Guided by the pin Ye Yiyi sent, Gu Xin and Tang Coco slipped into a downtown outdoor lot, neon pooling like rainwater across the concrete.

They eased the car into a shadowed corner like a skiff moored at dusk, and they chatted, letting time ripple while they waited.

“Xin…” Tang Coco’s voice fell like a leaf in fog, her gaze tipped down.

“Mm? What’s wrong?” Gu Xin’s reply moved like a small wave against the shore.

“The Shadow Division… how is it now?” The question hung like mist, heavy and pale.

“The Shadow Division…” Gu Xin exhaled, like wind brushing bamboo.

“Alright, I’ll tell you what happened after you left,” she said, her tone steady as a lantern’s flame.

“Okay.” Tang Coco nodded, a small pebble dropping into a still pond.

“After you vanished, Hong Wei canceled every Shadow Division mission,” Gu Xin said, voice clipped like a blade. “The main force vanished like a star going dark, and Hong Wei feared wolves would circle the camp.”

“After a while, small troubles bubbled up like gnats at dusk, but we swatted them away,” she went on. “Then Hong Wei revived some missions and had us carry a few newbies along, like saplings pushed into wind.”

“Newbies?” Tang Coco’s brow drew tight, like a bowstring.

“Mm. The Shadow Division’s faces are mostly new now,” Gu Xin said, a faint shadow crossing her eyes like cloud over moon. “But…”

“But what?” Tang Coco asked, her voice sharpening like frost.

“These recruits were scooped from small Anomaly groups, gathered like drifting reeds,” Gu Xin said, frowning as if tasting iron. “I can’t shake the feeling they’re not solid wood.”

Silence settled like snow before Tang Coco spoke again. “Hong Wei didn’t notice?”

Gu Xin shook her head, the motion light as willow leaves. “Honestly, since you disappeared, Hong Wei’s changed like a river after a flood,” she said. “Maybe the blow was heavy, like stone on the chest. Since then, he trains any kind of Abnormal, no matter the cut.”

“But with the numbers swelling like a tide, their abilities aren’t like ours,” she added, a low drumbeat under calm water.

“How many newbies in total?” Tang Coco’s voice ran straight as an arrow.

“When we left, there were ten core members already,” Gu Xin said. “Plenty more in the shallows.”

Tang Coco stared into the middle distance, thoughts drifting like smoke above embers.

“Honestly… I’ve had a feeling,” Gu Xin said, brows knotted like knuckles. “Someday, we might end up fighting them—storm against storm.”

“If their moves clash with ours,” she asked, gaze steady like winter sky, “what’ll you do, Coco?”

“If it comes to that,” Tang Coco said, a shard of ice flashing in her eyes, “even if they’re Shadow Division… I’ll kill.”

Air thinned like high altitude, then settled.

“Whatever happens, we’ll stand with you,” Gu Xin said, clasping Tang Coco’s hand like a rope thrown from a cliff.

“Mm.” The answer was soft, like a night tide.

A Porsche rolled in a moment later, headlights slicing the gloom like twin blades. It stopped beside Gu Xin’s car, and Ye Yiyi burst out, feet light as sparrows.

“Coco!” Ye Yiyi’s shout rang like a bell after rain.

Tang Coco slipped out, greeting like warm tea. “Yiyi…”

Before the word finished, Ye Yiyi lunged and wrapped her tight, arms like silk cords and relief like a floodgate opening.

“Wow—so good—you’re finally okay.” Joy sparkled at her eyes like dew.

“Sorry for making you worry,” Tang Coco said, hugging back, their shadows merging like ink.

“You rascal…” Ye Yiyi murmured, tears tracing along her lashes like silver threads.

“Alright, Yiyi, don’t cry,” Tang Coco soothed, voice like balm on a burn. “This time was on me. It won’t happen again.”

“Mm.” Ye Yiyi dabbed her tears, a petal pressed flat.

“Seeing you fine, I’m relieved,” Li Muyan came over with a grin, sunlight skimming a lake.

“Hmph! Now you know how awesome I am?” Tang Coco said, pride flicking like a fox’s tail.

