Things remained the same, but the people were gone. Time had flown by too swiftly; the flashes of blades and swords, the shattered bones and spilled blood, the joys and sorrows that wrenched the heart with grief and melancholy—all those traces were like claw marks in a heavy snowfall, utterly extinguished and buried in the silent pages of history.
So the wish that “whether coming or going, all are but people in a dream” was nothing more than a wish—could only ever be a wish.
Ye Jingqiu stood frozen in place, lost in a daze for a moment.
Her mind raced through the nonsense she’d spouted these past few days—rambling about living off a soft rice husband, finding helpers…
It had actually come true.
She truly hadn’t expected that her Word Manifestation ability could summon living people.
But this friend dropped from the heavens…
Wasn’t she a little too intimidating?
Ye Jingqiu stood up and exchanged a few quick words with Teacher Xiao Xu before hanging up. She then carefully sized up the woman who had appeared out of nowhere.
Yet in the instant she looked up, the first thing she noticed were the woman’s eyes.
No one could overlook those eyes.
Her pupils were pure black—deep, unadulterated black, without a trace of brown or hazel.
She was beautiful in a way that bordered on severe, with a high nose bridge and a sharply defined jawline. This near-perfect bone structure only accentuated her eyes, cold as winter stars, giving her whole presence an air of silent warning.
Perhaps the phrase “gaze sharp as swords” was more than just poetic flourish; this woman’s stare was keen enough to cut.
Shi Zui wore a set of black clothes as deep as the night, her shoulders narrow and tapering, her waist slim and cinched. Her collar and cuffs were fastened impeccably, not a thread out of place, even her pant legs tucked in tightly.
Ye Jingqiu had only skimmed a few lines of poetry in her language textbook, but she’d never imagined that describing someone as “radiant as the moon unfolding its light” could be anything but exaggeration.
She murmured aloud, hesitantly grasping the woman’s slightly warm left hand. “Shi… Shi Zui?”
Why did those two words feel a bit strange?
Shi Zui caught the uncertainty in her tone and nodded with a simple explanation, not wasting a single superfluous word. “The shi of time, the zui of drunkenness.”
It must be those people from before.
Ye Jingqiu snapped back to reality and took stock of the situation. She released her hand, burying the sudden rush of emotions deep inside.
Her expression relaxed, and she smiled unconsciously, offering the same goodwill in return. “Ye Jingqiu.”
“I know, I know—one leaf startles the autumn, right?” The response came in a different voice, familiar and enthusiastic.
She looked over to see a blonde, blue-eyed German woman popping out from behind Shi Zui. Unlike Shi Zui’s rigidly precise attire, she wore simple short-sleeved casual clothes, looking far more laid-back.
Ye Jingqiu: “You… you’re…?”
“My real name’s a bit of a mouthful. Just call me Xie Pingzhi, or ‘thanks’ if you like.” Xie Pingzhi winked at her. “No need to be so formal, Classmate Xiao Qiu. In your ancient words, don’t we count as old souls who’ve crossed paths in spirit already?”
Ye Jingqiu hadn’t expected her Chinese to be so fluent. Playing along graciously, she chimed in, “Sure, sure!”
“Knew you and I were on the same wavelength.” Xie Pingzhi was thrilled by her reaction, overcome with that long-awaited resonance, like reuniting with a kindred spirit in the rivers and lakes. She flashed an OK sign. “Hang on a sec—we’ll chat more later. First, I need to bag this Afanc and take it with us.”
Ye Jingqiu blinked in slight surprise, only then noticing the small Afanc corpse still lying quietly at their feet.
Shi Zui had directly destroyed its central nervous system earlier, and most of the blood inside had already evaporated under the scorching flames.
A faint charred brown marked the spot near the tiny opening on its spine. Even so, the water-seeker’s fangs remained viciously bared, its unclosed jaws a testament to its owner’s lingering resentment.
Ye Jingqiu watched as Xie Pingzhi deftly pulled an enormous transparent plastic bag from her backpack. After a moment’s thought, she spoke up. “Don’t these exotic beasts just vanish on their own afterward?”
The four she’d killed before had disappeared without a trace once they lost their lives.
“Those four were exceptions. Low-level as they were, their elementalization was extremely advanced, so they dissipated as elemental particles.”
Xie Pingzhi was just about to phrase her explanation when Shi Zui unexpectedly spoke first.
