"Scales!"
Dan Zhe cried out in a panic.
"I went to the flower shop a long time ago..."
"The scales had already fallen off by then..."
Dan Zhe's words came out in a jumble. "But she could still keep finding me..."
"...I thought it was strange..."
"Yet I still believed her nonsense..."
"There must still be scales on me!"
"I have to find them!"
"Don't move."
Xiao Xiao stood up.
His gentle words made Dan Zhe stop without thinking.
A twinge of pain spread through Dan Zhe's heart, as though it were cramping.
He suddenly widened his eyes.
"Right!"
He reached out to grab the young man's shoulder.
"You—"
"Ow!"
Dan Zhe clutched his hand, nearly crying from the pain.
He sucked in a sharp breath.
It took a while before most of the pain on the back of his hand faded.
"W-what happened?"
But the next moment, he forgot all about that.
"Help me look for the scales!"
If it was this man...
He could help him look for the scales.
"Don't move."
The words sounded familiar.
Confused and irritated, Dan Zhe said, "The scales..."
The thought of having one of her scales on him made him feel uncomfortable all over.
He took off his sweater.
"Don't move."
Xiao Xiao shook his head helplessly.
He reached out and pressed a hand to Dan Zhe's shoulder.
Dan Zhe immediately felt a powerful force bear down on him.
He couldn't move.
"Look."
Xiao Xiao's voice sounded again a moment later.
He held out his hand in front of Dan Zhe.
Dan Zhe's unfocused eyes suddenly snapped into clarity.
That was...
"Scales!"
"There are... two!"
One was the one he had dropped in the shop before.
Which meant...the other one was...
"It's on the back