Lu Zhaoming was invited away by several Federation guests, leaving Jiang Nuan alone in the lounge.
“Wanyin, who did you choose as your dance partner tonight?”
Lin Zhou’s voice came from the doorway.
“Don’t tell me it’s still that ex-husband who isn’t even one-tenth as handsome as me?”
A low female voice immediately followed. “Of course not. I invited a friend from another team.”
The woman let out an exaggerated sigh. “Members of the same team aren’t allowed to choose each other. Otherwise, I would’ve invited the most handsome man on our team—Lin Zhou.”
Lin Zhou laughed delightedly.
Jiang Nuan followed the voices with her gaze. Standing beside Lin Zhou was a long-haired woman in her thirties.
She wore a well-tailored dark green qipao, her long hair loosely pinned at the back of her head.
Her features were not the striking kind, but they were exceptionally pleasing—an appearance that grew more appealing the longer one looked at her.
The woman noticed her too, and a smile spread from the corners of her eyes. “You must be Captain Lu’s dance partner tonight?”
She took two steps closer. “You really are an adorable girl.”
Fine lines appeared at the corners of her eyes when she smiled.
They did nothing to diminish her beauty. If anything, they made it even harder to look away.
“I’m Lighthouse Cheng Wanyin.”
“Hello, Wanyin. I’m Jiang Nuan.”
Jiang Nuan stood and shook her hand. The moment their hands met, an inexplicable sense of closeness welled up inside her.
“You don’t have to be so formal.” Cheng Wanyin gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Captain Lu’s dancing is very steady.”
Leaning to one side, Lin Zhou said with a smile, “Wanyin is the strongest psychic in the entire Federation.”
Cheng Wanyin raised a hand and flicked him on the forehead. “Don’t flatter your own people so much.”
Lin Zhou covered his forehead, though his eyes remained curved with a smile. “Because Wanyin really is amazing.”
Watching the two of them banter, Jiang Nuan suddenly realized that Lin Zhou’s gaze had barely left Cheng Wanyin.
It did not seem like simple admiration for a powerful senior…
But they appeared to be at least a dozen years apart.
She was probably overthinking it.
“Wanyin, there you are!”
Tao Ning hurried over from the other end of the corridor.
Her short hair had been styled into a sharp, neat curve. A pair of delicate diamond earrings hung from her earlobes, and she held two necklaces in her hands.
“Help me decide quickly. Should I wear the silver one or the sapphire one?”
The moment she finished speaking, she noticed Jiang Nuan.
“Jiang Nuan, you’re here too!”
Tao Ning immediately perked up and hurried over to examine her from head to toe.
“You look absolutely gorgeous tonight! This dress color is perfect on you.”
Embarrassed by the praise, Jiang Nuan quickly redirected the conversation and complimented her in return.
“The silver one.” Cheng Wanyin examined the two necklaces Tao Ning held. “The design is simple, so it matches your earrings better. And it won’t clash with the color of your dress.”
“I knew asking you was the right choice.”
Tao Ning immediately returned the sapphire necklace to its box.
Then she suddenly leaned closer, her gaze moving back and forth between Jiang Nuan and Cheng Wanyin’s faces twice.
“Wanyin, don’t you think Jiang Nuan’s eyes look a lot like yours?”
Jiang Nuan froze and instinctively looked at Cheng Wanyin.
Only after Tao Ning pointed it out did she notice that the curves of their eyes really were somewhat similar.
Especially when they smiled.
Cheng Wanyin studied her carefully for a moment before curving her eyes into a smile. “They really do look a little alike. No wonder I took a liking to her the moment I saw her.”
After Cheng Wanyin and Tao Ning disappeared through the doorway, Jiang Nuan continued staring in that direction.
A vague, inexplicable melancholy rose in her heart.
Had this woman, who had made her feel close to her at their very first meeting, survived in the end?
*
Music slowly began to play in the ballroom.
Lu Zhaoming held out his hand. “It’s our turn.”
Jiang Nuan placed her hand in his palm.
