The next day.
As the first light of dawn fell upon the balcony of the second floor of a house in Bin Hai City, Xu Yinsheng woke up surprisingly early. She opened her bleary eyes to find that, unlike most days, there was no “octopus” clinging to her. The room was deathly quiet.
She turned her head to the side. The spot where “Assassin Girl Xu Yinsheng” usually lay was slightly indented, and a lingering warmth remained. It seemed she had only just left.
Xu Yinsheng looked at the large photo on the bedside cabinet. In the photo, two girls were smiling like flowers. She reached out somewhat dazed to stroke the cheek of one of the girls, whispering in a voice only she could hear.
“Are you gone?”
She muttered to herself, “You didn’t even let me see you off. You just left after a quick goodbye. Hmph, I can tell you just missed that dog of a man.”
She walked out of the bedroom and toward the kitchen.
Her abdomen still throbbed with a faint, dull ache. Six months ago, after her gender transition was fully completed, she would suffer through a few days of pain and bleeding at this scheduled time every month, regardless of which Ever-changing Form she took.
Inside the kitchen, the busy figure she expected to see was not there. It remained silent.
Refusing to believe it, Xu Yinsheng left the villa and arrived at the iron gate of the villa where Zhao Yicheng lived. She pressed the doorbell firmly. The harsh *ding-dong, ding-dong* echoed through the empty courtyard for a long time, ringing out one after another.
After a long while, no one came to open the door. Only then did Xu Yinsheng notice a sign hanging on the iron gate: “Away for a few days due to family matters.”
Xu Yinsheng walked dejectedly to the steps outside the door and sat down. She suddenly had a strange feeling. It was so quiet—as if she were the only person left in this world.
“You left too. This is so boring. You said you were going to pursue me,” Xu Yinsheng grumbled as she sat on the steps, holding a branch and drawing circles on the ground.
“Even if you had to go back to your company for something, you could have at least notified me first. You didn’t say a single word and just left.”
“You didn’t even cook breakfast for me. Seriously.”
For some reason, Xu Yinsheng shook her head as a surge of irritability rose from the depths of her heart. Everything she saw looked unpleasant, and nothing she did felt right. Even sitting on these steps felt too cold, as if they were deliberately freezing her butt.
She tossed the branch aside in frustration, stood up, and kicked the steps that had just chilled her. Then, she sat back down in the same spot, resting her chin on her hands with a sullen expression.
‘I don’t need you.’
‘I can live very well on my own.’
‘I’ve lived like this for so many years anyway. I have dolls, cups, Gundam sets, and a bunch of hooligan friends.’
‘I don’t need anyone. I can live perfectly fine.’
She continued to mutter to herself. Finally, Xu Yinsheng used her finger to draw two large crosses over the circles she had made on the ground.
She stood up abruptly, took out her mobile phone, and dialed a certain number. She spoke as if nothing were wrong. “Hey, Old Chen, are you free? I’ll take you to cut some stones!”
“Oh, you’re not free? I see.”
“Cousin, do you have time? I…”
“Right, I understand. Have a good shift at work.”
“Old Du, it’s me. Do you have time? I want to…”
“Taking care of Uncle Du at the hospital? I see. Take care of yourself.”
“Xiao Mo, I…”
“A blind date? Right, I hope it goes well.”
After several phone calls in a row, everyone was either busy with something else or simply had no time. Xu Yinsheng put her phone back into her pocket, feeling discouraged.
The world was in a state of absolute motion. Everyone had their own thoughts and was busy hustling to make their own lives better. No one was an NPC who would be available at her beck and call.
***
At noon.
Spicy Fish, Sweet and Sour Ribs, Red Braised Pork, beef rolls with enoki mushrooms, and tomato and egg soup. Looking at the exquisite dishes she had spent the entire morning cooking, Xu Yinsheng served herself a bowl of rice and shouted, “I’m digging in!”
The Spicy Fish was delicious.
The Red Braised Pork was delicious.
The tomato and egg soup was tasty.
Xu Yinsheng polished off three large bowls of rice in one go.
Yet, she always felt like something was wrong.
There was no one racking their brains to tell jokes or share gossip in her ear. There was no one laughing loudly and unladylike like a quacking duck. And there wasn’t a certain annoying person deliberately bringing the topic back to her.
The food tasted the same as always, but she felt a bit out of sorts.
After three large bowls of rice, Xu Yinsheng lost her appetite. She went back to her bedroom to take a nap without even clearing the table, leaving the dishes to slowly grow cold.
***
Night.
Xu Yinsheng went to bed very early. Even though tonight was the time for her Ever-changing Form to refresh, her heart felt no ripples. There was no anticipation, no nervousness, and she wasn’t even calm; there was only a sense of confusion.
Perhaps because of her afternoon nap, the black-haired girl lay on the double bed with her eyes closed for half an hour, yet she still felt no sleepiness.
She picked up the phone by her bedside and opened a short-video app.
All sorts of information from across the nation converged there. There were government spokespeople discussing policy changes, people teaching cooking with vibrant colors and aromas, stories of life and death amidst a sea of white hospital gowns, and handsome couples on their wedding days… Information from all over the world flashed before Xu Yinsheng’s eyes, but she couldn’t find a single shred of joy. It was as if a deep, pathetic barrier stood between her and all that excitement.
Finally, Xu Yinsheng put down her phone and grabbed a pillow from beside her. She hugged it tightly to her chest, as if she could only find a bit of comfort and feel less lonely by holding onto something.
Night fell, the starry sky turned brilliant, and the moonlight shone brightly. The neon lights in the city flickered with dazzling brilliance, and the sound of cicadas was constant.
The night breeze blew gently, ruffling people’s hair.
The person in the room had long since fallen asleep. She hugged the snow-white pillow, her eyelashes trembling slightly and her brows furrowed, as if she had encountered some trouble or unease in her dreams.
If one looked closely, they would notice a few dried water stains on the pillow.
However, the world would not change according to any one person’s worries, just as the sun would not go out because of an individual’s thoughts. Time continued to tick away, second by second, until only the sound of the alarm clock on the bedside cabinet remained in the room.
It was 12:00 AM.
According to the rules of the unknown, a hazy gray light appeared over the delicate girl on the bed.
From the outside, it looked as if someone had lit a candle in the room, flickering between light and dark.
The light gradually faded, eventually transforming into two clumps of black and white gas. The two colors alternated and changed continuously until they finally manifested into a Black and White Twin Lotus.
The lotus merged into the girl’s forehead and vanished. Only two glows—one black and one white—remained, covering each half of the girl’s delicate body. They looked like two indestructible shields, or perhaps like eggshells nurturing a new life.
In her hazy consciousness, Xu Yinsheng suddenly felt a touch of warmth near her hand. She subconsciously gripped the other party tightly, as if grasping for her only sliver of light. She clung to the warmth like an octopus, pressing her face close to it.