“Awesome? Sure—pretty awesome at warming a bed,” Li Muyan teased, a spark tossed onto tinder.

“You—!” Tang Coco bristled, heat flashing like ember.

“Pfft—you two are still the same,” Ye Yiyi laughed, bubbles rising in spring water.

“Gu-jie, what’re we doing here?” Ye Yiyi asked, curiosity beading like rain.

“Coco thinks her white hair draws too much attention,” Gu Xin explained, voice calm as stone. “She wants to dye it back to black.”

“Ah?” Ye Yiyi and Li Muyan blinked, surprise popping like corn.

“Ah, my foot,” Tang Coco muttered, exasperation fluttering like a startled bird. “This color looks anything but normal.”

“Er… alright,” Ye Yiyi said, thinking from Coco’s angle, logic settling like dust. “I know a care salon I go to often. Let’s try there.”

“Mm.” The agreement was clean, like a blade’s edge.

Gu Xin and Li Muyan led, feet steady as bridge planks; Ye Yiyi tugged Tang Coco behind, questions falling like soft rain about Coco’s health.

Four women moved down the street, drawing eyes like moths to a lantern. Luckily, Tang Coco soaked most of the glare like a tall screen; otherwise, the crowd would ripple into chaos.

They walked, a slow current through the city, and after twenty minutes they reached a salon door near Aunt Qin’s shop from last time, fate circling like a kite.

“Hello, welcome—what service do you need?” A hostess approached with a smile, bright as a paper fan.

“We’d like a private room and a professional stylist,” Ye Yiyi said, words neat like stacked tiles.

“Of course, please follow me.” The hostess turned, steps light as feathers.

Led through a partitioned hallway, they entered a small room, quiet as moss.

“May I ask your request?” A stylist in her thirties came in, polite as autumn light.

“Not me, it’s hers,” Li Muyan said, pointing at Tang Coco, whose hat came off like a veil. A white waterfall of hair spilled down, starlight poured into silk.

The stylist froze, struck by the sight like lightning far off. She’d never seen a girl this beautiful, a rare orchid in moonlight.

“Ahem… she wants to change her hair color,” Gu Xin said, voice steady as a hand on the rudder.

“Uh… o-okay,” the stylist managed, gathering herself like scattered beads. She seated Tang Coco and stepped behind, studying the hair with careful fingers.

“Is this… your natural color?” she asked, astonishment flickering like candle flame.

“Mm… kind of,” Tang Coco said, fogging the truth like breath on glass.

“Can you dye it or not?” Irritation buzzed in her chest like trapped bees as the stylist kept touching her hair.

“We can! Of course,” the stylist said quickly, then gentled her tone like soft wind. “But maybe reconsider? This color’s already stunning—snow under moon.”

“No need. Just dye it.” Tang Coco waved, crisp as a sword stroke, and picked a deep brown.

“Alright. Please wait; I’ll prepare.” She left and returned with a cart, the metal glinting like river fish. The process flowed fine at first, smooth as tea, until a wash later when something went wrong.

“Huh? Why?” The stylist’s voice hiccupped like a pebble skipping water.

“What is it?” Tang Coco asked, surprise tightening like a knot.

“Miss, you’ve never treated your hair?” the stylist asked, measuring twice like a tailor.

“No.”

“That’s odd. For some reason, your hair won’t take any color,” she said, bafflement drifting like fog.

“What!?” Shock snapped through Tang Coco like ice cracking.

“No way!?” Gu Xin and Ye Yiyi came over, feet quick as sparrows, peering as the fresh color rinsed off with water—gone like ink in rain.

“See? It’s like this every time,” the stylist said, helplessness a small gray cloud.

The other three fell into silence, heaviness like a damp quilt.

“So unfair…” Tang Coco muttered, frustration cooling like tea gone stale.

“Coco, there’s no helping it… we’ll leave it as is,” Ye Yiyi said, voice gentle as hands warming a cup. Tang Coco thought, stubbornness flickering like a stubborn wick.

“Mm… then I’ll cut it off.” The words landed like a blade on wood.