As they completed their first turn—
“Relax.” Lu Zhaoming’s voice came from above her. “It’s fine even if you step on my feet.”
Jiang Nuan came back to herself. “My dancing isn’t that bad.”
“I know.” He guided her into another direction. “Your shoulders are just a little stiff.”
Her body was indeed somewhat tense.
And not entirely because of the mission.
Lu Zhaoming’s hand rested against the small of her back, its warmth passing through the fabric of her dress.
Those were the hands that had subjected Number Zero to endless experiments.
Yet he was also the person Number Zero trusted most.
Jiang Nuan lowered her eyes and forced the thought back down.
“You dance very well.” On the final musical phrase, Lu Zhaoming led her through half a turn.
Applause broke out around them.
Jiang Nuan curved her eyes into a smile and nodded.
The opening dance ended, and the timer began.
*
Getting out through the west entrance was even easier than expected.
A pile of equipment happened to block the view around the corridor’s bend. Jiang Nuan slipped sideways into the shadows, pulled Lin Zhou’s keycard from inside her skirt, and pressed it against the sensor.
The lock flashed green and made almost no sound.
The ballroom door closed behind her.
Jiang Nuan hurried along the familiar corridor. The laboratory building had already come into view.
Everyone had gone to the dance, and most of the windows were dark.
She had not yet reached the main entrance when she heard movement.
Jiang Nuan immediately slipped into the shadow beside the wall, pressing herself against it and reducing her breathing to the faintest whisper.
Anyone with sense would be attending the party at this hour instead of walking around inside the laboratory building.
They were either an obsessive overachiever—or someone harboring ulterior motives, just like her.
Before long, the laboratory building’s side door slid open.
A small figure poked his head out first and looked left and right. Then he turned back and pulled someone else by the hand.
It was young Lu Shiyan.
His hair was slightly disheveled, and the solemn expression on his face was far too grave for an eight-year-old.
He was holding the hand of a girl half a head shorter than him. She was wearing an absurdly oversized black down jacket.
It was probably young Lu Shiyan’s. The sleeves completely covered her hands.
The child wore a mask that revealed only her eyes.
Jiang Nuan’s breathing stopped.
“Go quickly.” Young Lu Shiyan lowered his voice. “I stole my dad’s card. Once you leave the base, you have to run as fast as you can.”
He then pulled a stuffed little bag from his clothes and pressed it into her arms.
“There are cookies and water inside, along with all the New Year’s money I’ve saved over the years.” Young Lu Shiyan spoke rapidly. “Run farther away before you hail a cab.”
He paused, bit his lip, and added, “Stay away from the base. Stay away from this city, too. In the future… don’t let them find you.”
The girl did not say anything.
She merely raised a hand and gently touched his face with the small hand hidden inside her oversized sleeve.
Young Lu Shiyan sniffed, then hurried her on again. “Go!”
The girl turned and ran into the night, the black down jacket billowing in the cold wind.
After running a few steps, she suddenly stopped.
She turned back toward young Lu Shiyan, who remained standing where he was.
Her mask had slipped halfway down during the run.
Moonlight broke through the clouds and fell across the face it revealed.
Those eyes.
Eyes filled with fear and reluctance.
They were exactly the same as the ones Jiang Nuan saw in the mirror every morning.
Jiang Nuan stood motionless in the shadows.
Her gaze met that child’s across the night, separated by an uncrossable distance.
It lasted only a brief moment.
Then the small figure turned away and stumbled into the darkness, never to be seen again.
Young Lu Shiyan stood by the door, watching her disappear.
She drew in a sharp breath through her nose and closed the door at her side again.
Only after she had done all this did she lean against the wall and slowly sink down.
Her shoulders trembled silently a few times.
Jiang Nuan dug her fingers hard into her palms. The sharp pain that followed was real.
That child locked inside the laboratory—the girl called Number Zero… was really her.
Young Lu Shiyan had ultimately set the bird in the tower free.
Even though, back then, he had believed the bird would never fly back.
