Time Alone

For the past few days, Xu Xiaoyan and Xie Xie had been like two pieces of sticky gum he just couldn't shake off.

Even after shaking them for three whole streets, Tang Wulin could still sense those faint, lingering gazes behind him. Only after confirming that they truly weren't following anymore did he let out a long breath, grab Gu Yue's wrist, and practically drag her onto the nearest soul train platform.

"Whew—finally, some peace and quiet!" Tang Wulin tossed his backpack onto the luggage rack, collapsed into a window seat, and stretched luxuriously. Outside, the soul train's sleek body gleamed metallically beneath the sunlight, its engine letting out a deep, powerful hum.

Gu Yue shook her head helplessly and sat beside him. Taking out her phone, she unlocked the screen and expertly tapped the colorful icon—Match-3. Her slender fingers danced lightly across the screen, every swipe precise and flawless. Crisp, pleasant clearing sounds accompanied her movements, and her expression was so focused that she looked as if she were conducting a delicate soul power control exercise.

Tang Wulin turned his head and watched her slightly furrowed brows and the faint upward curve of her lips whenever she landed a combo. Something tickled at his heart. This sort of quiet, lovely moment was perfect for... a prank.

"Gu Yue, look outside!" He suddenly leaned closer, lowered his voice, and pointed at an advertising board flashing past the window. "Isn't that exciting?"

Without even looking up, Gu Yue calmly gave an "Mm." Her fingers continued swiping across the screen. She completed an L-shaped clear, triggering a three-chain combo as the effects exploded and her score shot upward.

"Hey, stop playing games," Tang Wulin persisted, leaning even closer until he was nearly pressed against her face. In an exaggerated tone, he said, "Look at that billboard. Doesn't it look exactly like that..."

"It doesn't." Gu Yue answered cleanly and decisively, casually completing another five-chain combo. The little character on the screen cheered.

Tang Wulin had run into a wall, but he wasn't discouraged. His eyes shifted, and an idea came to him. He quietly extended one finger, aiming at a colored block near the edge of Gu Yue's phone screen that was about to fall. Holding his breath, he prepared to give it a light flick at the crucial moment just before she made her clear—

Just as Gu Yue was about to complete a four-chain combo, triggering a full-screen explosion effect and earning a three-star clear in one stroke!

Smack!

Tang Wulin's finger flashed like lightning. Precisely, mischievously, and with a smug little grin, he gave it a flick!

That crucial green block had its tiny trajectory forcibly altered by his finger. Instead of falling into its intended spot, it rolled off to the side, breaking the entire clearing chain in an instant!

"Ah—!" Gu Yue let out a low cry. For the first time, ripples stirred in those usually tranquil violet eyes because of a game.

She watched helplessly as victory, which had been within her grasp, slipped away because of that damned, ill-timed interference. On the screen, the dazzling fireworks effect that had been about to bloom abruptly stopped, replaced by the dim screen of "Game Over" and a glaring "Try Again."

Time seemed to freeze for several seconds.

Gu Yue abruptly raised her head and looked at Tang Wulin. Her incomparably cool, beautiful face went through a remarkable series of changes. First, it flushed red like a ripe apple, the physical response of extreme frustration and anger. Then, the red swiftly faded into an almost transparent pallor, the result of reason forcibly suppressing her rage. The two colors alternated like ripples spreading across a lake after a stone had been thrown into it.

"Tang. Wu. Lin!" she ground out through clenched teeth, each word wrapped in icy shards.

"Hehe." Rather than feeling guilty, Tang Wulin leaned back smugly, resting both hands behind his head as he admired his handiwork. "Sorry, Gu Yue. My hand slipped. But you were way too absorbed. I called you forever, and you ignored me."

Gu Yue took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling slightly. She stared at Tang Wulin's face, which was written with innocence—though it was actually full of cunning—and knew that reasoning with him would be a complete waste of breath. To deal with this "large soul-tool creature," she needed physical methods, or... something more primitive.