“No!” x3 The chorus rose like startled birds, all wings and alarm.

“Uh…” Tang Coco blinked, the impulse folding like paper.

“Thank you. We won’t do the dye today,” Gu Xin told the stylist, courtesy smooth as jade.

“No problem—if you need anything else, come find me,” the stylist said, smile curling like a ribbon.

“Alright.”

“Since the hair didn’t work out, let’s wander nearby,” Ye Yiyi suggested, mood tilting toward light like afternoon sun. “See if we need anything else.”

“Sure.” The agreement sparkled like clinking glass.

By evening, the four returned to the lot with bags of all sizes, handles pulling like nets of small fish.

“Yiyi, Coco will stay at my place for two days,” Gu Xin said, her hand on Ye Yiyi’s like a steady anchor. “In two days I’ll have Meng Yuting tell Meng Xiaoxiao we’re back. Once Xiaoxiao’s home, Coco can return to you.”

“Alright…” Reluctance hovered in Ye Yiyi’s eyes like dusk, many words dammed like a lake. But she knew now wasn’t the time; Gu Xin’s matters couldn’t touch Meng Xiaoxiao yet.

“It’s okay, Yiyi. I’ll be back in a few days,” Tang Coco smiled, warmth like a lantern behind paper.

“Mm-hmm.” Ye Yiyi nodded, her joy a small fire.

Two cars slid out in different directions, taillights trailing like twin comets.

Half an hour later, Gu Xin and Tang Coco reached the seaside villa, surf whispering like silk along the shore. Meng Yuting was already home, lounging on the sofa with the TV glow like aquarium light.

“Yo? Where’d you two go play?” Meng Yuting asked, eyeing their bags, curiosity bobbing like a buoy.

“Eh… Coco wanted to dye her hair, but it failed,” Gu Xin said, helplessness laid out like empty hands. “Her hair just won’t hold any color.”

“Pfft… that exists?” Meng Yuting snorted, laughter spark-like.

Tang Coco said nothing, her silence heavy as rain-soaked wool.

“I’m going to my room,” she murmured, low spirits dragging like a slow tide, and she headed upstairs.

“What’s up with her?” Meng Yuting asked, a frown pinched like thread.

“This hit her a bit hard,” Gu Xin said, worry thin as glass. “She’s been gloomy all the way back.”

“Er…” Meng Yuting clicked her tongue, then stood, resolve snapping like a fan. “This rascal… I’ll go find her!”

“Hey—Yuting, don’t do anything reckless,” Gu Xin called, concern ringing like a bell.

“I know~” Meng Yuting tossed back, voice sing-song as a kite string, and she pushed the door open.

Inside, Tang Coco lay face-down on the bed, thoughts pooling like dark water. Meng Yuting walked in, quick as a cat, then sat on Coco’s thighs, pressing her down like a playful weight.

“Hey, what’re you doing!?” Tang Coco lifted her head, gaze arrowing back; Meng Yuting was perched on her like a fox on a log.

“Shouldn’t I be asking you? What’s wrong? Why so unhappy?” Meng Yuting asked, concern warm as a hand around a cup.

Silence returned, soft and thick like snowfall. Tang Coco turned her face away and said, voice flat as a gray sky, “Am I… even still human?”

“Hm?” Meng Yuting blinked, confusion flitting like a sparrow.

“Hair that won’t take color, a body turned delicate like porcelain… maybe I’m not human anymore,” Tang Coco said, mood sinking like a stone in deep water.

Now Meng Yuting understood, the picture clicking like beads on a string. She leaned forward and lay along Coco’s back, arms circling her neck like a scarf.

“Hey! What’re you doing? You’re heavy!” Tang Coco protested, the words puffing like steam.

Shock fluttered first, a sparrow-quick cry slipping from Tang Coco.

She realized her frame was willow-thin compared to Meng Yuting’s.

Meng Yuting toppled over, her whole weight pouring down like a warm avalanche.

For a moment she couldn’t bear it; her chest was pinned like a paving stone.

She braced with both hands, arms trembling like reeds in wind, trying to lift a breath...