"What... what did you just say?!!"
Mo Xin's eyes suddenly widened, her pupils filled with utter disbelief. She abruptly turned around and stared fixedly at the other person.
Wang Jingchen sneered, making no attempt to hide anything, and spat fiercely onto the ground.
"Hmph, you're lucky you weren't at the Ability Bureau today. Otherwise, you would have already died without even a proper burial, alongside those fools!"
Wang Jingchen's tone was filled with mockery, his seemingly casual words piercing Mo Xin's ears like needles.
Seeing that the situation was taking a turn for the worse, Stelle instantly flew into a rage and sharply scolded him, "I've already warned you! If you dare spout nonsense here again, don't blame me for not being polite!"
However, Wang Jingchen, having suffered one setback after another, had long been overwhelmed by anger and could no longer care about anything else.
"Hmph! If it weren't for that fellow Blood Butcher, how could we have been so unlucky as to end up in this mystic realm?!"
"As for the Ability Bureau? If you're lucky enough to make it out alive, you might as well go see for yourself. It's been reduced to ruins for a long time!"
With every word Wang Jingchen spoke, Mo Xin's face grew paler. Her lips trembled, but she couldn't utter a word for a long time.
Stelle's heart tightened, and she hurriedly turned around to gently pat Mo Xin on the back.
"Calm down. Don't let his words fool you! Letting your emotions get the better of you won't help our current situation at all!
"Besides, even if something really happened to the Ability Bureau, Uncle Chen Yuxuan and the others are so powerful that they might have already escaped. It's not necessarily true that they're in trouble!"
As Stelle gradually reassured her, Mo Xin's tense shoulders slowly relaxed. Some color returned to her face, and the panic deep in her eyes faded considerably.
Before Stelle even had time to breathe a sigh of relief, someone simply insisted on courting death.
Wang Jingchen had clearly noticed Mo Xin's miserable state. A mocking smile immediately curled at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes filled with contempt.
"Chen Yuxuan and the others? Heh, what a pity. Those few fools insisted on staying behind to cover the retreat for a bunch of worthless mortals. By now, they probably don't even have any bones left!"
With that final pronouncement, the last shred of hope in Mo Xin's heart completely vanished.
The rain poured heavily, its splashing filling her ears. Her mind went completely blank. Apart from the monotonous sound of the rain, she could no longer hear anything else.
["Captain, Sister Yan, you're both here?"]
"Hmm? Little Mo, is there something you need us for?"
"Hehe, isn't tomorrow New Year's Eve? Well, I..."
"Oh, about that, what a coincidence! Yunli just mentioned to me today that she wanted to help you ask for leave.
"I've been thinking of letting you go home and get some proper rest over the next couple of days anyway. Since you've brought it up, go home tomorrow and have a nice reunion with your family."
"Really?!! But you two have been so busy lately that you barely have time to catch your breath..."
"Haha, Little Mo, you're really so thoughtful! Don't worry. We're your seniors, after all. How could we let a child like you stay behind to work overtime?"
"Heehee, thank you, Captain and Sister Yan! Then this junior will gratefully accept!"
"Mm."
...
"Why aren't you leaving yet?"
"Hehe, seniors, could you perhaps give your junior a red envelope or something while you're at it?"
"Hmm???"
"Well, I went a little overboard with my shopping a couple of days ago, and since it's the end of the month, I'm a bit strapped for cash~ Hehe..."
Chen Yuxuan: ( ノ _ ＜. )
Director Yanxi: （ ⊙ ▽ ⊙ )?]
Fragmented memories surged through Mo Xin's mind, those warm, ordinary moments resurfacing one by one, as clear as if they had happened just yesterday.
Icy rainwater mingled with scalding tears, slowly sliding down her cheeks. She could no longer tell which drops were rain and which were tears.
Standing in the rain, Stelle watched Mo Xin break down, feeling a pang of pain in her heart.
She understood Mo Xin's feelings all too well at that moment. Those once-warm memories had now become sharp knives, stabbing fiercely into her heart.
Yet precisely because she could empathize with Mo Xin, she felt all the more helpless.
Thinking of this, Stelle's expression changed, and she turned her unfriendly gaze toward Wang Jingchen and the other person.