Mygo, you guys seem to be getting a bit heavy-hearted.

"No...you can't...abandon her!"

In the blink of an eye, only Shiina Riki remained standing alone among the friends who came to watch the live show.

"Ugh—one or two of them! Does this band have no normal people in their lives besides the lights?!"

Lixi stomped her feet hard, and then...

Helpless, they chased after them.

Even putting aside the Crychic issue, they are still friends at least.

……

Upon noticing the slight disturbance caused by the girl, Yanming's guitar playing paused almost imperceptibly, and he even pressed the wrong key. However, thanks to his skillful handling, no one except Le Nai, not even the audience, noticed it.

Yanming kept working while looking in the direction of Deng and Xiangzi... Sure enough, they had conspired from the beginning, and only he was kept in the dark.

This song, "Spring Shadows," was not the switch he originally envisioned to revive Crychic, but rather the final judgment handed down to that listener...

From the moment I stepped onto this stage, the only person who truly wanted to revive Crychic was myself, an outsider... and perhaps also the girl who ran away.

Deng and Xiao Xiang have always been planning to say goodbye to the past... but why are they unwilling to tell themselves?

Even if you told him directly, he would support both of their choices and use this time to come up with a completely new solution that would prevent anyone from getting hurt...

Is it really necessary to be so considerate of his feelings?

"Ugh……"

Amidst the electrifying vocals, no one heard the guitarist's sigh.

"ねぇお愿い.

Hey, please.

どうかこのまま里さないでいて.

Please never let go from now on.

ずっとずっと里さないでいて——

Never, ever let go again—

……

The show is over.

Crychic has also ended.

Their band will soon be over.

Lena was the first to run backstage. After putting down her bass, she disappeared in a few steps, just like always, coming and going without a trace.

Miao Meng seemed quite satisfied with the performance, and walked out second with light steps, unaware of the oppressive atmosphere behind her.

But Xiangzi and Deng behind her were different. Even though the performance was considered a great success by the audience, and was several levels above other bands performing live for the first time, they looked dejected and waiting for their fate.

As for why...

"Little lamp, Little Xiang."

This is the reason.

"Alas!"

Toyokawa Shoko, who knew Yanming best, immediately felt a chill run down her spine.

She's angry, right?

She's definitely angry!

Are I going to get arrested and spanked?

Tonic!

"That... Yanming-kun?"

"I'm sorry, Mr. Yanming..."

While Xiangzi was still trying to argue, her good teammate had already decisively pressed the surrender button.

"It's okay, Xiaodeng, I didn't mean to be angry with you."

As for why it's "you" instead of "you all," it's because the other "he" can go back and deal with it later. There are too many people and too many eyes here, making many things difficult to handle.

"I just want to know one thing..."

Why exactly did they choose to play "Spring Shadows"?

"Please explain to me in detail the reasons for doing this and the purpose you hope to achieve."

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Where Did Su Shi Go?

……

As Yanming searched the streets alone, he couldn't stop feeling frustrated.

If only I had noticed it sooner, I could have handled things gently and peacefully, and things wouldn't have escalated to this point.

Motoyo Nagasaki has disappeared.

To be precise, after the child ran out of the Ring, she turned off the only phone that could reach her, so she couldn't see any calls or messages sent to her via Line.

Based on Xiaoxiang and Deng's detailed descriptions, Yanming roughly learned most of the information about this child named "Nagasaki Sosei". He also learned from Xiangzi that this child was the one with the deepest obsession with Crychic.

As for why Su Shi has such a strong obsession, Yan Ming only needs to put himself in Su Shi's shoes; he could figure it out even with a fool's eyes.

That child must be starved for love!

And it's a very serious kind! It's just as bad as my own condition!

Such an extremely love-starved personality, coupled with such a devastating blow...

We need to find her as soon as possible!

If no one is by her side at a time like this, I can't imagine what the child might do!

The police in this country won't accept cases for this reason, so they have to resort to this clumsy method.

Even if it's a clumsy method, as long as there's a possibility, we should at least try to do it... It's better than just waiting.

Although people can usually get over setbacks on their own, what if they do?

Just like if he hadn't happened to bump into the lamp that day, that situation could very well be repeated in this child.

Whether you call it overthinking, making a mountain out of a molehill, or underestimating someone's mental resilience, whatever you say—

We'll have to wait until we find Nagasaki Motoyo before we can talk about any of this!

