While I was chanting a curse, the system said I was Xiao Yan?

At the end of the corridor was a fire door.

As Kuroi Misato pulled Tennari Riko through the door, the sound of shattering glass and a dull thud echoed from the corridor behind them.

She didn't turn around, but simply gripped Tennori Riko's hand even tighter, her knuckles turning white, her nails almost digging into the back of Tennori Riko's hand.

"Kuroi..."

"Don't speak."

Misato Kuroi interrupted her, her voice urgent but still relatively calm: "We'll take the stairs, and once we get to the first floor, we'll exit through the back door. There are cars outside."

Riko opened her mouth as if to say something, but looking at Misato Kuroi's tense face, she swallowed her words. She just squeezed Misato Kuroi's hand tightly and then followed her to the stairwell.

The fire door closed slowly behind them with a dull 'bang,' silencing most of the sounds in the corridor.

The stairwell was quiet, with only the echo of their footsteps. It was only three floors from the fourth floor to the first, and it wouldn't take long to run down, but those dozens of steps seemed to stretch on endlessly beneath their feet, as if they would never reach the end.

"Lord Tengen will protect us," Kuroi Misato whispered.

Riko didn't reply, but bit her lip and quickened her pace downstairs.

As they ran to the second floor, they heard a series of unhurried footsteps coming from the stairwell above.

"Pat-pat, pat-pat, pat-pat,"

The sound of flip-flops stepping on the concrete steps was steady and unhurried, like someone taking a walk after dinner.

Misato Kuroi stopped abruptly, looked up at the top of the stairwell.

The person stood on the corner platform between the second and third floors, backlit, with sunlight streaming in from the stairwell window, casting a golden halo around him.

His expression was unclear, but you could see that the scar at the corner of his mouth was slightly curved, as if he were smiling.

"You run pretty fast," he said, his voice low and husky, with a lazy nonchalance.

Misato Kuroi froze, but only for less than half a second. Then she suddenly pulled Riko Tennen behind her, spread her arms, and stood in front of her like a mother hen protecting her chicks.

Her voice trembled, but her tone was firm: "I won't let you hurt Riko."

Shen Er tilted his head, looking at her as if facing a formidable enemy, and the corners of his mouth curved even wider.

"harm?"

He repeated the word, his tone casual, as if to say, "I'm sorry, it's just a kidnapping. There's no need to be too nervous."

Misato Kuroi paused for a moment.

Kidnapping?

Before she could react, Shen'er had already moved.

His body vanished from the platform and reappeared in front of Kuroi Miri the next second. He pulled a hand out of his pocket, his five fingers joined together, and precisely chopped Kuroi Miri's neck with a chop.

The force was just right, not too strong, not too weak, enough to make her lose consciousness.

Misato Kuroi's eyes widened in that instant, her pupils contracted to the size of pinpoints, and then dilated. Her body went limp, like a puppet whose support had been removed, and she fell silently onto the stairwell platform.

"Kuroi!"

Riko screamed and lunged forward to catch her, but Shinji's hand had already reached out and grabbed her by the back of her collar, lifting her off the ground like a kitten.

"Let me go! You bastard! Let me go!"

Riko struggled desperately, punching and kicking, but her fists hit Shin's arm as if hitting a wall, without moving an inch. Her kicks hit Shin's shin, but Shin didn't even blink.

Don't bother.

Shen'er's voice came from above her head, still languid, but with a hint of impatience: "I said, it's just a kidnapping, I won't kill you or her."

He glanced down at Kuroi Misato lying on the ground, then looked away and carried Tennori Riko downstairs.

The slapping sound of flip-flops echoed in the stairwell, unhurried and gradually fading into the distance.

Riko's struggles grew weaker and weaker until they finally stopped completely. She was simply held in Shinji's hands like a lifeless rag doll, staring blankly at the ceiling of the stairwell, tears streaming down her cheeks.

Why...?

Her voice was very soft, almost inaudible: "Why did you arrest me...?"

Shen Er did not answer.

He walked out of the hotel's back door, through a narrow alley, and onto a quiet street. A black van was parked on the side of the road, its engine running and wisps of white exhaust emanating from its exhaust pipe.

The car door opened, and a hand reached out from inside, took Tennori from Shinji's hand, and pulled her into the car.

"This is troublesome," said the person in the car, his voice hoarse, suggesting he was quite old.

Shen Er didn't reply, but just stood by the car, looking at the dim space inside.

"The person has been received; the mission is confirmed complete," the person inside the vehicle said.

Shen Er nodded, turned around and walked back the way he came. After taking two steps, he stopped, turned his head, and glanced at the bread truck.

"But seriously."

His voice wasn't loud, but it was clear: "What exactly do you want? After all this fuss, all you've got is to kidnap a little girl?"

There was a moment of silence in the car.

Then that hoarse voice rang out again: "This has nothing to do with you."

Shen Er shrugged: "Fine, I'm not interested in your business."

He withdrew his gaze, put his hands in his pockets, and walked deeper into the alley. The slapping sound of his flip-flops echoed in the quiet alley, unhurried and unhurried, exactly the same as when he came.

The bread truck slowly started, drove into the street, merged into the traffic, and quickly disappeared into the afternoon sun.

In the grove of trees outside the hotel.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground. The wind rustled through the leaves, and the occasional bird song drifted from afar. The entire forest was as quiet as a painting.

Nanami Kento lay on the ground, his eyelids twitching slightly.

Then, he suddenly opened his eyes.

His pupils contracted for a split second, and his body instinctively tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his neck made him pause. He gritted his teeth, braced himself against the ground, and slowly sat up, one hand clutching his neck as he gasped for breath.

"Haihara!"

Haibara Yu lay beside him, with some bloodstains where the back of his head had touched the ground. His face was pale, his lips were blue, but his chest was still rising and falling slightly.

Nanami Kento bent down and reached out a finger to check his breathing. He was breathing, though weak, but fairly steadily. He then touched Haibara Yu's neck. His pulse was beating, not fast, but still strong.

Nanami Kento let out a long breath, his tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

Then he looked in the direction of the hotel.

It's very quiet.

There was no sound of fighting, no explosions, not even the sound of glass shattering.

Nanami Kento frowned.

"Hopefully, Natsuyu-senpai has already defeated his opponent..."

He muttered something under his breath, but stopped halfway through. Thinking of the figure that had so easily defeated him, his heart pounded, and he felt an inexplicable unease in his chest, as if something was pressing down on his heart, making it hard for him to breathe.

Nanami Kento took a deep breath, bent down, put Haibara Yu's arm on his shoulder, and half-supported, half-lifted him up from the ground, walking step by step towards the hotel.