Fu Hua leaned against the cold concrete block, one hand still holding Zhu Yuan’s.
She could feel the warmth in Zhu Yuan’s palm, which had slowly grown from slightly cool to warm.
Zhu Yuan’s fingers were long and well-defined.
Despite years of holding a gun, they were well-maintained, feeling like a warm piece of jade.
At this moment, that hand rested quietly in her palm, showing no intention of pulling away.
“Your hand is warm,” Fu Hua said softly.
Zhu Yuan turned her head and glanced at her.
Fu Hua’s reflection was in her dark eyes: her grey-white hair tied in a ponytail, her red-framed glasses looking a bit dazed yet intellectual, and her beige striped jacket faintly glowing under the Hollow’s dark purple light.
This girl sat beside her, leaning against the cold concrete block, still holding her hand, her expression quiet and gentle, as if accompanying someone she had known for a long time.
“It’s clearly your hand that got colder,”
Zhu Yuan said, looking back at Fu Hua, but she didn’t pull her hand away; instead, she slightly tightened her fingers.
Fu Hua smiled, not refuting.
She lowered her head and looked at the aether erosion marks on Zhu Yuan’s arm.
The fluorescent green traces had receded below her wrist, leaving only a few faint lines faintly visible on her skin.
After disengaging from combat, the mild aether erosion was recovering on its own.
Though the speed wasn’t fast, the direction was good.
“The marks are almost gone.
Your aether adaptability is very good.”
“Mm.”
Zhu Yuan also looked down at her arm.
“I had my aether adaptability tested during training before.
The data was nearly 90.
My teacher said I had the highest aether adaptability he had ever seen.”
“Over 90, huh…”
Fu Hua repeated, a hint of admiration in her tone.
“No wonder you dared to enter the Hollow alone to rescue people.
But next time, bring your team members along.”
“Although going alone is fast, it’s always safer with someone to watch your back.”
Zhu Yuan was silent for a moment, then softly hummed.
She lowered her head and mumbled,
“You can’t blame me, Senior Qingyi clearly…”
“Hahaha, yes, yes, yes~ I misunderstood my little bird!
Our bird is truly amazing!”
“Hey!!”
Unfortunately, she couldn’t escape Fu Hua’s keen ears, and the ensuing teasing made Zhu Yuan blush.
The environment fell silent once more.
Zhu Yuan looked down at the neatly bandaged bandage on her arm, which even had a small bow tied on it.
After a moment of quiet, she suddenly spoke again, “Do you know, I’m actually afraid of cats?”
Fu Hua turned her head, quietly watching her.
“Once, when I was on duty outside, a small kitten actually blocked my way.
It was skinny, looked like it had just turned a month old, and seemed very hungry, constantly trying to rub against my feet, begging for food.”
“At that time, I was both worried and scared, and for a moment, I didn’t know what to do,” Zhu Yuan’s voice was very soft, as she recounted slowly, gradually lost in her memories.
“Later, it was Senior Qingyi who rescued me from that predicament.
Now, whenever we pass that street, Senior Qingyi brings a lot of cat food, and that once skinny little fatty is now truly as fat as a ball.”
Fu Hua silently watched this kind and strong girl.
“Everyone has something they’re afraid of; it’s normal.”
“And your Senior Qingyi is very good to you~”
“Mm!”
“Although Senior is always so lackadaisical, she’s especially reliable when it counts,” Zhu Yuan’s lips curved slightly.
“When I first joined the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team, I didn’t understand anything.
She taught me bit by bit.
Although her teaching methods were always strange.
For example, she made me go to the wet market to haggle with vendors, saying it was ‘training for interrogation techniques’.”
Fu Hua couldn’t help but laugh.
Zhu Yuan glanced at her, and her lips also curved into a smile.
“Officer Zhu Yuan’s senior is also very interesting,” Fu Hua said with a smile.
“Don’t call me officer.”
Zhu Yuan said this in a very soft voice, as if speaking of something she wasn’t used to but was trying to adapt to.
Her dark eyes looked at Fu Hua, no longer holding the wariness and scrutiny from when they first entered the Hollow, but only a quiet, earnest gaze.
“Call me by my name… or something else, no need to be so formal.”
“Alright, my little bird…”
Fu Hua’s voice became even gentler.
Zhu Yuan’s ear tips reddened a little more.
She gently turned her head away, no longer looking at Fu Hua, but the slight curve of her lips proved her satisfaction with the address.
The dark purple light in the Hollow fell on her face, illuminating the blush that hadn’t completely faded on her profile.
On her distinctly contoured, valiant, and capable face, an expression completely unsuited to her identity emerged—not the authority of the Criminal Investigation Special Response Team leader, not the composure of a top-scoring honor student, but a soft shyness that only a little girl would show when called by her name.
“I used to have a little darling,”
Fu Hua’s voice sounded again.
Zhu Yuan blinked.
“Really?”
“Mm.
Black fur, I usually called her ‘Xiao Xuan’.
She was very clingy; every time I came back from training, she would wait for me at the door,” Fu Hua’s voice was very gentle.
“Later, she was gone… but whenever I sit by the door and look up at the starry sky, I remember her companionship.”
Zhu Yuan said nothing more.
She simply gently squeezed Fu Hua’s hand back.
aether crystals slowly grew around them in the Hollow, and dark purple light streamed through the cracks in the walls, dyeing their clasped hands a deep color.
Just then, Zhu Yuan’s communicator at her waist suddenly emitted a short burst of static.
Zhu Yuan’s body instantly tensed.
She released Fu Hua’s hand, picked up the communicator, and quickly adjusted the dial.
Discontinuous static crackled from the communicator’s speaker, mixed with blurred human voices.
“…This is… squad… temporary gathering point… coordinates…”
Zhu Yuan’s fingers rapidly turned the dial, her dark eyes intently fixed on the communicator’s screen.
The signal strength fluctuated, but it was better than before.
“…Please respond if you receive… gathering point coordinates sent… current capacity…”
The voice disappeared again, and the communicator returned to static.
But a line of coordinate data appeared on the screen.
Zhu Yuan stared at the coordinates, her lips pressed into a thin line.
Then she looked up at Fu Hua.
“I’ve noted the coordinates!
It’s not too close.
Based on the route we just ran, we’ll probably have to cross three streets.”
“The Ethereals are too densely distributed in the Hollow.
If it’s just the two of us, we’ll be too big a target.”
Fu Hua thought for a moment, then stood up, her azure eyes behind her glasses looking at Zhu Yuan.
“Your leg is injured; you can’t run fast.
I’ll carry you.”
Zhu Yuan was stunned for a moment.
“No need, I can walk—”
Fu Hua had already squatted in front of her, turning her head to look at her, those azure eyes behind the lenses quiet and serious, not discussing, but more like stating a fact.
“Your ankle was cut by an aether crystal just now; I saw it.
Although you haven’t said anything, your center of gravity has been leaning to the right when sitting.”
She rolled up the cuff of her beige jacket, revealing her slender wrist, and her words took on some seriousness.
“Come on!
Although I’m not some master, carrying one person for a few hundred meters is no problem.”
Zhu Yuan looked at her back.
The fabric of the beige jacket glowed faintly in the Hollow’s dark purple light, and her grey-white ponytail hung quietly to one side.
The girl’s shoulders weren’t broad, but she had carried her through an entire corridor just now, and every step was steady.
“…Okay.”