"Are you fucking kidding me?" White Snake stepped forward, slamming the butt of her gun into the girl's face. Tang Xin's body swayed as she stumbled back a few steps, sliding down against the wall. That beautiful face, which countless people had dreamed of, began to swell.
White Snake raised an eyebrow, recognizing the girl. "Well, look who it is. Isn't this the big celebrity from the Star of Art?"
White Snake pinched Tang Xin's face hard, lifting her from the floor. The girl's eyes were like two panes of glazed glass; once filled with a watery gentleness, they now appeared dim, like a candle flame on the verge of going out.
"Did you think such a petty trick would fool me?" White Snake said coldly, glancing at the open window behind the girl. "We've always kept a companion outside. Those brats must still be inside the schoolhouse right now."
"Who hired you? I can pay double the reward," Tang Xin said, her voice raspy.
White Snake acted as if she had heard the funniest thing in the world, drawing a dagger from her waist and gesturing it toward the girl's face.
"You really think you're some kind of big-shot celebrity, don't you? Which of those people in the families isn't worth more than you?"
Tang Xin was not provoked by these sharp words. She followed up by asking, "Why are you looking for those children?"
She understood perfectly that in such a moment, she could not give these thugs any information about the children. The moment she lost her value, they would kill her without hesitation. She had to stall for time or wait for an opportunity.
White Snake fell silent, her eyes like two venomous serpents. She was a mercenary of the lowest sort, walking the edge of the blade and doing shady deeds for the wealthy. The day she lost her value, she would be disposed of like a dog by her own kind; those high-and-mighty bastards didn't want their affairs known to others.
But the girl before her was different. She was the most radiant star in the night sky, adored by everyone. Under the spotlights, she wore a rotating wardrobe of priceless custom dresses and never wore the same pair of high heels twice. All the starlight fell upon her, following in her footsteps.
The stark contrast filled White Snake's heart with venomous resentment. Her knuckles almost dug into the girl's ribs as she slowly pressed and twisted.
"I'll give you one last chance. Where are those brats?"
Tang Xin's brow furrowed from the pain. The emotional resonance brought by the intense agony blurred her vision. She struggled with both hands and feet, her legs kicking wildly against the floor. However, her dimming eyes grew brighter and brighter, a flame igniting within them.
"They are in....
"
White Snake stopped what she was doing, only to find the blue-haired girl's eyes misty with tears. Yet, her smile was like a shattered mirror,
reflecting White Snake's image and mocking her incompetence—mocking how she could only vent her resentment on others.
"A place you will never find."
"Only able to vent your anger on the weak... how pathetic."
"Shut up."
"Your tone was so proud when you mentioned the people from the families," Tang Xin said. "As if just by mentioning them, your words would suddenly have some substance."
The serpents in White Snake's eyes seemed ready to pounce. She gritted her teeth and increased the pressure, intending to snap the girl's ribs.
"You can use guns to kill them while they're unarmed. But once you're wearing those masks and the events on the island are exposed, you'll have to tuck your tails between your legs and crawl back into the sewers." Tang Xin's lips were cracked, and a coppery taste kept rising from her throat.
White Snake roared as she threw Tang Xin to the ground, lunging forward to punch the girl in the face, as if that could stop the girl from speaking or change the facts that stung her deep inside.
"So... you're all just... a bunch of pathetic worms who can only cling to the strong."
Bright red blood spilled from the corner of Tang Xin's mouth. The incandescent light illuminated White Snake's distorted face. Under her mask, the woman's face was covered in dried bloodstains and brownish scars that were much darker than the surrounding skin—scars clearly left by a blade during her childhood.
Tang Xin had succeeded. She had successfully enraged the woman, successfully bought more time, and successfully made the woman lower her guard and draw near.
A starry singer's voice could stir people's hearts. Besides healing souls, it could also be like a sharp blade, stripping away protective layers one by one to expose a person's truest self.
White Snake raised her wolf-tooth dagger and lunged it toward the girl's face. She stopped thinking about the mission or anything else; the girl's words had pierced through all her psychological defenses. She just wanted to tear that face apart.
Tang Xin stared at the descending dagger. Her finger bones jammed against the sharp blade as crimson droplets fell onto her face like blooming red roses. Compared to the well-trained White Snake, her strength was too meager; even with all her effort, she could only slow the dagger's descent. But that was enough for her to adjust the angle.
The blade left a deep, bloody gash on Tang Xin's face, but it also allowed Tang Xin's hand to press against White Snake's chest. A sense of impending doom surged within White Snake's heart as the brilliant golden light of a card erupted between Tang Xin's palm and White Snake's chest!
....
Torch Dragon Storm.
It was a skill card that Xu Xiaoyou had placed in her hand before their departure.
A magnificent explosion of fire engulfed half the room. The booming blast made the entire schoolhouse shake as if it were about to collapse. A fire dragon soared upward, its molten eyes flashing like lightning, and every scale of flame pulsed with fury!
If Tang Xin hadn't used all her strength at the last moment to manifest her water arts ability, not only the room, but the entire schoolhouse would have been reduced to ash by the power of that skill card.
The intense light shook Tang Xin's consciousness. Countless black spots danced on her retinas. The woman in front of her had been turned to charcoal, her blackened body falling apart in large chunks.
Tang Xin smiled. The entire ceiling had been blown open by the blast, and the pouring rain soaked her blue hair. Even though she had activated her water arts ability immediately, her entire arm was severely burned, with charred, ugly scars crawling up her right arm. Her fragile appearance had caused others to lower their guard, making them forget the fact that she was a grade 2 starry singer and an expert water-elementalist.
The entire mercenary team was composed of members at grade 2 or higher. Taking the children and escaping them was unrealistic. This was the only way she could try to deal with everyone in the squad.
Unfortunately, in the end, White Snake was still the only one in the room.
She hadn't been able to catch the others in the blast as well.
Tang Xin struggled to crawl up from the floor, reaching for the handgun White Snake had dropped. The other mercenaries rushed over upon hearing the commotion, finding White Snake's half-charred body amidst the ruins.
Almost as soon as the mercenaries appeared, Tang Xin pulled out the handgun she had hidden behind her and pulled the trigger. A blood flower bloomed on Falcon's head as a whistling bullet passed through. The other two did not hesitate; a flurry of stray bullets tore through Tang Xin's chest, shoulder, and neck, knocking the gun out of the girl's hand.
To them, the death of a comrade was more than common; it wasn't enough to make them mourn. Tactical boots splashed through the puddles as Lone Wolf walked up to Tang Xin in a few strides. Her glass-like eyes had completely dimmed. Shards of glass were embedded in her skin, and rainwater formed small streams beneath her, washing over her dust-covered and charred body.
Until she lost consciousness, Tang Xin was still wondering if the children had managed to run away. She wondered if those little fans would have a bright future, able to spread their wings and fly carefree into the sky.
Rate on N.U.
