“I’d advise you not to do that,” Mo Zitong said, her voice flat like a cool blade.

“Why? She’s still out cold!” Ye Yiyi blurted, her words snapping like wet twigs.

“Don’t rush,” Mo Zitong replied, her tone calm as a still pond. “The wounds are treated, so no danger there. She’s burning up, and I can handle a fever here. You know what taking her to a hospital could mean. Besides, what she needs isn’t stitches. If you don’t believe me, listen to what she’s saying.” Her gaze rested on Tang Coco like a quiet shadow.

Ye Yiyi leaned closer, breath trembling like mist over glass.

“Don’t… don’t leave… I… I’m not…” Tang Coco’s voice drifted out, foggy as rain over distant rooftops.

“I don’t know what went down with you all,” Mo Zitong said, eyes cool as ink. “When I saw her on the roadside, the rain was a curtain, but her tears still shone like broken pearls.” She turned and left, footsteps soft as falling petals.

Ye Yiyi stood there in the hush, looking at Tang Coco like a lantern held in wind.

“Coco… what happened to you…” She wiped the salt tracks from Coco’s cheeks, her hand gentle as a feather.

Tang Coco’s lashes fluttered open, slow as dawn breaking through clouds.

“Yiyi…” The sound was thin, like wind threading reeds.

“Hey? Coco! You’re awake!” Ye Yiyi’s joy burst bright, a spark in the storm.

“Is… is there water?” Her lips were dry, like cracked earth after rain.

“Mm, I’ll get it.” Ye Yiyi turned for the door, heart tugging like a kite line.

“I brought it,” Mo Zitong said, stepping in with quiet footing, like a cat through moonlight.

She handed over a cup, cool as a spring well.

“Thanks…” Ye Yiyi blinked, dazed for a beat, then took the cup like receiving a warm coal.

“W-why is it you…” Tang Coco’s eyes lifted, wary as a fawn.

“Just happened to find you,” Mo Zitong answered, the words drifting like smoke.

“She’s the one who spotted you on the street,” Ye Yiyi explained softly, voice a hand smoothing silk.

“Oh… I see…” Tang Coco tried to sit, but pain snagged like a hook at her side.

“Sss—” The hiss cut the air like ice on skin.

“Don’t move, I’ll feed you,” Ye Yiyi said, her tone firm as a brace.

“This is fever reducer. You feed her,” Mo Zitong added, setting a box on the nightstand like placing a stone on a streambed.

“Okay…” Ye Yiyi nodded, her eyes steady as a lighthouse.

“Heh… didn’t expect you’d help me,” Tang Coco managed a smile, thin as frost, the corners brittle.

“Tch.” Mo Zitong clicked her tongue, a sharp pebble sound, then ghosted away like a shadow.

“Coco, what really happened…” Ye Yiyi asked, worry pooling like dark water, still not understanding why Coco had come apart like this.

“!” A flash of pain jabbed Tang Coco’s chest, sharp as a thorn.

“I…” Her words tangled like reeds in a current.

“Alright… I won’t ask,” Ye Yiyi cut in, gentler than rain on bamboo. “But Coco, this one’s on you. In a storm like that—what if something had gone wrong?” Her tone tried to steer, like a hand turning a rudder.

“Sorry… I…” Shame rose in Coco’s throat like smoke, and fresh tears spilled from swollen eyes, beads rolling like dew down leaves. The scenes she’d seen surged back, a tide she couldn’t stand against.

“Coco…” Ye Yiyi’s heart ached, a bruise under glass.

“It’s okay… let it out… it’ll be better once it’s out,” Ye Yiyi said, standing to gather Coco’s shoulders, holding her close like a quilt around winter bones.

“I… uwaa—mm—ahhh…” For the first time, before and after her change, Tang Coco cried for real, grief heavy as a rain-soaked cloak.

“Uwaa—” The sobs tore like cloth, raw and human.

Ye Yiyi didn’t speak; one hand stroked Coco’s hair, a rhythm like waves on sand. A tear slipped from Ye Yiyi’s eye, a silver filament.

After a while, Coco settled, breath even as a cooled ember.

“Thank you, Yiyi,” she said, easing from the embrace, head bowed like a willow.

