Super God Academy: Kabuto

The light in the pavilion subtly distorted.

Liang Bing and Qiangwei immediately looked over alertly, only to see Lin Yu appear side by side with a silver figure—it was He Xi.

Liang Bing's pupils suddenly contracted, and almost instinctively she stood up, shielding Qiangwei half a step behind her. Her brows furrowed, and her sharp gaze shot straight at He Xi: "What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be overseeing the Merlo Heavenly Court right now?!"

He Xi seemed quite satisfied with Liang Bing's alarmed reaction. Her azure eyes gleamed with amusement as she gracefully took a small step forward. "Liang Bing, long time no see. Do you need to be so excited to see me?" She tilted her head slightly, her tone teasing. "Tsk, your reaction makes me a little embarrassed."

"Answer my question!" Liang Bing's voice was low, yet even more oppressive, the aura of the Demon Queen faintly emanating from her.

"Why can't I be here?" He Xi chuckled, her gaze sweeping over the exquisite courtyard before finally settling on Liang Bing's tense face. "This place, in a sense, is 'my home.' Liang Bing, after tens of thousands of years, how come you haven't improved at all in your habit of getting easily agitated and relying entirely on guesswork to make judgments?"

"Your home?" Liang Bing abruptly turned to look at Lin Yu, who hadn't spoken, then quickly looked back at He Xi. A flicker of surprise and realization crossed her eyes, finally settling into a complex understanding. "You...?"

"Yes." Lin Yu reached out and naturally and affectionately put his arm around He Xi's shoulder, giving an affirmative answer, "Our home." He looked at Qiangwei, who was being protected by Liang Bing, and steered the conversation back on track, "Her understanding of time and space is no less than mine, so it's most suitable for her to help Qiangwei. If you're not comfortable with that," he paused, offering another option, "the new instructor in the Super Soldier Squad also has unique insights into time and space. You can decide for yourselves."

Liang Bing looked at Qiangwei, asking for her opinion with her eyes.

Without much hesitation, Qiangwei took a half-step forward and earnestly said to Lin Yu and He Xi, "Brother Lin Yu, I believe in you and He Xi... Sister-in-law. I'm willing to learn from you."

"Okay." Lin Yu nodded and looked at He Xi.

He Xi gave Qiangwei a calm yet confident smile: "I will only teach you systematically once. How much you understand and how you proceed from there is up to you."

"Since you're here, don't rush off." Lin Yu waved his hand, and a set of simple and elegant tea set appeared on the stone table, steaming and fragrant with tea. He poured tea for the group.

Liang Bing took the teacup, sipped it, raised an eyebrow, and commented bluntly, "The taste... is just so-so. I still prefer my red wine." Despite saying this, she did not put down the teacup.

Lin Yu looked at her and suddenly asked a seemingly abrupt question: "You and your sister...?"

Liang Bing's grip on the teacup tightened almost imperceptibly. She didn't answer immediately, but instead looked up at the sky, her gaze seemingly piercing through the clouds to see the long-vanished emerald star in the distant night sky.

"At the end of obsession... lies endless darkness." Her voice lowered, losing some of her usual arrogance and gaining a rare weariness and a kind of philosophical gloom. "Keisha... she is a true 'god.' We are not." She withdrew her gaze to the reflection of the tea swirling in her cup. "Perhaps, this is the best of times. Her 'justice' was too pure, too heavy, perhaps not suitable for this era of chaos and corruption."

The pavilion suddenly fell silent. Lin Yu, He Xi, and even Qiangwei all looked at Liang Bing. Whether it was the steam from the tea or something else, a single, glistening tear silently slid from the corner of Liang Bing's eye and quickly disappeared into her slightly lowered cheek.

Lin Yu remained silent, slowly sipping his tea and gazing at the sky, as if savoring the myriad flavors of Liang Bing's words.

Liang Bing took a deep breath, casually wiping her cheek with her hand. All her outward emotions vanished instantly, and she reverted to her usual nonchalant demeanor. She put down her teacup and stood up. "Rose, we should go." She turned to Lin Yu and He Xi, her tone returning to normal. "Come 'visit' again when you have time. Goodbye."

Without waiting for a response, the wormhole opened, and she, holding Rose's hand, quickly disappeared into the ripples.

The aroma of tea lingered in the pavilion. Lin Yu and He Xi stood side by side, gazing at the spot where they had disappeared, neither speaking. After a moment, as if sensing something, they both turned their heads to look behind them—in the invisible direction of the Winter Cherry Blossom World.

Inside the small world, by the window of the lakeside cottage. Keisha had risen from the sofa sometime earlier and was quietly leaning against the window frame, her slender fingers not holding a teacup. She calmly "watched" everything that had just happened in the direction of the pavilion, her delicate face expressionless, except for the slightly tense, overlapping fingertips that revealed a hint of unease. She said nothing, simply gazing silently, as if she could pierce through the barrier of space and see the departing figure of her rebellious younger sister.