Chapter 29: Sound of Wind and Waves

Ye Jingqiu froze for a moment when she was singled out, but before she could say a word, Shi Zui—whose patience had reached its breaking point beside her—sprang into action.

The cave was dim and damp, the searchlight’s beam refracted by water stains on the rock walls into disorienting halos of light. Amid this endless gloom, Shi Zui glided silently toward her opponent like a stream of ice-cold spring water.

Her elemental weapon knife slid free of its sheath, the furious tip carving a streak of white light. Deep black flames erupted along the blade in layers of roaring fire, turning the nine-centimeter short blade into something lethally dangerous.

Short by an inch, perilous by an inch—this was a reckless bid for mutual destruction.

The searing heat reached her fingertips in a heartbeat. Shi Zui had truly made her move—and unleashed her most devastating killing blow to boot.

Caught completely off guard, Olivia jolted in alarm. In that instant, Wind Slash activated, currents of air coalescing into an invisible shield. The blazing flames set the high-speed airflow shrieking in protest.

Two utterly incompatible domains collided. Wind Slash couldn’t fully counter the inferno; sparks flew, nearly singeing Olivia’s hair.

The deliberately muffled explosion rumbled low, like the toll of a bronze bell. Both fighters pulled back sharply, using the cave’s contours for cover as they circled in the searchlight’s blind spots.

The next moment, the cavern rang with the ceaseless clash of blades, unyielding as forged steel.

Shi Zui’s face remained impassive, her knife as restrained as its wielder. The technique wasn’t renowned—just the simplest horizontal cut from close-quarters combat. Yet those mercury-smooth arcs were featherlight, like a single fallen leaf adrift in a shadowed autumn gust.

Olivia nearly found herself sealed off by the strike. Each incoming blade grew fiercer than the last, the onslaught’s killing intent forcing her back step by step.

Just how vital was this jade pendant to her?

The more Olivia dwelled on it, the more unsettled she grew. She resolved not to yield so easily; she had to uncover the pendant’s secrets.

As Autumn’s chief instructor, Olivia bided her moment. The instant their blades crossed in midair, she triggered Instinct, harnessing her opponent’s momentum to rebound away as lightly as a hummingbird.

In the next breath, she dove at blinding speed. Everyone braced for her counterattack—only for Olivia to flash past Shi Zui like lightning, her long arm snatching Ye Jingqiu clean off the ground.

Ye Jingqiu, suddenly airborne: “？？？”

Instinct flared once more. With Ye Jingqiu in tow, Olivia rocketed forward, swift as an arrow loosed from a bow.

Laughter echoed from the distance:

“Captain Shi, let’s see how much guts your team’s newbie has.”

Xie Pingzhi, who had been spectating, was left dumbfounded. Xiao Qiu snatched away like that, with Shi Zui too far on the other side to help—and Zhou Xianhui powerless without Wind Instinct.

She had to admit, she’d let her guard down.

By a captain’s standards, Shi Zui would surely shoulder the blame and self-punish for days. And her, standing there like a bump on a log? How many extra days would that earn her?

Xie Pingzhi activated her incomplete Shame Grace and gave furious chase, grinding her teeth inwardly:

