By the time they left the interrogation room, the matter concerning Nán Xuě had changed considerably.
She had agreed to talk.
Not because Factor IV had managed to force anything out of her. They had spent days asking questions, circling the same subjects from different directions, and Nán Xuě had met almost every attempt with either silence or a remark sharp enough to end the conversation.
This time, however, she had asked for two conditions.
They would help her find Nán Lín.
And Mù Xiāo Xiāo was not to be anywhere near the room while she was questioned.
Nobody argued with the second condition.
After what Nán Xuě had endured during the previous interrogations, even Ān Bái had quietly accepted that perhaps the constant sound of chicken bones breaking between questions had not helped.
Even though it was Ān Bái's plan all along. He didn't like ET.. but he couldn't bully a teenager, so he thought of a devious plan instead.
The first condition was harder. It was not something Factor IV could promise immediately.
But Ān Tiān Kuò had agreed to try.
That was enough for Nán Xuě.
The interrogation room had been cleared for the two people who would handle the questioning. Ān Tiān Kuò sat across from Nán Xuě, while Ān Tiān Qǐ sat slightly to the side with a recording device already running.
There would be no shouting and no threats. No attempt to force an answer before she was ready to give one.
Violet had no reason to stay. She had already said what needed to be said. When she stepped into the corridor, Chūn Lěng Fēng followed immediately.
He had been unusually quiet since leaving Ān Tiān Kuò's office... That lasted approximately seven seconds.
"So we're going home now?"
Violet looked at him.
"Yes."
"Is there food at home?"
"You ate all the pastries."
"Those were earlier."
"Yes.. less than an hour ago."
"Exactly. Earlier."
Violet rubbed her forehead. She had known this was going to happen. She simply hadn't expected it to happen this often.
They passed through the main library area on their way out. Violet stopped beside one of the shelves and pulled down two books. She examined their condition, checked the borrowing slip, then carried them toward the service desk.
Chūn Lěng Fēng followed close behind.
"What are those?"
"Books."
"I can see that."
"Then why ask?"
"I want to know what they're about."
"You can read them."
He accepted that answer though his fingers curled by his side.
At the bookstore counter, Violet picked up a stack of notepads and several packs of ordinary stationery. She paid for everything together, placed the books and stationery into a backpack, then handed it to Chūn Lěng Fēng.
He looked at it.. Then at her.
"Mine?"
"Carry it."
"Oh."
He put it on. The straps hung loosely at first, so Violet reached over and adjusted them without saying anything.
Chūn Lěng Fēng watched her hands.
"You've done this before."
"Everyone knows how to adjust a backpack."
"I don't."
"I noticed."
He smiled.
It was a small thing, but it stayed on his face as they walked away.
Outside, the late afternoon traffic had begun to thicken. Violet stopped at a small convenience shop near the station and came out with two bottles of blueberry milk.
She handed one to him.
He stared at it.
"You got one for me?"
"Don't want it?"
"I want it."
Chūn Lěng Fēng literally snatched the bottle from Violet hugging it to his chest.
Violet nodded.
"Good."
They continued toward the bus stop.
Chūn Lěng Fēng drank his slowly at first. Then he noticed Violet holding her bottle with one hand while walking, her pinky finger resting against the bottom.
He adjusted his own grip.
A few minutes later, she tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. He did the same.
She crossed the road when the light changed. He followed.
She stopped beneath the shade of a tree while checking the bus route. He stopped beside her.
Violet did not notice any of it.
People passing by only saw the two of them walking together with their matching drinks, one carrying a backpack while the other walked with the same calm expression she had worn all day.
A pair of university students passed them and glanced back once.
Chūn Lěng Fēng did not notice. Violet certainly didn't.
They eventually left the busier road behind.
The shops became fewer. The houses stood closer together, and the noise of traffic gradually disappeared.
Chūn Lěng Fēng looked around.
"We're not going to the bus stop anymore."
"No."
"Then where are we going?"
"Somewhere quicker."
He accepted that without asking further.
Violet led him into a narrow alley between two buildings. There was no one around.
She stopped.
Chūn Lěng Fēng nearly walked into her.
"What?"
Violet held out her hand.
"Give me your hand."
He stared at it.
"Why?"
"So you don't get left behind."
"Left behind where?"
"Just give it."
He placed his hand in hers..Violet's fingers closed around his.
The alley did not change. Nothing visibly happened... Then the sound of the city seemed to stretch.
A passing car remained somewhere between one moment and the next. The wind stopped against Chūn Lěng Fēng's face. Even the tiny movement of Violet's hair seemed to slow. He felt the ground disappear beneath the ordinary rhythm of time.
Before he could ask anything, it was over. The two of them stood in the courtyard of the Yè ancestral residence.
Chūn Lěng Fēng stopped dead. His eyes widened. He still had the bottle of blueberry milk in his mouth. A small amount leaked from the corner of his lips and ran down his chin.
Violet looked at him. She took out a napkin and wiped his mouth.
"Don't be so shocked."
He stared at her... Then at the courtyard... Then back at her.
"You..."
He swallowed.
"Teach me to do that."
Violet put the napkin away.
"Are you a Time & Space Arm wielder?"
"Ah."
He looked toward the courtyard again.
For someone who had spent nineteen years inside the Chūn clan, where the world outside its walls had mostly existed as stories, records and things other people were allowed to see, what Violet had just done was difficult to put into words.
He had seen abilities before. He had heard the elders discuss strange techniques. He had even been taught enough to understand that time itself was not something one casually touched.
But this—
He looked down at their hands.
"That was..."
He searched for the word.
"How do people in the Chūn Clan describe this?"
Violet waited.
He frowned harder.
"I don't know. I haven't seen anything like it before."
"You don't need a word for it."
"I do."
"Why?"
"So I can tell people what I saw."
"You don't need to tell people."
He looked at her. She had already started walking toward the residence.
He hurried after her.
"Then tell me."
Violet glanced back.
"Tell you what?"
"How you did that."
"You can't do it."
"Why?"
"Because your Arm isn't the same as mine."
He thought about that. Then his expression brightened.
"But you said I could do something similar."
"I said you could."
"Then teach me."
"Not now."
His shoulders sank.
"Why?"
"Because you're hungry."
He looked down at the bottle in his hand. Then at her.
"...I'm not that hungry."
His stomach growled. The courtyard heard it.
Violet continued walking. Chūn Lěng Fēng followed after her in silence for three steps. Then he sighed.
"Fine."
Violet looked back.
"Fine what?"
"I'll eat first."
"Good."
"And then you'll teach me?"
"No."
He stopped.
Violet kept walking. He hurried after her again.
"You said I could do something similar!"
"I did."
"Then when?"
"When you're ready."
"How long is that?"
"We'll see."
He thought about arguing. Then decided against it. There was food waiting at home. For now, that was enough.