Chapter 512: 2.2 Main·Pinoccony (183)

When Star focused their attention, trying to trace the source of the sound, they found that it had already vanished like morning mist in the skylight that fell from the curtain, leaving no trace.

Star carefully kept the lost item and, according to the agreed time and place, found Zhigengniao.

After producing the lost item of Xingqiri that had been found, although it was hard to notice, Star indeed saw her seem to freeze for a moment. But she quickly regained composure and smiled at Star—although her voice still trembled a little.

"... Thank you, let me take a look."

Zhigengniao's fingers trembled slightly as they took over the thin yet weighty paper bundle. They did not open it immediately, but first drew a deep breath, as if needing to gather courage to face its contents.

They laid it flat in their palm, examining it meticulously, word by word, line by line. As their gaze moved down, the remaining color on their face vanished like a receding tide, becoming nearly transparent. Their breathing also grew shallow and rapid, as if a thread were constricting their throat.

"Your complexion doesn't look good."

"I... sorry. I'm fine, thank you, Star." Zhigengniao forced themselves to hold up, "This... is indeed my brother's handwriting; it must be his thing. But this scripture... there's no similar record in the 'Harmony Ode'."

"And... these red stains. He really..." Zhigengniao held their forehead; the fragility and fatigue that had lingered in their brows were now completely covered by an icy, near‑despair pallor.

They choked up.

"Maybe there's still a turn of events." Star hurried to comfort.

However Zhigengniao simply lowered their head, staring blankly at the notebook in their arms, saying nothing. After a while, they finally spoke: "Mm, it will surely happen."

"Since we reunited at Liúmèng Jiāo, I've had a vague premonition. Perhaps our paths will never cross again... I just didn't expect this day to come so soon."

——

Xiao Lin's dragon maid.

"This scene feels like I've seen it somewhere before..."

Xiao Lin recalled when, aboard the Xianzhou, they had organized Tingyun's belongings; facing that broken fan, Yukong's expression had seemed similar. Now Tingyun's whereabouts are unknown, likely dead at Huanglong's hands, yet Miss Yukong still believes in that minuscule chance of survival.

Could Xingqiri be following the same script as Miss Tingyun? Life and death uncertain, whereabouts unknown, then people search desperately... only to come up empty-handed.

"Xiao Lin, you mean Tingyun, right? But I think Xingqiri's survival odds are higher than Miss Tingyun's—I can't even imagine how she could survive, but Xingqiri is different… no corpse left, so they must have been rescued." Tuo'er said, swaying their thick dragon tail, offering their guess.

"Rescued? Who would rescue them?" Xiao Lin felt that Xingqiri now was a hot potato—whoever touched it got burned.

"Company!" Tuo'er declared proudly, hands on hips.

Xiao Lin: "==! Are you serious?"

"Xiao Lin, think about it—who is the company's arch‑enemy now? Naturally, it's the family. Xingqiri is currently the family's biggest loophole; if the family secretly killed Xingqiri, what then? Wouldn't that mean the only loophole is gone?"

""

Xiao Lin rested their chin, thought it over, and felt it somewhat made sense.

The family probably now harbors the intent to kill Xingqiri, wishing to grind their bones to ashes; the Qixiang Shiban would likely drop straight from the sky, the Harmony Grand Festival might not be held, and an oak household stirring things up this much makes the head of the household hard to absolve—things are likely to end badly.

——

"What are your plans from now on?" Star asked.

"I... don't know. So many threads, at a moment it's truly overwhelming." Zhigengniao shook their head painfully, "Obviously each of us—you, me, my brother, all of us—harbors good intentions, wanting to do everything as well as possible and striving with all our might… yet these countless good intentions ultimately only brewed tragedy."

"This world… really isn't beautiful at all."

"But we can make it better." Looking at the somewhat dejected little bird, Star stepped forward to actively comfort.

"What you said is correct." She lightly nodded, though her eyes remained downcast, her previously tense shoulders finally relaxed a little, "We still have much we can do. Now Beautiful Dream hangs in the balance, many ill‑intentioned people are also stirring. Right now, I must protect this place no matter what, then overcome all difficulties and build it better… my brother would surely want me to do so."

Zhigengniao lowered their gaze to the notebook in hand: "Speaking of my brother—although we only found this notebook, I don't think it proves anything. My intuition tells me my brother is certainly still safe, somewhere in Beautiful Dream… seeking a new path for our shared ideal."