Not one decent soul in your whole Autumn!!!

~~~

Wind Slash earned its name because, when activated, the propelled air currents gained the lethal edge of a blade. In that sense, it was the swiftest among all known Wind Instincts.

Thus, Olivia and Ye Jingqiu burst from the cave in less than three breaths.

Pale cyan wind elements hugged their flanks like invisible eagle wings sweeping the heavens.

Mist Spirit Mountain sprawled below, its ancient trees unfurling crowns like blooming pom-poms amid the rolling, misty peaks. Yet to Ye Jingqiu’s eyes, it all seemed distant and small; the rushing air lifted them ever higher, clouds whispering past their ears.

Up here, freedom perfumed the air. Ye Jingqiu glanced down at her feet—a vertigo-inducing drop—yet she felt only a profound lightness, like chains falling away.

“Doesn’t this feel familiar?”

Olivia let out a low chuckle, her voice brimming with delight. “Back on Mitchell Peak, it was just like this. We leaped from the summit with Royston—the drop was about two thousand meters. Your sister nearly tore me a new one afterward.”

Ye Jingqiu’s heart lurched; she confirmed once more that Olivia’s word meant “sister.”

An inexplicable tension coiled in her chest. She swallowed hard, forcing her voice steady. “The sister you mean… is it Ye Zhixia?”

“Yo, Xiao Qiu, picking up new sisters now?” Olivia teased. “Who else? Don’t tell me you’re calling Shi Zui ‘sister’ these days—I might just drop you right here.”

Now Ye Jingqiu was certain. She exhaled shakily, her pulse racing like a roller coaster.

She met Olivia’s amber gaze, her tone earnest. “There’s something I need to tell you first. Sister, you might want to brace yourself.”

Olivia laughed heartily—what gales and storms hadn’t she weathered?—and prompted her. “You’re acting weird today. Out with it.”

“I have amnesia.”

“?”

The air currents turned chaotic, mirroring their master’s turmoil. The soaring eagle wings faltered; the pair tumbled wildly, plunging a dozen meters in a heartbeat.

Olivia steadied herself with a deep breath.

Sorry—this was one storm she truly hadn’t seen coming.

“Sorry… that hit me hard. I wasn’t expecting your amnesia to strike so soon this time. Part of me wants to fly you straight home right now.” She regained control of their flight, frowning.

“Huh?” Ye Jingqiu looked up, puzzled. “Did I… used to lose my memory a lot?”

Olivia started reaching out to Ye Zhixia. “Yeah, you’d wake up from a nap and forget us all the time. But four years ago, you said this round of memories would stick around awhile, so this caught me off guard.”

Ye Jingqiu fell silent, murmuring an “oh.” Her right index finger rubbed her thumb as she debated asking Olivia to connect her with Ye Zhixia.

“Ye’s probably in the warehouse—I can’t get through.”

But before she could voice it, Olivia beat her to it with regret:

“I should still take you back. Before you left, you said that unless it was pure coincidence, we shouldn’t contact you at all. From here on out, we’ll keep pretending we don’t know each other. The excuse I just used should hold up—I hope I haven’t messed up your original plans.”

She wouldn’t get to see Ye Zhixia after all… Ye Jingqiu felt a pang of disappointment, but she murmured her agreement.

At that moment, a stir came from behind them. Olivia glanced back and, sure enough, spotted Xie Pingzhi and Shi Zui racing after them at top speed.

“Tch, persistent, aren’t they?” Olivia scoffed. With Ye Jingqiu in tow, she melted into the clouds.

Ye Jingqiu glanced back at her frantic teammates, a sudden uneasy thought bubbling up. She looked up at Olivia in a hurry. “What was the original plan? I’m not a spy, am I?”

“Don’t worry about it. Sure, we’ve always been at odds with the Base, but Ye would never let you play spy for us.” Olivia chuckled twice by way of explanation. “You’ve always had your own business to handle, and you’ve never stepped in for us publicly. If you weren’t Ye’s little sister, you wouldn’t even really count as one of us in Autumn.”

“Then why did I come to Shanghai?”

“No idea. You’ve been all secretive these past few years, just saying…” Olivia racked her brain. “…that you were looking for something. So I never imagined you’d actually joined the Base.”

Ye Jingqiu let out a breath of relief. Good, not a spy! Otherwise, she could never hang around the captain with a clear conscience.

