KNOCK. KNOCK KNOCK—
After three knocks, there was no answer.
Gu Xi, hidden in the darkness, paused, her hand resting on the door knocker.
A year had passed since she’d woken up. It was long enough.
Long enough for her to face any situation.
Gu Xi took a deep breath and applied a bit of pressure.
With a CREAK, the dilapidated courtyard gate was pushed open with ease.
Inside the small courtyard, weeds grew so thick there was barely any place to step. It looked like it hadn’t been inhabited for a very long ti.
In the night sky, heavy clouds drifted slowly, obscuring the last sliver of cold moonlight.
Darkness shrouded the earth.
A night breeze swept over the world.
At that sa mont, Gu Xi stepped into the dilapidated courtyard.
Instantly, a wave of negative emotions washed over her: suppression, gloom, decay, distortion, anger, sorrow...
Her expression unchanging, Gu Xi walked toward the back of the courtyard.
One step, two steps, three steps...
The girl’s petite figure was soon swallowed by the depths of the swaying weeds.
In the dead of night, the wind whistled like a nervous sentry, and every plant seed like a potential soldier.
The barrage of negative emotions receded quietly like the tide with her slow, steady steps, as if they had never been there at all.
But the fluctuating, shadowy aura clinging to Gu Xi never dissipated.
A few minutes later, Gu Xi passed through the ruined courtyard and stopped in front of a gray-white tal building.
She calmly looked at the electronic screen before her, recalling a night long ago when a slightly drunk Li Ming had once said...
His favorite number was 7. Seven 7s.
Password correct.
The door to the tal building slid open silently before her.
The space inside wasn’t large. The tal walls were mottled with stains, including quite a few bloodstains. Gu Xi walked in, her expression unchanged.
The door slid shut silently behind her.
A synthesized, tallic voice sounded from above her head. "Please enter the password. I repeat, please enter the password."
A thought seed to amuse Gu Xi, and she couldn’t help but smile. She looked up at the ceiling and said, "Please enter the password. I repeat, please enter the password."
"Password correct."
The tal room began to descend at a steady speed.
A few minutes later, the tal door opened again. Gu Xi had arrived in a black hall deep underground.
A dark, skinny man stood guard by the door. He scrutinized her warily for a long mont before finally stepping aside to let her pass.
Gu Xi frowned slightly as the Little Green Sprout silently wrapped itself around her wrist.
After passing through a long underground corridor, Gu Xi saw a familiar room number ahead. Just as she was about to raise her hand to knock, a tall, sturdy man completely shrouded in a black robe pushed the door open and blocked her path.
He narrowed his eyes, staring coldly at Gu Xi as he brazenly sized her up. "New here?"
The man’s gaze was like that of soone appraising valuable goods, but not a flicker of emotion showed in Gu Xi’s eyes.
"Move." She gave him a calm glance. The Little Green Sprout shot out, transforming in the next instant into a sharp spike pressed directly between the man’s eyebrows.
Now, the way the black-robed man looked at Gu Xi was filled with apprehension.
Just then, a gentle, albeit aged, voice ca from behind them.
"Xiaoxi?"
Gu Xi subconsciously turned to look. It was Li Ming.
He was in a wheelchair with a black blanket over his legs. His hands, curled slightly, rested in front of him, wasted and thin as kindling.
His entire being exuded an aura of decay and defeat.
Only the warm smile in his eyes was faintly reminiscent of the man he once was.
Gu Xi walked over calmly, knelt down, and squeezed his withered hands, looking up slightly. "Ming, it’s ."
’The young man who once yearned so much for the light now chooses to stay in a place like this, devoid of sun?’
’What in the world has Li Ming been through all these years?’
Gu Xi didn’t dare to ask. And she couldn’t ask.
Because she knew better than anyone just how proud her Ming was.
"It’s good that you’re back." Li Ming’s face was still pale. He squeezed her hand in return, his eyes visibly moist. "It’s good that you’re back."
Just then, the man with the sharp spike pressed to his vital point let out a bloodcurdling scream.
"AHH! My eyes...!"
Gu Xi was silent for a mont, then glanced up at Li Ming, who nodded.
This was how things were in the underground black market. A small lesson was enough.
After recalling her Sproutling, Gu Xi stood up, moved behind Li Ming, and began pushing his wheelchair toward the end of the corridor.
She was exceptionally quiet along the way.
Li Ming seed to sense sothing and looked back at her. "Xiaoxi, are you angry with yourself?"
To the world, she was the invincible and mighty Blood-colored Asura. But in Li Ming’s eyes, she had always been that little girl from long ago who loved to eat fruit, so simple and straightforward that he could read her thoughts at a glance.
Gu Xi shook her head, silently pushing Li Ming into the room and turning to close the door.
Li Ming’s room was spartan. Aside from a bed and a cabinet, there was nothing else.
It didn’t look like a place where soone actually lived.
Li Ming followed her gaze, coughed a few tis, and explained, "I’m moving out tomorrow, so..."