We must not allow something that could have been salvaged to become irreversible in the slightest!

Yanming ran, his eyes rapidly scanning the crowd.

Her long, flaxen hair made her easily recognizable, and coupled with her more mature demeanor compared to her peers, Yanming was confident that with his dynamic vision, he could accurately pick her out from the crowd.

But no.

Not anywhere.

Yanming quickly searched the streets around Ring, but found no trace of the child.

Meanwhile, pop-up windows on the phone were filled with messages from his companions that they had gained nothing.

...Yanming couldn't believe that a perfectly healthy person could vanish into thin air in less than half an hour.

As for the possibility of the other party going home, that can be ruled out directly. As an older generation band member whose condition was much more serious than Su Shi's, Yan Ming was completely certain that the place that the least wanted to go back to after setbacks was that empty house.

Nagasaki Motoyo must still be somewhere, hiding, hoping that someone will find her, expose her inner thoughts, and let her vent without any pretense or image. And the most suitable person is none other than Hikomei, who just offended her by playing Kasuga Kage on stage!

【ding dong——】

A new message has been sent to your group chat.

[Xiao Xiang: Still haven't found her?]

[Light: ...We didn't find Su Shi, but...we found Li Xi. She's looking for Su Shi just like us, and so is Mu.]

[Yanming: Hurry up. If you feel you've missed anything, search again.]

[Xiao Xiang: Received.]

[Light: Okay, I understand.]

While replying to the message, Yanming was still walking, and in this situation, he failed to notice the petite, light green figure in front of him immediately.

"bump."

"Well."

The latter let out a muffled groan and quickly got up from the ground before Yanming could notice and apologize. Although there was no obvious emotion on her face, Yanming could still see the anxiety in her heart.

"Soyo.Soyo.Soyo..."

A series of rhythmic murmurs escaped from the girl in the light green dress. After confirming that Yanming was not the person she was looking for, she turned and left without hesitation.

Yanming called out to the figure from behind: "Wait a minute!...Excuse me, are you Ruoye Mutsu, the guitarist of Crychic?"

Mu paused in his steps, then turned back and looked Yanming up and down again before saying, "You were the bassist and guitarist on stage just now. I remember you."

"You're also looking for Nagasaki Motoyo, right? Me too, but you know her better than I do. Xiaoxiang said you're the one in Crychic who's closest to her."

Yanming suppressed the pain in his lungs, which was so intense from the strenuous exercise that it would have made most people faint, and managed to keep his mind calm as he tried to convey what he wanted to say to Ruoye Mu as clearly as possible.

“…That’s right.”

Yanming took the opportunity to catch his breath, allowing the cold air to re-enter his alveoli. After slightly relieving the pain, he continued, "I need your help. Searching blindly like this is too inefficient. Even if we find it, the time it will take is a big problem. We must come up with a solution as soon as possible."

"...You're right, what should I do?"

Seemingly sensing the genuine worry and goodwill in the young man, Ruo Yemu agreed with his statement without any doubt.

"think."

Yanming gave his instructions, "That child doesn't have many close friends. You're already one of the closest to her, I'm pretty sure of that, Ruoye. So, I need you to clear your mind and focus on thinking..."

"At this very moment, where is that individual named 'Nagasaki Motoyo' most likely to be?"

"..."

Mu remained silent, standing still in front of Yanming like a tree trunk, and Yanming did not utter a sound to disturb him.

One minute.

Two minutes.

five minutes……

The crowds came and went, but time seemed to stand still for these two. Only Yanming would occasionally raise his hand to protect Mu from being bumped into.

Finally, Wakaba Mutsu raised her eyes: "What's your name?"

"My name is Yanming, and I am a friend of Deng and Xiangzi."

"...Yanming, come with me."

Having said that, Ruo Yemu changed direction and was about to take a step...

Then there is no more.

Because Mu discovered that no matter how she stepped, her body didn't move forward anymore. From the moment she turned around, her body was lifted into the air and completely lost contact with the ground.

— Yanming lifted her up with one hand.

"I'll follow you, Der! Watching you flailing around with those short legs is driving me crazy! You give directions, I'll run!"

"……also."

Ruoye Mu Knight and her mount Yanming have successfully teamed up.

Mission: Rescue Princess Su Shi.

Difficulty: 5 stars.

Mission begins!