Tang Coco dipped her head and checked her left knee; only a broken blade stuck there like a snapped fang. The other half was buried in the werewolf; when she launched him, the Mech-blade had snapped.

"That much backlash...?" Her heart sank like a stone into a cold pond. She eyed that anti-I particle device with new, flinty caution.

She lifted her gaze. Ahead, the werewolf stood like a blood-soaked idol, fingers digging at his wound, trying to fish out the shard.

"Hm?" A cold spark flicked in her mind. He didn’t have a defense wristband.

Staring at the wounded werewolf, a plan unfolded like a paper fan.

No wristband meant the school knew and set it on purpose. The device, their moves—chess pieces on a board. They were using her as a lab mouse to target people with Anomalous Energy like hers. Their goal wasn’t to erase her; she was an exchange student, and a scandal would ripple like a stone in a lake. They must have mapped her ties in Ninghai City; they couldn’t risk her life. Injuries, though, in a school full of healers, were like rain on tiles—loud, then gone. So the aim was single and sharp: test her to forge a blade for someone similar.

"If that’s how you want to play..." The corner of her mouth hooked like a drawn bow. Thrusters flared on her back, and she speared toward the werewolf.

ROAR! He bellowed, a mountain wind breaking pines. That half-transparent arm swung at her like a falling guillotine.

Bang... The Mech’s rear wings whipped forward like a steel fan. They caught the blow, but the left wing shattered like ice under a hammer.

Whoosh— Tang Coco lifted her right-hand blade in a crisp upward cut, a silver fish flashing upstream. She aimed at his last intact arm.

Snap! The werewolf’s left hand shot out and clamped her right forearm like an iron trap. But it wasn’t over. The blade slid from her palm like a shedding scale. A palm nozzle blasted, tossing it skyward like a leaf on wind. The Mech’s left hand rose, caught the hilt, and chopped down with falling-axe momentum.

Shhk— His left arm came off at the root, clean as bamboo cut at a node. Red washed over the Mech like a tide, turning her into an Asura out of hell.

ROAR! He howled in grief and rage, a storm ripping canvas. That half-transparent arm lashed toward her again.

She glanced at the swelling fist, resolve icing over like frost on glass.

Bang! Crack— The punch landed square, thunder under ribs. She didn’t dodge; she took it head-on. The near three-meter Mech flew back like a kicked door, shards of Armor tumbling like hail.

Whoosh— Her defense wristband lit and triggered, a pale shell blooming like a lotus.

Clang— The Mech hit the ground hard, a bell dropped on stone.

"Cough... cough..." She clutched her chest, breath hitching like torn bellows. The front Armor had shattered like clay. Blood traced her lip, a bright thread, and pain burned deep inside.

Even half-reclined, her eyes locked on the armless werewolf, cold as a drawn blade.

Dragging bloody stumps, he staggered toward her, each step a drumbeat, eyes full of iron and slaughter.

"Hey! We can end the match!" Yang Kai shouted at the referee, voice like a thrown rope. The wristband had triggered; there was no need to push on.

"Uh... r-right! Match over!" The referee snapped from the trance of battle, glanced at the official like a puppet waiting a nod, then yelled to the field.

Tang Coco kept her gaze on the werewolf. She was gambling, a die rolling in her chest.

"Rr... rr..." Animal rasping bubbled from his throat, and he still came on like a tide against rocks.

"Hey! Bring up the energy dome! He’s losing control!" Yang Kai’s shout cracked like a whip. Anyone could see the wrongness in that gait.

"O-okay! I’m on it..." The referee fumbled at the console, fingers like insects over glass.

Too late. The werewolf reached her and slowly lifted that half-transparent right arm, a ghost blade rising. But as it rose, it turned to flame and vanished, like mist under sun.

"Ha..." Tang Coco finally let out a breath, a winter cloud melting. Just as she’d guessed—his Anomalous Energy had hit its limit.

Thud— The werewolf dropped to his knees, heavy as a felled tree. Fire bled off him in flickers, and his body shrank back to human... only the arms stayed gone.

Whoosh— The energy dome opened, and a medical squad rushed in like white gulls. The team that official had brought swarmed the armless youth, while Xue Jing ran straight to Tang Coco. Her Armor had dissolved; her white dress was torn wide at the chest, but decency held like a veil—she just looked scuffed and smoke-stained.

Rumble— rumble— The arena’s heart began to quake, a drum under earth.

"What is it, an earthquake?" Dust shivered down like ash.

"It’s bad. That thing underground... it’s disappearing..." Tang Coco frowned, lines like knife-cuts. The energy sphere below was fading; the ground overhead would collapse like rotten snow.

"It’s okay~ I’ll protect you~" Xue Jing slid Tang Coco onto her kneeling lap, voice soft as warm tea.

"Huh?" Tang Coco barely had time to blink.

Boom— The center gave way. The whole arena dropped like a pit trap. When the dust thinned, Tang Coco opened her eyes slow as dawn. Xue Jing held her close. Around them, green leaves and white Anomalous Energy curled like a cocoon, keeping them safe within.

