Chapter 207: Complete Silence

Today's Huo Huo, faced with the oncoming Suiyang Pressure that could make ordinary wandering spirits shiver and dissolve, and the terrifying ghostly visage, showed not a hint of fear on her face!

She didn't even retreat; her pale‑blue eyes stared straight at the snarling flame, where fear no longer churned but a deeper rage.

Then, at the instant the Weiba Daye's flame was about to touch her hair—

Huo Huo moved.

Her movement wasn't swift, even a bit clumsy, yet unusually decisive.

She extended her right hand, which always trembled slightly but now stood as steady as a rock, spread her five fingers, and reached straight for the core of that green‑flame, snatching it!

"What?! What are you—ah!"

Weiba Daye's roar turned into a short gasp!

Huo Huo's hand, precise and firm, seized the leaping Green Fire Core!

A binding force originating from the body's own contract burst from her palm, driven by Huo Huo's resolute will!

"Poof—"

The green‑flame that had just been snarling and filling the room, like a flame with its throat strangled, was snuffed out in an instant!

Only Weiba Daye's abruptly halted "Ah!" echoed in the air.

The room was again shrouded in the dim lamp light, eerily quiet.

Huo Huo kept her hand outstretched in a hollow grasp, slowly withdrew it and held it before her eyes.

She stared at her pale palm as if meeting it for the first time.

Then she turned her head, her gaze cold as she looked at her own unusually calm, even somewhat limp, green Tail.

Her voice wasn't loud, yet carried an unprecedented control, each word clear as she spoke to her Tail:

"Remember, Tail."

"You must figure out who the true master of this body is."

"It is I, Huo Huo!"

As the words fell, her thoughts shifted.

The constraint born of the Judge and Suiyang contract was summoned by her.

The green Tail twitched unwillingly, then seemed forcibly suppressed by an invisible force, shrinking back at a visible speed into a deeper sealed state.

Weiba Daye's presence vanished completely from the room.

Not even a single spark remained.

The world fell utterly silent.

Huo Huo stood where she was, breathing lightly; the irritation in her chest seemed partly released by the earlier outburst, yet a hotter, burning resolve spread in her heart.

She looked at the still‑wet Resignation Letter on the table, then at the quiet Dark Red Brocade Pouch in the corner.

Without hesitation, she snatched the Resignation Letter, folded it, and slipped it into her bosom.

Then she lifted the pouch; the moment her fingertip brushed its velvety surface, a faint, soothing warmth seemed to arrive.

She didn't open it, merely clutching it tightly in her palm as if holding a talisman.

Having done all that, she inhaled deeply, straightened her habitually hunched shoulders, and her pale‑blue eyes flashed with an almost desperate, all‑or‑nothing light.

She no longer stared at the room that had long suppressed her; turning, she walked with a stride wholly different from her previous cowering steps, even bearing a hint of fierce momentum, reached the door and flung it open with a "whoosh"—

Outside lay the Ten Kings Office's perpetually sunless, chilly, dim corridor.

Huo Huo paused not a moment, lifted her foot, and stepped out.

Her footsteps echoed through the empty passage, firm and clear.

She didn't know what the "strengthening pill" had actually done to her, nor how long this sudden bravery would last, nor what she would face after delivering the Resignation Letter.

But at this moment, she only wanted to do one thing: deliver the letter in her bosom to its proper destination.

Perspective shift.

Du Ya felt the fingers holding the CoffeeCup grow a bit numb, not merely because the coffee had long gone cold.

Chang Ye Yue's crimson eyes, seeming to pierce all secrets, and A Xing's unruffled yet pressure‑laden silent stare both made her feel as if sitting on a bed of needles.

She could only mechanically raise the cup, trying to mask the inner turmoil while moistening her parched throat.

"Then…"

Du Ya strained to make her voice sound steady and professional, "What's the next… Task?"

She brought the rim of the cup to her lips, ready to sip a little, buying time to consider how to handle these two 'non‑standard teammates.'

Just as her tongue was about to touch the cold liquid—

Chang Ye Yue elegantly crossed her legs, the tip of the Black Umbrella in her hand lightly tapped the ground, producing a crisp "thud" sound.

She looked at Du Ya, the mysterious smile on her face deepening slightly, and in a relaxed tone as if discussing afternoon tea treats, said clearly:

"The next Task, you see… is to retrieve something."

She paused, a hint of slyness flashing in her crimson eyes, "Kalian Karslanna's body."

"Poof—!!!"

The Reason String in Du Ya's mind snapped with a "crack" the instant she heard that name.

The coffee in her mouth wasn't wasted; it turned into a liquid fountain, fanning out perfectly and spraying A Xing's face directly!

"Cough cough cough! *whew*—cough cough cough cough!!"

Du Ya choked herself into a commotion, bent over, her face flushed scarlet, one hand over her chest, tears coughing out.

She felt the air in her lungs explode, shocked away by this absurdly extreme mission target.

And A Xing, having his face 'coffee‑washed,' slowly set down the fork he had just picked up to stir his next Bubble Noodles.

Her ever‑unremarkable golden eyes now clearly showed disdain.

The coffee streamed down her gray hair, smooth forehead, straight nose, with a few drops clinging to her lashes, about to fall.

She lifted her hand, the movement a bit stiff, and used her sleeve—wiped her face.

After wiping, she looked at Du Ya without any emotion, then silently pulled three tissues from the desk's tissue box, swish swish swish, and began to carefully wipe her hair and face, leaving no inch untouched.

That focused demeanor seemed as if she were cleaning some extremely disgusting contaminant.

The whole coffee shop corner fell silent for a few seconds, leaving only Du Ya's cough and faint jazz music in the distance.

Chang Ye Yue tilted her head slightly, watching Du Ya's disheveled state, the crimson eyes deepening with amusement, and said with perfectly timed concern, "Oh, Miss Du Ya, you seem… to react especially strongly to this target?"

"No, no no no!"

Du Ya finally managed to stop coughing, her face still flushed, quickly waved her hand, her voice hoarse, "Cough cough… it's just… this target… is indeed a bit… too, too unexpected! Cough!"

She half‑heartedly wiped the residue she spat out and the tears she coughed up with a tissue, while stealing glances at Chang Ye Yue's expression.

The other's "I know everything" teasing gaze made her skin crawl.

(Kalian Karslanna! The dog‑tortured five‑hundred‑year obsession! Her body? What interstellar joke is this! Is this to overturn the Destiny's lair or to dig up the bishop's ancestral tomb?! No, that's even scarier! If this Task is real, not to mention the World Snake, the entire Honkai World would explode!)