“Dummy… did the rain soak your brain? You even forgot to call me sis,” Ye Yiyi joked, wiping her own tear, her smile a small lantern.

“Pfft—” Tang Coco couldn’t help it; a laugh popped like a bubble, and her mood lifted like a cloud thinned by sun.

“Yiyi, lend me your phone. I need to call Ningxin.”

“Mm… oh, here.” Ye Yiyi passed it over, her hand warm as bread. “Ning-sis was really worried just now. Call her; I’ll step out for a bit.”

“Okay.” Tang Coco nodded, eyes clear as rinsed glass.

Ye Yiyi slipped out, closing the bedroom door softly, like laying down paper. Downstairs, she found Mo Zitong on the sofa, watching TV, face lit like blue water.

“All handled?” Mo Zitong asked without turning, voice a stone dropped into a calm pond.

“Mm…” Ye Yiyi answered lightly, her mood a knot of threads.

“Thank you…” The words hovered, a moth at a lamp.

“No need,” Mo Zitong said. “I’m only interested in her. Everything I do is for her.” Her tone was steel wrapped in silk.

“…” The pause hung, a quiet curtain.

“Then I’ll thank you on Coco’s behalf.” Ye Yiyi turned and headed upstairs, footsteps a measured drum.

“End of the second floor, my dressing room,” Mo Zitong called, still not looking back, voice a straight line. “I left an outfit there for you. Go change.”

“Oh…” Ye Yiyi meant to refuse, but glanced down at her soaked skirt, clinging like petals after rain, her chest damp with Coco’s tears. She looked at Mo Zitong’s back, steady as a sentinel, hesitated like a leaf in wind, then accepted and went to the dressing room.

Inside, she spotted a neat stack on a small stool, a dress dusted in pink and white like cherry blossom over snow. She lifted it, satisfied as sunlight on clean linen, then saw a brand-new set of underwear beneath. Her cheeks bloomed red, a sudden rose. She shook her head, breathed deep like sipping tea, closed the door, and began to change.

In the bedroom, Tang Coco connected the call to Ningxin, heart tight as a bowstring.

“Hello! Yiyi, did you find Coco?” Ningxin’s voice came in hot, worry crackling like sparks.

“It’s me, Ning-sis,” Tang Coco said, her tone soft as dusk.

“Coco? You silly girl! Where did you run off to? Do you know how worried we were? I saw those men on the road—I thought you were in trouble!” Ningxin’s anger flared, a storm front.

“Sorry…” Coco’s apology was a leaf placed on water.

“Whew… alright. You’re fine, that’s what matters.” Ningxin’s heat cooled, like thunder rolling away.

“Ning-sis, there’s something I want to tell you,” Coco said, picking words like stones in a stream. “About the bodyguards you found… let’s drop it. I don’t need them.”

“Huh? Why? Those two are really strong.” Ningxin’s question pricked like a pin.

“It’s not… not about strength. I just don’t want to impose on them,” Coco said, her humility folding like paper cranes.

“How is it imposing? You’re in real danger right now. I have to get someone to protect you.” Ningxin’s insistence stood like a gate.

“Ning-sis, I appreciate it, truly,” Coco said, a bow in her tone. “But I don’t need protection. I can use my Anomaly Power now.” The lie slid out, thin as rain lines, to keep Gu Xin and the others away.

“Really? You can control your Anomaly Power?” Ningxin’s doubt hovered, a hawk over a field.

“Mm. It’s improved these past few days,” Coco answered, steady as a lantern. “So… I don’t need others guarding me. It would only cause trouble—for me and them.”

“Then… I see…” Ningxin paused, caught between stones and water.

“Won’t you reconsider? They already agreed,” she asked again, her voice a gentle nudge.

“No… no need. Please thank them for me,” Coco said, firm as a tied knot.

“Alright… fine. Take care these next few days. I’ll come visit when I can,” Ningxin sighed, yielding like grass to wind.

“Mm.” Coco ended the call, the screen going dark like a pond at night.

“Sss—” Pain flicked her hand when she set the phone down, sharp as a needle.

“Ah…” Ningxin lowered her own phone, a sigh floating out, thin as steam. After thinking it through, she dialed Gu Xin, resolve settling like a stone at the riverbed.