In a certain suburb of the city.
Two figures walked forward. Their attire was strange; although winter had not yet arrived, they wore heavy robes draped with bright silver capes. The texture of the clothes was delicate, with elegant lines and soft fabric. Every thick strand of fleece shimmered with a deep blue, and the brown fur collars at their necks evoked thoughts of the desert fox, a beautiful and mysterious creature.
Their masks, resembling purple prisms, were smooth and emitted a faint glow under the sunlight. Most striking were the wide-brimmed hats they wore, making them look like law enforcers.
"Ascetic No. D31, your standing posture is not standard enough. Your back should be straighter."
A monotonous, steady voice emerged from beneath the purple prism mask. He did not look at his companion.
"Ascetic No. D12, your head should be raised another fifteen degrees. Only then will you comply with Article 173 of the Etiquette Act of the Starry Movement, regarding the ceremonial posture one should maintain when facing others."
His companion did not look at him either, calmly retorting.
"Ascetic No. D31..."
"Enough! What the hell do you want in front of my house?!"
From a simple shack, a ragged homeless man jumped out, waving a smelly, falling-apart mop, trying to drive away the two uninvited guests at his doorstep.
"You've been standing in front of my door since this morning, saying all sorts of nonsense. What exactly do you want?!" the homeless man roared.
"How vulgar," Ascetic D31 said.
"Truly vulgar," Ascetic D12 nodded, agreeing with his companion's assessment.
This was the first time they had reached a consensus in their opinions.
"Get lost! Stay away from my home!" the man shouted. "I'm already down and out. I owe the company a huge debt. I have nothing left. I'm just a poor homeless man. I beg you, just let me be and go away... go away..."
Ascetic D31 pondered for a moment, touched his ear, and a petal-shaped earring flashed with red light.
The man's various vitals and indicators were presented before him. After a glance, he nodded. "He has received higher education and possesses complete linguistic organizational skills."
"Capable of understanding and appreciating art."
"Then let the deities upon the stars bestow an aura of art to cleanse his foul and filthy soul."
"To die within noble art—be honored by this, insect."
As the man listened to the two ascetics, he realized danger was imminent, and fear flooded his heart.
He scrambled to run outside the shack, abandoning everything within—a few scattered coins and a piece of bread with a missing corner.
But it was already too late. Perhaps from the very beginning, he was destined for only one outcome.
A paintbrush appeared in each of the two ascetics' hands. Their movements were synchronized, tracing arcs in the air as they collaborated on a magnificent painting.
"Aaaaagh!!"
As the brushes descended, bloody gashes exploded across the man's legs. The blood was like paint, blooming in a myriad of colors.
"What a beautiful scene."
"This is the beauty of suffering. It is precisely because life is weak yet tenaciously unyielding that it can produce such a pleasant sound and present such a moving spectacle at a time like this."
The paintbrushes sketched an arc in the air, lightly dabbing and slowly plucking. The man's limbs let out crisp snapping sounds as his joints twisted together. More and more 'paint' splashed from his body, frozen in mid-air.
"AAAAAGH!!!"
The two ascetics were lost in the ecstasy of their creation. The strokes of their brushes grew wider, and their movements became more exaggerated, like pianists reaching the climax of a movement, their bodies leaning back and bending to impossible angles.
Every stroke of the brush caused diverse colors to burst from the man.
Though the man was screaming and wailing with all his might, the syllables emerging from his mouth skipped through the air, turning into one beautiful note after another, playing the melody of life.
"Let me go, I beg you, let me go, let me go..."
The man wept as his limbs became increasingly distorted. The luster of life on his skin faded rapidly, turning dim.
Slowly, he turned into a sculpture, losing all color until his entire body was a deathly, dull gray, standing still where he was.
His skin turned into the plaster used for statues, its texture replaced by coarse granules.
All of his 'paint' had run dry.
"That was a truly hearty piece of improvisation," Ascetic D31 said.
"What were we here for again?" Ascetic D12 asked.
Ascetic D31 glanced at his companion. A moment later, a writhing heart emitting a faint aura of life appeared in his palm.
To be precise, it was a heart fragment.
It curled its body, trembling in Ascetic D31's cupped hand, letting out the cry of an infant.
"What a weak yet unyielding life," Ascetic D12 remarked. "Even with such feeble vitality, it still refuses to give up the possibility of living."
"What is its name?"
"Heart of Desire. Not long ago, the people here called it Alley No. 5."
They carefully nurtured the heart in their hands, as if treating a fragile seedling, and planted the heart into the earth beneath them.
"The world will understand the meaning of asceticism."
"People will understand the meaning of suffering."
"Only from suffering and tragedy can true art be born."
