Qiu Wuji's way of getting Chu Ge and Yueying out of there had indeed not involved the elevator.
Everyone knew that actually trying to run by elevator would be a joke. Going in was only meant to point everyone's thinking at the elevator, when in fact they had never been in it at all.
Her method was a cut above the rest—the average person wouldn't think of it, and even if they did, they couldn't stop it.
It was called teleportation, or translocation. That's how flashy a soul that can pierce through worlds can be.
But teleporting with two people along was overload for her in her present state; she could only barely shift them outside the Miracle Nightclub, slipping into the alley beside it before she stopped.
That was why the misdirection was needed—she simply didn't want the other side finding them too quickly. If it came to a real clash, Qiu Wuji wasn't afraid, but Chu Ge's life would probably become unlivable.
The other side, however, didn't seem to buy it—but they didn't come out searching either.
Seeing Qiu Wuji stagger slightly as she found her footing, Chu Ge hurried to steady her. "Are you all right?"
Qiu Wuji glanced at the arm he was holding and said nothing, only: "I'm fine. It was the limit of my range; carrying two people is a bit of a strain, that's all. Run ahead to the mouth of the alley and flag down a car, would you? I'll help this young lady along and follow."
Seeing Qiu Wuji catch her breath and appear genuinely fine, Chu Ge said no more and sprinted off to hail a cab.
Yueying leaned against Qiu Wuji's other shoulder, quietly watching the two of them the whole way. From beginning to end they spoke only to each other, never so much as glancing at her.
Chu Ge had stolen looks at her before, and she knew what that look in a man's eyes implied. But now Chu Ge seemed changed, like he'd turned into another person… and the one beside him had changed too.
Propped up and walked toward the alley mouth in silence, she took a long while before murmuring, "Thank you."
Qiu Wuji glanced at her. "Do you always talk this little?"
Yueying blinked, then shut her mouth and didn't answer.
Talking at all was already something; she wasn't in the habit of speaking with people.
No wonder an esper this strong ended up like this—she's just been strung along. A veteran of the jianghu, Qiu Wuji could guess at a glance how many twists and turns were involved. She wanted to fire off a few jabs, but they wouldn't come out; it occurred to her that she herself had been strung along by Chu Ge plenty of times. When you're blind as a bat in a brand-new world, what good is being an old hand…
When this girl first awakened her power, it must have been like stepping into a new world too—no different, really.
Only she hadn't run into someone like Chu Ge—"I treat you with goodwill"—though what that goodwill ultimately amounted to was open to debate…
She sighed. "Take the mask off. You're going to get into a cab like that?"
Yueying looked up. Out beyond the alley, Chu Ge had already found a car and seemed about to come back and help her, then hesitated.
She answered quietly, "It's all blood under the mask. Even less fit to be seen."
"That's hardly a problem." Qiu Wuji waved a hand, and Yueying's mask fell away. At the same instant, the gruesome blood on her face was gone, clean as though she'd just washed it, and even the splotches of blood on her clothes had vanished. All that remained was her ashen face and bloodless lips, proof of how badly she'd just been hurt.
Yueying was stunned.
She had taken this woman for a terrifying spatial esper; the way the wall-walker had been made to appear in the greenery outside without a sound that day, and today's teleport, both proved it.
But what is this instant cleaning just now? A water-control power?
Does she have multiple powers?
How have I never heard of such a thing? Isn't it supposed to be impossible—at most, an esper can evolve within a single type?
What's going on here?
Yueying got into the car in a daze, listening to Chu Ge in the passenger seat give the driver the name of their residential compound, and couldn't shake the feeling that it was all dreamily unreal.
Sirens suddenly rose in the distance.
Chu Ge whipped his head around and watched from afar as police cars turned onto the Miracle Nightclub's street.
Did the cops find something wrong with the place?
The taxi turned the corner, and that distant storm was out of sight.
Best thing for it if the police step in—a place that ruins people like that shouldn't exist.
"If my analysis is right, the wall-walker never got a message back, which means the other side still doesn't know where you live. How did you manage that?"
Back at the apartment, Qiu Wuji pulled Yueying onto the couch for a chat. Watching Sect Master Qiu hold the girl's hand, her face wreathed in an auntie's fond beam, Chu Ge kept his expression blank.
Just the other day you were planning to drive her off with your own hands and wipe her memories and whatnot… this kindly old lady bit is seriously jarring, you know.
As if she'd sensed his silent snark, Qiu Wuji turned and glared at him. "Shoo, shoo. With you standing there, a girl can't talk freely."
Chu Ge shrank back. "I'm going to take a shower."
