Kiara had made a fool of herself playing bumper cars. After waking up, she was embarrassed for a long time, but it was clear she wasn't angry.
Alex took the opportunity to take her to play other games. From initial hesitation to later enthusiasm, Kiara had a lot of fun, as if a switch inside her body had been flipped, and her personality became much livelier.
By the end of the day, their study plan had completely fallen through, and they had spent the entire afternoon playing outside.
Unknowingly, it was late at night. Freya had already called several times, and Kiara's mother was also urging her to return. When she received her mother's call, Kiara realized it was already so late and hurriedly urged Alex to go home.
Getting into a taxi, the young girl recovered from the excitement and felt exhausted. Her head nodded like a chick pecking at rice, and before long, she leaned involuntarily on Alex's shoulder.
Alex touched her head affectionately and adjusted his position to let her sleep more comfortably.
Kiara's presence brought some long-forgotten memories to the surface of his mind. Those were the memories of the original little Alex. In the memories, the little girl was just like the current Kiara—ignorant, cute, and thoughtful.
Alex couldn't help but consider that perhaps he should try to look into the orphanage matter from back then, but this matter could not be known by Freya, lest she overthink it.
Before he knew it, they arrived home. Alex pushed Kiara gently to wake her up.
Opening her eyes hazily to look at Alex, Kiara subconsciously wiped her mouth with the back of her hand and felt a wetness. Then she looked down at Alex's shoulder and found it was wet too.
The girl realized what had happened, her pretty face flushed instantly, and she lowered her head in embarrassment, stammering, "Um... sorry..."
"It doesn't matter. I have to take a shower when I get back anyway." Alex smiled at her.
She didn't know if it was just her imagination, but Kiara felt that his smile carried warmth at this moment, and his voice was indescribably gentle. It made her ears feel soft and her heartbeat accelerate. The sudden shyness made her turn her head away in a hurry, not daring to meet Alex's eyes.
Alex was stunned, realizing his own abnormality. It seemed that the little Alex's memories were affecting him.
He shook his head, not caring, and said to Kiara, "Let's go, we're home."
Kiara was stunned. She turned to look at Alex, feeling completely different from just a moment ago, as if the gentleness of that moment was just her imagination.
For some reason, Kiara felt a bit disappointed. She nodded dully, "Mm," and then opened the car door to get out.
"What's wrong with her?" Alex couldn't understand for a moment, so he followed her out.
The road to Alex's home passed by Kiara's house. When they reached her doorstep, the girl turned around, wanting to say something to him.
However, Alex smelled a faint scent of blood in the air. His expression turned serious instantly. He pressed on the girl's shoulder and said earnestly, "Xiao Fu, remember not to go out tonight after you go back."
Kiara was confused, but out of trust in Alex, she still nodded.
After saying that, Alex turned and ran toward his own home.
Kiara stood at the door for a while until her mother called her from inside, then she walked in.
Just as she was about to close the door, she looked back in the direction Alex had left. She didn't know if she had misread it, but just now, Alex seemed very nervous. She didn't think too much about it.
Alex ran toward his home with a grave expression. The smell was drifting from the direction of his house. Thinking of Freya, he immediately took out his phone and called her.
"Hello, Alex, haven't you come back yet? The food is already cold!" Freya grumbled in a very dissatisfied tone.
Alex breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Soon. You should heat up the food first and wait for me to come back to eat."
It seemed something had happened outside, and it was best if Freya didn't go out right now.
Freya complained, "I won't do it. You must be lying to me. Did you eat out with that someone? And eating a couple's meal, how excessive..."
After talking for a long time, Freya realized Alex had already hung up. She gritted her teeth in anger, glared at the table full of food that had long since gone cold, and pouted, "This is the last time. If you dare to lie to me, I'll steal all your panties and punish you with having none to wear!"
As if thinking of something interesting, she chuckled.
Standing outside his home, looking at the few drops of dark red liquid on the ground, Alex sneezed. His nose was sensitive to the smell of blood, but conversely, he could use this to find the source of the incident.
