—All things in the world are but fleeting smoke, mere imitations of ideal forms.
Ke Yiyi’s eyes fluttered open, scanning the pitch-black interior of the car. Slowly, she pushed herself into a sitting position, her gaze sweeping over her surroundings, illuminated faintly by the ambient light from outside.
Instinctively, she leaned forward, peering into the driver’s seat, yet found no trace of Li Yuyi.
‘Had he gone out again?’
Turning her head, she glanced out the window, her eyes inadvertently falling upon Li Yuyi, who sat perfectly still in the passenger seat.
Ke Yiyi drew a sharp breath. She had underestimated Li Yuyi’s remarkable ability to conceal his presence. Though less than a meter away, she hadn’t detected even a whisper of his breath. Without the faint light filtering in from outside, who could have possibly noticed someone hidden in the passenger seat?
Li Yuyi remained utterly still, his head resting against the seat, his body held almost perfectly perpendicular to it. He exuded no discernible trace of life.
“Mr. Li?”
Receiving no response, Ke Yiyi tilted her head, observing him with a puzzled expression. Despite feeling it might be impolite, she instinctively reached out to feel for his breath.
‘Everything seemed normal…’
Ke Yiyi retracted her hand, her entire body retreating back into the confines of the rear seat.
“Just call me Li Yuyi. There’s no need for such formality.”
“Hm? You weren’t asleep?”
“For a soldier, if someone’s finger is placed less than three inches from their nose and they fail to react, they would, from a military standpoint, be deemed fallen.”
“My apologies… I disturbed your rest…”
“There’s no need to apologize. Officer Ke merely fulfilled the duty of a Vega police officer, which is to determine if a Vega citizen is in mortal danger. This action violates no regulations.”
Li Yuyi slowly opened his eyes, his gaze drifting to the rearview mirror. He observed Ke Yiyi’s still-sleepy face, then asked thoughtfully,
“Officer Ke, did I startle you?”
“No.”
“Had I suddenly spoken when you peered into the driver’s seat or checked for my breath, would you have been startled then?”
“Hm?”
Ke Yiyi’s understanding dawned.
“So, that’s why you didn’t speak when I called you earlier?”
“Precisely. Officer Ke needed rest, and I had no desire to startle you.”
“Why are you so considerate of my feelings? We are all the same; everyone requires rest.”
“Because Officer Ke is a hero. I hold immense respect for heroes such as yourself.”
“That’s quite an exaggeration… What about me warrants being called a hero? Ah…”
Ke Yiyi shook her head, a sense of inadequacy washing over her. Having failed to save the girl and unable to bring justice for Yagami Saichi, she felt utterly undeserving of the title ‘hero’.
“Officer Ke, if I may be blunt, you sometimes lack confidence.”
Li Yuyi tightened his grip on the twin blades cradled in his arms, lowering his head in contemplation.
“Not everyone possesses the courage to defy the Xuanji Star Academy—the most powerful institution on the Eastern Continent, and arguably one of the top five globally.”
“That was merely because I am an observer; hence, they didn’t…”
“No, Officer Ke. Observers from other academies, even the Southern Dipper Star Fifth Column, never dared to say ‘no’ to Xuanji Star. Yet, you did.”
Li Yuyi lifted his head, letting out a soft sigh.
“Were it me, I couldn’t have done it.”
“When confronted by Xuanji Star, I couldn’t voice my true thoughts to them as you did, nor could I escort an injured child from their territory as you bravely did.”
“I am utterly useless, completely devoid of your kind of courage.”
Ke Yiyi parted her lips, poised to speak, but ultimately swallowed her words.
‘So this was how Li Yuyi perceived their respective roles…’
“I merely didn’t think things through thoroughly…”
“That precisely indicates you are an upright person in your daily life. If, after deep consideration, you had chosen not to act…”
Li Yuyi paused at that point, refraining from elaborating further.
Had Ke Yiyi not acted, her image in his heart might not have been what it was now.
Ke Yiyi, too, remained silent, for she could surmise what Li Yuyi had left unsaid…
‘He would likely have concluded that she hadn’t even saved a child, utterly undeserving of her position… unqualified to be a police officer…’
“That would merely have been adherence to the basic tenets of an observer. No one would have blamed you for it.”
Li Yuyi ultimately uttered the remainder of his thoughts, though they diverged somewhat from Ke Yiyi’s expectations.
She glanced at her watch, noting that it was already past midnight.
“Yesterday is behind us…”
“Indeed. Barring any unforeseen circumstances, this morning we will accompany those three individuals to Sixty-One Workers City.”
“Those three?”
“Enfinietta, Li Qiwei, and Gan Lan.”
“They didn’t depart for Sixty-One Workers City?”
“Enfinietta’s former colleagues have also arrived in Worldly Affairs City, and she has some matters to discuss with them. Consequently, she did not depart with Lan Xifang today.”
“Ah, I see.”
Ke Yiyi gazed out the car window at the starry expanse. The clear day had yielded a night sky where the stars shimmered with remarkable clarity.
“Reflecting on it now, it’s truly incredible how much transpired in a single day yesterday…”
“For Officer Ke, was a day like that particularly hectic?”
“Not particularly. I simply hadn’t anticipated that the role of an observer would entail so many… unexpected occurrences.”
