Ye Yiyi burst into the corridor, tears spilling like a sudden summer squall.
She ran into Meng Yuting and Gu Xin, who stepped out like two shadows leaving a lantern’s glow.
“Yiyi!? What happened?”
Gu Xin saw the wet shine in her eyes, worry rising like mist from cold water.
“I… I…”
The words broke apart like leaves in a stream. Grief clogged her throat like mud.
“Come on. I’ll walk with you.”
Meng Yuting’s voice went soft, warm as tea in winter. She flicked Gu Xin a look, quick as a sparrow’s wing. Gu Xin nodded, a quiet stone sinking.
Meng Yuting put an arm around Ye Yiyi’s shoulders and guided her toward the elevator, steady as a hand on a rudder.
Gu Xin turned toward Tang Coco’s room, her steps tapping like thin rain on tile.
Bang bang!
Click!
The door snapped open like a trap springing. Gu Xin frowned, a crease sharp as frost, and walked in.
“You’re all so annoying.”
Tang Coco sat on the bed, her gaze cold as a drawn blade.
“I’ve got questions.”
Gu Xin kept her tone level, a pond with no ripples.
“Since you’ve got some skill, talk.”
Tang Coco waved a hand, casual as a cat’s tail.
“Are you… Tang Ke?”
The words dragged out like a thorn from skin.
“Tang Ke? Heh. He’s already dead.”
Tang Coco’s brows pinched, then she smiled, thin as a knife’s edge.
“No. You’re him.”
Gu Xin’s voice was firm, a pillar planted in wind.
“I don’t like repeating myself.”
Her tone cooled again, like shade swallowing noon light.
“If you’re not, then explain this— and those blue motes!”
Gu Xin raised her wristband, metal glinting like a drop of ice.
“Right. I almost forgot that troublesome thing. Give it here.”
Tang Coco extended a hand, palm open like a silent command.
“So you admit it? I’m not handing it over.”
Gu Xin’s refusal was crisp, a snapped twig.
“Hmph. Don’t mistake the courtesy I gave you for license.”
Her voice cracked like sleet on stone. “I said I’m not that so‑called Tang Ke. And that thing offends my eyes.”
She moved without warning, a falcon stooping through air. She lunged for the wristband.
Down in the garden, paths curled like brushstrokes through pine shade.
Meng Yuting walked with Ye Yiyi under the leaves, steps quiet as dew.
“Yuting-jie… do you… know Coco’s past?”
Ye Yiyi kept her head down, watching the pebbled path, her voice barely a drizzle.
“Hard to say. Coco… is a lot like our old friend, like a reflection in a lake. But we can’t confirm she’s him.”
Meng Yuting shook her head, a willow in light wind.
“I see…”
Ye Yiyi’s hope sank like a stone into dark water.
“Why ask all of a sudden? Did Coco say something?”
Meng Yuting’s eyes searched, lantern-bright.
“The Coco now is nothing like before… She told me… the old Coco had something he had to finish.”
Ye Yiyi’s words were soft, a thread of rain.
“Did she say what?”
Meng Yuting’s brows drew tight, two strokes of ink.
“No… but she mentioned revenge.”
“Revenge?”
Meng Yuting’s eyes widened, a bell struck in an empty hall. It rang with certainty: a clue pointing to Tang Ke.
“Hm? Yuting-jie?”
Ye Yiyi blinked, puzzled, a bird tilting its head.
“Heh… Maybe she is our old friend after all.”
Meng Yuting forced a smile, pale as winter sun.
“Really? Then, Yuting-jie, do you know what he had to do?”
Ye Yiyi leaned in, urgency fluttering like wings.
“… ”
Silence gathered around Meng Yuting like fog.
“Sigh… Yiyi, let me tell you about him.”
“Okay.”
Ye Yiyi nodded, earnest as a sprout pushing through soil.
“What he had to do was avenge his father.”
“For his father!?”
“Mm. His father served in an Anomaly Power squad. A teammate’s betrayal cut him down, like a tree felled at night.”
Meng Yuting spoke lightly, a veil over thorns.
“I see… so that’s why revenge… What about his mother?”
Ye Yiyi’s question trembled like a candle flame.
“His parents divorced when he was very young. When his father died, he was already training alone in the organization.”
The words fell steady, rain on old tiles. A dull ache pressed Ye Yiyi’s chest, like a bruise under a sleeve.
“In any case, Yiyi, trust Coco. I think her feelings for you are real. This version of her won’t last long.”
Meng Yuting’s voice was a hand on a shoulder, warm as sunlight through leaves.
“… ”
Ye Yiyi lowered her head, thoughts eddying like leaves in a brook. Then she looked up, eyes clear as a fresh sky.
“Mm! Yuting-jie, no matter how Coco changes, I’ll stay by her side.”
“Good girl.”
Meng Yuting ruffled her hair, a breeze through wheat. The two turned back toward the hotel, swallows returning to eaves.
Inside the hotel, the air in Tang Coco’s room hung heavy, thick as storm heat.
Gu Xin watched her charge in, and she refused to yield like rock against surf. She flared her Anomaly Power, frost blooming into a shield, hard as glacier glass.
“Hmph. A twig trying to stop a carriage.”
Tang Coco’s words cut, cold as sleet. Her right forearm snapped into Armor, plates sliding on like a steel shell.
Bang!
The ice shield shattered like brittle sugar under a hammer. The shockwave flung Gu Xin back, a kite with its string cut. She smashed the wall of screens, then crumpled to the floor.
“Cough… cough…”
She half-sat on the boards, breath ragged, chest burning like coal.
“Know why I didn’t kill that one on the rooftop?”
Tang Coco retracted her Armor, metal ebbing like a tide. She smiled as she walked closer, step by step, a cat savoring the prowl.
“I like them like this. I like pretty girls collapsing at my feet, their eyes helpless as rain‑soaked sparrows.”
“… ”
Gu Xin’s silence was a held knife. She hadn’t expected the strike—nor words like poison mixed with honey.
“Give it.”
From above, Tang Coco’s hand reached down like a hawk’s shadow.
“Even if you kill me, I won’t.”
Gu Xin’s stubbornness burned, a coal under ash.
“Heh. Strong girls… are tempting too.”
Tang Coco crouched, hooked a finger under Gu Xin’s chin, and leaned in, her breath warm as wine and just as dangerous.
“How could I bear to kill someone this beautiful?”
“Extreme Ice Seal!”
Cold surged into Gu Xin’s palm, winter coalescing into a blade of air. She drove it for Tang Coco’s chest.
“Hmph.”
Tang Coco’s laugh was a spark in dry grass, brief and sharp.
