorrow evening. Their mission: recover Team Nine Captain Shi Wen’s body—and the footage Shi Wen had uploaded to the base at the cost of her life…
“The dragon scale is our only lead to the Dragon Lair. The Candle Dragon is likely on the verge of awakening. This mission will take time—steel yourself for it.” Shi Zui laid out the facts as she pushed open the car door. A scorching July night breeze rushed in, jolting Ye Jingqiu fully awake.
Still groggy, Ye Jingqiu hadn’t stirred, so the captain—poised to shut the door—leaned down and regarded her calmly. “So, are you getting out?”
“Ah? We can’t be in Beijing already.” Ye Jingqiu raked a hand through her hair and glanced around, the surroundings striking her as oddly familiar. “This is…?”
“Xu Xianyue’s place,” Shi Zui said, pausing before adding, “You told me yourself—your memory’s sharp.”
Ye Jingqiu: “!”
She understood.
An explosive grin lit up Ye Jingqiu’s face, brighter than ever before. She flung open the door and hopped out, bubbling over with gratitude. “Thank you, Captain! Teacher Xiao Xu and I’ll just say a quick goodbye—be right back!”
The captain was so dependable, so considerate. Ye Jingqiu had been dying to see Xu Xianyue one last time before heading to Beijing. Back in past summers, she’d clung to her teacher day in and day out; this would be the longest she’d ever been away.
Shi Zui lounged against the car door, her right hand idly toying with her knife sheath. Ye Jingqiu’s exuberance drew no visible reaction from her. She simply said:
“I’ll wait here.”
Ye Jingqiu nodded like a bobbing pestle, then bolted into the building entrance. The old neighborhood’s security system was a joke—she bounded up the stairs two at a time, her uncontainable excitement setting off every motion-sensor light in the stairwell.
Faint orange glows spilled from the cracked glass panes, softening the humid night air.
The girl ought to be thrilled.
Shi Zui let out a soft chuckle. This kind of reward struck her as fair enough. Xiao Qiu had stayed put obediently for half a month, after all. Absent tonight’s crisis, she might have asked Yan Zhao to take her out for a bit.
But Shi Wen’s death had blindsided them.
Fang Tingling’s choked sobs still rang in her ears. Shi Zui’s right hand drifted to the hilt at her waist once more, a chill flashing in her eyes.
She would not let Shi Wen’s sacrifice be in vain.
Exotic Beast or Awakener—it made no difference.
The night hung quiet and still. The complex had seen better days: its facade was weathered bare, one edge of the iron security gate bent and curling.
Shi Zui’s mind wandered as she stared up at the five-story block. Then faint footsteps echoed from the distance.
An ominous foreboding gripped her. The fire elements drifting in the air quivered with unnatural dread. In a heartbeat, Shi Zui’s fingers clamped the knife hilt, her head snapping up—
To meet the cold stare of the hurrying Xu Xianyue.
In an instant, the tension dissolved, as if it had all been Shi Zui’s imagination.
Xu Xianyue had apparently been out somewhere, an ordinary backpack slung over her shoulders. She glanced at Shi Zui, then looked away indifferently and kept walking.
Shi Zui’s gaze sharpened. She reached for her Wrist Ring—just as a crestfallen voice drifted from the stairwell.
“Captain, she’s not here… Teacher Xiao Xu?!”
Dejected after her fruitless search, Ye Jingqiu trudged out. She hadn’t even sighed yet when she collided straight into Xu Xianyue.
“Qiuqiu? Xiao Qiu?” Xu Xianyue hesitated.
“It’s me, it’s me!” It was like finding her all over again! Ye Jingqiu lunged forward, wrapping Teacher Xiao Xu in a fierce hug. A second later, her voice turned pitiful. “Teacher Xiao Xu, where’d you go? You didn’t even bring your phone—I almost lost you again.”
A flicker of panic crossed Xu Xianyue’s face. She eased back just a touch, imperceptibly.
Then composure returned.
The girl who’d locked eyes so coldly with Shi Zui moments ago shed her icy shell. She offered a gentle smile, her voice soft. “Sorry. I just stepped out to grab something. Didn’t mean to worry you.”
She paused, then perked up. “But Qiuqiu—why’d you send me chocolates again?”
Ye Jingqiu clung tight, her voice muffled against her shoulder. “Because I wanted to! So what?”
“I can’t eat them all.” Xu Xianyue patted the girl in her arms with helpless affection, tempted to coax Qiuqiu upright but holding back.
The embrace hampered her movement, and worse, she felt eyes boring into her back. A inexplicable chill prickled her spine.
Ye Jingqiu finally released her, then beamed, launching into an animated recap of the half month they’d missed.
Xu Xianyue listened intently, nodding here and there. But when Beijing came up, her posture went rigid.
“You’re going to Beijing?”
Ye Jingqiu nodded briskly. “Yeah, leaving tonight. Won’t be back till right before school starts, so I wanted to say goodbye first.”
Xu Xianyue fell silent for a beat—an unusual follow-up question. “Alone?”
“With… with my sister,” Ye Jingqiu said, remembering the captain nearby and switching terms on the fly. She assumed Xu Xianyue was fretting over her safety. “Don’t worry—my sister’s totally reliable!”
Shi Zui—ditched for five minutes, now abruptly “sister”: “…”
If memory served, the last time A-Xie had asked Xiao Qiu about Xu Xianyue, Ye Jingqiu’s “sister” tone had been identical.
Xu Xianyue glanced at the tall, long-legged woman leaning against the car door. She suppressed her doubts and deliberately lowered her voice. “When did you pick up an extra sister? Have you remembered something?”
Ye Jingqiu mumbled a vague response. “Not yet, but my sister is pretty trustworthy.”
She didn’t want to dwell on the topic. Instead, she quickly changed the subject to divert Teacher Xiao Xu’s attention. Just then, the corner of her eye caught sight of the zipper on Xu Xianyue’s backpack. It wasn’t fully closed, and through the gap, she could vaguely make out two black wooden boxes inside.
“Hang on,” Ye Jingqiu said helpfully. “Teacher Xiao Xu, your backpack isn’t zipped up all the way.”
Xu Xianyue didn’t bat an eye. She casually swung the backpack behind her back and flashed her usual smile. In a perfectly normal tone, she said her goodbyes to Ye Jingqiu.
Only then did Ye Jingqiu reluctantly part ways with Xu Xianyue. She dawdled her way onto the vehicle, dragging her feet until she was finally persuaded to shut the door.
The headlights flicked on moments later. Shi Zui, who had slipped into the car unnoticed, fired up the engine.
The SUV sped off into the distance. Xu Xianyue watched until the taillights—streaking away like a shooting star—faded completely into the night.
She lingered in place for a long while, not stirring until the moon hung high overhead. Then, in silence, she shouldered her backpack and headed home.
Her footsteps echoed over and over through the empty stairwell of the apartment block.
If Ye Jingqiu had peered a little more closely at the time, she would have noticed the faint golden lettering carved into those two black wooden boxes in Xu Xianyue’s backpack—
“Tyrfing”
“Azure Lamp”
