The day following his reunion with Xiyin, the school bell chimed, signaling the end of classes. Qi Yue’an, swept along by the tide of students, exited the teaching building, intent on finding lunch.
Though the sun shone brightly and the campus buzzed with boisterous life, this ordinary warmth felt alien to him, utterly incapable of dispelling the persistent, ghost-like tangle of conflict and contradiction that haunted his heart.
Abruptly, an unsettling sensation washed over him, an inexplicable premonition of being watched. As he descended the main staircase towards the cafeteria, the ambient sounds of the campus seemed to momentarily recede, leaving an eerie silence.
From the corner of his eye, he caught sight of the concrete steps’ side, where a crude, unsettling, distorted symbol had been scrawled in what appeared to be dark red, dried paint.
It resembled a flattened insect, yet also a sneering, mocking face.
He halted, an instinctive unease prickling him. The moment his gaze sharpened, the symbol seemed to animate, wiggling faintly before vanishing altogether.
He spun around, only to find that the upper floor, which should have been clearly visible, had vanished behind a thick shroud of mist. Below, the wall plaster began to flake away, but instead of falling, the ash-like fragments drifted upwards, as if time itself were reversing—a sight as terrifying as the ‘Otherworld’ manifesting in the *Silent Hill* games he’d once watched.
Muttering a silent curse at his misfortune, he steeled himself and ascended, casting nervous glances over his shoulder every so often.
The peeling plaster ascended like a virulent plague, steadily consuming the stairwell. The once spacious and clean passage was now plunged into utter darkness. The ornate tiles of the staircase had dissolved, revealing raw concrete beneath, reminiscent of an abandoned, unfinished building.
The staircase stretched on, seemingly without end, extending into an infinite void.
As he ascended, the scene before him began to warp ceaselessly. His fellow students, the sunlight, and the walls of the teaching building peeled away and vanished like colors fading from a canvas, replaced by an infinite expanse of nothingness. Above, an impossibly dark, star-studded cosmos stretched, while below, a vibrant blue sky, adorned with clouds and a radiant sun, unfurled. And he, Qi Yue’an, found himself standing on a staircase suspended within this boundless abyss, extending infinitely both upwards and downwards, its form growing ever more grotesquely distorted.
‘Ugh!’
A powerful wave of dizziness and disorientation washed over him, rendering Qi Yue’an almost unable to stand. This, without a doubt, was a demon’s domain!
Without a moment’s hesitation, his primal instinct for survival and the lingering memories of last night’s battle ignited within him.
He plunged a hand into his pocket, where the miniature sword pulsed with a searing heat.
‘Transform!’
No dazzling light effects accompanied the change; instead, a subtle ache, as if bones and flesh were being forcibly reshaped, coursed through him, accompanied by an exhilarating surge of power.
Long strands of black and white hair cascaded down, and a pristine dress replaced her school uniform. In her grasp, the miniature sword began to expand with the gentle infusion of power, transforming into a strange, elongated blade that shimmered with an ominous violet glow.
She tightened her grip on the hilt, her silver eyes sweeping across the warped expanse. The staircase writhed, shattered, and reassembled itself in chaotic patterns, while around it, distorted fragments of stairs floated like glitches in a replication error.
Recalling the instinctive fluidity of her swordplay from the previous night, she channeled power into the blade and unleashed a fierce strike at the ever-shifting staircase beneath her feet!
‘Clang—!’
A flash of ominous violet flame erupted, and the severed section of the staircase emitted a piercing, mournful shriek.
A gaping rift tore open, revealing a space almost identical to her own. Yet, this other side was far from silent, for the cacophony of violent metal clashes and explosions reverberated through it.
She surged forward, pushing with all her might, and as if passing through a shimmering film of water, the surrounding vista abruptly transformed!
She found herself adrift in a vast expanse where countless small objects floated. Before her, a furious battle raged. Xiyin’s familiar figure soared and spun with exquisite agility, wielding a water-blue spear tipped with a gleaming, snow-white blade, while numerous musical note-like orbs danced around her.
Her adversaries were three colossal, ghostly, translucent sky-whales. They sang deep, resonant whale-songs, and each powerful swing of their tails unleashed shockwaves that visibly distorted the air.
