Late Morning — Lecture Hall
The lecture had barely settled into its usual rhythm when Violet closed her notebook.
Qiū Huà Bǐ was still working on his laptop, half listening to the lecturer while arguing with Yè Yī in a low voice about whether a particular assignment was worth doing.
"It is," Yè Yī said.
"It's three pages."
"It's three pages because you haven't started."
"I've started."
"You've opened the file."
"That's the first step."
Yè Yī looked at him.
"Then finish the first step."
Violet stood. The movement caught Huà Bǐ's attention. She slipped her bag over one shoulder and picked up her jacket from the back of the chair.
"Where are you going?"
"Leaving."
Qiū looked at the clock, then at her.
"Now?"
"Yes."
"You're just leaving class?"
Violet adjusted the strap of her bag.
"You're the student. I'm not."
Qiū Huà Bǐ still didn't give up.
"The lecturer.."
But Violet quickly interrupts.
"Space distortion. I can control who can see and hear me. Our whole conversation.. can not be heard by anyone in this room. Limited for now.., but still useful."
Qiū Huà Bǐ opened his mouth, thought better of it, then looked at Yè Yī.
"She's getting more unreasonable."
Yè Yī leaned back.
"She's been unreasonable since I met her."
Violet ignored both of them.
"I'm going back to the apartment."
Yè Yī nodded.
"Alright."
She looked at him.
"Keep an eye on him."
Qiū Huà Bǐ immediately raised his hand.
"Wait. Why me?"
Violet looked at him this time.
"Because ET has already decided you're worth recruiting."
"I can look after myself."
"I know."
"Then?"
"They're not going to stop because you can."
Qiū Huà Bǐ's fingers tapped once against the laptop.
Violet continued, "If they can't get close through your devices, they'll try something else."
Yè Yī's expression changed slightly.
"You think they'll approach him directly?"
"They already have."
Qiū Huà Bǐ glanced toward the window.
The lecture continued around them. The professor was explaining something on the screen while half the room quietly copied notes.
"That's what those people were?"
"Some of them."
Qiū Huà Bǐ leaned back.
"So I'm being watched."
Violet slipped her jacket on.
"Yes."
"Guarded?"
"No."
She walked toward the aisle.
"Watched."
Qiū Huà Bǐ looked at Yè Yī.
"There's a difference?"
Yè Yī sighed.
"Apparently."
Violet stopped beside him.
"Don't let him wander off."
Yè Yī rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"I'm not running a daycare."
Qiū Huà Bǐ grinned.
"You already cook for us."
Yè Yī turned toward him.
"I'm beginning to understand why older brothers drink."
Qiū Huà Bǐ laughed.
Violet walked out before either of them could say anything else. The door closed quietly behind her.
Qiū Huà Bǐ watched it for a moment. Then he turned back to Yè Yī.
"She's really leaving us here."
Yè Yī looked at the lecturer.
"You're the one she left."
"That's not what I meant."
"I know."
Qiū Huà Bǐ lowered his voice.
"Do you think she's going somewhere dangerous?"
Yè Yī didn't answer immediately. He looked at the closed door, then at the clock.
"With her, that's usually a bad question."
Yè Yī's Apartment — Early Afternoon
The apartment was quiet when Violet returned. She placed her bag beside the sofa, took off her jacket and hung it over the back of a chair. Her shoes were left neatly beside the door.
Nothing about the room had changed since morning.
Qiū's charger was still lying across the coffee table. One of Yè Yī's books remained open beside it, face down despite the bookmark sticking out from the middle.
Violet looked at the book. She picked it up, placed the bookmark properly, and closed it. Then she sat down in the middle of the living room.
She crossed her legs and rested her hands loosely over her knees. There were no candles. She didn't light incense. She didn't prepare anything.
Violet simply closed her eyes. Her breathing gradually slowed.She wasn't praying. That distinction mattered to her.
Prayer was something else. It was directed toward the Heavenly, not toward whatever waited behind the edge of her own awareness.
This was different. She was searching.
At first, she found nothing. The apartment remained around her. The refrigerator hummed faintly in the kitchen. Somewhere outside, a vehicle passed along the road. A pipe clicked once inside the wall.
She let the sounds remain where they were. Then her awareness moved deeper.
The darkness behind her closed eyes seemed to thin.
Violet waited.
Something appeared beyond it. At first she couldn't tell whether she was seeing a place or remembering one.
The ground beneath her seemed to stretch into a long stone path. The stones were old, worn smooth in the center from years of footsteps. Tall walls rose on either side, their surfaces darkened by age and weather. Beyond them, the roofs of ancient buildings appeared one after another, layered into the distance.
Violet knew this place. She had never been there. At least, not in the ordinary sense.
Her breathing remained steady. The image shifted.
A courtyard.
A gate.
A narrow passage between two walls.
Then a building farther inside, partially concealed by the angle of the roof.
She hadn't seen that structure before. Not in the Yè ancestral home. Neither at ET. Or anywhere she could remember visiting. Yet the recognition was immediate.
Violet opened her eyes.
The apartment returned at once. The refrigerator was still humming. The book was still on the table. Sunlight had moved several inches across the floor.
She looked toward the empty space in front of her. For several seconds, she didn't move.
One thought had already settled in her mind. She needed to know where that place was.
And more importantly, she needed to know why it had started appearing now.