Yellow Raincoat

The pitch-black sports sedan sped out of Rain Alley Home Community, racing through the rain curtain.

"What's wrong?" Deng Yuxiang asked as she drove, glancing at Lu Ran in the passenger seat beside her.

Lu Ran's expression was somewhat grave, as though his heart were weighed down with worries.

"Nothing." Lu Ran came back to himself and used one hand to smooth down his rain-soaked hair.

"Nothing?" Deng Yuxiang smiled. "You look like you've lost your soul. You remembered to bring your saber, yet forgot to wear a raincoat?"

Lu Ran felt a little embarrassed at that.

Immortal Sheep's words back at home had truly startled him.

Lost in wild thoughts, he had even forgotten how he got into the car.

"Don't worry." Deng Yuxiang's voice was unusually gentle. "You have me."

Lu Ran looked surprised as he turned to the domineering heiress behind the wheel.

They had known each other for over a month now. This was the first time he had heard the Great Nightmare speak so softly and tenderly.

Deng Yuxiang said, "July 15th is indeed out of the ordinary, but you really don't need to put too much pressure on yourself.

"If even I can't protect you, then you deserve to die."

Lu Ran said, "Huh?"

Deng Yuxiang shrugged. "At least you won't die unjustly."

Lu Ran said, "..."

And here I was praising you for being gentle. So this was it?

Lu Ran had already experienced the Great Nightmare's skill at comforting people many times.

Yet every single time, Deng Yuxiang managed to say something even more astonishing.

"You..." Lu Ran sighed, adding silently, You always manage to come up with some new trick.

"What about me?" Deng Yuxiang shot Lu Ran a glance.

"You're beautiful." Lu Ran turned to look out the window, watching the rain-soaked street scene endlessly retreat behind them.

The weather forecast said it would rain for the next several days.

This Night of the Fifteenth would likely bring no moon again.

The luxury sports sedan sped all the way to the Barren Area before entering the Wulie Riverbank Community.

Once the car came to a stop, Deng Yuxiang said, "I have spare raincoats in the trunk. Wait here. I'll get one for you."

As she spoke, she had already opened the door and gotten out.

Lu Ran was genuinely a little dazed.

Had the Great Nightmare changed her nature?

She was being far too nice, wasn't she?

Kacha.

The passenger door suddenly opened. Deng Yuxiang held up a yellow raincoat. "Put it on."

"Thanks." Lu Ran took the yellow raincoat, a thought surfacing in his mind.

Was I the Nightmare all along?

Lu Ran and Deng Yuxiang were about the same height, and the raincoat was roomy to begin with, so it fit him perfectly.

As Lu Ran got out of the car, Deng Yuxiang suddenly reached out and adjusted his collar for him.

That gentle gesture made Lu Ran especially uncomfortable.

Deng Yuxiang frowned slightly, displeasure showing on her face. "What kind of expression is that?"

"Sister." Lu Ran was completely numb. "Don't do this. You're making it seem like I won't live to see tomorrow's sun.

"Hurry up and change back. I can't take it."

Deng Yuxiang smiled and glared at Lu Ran. Raising her hand, she gave the brim of his raincoat hood a light smack. "Enough nonsense!"

Lu Ran let out a long breath.

Ah, that felt better~

"Keep up!" Deng Yuxiang turned and walked away.

Lu Ran took the Xiaguang Saber from the back seat and hurried after her.

The two arrived at the most central residential building in the community and climbed all the way up to the rooftop.

All Three People teammates were already on the dilapidated rooftop. As for the mysterious Captain Ge Bin, Lu Ran still had not seen him.

"Reporting!" Deng Yuxiang called out loudly.

Sun Zhengfang looked at the two "little yellow men" and pointed toward the stairwell entrance. "Go put on your equipment. In half an hour, we'll sweep through the district again."

"Yes!"

"Yes." Lu Ran and Deng Yuxiang turned and returned to the stairwell, picking up Invisible Headphones, headlamps, and other equipment from a battered wooden table.

Behind the table, a massive Horse-Severing Saber leaned at an angle against the corner wall.

That was Deng Yuxiang's weapon. It looked like ordinary steel, but Lu Ran knew full well that it was made of incredibly expensive Tianchen Steel!

The saber was astonishingly long. The knife handle alone measured seventy or eighty centimeters.

The blade was nearly two meters long!

At such a length, the blade did not seem broad at all. It only looked slender and long.

