Chapter 799: Crystal Flower

Heimu stared at the pink light dot on the panel.

The light dot had just completed an extremely bizarre trajectory: it surged northward for three hundred meters, then without warning made a right‑angle turn west, traveled less than two hundred meters before spinning in place three times, and then, at an angle that defied kinematics, leapt straight upward, drawing a crooked spiral on the three‑dimensional map.

The trajectory's line varied in thickness; some sections dragged out a slender Tail, others abruptly broke into dashes, as if someone were smearing the screen with a finger.

Heimu watched the trajectory, and the image that rose in his mind was a snake Tail coiling around Xi Lian as she darted wildly through the corridor.

Mei Bi Wu Si was probably moving at high speed in a mentally worrisome state, and Xi Lian was being tossed about like a ragdoll within that Tail.

She could almost picture Xi Lian being flung back and forth.

Heimu silently made a mental note to Xi Lian, vowing to compensate her more later.

A sound came from behind.

The sound was softer than before, like something being gently placed on the carpet; it rang once then ceased, and the corridor fell silent again.

Heimu turned around.

Emerald‑green wall lamps lined the corridor's sides, casting the dark‑red carpet into a murky brown resembling rotting soil.

The source of the sound could not be discerned by sight alone.

She simply flashed forward, arriving at that spot.

In the middle of the corridor, a Crystal Flower lay quietly on the plush of the dark‑red carpet.

Its petals faced upward, relaxed in posture, as if deliberately placed.

The transparent petals bore no color.

Under the emerald light, the edges refracted faint prismatic glints, the shards scattering like broken Ice Shards.

The flower's core was a tiny cluster of finer crystal granules, arranged so neatly it seemed each had been pinched in place with tweezers.

The overall craftsmanship was so delicate it seemed taken straight from someone's hair ornament.

?

Heimu lifted her hand, flicking her fingertip downward.

The Crystal Flower on the carpet vanished instantly, and at the same moment an icy object appeared in her palm.

The chill seeped from her palm into the gaps between her fingers, like holding a small piece of glass just lifted from icy water.

Heimu raised an eyebrow slightly and lifted the Crystal Flower before her eyes to flip it over.

The reverse side of the petals bore intricate patterns, as if the crystal's natural texture formed during solidification, each line smooth and rounded.

Ailixiya?

Heimu's brows lowered a notch.

Why is Ailixiya's Crystal Flower here?

She clenched the Crystal Flower in her palm and scanned ahead with her perception.

The six Ying Jie signals she had marked earlier were now down to five.

One is missing!

Heimu's pupils contracted slightly, and in that instant a sharp alarm exploded in her mind, stabbing into her thoughts and causing her right eyelid to twitch involuntarily.

She twisted sharply, her heel grinding the carpet, and her skirt's hem swept out an arc.

The black lace trim of her dress sliced through the air, a flash of pink blade grazing her left shoulder.

The blade's swift slash cut the air with a light tearing sound like paper, brief and crisp.

As it passed, a faint burnt smell lingered in the air, the scent left by the blade's high‑speed friction.

Heimu's ash‑gray long hair was lifted forward by the airflow generated by the blade's pressure.

A few strands were grazed by the blade, snapping in mid‑air into two pieces.

Heimu's peripheral glance swept to the side‑rear.

A pink figure stood a few steps away, the blade still carrying its cutting momentum; the pink after‑glow on the blade was fading, the light receding from the tip toward the hilt like wet marks left on a beach by the ebbing tide.

The emerald wall lamps in the corridor bathed her, shifting the original hue so the pink turned into a strange shade between pink and gray‑green.

Though Heimu's dodge avoided the vital spot, her body had not yet fully shifted into a Counterattack stance; her weight rested on her left foot, the right foot barely touching the ground, and her torso leaned back slightly.

She could only lock the opponent's position with her peripheral vision while gradually shifting her weight toward the center.

An answer had already formed in her mind.

Sakura.

In Past World Paradise, only that one could generate blade after‑images before her at such speed.

But why would Sakura attack her?

Entry.

The two characters flashed through Heimu's mind.

Aha's pleasure Entry can distort the behavior pattern of the Golden Descendant.

Although the data structures of the Ying Jie are not identical to those of the Golden Descendant, they also run in System Space, and in theory can be implanted with an Entry.

Aha even dares to meddle with the Golden Descendant; the Ying Jie's database must be as familiar to it as its own backyard.

Heimu steadied her footing, rotating her heel a slight angle on the dark‑red carpet, aligning her body to face the attacker.

The Magic Staff spun half a circle in her hand, its shaft held horizontally before her; the dark‑purple gem at its tip brightened slightly, shifting from pale violet to a richer violet‑lavender, the light flowing along the staff like stirred liquid.

Then, the instant Heimu saw that face, it felt as if something had seized her spine.

Her deep‑purple eyes widened slightly, the pink figure reflected in her pupils.

Her mind went blank.

This is not a metaphor.

She truly ceased thinking for those few fractions of a second; nothing remained in her head, not even her breath.

All the prepared response plans, the thousand words piled at the back of her throat, struggled for a while, and finally she could only force out a few words.

"Eh... who are you?"

It's not hard to leave Heimu bewildered, because standing before her is a Fen Mao girl.

A pair of slender pure‑colored pink Fox Ears stand atop her head, the ears long and relaxed, the outline a bit shorter than the Fox Ears of Sakura in Heimu's Memory, and the tip curvature also more rounded.

Her face is a soft, smooth oval, the features full and plump, the jawline so gentle it almost has no edge.

Her gray‑purple pupils are clear and deep.

She wears an all‑white, long‑sleeved, stand‑collar, fitted uniform, the collar fastened with a striking bright‑red bow; the bow's two loops are perfectly symmetrical, and each hanging ribbon ends with a small golden pendant.

On her hands she wears black‑red patched half‑glove exposing the fingers, she hides a teal high‑waist pleated short skirt, the hem falling at the upper middle of the thigh, the pleats neat and crisp, and on her left thigh she wears a single black leather leg band about two finger‑widths wide.

She wraps her legs in light‑gray ultra‑thin sheer stockings, the texture so thin it barely reveals the skin tone underneath.

On her feet are black lace‑up high‑heeled short leather boots, each boot adorned with a small black bow.

In her right hand she holds a red‑black colored knife (?).

The blade is straight, without any curve, its overall shape between a ruler and a sword; the back is black, the edge red, and at the red‑black junction runs a Golden Thread.

Along the side of the blade hangs a long decorative cloth printed with a white cherry‑blossom pattern; the blossoms are white, each with five petals, the shape and arrangement exactly matching real cherry blossoms.