ps. As for Cold Night Feather smoking, it only happens twice in the whole book, ahem. It’s just to show the main character’s curiosity about everything in this new world, nothing else. She switches to lollipops later, very silly.
Only now did the girls truly understand what kind of terrifying existence lay behind the title Cold Night Feather had mentioned—“the strongest genius.” Think about it: could a gentle, easygoing do-gooder really survive round after round of targeted schemes and life-or-death crises, then climb all the way to the top?
It was in this moment that they finally realized: the flawlessly beautiful girl in front of them, who looked so fragile, was actually a ruthless fighter who had walked through real iron and blood. And just like that, a barrier quietly rose between them.
“Class time!” Cold Night Feather still wanted to keep questioning Li Xiao Xiao about that “returning a gift is the same as insulting the giver” thing, but their chubby physics teacher—with his honest, goofy smile—walked back into the classroom.
“Whew, forget it.” Watching the girls bolt back to their seats like startled kittens, Cold Night Feather knew they’d been scared. She let out a soft sigh and glanced at the delicately wrapped gift box in her hands. “I’ll find some time to open it and take a look.”
“Ah, Night Feather, you were really scary back there this morning!” Bai Xin said, still shaken. “You were like a demon crawling out of hell!”
The other girls laughed along in agreement. Cold Night Feather frowned slightly; she could feel the distance that had appeared between them and herself.
But so what? Bai Xin was fine; she’d just been startled a little. Cold Night Feather had come to this school for one reason: to protect Bai Xin. Socializing with anyone else was just a side quest, never something she needed.
“Friends” were something Cold Night Feather had never needed. With that thought, the faint furrow between her brows eased.
“Heh, I didn’t scare you, did I?” Cold Night Feather smiled. All the girls who’d seemed close to her before now had a layer of distance between them and her. Only Bai Xin was the same as always—like a little girl who’d just been pranked by her big sister, complained for a bit, then snuggled right back into her sister’s arms.
Surprisingly, Lin Mi didn’t seem too affected either. There was still a touch of admiration in her gaze when she looked at Cold Night Feather.
“Ah, not really,” Bai Xin said, scratching her head.
The girls arrived at the lockers in the changing room. Once a battle suit was bound, it belonged to that student for all the years they stayed at the school. So after the binding was done, the suit would be placed in that student’s locker. The lockers weren’t locked, of course, since they only held battle suits and gym clothes, nothing else. If a student wanted to keep personal items inside, they could apply to have a lock installed.
In the locker room, boys’ and girls’ lockers weren’t separated, but there were doors and corridors on both sides that led to their respective changing rooms.
Cold Night Feather opened her locker, and a spray of letters burst out, hitting her right in the face. No need to ask—love letters.
“Hahaha, looks like being popular isn’t all that great after all,” Bai Xin said gleefully, reveling in the chaos.
“We’ve gotten some too, but nowhere near as many as you, Cold Night Feather.” Lin Mi chuckled. “Compared to you, our love letters are nothing but scraps.”
As for the others, their smiles looked a bit stiff.
Expressionless, Cold Night Feather pulled out a letter that had landed squarely against her chest and said, “Yeah, screw replying. If it breaks their hearts, then it breaks their hearts. What’s that got to do with me?”
Then, without hesitation, she scooped up the thick pile of letters scattered on the floor and dumped them into the locker room trash can. Out of the corner of her eye, Bai Xin caught the disappointed looks on a few boys’ faces—wait, there were even girls in the crowd!
Professional troublemaker Bai Xin seized the chance and asked loudly, “Night Feather, don’t tell me you actually like someone from those earlier love letters? Did Ouyang Meng guess right?”
Ouyang Meng’s expression froze. A big hashtag seemed to pop up above Cold Night Feather’s head.
“Bai Xin, training is doubled tonight.” After a moment, Cold Night Feather announced the miserable sentence with a voice completely flat of emotion.
“No, come on! Oh, right! I still have school tomorrow!”
“Oh, don’t worry. I’ve got ways to let you get the effect of long rest in a short sleep.”
“Uwah! Nooo!”
“Do we really have to double the training?” Bai Xin asked weakly, like a middle schooler begging to skip homework.
Cold Night Feather nodded without a single change in expression. Knowing there was no way out, Bai Xin dropped the topic. The two of them changed back into their uniforms in the girls’ changing room. Li Xiao Xiao and the others said a quick goodbye, then rushed home like they were running from some terrifying beast. Only Lin Mi stayed behind.
“I kinda feel like there’s something off with Li Xiao Xiao and the others,” even the airheaded Bai Xin noticed something was wrong. “What’s up with them?”