She said nothing more. Instead, she silently took out a packet of still-warm jerky she had just bought from the station convenience store. Slowly and elegantly, she tore open the packaging. Then, before Tang Wulin could react, she precisely and punitively stuffed a piece of jerky larger than his mouth directly into the mouth that had been preparing to keep grinning foolishly!

"Mmff!" Tang Wulin was caught off guard, his mouth stuffed full. The salty fragrance of the jerky, mixed with a hint of spice, instantly filled his mouth. He wanted to protest, wanted to mock Gu Yue for using food as a weapon, but his tongue was firmly occupied. All he could make were muffled sounds of protest as his eyes widened round.

Seeing his face flush faintly from being choked up, Gu Yue finally curled her lips into a very slight but genuine smile. She picked up a piece of jerky for herself, ready to enjoy the fruits of victory and comfort herself after her game had been ruined.

However, just as she lowered her head to take a bite, a hand—the hand that had just given her that "surprise"—darted over like a ghost. Two fingers precisely pinched the other end of the jerky in her hand!

"You want it?" Tang Wulin asked indistinctly around the jerky in his mouth, wearing a triumphant grin. Then he pulled hard!

Gu Yue held on tightly, and the two engaged in a silent, fierce tug-of-war over a tiny piece of jerky. People came and went through the carriage, but no one noticed that this pair of apparently close lovers was having such a childish battle in their seats.

"Give it to me!" Gu Yue snapped softly, exerting force through her fingertips as she tried to reclaim control.

"Not giving it to you!" Tang Wulin thrust his head forward and lowered his center of gravity, determined to claim the jerky for himself.

The stalemate lasted more than ten seconds. In the end, perhaps Tang Wulin had the advantage in height and weight, or perhaps Gu Yue let her guard down for a moment. With a soft rrrip, the jerky packaging tore beneath their combined force, and the poor piece of jerky was ripped right down the middle!

One half was in Tang Wulin's mouth, while the other half... remained in Gu Yue's hand.

The air fell silent at once. Both of them froze, looking at the half of the jerky in their own hands before looking at the identical blank expressions on each other's faces.

A few seconds later, even louder laughter erupted.

"Hahahaha! Gu Yue, did you see that? We each got half! This is 'fated jerky'!" Tang Wulin laughed so hard his shoulders shook, half a piece of jerky still in his mouth.

Gu Yue looked at his foolish expression, torn between annoyance and amusement. Her earlier frustration and anger had long since vanished in this absurd tug-of-war. She stopped fighting him, simply stuffed her remaining half into her mouth, and bit down hard, accepting the ridiculous outcome.

But that was only the beginning.

Over the next several hours, the two completely let loose, turning the carriage into both their playground and battlefield.

Tang Wulin somehow produced a box of Aeroplane Chess and "strongly recommended" that Gu Yue try this game with its "incredible strategic depth." The outcome was predictable. Every round, he won through all sorts of crooked logic. "Oh, my plane just happened to pass by your airport. What's wrong with staying the night?" "My dice have gravity-sensing functions. Rolling a six is the will of the universe!" At first, Gu Yue managed to stay calm, but eventually she could no longer endure his endless shameless tactics and grabbed her bag to throw at him.

Before the pillow fight's aftermath had even faded, Tang Wulin became interested in Gu Yue's new headphones. "What's this? The latest soul communication device? Let me study it!" Without waiting for an answer, he snatched them away, wore them for a long time, then took them off with a baffled look. "Why is there only static? Is your communication device broken?"

Gu Yue couldn't be bothered explaining that they were new rather than ancient relics. She simply snatched the headphones back and warned him, "Don't touch other people's things."

"Tch, stingy." Tang Wulin pouted, then pulled a thick copy of Federation's Record of Strange Tales from his bag and began reading with a serious air. "...It is said that at the Neon of Night bar in Bright Capital, there is a magical cocktail. After drinking it, one experiences seven-colored hallucinations and may even see that they were a dancing octopus in a past life..."

"Do you believe that?" Gu Yue asked without looking up as she reopened Match-3.