“Should such an assignment arise again, it’s quite possible Officer Ke would be dispatched.”
“No, no, no, I have no desire to undertake such an assignment again.”
Ke Yiyi waved her hands emphatically. One such experience was quite enough; she genuinely wished to avoid a second.
“Are you afraid of encountering your old friend again?”
Li Yuyi knew his question was ill-timed, yet he couldn’t comprehend why his usually disciplined self had uttered it, particularly given its potential to embarrass the woman behind him…
He had merely asked the question subconsciously, as if an inner compulsion drove him. Li Yuyi identified it as ‘curiosity’—a fervent desire within him to know the answer, however inopportune the timing.
Ke Yiyi fell silent for a moment, then slowly lifted her head, her gaze meeting her own reflection in the rearview mirror. Her face, once etched with lingering concerns, now held only a serene placidity, the quiet calm of complete release.
“He is no longer my old friend. He is my enemy, and I cannot afford to fear an enemy.”
Li Yuyi observed Ke Yiyi’s expression, finding himself somewhat captivated.
He had to concede that this resolute expression on Ke Yiyi’s face lacked the natural ease of her usual hesitant demeanor. He still preferred her everyday countenance, but many things lay beyond his control. He would have to learn to adapt, to accept this Ke Yiyi who was gradually diverging from her past self—a new facet of her life.
His gaze suddenly dimmed, and he shook his head subtly.
‘An enemy…’
‘Vega’s enemy…’
‘Enemies cannot become friends…’
He shifted his gaze to the side, peering through the rearview mirror. For some inexplicable reason, he suddenly found himself reluctant to meet Ke Yiyi’s eyes directly.
‘In her heart, Man Huai Zhi, now residing on Xuanji Star, had already become her enemy…’
‘What then of the others who were once on Xuanji Star…’
‘Were they… also enemies…’
Li Yuyi did not know the answer, nor did he dare to seek it.
If Ke Yiyi were to learn of his past, he would be no different from Man Huai Zhi in her estimation.
‘She is a hero.’
‘If he could simply stand behind the hero and watch her advance, that would be enough.’
‘Carefully preserving the current state of affairs… that was all he could manage.’
“Man Huai Zhi and that child’s father are two peas in a pod. Their mouths are full of benevolence and morality, yet they utter not a single word about the harm they inflicted upon the individuals involved. Instead, they strike poses of righteous indignation, as if they are magnificent beings, showing no remorse for their actions and daring not to acknowledge them. If I had known he was such a person, I would never have…”
Ke Yiyi’s voice trailed off…
There was no antidote for regret in this world. Moreover, the Man Huai Zhi of the past had not been this way. She found it utterly inconceivable that such a vile and sordid nature could have lurked beneath the layers of kindness in the Man Huai Zhi she once knew.
“Officer Ke, do not blame yourself. Perhaps the Man Huai Zhi of the past was not inherently this way. It is more likely that after joining Xuanji Star, he was gradually corrupted by what he witnessed and experienced, thus transforming into his current self.”
“Humans are remarkably susceptible to environmental influence. Even the kindest and most gentle individuals can turn wicked and cruel under specific circumstances, even actively embracing such environments and propelling them to their most extreme forms.”
“It is always the environment that molds people, never people who can truly resist their environment.”
Noticing Ke Yiyi’s apparent confusion, Li Yuyi cast his gaze aside, as if lost in thoughts of the past.
“Officer Ke, there’s a saying on Xuanji Star. I wonder if you’ve ever heard it?”
“What saying is that?”
“On Xuanji Star, if someone commits a transgression, such as succumbing to corruption, it is believed that they harbored an ‘unfavorable nature’ even before joining the institution. This nature was simply well-masked, only to be revealed through the rigorous training and trials of Xuanji Star, ultimately leading to their current state.”
“It is absolutely impossible for the explanation ‘he was inherently good in the past, but only became corrupt after joining Xuanji Star’ to exist. Similarly, there are statements like ‘all traitors must have harbored rebellious intentions from the start when they joined Xuanji Star, only to have their true nature exposed under Xuanji Star’s righteous scrutiny, leading them to betray’ and so on.”
“Ah? This…”
Ke Yiyi found herself struggling to comprehend why Xuanji Star would interpret human changes in such a manner…
‘Had I fallen into a misconception? Was the Man Huai Zhi I initially interacted with truly his inherent self, only for him to change after joining Xuanji Star?’
‘Could that be it?’
Ke Yiyi had no answers. There were far too many things in this world she couldn’t fathom, and no one could provide her with clarification. Indeed, many matters had eluded a definitive answer throughout history.
“If I hadn’t insisted on saving that child, would she not have died?”
Ke Yiyi lowered her head with a sigh. Whenever she closed her eyes, the child’s final expression would flash before her.
‘She was so close… just one step away…’
“Then her suffering would have continued.”
Li Yuyi handed a bottle of water to Ke Yiyi, his fingers brushing against the words ‘Do Not Forget the Lanzhou Massacre’. Instinctively, he turned his thumb to the side, careful not to obscure the inscription.
“Perhaps, in her heart, death was more acceptable than enduring such agony. She simply lacked the courage to seek it herself.”
Li Yuyi seemed lost in memories, of a past both distant and as vivid as yesterday.