Chapter Twenty-Six: The Statue

She looked toward the distant mountain peaks, as if lost in memory. "The first time I was sent to the southern region for a mission, it was to infiltrate the Tongying Association."

"And then I was discovered by the Chairman and erased."

She gave a bitter smile. "So, I came back."

Yu Yue asked excitedly, "Then is Lin Youwei the same as that Chairman? Can she erase everything so easily?"

Zhang Min shook her head. "No... the one in the Tongying Association obtained one-third of a god’s power, but she..." She paused, looking at Lin Youwei, "is still in the initial fusion stage. Perhaps she only possesses one ten-thousandth of that divinity."

"After all, she is just an ordinary person, not a true god."

Lin Youwei’s eyes, once dark and bright, now shimmered with a silvery-white halo at the edges, as if bathed in moonlight. She blinked in a daze, the silvery light swirling within her eyes—beautiful enough to make one's heart palpitate, yet so alien it inspired fear.

She was a vision to be admired from afar, untouchable.

Her voice sounded ethereal. "I... what has happened to me?"

Her gaze swept across the group and finally landed on Zhang Min, her expression gentle and grateful. "Thank you for saving me."

Zhang Min pursed her lips, avoiding her eyes, and whispered, "Don't thank me... I owed you this."

Li Luyan looked at Lin Youwei, her brow slightly furrowed. "How do you feel now?"

Lin Youwei closed her eyes, sensing the changes within. She opened them again and offered a faint smile. "It’s very strange... but I feel good. It’s as if a new power has emerged within my body."

"It’s truly miraculous."

She raised her hand, and a strand of silvery-white light coalesced in her palm, gentle and pure.

"Is this... the power of moonlight?" Yu Yue’s eyes widened.

Lin Youwei nodded.

"Then are you very powerful now?" Yu Yue asked eagerly, thinking that if one of them had become a divine being, wouldn't they have the power to destroy the world?

"Yu Yue, the power of moonlight is healing," she said, rubbing her forehead with a wry smile.

But Yu Yue sensed something was amiss. Her senior, who used to be sharp-tongued and prone to teasing her, was acting unusually gentle now.

*Forget it, let it go,* she thought. *Maybe she's just acting differently because I’ve been supporting her.*

"Well... between you and Zhang Min, who is stronger?"

Before Lin Youwei could speak, Zhang Min interjected, "The power of moonlight, of course."

"Moonlight healing is inexhaustible under the night sky; there is no need to worry about running out of energy."

She then stared into Lin Youwei’s divine eyes. "Every god possesses the power to destroy the world."

Lin Youwei didn't understand what Zhang Min meant, but the power felt soft—lacking any offensive edge. She couldn't help but ask, "What do you mean?"

"I don't know. That’s what the book from the Tongying Association said," Zhang Min replied.

***

The night wind swept through the ruins, carrying the scent of blood. Li Luyan’s hair shimmered with the cold, metallic luster of moonlight.

She withdrew her hand from Zhang Min’s back, and the faint, healing light dissipated.

"Enough," Li Luyan’s voice was colder than the night wind. "We are even."

Zhang Min stumbled back two steps and was caught by Pei Siying. The color had drained completely from her lips, and strands of hair were plastered to her skin by cold sweat.

"Even? How are we even!" Pei Siying almost shrieked. "Minmin nearly lost her life! You—"

Zhang Min gripped Pei Siying’s hand and shook her head weakly.

Pei Siying’s words were cut short.

Under the moonlight, Zhang Min’s face was pale as paper, a faint, weary smile lingering at the corners of her mouth.

"Li Luyan!"

Zhang Min called out softly, her voice so weak it was barely audible.

Li Luyan’s ears twitched as she stood still in the moonlight. She did not speak.

Zhang Min braced herself and continued, "Since we are even, I hope that next time we meet..."

"We won't be enemies."

Li Luyan stood with her back to Zhang Min, the moonlight carving out her cold, sharp silhouette. She did not look back, merely tilting her head slightly, her voice low and calm.

"We won't meet again."

Pei Siying gritted her teeth, her knuckles turning white, but Zhang Min gently squeezed her wrist, signaling her not to act rashly.

As their figures gradually disappeared from sight, Zhang Min finally collapsed, going limp in Pei Siying’s arms. She had been forcing herself to stand in front of Li Luyan; now that Li Luyan was gone, she could finally catch her breath.

Pei Siying helped Zhang Min sit down against a broken wall and fished half a bottle of water from her backpack.

Zhang Min’s fingertips trembled against the bottle’s rim, and beads of water slid down her chin.

"Are you insane?" Pei Siying frowned.

"Li Luyan, she..." Zhang Min suddenly grabbed Pei Siying’s wrist. "She is very strong. It seems I miscalculated."

"Then what do we do now?"

"Find a new vessel." After saying this, she looked at Pei Siying, her eyes devoid of emotion.

Pei Siying’s grip on Zhang Min’s hand tightened involuntarily. "What do you mean by that? Do you want me to be your vessel?"

***

Zhang Min’s porcelain-white fingers gently touched Pei Siying’s cheek, stroking it slowly.

"No," her voice was very soft. "I need you to help me find a vessel. A new one."

Having said this, she looked toward Yu Niaoniao, who was squatting not far away.

Yu Niaoniao sensed her gaze and walked over, looking puzzled. "Minmin, is something wrong?"

Zhang Min waved her hand weakly. "It’s nothing... I only have you and Siying left now."

The moonlight stretched the shadows of the three of them.

Meanwhile, on the nearby highway:

"Are you tired?" Li Luyan asked suddenly.

Lin Youwei shook her head, her silvery-white eyelashes resembling frosted spiderwebs under the dim light.

Suddenly, she grabbed Li Luyan’s wrist with surprising strength.

"Someone is watching us," her voice became unusually clear. "From the moon."

Three hundred meters above the night sky, twelve bronze thrones hung suspended.

On the throne belonging to the Moon God, a rusted, mold-covered bronze statue slowly cracked, and the face revealed beneath was that of Lin Youwei.

What was truly baffling was that the eyes of the bronze statue actually moved.

Following Lin Youwei’s gaze, Li Luyan looked up at the night sky.

The sky was no different than usual, dotted with only a few scattered stars.

Yu Yue said, puzzled, "Senior, you must have seen wrong."

"Are you too tired?" The sensation of being watched vanished. Lin Youwei rubbed her temples and sighed. "Maybe I’m just too tired."

Yu Yue looked at Li Luyan. "Sister Yan, are we still heading out?"

"Are you tired?" Li Luyan did not answer, but asked instead.

"I'm exhausted. I wish I could just collapse and sleep right now."

"Then there you have it." With that, she casually hopped into a residential building. The hem of her pajamas swayed with her movements, tracing a graceful arc in the air.

"Wow, Sister Yan is still Sister Yan. Even wearing cartoon pajamas, she has the aura of a warrior."

The night wind whistled through the gaps in the broken windows, making a sound like a sob.

Li Luyan stood in the center of the living room. She pressed her right hand to the short blade at her waist and raised her left hand in a gesture for silence.