The naval base near Ninghai City sits far from the neon heart of town, so two hours later the three women finally rolled up to Meng Xiaoxiao’s apartment, headlights slicing night like cold blades.

“Alright, you two head up,” Ningxin said, voice warm like steeped tea, as she parked under the building and the engine settled like a calm pond. “I’ve got things at the club.”

“Okay—thanks, Ning-jie,” Li Muyan smiled, her relief blooming like dawn light over a quiet bay.

“Don’t be so formal,” Ningxin waved, her tone soft as silk in a spring breeze. “Coco needs a real rest. When you’re better, we’ll sit down and talk everything through.”

“Okay.” Tang Coco’s answer came small, like a leaf drifting in slow water.

Li Muyan lifted Tang Coco and carried her inside, the lobby lights shimmering like fish scales, then took the elevator up, steel doors closing with a hush like a drawn curtain at dusk.

After this ordeal, Li Muyan felt her body strengthened, breath steady like a mountain wind, and holding the feather-light Coco was easy as cradling a lull in the tide.

Ding-dong. The doorbell chimed like a silver bell in clear air.

Click. The lock turned, a small spark in the quiet, and Gu Xin opened the door, gaze sharp as a swan’s glance across a lake.

“Xin’er…” Tang Coco’s voice fluttered like a sparrow, and her eyes skittered away like minnows fleeing a shadow.

“You’re back! And—are you hurt?” Gu Xin’s surprise rippled like quick rain on stone; Ningxin had texted they were on the way, but not the hour the river would reach the shore.

Gu Xin saw Coco in Li Muyan’s arms, her face pale with a sallow tint like old parchment, and her worry rose like storm clouds gathering over a warm sea.

“No… just… I’ll explain later,” Coco murmured, embarrassment pinking her ears like maple leaves touched by fall.

“Alright…” Gu Xin paused, letting her calm settle like dust after wind, then helped Li Muyan ease Coco onto the sofa, cushions sighing like moss underfoot.

“Yuting, Yiyi, Coco’s back,” Gu Xin called toward the bedroom, her voice ringing like a bell across a courtyard.

“Really?” Ye Yiyi’s surprised joy leapt out like a deer through mist, and she rushed over, footfalls light as rain on wood; Coco lay half-reclined, breath shallow as a small wave.

“Muyan? You’re back too?” From her angle, Ye Yiyi saw Li Muyan first, and her shock lit like a lantern; these days no one had told her the truth, a fog still sitting over the lake.

“Mm, I’m back,” Li Muyan smiled, warmth spreading like sun over thawing snow.

“That’s great!” Ye Yiyi cheered, her smile bright as fireworks, yet a thin sadness threaded her eyes like mist curling over dawn water.

“Eh? Coco, what happened? Are you hurt?” Only then did Ye Yiyi take in Coco’s state, her worry blooming like red petals in rain.

Coco pulled a face and said nothing, wishing she could vanish like a raindrop sliding into sand and never be seen.

“Where does it hurt? Is it serious?” Ye Yiyi crouched at her side, concern pooling like a deep well.

“It’s… fine… it’s just… stomach pain… that’s all…” Coco mumbled, awkwardness creeping like ivy around her words.

“Stomach pain? Did you eat something bad?” Ye Yiyi asked, innocent as blue sky after storm.

Coco just stared, her expression freezing like a rabbit caught in moonlight.

Pfft. Li Muyan couldn’t help a laugh, a bright bead rolling like a glass marble on wood.

“Huh? What is it?” Ye Yiyi blinked, curiosity tilting like a cat’s ear toward a flutter.

“I’ll tell you,” Li Muyan said, grin quick as a sparrow’s flick. “It’s her first time getting her period.”

The room paused, air holding still like a held breath, then the three—Gu Xin, Meng Yuting, and Ye Yiyi—answered in chorus, a teasing drawl like wind through reeds: “Ohhh~”

Hearing that tone, Coco wanted to sink through the floor like a pebble dropping into a river and be swallowed by the current.

