Chapter 611

Robin was stunned.

She looked at A Xing, that expressionless face, that Top Hat—everything was exactly like the star in her memory, but the unfamiliarity in those eyes was real, it couldn't fool anyone.

"Don't you remember me?"

She tentatively asked, "Pinokanni. We met at Pinokanni, you, San Yue Qi, and Miss Jizi, you all came to Pinokanni…"

She uttered those names, hoping to trigger A Xing's memory.

But A Xing's expression didn't change at all; he simply looked at her calmly, as if listening to a story unrelated to him.

Robin's voice grew softer and more uncertain.

"I thought... you were also summoned here. But if you don't remember..."

She didn't continue.

The unfamiliarity in those eyes left her at a loss for words.

A Xing also gave no explanation, merely turned around and looked at the figure nailed to the wall.

Moonlight fell on the face that was identical to Ailixiya's, making the charred wounds stand out especially clearly.

The smile on that face had vanished, eyes closed, breathing stopped, the edge of the chest cavity was blackened, emitting blue smoke, and inside there was nothing—just an empty shell.

A Xing stared at that face for a long time.

In her eyes there was no hatred, no pleasure, only an indescribable complexity.

That face, she had seen in those memories that didn't belong to her, in those memories she didn't know why she possessed; that face was always smiling, smiling so happily, so carefree, as if nothing could make her sad.

But the one who smiled had long since gone.

And the one before her was merely her shadow.

A shadow that wore her skin, used her voice, and uttered those vicious words.

Now that shadow was also dead, killed by her own hand.

She didn't know why she felt sad.

Clearly she wasn't that person, clearly those memories weren't hers, clearly she didn't know any of those people.

Yet those memories were in her mind, so vivid, so real, each scene felt as if she herself had experienced it.

Pa Duo trembling behind Kesi Mo, Sakura holding a knife in front of Hua, Mei Bi Wu Si watching Ke Lai Yin's face finally collapse as he dissipated, and Ailixiya, the ever‑smiling one, in tears.

A Xing suddenly felt very tired.

Perspective shift.

Huo Huo walked through the half‑closed door, and the room was as quiet as a tomb.

She stood in the doorway, those claw‑shaped green pupils glimmering faintly in the darkness, like two gems immersed in deep water.

Her breathing was light, her body still dusted with the ash from the previous battle, her clothes torn in several places, yet she stood there like a freshly polished blade.

Something moved in the corner.

The movement was swift, as fast as a startled mouse, but in Huo Huo's eyes it seemed as slow as if a pause button had been pressed.

She didn't turn her head, only tilted it slightly, and that hand rose from her side, fingertip gently probing that direction.

Azure‑blue light flared from her palm, the beams surging out of her fingertips like living things, weaving in midair into a translucent hand, then lunging toward the corner.

"Ya—!"

A short startled scream, and the Ruby was pulled from the shadows by that light hand.

It writhed desperately in midair, the rainbow light on its staff body flashing wildly, trying to break free of the azure binding, but the light hand held it so tightly that even a single movement was a struggle.

"Let me go, let me go, let me go—! Do you know who I am! I am—"

The Ruby's voice abruptly stopped.

Huo Huo's fingers tightened.

The azure flames spread from her fingertips onto the Ruby's staff, silently covering the previously rainbow‑shimmering surface.

The flames were not hot, even bearing a strange warmth, like a stone sun‑baked all day, or hot tea poured into a cup in winter.

The Ruby's voice suddenly changed tone, from panic to a soft, mushy hum.

"Ou, ou—"

That sound came from somewhere on its staff, soft as sugar melted by the sun.

It ceased struggling, the staff drooped entirely, like a noodle softened by heat, its rainbow glow flickering dimly, like a flashlight about to run out of battery.

Huo Huo lowered her head, stared at the strange stick in her hand, expressionless as she turned it over and over.

The power attached to this thing wasn't weak, but there was nothing special about it; it was simply a talking stick.

She couldn't discern its material nor why it could speak, but that didn't matter.

She opened her mouth and shoved the now‑softened thing into it.

The Ruby let out a muffled "um", then fell silent.

Huo Huo chewed twice, swallowed, her expression unchanged, just as if what she had just eaten weren't a talking Magic Staff but a somewhat hard banana.

Her gaze fell on the bed.

The purple‑haired little girl curled up there, her whole body a tiny bundle, breathing steady and long.

Her face was very pale, almost indistinguishable from the pillow's edge, lips lacking color, slightly open, as if still breathing something in a dream.

Her hair had turned completely purple, scattered on the pillow like a spill of overturned ink.

Huo Huo walked to the bedside and looked down at that face.

This little girl bore Ailixiya's aura, faint but definitely present.

And some other something, a stranger power, slept heavily within her body, like a seed that hadn't yet sprouted.

Huo Huo tilted her head.

She didn't know what Ailixiya intended to do with this little girl, nor did she want to know.

The things that woman does have never any logic, just like she herself—appearing inexplicably, creating a mess inexplicably, then disappearing inexplicably.

She doesn't need to know; she only needs—

Behind her, the azure Giant Fox silently materialized.

Its size had shrunk a lot from before, now only a little over a person tall, the Flame on its body no longer so glaring, merely gently clinging to her back like a tamed big cat.

It lowered its head, those hollow eyes staring at the tiny figure on the bed, its mouth slowly opening.

The azure light surged from deep within its throat, silently enveloping Ilya's body.

Ilya did not wake.

She only furrowed her brows, as if having had a bad dream, then fell back into deep sleep.

The Giant Fox's mouth opened even wider.

The lights suddenly contracted, wrapping Ilya entirely, like a seed encased in fruit flesh.

Then the Giant Fox closed its mouth, a satisfied low hum emanating from its throat; its body trembled slightly, the azure Flames flickered a few times, then fell silent again.

It vanished.

Huo Huo stood in place, patting her own belly.

It bulged slightly there.

She lifted her head, those green eyes shining in the darkness.

"It's time for reckoning."

Her voice was very soft, soft enough to seem like she was talking to herself.

She turned around and walked toward the doorway.

The azure Flames burned silently behind her, stretching her shadow long and long.