Perhaps because they were dealing with a minor, one could hear an unusual patience in the captain’s voice today. Though it still carried a stiff, unpracticed edge, her tone was notably gentle.
She looked up, just in time to catch Shi Zui bending down to unfold the body bag. Her movements were efficient and practiced, her face as coldly stern as ever—her features breathtakingly beautiful.
Her voice rang out, clear and crisp as a mountain stream. “The essence of a dead exotic beast remains that of an animal. The corpse will decompose and transmute in the end, becoming inorganic matter.”
Xie Pingzhi let out a tsk of admiration, thinking that the captain truly lived up to her reputation as the base’s ice queen. With looks like that, she might actually lure this kid into the fold.
Didn’t young people these days all go for the cool older sister type?
The “young person” in question wasn’t dwelling on it, silently debating whether to offer help.
But seeing how seamlessly the two worked together, she knew she’d just get in the way. So she stayed put, slowly digesting Shi Zui’s explanation.
Then Ye Jingqiu let out a long “oh,” a bit embarrassed. “Kinda like math class.”
In short, she didn’t quite get it.
Xie Pingzhi sealed the Afanc cub and grinned. “No rush. We’ll explain all this in detail later.”
Shi Zui gave a soft hum of agreement—chatty by her standards today—then extended her right index finger and drew a symbol on the body bag. The motion flowed like water, utterly practiced.
She didn’t draw quickly. Her long, even fingers moved with deliberate rhythm, and wherever her fingertip passed, a pale gray flame flickered to life, dancing faintly.
Half a second later, the symbol was complete, and the flame winked out. The bag bore no visible mark.
Ye Jingqiu, ever curious and brimming with energy, craned her neck to peer at it. “Is that some kind of wax seal? Or like the circle Sun Wukong drew around his master hundreds of years ago to keep it from escaping?”
“Quite the imagination, Classmate Xiao Qiu.” Xie Pingzhi glanced back at her. “But wrong guess. This is for getting through security—a minor illusion. Security will just see a plush toy inside.”
Ye Jingqiu: “?”
Wait, what security?
“Don’t tell me you’re planning to lug this thing onto the subway or a train! According to the script, shouldn’t the Special Operations Team have some sleek, badass helicopters? Just grab the collar mic, go ‘testing, testing,’ report the coordinates in a gravelly voice—mission accomplished, 121°E, 31°N—and give them ten minutes.”
Xie Pingzhi seemed to read her confusion and declared righteously, “Public transit is so advanced these days. We’re doing our part for the planet’s environment too. Your eco-awareness needs work, comrade.”
What an environmentally conscious outfit!
Ye Jingqiu threw up her hands in surrender and asked again, “So what’s Minor Illusion? Like the fireball Captain Shi just unleashed?”
“No, Minor Illusion is a Dao Talisman Array,” Shi Zui replied. The one who’d been asked stuffed the body bag into her backpack and gestured toward the barrier surrounding them. “Or an Alchemy Array.”
Ye Jingqiu had noticed it ages ago. The instant the Afanc burst from the beach, something had enclosed the three of them, forming a circular space about two meters across that cut the battlefield off from the world around it.
This gauzy, translucent barrier capped off at around four meters high. A dull gray glow pulsed across its surface, as if it were breathing, alive.
“A new gadget from the Alchemy and Dao Talisman Department. Only downsides are low production and limited range. Officially nicknamed 【Optical Signal Jammer】—same effect as your 【Hide】 command. It blocks the view of anyone who’s not an Awakener,” Xie Pingzhi said offhandedly. “If you’re into Western occultism, call it an Alchemy Array. If you’re more into Eastern Daoism, it’s a Dao Talisman Array. Either way, same difference.”
The string of terms hit Ye Jingqiu like a barrage.
She let out a low whistle. Who knew this stuff could be so systematized? “Occultism” and “Daoism” weren’t just buzzwords for stuffy academic papers after all.
A brief silence fell over the scene. Shi Zui glanced at her wristwatch and spoke up. “The 【Shielding Device】 has a time limit. Time to relocate.”
“You got it, Captain,” Xie Pingzhi drawled lazily. She turned to Ye Jingqiu, rubbed her chin, and lobbed a curveball. “KFC or McDonald’s?”
Ye Jingqiu let out a startled “Huh?” Was she sure these people weren’t shady?
They came off so unreliable. Weren’t they supposed to whisk her off to some swanky hotel or the lair of a mysterious Base Leader for a proper indoctrination?
Then she said, dead serious, “……McDonald’s.”
