Today, facing the oncoming Suiyang pressure—enough to make ordinary spirits tremble and dissipate—and the terrifying ghost face, Huo Huo actually showed not a hint of fear on her face!
She didn't even retreat, her pale green eyes staring straight at the ferocious flames; what surged within them was no longer fear, but a deeper sense of anger.
Then, the moment Tail Master's flames were about to touch her hair—
Huo Huo moved.
Her movements were not fast, even a bit clumsy, but exceptionally decisive.
She reached out her right hand, which usually trembled slightly but was now as steady as a rock, splayed her fingers, and grabbed straight toward the core of that cyan flame!
"What?! What are you do— Ah!"
Tail Master's roar turned into a short exclamation of shock!
Huo Huo's hand accurately and firmly seized the core of the leaping cyan fire!
A restraining force originating from the contract inherent to this body erupted from her palm, following Huo Huo's firm will!
"Pfft—"
The cyan flames that had been clawing and gnashing, filling the entire room just a moment ago, were extinguished instantly, like a flame whose throat had been choked!
Leaving behind only Tail Master's abruptly cut-off "Ah!" echoing in the air.
The room was once again shrouded in the dim light of the desk lamp, terrifyingly quiet.
Huo Huo maintained the posture of reaching out and gripping the air, slowly pulling her hand back and placing it before her eyes.
She looked at her fair palm as if seeing it for the first time.
Then, she turned her head, her gaze coolly fixed on her own large, cyan Tail, which now appeared exceptionally quiet, even somewhat "withered."
Her voice was not loud, but it carried an unprecedented sense of control as she spoke to her Tail, clearly, word by word:
"Remember, Tail."
"You need to understand who the master of this body really is."
"It's me, Huo Huo!"
As her voice fell, she moved her intent.
The binding force originating from the contract between the Judge and the Suiyang was invoked by her.
The cyan Tail twisted unwillingly, then, as if forcibly suppressed by an invisible power, "shrank" back into a deeper state of seal at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Tail Master's aura completely vanished from the room.
Not even a spark was left behind.
The world was completely quiet.
Huo Huo stood where she was, panting slightly; the irritation in her chest seemed to have vented somewhat with the recent outburst, but a hotter determination began to spread in the depths of her heart.
She looked at the resignation letter on the table with ink still wet, then looked at the quiet, dark red pouch in the corner.
Without hesitation, she grabbed the resignation letter, folded it in half, and tucked it into her bosom.
Then she picked up the pouch; the moment her fingertips touched the velvet surface, a faint warmth that put one's mind at ease seemed to be transmitted.
She did not open it, only clutched it tightly in her palm, as if holding an amulet.
After doing all this, she took a deep breath, straightened her shoulders—which were habitually hunched—and a light of near desperation flashed in her pale green eyes.
She no longer looked at the room that had suppressed her for so long, turned around, and walked to the door with a stride completely different from her usual cowering—even carrying a hint of aggression—and with a "clatter," pulled the door open—
Outside was the cold, dim corridor of the Ten Kings Court that never saw sunlight year-round.
Huo Huo did not pause for a second, lifted her foot, and stepped out.
Footsteps echoed in the empty corridor, firm and clear.
She did not know what that "virility medicine" had actually done to her, nor did she know how long this sudden courage would last, let alone what she would face after submitting the resignation letter.
But at this moment, she only wanted to do one thing: deliver the letter in her bosom to where it needed to go.
Perspective shift.
Raven felt her fingers holding the coffee cup going numb, and not just because the coffee had long since gone cold.
Long Night Moon's crimson eyes, which seemed capable of seeing through all secrets, and Jack's silent gaze—devoid of waves yet bringing invisible pressure—both made her feel like she was sitting on pins and needles.
She could only mechanically raise the cup, attempting to use this action to mask the raging waves in her heart, and incidentally moisten her dry, tight throat.
"So..."
Raven tried hard to make her voice sound steady and professional, "What is the... next task?"
She brought the rim of the cup to her lips, preparing to take a small sip first to buy some time to think about how to deal with these two "unconventional teammates."
Just the moment her tongue was about to touch the cold liquid—
Long Night Moon elegantly crossed her legs, and the tip of the black umbrella in her hand lightly tapped the ground, emitting a crisp "tap" sound.
She looked at Raven, the mysterious smile on her face deepening slightly, and spoke clearly in a relaxed tone, as if discussing afternoon tea snacks:
"The next task is... to retrieve something."
She paused, a hint of mischief flashing in her crimson eyes, "Kallen Kaslana's body."
"Pfft—!!!"
The string in Raven's brain named "sanity," the moment she heard this name, snapped with a 'crack'.
She didn't waste a drop of the coffee in her mouth; it all turned into a liquid fountain, covering a perfect fan-shaped area, and accurately sprayed all over the face of Jack, who was sitting opposite her!
"Cough, cough, cough! Ugh—cough, cough, cough!!"
Raven herself was choking earth-shatteringly, bending over, her face flushed red, one hand clutching her chest, coughing until tears came out.
She felt like the air in her lungs had been blasted out by the shock of this ridiculously absurd mission objective.
And Jack, who had been "coffee-washed," extremely slowly put down the fork she had just picked up, which she was preparing to use to stir her next cup of instant noodles.
Her golden eyes, which always lacked highlights, now clearly revealed a feeling of disgust.
The coffee liquid trickled down from her gray hair tips, smooth forehead, and straight nose bridge; a few drops were still hanging on her eyelashes, on the verge of falling.
She raised her hand and, with slightly stiff movements, used her sleeve—to wipe her face.
After wiping, she looked at Raven without any emotion, then silently pulled three tissues in succession from the tissue box on the table and began to carefully wipe her hair and face, not missing a single inch.
Her focused demeanor was as if she were cleaning up some extremely disgusting pollutant.
The entire corner of the cafe went quiet for a few seconds, leaving only Raven's coughing and the faint jazz music in the distance.
Long Night Moon slightly tilted her head, watching Raven's disheveled appearance, the smile in her crimson eyes deepening, yet her tone carried just the right amount of concern: "Oh my, Miss Raven, you seem... to have a particularly strong reaction to this target?"
"No, no, no, no!"
Raven managed to stop coughing, her face still flushed red, and hurriedly waved her hands, her voice hoarse from coughing, "Cough, cough... it's just... it's just that this target... is indeed a bit... too, too unexpected! Cough!"
While frantically wiping away the remains of what she had sprayed and the tears she had coughed out with a tissue, she stole a glance at Long Night Moon's expression.
The other party's teasing look of "I know everything" made her feel creeped out.
(Kallen Kaslana! The obsession of a five-hundred-year-old simp! Her body? What kind of interstellar joke is this! Is this meant to overturn Schicksal's nest or dig up the Bishop's ancestral grave?! No, wait, this is even more terrifying than that! If this mission is real, never mind the World Serpent, the entire Honkai world will blow up!)
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