The night wind chopped the little e-bike's motor hum into broken fragments.
Su Yu squeezed the brakes, coming to a stop before the imposing wrought-iron gate of the Golden Courtyard.
He'd thought he had already braced himself mentally—that even if Eden came out in a full professional fireproof racing jumpsuit, twirling a helmet in her hand, he wouldn't betray even the slightest flicker of surprise.
But he had miscalculated again.
Murphy's Law is a funny thing—sometimes it really does hand you exactly what you fear most, right when you fear it most.
Under the dim yellow streetlight sat a modified red supercar.
Its chassis was so low it nearly hugged the floor tiles, and the broad carbon-fiber rear wing glinted with a cold, hard sheen in the night.
That streamlined body design—even Su Yu, who knew absolutely nothing about cars, could tell at a glance that the price tag on this thing was followed by a very long string of zeros.
Eden was leaning against the door of that supercar.
She wasn't wearing a racing suit.
Nor was she in the evening gown from the daytime.
A black, form-fitting off-the-shoulder top just barely contained that astonishing fullness.
Her lower half was wrapped in a dark-red bodycon miniskirt that reached only to the very top of her thighs.
Lower still were a pair of long legs sheathed tightly in eye-catching, sheer black tights, her feet in a pair of black ankle boots.
That outfit.
That stance.
Nothing about it looked like someone about to tear off into a life-or-death drag race.
Hearing the buzzing of the e-bike, Eden lifted her head.
"You came?"
"I came."
Su Yu swung himself off the e-bike and glanced back at the outer wall of the Golden Courtyard.
He pushed the little e-bike along a short distance, kicked down the kickstand, and parked it beside the supercar.
The contrast was downright tragic—like a scruffy country hen forced to stand next to a purebred flamingo.
The window on the east side of the third floor was still lit—warm yellow light filtered through the pink curtains, and you could faintly make out a figure pacing back and forth inside.
That was Elysia's room.
She wasn't asleep yet.
Su Yu pulled his gaze back, walked up in front of Eden, and looked her up and down.
"Sister Eden, you're here to race me?"
"Your guess isn't bad."
Eden straightened up off the hood, a bundle of car keys in her hand, a small golden musical-note pendant dangling from the keyring.
"I have a garage on the outskirts of the city, and inside it—"
Her words were cut off by the buzz of vibration in her pocket.
Eden fished out her phone, glanced at the caller ID, and answered.
"Talk."
Su Yu stood beside her, unable to make out what the other end said, but he could see Eden's expression complete a transformation in the span of ten seconds—from casual, to focused, to a tightening of her brows.
"How many people? One?"
The other end said another string of words.
"Where'd she come from?"
Another string.
Eden's thumb tapped lightly twice on the back of the phone.
"Got it. Don't move. I'm coming over."
The call hung up.
The night wind suddenly felt a little cold.
Eden stood where she was, lowered her head to glance at the big bundle of spare keys in her hand, then casually tossed them back into the storage compartment of the car door.
"Su Yu."
She turned her head and looked at him.
Her once slightly tipsy, beautiful eyes now held nothing but a certain cold, dangerous flame.
That was the aura belonging to the queen of the underground tracks—a true nature revealed only amid extreme speed and danger.
"Looks like our contest will have to be postponed."
Eden pulled open the driver's door of the red supercar and got in.
She rolled down the window and tilted her head to look at Su Yu, who was still standing beside the little e-bike.
"Get in."
It was an order.
Extremely forceful, brooking no refusal.
Su Yu stood where he was.
"Sister Eden, my e-bike—"
"It won't get stolen sitting there. Get in."
Su Yu took a look at his loyal little e-bike, then at the wine-red beast before him, its engine still rumbling in a low growl.
He pulled open the passenger door and sank into that deeply contoured carbon-fiber bucket seat.
And at that very moment—
"Ee—den—"
A drowsy voice drifted down from overhead.
Su Yu's neck stiffened.
He looked up toward that lit window on the third floor of the Golden Courtyard.
Elysia was draped over the windowsill, her long pink hair spilling loose and hanging down, wearing a loose, slouchy nightgown, one hand propping up her chin.
"It's so late—where are you off to?"
Eden rolled down the window and leaned half her body out, looking up at her.
"There's something to deal with over at the studio. Don't wait up for me."