Its edges were sharpened on both sides. It was like both saber and sword, resembling the heavy weapon used by ancient cavalry, yet Deng Yuxiang used it as an Infantry Combat weapon.

"Interested?" Deng Yuxiang had finished putting on her equipment and noticed Lu Ran's gaze as well.

Lu Ran silently nodded.

Deng Yuxiang was indeed indulging Lu Ran quite a bit today. "Take it up to the rooftop and play around with it."

"What's it called?" Lu Ran did not stand on ceremony. He stepped forward and gripped the divine weapon with both hands.

"Night Severing."

"So fierce?" Lu Ran raised a hand and lightly brushed the cold blade edge.

Everyone else went around talking about "slaying demons and massacring devils," but you were something else. You wanted to sever the night itself?

Although the Night Severing Blade had been wiped spotless, Lu Ran could faintly smell a trace of blood.

Who knew how many living beings it had slaughtered in Deng Yuxiang's hands?

"Is it that fierce?" Deng Yuxiang asked casually.

"Of course. Hm?" Lu Ran's fingertips trembled, and he swiftly withdrew his hand.

At the sight, a faint smile appeared on Deng Yuxiang's face.

"This Night Severing Blade..." Lu Ran's eyes lit up as he turned to Deng Yuxiang. "A blade spirit?"

Just now, as his fingertips brushed across the blade body, he had clearly sensed a surge of killing intent.

That dangerous feeling made Lu Ran's temples throb!

"The Night Severing Blade and I are the same. We're only one step from the threshold."

As she said this, Deng Yuxiang's smile gradually faded, and a trace of helplessness rose in her heart.

She was at River Realm, Stage Five, only one step away from the "great expert" known to the commoners.

Her Night Severing Blade was likewise only one step away from gaining a spirit.

Yet though that goal seemed close enough to reach out and touch, she and her saber had been unable to fulfill it for a long time.

"Let's sever tonight, and maybe we'll make it!" Lu Ran comforted her.

Deng Yuxiang gave no response, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.

Lu Ran suddenly reached out and lightly flicked the Night Severing Blade's edge.

Ding~ A crisp sound rang out.

Lu Ran looked at the silent woman. "Did you hear that? Night Severing thinks so too."

"Hehe." Deng Yuxiang laughed despite herself. "Who taught you such a little trick of amusing yourself?"

The Great Nightmare was quite gracious about it and did not say Lu Ran was engaging in self-deception.

"Life."

Those two brief words left Deng Yuxiang stunned.

Lu Ran, meanwhile, carried the Night Severing Blade toward the rooftop.

A more accurate answer was: the life of living alone in his youth.

On the rooftop, the Wei Brothers saw Lu Ran emerge carrying the great saber, and a trace of anticipation inevitably rose in their hearts.

Yet once Lu Ran began to swing it, the brothers' expressions both turned strange.

It was a complete collapse!

When had Lu Ran ever dabbled in such a "heavy weapon"?

He only felt top-heavy and unsteady, finding it especially difficult to wield!

Lu Ran also personally realized just how terrifying the Great Nightmare's strength was!

In the end, Deng Yuxiang had to rescue Lu Ran, taking the Night Severing Blade back into her own hands.

It was not that she was stingy. Mainly, she was afraid the Night Severing Blade would be unhappy.

Deng Yuxiang truly had not expected that Lu Ran, who had always performed so brilliantly, would show weakness and practice such an absurd set of saber techniques.

His feet stumbled and tripped, his body swayed crookedly, like a lame man knocking dates from a tree.

The sight made Deng Yuxiang furious enough that she wanted to savagely kick his good leg.

The daylight hours slipped away bit by bit.

Lu Ran followed the Moon Watcher team as they went about their duties in an orderly manner, patrolling their jurisdiction again and again.

Until the night sky descended, and Rain Alley City sank into deathly silence.

Lu Ran stood at an empty crossroads beneath a streetlamp.

The dim yellow light happened to match the color of his raincoat quite well.

Before him,

There were several storefronts along both sides of the street: an Auto Repair Shop, a hardware store, a supermarket with its doors tightly locked, and a pharmacy with its sign still lit.

Behind the stores stood Residential Buildings one after another. Looking up, he could see the warm lights glowing from household after household.

Behind him,

There was barren land that had been left idle for a long time, as well as an abandoned residential community that was pitch-black and deathly still.

The crossroads was indeed illuminated by streetlamps.

Yet that figure standing in the rain seemed to stand upon the boundary between light and darkness.

The rain

Grew heavier and heavier.

As though foretelling something.