When the members of the Mountain Crow family arrived, they only saw Mori standing desolately in front of the leak barricade, staring blankly at a photo within the curtain.

Even now, Mori felt as though she were in a dreamlike state; everything that happened today felt utterly unreal.

It had been a completely ordinary day; everything had been as usual until the afternoon. That freckle-faced girl had still been shyly greeting her in the morning, and not long ago, she'd been laughing and foolishly expressing hopeful and beautiful words...

She was just an ordinary girl, with an ordinary family, and should have lived an ordinary life in Dragonfly Town. Perhaps after graduation, their lives would diverge drastically.

Everyone around her, whether it was her brother or Sebastian, had always told her about the cruelty of this world. She had learned about those tragic stories through various channels, but until today, she had never felt this raw cruelty firsthand.

Was she too cold-blooded?

At such a time, she couldn't even cry; there wasn't a trace of sorrow, like an audience member who had just watched a bizarre tragedy.

Clearly, she would never see that girl who had always followed behind her again.

Never hear those murmuring whispers of hers again.

Never see that gaze always full of hope again.

"You, let's go," Mori shook her head and said hoarsely.

Xiaoyou watched her descend the stairs rather indifferently. A sigh came from a Mountain Crow family member in the restroom: "The identities of the victims have been found, Yukawa Maki, a second-year student at Zhutai High School, and her mother, Xigong Quan."

"It was the Seeder who parasitized this lady, driven by maternal instinct she went to school looking for her daughter, who would have thought it would end like this."

"Such is the unpredictability of life."

"No wonder Mrs. Xigong wasn't on the list of victims at the chemical plant."

"Let's go report this to the authorities before it gets dark, and then grab a drink together."

...

Gurgle.

Watching two bottles of lime tea drop from the vending machine, Mori, dazed for a moment, picked up one and handed it to Xu Xiaoyou.

"I bought an extra."

Xu Xiaoyou looked at the lime tea in her hand without saying anything. Then both of their communication curtains were connected for an emergency call from the Dark Night Walker, and Mori inadvertently cut her hand on the tab of the drink, with beads of blood seeping out.

She ignored it and answered the call.

"What's wrong?"

The Dark Night Walker only communicated through the curtain in urgent situations, and Mori drank some lime tea before asking.

"Hey, hey, hey! This time, things have really gone wrong!"

It was Sparrow's voice, choked with nervousness, trying to organize her thoughts before shouting,

"Big Sis and that guy Night Owl were just taken by the Octagonal Spider people not long ago!"

"I saw them coming down the stairs, and then a van came up and grabbed them just two minutes ago!"

"Hey, Missy, what's with that expression? This is the Octagonal Spider we're talking about, a group of heartless killers! Have you forgotten what happened in Heidelberg? Those two are truly in danger!"

Mori's mind went blank, listening to the girl's voice in the communication, she returned to her senses in a daze.

"What did you say?"

"In any case, we need to move quickly. I tracked the Octagonal Spider group using their vehicle code. If we don't want them to end up missing limbs, we better mobilize fast and keep our communications open!"

Mori nodded repeatedly, looking to Xu Xiaoyou for help.

Xu Xiaoyou pressed the car key, and the luxury Land Air Vehicle responded with a honk.

"How did you...?"

"There's no time to explain, get in."

Xu Xiaoyou pulled her electric scooter from behind the Land Air Vehicle, secured a helmet on Mori's head, and patted her cushioned back seat.

Mori really didn't have the heart to joke about it, mounting the seat, they soon sped through the streets of Dragonfly Town.

Mori hugged Xu Xiaoyou tightly from behind, her head a swirling mess. Xiaoxu's affair hadn't passed, and now her companions were kidnapped. So much happening in one day made her anxious and uneasy.

"I'm planning to leave," came Xu Xiaoyou's sudden voice from the front.

"You, what are you suddenly saying..."

"I told you before, I'll only stay in Dragonfly Town for a month. Tomorrow, I'll return to the Star of Art."

"Today, I came to say goodbye."

The drowning person's last straw was suddenly pulled away, Mori's throat moved as the pressure spread through her chest. She wanted to speak, but realizing she was selfishly demanding again, she remembered Xiaoxu's scene earlier. She opened her mouth but closed it again.

"I see."

"You will come back..."

"Be careful."

Xiaoyou suddenly turned the scooter's head as a speeding vehicle whizzed past, taking the girl's remaining words with the wind.

Morose helplessness surged up to Mori's legs, she seemed to be in a pool of foul sludge, her limbs becoming heavy and unresponsive, coldness creeping up from her calves.

Silence ensued.

Soon, the two arrived at an abandoned suburban building, as guided by Sparrow through the communication, with no Octagonal Spider guards in sight, the atmosphere unbearably quiet.

Mori's eyes were dim. She didn't think much of these abnormalities, ignored them because Xu Xiaoyou was just ahead of her. As long as she was around, no matter what happened, everything would turn out alright, right?

You could easily resolve these Octagonal Spider people, could effortlessly rescue her companions. No matter how deep or cold the mire, You's hand would hold her firmly, pulling her from it, bringing salvation.

Once today passed, tomorrow, everything would surely be better.

She was the Young Master of the Chichu family, after all. Whether it was her brother, Sebastian, or others, they would clear all paths ahead for her. Maybe, just maybe, Xiaoxu wasn't dead, and tomorrow she'd reappear, greeting her as always.

Following Xu Xiaoyou through a dim tunnel, somehow the frantic chatter of Sparrow in the communication had quieted, and the flickering white incandescent lights above began to fade. It was only then Mori realized something was wrong.

Disoriented, she took in her surroundings and saw thuggish, malevolent people crowding the stairways on both sides, eyeing her with malicious intent, the Octagonal Spider tattoos on their arms glaringly obvious. They yelled obscene profanities raising rifles loaded with magazines.

Mori instinctively retreated two steps but collided with a thug's chest, her escape route unknowingly sealed.

"You...?"

Xu Xiaoyou turned, a little smile of mockery curled at her lips, a pure white mask suddenly adorned her face, and with a snap, the room brightened.

As soon as Mori conjured her mimicry, Xu Xiaoyou snatched her hand, knocking away the Spider Gu Fang, leaving her stumbling into Xu Xiaoyou's embrace, the demon's whisper echoing in her ears.

"Hush, look up."

Mori trembled while raising her head, the view before her pierced her eyes like countless spikes, staining her vision with blood-red.

All her companions, Sparrow included, were hung by iron-spiked chains in the air, wrists bleeding, dyeing them in crimson as lambs ready for slaughter.

Xu Xiaoyou's hand rested on her shoulder, her body was close, like a cold snake coiling around her from behind, dragging her into the depths of the cold mire.

"Do you like the goodbye ceremony I prepared meticulously for you?"

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