On the ground below, a humanoid demon, nearly three meters tall and encased in grotesque black armor, advanced menacingly. Its heart had been replaced by a black hole-like orb, and it wielded a colossal greatsword almost as tall as itself, steadily closing in on Xiyin, its movements suggesting a chilling intelligence.
From the crevices of its armor seeped a tangible black mist, radiating an oppressive, suffocating aura.
Xiyin was clearly grappling with simultaneous attacks from both the sky and the ground, seemingly toyed with and utterly suppressed, afforded no opportunity to retaliate.
Qi Yue’an’s heart clenched violently. There was no longer any room for hesitation.
Even knowing that every exertion of her power consumed her dwindling ‘existence,’ even knowing that rushing in would plunge her into a life-or-death struggle…
Forced to evade a charging sky-whale, Xiyin plummeted towards the ground. The black-armored demon, a cruel grin twisting its features, had already raised its massive greatsword, poised to strike!
‘Xiyin—!’
Qi Yue’an burst forward, her longsword now imbued with a deep, violet luminescence. Her petite form transformed into a streaking blur of black and white, as she fearlessly collided with the black-armored demon!
‘Clang!!’
A violent clash of violet and black energies erupted in a blinding flash and concussive shockwave. Ominous black miasma clung to Qi Yue’an from the close-quarters combat, yet a soul-devouring blaze of envy also ignited upon the demon.
The immense recoil sent Qi Yue’an’s blood surging, leaving the web of her hand numb. Yet, an inexplicable battle frenzy welled within her, enabling her to land with unwavering stability, shielding Xiyin behind her.
‘An An?!’
Xiyin’s voice, initially laced with surprise, quickly sharpened into urgency.
‘Be careful! It’s incredibly powerful! And unlike those other mindless monsters, it possesses intellect!’
No warning was truly necessary; Qi Yue’an had already sensed it. The black demon’s power vastly eclipsed that of the familiars from the previous night. Each clash of blades sent a jarring tremor through her arms, leaving them numb, and her internal organs felt as if they were constantly dislocating and snapping back into place.
Xiyin regrouped, her spear transforming into a massive zither. Countless musical notes, like falling stars, converged to barrage the black-armored demon, while she simultaneously exerted herself to repel the colossal sky-whales.
Both fought with every ounce of their strength, black and white light interwoven with starry blue, clashing furiously against the dark demonic energy and the sky-whales’ shockwaves. However, the disparity in their power was immense.
The black-armored demon’s defenses proved impenetrable, its power overwhelmingly formidable. Their combined assaults could, at best, only marginally impede its advance, utterly failing to inflict any meaningful damage.
The relentless, high-intensity battle rapidly depleted Qi Yue’an and Xiyin’s magic, yet the demon showed not a hint of fatigue; in fact, a faint, mocking sneer seemed to drift from its direction.
Just as Qi Yue’an’s arms grew so heavy she could barely lift them, and Xiyin’s face paled from severe magic depletion, the black-armored demon let out a triumphant growl. Its greatsword, once again hoisted high, was poised to descend when a sharp, whistling sound suddenly rent the air.
A single-handed longsword, ancient in design and wreathed in crimson light, streaked from behind them like a meteor from the heavens. With unbelievable speed and precision, it instantly pierced through the black-armored demon’s back.
‘Roargh—!’
The black-armored demon’s movements abruptly froze, its raised greatsword suspended in mid-air as it unleashed a roar of pain and disbelief.
The black mist surrounding its form surged violently, and the longsword, having completed its piercing strike, dissipated like a phantom.
‘It’s you! To think you would aid those people…’
Seizing this fleeting, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, Xiyin channeled every last drop of her remaining magic into her spear, manifesting a colossal ‘Spear of the Arch-God’ forged from countless stars. Qi Yue’an, too, summoned her final reserves, gripping her sword hilt with both hands, pouring all her strength, her defiance, and her rage into the blade, until the dark flames of envy almost solidified into a tangible form.
‘Splat—!’
The purple-black sword tip plunged with pinpoint accuracy into the black-armored demon’s chest, directly into the still-healing rift cleaved open by the previous longsword. The life-corroding flames instantly sapped a significant portion of its strength, and simultaneously, the meteor-like spear struck home.
‘Demon Lord—!!!’
