“『Ingenious Object』…?” Tian Tian looked up at Zheng Yingxiong, “Is that my ability?”
“Yes,” Zheng Yingxiong nodded. “But I can only smell the name—I don’t know the specifics of how it works. To figure out how to activate it, you’ll have to reflect on your real-life experiences.”
“My… experiences?” Tian Tian froze for a moment before realization dawned. “No wonder these parts…”
“Hey, sis—” The young man in front of her stepped forward. “Time’s a bit tight, so I might have to leave first…”
Tian Tian blinked, then snapped back to reality. “Could you not call me ‘sis’?”
“Huh?” The young man looked puzzled. “I’m eighteen, just a freshman… and you?”
“I…” Tian Tian hesitated awkwardly. “I’m twenty-one.”
“So… a junior?” he pressed.
“I…” She averted her gaze slightly. “Never mind. You two go ahead… Just give me a map. I don’t feel safe walking there alone.”
“Okay… sure…”
The young man picked up a scrap of wood from the ground and quickly sketched out a route.
Zheng Yingxiong also retrieved his strange “sword” from the ground, but he was still unsteady, swaying as he walked.
Seeing this, the young man rummaged through Old Fang’s corpse and pulled out a bundle of portable outdoor rope. He tied it around Zheng Yingxiong’s waist, then secured him to himself before climbing back onto his bicycle.
“Sis, leave the kid to me—it’ll be fine.” The young man wiped the sweat from his face. “By the way, what’s your name? I’m Cheng Aoyu.”
“Zhang… Tian Tian,” she replied. “Just call me Tian Tian.”
“Got it, Tian Tian-jie. We’ll meet at the hideout later. Don’t worry, it should just be me there—it’s safe.”
The little hero in the backseat waved. “See you later, sis!”
As the two gradually disappeared into the distance, Tian Tian’s expression grew uncertain.
“…『Ingenious Object』?” she murmured to herself. “Electronic devices…?”
Steeling herself, she immediately headed back into the building. She remembered it was an abandoned diner. After some searching, she found an old LCD TV buried under the rubble.
The TV was shattered beyond recognition, and a chunk of the screen was missing—strangely, in the shape of a sword.
Tian Tian picked up a rusted nail from the ground and deftly pried open the TV’s back panel to inspect the interior.
The circuit boards and wires were all gone—as if…
Someone had taken them to make something else.
“Gears…” A thought suddenly struck her. “Where did the gears come from?”
She rummaged through the ruins until she found a toppled grandfather clock in the corner.
After examining its structure, she skillfully opened the clock’s door and peered inside. Sure enough, the pendulum had stopped, and the gears were missing.
“Could 『Ingenious Object』 be…?” A wild idea flashed through her mind, but she found it almost absurd.
She’d heard Yun Yao say that most “Echoes” granted supernatural abilities—but hers was just ridiculous.
“A TV and a clock…” Tian Tian clutched her forehead, feeling a sudden mental block. “Because I understand these two things… I can manipulate their parts freely…?”
To her, 『Ingenious Object』 was far too limiting. What if the objects around her weren’t TVs or clocks?
What if, in a dangerous situation, there were no grandfather clocks or TVs nearby? Would her ability still work?
“What am I supposed to do…?”
She desperately wanted to help Yun Yao, but Yun Yao’s ability, 『Strong Fortune』, was undeniably powerful just from its name. But 『Ingenious Object』?
“Clever objects…”
No matter how impressive the name sounded, because “Echoes” were activated subconsciously, Tian Tian could only create things she understood.
Her education was limited. Before entering her current profession, she’d only worked on two assembly lines. How could she possibly know the inner workings of other complex devices?
So, in the end, the full extent of 『Ingenious Object』 was just cobbling together a short sword from scrap parts… and maybe fixing a bicycle?
“Pathetic…”
She stood up abruptly, dusting off her hands with a disappointed expression.
Rather than gaining some extraordinary power, it would’ve been better if she’d never learned her ability was 『Ingenious Object』—at least then she could’ve held onto some hope for the future.
Taking a deep breath, she picked up the map Cheng Aoyu had given her and checked it against the sky. It was around two or three in the afternoon. If she left now, she could probably reach the hideout before dark.
Since staying here wasn’t safe, she had no choice but to set off alone.
……
Qi Xia sat silently in Xu Liunian’s car, staring out the window as the black threads slowly retracted into the sky. It seemed the “Pegasus Hour” was truly over.
“Qi Xia… where to next?” Xu Liunian asked.
“Turn right ahead.”
With a grim expression, Xu Liunian turned the wheel. “Are you planning to follow Qinglong’s map and find those ‘Zodiacs’?”
Qi Xia didn’t answer, his gaze still fixed outside.
“But we don’t know their intentions… Shouldn’t you prepare more thoroughly before going?”
Hearing this, Qi Xia turned to look directly into Xu Liunian’s eyes. “I can tell you mean well, but you don’t know what I’m thinking. Just drive. I have my own plans.”
His firm tone silenced Xu Liunian, and she could only continue following his directions.
Half an hour later, Qi Xia guided her to a five- or six-story building.
Standing outside was a tall, white-furred Earth Tiger.
Seeing a taxi approaching, the Earth Tiger was baffled. When Qi Xia stepped out of the passenger seat, his expression grew even more complicated.
This guy had been running from the black threads not long ago—how had he returned by car so quickly?
The Earth Tiger racked his brain but couldn’t make sense of it. His mouth opened and closed several times, words failing him.
Finally, after a long pause, he managed to force out a sentence:
“I-impressive as always…”
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