The night was ink-black; a black Bentley burst from the trees like dawn cutting the horizon.

“Those soldiers already recovered the bodies. They’ll keep the students together and get them somewhere safe,” Joanna said, phone light a pale wafer on her face.

“Sounds not bad,” Little Loli murmured, fingers worrying her trench coat like a leaf in wind.

“Um… Xiaoxue…” Joanna’s voice snagged like thread on a thorn. “Dad said if I get kidnapped again, or anything threatens me, he’ll take me far away. Maybe overseas.”

“At least you’ll be safe.” Little Loli’s smile felt like frost on petals. “What about you, Xiaoxue? Your cover’s blown. Where do you go now?”

Moonlight brushed her golden hair; one gold and one red eye shone like twin embers. Her small, fine features gleamed like carved jade.

“Me? Worst case, I run,” she said, light as a feather, heavy as a stone in her chest.

“Why don’t we go together? Follow me abroad. We’ll be fine,” Joanna blurted, joy sparking like tinder catching.

“Sorry, Nana. I want to go with you, but…” Shadows of ability-user crews flashed through her mind like wolves in tall grass. “Those… forget it.” She shook her head hard, flinging thorns of thought into the dark.

“Is something wrong?” For once, at the cliff-edge moment, Joanna didn’t play the clown; no wild stunts tonight, just rain-hush calm.

“Mm. Nana, it’s for your sake and mine,” Little Loli said, tilting her head, soft as a kitten leaning into a hand.

“Alright. No messing around at a time like this,” Joanna sighed, breath leaving like a small wind. “But before we part—”

She lunged and hugged the golden-haired girl, a warm wave breaking against a cool shore.

“Hey!” The blonde, tired to the bone, startled, then settled back like a bird returning to its branch.

“Just one more hug, okay?” Joanna buried her face in Xiaoxue’s shoulder, breathing soap and rain.

“That tickles,” Xiaoxue said, laughter ringing like little bells under snow.

“Please?”

“…Okay.”

Xiaoxue softened, trusting as water in cupped hands. Joanna held back the rising tide and kept it gentle, moon-still and steady.

She braced her arms by Xiaoxue’s shoulders. “Nana?” the Little Loli asked, eyes curious as a fawn.

“It’s nothing. Let me take this off first.” Joanna slipped the pink butterfly clip from her hair and set it aside like a fallen petal. “Next—”

She cradled the Little Loli’s face; moonlight pooled in her palms. They leaned together, foreheads touching, hair mingling like braided rivers. Soft breaths fogged the window; the driver stared at the road, ears burning like embers.

“About an hour or two left. Let’s grab a nap.” They tucked their coats around them and drifted off, two small silhouettes nested like swallows.

“Target’s almost locked.” A young man in a blue cloak reported to a hazy hologram, photos scattered like dead leaves—masked corpses on Xiushan.

“Didn’t think it was a girl. Middle school age, right?” the projection rasped, voice blurred like smoke.

“I don’t care about that,” the young man said, tone flat as steel. “Lean on the local government. Watch the ripples, adjust. Same old playbook.”

“Your call.” The blue-cloaked man cut the feed, the light dying like a drowning star.

The Bentley rolled to a stop at Longteng Community’s gate. “Here, Xiaoxue.” After they changed, Joanna pulled a palm-sized screen from a hidden case, no bigger than a watch face.

“It’s like a GPS, but dead without a battery. Slot one in, you get a ten-second buffer. About five seconds later, it bricks itself—almost impossible to track.”

“What’s it good for then?” Little Loli turned it in her palm like a smooth pebble.

“Look, I’ve got another one.” Joanna produced a twin screen. “They act like pagers. If one side installs a battery, the other gets a ping. But you must insert yours within ten seconds of receiving it, or both devices fry.”

She paused, then continued, voice steady as a compass. “Once powered, both show each other’s position. To avoid confusion, we agree on this rule: whoever starts it becomes the rendezvous point. The other comes to them.”

“Got it. Complicated and simple at the same time.” Little Loli studied it, then pocketed the screen and the battery, closing her fingers like folding a note against her heart.

“Then that’s that. We part here.” Joanna finally smiled, a thin dawn breaking the mist.

“Mm-hm. Travel safe, Nana!” Little Loli opened her arms and hugged the brown-haired girl, warmth flaring like a lantern in fog.

“You too,” Joanna whispered at the golden-haired girl’s ear, words soft as falling ash.

“We’ll get another chance to meet, right?” Little Loli asked as Joanna slipped into the car.

“Of course. If we can’t reach each other, we use this.” Joanna waggled the screen, a tiny star in her palm. “We wait till the wind dies down.”

In a blink, the Bentley was gone, a black stroke swallowed by the waking light. “Hah, it’s already morning,” Little Loli said, watching the newborn sun rise like a red coin.

She turned without looking back and walked into the community. The pink-gold butterfly hair clip flashed in the young sun, a small sunrise pinned to her hair.

Meanwhile, in City A’s government offices, the blue-cloaked man tossed a folder onto the mayor’s desk. “This girl. Issue a wanted order and bring her in. Do it right, and I’ll see if the province has room for you.”

“Yes, sir. Leave it to me.” The mayor’s ears pricked like a dog catching a whistle. After the blue-cloaked man left, the mayor slapped the desk. “Get the police chief and every bureau head in here!”

Soon, uniforms filed in like a tide. “This girl. Issue a wanted order,” the mayor said, sliding a photo across the table.

“Isn’t she just a middle-schooler? Why the warrant?” someone asked. The photo showed a stunning golden-haired Little Loli, a bright smile lifting the room like sunlight through cloud.

“No idea. Orders from up top. Set the bounty between one and five million.”

“That high? She’s not a cartel boss. Have you lost it?”

“I’m clear-headed. Do this right and we all eat. That’s all. Dismissed.”

She eased her front door open; the hallway lay quiet as a sleeping pond. “Looks like Dad and Mom are still out cold,” she thought, smile flickering like a candle.

On cat’s feet, she slipped back to her room, the house holding its breath like dawn before the first bird.