Chapter 56: The Taste of a Knife

Kalolin’s mood had been off lately.

Ever since Chen Kong was attacked, her relationship with Tian Dao had inexplicably grown… distant.

It wasn’t just that Tian Dao hadn’t come looking for her at all over the past two days.

It was the way she’d caught Tian Dao and Chen Xing meeting in secret—always slipping away behind her back.

She didn’t believe they’d hurt her. She didn’t think there was anything between them.

But the feeling of being shut out, left behind, was suffocating.

And yet, for some unexplainable reason, even though she knew something was being hidden from her, she refused to ask.

She’d wait—until Tian Dao told her herself.

But now, two days had passed since the attack.

And still, no sign.

That silence festered in her mind.

She began to suspect—Tian Dao was angry.

Angry at her for not telling him about Yun Meng’s arrangements.

And now, Chen Xing had used the opening to get close.

But Kalolin felt utterly innocent.

She had wanted to tell Tian Dao—Yun Meng had specifically told her not to say a word.

It wasn’t her fault.

She’d tried to find Tian Dao, to explain.

But every time she got close, Tian Dao would vanish—off with some flimsy excuse before she could even open her mouth.

So the words stayed trapped inside her, unspoken. Frustrated. Hollow.

Sunday. The second-floor balcony of the villa.

Kalolin stared at the front gate, watching Tian Dao and Chen Xing once again “visit” Chen Kong—this time, with the excuse of checking on his recovery.

But she knew.

They were meeting for something else.

Something about her.

So… what are you two hiding from me?

---

Deep Blue Metropolis.

Private hospital of Tianhai Group.

“Sis, Tian Dao—can you guys please stop using me as an excuse to hold your war meetings? I think Kalolin’s already suspicious.”

Lying in bed, Chen Kong watched Tian Dao and Chen Xing hunched over a tactical tablet, fine-tuning their plans. He couldn’t help but sigh.

He didn’t know what Kalolin was feeling back at the villa.

But he knew she had to have noticed.

Why else would it only be Tian Dao and Chen Xing showing up these past two days?

Tian Dao shot him a sharp look. “Oh, now you’re giving me a hard time?”

“Who said we’re holding a war meeting because of you?”

“We’re here to check on you, you little idiot. The meeting part? Just a side benefit.”

“And besides, you’re still in the hospital. You’re not even out yet. Where else are we supposed to meet?”

Chen Xing, usually the picture of calm seriousness, nodded in agreement.

“Kong’s right. Tian Dao’s not lying.”

Chen Kong sighed.

He chose silence.

Not because he didn’t have a comeback—no, he did.

But even at full strength, he’d never dare argue with either of them.

Now? He was stuck in a bed, recovering.

So he shut up.

But he couldn’t help adding, “Look… you don’t have to be so secretive. It’s just Kalolin’s birthday. You could just tell her. It’d be nice.”

“After all… she’s been alone at the villa all this time. She’s gotta feel pretty lonely.”

Tian Dao set down the tactical tablet, his expression suddenly serious.

“Kong… you’re wrong.”

“You don’t know Kalolin like I do.”

“She’s all about efficiency. All about results. If she knew we were wasting time on a birthday during a mission… she wouldn’t just refuse.”

“She’d insist we stop it. Tell us to focus on the mission.”

“So… we can’t tell her.”

He paused, then added with a soft, almost wistful tone:

“Because a surprise… only works if it’s a surprise.

You can’t have the joy without the shock.”

He looked out the window, voice quiet.

“We only get one chance like this. One time to be out together, and it just happens to be her birthday.

So we have to give her something… unforgettable.”

He turned back, eyes warm.

“Because memories… are the most precious gift in the world.”

Chen Kong stared at him.

Something was off.

Not in his words.

Not in his expression.

Tian Dao looked exactly the same—cool, calm, in control.

But beneath it… there was something.

A quiet urgency.

Like someone who knows their time is short, and fears they’ll miss something important if they don’t act now.

It wasn’t just today.

Since leaving the base, Chen Kong had felt it—faint, but persistent.

A strange tension in Tian Dao’s presence.

But he’d never told anyone.

Not because he didn’t trust his instincts—because he did.

But because he couldn’t explain it.

And he couldn’t understand why Tian Dao was rushing.

Then—without warning—the screen abruptly cut.

A memory.

A stranger.

A moment from before Tian Dao left the base.

Late at night.

Tian Dao, standing in the dark, quietly approaching Jing Ruli in the quiet of the base.

“Liyu,” he said, voice low. “Do you think… dreams can become reality?”

Jing Ruli, half-awake, blinked. Then sat up.

After a pause, she replied, “Tian Dao… I don’t know why you’re asking this now. But if you’re the one dreaming… then maybe… it could happen.”

She hesitated.

“After all, the Star-Eclipse Eye sees fate. And sometimes… it shows glimpses of the future. In dreams.”

She looked at him, concerned.

“But that’s just my opinion. Not proof.”

“So… did you dream something?”

Tian Dao paused. Then, for a moment, his face softened.

He smiled—his usual, carefree grin.

“Nothing important. Just… I dreamt I was standing at the peak of the world. And the view? It was so beautiful… I almost cried.”

He laughed.

“I couldn’t sleep after that. Had to tell someone. So I came to brag. Surprise?”

Without waiting, he turned and walked off.

“Anyway… I’m suddenly hungry. Going to the mess hall. You know… desserts? That’s a masterpiece of human invention. What if I can’t eat them anymore? How tragic.”

Jing Ruli watched him go.

Frowning.

She was usually calm. Easygoing.

But tonight… she couldn’t shake the feeling.

That question hadn’t been idle.

It hadn’t been a joke.

It had been real.

What kind of dream could make Tian Dao—someone who never wasted time—get up in the middle of the night and come find her?

She couldn’t figure it out.

And then—just as she was lost in thought—Tian Dao, who had just said he was going to the mess hall, walked straight out into the night.

Alone.

To the beach.

There, under the moonlight, he sat.

The salty wind tugged at his silver hair.

The waves rose and fell, brushing his ankles—then retreating, like time itself.

Long silence.

Then, softly, he spoke.

“Can dreams become reality?”

“…That’d be terrible.”

He leaned forward, hands on his knees.

Then stood.

Looked up at the endless star-filled sky.

His pale blue eyes glowed—brighter than ever.

“But if dreams are terrible…”

“Then I’ll make reality… less terrible.”

And with that, he turned.

Vanished into the dark trees.

The memory ended.

And the screen—just a moment ago showing Tian Dao laughing with Chen Xing, planning Kalolin’s birthday—now cut to silence.

The same Tian Dao, who had just been warm, playful, full of purpose…

Now revealed as someone haunted by something unseen.

The audience in the 13th Dimension froze.

Then—

Silence.

Then a storm.

Because they knew.

They felt it.

The cut wasn’t random.

It wasn’t a mistake.

It was intentional.

And from it—

A single, unmistakable scent rose into the air.

The taste of a knife.

Cold.

Sharp.

And utterly cruel.

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(End of Chapter)

Chapter end