Gu Xi pulled her gaze back and turned to Li Ming. "You’re planning to move out overnight because I’m back? Ming, what are you so afraid of?"
But Li Ming just smiled. "Xiaoxi, don’t be angry just yet..."
"I’m not angry." Gu Xi sat cross-legged on the floor, looked up at him, and said suddenly, "Ming, my superpower is about to level up."
Li Ming froze for a second but reacted quickly. He bent over and grabbed Gu Xi’s hand, his voice full of disbelief. "Really? Your superpower..."
Gu Xi looked down at the hands gripping hers. They were as thin as kindling, yet they radiated a surprising heat.
Her gaze traveled up from his hands. Li Ming’s eyes were filled with shock and excitent, but also a faint, hidden unease.
"Xiaoxi, does anyone else know about this?" Li Ming suddenly asked, his expression grave.
’God-tier is already a legend in the Superpower World, coveted by countless people. If Xiaoxi’s power levels up again...’
Gu Xi slowly shook her head.
Li Ming sighed, looking at her with disapproval. "Xiaoxi, you shouldn’t have told this."
"But I wanted to tell you." Gu Xi pulled one hand free and patted the back of Li Ming’s hand reassuringly. She looked up at him and declared solemnly, "Ming, I’m back."
’A Gu Xiaoxi who is even stronger than before is back.’
’So, you don’t have to move anymore, and you don’t have to be afraid.’
’Because from now on, no one can ever hurt again.’
Li Ming understood sothing from her gaze and tightened his grip on her hand. "Alright. I’ll follow the captain’s orders."
He had originally just felt that this wasn’t the best ti for them to et. Plus, this underground black market was full of shady characters, not a suitable eting place at all. That was why he had planned to leave overnight.
He hadn’t expected Gu Xi to find him so quickly.
But Li Ming was Li Ming, after all. He quickly composed himself, pointed to the bed, and gestured for Gu Xi to sit there.
But Gu Xi didn’t want to move.
Li Ming looked at her helplessly. "Be good. The floor is cold and damp. It’s not good for a girl’s health to sit there for too long..."
’So you know it’s not good for your health, too?’ Gu Xi shot him a look before slowly moving onto the bed.
Li Ming rolled his wheelchair over and sat helplessly beside her.
The Little Green Sprout instantly shot out from Gu Xi’s hand and wrapped around Li Ming’s wrist.
The two had grown up together and fought side-by-side for years. A single glance was all they needed to understand each other’s thoughts.
Li Ming didn’t struggle, silently cooperating with Gu Xi’s actions.
Neither of them was the sentintal type, so they soon got down to business.
"Zhou Jinyu asking you to co to the Central Base this ti... I’m afraid it’s not that simple."
Li Ming reached out and prodded the tender tip of the Sproutling, frowning. "As far as I know, there have been frequent personnel changes within the Abnormal Ability Research Institute recently..."
"Is it because I’m getting involved with the seeds? Or has the success of the reverse evolution experint on plants made so people restless?" Gu Xi asked, tilting her head.
Li Ming shook his head. "That’s just the surface reason."
After saying that, Li Ming fell silent.
Gu Xi keenly sensed that sothing was off with Li Ming’s mood.
In the next mont, she suddenly realized sothing. "Is it because I’ve reappeared? Have the people behind the Abnormal Ability Research Institute beco antsy? Or... did Ye Xin do sothing?"
"...You’ve figured it all out?" Li Ming glanced at her in surprise, letting the Little Green Sprout travel up his arm and burrow into his chest.
After a long mont, he let out a dazed sigh. "Xiaoxi, maybe I misjudged Ye Xin back then. But now... I can’t see through her anymore."
Gu Xi frowned slightly but didn’t rush to a conclusion.
’They say people’s hearts are fickle,’ she thought. ’If I were Ye Xin, regardless of why I joined the Abnormal Ability Research Institute back then, now that things have co to this—’
’Power, status, fa... the Ye Xin of today has it all. You could say she’s standing at a peak that many can only dream of reaching.’
’But right at this mont, I, her old captain, have returned.’
’So what will Ye Xin do next?’
Gu Xi couldn’t help but think of the list of nas Ye Nan had sent over the other day...
’I’ve been back for almost a year. It’s impossible that Ye Xin is only just now finding out.’
’Yet she chose to send those nas right when Zhou Jinyu ca to discuss a partnership with .’
’Clearly, Ye Xin had hesitated before...’
’But why did she hesitate?’
’Was she worried I couldn’t handle the current situation? Or... was she testing my attitude? Or maybe... soone said sothing to her?’
There were too many unknown possibilities, and every one of them was worth pondering.
Li Ming looked up at Gu Xi, who was looking down in contemplation, and felt the life force being renewed within his body. His emotions were complicated.
After a long mont, he said with feeling, "Xiaoxi, you’re not quite the sa as you were before."
Gu Xi was taken aback for a second but quickly recovered, smiling candidly. "Well, a captain like has to grow up eventually."
’Although, the price of that growth was a bit steep...’
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