"You're going out this late?" Elysia pursed her lips, seeming a little concerned. "Don't overwork yourself, okay? You've got an early start tomorrow."
"I know. Go to sleep soon."
"Mm-hm, be careful on the road!"
Elysia waved her hand, asked nothing further, and simply closed the window.
The instant the curtains were drawn, Eden immediately pressed the engine start button.
"VROOM—!"
The slumbering red beast was awakened in an instant, the twelve-cylinder engine letting out a deafening, low roar.
Eden floored the accelerator.
The red glow of the taillights stretched two afterimages across the front of the Golden Courtyard's gate, then vanished into the depths of the night.
In a matter of mere seconds, the supercar's red taillights disappeared around the corner of the street.
Leaving behind only a single, solitary little e-bike, parked quietly outside the gate of the Golden Courtyard.
Third floor.
Elysia had just lain down on the soft bed, casually pulling the pink blanket over herself.
"Strange…"
She rolled over, staring at the chandelier on the ceiling, and muttered under her breath.
"Just now—why did it sound like I heard Su Yu's little e-bike?"
She closed her eyes, and the image of Su Yu's usual lazy demeanor floated up in her mind, making her can't help but smile.
Su Yu?
No way, right.
Given that guy's personality, at this hour he was most likely curled up on the couch playing games. Riding a little e-bike all the way to the Golden Courtyard at twelve midnight? For what? For a late-night rendezvous with his good bestie, Eden?
Elysia shook her head and flung the thought away.
"Probably just my imagination."
Outside the Golden Courtyard, beside the flowerbed, that little e-bike still stood all alone in the shadow of the holly bushes.
The supercar's engine roar was amplified threefold inside the tunnel.
The orange light tubes swept past the car's roof one after another, the play of light and shadow flickering on and off inside the cabin at a fixed rhythm.
Su Yu's back sank into the embrace of the seat, the seatbelt locking his shoulder and hips firmly in place.
The numbers on the dashboard kept climbing.
His peripheral vision fell to the left.
Eden behind the wheel was a completely different person from the one cradling a glass of red wine at the banquet during the day:
Her left hand rested at the ten-o'clock position on the wheel, her right hand draped over the shifter; her gear changes were crisp and decisive—wrist turning, palm-heel pushing, a click as it slotted into place—the whole sequence of movements without a single bit of excess sway.
Her gaze stared dead straight at the road ahead.
The exit at the tunnel's end drew closer and closer, a point of light in the darkness rapidly expanding.
At the instant they burst out of the tunnel.
The mountain night wind, carrying the scent of grass, trees, and earth, surged in through the half-open window, blowing Su Yu's hair back.
His field of vision switched in an instant from the tunnel to a wide-open winding mountain road; in the distance were the lights of Arc City, densely blanketing the plain at the foot of the mountains—looking down from this height, it was like a scattered tray of spilled, broken stars.
Su Yu watched the scenery sweep past outside the window, then looked again at Eden beside him:
Eden held the wheel in both hands, her posture indescribably casual.
The dark-red bodycon miniskirt had ridden up because of her seated position, exposing more than half of her plump, rounded thighs.
That thin layer of black tights glimmered with a fine, alluring sheen under the dim backlight of the dashboard inside the cabin.
With every press of the pedal, the muscles on the inside of her thighs would tense and ripple in subtle ways, stretching the mesh weave of the stockings into an enticing curve.
By day, she was the elegant superstar standing under the spotlight, looked up to by countless people.
By night, she was the wild road god in an off-the-shoulder top and bodycon skirt, chasing thrills amid life and death at top speed.
The "Diva" Bronie had mentioned, the lap-time record holder for the four-wheel class on the mountain circuit—really was a classic case of jarring persona contrast.
"Why aren't you talking?"
Eden's voice came over from the left.
She didn't turn her head, her eyes still on the curve ahead.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Thinking about how rich Sister Eden's life experience is." Su Yu leaned back against the seat. "By day an elegant, noble superstar, by night transformed into a speed-chasing goddess of the wheel. If your fans found out, I'm afraid the whole internet would explode."
"And you?"
"Me, what?"
"Aren't you going to ask where I'm taking you?"
"A late-night invitation from Sister Eden—how could a little brother dare to refuse?" Su Yu spread his hands. "Anyway, I'm already aboard the pirate ship. I'll go wherever."
