It was Saturday. These past few days, the mastermind behind the women’s fatal anemia cases had vanished like he’d evaporated into thin air. There was no way I could track him down—finding people wasn’t exactly my specialty.

My phone rang. I took it out and saw the caller ID: Chi Ling. We’d exchanged numbers back in the library, but we’d barely ever called each other. Why was she suddenly phoning me today?

I picked up. “It’s Hanxi. What’s up, Chi Ling?”

On the other end, her voice was full of panic. “Hanxi, someone weird’s following me. I’m on the abandoned street behind the little grove on the way to the library. Please, save me.”

She didn’t sound like she was joking at all. And thinking back, all the women they’d found before had been in deserted places, so there were never any witnesses. My heart tightened. Had she run into that guy?

“I’ll be right there.”

I hung up, grabbed my jacket and threw it on as fast as I could. “Nana, I’m going out for a bit.” I didn’t have time for her confused look and bolted out the door.

While I ran, I pulled out my phone. Something like this, I had to contact the principal and the others. “Hello, Shenlian? A friend of mine might’ve run into the mastermind behind the anemia incidents. Help me get a lock on her location and tell me where I need to move.”

Yueyue Shenlian quickly got in touch with Qianyuan Wang. His ability was kind of like satellite recon; he could act as a navigator.

Soon, his voice came through my phone instead. “Hanxi, tell me the area you’re heading to.”

“The abandoned street near the library I pass on my way home.”

A few seconds later, Qianyuan started giving orders. “Got it. I see them. A man in black is chasing a girl. Go straight ahead one thousand meters from where you are.”

Good. Now I wouldn’t be running around like a headless fly. I activated Time Acceleration. In just a few seconds, I reached the point he’d marked.

“And now?”

Seeing me suddenly appear a thousand meters ahead on his screen, Qianyuan was startled. “Now turn left and go five hundred meters. Cross that big bridge.”

Once I got the next instruction, I sped across the bridge.

Even with Time Acceleration, I wasn’t familiar with the area. I messed up Qianyuan’s directions several times and lost quite a bit of time. Still, I finally made it to the abandoned street.

“Tell me where the target is!”

Qianyuan’s voice came through the phone. “Right across from the building in front of you. Fastest way is to loop around from the right, five hundred meters.”

We were less than a few dozen meters apart, but a row of abandoned stores blocked my way. I’d have to go around.

I looked up at the buildings. Five floors tops—just over ten meters. Fine, then we’ll go over instead of around.

“Time Acceleration!”

Right then, I felt a surge of temporal fluctuation. Must’ve been the talisman I gave Chi Ling activating. That was good. It meant more time for me.

Ten or so meters was nothing. If I accelerated just as I jumped, I could clear it in one go. The scenery flashed, and I landed on the rooftop.

From this vantage point, I could see the two of them.

I started to jump down. But I had to use Time Deceleration here. Otherwise, I’d splatter on impact again.

I was anxious as hell, but I couldn’t accelerate. If I died from the fall, by the time I revived, Chi Ling might already be done for.

I didn’t slow myself too much as I landed. The impact snapped one of my legs. Pain exploded through me, cold sweat pouring down. It’d been a while since I’d hurt this much. Guess my tolerance wasn’t what it used to be.

Still, as long as I wasn’t dead, fixing it was quick.

I used Time Reversal on my own body. Not far ahead, a pink high heel lay tossed on the ground. That had to be Chi Ling’s.

I picked up the heel and ran after them. At the next corner, I finally spotted them.

The man in black was closing in on her step by step. “Little mouse, done running? Then let me love you… properly.”

“Sorry, but you’re not getting the chance.”

He slowly turned around. I gave Chi Ling a slight smile. “Thanks to you, we tracked this guy down so fast.”

Being ignored like that clearly pissed him off. “Kid, don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong. I don’t wanna get diarrhea from a man’s filthy blood.”

I looked him over carefully. Did he think he was a vampire? Or some kind of god?

I snorted. “I’ve dealt with guys like you before. The grass on their graves should be a meter tall by now.”

Two casual taunts and he was already losing it. “Good. You’ve pissed me off. Go die!”

He suddenly shot a water arrow at me. The surprise attack only shredded my sleeve. Looked like he wasn’t that familiar with using his own power.

The man in black burst into crazed laughter, just like some character going dark in an anime. “Kid, my ability is to control all nearby moisture. Even the water left in the air is mine to command. So you can go die now.”

Even now he had to brag. Hopeless.

