"Uncle, I guess I'll see you at the concert in seven days!"
At the exit of the train station in Crimson Mist City, Ying Qianhuan waved at Liu Ma, then turned and slowly vanished into the crowd.
Liu Ma wanted to open his mouth and ask her to stay multiple times as he watched her pink back disappear, but he ultimately couldn't bring himself to say anything.
"Alright, stop staring. If you keep looking, I'm worried the police in Crimson Mist City will think you're a creep and arrest you."
Chen Kong patted his back, his tone full of teasing.
Liu Ma snapped back to reality, his face instantly flushing.
"Kong, don't you think she looks a lot like someone back at the base?"
"Hmm?"
Chen Kong raised an eyebrow, unable to stop a smile.
"Come on. Guys always use that lying line, 'You look so much like my first love,' when they want to hit on someone."
"Love at first sight? It's just lust at first sight!"
Liu Ma immediately stamped his foot, clearly upset.
"I'm serious, I'm not lying to you!"
"Then tell me, who does she look like? I still remember most of the people at the base, but I really can't think of anyone who resembles Ying Qianhuan."
Faced with Chen Kong's questioning, Liu Ma was speechless for a long time.
Because the Ying Qianhuan in front of him and the person in his memory only shared a similar hair color; their looks, temperament, and personality were too drastically different.
"See? You can't say it when I ask you. Are you still going to deny that it was just lust?"
Liu Ma sighed, then disgustedly pushed Chen Kong away, asking him to keep his distance.
"Fine, believe what you want."
Seeing that Liu Ma and Chen Kong were about to start arguing again, Vivian was forced to mediate.
"Alright, stop fighting and let's go to the nearest hotel first."
"The concert is in seven days. We can take this time to look around."
"But before that, we need to register at the Staremissary Branch in Crimson Mist City to avoid any unnecessary misunderstandings."
As is well known, the triangle is the most stable shape.
Without Vivian, this trio would have immediately disbanded.
After Chen Kong and the others left the station, the movie's scene cut to Ying Qianhuan.
On the sidewalk outside the station, Ying Qianhuan had already dropped the innocent, carefree smile on her face. She was walking quickly toward the nearest subway station, head down, tapping a message out on her data terminal.
[Latest Intel: Tendo's precognitive ability has upgraded again.]
Just as the message sent notification chimed, Ying Qianhuan's steps abruptly halted.
Under the streetlamp at the subway entrance, a silver-haired man leaned against the pole, his black trench coat gently lifted by the evening breeze.
Strangely, the surrounding pedestrians walked past the two of them as if they didn't see them, not even glancing their way.
It was as if an invisible barrier separated them from the passersby.
Ignoring Ying Qianhuan's strained expression, Tendo removed his sunglasses and said with a smile, "I thought you looked familiar before, but I just couldn't remember who you were."
"After I got back, I asked Liuli for an old photo album and finally remembered who you are."
"Am I right, No. 30, Huan Qianying?"
Hearing Tendo speak her true identity, Huan Qianying dropped the pretense.
The color instantly drained from Ying Qianhuan's face, but she quickly regained her composure.
She wiped her hand across her face, dismissing the effect of her Star-Origin persona mask.
Though her hair was still that pink color, and her face was the same, her features hadn't changed much, but Huan Qianying's—or rather, Huan Qianying's—temperament was utterly transformed.
The kind of bone-deep coldness and ice-forged eyes made it impossible to connect the person before them with the innocent high school girl from moments ago.
Looking at Tendo, who was smiling faintly in the distance, Huan Qianying mocked herself, "Not even the persona mask can fool you? Sometimes, this ability even fools me."
To this, Tendo smiled. "A persona mask that can even change one's nature is indeed impressive, but a mask is still just a mask."
Tendo paused, then said the most unbelievable words in a tone that was almost matter-of-fact:
"...and no matter how good the mask is, it cannot fool my eyes."
With that, Tendo stood straight and turned, walking toward the crosswalk nearby.
"Come on. I'm quite curious why someone from the Moonshadow Family would interfere in the affairs of the Frost Tone Family."
Huan Qianying did not resist, nor did she make any attempt to escape.
She obediently followed in Tendo's footsteps.
After all, a saying had always circulated within the Moonshadow Family: If the probability of victory is explicitly less than 10%, one should avoid conflict with the opponent unless absolutely necessary.
Huan Qianying was unsure exactly what level of strength Tendo had reached now.
But she knew very well that let alone defeating Tendo, even escaping from him was a fool's dream.
This was true even though she believed that in terms of escape, the Moonshadow Family's strongest new-generation assassin, 'Night God Lin,' ranked fifth in Prequel of the Stars, might not even be her equal.
Walk away from Tendo unscathed?
She couldn't do it.
Under Tendo's half-invitation, half-coercion, the two walked into a coffee shop on the nearby street corner.
The glass door opened, a wind chime gave a crisp sound, and the warm yellow light spilled onto the wooden floor. The air was filled with the rich aroma of coffee and the sweetness of baked cookies.
When the waitress brought the coffee, she secretly placed a napkin with her phone number written on it in front of Tendo, blushing before quickly running off.
Tendo casually pushed the napkin to the side of the table and slid a latte toward Huan Qianying.
"Tell me, was this your own decision, or did the Moonshadow Family arrange for you to do this?"
Huan Qianying didn't rush to answer, instead raising an eyebrow and counter-asking, "Can't you see the future? Why ask me?"
Tendo chuckled.
"Seeing it is one thing. Hearing the person involved say it with their own mouth is quite another."
Tendo stirred his coffee, the milk foam spiraling into a small whirlpool.
After a moment, Tendo spoke again: "I can see many futures, but that doesn't mean all of them will come to pass."
"All I do is make the future that is about to happen become only the way I want it to be."
Huan Qianying took a sip of her coffee, her eyes complex.
"Making the future only the way you want it to be. Tendo, you are still as overbearing and unreasonable as you were when you were a child."
"You're wrong. I'm actually very reasonable, provided that..."
Tendo looked up, his pale blue eyes staring at Huan Qianying as if he had seen through her everything.
"...the reasoning is a kind I can understand."
Unlike the hesitation he showed with Chen Xing, the casualness with Caroline, or the indulgence with Jing Liuli, Tendo completely exposed his true nature when dealing with others.
That overbearing, unquestionable nature.
Looking at Tendo, who had suddenly become serious, Huan Qianying's mood sank to rock bottom. Her body tensed as if facing a great enemy.
"Then if what I intend to do is not in the future you desire, are you going to 'erase' this accident—me—right here?"
"Don't be nervous. You're giving yourself too much credit."
Tendo suddenly laughed, his tone as relaxed as if he were chatting with an old friend.
"Because whether you are here or not, it won't affect me."
"I simply saw a more interesting future involving you, and so I wanted to talk."
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