After they finished planning Winterwood District’s defenses, Yue Liuyi stepped out of the Flame Ruins Gang’s hall, like leaving a furnace for the cool street breeze.

Luyao offered to escort the two girls back, his goodwill a warm lantern, but Yue Liuyi shook her head like a leaf and refused.

Little Rose said the gangster woman they caught earlier was still a thorn unpicked, a matter not yet handled.

To handle some private matters, Yue Liuyi set off first, pushing Little Rose’s wheelchair home, the small wheels rolling like twin moons on the road.

“That red-haired guy’s a real good one, like a campfire in winter!”

Fingers tapping her phone, Little Rose tilted in the chair like a sparrow on a branch.

“Yeah… but if I could, I’d still rather be his friend as a boy, like wearing a lighter mask.”

“Whoa! Right! Angel Sis, how does your transformation work? I wanna learn. If Little Sweetie tails me, I’ll turn into a boy and slip away like smoke!”

The redheaded little sprite looked eager to be a boy, like a fox cub eyeing a new pelt.

“That power isn’t for tricks like that! Changing back and forth is a tide and a hassle, and the clothes—huh?”

As she spoke, Yue Liuyi glanced at Little Rose’s dress, a dark-red floral frill, cuffs and shoulders tidy, like frost hadn’t touched them at all.

“So weird. Little Rose transformed too, right? How’s this dress untouched, like a leaf after a storm?”

“Oh—right! It’s memory fabric, it fits from S to XXL, like water taking any cup; otherwise every change means changing clothes, a sand-in-gears hassle.”

“Whoa! There’s really clothes that magical, like leaves woven by fairies?”

“Mm!”

(I kinda want one too…)

Gazing at Little Rose’s little dress, envy shimmered in Yue Liuyi’s eyes like dew on jade.

…

…

The climate on Dreamwood Star was that fickle. The sun was a bronze gong a moment ago; now mist draped the world like gauze.

Plants and streets, signs and buildings, sank under the thick fog, like a city swallowed by milk. In the blank white, only two little figures: one blue, one red.

“Mm… the pollution’s still heavy; one twist of the wind, and the industrial smog rolls back like a gray tide.”

It was the worst fog in days. Linelor City upheaval didn’t heal the planet; without damming the source, the smog crawls back like a beast.

…

In that muffled fog, Yue Liuyi caught a voice, like a bell ringing under cotton.

The World Tree Maiden’s hearing was keen, leaves in her blood twitching; the voice came from a girl.

A cry knifed through the fog: “Help! Someone, save me!”

Another voice, rough as gravel: “Stop struggling. Let the brothers have some fun.”

The men’s voices twined through the girl’s plea like thorny vines, thick with dominance and, yes… hunger.

“Huh? Someone’s calling for help, like a bird lost in the fog?”

“Seems like it! Angel Sis, go save her, fast as the wind!”

With a wheelchair, Yue Liuyi couldn’t run; the cry beat like a drum, making her fear it had already reached the knife’s edge.

“Don’t worry about me. I can push my own chair, like a little crab on wheels!”

“Mm… got it!”

She set Little Rose down, heart tight as a knotted ribbon. The blue-haired girl cut through the fog like an arrow toward the voice. It wasn’t far, just a stone’s throw stretched by fog. After two or three hundred meters, Yue Liuyi reached the scene.

A petite girl lay crumpled on the ground, tear tracks streaking her face like rain on glass.

Her little dress was torn into dead-leaf shreds; across from her stood a pack of punks, the beasts behind the act.

They were pawing her, hands like dirty vines. One clamped her mouth, another pinned her arms, as if to drag her to some hole.

“Stop! What are you doing!” Her voice cracked like thunder over still water.

Anger surged in her chest like fire-sap.

They froze at the sight of Yue Liuyi. Then eyes flashed like knives, and sleazy grins bloomed.

“Ha! And here I thought who it was—another little chick delivered! Heaven really feeds meat to wolves today!”

“Bros, no more waiting; everyone gets a bite at the feast.”

A cute, blue-haired girl popped from the fog like a lantern fish.

Their hunger nearly made them weep, eyes slick as eels.

Big eyes, slim waist, soft body—fresh meat on the board.

Knocking her down would be such sport, like boys kicking a ball.

But Yue Liuyi, a boy at heart, read their meaning in a blink, cold as ice. The blue-haired girl moved first, her attack merciless as winter rain.

“Sorry—but I’m never letting you push me down!”

A fierce arc burst out, lightning blooming like a white flower.

The bolt tore the air, like a coin-flinging railgun. One heartbeat they leered; the next they blasted back, tossed like scarecrows in a gale.

Zzzap, zzzap!

Arcs crawled over their bodies, hair scorched to charcoal. They collapsed in agony, leaking and twitching, like fish dying on a dock. The world around them held no flavor now.

From another angle, maybe they got the prize they craved—poisoned fruit all the same.

(Just a bunch of small fry?)

With the small fry settled, Yue Liuyi hurried forward like wind over grass and knelt by the girl.