“What’s weighing on you, Little Moon, like a stone on your chest?”

“I’m thinking how our enemies slipped into the Winterwood District like shadows under the eaves…”

Back when they poisoned us, and again with this attack, the same pattern rolled in like a cold tide. The Winterwood District was ringed by the Council’s Guard Corps like iron walls, yet the gang still flowed past the lines like water through reeds.

Maybe… there’s a mole in the Council, a snake in the grass moving with them?

It’s possible, like thunder grumbling behind clouds, but Yue Liuyi didn’t want to suspect Chairman Wang. He’d been her former headmaster, a pillar like an old pine against the wind.

Curious as a sparrow, Yin Mu lifted her head and asked, “Could it be space-teleport magic? The kind that tears open a door in the air and sends people through?”

“No, Yin Mu, that’s impossible.”

Dixue shook her head, her voice steady as winter frost. “Space magic sits at the fourth tier. It needs a surge of power like a storm. And the ripple from an opened gate would ring through me like a bell. I wouldn’t miss it.”

“Eh… really?”

“There are also people whose innate ability is space transfer,” Yue Liuyi added, soft as mist over water. “But folks like that usually can only move themselves. Making it work on others is a crane’s dream in the reeds.”

“Ugh… then how did those men in black show up? Did they pop out of the ground like moles?”

Yin Mu frowned, thoughts tangling like vines. Even the black-clad girl’s memories held no footprint of the Serpent Enchantress ever visiting Winterwood.

But the girl’s casual words split Yue Liuyi’s doubt like a lightning spark.

“The ground…? Wait! I’ve got it!”

Light flashed in her eyes like dawn on snow. The answer finally unfurled like a banner.

“Master! You figured it out already!”

“Angel sis, what is it?!”

“Mm. I know. Underground.”

She remembered exploring below with Bernadette, those days like lanterns in the deep. Beneath Linelor City lay a web of tunnels—abandoned subway ribs, maze-like freight veins, and, hidden in the deepest dark, the mechanical World Tree beating like a steel heart.

If the gang knows the undercity’s weave, they could ride the subway tunnels and surface inside Winterwood like carp leaping a gate.

“Underground, huh…”

“Yeah. They most likely slipped into the Winterwood District from below like roots creeping under a wall.”

“That’s going to be a pain,” Dixue murmured, the words cool as shade.

She flicked her fingers across a screen, and Linelor City’s map bloomed on the table like a paper garden. “Winterwood covers about fifty-one square kilometers, sixteen blocks wide. Hunting through it will be like combing the sea.”

Though abandoned, its streets still twist like old riverbeds. And the derelict towers stand like cliffs, each one a snug cave to vanish into.

“If only we had a map,” Yue Liuyi sighed, breath thin as fog. “Going building by building is like counting grains of sand.”

She shook her head. With their current manpower, finding the gang’s nest was fireflies against a storm.

“Heh… underground, huh? Yeah. Fu Pi would hole up there like a rat,” Teng Ying said, voice dry as dust.

“Hm? Miss Teng Ying, you got something?” The question hung like a kite in low wind.

“I don’t know much. The detailed maps should be stored at headquarters,” she said, each word falling like a pebble.

“Headquarters?”

The black-haired girl tapped the map near the outskirts, her nail a pinprick of light. “Here’s Teng Assets’ HQ. But going there is suicide. Right now, that building wears Fu’s nameplate.”

Teng Ying sounded indifferent, as if the whole of Teng Assets were driftwood floating past her eyes.

“Eh? Fu Pi moved that fast?”

“Hmph. There were plenty of plants already,” Teng Ying snorted, legs crossing like scissors. “Once Chairman Teng fell, the moles came out like crows. They’ve probably all defected.”

“B-but… Mr. Teng Feiyang is your father, isn’t he? Then…”

“He’s my superior. Drop it.” Her tone snapped like a fan shutting.

“I’m sorry.”

“…”

Teng Ying went quiet, then drew a card from her breast pocket and laid it on the table like a cold wafer of ice.

“Eh? This is…?”

“HQ’s security card. Useless to me. If you’re going, take it.”

“Alright, we’ll accept it,” Dixue said, nodding, tucking the card away like a blade under silk.

“Here’s my stance,” Teng Ying added, voice flat as winter water. “I have zero interest in reclaiming Teng Assets. If you’ve got connections, arrange a starship for me. I’ll pay.”

“Eh? A starship? There are starships in this world?!” The surprise jumped like a fish.

“Mm. A starship—warp drive, interstellar range, sailing between systems like a swan in the void,” Yue Liuyi explained, her words drifting like white breath. Then she asked Teng Ying, “What do you want it for? They’re not easy to find. We had one, but it’s out of reach for now.”

“To run. Clearer than moonlight, isn’t it?” Teng Ying’s gaze was a blade. “So many people want me dead, like wolves circling a doe. If not now, when? Relax—you don’t need to prep a ship. Just find me a seller. I’ll pay in full, plus a three percent broker fee.”

“Eh?!”

“I just want to live,” she said, and rose, leaving like a shadow sliding through blinds.

…

…

…

After the meeting, Dixue slipped her fingers around Little Moon’s hand like a ribbon of water.

“LittleSnow, what is it?”

“Come to the study with me~” Her smile curved like a crescent.

Yue Liuyi didn’t know what LittleSnow was plotting, but she followed, their steps quiet as falling petals.

Outside, sunlight looked bright as honey, yet the thick fog pressed like milk against the panes, refusing to let it in. Inside, old tomes slept in the shelves like mossy stones, treasured non-sale copies resting in their wooden caves.

“LittleSnow, what’s wrong?”

“That girl was lying,” LittleSnow said, her words a bell struck once.

“Eh!?” Yue Liuyi flinched like a startled sparrow. LittleSnow’s meaning was clear: Teng Ying had lied during the meeting.

“W-where did she lie…?” The question hurt like a thorn under skin. Being deceived leaves a taste like rust.

“In many places. But don’t worry, Little Moon,” the silver-haired girl smiled, sly as a fox in snow, and sat by the desk. “All the lies were about herself.”

“A-about herself?”

“Mm. Like having no interest in taking back Teng Assets. Like wanting to run with a starship. Like only recognizing Teng Feiyang as her ‘superior’.” Each point fell like a bead.

“Huh?”

“But about the security card, the location of the files, and HQ’s current state? She told the truth,” LittleSnow said, voice clear as springwater.

“Eh!? T-then doesn’t that mean…”

“My power is pretty good against people who say one thing and feel another,” she teased, a cat’s grin in her eyes. “Remember this, Little Moon—don’t you ever lie to big sis. I can see through your mask like glass and strike straight at your heart.”

“Eek!!!”

“Just like now. With no one else in the study, you must be wishing I’d scoop you up and spoil you, right?” Her whisper curled like smoke.

“N-no, I’m not…”

“Heh. I’ve already grasped your true thoughts,” LittleSnow said, smiling “kindly” like a sun behind thin cloud. She rose and stepped toward the trembling Yue Liuyi, her footsteps soft as feathers.

(PS: Ever since Yue Liuyi awakened the World Tree Maiden’s power, Dixue actually can’t judge Yue Liuyi’s lies. Dixue’s power comes from life force, and it can’t turn back against the World Tree Maiden.)

(So here, LittleSnow is just guessing~)