Zhong Qing, Xie Pingzhi’s one and only love.
But the problem was, she was indeed already dead.
Five years ago, Xie Pingzhi and Zhong Qing had gone on vacation to Southeast Asia. It was on that trip that they encountered a high-level exotic beast.
Under the influence of its instinct, Xie Pingzhi mistook her lover for an exotic beast and killed Zhong Qing with her own hands.
That raw emotion directly birthed the A-rank Instinct: Shame Grace. Freshly awakened, Xie Pingzhi had no control over herself whatsoever. The ensuing superstorm threw the entire Gulf of Thailand into elemental chaos.
By the time Shi Zui and Zhou Xianhui rushed to the scene, the unconscious Xie Pingzhi was still clutching the hand of her long-dead lover.
The base strove to identify the escaped exotic beast, but even the finest psychologists couldn’t get a word out of Xie Pingzhi. She remained convinced that Zhong Qing wasn’t dead.
After Xie Pingzhi agreed to join the base, the matter faded into obscurity. Even Shi Zui and Zhou Xianhui knew little about “Zhong Qing,” save for glimpsing a photo she’d neglected to put away.
Shi Zui betrayed no panic. She paused in thought for a moment. “Zhong Qing’s file should have been entered by now, right?”
The dead could not be revived. The Thirteen Laws formed the bedrock of the world’s stability. Instincts derived from those laws in a sense—direct conduits for manipulating elements. Yet even S-rank instincts struggled to unravel their deepest mysteries.
Resurrection was simply unheard of. At least, no known instinct records documented such a feat, and not even a top-tier exotic beast like a Candle Dragon could claim a second life.
Besides, Zhong Qing had truly died by Xie Pingzhi’s hand back then. Aether could pull up the autopsy report from the database.
Just a name coincidence, probably.
Shi Zui mused.
Zhou Xianhui caught the captain’s drift and nodded, activating the Will Ring. “I brought her back to base with Team Five at eight this morning. The data should be archived by now.”
Her words had barely left her mouth when Aether, following orders, projected a holographic screen into the air. File number BX-011298.
Zhong Qing’s photo expanded massively. Aether, ever considerate, placed a composite photo of her and Xie Pingzhi alongside for reference, methodically scanning their features and computing a similarity score.
Results flashed up in an instant. Zhou Xianhui drew in a sharp breath at the sky-high match rate onscreen.
Identical. Overlap near perfect.
No coincidence could account for this. Even twins wouldn’t share a name.
The ever-stoic Shi Zui regripped her knife hilt, savoring the icy metal against her skin. She pressed her lips thin and shot another look toward the bustling kitchen.
“Ye Jingqiu, hands off me! These are my fresh clothes!”
“Who hasn’t changed recently? I dug this out special for Sister Zhouzhou!”
“Oh ho, trading up already? Fess up quick— if Sister Zhouzhou hadn’t shown, what sloppy getup were you gonna pass off on me and the captain?”
“……”
Shi Zui turned, meeting Zhou Xianhui’s eyes.
That night, the lights in Team One’s temporary residence burned late.
~~~
July 30, 2020, 10:00 a.m., Beijing, lightly overcast.
Low hills rolled with layered greenery, colossal boulders strewn in wild disarray. A hidden spring pooled beneath the rocks, half-exposed, its mirror-clear waters faintly mirroring the distant Great Wall.
The group trudged up the mountain path.
Ye Jingqiu yawned, steps dragging, eyes resentful. This had to be her first wakeup at five a.m. ever.
Heaven’s payback for that thirteen-hour snooze, no doubt—a divine prank.
Shi Zui stole a discreet glance at her listless little teammate. The girl was dead on her feet, even after five hours on the move. Classmate Xiao Qiu looked ready to nod off anytime.
Xie Pingzhi, leading spryly at the front, glanced back at the noise and broke into full laughter. “Who was it last night, ignoring all advice to game with me? Told ya not to follow my lead—I’ve pulled all-nighters herding eagles on the steppes.”
Ye Jingqiu wilted like a soggy eggplant. “Mercy, Xie. Teach me the secret to crashing at three and rising at five? Vital skill for back-to-school exams.”
“So you two were up till three?” Zhou Xianhui chimed in, savoring the drama, eyes twinkling with mirth. “Not what you promised the captain—one a.m. bedtime, remember? And here you were, fibbing to us.”
Ye Jingqiu: !
Busted!
Beijing had stayed quiet these past days. Exotic beasts were thin on the ground anyway, and most base missions involved ruins dives or element foraging. Knife-to-claw beast scraps were rare.
Team One savored the downtime, but with “Candle Dragon possibly stirring” hanging over them, they’d be stuck in Beijing another month at least.
The base was scanning elemental densities across every scrap of Beijing turf, hellbent on unearthing Candle Dragon leads if they had to dig to bedrock.
The branch was swamped, but no harm done. With preliminary confirmation of a Beijing-based Candle Dragon, Yi Fengyan would flood the place with Action Division’s top guns.
Good news trickled in, at least: the tracker chip Shi Zui had planted on that He Ju Beast paid dividends. Aether’s pursuit nailed its location.
Capital northeast—Mist Spirit Mountain.
The critter’s grit was unreal, limping over a hundred klicks at a crawl.
Tracking the He Ju nest rated low-stakes, but Yi Fengyan played it safe, slotting the C-Class Mission to Team One.
Ye Jingqiu and Xie Pingzhi were deep in gaming fever when the alert hit. Next morning: wheels up to Mist Spirit Mountain.