She was about to press for more details from her past when Olivia dangled the jade pendant from her fingers. “I figured this was what you were after, so I pulled you aside to check. If it is, we could head straight back to Milwaukee right now. But you’ve probably forgotten all about it anyway.”

“This jade pendant?”

“You gave Ye one just like it once—except hers is only half.”

Ye Jingqiu reached out to touch the jade. Before her amnesia, she must have been a total riddle-spinner. What vital secret had warranted hiding it from her sister and Olivia?

She blacked out so often—why hadn’t she just made a damn memo?

Shi Zui and Xie Pingzhi were gaining fast. Olivia simply plunged into a steep dive, arrowing straight for the mountain ridge where the rest of Autumn waited.

Ye Jingqiu tumbled through a whirlwind as they hurtled toward the ground. In the blur, a bank card was suddenly pressed into her hand.

“You barely touched the funds on the card you took last time. Ye worried it wasn’t enough for any big purchases, so she told me to slip you some more if I got the chance.” Olivia winked. “See? Ye’s starting to look more and more like one of those domineering CEO big sisters, huh?”

Ye Jingqiu went quiet. She didn’t even want to contemplate what kind of spending spree she’d been on before, to make her sister think the untouched card meant she was short on cash.

Great. Now she wanted to punch her past self.

The rest of Autumn was right there ahead, waving them down. A short distance away on the mountain path stood Zhou Xianhui, gun already drawn—though her expression eased at the sight of Ye Jingqiu safe and whole.

“We’re here. We’ll catch up next time,” Olivia murmured into her ear. “Whatever happens, stay safe. And no more risky stunts.”

Ye Jingqiu nodded meekly. “You too.”

Olivia gave her shoulder a pat, then touched down and shoved her forward.

The moment Olivia released her, the captain scooped Ye Jingqiu up in an instant.

“Are you hurt?”

Shi Zui had just dropped from the sky, her voice low and urgent. She spared no thought for herself—worry etched into her hands, her furrowed brow, her very gaze.

“Captain, I’m fine. Olivia didn’t do anything to me.” Ye Jingqiu felt a strange twinge of guilt and answered softly.

Shi Zui’s face remained impassive. Her hands flew over Xiao Qiu’s body, probing every joint in quick succession as she synced with Aether for a preliminary check.

Only when the results came back clean did Shi Zui exhale a long, shaky breath.

“I’m sorry,” she said gently. “This was my mistake. I scared you.”

Ye Jingqiu shook her head against the ache, biting back a wince.

Captain, those pinches hurt way more than a lap around the mountain.

Xie Pingzhi landed a beat later. Shi Zui turned, her eyes locking onto Olivia’s.

Behind her stood the other Autumn members, dressed in crisp formation. They had clearly been lying in wait.

“Where’d you scrounge up this newbie? She barely scrapes by.” Olivia yawned and tossed the jade pendant over casually. “Here, your thing back, Captain Shi. Pretty saintly of me, right?”

Shi Zui sprang up to catch it. She inspected it thoroughly before slipping it securely into her inner pocket.

When she looked up again, the chill in her eyes was unmistakable.

“Is Autumn gearing up for open war with the Base?” Zhou Xianhui’s smile never touched her eyes. “Olivia, you owe us an explanation.”

Olivia shook her head. “No good deed goes unpunished. I came specifically to help you out.”

“Help us?” Xie Pingzhi snorted. “Since when are you so generous?”

“Help you snag the dragon scale. Too bad we all showed up late—that He Ju Beast already shipped out the real deal.” Olivia jerked her chin, utterly nonchalant.

The real deal was gone?

Ye Jingqiu blinked in surprise. The cave had been too dim for anyone to make out what the He Ju Beast carried; they’d all assumed it was a Candle Dragon scale.

She fumbled out the thin shard she’d snagged earlier—

Pale red plastic. In the dark, it was a dead ringer for dragon scale.

Xie Pingzhi’s face soured. She hadn’t imagined the prize that earned her days of punishment would turn out to be fake plastic.

With her opponents seeing the truth at last, Olivia—savoring the rare advantage—grinned broadly. “The dragon scale is the sole key to the Candle Dragon Residence. Each one admits just one person. So…”

She brandished three genuine dragon scales. “Captain Shi, how about we team up this time?”