Ascetic D31 spoke as a tube of red solvent appeared in his hand, emitting an ominous aura.
As the red solvent was slowly poured onto the ground and soaked into the soil, the already black earth grew even darker.
Nourished by that eerie red solvent, the dim heart flashed with light. Its pulses shifted from nearly imperceptible to gradually forceful.
Driven by a longing for life, it greedily extended cirri, burrowing deep into the ground and taking root in the soil.
A snow-white rabbit emerged from the grass, its glass-bead eyes filled with curiosity toward the world. The bright red, pulsing heart in the soil firmly caught its gaze, bewitching it into approaching.
In the next instant, its body was impaled by several cirri. Its frame was instantly twisted and broken by those appendages, which were lined with sharp teeth. Those fangs sank deep into its body, thirstily drinking its blood as they curled tighter and tighter. Before it could even make a sound, its entire body was dragged beneath the soil.
Listening to the disturbing sound of chewing coming from beneath the earth, the two ascetics turned away.
"This is a parting gift."
"I trust this performance will not disappoint us."
The two figures drifted further away.
Beneath the soil, the heart's light grew brighter and more sinister.
It let out an incredibly piercing shriek.
Whoosh— Amidst the prolonged whistle of the train, Xu Xiaoyou sat on a leather seat, watching the city slowly recede outside the window, her heart filled with varied emotions.
After going through so much, she had finally left this hive city.
Though faking her death to say goodbye to Anya was a bit unethical...
It didn't count as breaking the promise to return... right?
Now that her Substitute proficiency had reached mastery, the aura she mimicked was no different from her real self.
"Anya, I'm doing this for your own good."
There was no other way. She was actually quite reluctant to leave Anya, but if she didn't do this, Anya wouldn't be able to grow and would always be restricted to that pathetic status panel.
【Character Anya favorability plot: Trial of Iron and Blood is in progress.】
Seeing that the favorability plot had finally unlocked, Xu Xiaoyou nodded with satisfaction.
Once the favorability plot ended, Anya should be able to awaken, right?
She just didn't know what heights she would eventually reach, or how many attributes would be transferred to herself.
【Name: Xu Xiaoyou.】
【Urban Legend · Unknown.】
【Level: Hazard-level.】
【Class: Card Maker.】
【Strength: 40.】
【Agility: 40.】
【Constitution: 40.】
【Intelligence: 50.】
【Sword Maiden Resonance · Mind's Eye (mastery)】
【Heart of Desire Resonance · Gaze of Spiritual Vision (expert)】
After a series of growths and calculating the attribute increases from various skill masteries, this was her current panel. She had not yet reached the standard for a grade 2 fixer set by the association.
With her current combat power, once she activated the Gaze of Spiritual Vision, she was definitely not inferior to a grade 2 fixer, even if the opponent possessed mimicry.
Xu Xiaoyou noticed an extra passive entry at the bottom of the panel.
【Trait: You possess high mental endurance. Gained mental resistance 0.3 (Maximum value is 1).】
As expected, in a strict sense, she was no longer human.
After her soul had deep contact with the Heart of Desire, her essence had undergone a transformation.
Now, she was just like those monsters—a walking urban legend.
A faint sadness rose within Xu Xiaoyou.
Suddenly learning that one has become an anomaly—anyone would find that hard to accept, wouldn't they?
The air was filled with the scent of sandalwood. It wasn't overpowering; someone had sprayed perfume in advance.
A robot with a round head was driving from the front of the carriage, cleaning every corner. It presented a cup of lemon sparkling water to Xu Xiaoyou.
Xu Xiaoyou took it, her eyes curving slightly. "Thank you."
"You're welcome~" An (^_^) emoticon appeared on the screen on the robot's chest.
She scanned the surrounding environment. The carriage of the Heart's Desire train was no different from a regular train, except there was only one carriage. Both sides were completely sealed, and the front and back of the carriage were blocked by wooden doors inset with glass.
Outside the glass was an endless void; this single carriage was currently floating in the sky above the city.
The seats were empty; she was the only passenger in the entire carriage.
It seemed she was the only one in this hive city who had obtained a ticket for this train.
Skywing Spacetime's spacetime technology was indeed miraculous. That seemingly ordinary ticket possessed a high level of technological content. She had clearly been in Wilson's apartment not long ago; she had closed her eyes to convey her intent, and in the blink of an eye, she was suddenly transported to this carriage.
On the electronic board at the front of the train, her train number was written.
"0E3604."
[The Heart's Desire train is about to depart. It is expected to officially start in five seconds. All passengers, please be prepared.]
[Close your eyes and imagine the destination of this trip in your heart. The train will arrive at the destination in ten seconds—at the dreamland.]
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