Chapter 23
Chapter 23
Sunlight replaced the neon, spilling across the cream carpet and burying last night’s food smells beneath a brittle hush. The crystal chandelier sheathed its edges, cold and sharp.
Yun Xi knelt in the cleared “training zone” of the living-room. Her pink-white hair was yanked into a severe ponytail; her brows were pinched. Tracksuit, eyes shut, she sank her mind into the Eternal Dream: Prime Abyss bracelet on her wrist.
Goal: the advanced Dustless Dance Senior Meng Yun Xi had assigned—spin a hair-thin, stable, pliable thread of energy and erase a single fleck of ink from a floor tile. Ultra-fine control, the absolute limit of concentration.
A speck of indigo lit on her index fingertip, a star just born. The light strained, stretched, condensed into a filament... less than an inch long! The thread flared and twisted like a candle in wind. Beads of sweat. Her mental power snagged, her thoughts pushing through viscous oil; inside her sea of consciousness the rune paths of the construct blurred.
Hold it... shape it...
The filament brushed the ink spot—
Zzzt—!
A blinding spark exploded. Energy backlashed and surged up her arm. Yun Xi grunted, her psyche jolted, the spark blown apart. The wild discharge shot like fireworks at the innocent potted pothos.
“Ow-ow! Careful, owner!” The vigilant orb Xing Dian blinked in, spewing purifying mist.
Sss... A curl of smoke rose; Pothos Bro lost a leaf, yellowed and crisp at the edge—lucky escape.
“Tch!” Yun Xi shook her smarting hand. Third time! Every attempt collapsed at the brink of success. Her control was worse than a rookie’s; the old effortless touch had vanished.
“Xing Dian, thanks.” Low voice, defeat bare.
“Don’t give up, owner! Pothos Bro is safe!” The sphere hopped, its glow anxious.
On the balcony Milu wrestled with Stardust Light. The fist-sized star-sphere wobbled atop her oak staff, swelling and shrinking, flickering.
“Nn... Star Core nodes... crooked again...” Milu’s small face was taut, jade eyes brimming. After each failure she always drifted to the edge of Yun Xi’s mat, hugging her staff, voice soft and plaintive:
“Senior Yun Xi... Milu’s so dumb... can’t build the Star Core Stability Model... could... could you show me a thread of moonlight again? Just a bit...” Her eyes shimmered, trust naked.
Dependence again—Yun Xi’s irritation flared. She inhaled, smoothed her voice. “...Fine.” She touched the cool wood, reached through Prime Abyss, drew on Yue Fei’s cold moon-force.
Silver pooled at her fingertip, cool and bright. She fed it into the staff, guiding the pattern—
Clog.
The moonlight hit an invisible wall; it swirled uselessly, died with a sigh.
Yun Xi froze. Milu’s hope flipped to blank dismay, mouth half open.
Another failure. Even guiding— Shame and the snake of uselessness gnawed her heart.
“...Basics shaky. Practice more. Work it out yourself.” The words came out hard, icy; she didn’t notice. She jerked her hand back, turned away from Milu’s crumpling face, stalked to the sofa by the window, spine rigid.
Milu clutched her staff, eyes glassing. Xing Dian buzzed worried circles.
Yun Xi collapsed into the cushions; sunlight stabbed. She raked her ponytail until silver strands fell.
The black CAMCC terminal on the armrest chimed.
New mail.
She snatched it, thumb unlock. Two messages.
First: Preliminary Assessment – Old Knowledge Library, West District. A skim: whispers, self-igniting books, low-grade Shadowmare contamination (resented knowledge? echoing silence?), low threat, non-mandatory commission.
Second:
From: CAMCC – Anomaly Event Management Division (internal encrypt)
Subject: Work-status confirmation & onward arrangement
“Consultant Yun Xi:
Case SHP-07 (Xinghui Amusement Park) evaluated. Efficient, thorough, satisfactory. The Centre holds high expectations of your capability.
Urban safety and stability require reliable, continuous guardianship. Please maintain peak condition and remain on standby.
— CAMCC Anomaly Event Management Division”
“High expectations...”
“Reliable guardian...”
“Peak condition...”
“On standby...”
The phrases snapped shut like manacles. Official “satisfaction” became a net cinched over her lungs. Guard the city? Be a cornerstone? Who ever asked if I wanted it?!
She killed the screen, flung the terminal aside like a viper. Her chest heaved; the room felt airtight. She tore at her hair again, silver falling like straw.
At the crest of the storm—
“Hah~”
A lazy, ethereal chuckle detonated inside her mind. Dream-Yun Xi.
“Cute ‘me’~” The voice hovered between sleep and omniscience. “Such ripples in your lake... can’t settle?” A feather-touch brushed her chaos. “Power is water: clear belief, open riverbed. You’ve built an invisible dam in mid-stream, haven’t you? Water dams, flow backs up—can even drown the dam-builder.”
A dam? Resistance? The accusation lit a fuse. Yun Xi severed the link as if scalded. Her face went slate; fingernails gouged the sofa arm. I have not! I’m just—!
She yanked the blackout curtain, locked the door, shutting everything outside—Wei Wu’s probable concern, Milu’s wounded eyes, CAMCC’s icy expectancy.
At the vanity she slapped on the sensor-light.
Soft glare framed the mirror-girl: silver hair mussed, navy eyes storm-torn. A perfect shell gifted by Dream-Yun Xi—gilded cage.
She stared at “Yun Xi” in the glass, raised her right hand: slender, witch-white.
Focus. The simplest spell: a pin-prick of light.
A trembling indigo speck woke on her fingertip—candle in a gale. The greasy film again, throttling the channel. The spark waxed, waned, teetered.
Light... damn you!
She forced it—
Pop!
The spark died; only a wisp of acrid smoke curled.
In the mirror her face froze, eyes blazing from shock to fury.
“WHY?!” The roar tore loose, raw and helpless. She rammed her fist into the vanity’s top.
Boom—!!
Solid oak thundered. Bottles danced; a crystal flacon rolled to the rug. A cracked dent bit her knuckles, pain nothing beside the tearing inside.
In the dim hush only her shoulders heaved, blue eyes burning, and the bracelet’s faint chill against her wrist.