Thud-thud-thud—

Footsteps swelled like a drumbeat in a cave. The secret room’s door groaned open from the far side, hinges rasping like a rusty throat. It was a double door; from inside, you had to crack the lock first.

Click—

The panel slid back. Tang Coco and Meng Xiaoxiao saw three figures drift in like shadows from a stage play.

All three wore vampire cosplay: capes fluttering like bat wings, masks carved into nightmare grins. The one in the middle stood tall, almost level with Tang Coco, a scarecrow king between his ghouls.

“…”

The trio halted. The tall “vampire” stiffened, eyes snagging on Tang Coco sitting on the floor. Then his shoulders loosened. A tinny voice washed out through a built-in voice changer.

Heh-heh… bold enough to run, are we? Grab them.

He flicked a gloved hand. The other two padded toward Meng Xiaoxiao and Tang Coco, steps soft as cats on velvet.

“W-wait! We’re quitting!” Meng Xiaoxiao blurted, voice quivering like a ribbon in wind.

“Oh?” The leader tilted his head, a villain’s smile curling under the mask. “Quitting halfway earns a penalty.”

“Penalty? That server girl never said anything about penalties…” Meng Xiaoxiao frowned, confusion fluttering like startled sparrows.

“Did you ask what happens if you bail halfway?” the vampire shot back.

“No…”

“Then there you go. I’m the boss here. If I say there’s a penalty, there’s a penalty. I write the rules.”

“…”

Tang Coco watched in silence, breath steady but heart pricked like a pine needle. The “vampire” felt familiar with Meng Xiaoxiao. This was teasing, not malice.

Could this be the Lin-jie she mentioned? the thought lit like a paper lantern inside Tang Coco.

“You… you’re Lin-jie?!” Meng Xiaoxiao’s eyes widened, quick as foxfire. Smart girl—she caught on fast.

“Oh~ clever,” the vampire chuckled. She raised a hand and lifted the mask. A face like polished jade appeared, framed by violet-black hair spilling down like ink. Her eyes were large, irises pale blue like ice on a lake. Her rosy lips curved as she looked at Meng Xiaoxiao.

“!!”

Tang Coco’s pupils tightened like a camera shutter. She stared straight at the revealed “Lin-jie.” Recognition hit with a cold sting.

Aileen Lefiel. Codename: Blooddance. Captain of the mercenary group Blood Moon. And Tang Coco knew—she really did drink blood.

Two years ago, Shadow Division crossed paths with Blood Moon on an assassination bounty. Two currents met under the same moon, both chasing the same prize. In the end, Tang Ke led Shadow Division to complete the target. But it didn’t end clean. Blooddance set her sights on Tang Ke’s team-buffing ability, trying to lure him in.

Tang Ke refused. Shadow Division pushed instead to absorb Blood Moon—strong group, top-five on the rankings, worth the trouble. Talks went back and forth like chess. Blooddance laid down a single condition: make Tang Ke her man, and she’d join Shadow Division.

The moment that hit the table, Meng Yuting and Gu Xin shot it down, sparks flying. Meng Yuting even tried a secret ambush on Blooddance and failed, got caught like a bird in a snare. Tang Ke went alone to Blood Moon’s base to take her back, fought Blooddance and her team under a red-stained night, and pulled Meng Yuting out.

He found Blood Moon’s roster was all women. He couldn’t guess what Blooddance wanted him for. But he never forgot her Anomaly Power—blood dancing at her command, the blood-red wings unfurling when she fought, like a phoenix of scarlet. She could trade blows with him, strike for strike. In the end, Tang Ke had to use a special ability to put Blood Moon down.

No grudge took root. Since then, the two groups kept to their own rivers, missions done without crossing wires. He hadn’t expected to meet her again here, in Huaguo’s Yanjing.

“Looks like our Xiaoxiao is still sharp as ever~” Lin-jie smiled, eyes soft. She stepped close, fingertips brushing Meng Xiaoxiao’s cheek like a feather.

“Uuu~ Lin-jie, you’re too much. Why set up something this scary?”

“Oh? You were scared? I thought my little Xiaoxiao feared neither sky nor earth~ Hee-hee—this feels like a win.”

“Hmph… I… I don’t want to play anymore…” Meng Xiaoxiao’s cheeks flushed, pink as peach petals.

“Don’t. It’s fun, you know? I designed it bit by bit,” Lin-jie coaxed, voice honeyed.

“No, I’m done.” Meng Xiaoxiao shook her small head, hair swishing like grass in wind.

“Tell you what. I’ll increase the reward.” Lin-jie’s eyes glinted, teasing like moonlight over water.

“Hm? What reward?” Meng Xiaoxiao leaned in, curiosity tugging her forward.

Lin-jie dipped her head to whisper, breath a secret breeze at Meng Xiaoxiao’s ear. Only the two of them caught the words.

“…”

Color rose across Meng Xiaoxiao’s face, blooming like sunrise. She stared, startled. “Really? How did you even know…”

“Really. Don’t you trust Lin-jie~?”

“Mm… o-okay…”

Under Tang Coco’s surprised glance, Meng Xiaoxiao nodded.

“Good~ Our brave Xiaoxiao. But you’ll have to work for it. Since the reward went up, a failure means a special penalty,” Lin-jie said, lips hooked in a sly curve.

“…”

“And you, little beauty,” she added, turning to Tang Coco with a playful smile, “once you escape, we can get to know each other properly.”

She pivoted toward the door, cape whispering like silk. “Tie them back up. Tighter. Otherwise I’m taking a loss. We won’t check in every ten minutes anymore.”

