Inside the opera house, the students from the morning class were almost all gone, leaving only a few scattered figures in the hall. Tang Xin searched everywhere for the girl’s silhouette; she seemed to have vanished after bidding farewell to Ms. Vandoni.
Finally, she spotted Xu Xiaoyou walking out from the remaining crowd.
"Where did you go just now?" Tang Xin asked.
"Nowhere, just some private business," Xu Xiaoyou replied casually.
Hearing that it was private business, Tang Xin didn't pry further and began walking toward the exit of the opera house with her luggage.
Xu Xiaoyou followed silently.
Whether it was her imagination or not, ever since she returned from that underground palace, the number of eyes lingering on her seemed to have increased significantly...
Most were curious, but more than a few held a hint of wariness.
Was there something abnormal about her?
But she didn't look any different than she did a moment ago. If she had to think about what she had done in the past two hours... Xu Xiaoyou's expression shifted slightly as a thought occurred to her.
A student council member stopped, just happening to collide with someone coming from the opposite direction. His eyes narrowed slightly. After apologizing to the person he hit, he began walking toward Xu Xiaoyou.
"All the procedures are done. I probably won't be coming back here for a long time," Tang Xin said, stopping and turning around.
She took Xu Xiaoyou's hand and whispered, "Yuzu, stay close to me."
Though she found it a bit strange, various anomalies had allowed her to sense a crisis lurking in the air.
Xu Xiaoyou moved closer to Tang Xin. A cool sensation spread through her body as an invisible water barrier flowed over her skin, enveloping her entire form.
Xu Xiaoyou immediately felt the tide of oppressive air recede.
"You two."
The student council member stopped behind them.
"Don't look back, Yuzu," Tang Xin whispered.
She turned around with a smile, her expression perfectly normal. "Is something the matter, Senior?"
The student council member paused, re-examining the blonde girl. He felt an indescribable sense of strangeness.
How odd...
He clearly felt the aura of an urban eldritch creature on this person just now. Why could he no longer sense it? Was it his imagination?
The academy had previously dealt with incidents where members of the Ascetic Sect carried forbidden objects with special traits to launch terrorist attacks.
Therefore, they were quite sensitive to such matters.
"Ah, this... It's nothing. Sorry to bother you."
The student council member spoke with an apologetic look.
"I wish you both a pleasant day."
...
On the bus ride back.
The vehicle drove steadily.
Xu Xiaoyou leaned against the window, watching the scenery pass by. She said, "Thank you."
"Mhm," Tang Xin replied briefly.
"You're not even a little curious?" Xu Xiaoyou gave a light chuckle. "You felt it too, didn't you..."
Before Xu Xiaoyou could finish, Tang Xin leaned in, placing her index finger on the girl's lips and looking at her with a serious expression.
"Shh."
"Everyone has their own secrets. I have mine too."
"Secrets are an indispensable part of friendship. If you have to probe every secret to the bottom, you can't be friends."
"If you ever need help in the future, Yuzu, you can come to me. Although I don't know high-level baptismal rites, I can still manage to mask an aura with a water barrier."
Xu Xiaoyou suddenly felt that she didn't fully understand the girl before her. At the very least, she had just seen a completely different side of her.
The bus drove toward the end of the street, its shadow stretching long, bathed in the golden hues of the sunset.
...
Time flickered by, and it was two days later.
Inside the room, Tang Xin looked uneasy, clutching her knees tightly as she stared at her reflection in the mirror, wearing light makeup.
Under the simple cosmetic touch, the girl's features had become much more delicate. Her thin lips were painted with lipstick, her eyebrows were soft and natural, and her eyes appeared brighter, like a fresh breeze blowing through a summer forest.
Looking at herself, Tang Xin felt a bit dazed. She felt like an ugly duckling that had suddenly turned into a swan. Compared to her previous self, her appearance had changed so much, yet her temperament remained as dim as before.
Tang Xin shook her head and patted her cheeks.
What was she thinking? She had to pull herself together!
Today was the day of her performance!
She couldn't let down Yuzu's expectations. She had to bravely take the first step on the path toward her dreams.
With that thought, she nodded firmly, clenching her fists in front of her to give herself strength.
Outside the window, the three radiant stars gradually set, and the evening glow draped over the sky like a curtain, staining half the heavens red.
As the performance time drew closer and Xu Xiaoyou's figure had yet to appear, Tang Xin grew increasingly anxious, biting her lip.
She tried calling Xu Xiaoyou, but she only received a busy signal. The other girl's curtain seemed to be offline.
She checked the time. There were only ten minutes left until the show. Queen's Park was bustling with people. Thousands of people were in the park: kindergarten teachers with children whose faces were filled with innocent joy as they ran around; vibrant students wearing fashionable clothes, discussing newly released albums.
Near the stage at Queen's Park Square, the crowd was even more immense. Waves of black silhouettes rose and fell every second, and various stage lights converged at the center of the stage, followed by the fervent gazes of the audience.
Everyone was anticipating that a new star would rise on the stage tonight!
Tang Xin felt her heart beating so fast—thump, thump. All sorts of miscellaneous noises kept drilling into her ears, making it impossible for her to calm down and think.
Seconds and minutes ticked away. Seeing that there were less than three minutes left until the performance, Tang Xin's mind went blank. She kept redialing Xu Xiaoyou's number, only to get the same busy signal.
"Where did you go..." Tang Xin bit her lip hard, her face turning pale.
At a time like this, she couldn't reach the girl. It was as if she had vanished from the face of the earth. She hadn't been able to contact her all day. Whenever she wanted to ask about the concert details, she only received a pre-set reply.
Everything as planned.
What was she supposed to do?
Step onto the stage when the time came?
And then what? Start singing? Which song?
She wished so desperately that the blonde girl would appear by her side right now to give her a little guidance—even if it was just taking her hand, telling her not to be nervous in a gentle voice, and leading her toward the stage...
Just then, a call notification from Xu Xiaoyou popped up on her curtain. Tang Xin tapped to accept with trembling fingers, like catching a lifeline.
"Yuzu, I..."
"There are only two minutes left until the show, right?"
It was a pre-recorded message.
Even so, it provided Tang Xin with a sliver of comfort.
At least the other person hadn't been irresponsible enough to leave her here alone to make a fool of herself.
"Tang Xin, do you trust me?"
She froze as the voice from the curtain continued.
"If you trust me, go to the specific location I tell you now. It's at Queen's Park XXX, right near the stage. See it? There's an ice cream vendor nearby."
"Once you get there, just start your performance normally. Sing the songs you like."
"Wait, Yuzu." Tang Xin didn't understand what the girl meant.
The curtain communication was cut off.
At this point, telling her this so suddenly—the address didn't even look like it was where the stage was. But time was tight, and she didn't have room to think. She grabbed her bass and ran toward the address the girl had mentioned.
Looking at the scene before her, Tang Xin was stunned.
Streetlights, the road, green belts, stone pillars... no matter how she looked at it, it was just an ordinary park corner that was easily ignored.
She checked repeatedly; the address was correct.
This was the stage the girl had promised, the one she had meticulously prepared for her.
Tang Xin gritted her teeth, uttering each syllable with force:
"Xu! Xiao! You!"
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