Eden's gaze swept over him from the rearview mirror, and she said nothing more.
The car rounded two bends on the mountain road.
Up ahead appeared a temporary rallying point: several modified cars parked scattered along the shoulder, headlights left on, carving out a few crisscrossing beams of light. Someone leaned against a hood smoking; someone else crouched on the ground inspecting tires.
Eden slowed down.
"In the glovebox." She tilted her chin toward Su Yu's direction.
Su Yu opened the glovebox; inside lay two masks:
One was a Venetian-style half-face mask, dark gold, its edges inlaid with delicate patterns—clearly custom-made.
The other was pure black, far simpler, without any decoration at all.
"Sister Eden." Su Yu watched her movements. "Are you going to a masquerade ball or something?"
Eden tilted her head and shot him a glance.
She picked up the other, undecorated pure-black mask, and leaned in toward him.
"Turn this way."
Her breath fell against Su Yu's cheek.
Those faintly fragrant hands naturally fastened the black mask onto Su Yu's face.
Her fingers brushed lightly along the edge of the mask.
"Also."
Eden adjusted the mask's straps, her voice pressed very low.
"In a bit, don't call me Sister Eden. Call me Diva."
Su Yu looked at that half-concealed face only inches away, breathing in that faint fragrance belonging to her.
Classic superstar hidden-identity routine.
"Okay." Su Yu didn't ask why, just nodded crisply.
Eden looked at this surprisingly unflappable "little brother" before her. Faced with a scene like this, an ordinary person, even if not thrown into a panic, would at least curiously pepper her with questions. But he was like someone who'd come to attend an ordinary dinner party—he hadn't even batted an extra eyelid.
The amused glint in her eyes grew thicker.
A few young people in motorcycle gear, spotting that wine-red supercar, straightened up one after another.
A girl with a ponytail jogged over, bent down, and peered in through the car window.
"B-Big Sis Boss! You finally made it! It's that black car. The leader on the other side is called Setsuna—these past few years she's gotten a frighteningly big name in the underground street-racing world."
Eden didn't speak.
She just quietly waited for the rest. She'd heard of Setsuna's name too, but today was the first time she'd lay eyes on her.
"That woman's driving style is downright reckless—a death wish."
A little assistant beside her also leaned in, his tone full of dread.
"Just now Ah Gui ran against her, and on the hairpin she didn't slow down at all! She drifted through it hugging the very edge of the cliff! Ah Gui got so scared he lost control and smashed into the mountainside."
"Setsuna?" Su Yu muttered from the passenger seat.
"You know her?" Eden turned to look at him.
"Don't know her." Su Yu shook his head. "Just thinking the name has a nice Zen quality to it."
Su Yu sat in the passenger seat, looking through the windshield toward the far end of the rallying point.
A matte-black Japanese performance car was parked there.
Its body sat very low, the wide-body conversion done with extreme aggression, the front lip nearly scraping the ground.
The bore of the exhaust pipe was frighteningly large; though the engine had already gone cold, the air around the body seemed to still retain a kind of scorching residual heat.
Something hung from the rearview mirror.
Su Yu narrowed his eyes and, by the distant light, made it out—
A red-and-white omamori charm.
A shrine's disaster-warding omamori.
In that instant, his Tai Xu Sword Qi perception activated of its own accord.
Inside the car across the way sat one person—that person's aura fluctuation was cool, clear, restrained, like a hot spring pressed beneath a sheet of ice, yet unbelievably familiar.
Su Yu's expression turned very subtle.
"Old Squad Monitor."
Su Yu silently rapped on that slumbering consciousness in his mind.
"Wake up, come out and meet God."
"Hm?"
Fenghuang's voice came drifting out sluggishly, seeming to carry a bit of just-woken-up grumpiness.
"Now what?"
"Take a look at who that woman in the car across the way is."
Fenghuang's consciousness cast itself out along Su Yu's line of sight, and under the effect of his spiritual power, passed through the window and saw that person.
After a brief silence.
"…Sakura?!" Fenghuang's voice abruptly shot up an octave, that unflappable, composed old-cadre persona collapsing in an instant. "Why is she here?!"
"That's exactly the question I want to ask you." Su Yu griped in his mind. "Take a good look at your two old comrades-in-arms. One is, by day, an elegant, haughty world superstar; by night, a wild goddess of the wheel chasing speed and ."
