Chapter 42: Study

Her movements were light and swift, making little sound.

Only then did the gang members realize that another member had silently fallen—

“Just now… where did those two go?”

The remaining four looked around in confusion, searching for her.

Xingyu held her breath, quietly waiting for the right moment.

She saw Tianwu hiding in the distance, tugging hard at an old metal sheet to create a sharp noise, drawing the enemies’ attention.

“There! Over there!” a small member screamed, pointing toward the sound.

At that instant, as everyone’s focus shifted, Xingyu silently moved behind another gang member. With a precise strike of her hand blade to the back of his neck, the man collapsed silently to the ground with a dull thud before he could make a sound.

He wasn’t dead; her unarmed technique felt a bit clumsy, not as effective as she’d hoped—but now was not the time to reflect.

Immediately, she slipped back into the shadows, using the environment—worn crates, a crooked lamppost—to conceal her movements.

She seemed to grasp a new understanding.

Tianwu’s method of weaving through the fight was not truly about hiding his form but about manipulating and controlling the enemy’s attention to launch surprise attacks.

In that instant, Tianwu deftly struck another opponent.

Their ghost-like assaults quickly thinned the enemy ranks; within moments, only two remained.

They hadn’t even noticed how their comrades fell—these two were nearly broken, standing back to back in the middle of the street, their eyes darting wildly across every corner.

They grew hysterical, frantically rummaging through the cardboard boxes and garbage piles by the roadside, desperate to find hidden foes.

Xingyu held her breath.

As their gaze swept toward her, she instinctively mimicked Tianwu’s earlier move, flipping up onto a nearby low wall.

But her motion was a beat too slow. As she landed on the roof, loose gravel gave a clear “creak.”

“There she is! Grab her!” voices filled with terror and rage lunged at her.

The two acted with reckless desperation, as if capturing Xingyu was their only lifeline.

Xingyu frowned in frustration, bracing to confront them head-on—

But no chance came.

The last two enemies fell before her eyes. Tianwu appeared among the bodies, chest heaving rapidly, his breathing unusually loud.

Sweat drenched his face; his gaze was both weary and incredulous.

“You…” Tianwu’s voice was hoarse from exertion.

He gasped twice more, as if still recovering from a sprint.

“What’s wrong?” Xingyu sheathed her twin swords.

Tianwu raised his hand, pointing directly at her, eyes wide with disbelief.

He caught his breath several times, as if gathering strength, then shouted, “You actually… copied me!!”

“Oh.” Xingyu shrugged and admitted it outright, “Yeah.”

“No, no, that’s not right!” Tianwu’s face flushed red. “You’re not allowed to copy me!!”

---

Xingyu was a little surprised; she hadn’t expected such a strong reaction from Tianwu. “Why not? When we worked together earlier, I thought it was pretty fun.”

Tianwu’s face grew red, but he stammered without a proper response.

After a moment, he hesitantly said in a softer voice, “But if you do that… then I, I won’t be special in the boss’s eyes anymore.”

Xingyu was momentarily at a loss.

What was she supposed to say?

She certainly wasn’t an expert in adolescent psychology...

After a brief silence, she struggled to squeeze out a few words, “Didn’t you say you’re… um, my senior, and that you’re supposed to protect me?”

That seemed to revive Tianwu’s spirits.

A complex expression flickered across his face, as if wrestling with an internal struggle. Finally, he took a deep breath and said, “Alright, then… fine, you can copy me. But!”

He suddenly raised his voice, wearing a serious expression, “You have to promise me you’ll tell Sister Hill that you learned these moves from me!”

Xingyu exhaled in relief—

Communicating with children was truly troublesome.

She reached out her hand: “Deal.”

Only then did Tianwu’s expression shift from sunny to overcast. He gripped her hand tightly and shook it.

The light rekindled in his eyes, as if the earlier incident had never happened. “Let’s go! You still have a lot to learn! Your technique just now was—” He made an exaggerated grimace, “terrible!”