“Seriously, you just don’t take care of yourself!” Ye Yiyi planted hands on her hips, chin lifted like a small general, anger sparking like sparks from flint.

“…Sorry,” Coco said, voice small, the word drifting like a wilted petal on water.

“Humph. You never listen,” Ye Yiyi’s words trembled like a reed in winter wind. “Every time—you hide things from me and jump into danger like a moth toward flame.”

Ever since Ye Yiyi learned Coco and the others were Abnormals, she sensed their “errands” were tied to Anomaly Power, her suspicion gnawing like distant thunder; the wrecked villa never felt like the simple story on the news.

Hearing her, the girls who knew the truth felt their hearts sink like stones dropping through clear river water.

“Alright, Yiyi, we’re at fault,” Gu Xin stepped to her, taking her arm, touch gentle as a bamboo fan’s shade.

“I’m not blaming you, sisters… it’s just… every time…” Tears glazed Ye Yiyi’s lashes like dew beading on a blade of grass.

“Yiyi, we’re wrong,” Coco said, eyes steady like moonlight on a windowpane. “From now on, let’s live a normal life, okay? Once I’m well, I’ll go to school with you.”

“Really?” Ye Yiyi looked up, astonishment flickering like a fish turning in sunlit water.

“It’s real, Yiyi.” Li Muyan added from the side, her tone firm as a tied knot. “We won’t do dangerous things anymore, like closing a gate against a midnight storm.”

“That’s wonderful!” Ye Yiyi’s joy burst like a sunbeam through clouds; this was the wish she held like a talisman close to her heart.

“Okay, let’s buy groceries and cook something good,” Li Muyan said, eyes cutting to Coco like a small tiger’s glare. “She hasn’t eaten all day.”

On the way back, Coco had refused food on the navy ship, pain curling her like a leaf, appetite blown away like smoke from a guttering wick.

“You!” Coco snapped, bristling like a cat whose tail got stepped on, furious she’d been exposed like a secret note in bright sun.

Pfft—fine,” Ye Yiyi laughed, light as confetti. “I’ll go get ingredients and make you something tasty,” and she headed out with Li Muyan, their footsteps fading like two lines drawn in sand.

Truth be told, Li Muyan also had words to share with Ye Yiyi alone, thoughts held like sealed letters waiting for a quiet hour.

“Uh… where’s Lulu?” After they left, Coco glanced at the two beauties beside her, voice drifting like smoke from a small candle.

“Lulu went to the university with Xiaoxiao,” Gu Xin said, the explanation steady like a path through pines.

“Uh… seriously? What’s a little kid doing at college?” Coco frowned, confusion bobbing like a cork in ripples.

“Little kid?” Meng Yuting’s temper flared like a struck match. “Lulu’s more sensible than you. She actually thinks about family, like a lantern kept lit for home. And you? You ignore everyone’s feelings and throw yourself into danger alone like a blade in a storm.”

Coco ducked her head, shame folding her in like a closing fan; she knew the scolding would come like summer thunder.

“Alright, Yuting,” Gu Xin soothed, voice cool as a spring over stone, trying to settle the waves.

“Humph. You just spoil her,” Meng Yuting pressed on, anger rising like a tide. “She used to be a guy; fine, spoil him then. Now she’s like this and still won’t behave—she needs a lesson like a bell rung hard.”

“Okay, okay, it’s all my fault,” Coco yielded, hands open like empty palms; seeing that, Meng Yuting said no more, her fire dimming like embers under ash.

Gu Xin sighed, a weary breeze through bamboo, then turned to Coco, gaze steady like a straight blade. “Coco, tell us what happened. And what do you mean by living a normal life?”

“Alright, here’s how it went…” For ten minutes, Coco laid out everything, words flowing like a river through bends, no rock left unturned.