"Of course I don't," Tang Wulin immediately replied. Then he lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "But I'm planning to try it. Want to come with me? Experiencing what it feels like to be an octopus must be pretty special."

Gu Yue was finally amused by him again. She put down her phone and looked at him as if he were an idiot. "You should first make sure you can walk in a straight line after getting off the train."

"Hey! I'm just trying to make things more interesting! Life can't be too rigid!" Tang Wulin protested. Then his eyes rolled, and he tried the same trick again, reaching for Gu Yue's phone to see what new stage she was playing.

Gu Yue had been prepared. She hugged the phone to her chest and tilted away, dodging him. Tang Wulin grabbed at empty air and nearly fell out of his seat, drawing curious looks from several nearby passengers. Somewhat embarrassed, he sat up straight, cleared his throat, and announced, "Since you like this game so much, let's make a bet! I bet you definitely can't clear that stage within ten minutes! What are we betting? Whoever loses pays for our first meal after getting off the train!"

Gu Yue raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure?"

"Of course!" Tang Wulin was brimming with confidence. He felt that his "bad luck aura" in games was simply unbeatable.

Thus, a new round of "warfare" began around the tiny phone screen. Tang Wulin transformed into "Interference Source Number Two," sometimes loudly humming wildly off-key songs he had made up himself, sometimes pretending that his stomach hurt and he needed the bathroom, and sometimes leaning over to point at a corner of the screen while saying in what he thought was a quiet voice, "Huh, looks like there's a hidden stage entrance here..." Gu Yue, meanwhile, activated "blocking mode," put on her headphones with the volume turned up, and focused completely on battling those bouncing blocks.

The shifting lights of the carriage flowed over them as the scenery outside raced backward. From the outskirts of the bustling city, to increasingly sparse clusters of buildings, and then to vast green fields and winding rivers. Time quietly slipped away amid laughter, playful scuffles, and the occasional silent gaze.

No one knew how long had passed when a gentle female voice came over the announcement system. "Dear passengers, the next stop is the Federation capital, Bright Capital Station. Passengers preparing to disembark, please gather your personal belongings..."

Tang Wulin immediately stopped "studying" Gu Yue's headphone wiring—he claimed he had found the source of the static—and sat up straight. At that exact moment, Gu Yue completed a beautiful final clear, and a splendid three-star victory animation popped up on the screen.

"Done!" She proudly raised her phone, catching the fleeting, slightly unwilling look on Tang Wulin's face.

"Ahem, just good luck." Tang Wulin immediately covered it up, reaching out to pick up both their backpacks. "Let's go, let's go! This legendary food capital, here I come! Don't worry, even if I lost, I'll make sure you eat until you're stuffed!"

Gu Yue smiled and followed him, picking up her small bag. The two moved with the crowd toward the train doors.

The doors slowly opened, revealing Bright Capital's iconic skyline of towering skyscrapers and dazzling giant holographic advertisements unfolding before them like a painting. An overwhelming air of prosperity rushed toward them.

"Whoa! So this is Bright Capital!" Tang Wulin took a deep breath, his face full of excitement. Turning to Gu Yue, he said, "Look, that tallest building—the restaurant spinning at the top. They say the steak there tastes like heaven! We'll go there in a bit. My treat! Let's call it... a celebration for my 'narrow victory'!" He did his best to make his tone sound perfectly justified.

Gu Yue looked at him. Bright Capital's brilliant lights reflected in her violet eyes, along with his face, glowing with anticipation. She didn't expose his absurd claim of a "narrow victory." Instead, her lips curved into a gentle smile, and she softly said, "Mm."

"But before that," she added, a faint trace of mischief in her voice, "we need to deal with your 'octopus rehearsal' problem. Otherwise, if you really start dancing in the revolving restaurant, you'll become Bright Capital's greatest strange tale."

Tang Wulin froze for a moment, then burst out laughing. He threw an arm around Gu Yue's shoulders and led her off the train, officially stepping into this bizarre, dazzling heart of the Federation, a place filled with endless possibilities.

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