Xia Mi followed Chu Zihang's gaze and looked toward the window glowing with warm yellow light.
Inside, a thin figure sat at the dining table. He was a young man with black curly hair, black eyes, a broad forehead, and a lean face with a handsome touch of Slavic features.
At that moment, his face was full of exhaustion, as though something had drained away every trace of life from him. He ate mechanically and quickly, as if merely completing a task rather than enjoying the food.
Xia Mi watched that person in silence for a long time.
Chu Zihang said nothing either. He simply stood quietly beside her and watched with her.
The night was thick as ink, and distant neon lights stained the sky an ambiguous dark red. The convenience store downstairs was still lit up. People occasionally came and went, and the doorbell gave off a crisp ding-dong. Those sounds came from far away, as though they belonged to another world.
That person finished dinner, placed his dishes in the sink, then went to sit on the sofa and turned on the television. The faint sound of the News Broadcast drifted out as the anchor reported something in standard Mandarin.
In less than five minutes, he fell asleep against the sofa.
His exhausted face flickered in the shifting light of the television, like a faded old photograph.
Xia Mi finally spoke. Her voice was soft, so soft that it seemed the wind might scatter it.
"Fenrir is indeed my brother, the other Twin upon the throne of Earth and Mountain. But He Xiaomeng is not Fenrir. He was originally just an ordinary human."
Chu Zihang said nothing, simply listening in silence.
"By a twist of fate, I met him." Xia Mi's gaze remained fixed on the sleeping