If the girls can't talk freely, then you go hide in the girls' room. Why does the man always have to give way? Angry. Shaking. Cold.
Yueying stole a glance at Chu Ge gathering his pajamas and closing the bathroom door, then said quietly, "Every time I leave, I melt into the shadows for a stretch and only come out to head home once I'm sure no one is following."
"Why not shadow-travel the whole way?" If you stayed in the shadows the whole way, certain perverts wouldn't get to watch you coming home in the middle of the night, and there'd be nothing to leer at.
Yueying said quietly, "I… don't have enough power. I can't do it."
Qiu Wuji looked her up and down, and Yueying felt as though a sharp arrow had pierced deep into her soul, dissecting her from head to toe.
And what power is this one?
"This shadow control of yours—even I don't have it. It's an extremely powerful gift, with limitless potential." Qiu Wuji mused, and found a talent-lover's fondness stirring in her heart instead.
In the end, that was a sect master's way of thinking. She couldn't help feeling that if the sect could gain one more member like this, and everyone studied this shadow method together, that would be rather nice…
A pity. She definitely wouldn't be able to get in, though.
"How did this ability of yours come about?"
"I don't know… When I was little I had no one to play with, so I often talked to the shadows. Slowly I found that they seemed to understand what I said…"
Chu Ge suddenly shouted from the bathroom, "What year did that start?"
Yueying fell silent.
Qiu Wuji snatched up a throw pillow and hurled it at the bathroom. "Just take your shower! Is that any time to ask what year?"
Chu Ge shrank back again.
Listening to the rush of water in the bathroom, Yueying took a long while before saying quietly, "Three or four years ago, I think. I can't remember exactly."
Qiu Wuji said gently, "Why were you talking to shadows all alone? What about family and friends?"
Yueying didn't answer that.
Silence filled the room.
Inside the bathroom, Chu Ge's mood sank as well. A little girl, no one to talk to, speaking to shadows all by herself… whatever lay behind that was a little heartbreaking, and not the sort of thing to press her on.
After quite a while, Yueying said quietly, "Thank you both for saving me. I—I'll move out right away, so I won't put you to any trouble."
"If the other side doesn't even know you live here, there's no trouble to speak of." Qiu Wuji said coolly, "When this Sect Master chooses to protect someone, who would dare bring them trouble?"
Chu Ge: "…"
Forget it. The police are involved now, so it should be fine…
Still, why insist on keeping her here? Moving out isn't such a big deal.
Qiu Wuji answered soon enough: "Because this Sect Master is very interested in your ability, and would like to know whether it can be learned or spread."
Figures.
Yueying said, "But I really don't know where this ability comes from."
Qiu Wuji asked, "Then how do you train it?"
"I don't know… All I know is that if I fight people a lot it slowly gets stronger. Before, the shadows couldn't hurt anyone; later on, little by little, they could."
"Does repeating the manipulation when nothing's going on help?"
"It does, but it's very slow. Fighting is fastest."
Qiu Wuji nodded slightly. In the end, this was still a kind of mental power, and the mind could be raised through repeated training. As for fighting—that was simply faster growth under pressure, nothing so remarkable.
But the way her power had come into being was very peculiar, and all but impossible to replicate.
"No wonder you went into underground boxing… Though honestly, it's a wonder you weren't talked into work as a bodyguard or a hitman."
Yueying shook her head. "I don't trust them, and I don't want to take orders. Fight matches, win however many, get paid for however many—that's fair and square."
She paused, then added, "I don't trust anyone."
Qiu Wuji looked into her eyes and knew this was a deeply withdrawn girl with thick walls around her heart, who trusted only the shadows around her.
All the talking she's done today is just repayment for a life-saving favor—it doesn't mean she actually trusts us. If anything, after coming so close to death today, her trust in people ought to be lower than ever.
Really, the girl was a sad case all around. She thought winning however many matches meant getting paid however much, fair and square—but here she'd definitely been cheated out of her money. Otherwise, why would people stake their lives on underground fights? The pay had to be good. And yet she looked to have barely any.
Cheated even at this—who could she trust?
Perhaps because the water in the bathroom had stopped and Chu Ge sounded about to come out, Yueying finally stood and said calmly, "I can't go back to fighting either… Sister, if you want to look into my ability, come find me anytime. I won't disturb you and your husband any longer…"
Every other thought flew out of Qiu Wuji's head at those words; her voice jumped an octave. "Who said we're husband and wife!"
"Yes. Understood." Yueying gave a small bow and backed out the door.
Qiu Wuji: "?"
Understood what, exactly?