Captain oversaw their early-bedtime vows, but a piddly C-level gig? Xie Pingzhi, who could no-life three days straight, mouthed the promise and dove back in. Ye Jingqiu, game-glued, aped her to a T.
This led to Classmate Xiao Qiu waking up that morning and wanting nothing more than to strangle last night’s night-owl self.
Shi Zui frowned upon catching the words “three o’clock,” though she knew Xiao Qiu was reliable and serious when it came to important matters. The moment a He Ju Beast appeared, Ye Jingqiu would never show this lazy demeanor. Still, a line was a line—such attitudes and habits weren’t good in the long run.
Captain Shi turned to look at Ye Jingqiu, who was frantically signaling Xie Pingzhi with her eyes. She was just about to choose some milder words when her train of thought was interrupted by a figure suddenly leaning in close beside her.
It was Ye Jingqiu.
After nearly a month of close-quarters teamwork, Ye Jingqiu had learned to read the captain’s stern face correctly. Despite Captain Shi’s deep talent for saying one thing and meaning another—vast as the East Sea—diligent student Xiao Qiu had her little notebook of observations to decipher the captain’s true intentions.
In other words, she, Ye Jingqiu, wasn’t afraid of the captain anymore!
So her routine of leaning in toward the captain, bowing her head, and sincerely apologizing flowed as smoothly as water.
“Captain, Captain, I was wrong. Next time, I’ll definitely keep my promise, be honest and trustworthy, and prepare fully before any mission,” Ye Jingqiu said, pretentiously wiping at two nonexistent tears. “It all boils down to me being too playful. I take responsibility for my own actions—this absolutely isn’t Xie-xie’s fault!”
Xie Pingzhi, who had tactfully stepped back to give them space, nodded solemnly. One person did the deed, one person bore the consequences—and she had tried to warn Xiao Qiu, after all.
But Shi Zui said nothing.
The narrow, rugged path near the scenic area kept the four of them close together anyway, so when Ye Jingqiu leaned forward just a bit, their clothing hems nearly brushed.
Mist Spirit Mountain drew crowds of tourists, and Team One’s outfits today weren’t overly uniform or conspicuous. Shi Zui wore a simple pale gray long robe to conceal her figure, minimizing the risk of scratches while darting through the forest later.
It was this detail that gave the “audaciously bold” Ye Jingqiu the courage to sidle up to the captain for her apology.
Her passionate little teammate was right at her side, her clear, resonant voice piercing even through the layered canopy of leaves.
The midsummer heat was especially oppressive, even in the dense green mountains, leaving everything restless and irritable. Xiao Qiu, naturally cool-bodied, shifted side to side, stirring up a faint but noticeably refreshing breeze.
Ever since she’d stood watch over Xiao Qiu for an entire afternoon last time, Ye Jingqiu seemed to have noticed something. Over these past few days, her interactions with Shi Zui had become far more casual than at first.
She really was gradually drawing her little teammate into her “Safe Zone.” The trust between her and Xiao Qiu was growing day by day, and Ye Jingqiu’s attitudes toward her and Xie Pingzhi were now nearly indistinguishable.
But Shi Zui felt it still wasn’t quite enough. For instance, Xiao Qiu still carefully weighed her words before speaking with her, whereas with Zhou Xianhui, she spoke more freely.
Hm, at least Xiao Qiu wouldn’t apologize to Xie Pingzhi or Zhou Xianhui with such wariness.
Shi Zui mused, lowering her gaze to skim over the chattering Ye Jingqiu. She didn’t think her attention toward Xiao Qiu had exceeded normal bounds at all; she was just pondering how to be an even kinder guardian.
After a moment’s thought, she decided that building a good image required subtlety and gradual influence. So, replying to Ye Jingqiu in a tone markedly gentler than usual, she said, “Just be more careful next time.”
That was it.
Before Ye Jingqiu could respond, Xie Pingzhi whipped around from the front, raising her hand in protest.
“Captain, that’s not fair! Last time I just overlooked two mission reminders, and you made me train in the Wind Chamber for two whole days.”
Shi Zui, unruffled by the exposure, calmly explained, “Xiao Qiu’s a first-time offender with exemption rights. You’re a repeat violator. Base Rule Thirty-Two covers this in detail—I suggest you review it thoroughly when we get back.”
Xie Pingzhi: “No! I’m the victim here, suffering unfair treatment!”
“Fair?” Shi Zui raised her eyes. “Fine. Weren’t you up late last night too? Add an extra day in the Wind Chamber.”
Xie Pingzhi: “……I wasn’t asking you to punish me.”
Xie Pingzhi fell silent, turning away in a huff to stare at the scenery while inwardly sighing that the captain really did go easier on newbies!
As she casually glanced ahead, her peripheral vision caught a familiar figure among the distant tourists, causing her to freeze.
Meanwhile, Ye Jingqiu, who had dodged her own bullet, didn’t relax. Feeling guilty about A-Xie getting punished, she steeled herself, tugged at the captain’s robe hem, and whispered so softly it was barely audible:
“Captain, should I go to the Wind Chamber too when we get back? A-Xie actually tried to warn me.”
Zhou Xianhui, not far off, chuckled softly and looked up. Seeing the captain stiffen at those words, her smile deepened.
“The Wind Chamber simulates a Wind Element environment—not necessarily suitable for you, Xiao Qiu. How about we change the penalty later? You and A-Xie can serve it together then.”
Ye Jingqiu nodded eagerly.
Xiao Qiu’s proactive offer was indeed more appropriate. Shi Zui inclined her head slightly, about to agree, when Xie Pingzhi’s questioning voice rang out from ahead:
“That person……is that Xu Xianyue?”
