Juxia City, the beach.
The afternoon sun spilled over the golden sand. The sea breeze carried salty moisture in from the water, pushing rows of white surf onto the beach before they slowly receded.
In the distance, seagulls circled low overhead, giving a few lazy cries.
Barefoot in the shallows, Zhi Xin bent down, scooped up a handful of seawater, and splashed it toward Leng.
Leng dodged sideways. The water missed her and splashed all over A Zhui beside her instead.
Expressionless, A Zhui raised a hand to wipe the droplets off her face, then quietly bent down, cupped a generous amount of seawater in both hands, and retaliated with an accurate splash toward Zhi Xin.
"Ah!"
The splash hit Zhi Xin squarely, soaking most of her light-colored swimsuit and making it cling to her slender figure.
She shrieked and turned to run, with Leng and A Zhui chasing after her. The three kicked up strings of white spray in the shallows, their laughter mingling with the sound of the waves and carrying far into the distance.
Qin Feng lay on a beach chair, holding a glass of chilled juice. He lazily squinted at the three angels playing in the sea while listening to Tara, who stood beside him quietly reporting the latest developments on Blue Star.
"Wait, you just said Ryze killed Du Kao? And he used his corpse to launch a sneak attack on Lieyang's Stellar Core in the Taotie's name?"
"Yes, my king."
"Although Ryze has completely erased the relevant records from the information layer of Blue Star's Dark Plane, our Shadowkhan were watching his every move before that. That was what led to Lieyang going after the Taotie afterward."
"Who would've thought? Ryze actually took my words to heart."
There was a trace of undisguised amusement