She collapsed onto the street, staring blankly at the golden bracelet on her wrist, as if she still couldn't believe the sudden change before her. She kept turning it over and over, then even began striking it hard—but the bracelet still gave her no response.
"Are you all right...? Did you fall? Are you hurt?"
A passerby called out concernedly.
She instinctively looked up and saw a male of the Chi Clan... Beneath his fierce appearance was a gentle and kind heart... probably.
"Don't... touch me!"
She swung her hand, unable to help herself, and knocked away his helping hand.
When the authority she had relied on was completely stripped away in an instant, what remained was endless unease... Even in the Crimson City she knew better than anywhere else, everything now felt utterly unfamiliar.
She had been used to reading the thoughts of every resident of the Crimson City... As long as she wished, the inner voices of every resident would echo in her ears like whispered conversations—once.
"I only wanted to help you up." The male of the Chi Clan said in astonishment, "Don't be nervous."
"I'm fine." The woman took a deep breath, quickly got to her feet, and plunged into the crowd without looking back. Soon, she vanished from sight.
The bell had already rung eleven times. That meant only one more chime remained before the grand ceremony officially began.
In these final moments of the welcome ceremony, the celebratory atmosphere in the Crimson City had nearly reached its peak. People cheered wildly... Homemade colored paper flowers drifted through the air, while musicians paraded through the streets.
You could invite anyone on the street to dance with you, as long as they didn't refuse... She suddenly realized that she had never experienced the atmosphere before