Liu Yiyi was absurdly fast, and before long she had brought Huo Qiuliang to their destination.
A remote, abandoned factory.
Hardly anyone ever came here, but it had once employed many local people.
Back then, people had not cared about its remote location or the bitter winters and sweltering summers of the northeast, building everything here in an era when the vast majority could only walk or ride bicycles.
But as the times changed, outdated productivity and products no one needed gradually buried the factory's former prosperity. The output people had once taken pride in was crushed beneath the wheels of time like a joke.
And so it declared bankruptcy. Through buyouts or reassignment, the workers each chose an outcome they were satisfied with, and no one ever came to this remote factory again.
By now, people had taken away every last thing of value, leaving only rubble and drafty windows. As though stripping out its skeleton, they had hammered the sellable rebar out of its concrete body. What remained, the things they could not carry away, had sprouted brown blooms of rust through rain after rain. Climbing vines curled through the loose rust; they might even bear a few flowers in summer, but at this time of year, only a few cracked seedpods remained.
This was an excellent place to do things no one would know about. Fortunately, Liu Yiyi and the others had already beaten everyone else to using it.
The motorcycle's roar eased as it slowed, and Liu Yiyi brought it to a steady stop by the roadside with a nimble swing of its tail.
She took off her helmet and patted Huo Qiuliang on the back as he prepared to throw up everything in his stomach.
"Urgh... I'm fine, Yi-urgh..."
Huo Qiuliang crouched on the ground, retching for ages without bringing anything up. But he felt physically dizzy beyond belief.
A second-tier Gifted's constitution was always stronger than an ordinary person's. Even if their Staircase ability did not specifically enhance their body, advancing would still gradually make them surpass ordinary people.
Huo Qiuliang recovered fairly quickly. During the wild ride, he had even found time to alter his own cognition to make himself less dizzy. Yet he had still ended up like this, which showed just how recklessly Liu Yiyi drove.
Only after Huo Qiuliang recovered and barely managed to straighten up could he speak fluently.
"Sister Yiyi... next time, let's travel separately. I really can't ride with you anymore. Sister Ying's the real badass, being fine through all that..."
Liu Yiyi said with a look of contempt:
"You're the most delicate little brat of the lot. I think we should go together more often from now on and toughen you up properly."
Huo Qiuliang hurriedly waved his hands, expressing his refusal emphatically and changing the subject.
"Let's get down to business first! Those two Curtain-Callers from the hospital today have both been brought here. Let's check on them first!"
That was indeed the purpose of their trip.
Shen Bai had already dealt with the female Curtain-Caller whom Han He had carried away first, and had done a more meticulous job on her.
Afterward, Shen Bai had asked Xi Yao to bring both Curtain-Callers here together with the police.
Even after dealing with them, Shen Bai had not dared let the police, who were only ordinary people, transport them. Who knew what their superiors might have done to the Curtain-Callers?
Only with Xi Yao overseeing things could Shen Bai feel at ease handling the signatures for Shi Yu and the others joining the team, along with the "replay" documents.
In any case, the two Curtain-Callers were now awaiting interrogation. And Liu Yiyi could hardly wait.
"I'm going to pull those bastards' teeth out one by one. Daring to lay hands on my rookies-so I, Liu Yiyi, really am a tiger brought low and bullied by dogs."
Just then, Shen Bai also sent Huo Qiuliang a message-he needed only one guess to know Liu Yiyi would not answer her phone.
"I'll be there soon. Don't do anything rash yet."
Seeing Liu Yiyi already rubbing her hands in anticipation, Huo Qiuliang hurriedly grabbed her, then showed her the message.
"Sister Yiyi, wait a little. You're not good at this kind of work either, and my ability could cause bad results. Let's wait a little longer for Shen Bai, okay?"
Liu Yiyi had originally intended to act first and worry about the rest later, but looking at the message on the phone, she barely managed to suppress her impulse.
"Fine, then we'll wait a little longer."
After saying this, Liu Yiyi walked back to the motorcycle and plopped down on it. She draped her upper body over the handlebars, looking thoroughly disgruntled.
Liu Yiyi regretted not being able to beat up the Curtain-Callers first. Ever since being transferred away from Jing City, she had almost forgotten how it felt to burn those ratlike creatures to ashes.
Liu Yiyi lay over the motorcycle's handlebars, the smooth metal reflecting pinpoints of the setting sun into her unfocused eyes, and a snatch of song sounded in her mind.
Back when she was in Jing City, a curly-haired girl had loved that song most, singing it without ever getting tired of it.
The girl was cute and sweet-tempered, following Liu Yiyi around and calling her "sis" over and over. How old had she been when she joined the team? Sixteen, having awakened her Staircase in bewilderment while helping someone in danger, then joined the team full of ambition.
Liu Yiyi still remembered her Staircase, the "Glimmering Flame" Staircase. The girl was always running around holding a few tiny balls of light, singing her favorite song while on night duty.
She had told Liu Yiyi that sooner or later, she would be just as strong as her.
But the girl had never lived to see that day. She had not died in a Netherworld incident, but at the hands of a Curtain-Caller instead.
When she thought the other person was an ordinary person who needed protection, that Curtain-Caller had stabbed a knife through her throat from behind.
By the time Liu Yiyi arrived, the girl had long been beyond saving, her once-curly hair stuck together with blood in strands plastered against the back of her head and her face.
Liu Yiyi remembered tidying her hair under the eyes of several police officers responsible for documenting the scene, then taking her body away.
The flames could not be as fierce as when casting an object, but neither could they be as gentle as when stabilizing its shape. A human body needed just the right high temperature to settle peacefully into a memory one could hold in one's hands. Sometimes, Liu Yiyi wanted to forget that smell.
A clichéd tale of grief from a novel, yet it stirred Liu Yiyi's pain again and again.
On sleepless nights in the past, Liu Yiyi would look at her teammate's photo and find herself unable to contain her anger, flames radiating heat from every pore... only when she poured them onto Evil Sins or Curtain-Callers could she find a trace of solace in the stench of burning flesh and the screams.
As she thought, Liu Yiyi's hands began itching for action again. An impossible-to-ignore heat began radiating from her body.
Watching Liu Yiyi hold herself back, Huo Qiuliang could only pray that Shen Bai would arrive soon.
Otherwise, it would be dark, and a fire would be very conspicuous.
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