“Heh. The sheep just realized the wolf in sheep’s clothing was a real wolf all along, so now they’re scared. That’s all,” Cold Night Feather said calmly, as if that wolf wasn’t her. Then she looked at Lin Mi. “Speaking of which, why didn’t you run home in a panic to hide under your parents’ wings like the rest of them, little girl?”
Lin Mi met Cold Night Feather’s crimson eyes. She could feel a faint pressure enveloping her. Her body trembled instinctively, as if she were facing some primordial predator, but she still looked straight at Cold Night Feather and answered, “Your strength is unfathomable… Only a sheep without killing intent would find that strange. I knew from the start that you were someone who’d climbed out of a sea of blood and hell. Because of my father, I’ve seen people like that… though none as strong as you.”
“Oh? And knowing I’m a dragon, you still came up to me. What kind of reason do you have for that?”
“I want to become stronger too! I want to prove to my father that I’m not some weak little kid!”
Cold Night Feather frowned. “Another kid desperate to gain power just to prove to the adults she’s all grown up? Like a child wanting to grab a revolver, press it to the head of the dad who nags her every day, and shout that she’s an adult now?”
Faced with words that were basically pure mockery, Lin Mi didn’t argue. She only frowned. Because Cold Night Feather was right, and she knew it. Her thoughts were naive—very naive. But she was stubborn about one thing: she wanted to prove to that iron-tower of a man that girls weren’t all fragile vases.
“Um, isn’t your dad a B+ rank ability user?” Bai Xin asked, confused. “But you’re already B- now. That’s not enough to impress him? You’re this strong at your age—your future’s basically blazing bright.”
Cold Night Feather didn’t say anything. She pulled out a pack of cigarettes, took one, and held it between her lips. A small flame blossomed at the tip of her pale, slender index finger as she lit it, looking like she was ready to listen.
Bai Xin had no idea how Cold Night Feather learned to smoke. Bai Xin actually hated smoking, but Cold Night Feather told her that smoking soothed her mind.
The first time Bai Xin saw her smoke was that noon break. Back then, Bai Xin could tell Night Feather was really hurting inside. Now, combined with Li Xiao Xiao and the others’ strange behavior, the source of Cold Night Feather’s irritation was obvious.
So seeing her smoke again, Bai Xin did frown a little, but she didn’t stop her. She knew Cold Night Feather was probably hurting again.
“Everyone thinks he’s just a B+ rank with an A-rank backer. But in truth, he’s the deputy minister of the military’s Execution Department. His real power is A++, and they say he’s just one step away from S rank,” Lin Mi said, talking about her father like he was a stranger. “Because of my birth, my mother died in childbirth. That man is like an iron tower that never budges, no matter how the wind and rain beat against him. They say no one has ever seen him show a weak side. The night my mother died, he cried for the first time in his life and got dead drunk.”
Bai Xin stayed quiet and just listened. Cold Night Feather stubbed out her cigarette and gestured for Lin Mi to go on.
“The Execution Department is just a bunch of cold-blooded cleaners, doing the dirty work for the military. That man’s hands are drenched in blood. He’s a butcher, an executioner. So he’s never shown me anything you’d call ‘fatherly love’ since I was a kid! No matter how hard I try, he just shakes his head and scolds me!” As Lin Mi spoke, tears flooded from her eyes like a broken dam. Choking up, she forced herself to continue, “I work so hard—so hard—and even asking for one word of praise is too much…”
Cold Night Feather sighed. She could tell that Lin Mi’s father actually cared a lot about his daughter. From what Lin Mi said, his only soft spot was his dead wife, and Lin Mi was his only child.
A father’s love was never as gentle as a mother’s. From Lin Mi’s description, Cold Night Feather could already picture the man: years of killing had probably stripped him of the ability to smile or show tenderness. All he could do was push Lin Mi harshly, hoping she’d understand one day after she grew strong.
What really put Cold Night Feather on edge was that he reminded her of Elder Lei. The strict old man she treated like a father was the same type—and had literally hung her up and whipped her before.
The problem between Lin Mi and her father was something only the two of them could resolve. All Cold Night Feather could do was help that taciturn father train his daughter and maybe nudge things along from the side.
Having made up her mind, Cold Night Feather let out another sigh. She felt that ever since the strongest being of another world came to Earth, her life had gotten ridiculously pathetic. Being a homebody all day was one thing; she also had to act as Bai Xin’s babysitter. And now there was Lin Mi. Fine, might as well switch careers and become a full-time nanny.
“You and your father—none of my business, and I don’t have the right to interfere,” Cold Night Feather said coldly. “As for getting stronger, I can give you a chance. But whether you can push through the thorns and break out—that’s on you.”
ps. Your new friend, second female lead Lin Mi, is about to come online.