"Hm?" This close, Xue Jing’s face was a carved petal, her eyes snow-bright and flawless. Familiarity pricked like a thorn. This Anomaly Power, too—she’d seen a ripple like it somewhere.

"Are you okay?" Xue Jing asked with a smile, sunlight through gauze.

"I... I’m fine. Just need a breather." The words tasted like iron, but she held them steady.

"Are you hurt? Let me check..." Her tone flowed like a stream.

"N-no... no need. It’s nothing serious."

"That won’t do." She reached behind her back, fingers searching like fish in a basket. She drew out a syringe that gleamed like a shard of moon.

"This is a high-potency healing agent. I’ll give you a dose, then take you to the medical room. You’ve got heavy internal trauma."

"Uh... that’s a bit much, isn’t it?" Coco’s protest felt like a paper umbrella in rain.

"Nope~ You can’t take injuries lightly." Her smile was a string of pearls.

Tang Coco weighed it, thoughts like stones clicking. The fight was over. They’d lost; the finals were off their path. Treatment would be fine.

She wasn’t dropping Beibei’s target; she was just playing the board. The top three dorms would earn training from the elite faculty, like spring rain chosen for good fields. Their opponents wouldn’t be allowed that spot; otherwise the school’s scheme would show its tail. So her dorm still had a big chance. If not, she could bargain; she had chips to trade, like jade in a sleeve.

"Alright then..." She nodded and shifted her shoulder, a silent place to pierce.

Xue Jing understood. She slipped the fabric at Coco’s shoulder aside, revealing skin pale as fresh snow, and slid the needle in with feather-care.

"All done~"

"That’s enough, right?"

"Mm-hmm. Leave the rest to me." Xue Jing smiled, maybe a shade too bright, like lanterns at noon.

"The rest?" A prickle of wrongness crept up her spine like ants.

"Hm?" Suddenly Xue Jing’s face swayed, or the world did, ripples across a pond.

"Why’re you swaying?"

"Me? I’m not swaying~" Xue Jing answered, her face all blossom and dimples, which somehow made the air colder.

Wait. Xue Jing was a healer, and a high-level one, judging by that shield—someone like that treating internal injuries didn’t need a syringe. The answer was obvious as thunder. She’d been fooled.

"You—" Tang Coco planted a hand to rise, anger like a spark in dry grass.

Xue Jing pressed her shoulder down, gentle as silk, heavy as a mountain. "If you’re dizzy, take a nap~ When you wake, it won’t be dizzy anymore~"

"You..." Darkness closed like a curtain, and Tang Coco slid into it.

Footsteps approached, slow as a metronome. Chen Ying walked over.

"Teacher Xue Jing... how’s Kele?" Her voice trembled like a string.

"Mm. She’s got serious internal injuries, but I can heal her, so don’t worry~ You should rest too. It’s a head wound for you, and I can’t fix it if it goes wrong."

"Uh... I understand..." Chen Ying’s reply fell like a leaf.

"Good. Head back to the dorm and rest." Xue Jing’s tone left no edges.

Chen Ying left. Two lovely silhouettes hurried over, hems fluttering like butterflies.

"Coco!?" Mo Zitong called, worry tight as a fist.

"Who are you?" Ouyang Lingxue’s eyes cut to Xue Jing, sharp as a needle.

"I’m the director of the school’s medical room. My name’s Xue Jing." Her smile was a polished mirror.

"Uh... Hello, Teacher Xue Jing." Mo Zitong kept her manners like a folded fan.

"Mm. You’re her friends, right?" Xue Jing’s gaze was calm water.

"Yes. How is she?" The question hung like mist.

"Don’t worry. It’s not serious. I’ll need about a day to get her fully recovered."

"A day... got it. Then we’ll trouble you, Teacher Xue Jing." Mo Zitong dipped her head like a willow branch.

"It’s fine. It’s my duty. I won’t let anything happen to you exchange students." Her words were a silk screen.

"Xiao Yue, Xiao Xin, bring a stretcher and take this student to Intensive Care."

"Okay." Two girls came with a stretcher like a small boat. They lifted Tang Coco gently and carried her off, steps light as cats.

"Um... Teacher!" Mo Zitong stopped Xue Jing with a call, thread-thin.

"What is it?" Xue Jing turned, voice soft as cotton.

"When tomorrow will she be fully recovered..." Mo Zitong frowned, the line between brows a tiny blade. They needed Coco’s help tomorrow.

"You’ve got something urgent... Then, noon tomorrow. I’ll give it everything. By noon you’ll see her bouncing like a spring sparrow."

"Alright. Thank you for your hard work, Teacher." Mo Zitong smiled, a lantern relit. Xue Jing waved and left.

Ouyang Lingxue stood silent at the side, eyes on Xue Jing’s back like a hunter on a trail, thoughts hidden behind frost.

"Okay, I’m heading home. You?" Mo Zitong asked Ouyang Lingxue, voice easing like evening wind.

"Back to the dorm." Ouyang Lingxue turned and left, as clean as a cut.

Mo Zitong stared after her, speechless, a sigh coiling like smoke.

"Sigh..." The single breath drifted up to the broken rafters.