Chapter 561: What a Leap!

Pink Horse still has that blank expression, as if it doesn't understand any praise at all, it shakes its head on its own and starts wandering around the room.

A Xing stops bothering it and continues rummaging through the room's items.

She pulls the drawer open; inside are some incomprehensible instrument parts, and in the corner there's a trash can—finally! —but it only contains bundles of waste paper, which she pulls out and unfolds, still with reversed characters.

Fine then.

Some movement comes from the doorway.

Someone—or rather something—outside is entering a code, "Beep—beep—beep" for a while, then three "Beep—beep—beep—" tones, and the door doesn't open.

They try again, still no opening.

A Xing glances back at the door and realizes something: when Pink Horse repaired the door earlier, the code was probably reset.

Now the thing outside is entering the original code, so it definitely can't get in.

The thing outside clearly gets impatient and starts "Bang—bang—bang" pounding the door.

A Xing remains completely unruffled, finishes searching the last drawer, confirms there's nothing valuable, and then looks back at the orange‑haired girl on the table.

She's still unconscious, breathing calmly, just doesn't know why she's lying here.

The pounding from outside grows louder, and the walls begin to crack.

A Xing pulls the previous Rein from her pocket, ties the girl up in a flash, and places her onto the horse's back.

Pink Horse still wears a blank stare, showing no objection to this sudden load.

A Xing flips onto the horse, and a Rein materializes in her hand.

She grips it; the feel is solid.

At that moment, the girl on the horse's back suddenly moves.

"Um…"

Fujimura Lixiang groggily opens her eyes, and sees a swath of pink… fur?

She is lying across the horse's back, her body tightly bound by the rope, unable to move, only able to turn her neck with difficulty, staring blankly around.

Where is this? What's going on?

I just… wasn't I with Rin…

"Awake?"

A voice comes from above.

Lixiang looks up and sees a gray‑haired girl looking down at her, golden eyes faintly glinting in the dim light, wearing a black Top Hat pulled low over her head, and with a face that shows little expression, possessing an indescribable… coolness.

Lixiang nods blankly, bewildered.

Who is this? How did I end up here?

And why is this horse pink—

The horse suddenly lifts its front leg, raising its whole front body high, and lets out a "Mii—!" cry.

Lixiang lets out a startled cry, her whole body flips forward, then the rope pulls her back, only then does she realize she is indeed on the horse's back.

It's still a pink horse.

A Xing holds the Rein steadily, adjusts her hat with the other hand, and turns her head toward the window.

Behind, at the door, the impact has turned into a muffled "Bang—bang—bang", the wall cracks open in several fissures, looking about to give way.

She looks again at the orange‑haired girl perched on the horse and asks, "What's your name?"

The girl is startled by the question and instinctively replies, "Lixiang… Fujimura Lixiang."

"Then it begins, Lixiang."

"What… start what?"

A Xing says nothing, clamps the horse's belly.

Pink Horse understands, pushes off with its four hooves, and charges straight toward the window—

"Whoosh—!"

Glass shards spray everywhere as the horse bursts through the window and leaps into the air.

Cold wind howls in, Lixiang's eyes widen as she watches the rooftop below shrink, her mind a blank.

Tens of stories high, jumping down would surely smash—

"Ah."

A calm voice from above says, "Forgot the building's tall, huh."

Lixiang: "???"

She tries to scream, but her throat feels strangled, no sound comes out.

The wind roars in her ears, her body weightless as she falls, she shuts her eyes tightly, a single thought filling her mind: it's over, it's over, it's over, doomed to die—

Then a violent jolt comes from below.

Lixiang opens her eyes and sees the most absurd scene of her life.

That pink horse, that pink horse, is running on the side wall of the building…

Yes, running.

Its four hooves press against the vertical wall as steadily as on flat ground; its powerful hind legs push off for several meters, its body stays parallel to the surface, yet it runs at breakneck speed.

It even turns corners, leaping over protruding decorations, completely defying physics.

A Xing sits steadily on the horse's back, her hat blown back by the wind, revealing the still‑calm face beneath.

She even finds time to glance back, then murmurs softly, "What a high jump off a building."

Lixiang can no longer speak.

She just lies on the horse's back, face down, watching the ground dozens of stories below draw nearer.

The wind blocks her words in her throat; only her eyes are wide open, pupils trembling.

Pink Horse made a final sprint and performed a backflip on the wall—

"Hwee—!"

Lixiang's world spun wildly, the view flipping between sky and ground in a frantic cycle, her stomach churning.

She squeezed her eyes shut, with only one thought in her mind: help, help, help, help—

"Bang—!"

With a deafening crash, the ground was shattered in a large patch, debris spraying and dust billowing.

Pink Horse landed steadily, its four legs slightly bent to absorb the impact, then stood upright, still wearing that blank expression as if the whole ordeal were just a casual stroll.

Lixiang leaned over the horse's back, "Ugh—!"

Perspective shift.

Sha Jin groggily opened his eyes, and was greeted by a sea of… fuzzy Monkeys' faces.

Several of them.

They surrounded him, chattering, and lifted him as they carried him forward.

He tried to move, but found his hands and feet bound tightly, his whole body powerless.

Sha Jin stared blankly for two seconds, then couldn't help a wry smile.

Got caught, huh.

He remembered a hit to the back of his head, and then knew nothing else.

Now this situation… tsk.

Sha Jin lay on the makeshift stretcher the Monkeys carried, looking up at the grayish sky above, feeling conflicted.

The illustrious Stoneheart Ten, bound by a group of Monkeys.

If Topa found out, they'd be laughing for a year.

The Monkeys carried him through twists and turns; he didn't struggle, just lay there, scheming how to escape.

At that moment, a commotion arose ahead.

Sha Jin turned his head, looking in that direction—

A skyscraper, its façade dozens of stories high, bore a… Pink Horse racing downwards.

It was truly sprinting.

On the vertical wall, the horse ran as if on flat ground, its hooves flailing, trailing a cloud of rolling dust.

A gray‑haired rider sat on the horse's back, wearing a Top Hat, clutching a Rein, posture impeccably steady.

Sha Jin's pupils narrowed.

That person was… a Pioneer?

Then he saw another person tied to the back of the horse, an orange‑haired girl, lying prone, head down—

"Ugh—!"

Even from that distance, Sha Jin seemed to hear the sound.

When the horse reached the top floor, it flipped outright and then "bang" crashed onto the ground, debris spraying and dust filling the air.

When the dust cleared, the horse stood firmly, leaving a two‑meter‑diameter crater in the ground.

The gray‑haired girl on the horse adjusted her hat, her expression calm as if she had merely stepped down a stair.

And the orange‑haired girl behind her…

Was lying on the horse's back, "Ugh—!" another sound.

Sha Jin's mouth twitched.

He began to doubt whether he had been knocked senseless, hallucinating.

Or perhaps he was already mad?