At this moment, Alex hesitated about whether to take this risk, but another thought reminded him that this matter was definitely related to Freya. Freya's identity was mysterious, and the bloodstains were found outside her home. This matter not only concerned Freya's safety but also his own.
After figuring this out, Alex didn't hesitate and followed the bloodstains. He found that these bloodstains were dripping in a very regular pattern, as if deliberately left behind, wanting someone to discover them.
"It couldn't be that woman, could it?"
Thinking of that hateful woman, Alex hesitated for a moment but did not stop his pace.
...
An Suling tracked the enemy to the edge of the perimeter wall and saw the blood left behind by the other party on the wall. She didn't hesitate and climbed over.
During the previous confrontation, she had stabbed the other party, and the other party had also injured her shoulder, but she was still more skilled.
The enemy fled in panic, and An Suling had to track him all the way to kill him so that he wouldn't spread the news.
The moment she climbed over the wall, An Suling froze, looking at the tall figure standing not far away. He was holding a syringe and injecting an unknown liquid from it into his chest. The wound on top immediately stopped bleeding.
"You finally chased after me. If I hadn't been worried about attracting the attention of your people, I could have killed you just now."
The figure smiled, his voice feminine, which didn't match his overall image at all.
An Suling frowned and said, "You can come and try."
The figure didn't mind and said lightly, "You must be 'Zero', right? It seems there's no mistake this time. What I just did was to force you to appear. The woman you are protecting must be the person I am looking for!"
An Suling felt uneasy inside. She felt she had fallen into a trap.
The figure looked at her with a playful expression, his tone indescribably happy, and continued:
"Actually, after noticing the tight security in this residential area a few days ago, I had a premonition that this time it was for real. Now that I've truly achieved my wish, it wasn't in vain after all my calculations!"
Freya's heart sank. She finally knew where the problem lay. After that mysterious person who used cement to attack ran away that night, she thought people from the hostile force had snuck in, so she sent people here, but it unexpectedly attracted the enemy's attention.
The figure in the darkness said, "I hid my identity to come here just so the news wouldn't leak out. Even the organization, no one can stop me!"
An Suling's face turned ashen.
At this moment, the figure raised an eyebrow, cast a glance behind An Suling, and said in surprise, "I didn't expect someone to catch up this quickly."
An Suling turned her head with great effort, her eyes wide.
Alex jumped down from the wall. He glanced at An Suling, then looked away. He made no effort to conceal his face; having just heard the person opposite say that An Suling was suffering from an incurable poison, there was no need to hide anymore.
Alex fixed his gaze on the burly figure opposite him, took a deep breath, and walked toward his opponent.
"Don't go over there..." An Suling said in a panic, but her body was weak and her head spun, leaving her unable to take any action.
Alex ignored her and stopped in front of the figure, at a distance of no more than three meters.
The figure's gaze was icy. Judging by the earlier jump over the wall, Alex was nothing special other than having a strong physique. That such a guy dared to provoke him to his face surprised him, but his cautious nature made him decide to end the fight quickly.
The figure moved. In a flash, he appeared before Alex, fingers curved, clawing toward Alex's throat.
Alex's eyes flickered. He raised his hand to grab, simultaneously activating his vibration ability. The opponent's entire arm instantly went numb, and the small bottle containing the poison he was holding dropped to the ground.
The figure let out a muffled groan. Before he could react, he saw Alex's other hand with four fingers tightly pressed together, emitting a buzzing vibration sound, thrusting straight toward his throat.
Alex's speed was not fast—it even seemed somewhat slow in the opponent's eyes—yet he found himself unable to react or dodge. With a crack, he heard the sound of his own throat being crushed.
"Ugh... what... happened..." The figure clutched his throat and stumbled backward, struggling to speak. His words were distorted, and his face was filled with disbelief.
Alex did not look at him, simply saying, "Because you are a woman."
In confusion and bewilderment, the figure collapsed to the ground and died.