I pulled out a coin and flicked it at the incoming water arrow. Unfortunately for him, the flow of his water was nowhere near my coin’s speed. I shattered the arrow in an instant, the coin grazing past his cheek and leaving a bloody cut.

He seemed to realize something and immediately grabbed Chi Ling, using her as a shield. “You’re here to save this woman, right? Let me go and I’ll let her go. How about that?”

I shook my head. “You still don’t get your situation.”

He gritted his teeth and threatened, “If you keep attacking, I’ll drain all her blood.”

“With me here, you’re not doing anything.”

As I said that, I froze his time. I didn’t touch his consciousness, though. After so many years of practice, I could stop the body while leaving the mind awake.

“Chi Ling, move away from him,” I said.

I took out another coin. “Let’s play a dart game.”

Whoosh. The coin sliced through the air and slammed into the wall beside him, leaving a deep hole.

“Oops, missed. Then next shot, I’ll blow your head off, okay?”

A strange excitement rushed through me. I pulled out another coin.

“Well then—sayonara.”

The coin left my fingers with a sharp crack of breaking air.

“Stop, Hanxi! Don’t kill him!”

A voice cut through and snapped me out of it. The coin stopped one centimeter from the man’s forehead. His Time Stasis lifted.

“Sorry.”

I didn’t dare look at Chi Ling’s face. She probably thought I was a monster now.

She limped over to me. “Hanxi, you were so scary just now.”

I glanced at her. “That’s why. I’m not the good guy you all think I am.”

“That’s not true at all.” She shot back immediately, staring at me with a firm look. “If you were a bad person, why would you come save me? And why would you stop at the very end?”

I couldn’t answer that.

She suddenly hugged me. “Hanxi, you’re cool and gentle and strong. Everyone looks up to you. I don’t know what happened to you before, but the Hanxi standing here now is amazing. That’s why I like this Hanxi the most.”

To be honest, her confession moved me a little. “Thank you.”

“Oh my, it’s already wrapped up, huh?”

An overly cheerful female voice cut in. “Sorry, did I interrupt something? Our little brother Hanxi really is a heartbreaker.”

The owner of the voice was Yueyue Shenlian, our school principal. Standing beside her were Qianyuan Wang and Zhiyuan Xiangzhi.

“This guy’s all yours.” I jerked my chin toward the man in black, who’d already pissed himself in fear.

Then I helped Chi Ling walk away, heading somewhere the three of them couldn’t see us. Yueyue Shenlian tactfully didn’t come over to bother us, though judging from her sly grin, she definitely wasn’t thinking anything wholesome.

“Chi Ling, I picked up your shoe. I’ll heal your feet now.”

I set her down on a step, crouched, and gently wrapped my hand around her ankle. The instant I touched her, her whole body trembled violently.

I glanced up. Her face was bright red. I’d heard you weren’t supposed to touch a girl’s feet casually, but I really didn’t mean anything by it.

I rewound her time to an hour ago. Not only did the injury vanish, even her torn black stockings restored themselves. I slipped the pink high heel back onto her foot.

“There. All good now.”

Chi Ling stood slowly, testing her weight. Once she confirmed she was fine, she smiled in relief. “That’s amazing. Hanxi, are you omnipotent or something?”

I stood up too. “So, heading back? I’ll walk you home.”

She nodded without refusing.

“Lord Hanxi.” She suddenly called me that at my side. “Can I call you that?”

I nodded. Names were meant to be used anyway.

She looked at me again. “Then you can call me by my given name too!”

In Japan, calling someone by their given name was something only close people did. Her face turned pink as she rushed to explain. “Um, Hanxi, don’t get the wrong idea…”

“Yuqiu Kui, right?” I smiled as I said her name.

Her face lit up immediately. “Yeah!”

On the way to her place, she glanced at me. “Lord Hanxi, the glass bead you gave me broke.”

She took out the bead. The glowing points inside were gone.

I smiled at her. “If not for that bead, you probably wouldn’t be standing here, Yuqiu Kui.”

I took it from her, then slipped a Timeflower into the glass bead. The tiny lights began to shimmer again. The ones I sold the other students only had a single petal in them.

“There, all fixed.”

She accepted the bead, overjoyed. “Thank you, Lord Hanxi!”

She tied the bead to her phone with a red string. “Lord Hanxi, I’m here.” She stopped in front of a house. “Then… Lord Hanxi, bye-bye.”

“Bye-bye.” I gave her a little wave.

Suddenly she lunged forward, kissed me on the cheek, and then dashed inside.

I stared blankly after the shy girl running away, the sensation of her soft lips still lingering on my face.