"And the other—an ordinary, meek overtime Office Slave in Arc City, who behind the scenes turns out to be the legendary yakuza queen of the underground racing world."
Another three seconds of silence.
"Eden liking this kind of extreme-thrill-chasing sport, I can still understand," Fenghuang's voice carried deep incredulity. "But Sakura… that Sakura who always buried every emotion deep, who was as precise and coldly ruthless as a machine when carrying out missions…"
"Then again, it does make sense."
Fenghuang sighed, a trace of wistfulness added to his tone.
"Most people's first impression of her is that emotionless, poison-cocoon assassin who kills with a single stroke of the blade. But only those of us who truly fought shoulder to shoulder with her know."
"Beneath that cold, ruthless exterior, what she hid was a heart more fervent and impulsive than anyone's."
"The moment anything involved her little sister Rin, or those important people she'd drawn into her circle of protection—that calm assassin would vanish in an instant. She'd become more reckless than even Kalpas, even at the cost of throwing away her own life, even at the cost of making an enemy of the entire world."
Su Yu said nothing.
He knew what Fenghuang was talking about—in the late stage of the previous civilization, Sakura's little sister became a Herrscher of Corruption.
For her sister's sake, Sakura walked, in the role of an elder sister, into that endless darkness, and never came back.
She traded her own life for her sister's final peace, sealed away the Herrscher of Corruption, and then died proudly.
"So her drag-racing doesn't surprise me at all." Fenghuang's voice softened. "That impulse to seek a sense of existence on the edge of life and death—she always had it. She just hid it too deep most of the time."
Su Yu pulled his gaze back from that matte-black Japanese car.
The door across the way did not open.
Setsuna sat inside the car, and through the dark window, nothing could be made out.
Su Yu didn't tell Eden who was sitting across from them.
"Um…" The manager looked a little nervously at Su Yu beside him. "Big Sis Boss, if you're going to take the field, this passenger seat…"
His meaning was clear. In a death-defying high-speed run at this level, an extra person in the passenger seat meant an extra share of uncontrollable weight and danger.
Very tactfully, Su Yu prepared to get out of the car.
"I'll get out and wait for you."
"No need."
A hand abruptly seized his wrist.
Su Yu turned his head back.
Eden was looking at him.
On that face, more than half covered by the Venetian mask, her red lips curved into an arc brimming with deadly allure.
A fevered flame churned in the depths of her eyes.
It was a beast that had completely torn off its disguise, ready to hunt wantonly in the night.
"This contest."
The fingers of the hand gripping Su Yu's wrist tightened slightly, transmitting the warmth of her fingertips through that thin layer of fabric.
"You're going to sit right here and be my witness."
Beneath the dark-gold mask, her lips parted slightly.
Su Yu noticed that her breathing was a touch faster than before—not nervousness, but excitement.
"This race, you're going to sit right here and be my witness—understand?"
She said it a second time, this time with an even firmer tone, brooking no refusal.
Eden's hand settled onto the steering wheel, fingertips tapping lightly twice on the leather.
"This is an experience even Elysia has never had—to experience the Golden Diva's speed up close, and also… ."
She tilted her head.
"Does it make your heart race?"
Su Yu looked at those overly bright eyes beneath the dark-gold mask.
The mountain night wind poured in through the half-open window, lifting a few strands of wine-red hair that fell over Eden's shoulder.
The air was thick with the smell of gasoline, mountain grass and trees, and that scent on Eden mingled with high-end perfume.
"Diva." Su Yu checked his seatbelt once more, confirming the buckle hadn't come loose. "You'll let me live to see tomorrow morning's sun, won't you?"
The corners of Eden's mouth curved upward.
She pressed down the clutch and slotted into first gear.
The curve ahead stretched out into the night, not a single streetlight in sight.
Only the headlights of the two cars carved two blazing-white pillars of light through the darkness.
The matte-black Japanese car across the way had started up too—a puff of white mist spat from its exhaust, and the engine let out a dull, low roar.
Anyone could tell: a race was about to begin.
____
________________________________________
If you want more chapters, please consider supporting my page on (P). with 50 advanced chapters available on (P)
👻 Join the crew by searching Leanzin on (P). You know the spot! 😉