“Yes.”

The two assistants lifted the chains from the floor and bound the girls’ legs again, tighter this time, links cold like winter snakes.

“Then, ladies—do your best~” Lin-jie smiled from the doorway, then led her helpers out.

“Hey,” Tang Coco asked, gaze steady as a blade, “what did she tell you that made you keep playing?”

“N-nothing…” Meng Xiaoxiao’s eyes skittered away like minnows. She yanked the topic aside. “Coco-jie, hurry! I want out. It’s really tight—it hurts a bit…”

“Whose fault is that? If you hadn’t freaked out, we’d be out already.” Tang Coco shot her a look, cool as shade. Deep down, she guessed Lin-jie hadn’t recognized her. She’d changed too much.

“Uuu… I was wrong, okay~”

“Fine. Don’t move. I’ll undo it.” Tang Coco’s voice softened, steady as rain on tiles.

The tighter knot slowed them a little, but not much. Tang Coco quickly freed Meng Xiaoxiao’s leg chains. The second round went faster—hands and rhythm remembered the path. They worked through the steps again and cracked the door. The panel swung, and they slipped into the second room.

It felt like a hospital ward carved from a nightmare. Beds sat under flickering light, sheets stiff as shrouds. A corpse lay sprawled like a mannequin on one bed. A cabinet clattered open, and severed “parts” tumbled out like meat from a butcher’s hook. Meng Xiaoxiao yelped several times, small cries like sparrows startled from a hedge, but she wasn’t as shaken as before.

That made Tang Coco more curious. What reward did Lin-jie promise that lit this little girl’s fire?

They broke a few mechanical puzzles, gears clicking like beetles. A key turned up, cool metal kissing the palm. It fit the lock on Meng Xiaoxiao’s wrist chain. With a snap, she was free. Tang Coco took point, calm as a river, and led them into the next room.

The final room opened like a bathhouse of the underworld. In the center sprawled a pool brimming with blood-red water, the surface shining like lacquer. It was fake, sure—but the color tugged at the spine, a chill like wind through bamboo.

“C-Coco-jie… the last key isn’t in… the water, right?” Meng Xiaoxiao asked, fear fluttering like moth wings.

“I think it is,” Tang Coco said, voice low, eyes measuring the red expanse.

“I… I go down?” Her fingers twisted nervously, a reed in a storm.

“What else? My hands are tied behind me,” Tang Coco said, shifting her bound wrists, rope rasping like dry rope on bark.

“…”

“If my clothes get wet…?” Meng Xiaoxiao glanced down at her outfit, worry puddling like rain in her eyes.

“They planned for that.”

“O-okay…” She swallowed, then edged into the pool, toes sliding through the surface like fish breaking water.

Her first step met something soft, like gel underfoot. She jolted back, leaping to the edge, heart skittering like a hare.

“I—I can’t. There’s something in there…” Her voice shook, thin as paper.

“…” Tang Coco sighed, breath like mist. She sat on the rim, dipped both calves into the water to test depth, the red lapping like ink. She rose and walked inward, one measured step after another.

Just as she’d expected, many things bumped against her legs. Fake body parts, rubber and plastic drifting like islands. Too much for Meng Xiaoxiao. And the water moved with small tugs—mechanized props swam like crab-traps.

The system hadn’t flagged any life. No blood heat in the pool. So these were moving devices, not living hands.

A tightness crept into Tang Coco’s chest, small as a pin and as sharp. She wanted this done. Blooddance’s face had stirred old shadows. The pool’s red skin pressed memory against her eyes. A shiver ran through her, unbidden, like frost under the nails.

Her brows drew together, a line like the edge of a blade. She reached for her Anomaly Power.

System, scan the pool. Pin the key’s exact spot.

Understood. Scanning… location confirmed. Marking coordinates.

A blue dot bloomed in her vision, a lone star on the red field, visible only to her. She moved toward it, cutting through the water like a heron.

Her foot sank into something soft. It snapped shut like a clamp, biting her right ankle, yanking sideways with mechanical hunger.

“Tsk…” Tang Coco clicked her tongue, heat and ice in one breath. Underwater, she called a mechanical blade to her hand. The edge flashed like a silver fish. She sliced the device clean.

If that drag had toppled her, she’d have gone in head to toe—soaked in scarlet. She wasn’t in the mood for that.

She reached the mark and crouched. Red liquid rose to her chest, then kissed her neck, warm as bathwater and wrong as spilled wine. Her fingers found the key. Metal scraped metal. She had it.

She waded back out. Her clothes had taken on a red stain like dusk on clouds. Liquid ran down her legs in ribbons, tracing smooth skin and pattering onto the tiles. Thankfully, it wasn’t paint-thick—it would come off soon enough.

“I—I’ll wipe you down…” Meng Xiaoxiao offered, hands hovering empty, eyes searching for a cloth that wasn’t there.

“Leave it. We’ll change later. Let’s move,” Tang Coco said, voice clipped, already turning.

“Okay…”

Meng Xiaoxiao unlocked the chain at Tang Coco’s back. They hunted up the room’s exit key, metal gleaming like a small moon, and slipped through the door.

They burst into the third-floor hall. Three “vampires” spotted them, masks swinging toward the motion like hawks. The chase snapped to life.

Maybe because all the vampires were women tonight, heels and laughter trailing behind, none on the third, second, or first floors managed to catch the two. Tang Coco and Meng Xiaoxiao ran like deer through brush, breath quick and legs sure, and broke into the night through the ground-floor emergency exit.