Three days later...

“Wow! Coco, your constitution’s wild—healed so fast, smooth as jade, not a scar.”

Ye Yiyi peeled off the bandage like shedding silk; the wound looked sealed, like frost melted by sunrise.

“Uh... maybe.”

Tang Coco fumbled, throat dry like sand; she couldn’t admit it was her Anomaly Power’s auto-heal doing.

“Oh! Right—I forgot. Sister Mu just said she’s coming to see you.”

The memory popped in, swift as a startled sparrow.

“Huh? Why me?”

Coco’s brows tightened like twigs under cold rain.

“Don’t know... but her tone felt bad, like thunder behind clouds.”

“...”

A bad chill tugged at Coco’s gut, drumbeat before a storm. Where did she offend Mu Qingcheng again? She flipped memory like pages, and a reason clicked.

Ding-dong~

The bell chimed like a silver bell strung on silk.

“Ah, Sister Mu’s here.”

Ye Yiyi’s voice fluttered like a ribbon.

“So fast! Wait, Yiyi—if she asks, say I’m asleep.”

Her whisper skittered like a mouse under the bed.

“Hm? Why?”

Yiyi’s doubt drifted like mist over a pond.

“Just say it.”

Coco yanked the blanket over her head like a turtle pulling into its shell, feigning sleep.

“...”

Yiyi couldn’t think how Coco had crossed Mu Qingcheng; she shook her head like a willow in wind.

Knock, knock.

The knocks fell like beads on wood. Downstairs, Li Muyan must’ve opened the door; his voice rose like a call from the stairwell.

“Yiyi, Sister Mu’s here.”

“Oh! Coming.”

Yiyi walked to the door, steps quick as sparrows.

“Sister Mu, long time no see~”

At the sight, Yiyi’s smile unfurled like a fan; she looked afraid of sparks catching.

“Yeah, long time indeed—what, you two little girls hiding from me?”

Mu Qingcheng smiled, blades sheathed in silk.

“Ah... no... how could we...”

Yiyi’s laugh rattled like loose dice.

“Hmph. I’ll settle with you later. Where’s Tang Coco?”

“Uh... she... she... fell asleep...”

Her words stumbled like pebbles spilling.

“Hmm?”

Mu’s brow lifted like a scythe; disbelief flashed like steel.

“Oh? Fine. I’ll take a look. You two wait outside.”

She slipped past Yiyi like wind and stepped into Coco’s room.

“Ah—Sister Mu... Coco...”

Yiyi tried to stop her, voice fraying like thread, but failed.

“It’s fine—I won’t disturb her sleep.”

Mu spoke like sugar, then locked the door from inside with a crisp click.

“Yiyi, what’s going on?”

Li Muyan’s confusion hovered like smoke.

“I—”

“Aaaaah!!!”

Yiyi’s guess shattered like glass as a scream sliced out—the cry was Coco’s.

“Coco! You okay?”

Yiyi hammered the door like rain on tiles.

“Yiyi—help... help... mm-mm...”

Coco’s words broke like reeds and turned to muffled sobs, a river swallowed.

“Coco!”

Yiyi kept calling, her voice fluttering like a trapped bird, but Mu Qingcheng cut in, thunder under velvet.

“If you don’t want punishment, go downstairs and sit tight. I’ll handle this brat first, then settle with you two.”

“Uh...”

Yiyi and Li Muyan froze, fear blooming like frost across glass.

“Ah, I remember—my dad needs me home. I’m heading out, Yiyi. Take care!”

Li Muyan bolted like a rabbit.

“Hey, Muyan!”

Yiyi reached, but he vanished like smoke on wind.

“Sigh...”

Watching him run, Yiyi’s breath fell like a leaf.

Inside the room...

“Mmm-mm...”

The muffled sound swelled like a sealed drum.

“Mm? Want to talk?”

Mu’s voice curled like a cat’s tail.

Mu Qingcheng pinned Tang Coco like a hawk pinning prey, one hand sealing her mouth, the other hooked at her dress collar. Coco, refusing to yield, clutched the fabric with both hands like claws.

“Mmm (let go)!”

Her plea scratched like chalk.

“Can’t hear~”

Mu’s tease floated like silk.

“Mmm mmm (my bad).”

The apology trembled like a wet sparrow.

“Tch. Now you know to apologize? Saturday I was swamped, no time to sort you out, and Sunday you ghosted me.”

Her words snapped like bamboo.

She let go of Coco’s mouth and loosened the collar grip, tide ebbing off rock.

“Huff, huff.”

Coco drew breath like a fish breaking water; she glared at Mu Qingcheng, eyes hot as charcoal.

“Do you have to?”

The question fell like a stone into a well.

“Mm... Of course I don’t have to. Skipping me ticked me off, sure. But what really burns is hearing a certain headstrong girl pulled a reckless stunt. What is it—work sour or love sour?”

Her cadence tapped like paired drums.

“None of your business.”

Coco rolled her eyes and turned away, tail flick of a cat.

“Mm?”

Mu’s brows knit like twine, then her smile returned, sweet as honey on spring wind.

“Coco~”

Her coo slid over the air like satin.

“What?”

Coco shivered, goosebumps rising like rice at boil, face pinched in disdain.

Mu Qingcheng pretended not to notice, still smiling like newborn sun. “Your body healed, right?”

“Uh? Yeah.”

Coco answered, puzzled, deer caught in lantern-light.

“Good. Then I can relax. I was worried I’d play too hard and break you.”

Her laugh chimed like bells on a carriage.

“Huh? Wait—what are you doing?”

Coco watched Mu’s hands slide toward her skirt, panic flaring like sparks; their words tangled, suggestive as dusk.

“Damn you, Mu Qingcheng! Where are your hands?!”

Coco’s shout cracked like a whip.

“Little girl, talking to Sister Mu like that? If I don’t train you right today, I’m not Mu Qingcheng.”

Her vow fell like a seal on wax.

“You think I’m a sick cat? Who’s afraid of who! Hey—wait! Wait... you haven’t even started—ah!!!”

Her protests scattered like beads from a broken string.

“Scream all you want. No one can help you.”

Mu’s tone was a closed door, iron-cold.

“I’m going all in!!!”

Coco lunged like a tiger over a stream.

“...”

At the door, Ye Yiyi listened, heart drumming like rain; her cheeks warmed pink as peach blossom.

About half an hour later, the room went quiet, silence deep as a pond. Yiyi waited, heard nothing, and panic rose like fog.

“Coco? Sister Mu, what’s going on?”

Her voice tapped the threshold like knuckles.

No one answered. With no choice, Yiyi ran to her room, grabbed the spare key like a lifeline, returned, and opened the door—what she saw shocked her like lightning splitting the night.