Alex turned to look at An Suling. By this time, she was lying on the ground, unable to move, yet she had still witnessed the scene. Seeing him kill the enemy and display the familiar vibration ability, deep shock appeared in her eyes.
Alex walked over to her, crouched down, and said, "You are dying. Although you wanted to kill me, for Freya's sake, I will still find someone to collect your body. Do you have any last words? I can relay them to anyone you need."
An Suling looked at him with a complex expression. After a moment of silence, her face pale, she said intermittently, "Protect... Freya."
"Okay." Alex agreed, then asked, "Tell me, what is your background, and what is Freya's identity?"
An Suling did not answer; the light deep in her eyes grew increasingly dim.
Alex felt helpless; he couldn't force a dying person to speak.
Looking at her miserable state, a spark of compassion stirred in him. He sighed and said, "Is there any unfulfilled wish you have? If it's not too difficult, tell me, and I can help you. For example, if you like someone but dare not confess, after you die, I can go tell him for you."
He said this in a joking tone.
An Suling shook her head, indicating no.
Her eyes stared unfocused at the sky. She remembered the night sky was beautiful tonight, but now she couldn't see anything; her vision was blurred. Only Alex's voice by her ear made her feel that she was still alive, but time was running out. She clearly felt the difficulty in breathing and that her life was slipping away.
For a moment, all the memories of the past twenty-plus years flashed through An Suling's mind like a revolving lantern.
Each scene of memory felt like it had happened just yesterday.
Finally, the images in her mind settled on her childhood, when she was six, resting her head on her mother's lap, listening to her mother tell the story of Snow White.
"One day, a prince riding a white horse passed by and discovered Snow White sleeping in a coffin. He strode over to her coffin, was deeply attracted by her beauty, and fell in love with her immediately."
"The prince kissed the sleeping Snow White. The kiss of love brought Snow White back to life. They joined forces to defeat the evil, and in the end, the prince and the princess lived a happy life in the palace."
An Suling's breathing was weak, her expression intoxicated, lost in her childhood memories.
"Do you have any unfulfilled wishes?"
She heard Alex saying by her ear.
"Cough..." An Suling coughed up blood violently, her eyes wide. She felt her life was nearly at an end. A strong desire to live made her grip Alex's hand tightly, and she struggled to say, "I... don't want to die. I still want to... see... more..."
Alex was silent. He didn't see the familiar prompt, and even if he did, he couldn't save a life that was about to pass away.
Even though she was an enemy, if possible, he hoped An Suling could live. Not only because she was Freya's good friend, but also because she was at least a moderate. If she died and the mysterious organization sent an extremist over, it wouldn't serve Alex's interests.
"I want... to live."
Her murmuring voice faded, and in the end, she could only whisper in her heart: If I am to die, please let heaven grant me a Prince Charming to kiss me awake from my slumber, just like Snow White.
In the end, the body went completely still.
Alex watched quietly, feeling powerless. Just as he was sighing for the lost life, a sudden burst of light erupted before his eyes. A glass-colored crystal ball flew out from his body, hovering in mid-air above An Suling's corpse, and finally melted and dissipated slowly in the dazzling light.
"Third-Party Wish Ball..."
Alex whispered to himself. A strange piece of information flooded into his mind, and at the same time, a feeling like that of a god controlling everything welled up, his body filled with surging power.
He looked at An Suling's lifeless body on the ground, placed his hand on her chest, and could still barely feel a heartbeat, faint to the extreme.
Alex fell silent for a few seconds, then finally leaned down and kissed An Suling on the lips.
A point of green light appeared between their lips and then flowed into An Suling's body through her mouth. Her body seemed to become completely transparent, and one could see countless green specks wandering inside.
Slowly, Alex felt An Suling's breath return, and her heartbeat gradually began to pulse. Before long, she slowly opened her eyes, staring blankly at the bizarre scene before her.
Alex lifted his head, wiped his mouth, and said, "Welcome back."
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