The black armor shrieked as it fractured under the overwhelming force, and the demon unleashed one last, venomous roar. Its colossal body crashed to the ground, and its severed head shot off with incredible velocity, vanishing into the surrounding mist.
The battle concluded. Qi Yue’an, utterly drained, dispelled her transformation, reverting to her original form. She stumbled, nearly collapsing, and gasped for breath, her body feeling as though it had been completely hollowed out.
Concurrently, a distinct sensation, as though something fundamental had irrevocably shifted, washed over her. She lifted her head, her gaze frantically scouring the direction from which the flying sword had arrived.
And then, she saw it.
At the periphery of the small garden, a hooded figure was turning to depart. That silhouette… that height and outline…
It was the same person from the bridge yesterday! The one she suspected was… Lin Xiao!
‘Wait!’
Summoning strength from an unknown wellspring, Qi Yue’an cried out, then surged forward, disregarding her body’s profound weakness and exhaustion, in pursuit.
The figure paused momentarily, a faint ‘tsk’ seeming to escape them, before accelerating their pace and swiftly vanishing through the teaching building’s back door.
Gritting his teeth, Qi Yue’an desperately pursued, charging into the teaching building. The corridor, relatively empty during the lunch break, allowed him to immediately spot the figure about to round the far end.
‘Don’t leave!’
Qi Yue’an shouted with all his remaining strength, his voice reverberating through the corridor. The figure finally halted, slowly turning around and pulling down his hood.
What met Qi Yue’an’s eyes was a face both familiar and strange. It was indeed Lin Xiao’s features, but stripped of all the warmth and sunshine from his memories, leaving only cold, sharp angles and an indifference that seemed to see through everything.
His gaze was sharp, carrying a world-weariness and detachment that belied his age.
‘No wonder you felt familiar. So it was you on the bridge that day.’
Lin Xiao spoke, his voice low and cold, devoid of any fluctuation indicative of a long-awaited reunion.
‘You made that irreversible decision, didn’t you? To become like this.’
Qi Yue’an’s heart pounded, his breathing ragged. He had so many questions: Why pretend to be dead? Why no word for two years? Why this sudden unfamiliarity? Yet, a thousand words choked in his throat, and what finally burst forth was a question rooted in his initial heartache.
‘I don’t understand any of that! I just want to know! Why didn’t you come to see me! You know I… I even missed…’
His voice was tinged with grievance and a barely perceptible catch.
‘I’ve always… missed you so much, cared for you deeply…’
Lin Xiao watched his agitated, innocent expression, his brow furrowing almost imperceptibly, as if about to speak. But just then, another figure rushed over.
Xiyin had changed back into her casual clothes, but her face still bore the fatigue of battle and a fierce vigilance, her hand clutching the guitar pick that served as her transformation device.
‘An An! Stay away from him!’
Xiyin instantly positioned herself in front of Qi Yue’an, glaring at Lin Xiao as if facing a formidable enemy.
‘He’s an extremely dangerous demon! The ‘Rainy Night Wanderer’ and those ‘Smiling Cotton Balls’ we encountered last time—they were his familiars, released without a thought!’
Lin Xiao met Xiyin’s accusations and wariness with a sneer of disdain. His gaze bypassed Xiyin, settling once more on Qi Yue’an.
‘Your time,’
He began, his voice chillingly flat, each word like an ice pick striking Qi Yue’an’s heart.
‘Only one week remains.’
Qi Yue’an’s pupils constricted sharply.
‘Since you’ve made your decision, do not hesitate or look back.’
Lin Xiao’s tone carried a near-cruel serenity.
‘Bid a proper, thorough farewell to your past, and then prepare for the future you have chosen. We will eventually reunite, and we will eventually stand together, but not here, and not now.’
Having spoken, he granted Qi Yue’an no further opportunity for questions or reactions, vanishing swiftly down the corridor, with inhuman speed.
Only Qi Yue’an remained frozen in place, her face ashen.
One week…
The last week…
‘Only a chance to say goodbye, then…’
She gave a bitter laugh, collapsing to the ground from exhaustion. Looking up at the sky and Xiyin’s worried face, she found, unexpectedly, that her heart held less regret than she had imagined.
‘Did I do the right thing?’
Qi Yue’an didn’t understand, just as she couldn’t comprehend Lin Xiao, who was now full of riddles and no longer frank.