"After all… the sky is the bird's home."

Having said that, Zhigengniao intended to go back, but as they turned to leave, a slightly faded card slipped out from the notebook's interlayer.

Zhigengniao curiously picked up the card and discovered it was a 【Banquet Star】 series collectible card, bearing their own likeness while singing.

The craftsmanship of this collectible card surpasses ordinary market products, and it appears to be a limited edition, with their own handwriting on the back.

"To my dear brother:"

"May our sky forever be bright with starlight:)"

"This is… a 【Banquet Star】 series collectible card, though a limited edition. The publisher gave it to me years ago as a keepsake, but I thought it might be more meaningful for my brother, so I wrote a blessing and passed it on to him."

This card was like the gentlest yet sharpest arrow, precisely striking her innermost soft, defenseless spot. An indescribable warmth surged up to her nose and eyes; the girl's vision instantly blurred, she blinked rapidly and futilely, yet tears still swelled uncontrollably.

"I never imagined… he still kept this…… after all these years…"

"He… must have been terribly lonely…"

Zhigengniao's face flushed; they finally offered Star an imperfect smile in apology, then lowered their head, covered their face, and hurried away.

——

Dragon Clan.

When seeing that card slip from the notebook's seam, it felt as if a silent yet torrential sorrow were about to spill from the heavens, flooding all of Shinjuku.

Lu Mingfei's nose felt a little sour.

His heart stirred, feeling utterly useless, still unable to resist this sibling trope even today. Especially when seeing Zhigengniao's trembling fingers brush over the card's backhand writing, tears sliding down silently, his throat felt as if stuffed with damp cotton.

"Why make it so moving…" he muttered under his breath, quickly lifting a hand to wipe his eyes. Strangely, he thought of Lao Tang, of Nuo Nuo, of his senior brother and Xia Mi, of many unwilling farewells and the unspoken care hidden in details. Seeing the card printed with Zhigengniao, those memories seemed to be pressed all at once, resonating; everyone's memories appeared to have tucked away their innermost words carefully, nobody speaking them out, only occasionally recalling them when nothing could be salvaged, feeling a bit gloomy.

He shifted his gaze from the skyline, picked up the little notebook, intending to turn back and chat lightly with Hui Liri.

Yet when he turned back, he saw two clear streams of tears silently sliding down Hui Liri's delicate cheeks. She made no sobbing sound, merely keeping her deep rose‑red eyes open. She still tilted her head toward the skyline, tears flowing on their own, dripping onto the white sheets, spreading faint dark marks.

Her crying was also quiet, as if she didn't understand why she was tearing up, merely her body's instinctive reaction to that profound sorrow.

"Hui… Hui Liri?" Lu Mingfei panicked a little, not knowing how to handle a girl's tears, clumsily pulling out a few paper towels to wipe her.

Hui Liri slowly turned her head to look at him, fine tears still clinging to her long lashes. She picked up the little notebook and pen by her shin, lowered her head, and began to write.

Soon Hui Liri lifted the notebook, showing her earnest, slightly clumsy handwriting, stroke by stroke:

"Mr. Xingqiri, always and always, has been very concerned about his sister. How sad."

Afterward she added a little crying face she herself drew.

Lu Mingfei looked at those words and that crying face; his softest spot felt as if lightly pinched. He scratched his head, picked up the notebook not knowing what to write, merely lifted his gaze to Hui Liri's tear‑streaked face, held back for a while, then managed to utter:

"Ah… it's all… all because of those dishonest, stupid brothers…"

After finishing it, he felt a bit regretful; this map cannon seemed to have been fired a bit too large, dragging even himself into the scolding.

Hui Li Yi blinked their still-moist eyes, tilted their head and stared at him for a while, then picked up their pen and wrote another line:

"But, the card is still left, how nice. He must still be alive, definitely."

——

"Wake up, wake up quickly!"

"... Hey, Xing! Don't sleep, the sun is baking your butt——"

"In the dream, it seemed as if Sanyue Qi's voice echoed."

Xing rubbed their eyes, stretched lazily in the Dream Pool, slowly got up, and upon opening their eyes saw Sanyue Qi's familiar, slightly concerned face.

"Are you okay? Can you hear me clearly? I heard no sound at all from the room—I was about to die of fright."

"Xing always felt this scene had happened somewhere before: 'Such a familiar conversation…'"