“So that’s it,” Gu Xin said, but her face chilled like frost spreading over glass, calm replaced by cold edges.

“Coco, even I can’t forgive you for this.” Her words landed like a stone dropped from height, the room ringing with the impact.

“Uh…” Coco blinked, surprise feathering like startled birds; gentle Gu Xin had turned sharp like a blade pulled from its sheath.

“How could you be so impulsive?” Gu Xin’s anger flared like lightning. “If Muyan hadn’t arrived, you’d be in real danger. You even forced the fusion to end. Why couldn’t you think, like holding the reins before the horse bolts?”

“…I know it’s my fault,” Coco said after a beat, emotion rolling up like a tide. “But—”

“But I couldn’t just watch Muyan endure that pain,” she cried, voice raw as wind through bare branches. “She’s a good girl. Why should she carry that?”

“What about you?” Gu Xin shouted, her voice cracking like thunder over hills.

“Aren’t you a girl?” Her words cut clean as a winter blade. “Do you ever look at yourself? You worry about other girls, but others worry about you the same way. Do you want them to fall into danger for you, like following a lantern into a cliff fog?”

“Coco, listen to me.” Gu Xin’s final line struck like a temple bell. “This life of yours—it isn’t only yours.”

Bang. The bedroom door slammed, the sound a dark wave smashing the shore, and Gu Xin vanished behind wood like a shadow passing through willow.

Coco sat stunned, still as a statue in moonlight; she’d never heard Gu Xin speak to her like that, the chill spreading like fog over a lake.

“Call me if you need,” Meng Yuting said in a low voice, tone steady like a beam holding a roof, then turned and walked to the bedroom, her silhouette slipping away like dusk.

Coco slumped onto the sofa, forearm over her eyes like a blindfold; her voice wandered thin as smoke. “I’m… a girl… heh… I’m so lousy.”

In the bedroom, Gu Xin sat on the bed, anger coiling like a snake in tall grass, breath tight as a drawn bowstring.

“Xin’er… are you okay?” Meng Yuting sat beside her, concern gentle as a hand smoothing wrinkled silk.

“Yuting… did I go too far?” Gu Xin’s voice wavered, a small boat on choppy water under gray sky.

“No, Xin’er,” Meng Yuting said, calm like moon over ripples. “Coco really messed up. But… this is also why we liked him, back then—he’d throw himself into the fire for people he cared about.”

“I know,” Gu Xin whispered, fingers twisting like vines. “But seeing her like this, still doing things the old way—it makes me furious, like sparks hitting dry grass.”

“Heh,” Meng Yuting smiled, a soft curve like crescent moon. “Looks like you’ve fully accepted the female her. Now you want to protect her, keep her from getting hurt like guarding a small flame from wind.”

Gu Xin fell silent, the truth settling in her chest like snow, cool and clear.

“But we should consider her,” Meng Yuting went on, voice steady as a road through fields. “Her body changed, but inside she’s still him. You and I wouldn’t adjust overnight either, like a tree bending slowly to a new wind. And Muyan’s case was dangerous; even if she’s accepted the change, her instinct will surge like a tide.”

“Then… what should we do?” Gu Xin asked, confusion drifting like fog seeking a shore.

“There are plenty of ways,” Meng Yuting said, confidence bright as morning. “She’s a girl now, so we keep letting her feel being a girl—bit by bit, change her mindset like tea steeping to full fragrance. There’s also a good edge: she shouldn’t use high-grade Anomaly Power for a while. She could force unlock, sure, but she won’t do that for us.”

Gu Xin thought, silence pooling like clear water, then nodded. “Okay. I’ll follow your lead this time.”

“That’s the spirit,” Meng Yuting grinned, vow shining like a banner in wind. “We’ll loop in Yiyi and Muyan, work a full-on twenty-four-hour plan, and train her into a proper good girl.”

“Mm. Good.” Gu Xin’s answer settled like a seal pressed to paper, firm and final.