They left the roadside mess untouched and headed back.

Tianwu chatted intermittently, criticizing Xingyu’s earlier moves.

“When you jumped onto the low wall, your movements were too large. In that kind of environment, once you attract the enemy’s attention, it’s hard to hide again.”

“Your body posture wasn’t low enough, and you’re taller than me. You need to lower your center of gravity as much as possible. That not only reduces the chance of being spotted but also lets you react faster.”

“Also, you don’t control your breathing at all! When hiding, you have to learn to adjust your breath to blend with the ambient sounds.”

That actually made some sense.

Xingyu was silent, realizing she couldn’t really argue.

She had to admit she had almost no control over such details.

“Your gaze is still too sharp. When observing your surroundings, you have to learn to use a ‘soft’ look, not stare directly at one point. This widens your field of vision and avoids drawing attention.”

...She didn’t really understand that last part.

The whole lecture made her feel both taught and a bit discouraged.

Tianwu was an ordinary person who could never surpass an extraordinary being… three years of combat experience… and still a kid…

She had never even considered these details.

“I got it... I’ll try.”

During this exchange, she actually felt a bit closer to Tianwu.

“By the way, why did you become our agent?” Tianwu suddenly changed the subject, his tone clearly curious.

“Huh?” Xingyu was caught off guard by the sudden question.

---

“I mean, how did you impress the boss?” Tianwu scrutinized her carefully. “Although Fran has been insisting on recruiting agents, the boss never wanted to. We all thought she was just humoring Fran, but she actually brought you on board.”

“Uh...” Xingyu was momentarily speechless.

Of course, she knew the truth—

Because she was extraordinary.

However, Fran had specially advised her to hide her “identity” and avoid revealing that she was extraordinary.

After a brief internal struggle, she decided to trust Hill’s judgment.

She shook her head: “I don’t know either. Maybe you should ask Hill?”

Though Xingyu tried to toss the question back, Tianwu didn’t seem willing to drop it.

He persisted: “What did you do before? Where did you live?”

He seemed intent on probing her past to discover why Hill chose her.

Xingyu didn’t follow his line of thought but countered: “Why do you care so much about my past?”

Tianwu noticed the shift in her tone and instantly realized he might have crossed a line.

He choked slightly, a look of embarrassment flashing across his face. “...Uh, sorry.”

The apology was surprisingly straightforward.

Tianwu looked down at his feet, voice growing softer: “I just… want to know why. The boss said she wouldn’t recruit new agents unless we all died.”

“Are we holding her back? I know we can’t keep up with her, but...”

He looked up at Xingyu, his gaze now unmistakably clear—“Why you?”

At that moment, Xingyu began to vaguely grasp Tianwu’s doubts, and perhaps the strange words Bianyin had said to her yesterday—

These few people at the Rain Drop Agency, though not unfriendly, didn’t understand why she was recruited.

In their eyes, she had no outstanding qualities that could justify Hill’s breaking her usual rule of never accepting new agents.

Xingyu had never pondered this question deeply before, but now, thinking carefully, some doubts surfaced within her.

How did Hill immediately recognize she was extraordinary?

She possessed the ability of Information Reading, which allowed her to instantly perceive others’ powers and effects, so it made sense that her identity was discovered.

But now, after days of experience, she realized there was no way anyone could instantly identify extraordinary beings at a glance.

Extraordinary individuals kept their abilities secret even by name.

Hill had been an agent for over a decade. When she was attacked by Red Flame members, those people only had a vague understanding of her powers; they only knew she was a psychic.

Hill had specifically warned her to watch out for Quna because Quna dealt with unruly extraordinary beings, and Xingyu’s ability—to immediately see others’ powers and effects—was undoubtedly invaluable for their missions.

Before Hill spoke up, she had never voluntarily revealed her extraordinary abilities...

Unable to fathom the reason, she resolved to ask Hill directly the next day.

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