Xie Pingzhi flashed another thumbs-up. “Taste!”
~~~
One and a half hours later, Pudong New Area, Jinhai Road.
Ye Jingqiu was on the phone with Xu Xianyue. At this rate, she wasn’t making it back that afternoon.
“I’m not slacking off or anything, Teacher Xiao Xu. Trust between friends shouldn’t be this flimsy!”
“Mail me the test papers? Nah, no need. I swear on Teacher Xu’s good name—I’ll hit the books hard once I’m home.”
“I got the Huoxiang Zhengqi Water. Go grab some food. Call or WeChat if you need me.”
“Yep, bye-bye.”
Xie Pingzhi took a sip of her diet Coke and, for the first time, gave Ye Jingqiu a proper once-over.
She’d seen the girl’s face on Aether before, but this was her first time dealing with the real deal.
Just like the file said: Ye Jingqiu, Shanghai No. 45 Middle School sophomore, a couple months shy of her eighteenth birthday.
Pretty as advertised—ruby lips, pearly whites, skin like fine porcelain. Right now, she was beaming, the picture of the model student, sweet and obedient.
Xie Pingzhi had witnessed her ruthless efficiency with Exotic Beasts firsthand, along with an uncanny mastery of elements. She still called her “Classmate Xiao Qiu” out loud, but deep down, she already saw her as a full-fledged Awakener.
Only now, after some actual face time, did Xie Pingzhi clock that the girl across from her was just a high schooler on the cusp of senior year.
What had she been up to at that age?
Xie Pingzhi thought back to her own wild days, before awakening and unlocking 【Instinct】. She’d been deep into extreme sports: parkour, free diving, wingsuit flights, high-altitude skydives, always with a rowdy crew in tow.
Old German nobility stock—she’d never lacked for friends, real or fake, offering sympathy and support. But Ye Jingqiu…
Xiao Qiu seemed to have just one real confidante: Xu Xianyue.
Coincidence? Maybe. On paper, at least, neither girl had any close family left. Admin confirmed Xu Xianyue’s history of severe suicidal ideation, and Ye Jingqiu came with her own red flags.
They were like a pair of lonely cubs, curled up together for warmth—family in all but blood.
A strange pang stirred in Xie Pingzhi. The Base Leader’s abrupt order suddenly made perfect sense.
Though even family didn’t usually check in like this, did they?
Ye Jingqiu had just hung up with Xu Xianyue, so Xie Pingzhi leaned in, curiosity piqued. “If you don’t mind me asking, Classmate Xiao Qiu—are you dating that Teacher Xiao Xu?”
Ye Jingqiu choked on her Sprite, coughing her lungs out. “N-No, hold on—what dating?!”
Foreigners and their wild imaginations.
“The Base encourages dating and marriage. A steady partner does wonders stabilizing Rampage Value spikes,” Shi Zui added. She’d just finished texting and glanced Ye Jingqiu’s way, her expression as placid as ever—like it was no big deal.
Classmate Xiao Qiu waved her hands frantically. “No, no, total misunderstanding! Teacher Xiao Xu and I are just friends. Really good friends, that’s all.”
“Nothing at all? It’s super normal, no issue.”
“I’m all about my studies!”
Her dismal transcript undercut the claim a bit.
Xie Pingzhi nodded sagely, a touch regretful. “Fair enough. Guess college campus romance it is, then.”
Ye Jingqiu had never given it much thought—usually just joked about it with classmates.
But Xie Pingzhi’s words jogged her memory of the silly banter with Teacher Xiao Xu a few hours back. Out of pure curiosity, she sneaked a peek at the stone-faced Captain Shi.
Shi Zui sat with her head bowed, silent. Her jet-black eyes caught the hall’s warm yellow glow, but they remained fathomless pools.
Her long, thick lashes fluttered like raven feathers, yet they couldn’t mask the glacial chill in her gaze—like ice over a mountain lake. It sent an involuntary shiver through Ye Jingqiu, urging her to scoot back.
She yanked her eyes away.
Too fierce. Too cold. No thanks!
Shi Zui finished sending her message and cut into their conversation. “Let’s get down to business. We should head back to Base as soon as possible.”
Xie Pingzhi nodded crisply, pulled a document from her bag, and slid it across to Ye Jingqiu. “Then let’s cut straight to the chase?”
Ye Jingqiu glanced down—
Intellectual Property and Trade Secrets Protection Pledge
“?”
