Chapter 121: Valentine's Day Mission

The surrounding clamor seemed to quiet down for an instant.

Several curious gazes cast over.

Kirigaya Nuo was silent for a few seconds, asking softly in her consciousness:

"Teacher, do you count as a 'special person' for me?"

Xu Yunzhou seemed to also choke on this straightforward to the point of reckless question, hurriedly coughing dryly:

"This question... discussing it now is a bit early."

He weighed his wording,

"You are still young, many things... mhm, wait two more years. When you truly become an adult, and your worldview and emotional cognition are more mature and stable, we might be able to... discuss this kind of topic more deeply."

Kirigaya Nuo gave a soft "hmph" in her consciousness, curled her lips, her voice carrying disappointment and a trace of unconvinced stubbornness:

"Fine~ I knew it—"

She dragged out her tone, sourly adding a knife:

"As expected, you like mature ones like Song Jiaru!"

Certain amorous scenes that happened in the room next door at Qiushui Manor last night involuntarily flashed through Xu Yunzhou's mind...

Mhm, indeed... mature... More than just mature, simply a fully ripe peach...

But he immediately cut off this dangerous association, pulling his attention back to the gathering before his eyes.

Fatal!

Almost had an accident!

With Xu Nuo's perversely keen observation skills and newly sprouting jealousy, if she caught a trace of a clue...

Wouldn't this little vinegar jar explode on the spot?

When the time comes, let alone a warm gathering, it would probably stage a thriller of "Yandere Girl Blackening Online"!

Kirigaya Nuo ignored Xu Yunzhou, carrying a slight pique as she gently shook her head at everyone:

"No."

"Eh—what a pity!"

The girl sighed exaggeratedly,

"But Kirigaya-san is so pretty, there must be many people secretly liking you, right? Just tonight alone, I saw Isumi-kun steal glances at you several times!"

"Hey! Su-san, don't talk nonsense!"

The named Isumi Yoshitaka instantly flushed bright red.

"I really like Kirigaya-san!"

Su Shengfu generously raised her hand, her smile hearty,

"But it's the super-like kind of worship! She is my idol!"

"Me too!"

"Count me in! Kirigaya-san is my goal!"

"Count me in too!"

Laughter sounded again.

Kirigaya Nuo looked at them, the corners of her mouth curving extremely lightly.

So nice.

She thought.

The world of these people is so simple and bright.

The main troubles there might be a difficult Go game, losing an important match, hazy and green goodwill, and what to eat tomorrow.

There is sweat, there are tears, but no blood, no point-of-no-return darkness, no human lives and missions that must be shouldered.

Approaching midnight, the sound of fireworks coming from outside the window became dense and passionate. The cheers of distant crowds could faintly be heard.

"Almost hour zero! New Year countdown!"

Someone shouted looking at their phone.

The crowd surged toward the connected large balcony with a "whoosh."

In the distance, in the ink-blue night sky, gorgeous flowers of light had already bloomed one after another.

Those were Great Xia compatriots residing in Nihon, using familiar colors and patterns to write their longing for their homeland and prayers for the New Year in a foreign sky.

"Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!..."

Who knows who started it first, the tipsy, clear, and smiling shouts quickly converged into a neat and expectation-filled sound wave.

"Three! Two! One! Happy New Year—!!!"

Cheers exploded.

At the same time, an even grander fireworks feast began—golden waterfalls poured down from the night sky, silver meteor showers streaked across the horizon, red heart shapes lingered in the air for a long time without dispersing.

The entire world seemed to be lit up.

Kirigaya Nuo stood at the edge of the crowd, looking up at this brilliance.

In her pupils, the flowing splendor was reflected.

Those lights, flickering brightly and dimly, blooming and then dissipating, looked exactly like those brief and beautiful moments in life.

Cannot be grasped.

Cannot be kept.

But at least... existed at this moment.

She said gently, her voice scattering in the wind, almost inaudible:

"Teacher, Happy Spring Festival."

Xu Yunzhou responded in her consciousness, his voice gentle and smiling:

"Mhm, Happy Spring Festival, Xu Nuo."

He paused, smiling and saying:

"In the new year, may you..."

"Eat a lot without getting fat, be safe and joyous."

The corners of Kirigaya Nuo's mouth curved extremely lightly.

The light of the fireworks illuminated the fleeting, genuine warmth in her eyes.

This night, there was no blood, no slaughter, no darkness.

Only a table of warm dishes, a group of simple people, and a brief firework that lit up the severe winter.

But perhaps, it is exactly these seemingly ordinary fragments of warmth that make that heart, which has walked in the darkness for too long, remember that it is still alive, still worthy of being illuminated by light.

The night grew deeper, the sound of fireworks gradually ceased.

The guests took their leave one after another, and the apartment returned to quiet.

Kirigaya Nuo stood in the kitchen, turned on the faucet, and began washing the dishes.

Her phone vibrated.

She dried her hands and picked up her phone.

On the screen was a new text message.

No saved signature, only a string of encrypted and converted, seemingly random numbers as the sender.

The content was text processed with a special cipher, but Kirigaya Nuo immediately deciphered it:

"Nuo, Happy Spring Festival."

"Recently, the organization decided to let you execute a mission early, as a practice run."

"Target materials have been sent to your encrypted email."

"New Year, new atmosphere. Use blood to sharpen your blade."

"—Gekka-ki."

The warmth on Kirigaya Nuo's face faded bit by bit.

Ultimately, only a patch of familiar, icy calmness remained.

She put down her phone and continued wiping the dishes.

The sound of flowing water still pattered.

Outside the window, the sound of fireworks had long ceased.

The night was heavy, all sounds silent.

As if that feast of light just now, that table full of aromas, those sincere smiling faces, those passionate words about "future" and "support"...

Were all just a brief and illusory illusion that happened in a parallel spacetime, unrelated to her.

Never happened.

...

A few days later, February 14, Valentine's Day.

Kirigaya Nuo, wearing the professional ski suit prepared for her by the Crescent Group, boarded the Shinkansen bound for the Hakuba Ski Resort in Nagano Prefecture.

The car cabin was warm and quiet. Outside the window was the rapidly retreating countryside covered in thick snow.

On the train, as if reminding herself, Kirigaya Nuo confirmed with Xu Yunzhou again in her consciousness:

"Teacher, today's target is named Yamamoto Ryuichi."

Her tone was calm, like reciting materials:

"Fifty-three years old, married, has one son and one daughter. A senior bureaucrat responsible for financial regulation, has long received huge bribes from multiple giant banks, and provides protection for transnational money-laundering networks."

She paused:

"Three days ago, he refused the employer's cooperation proposal, so the employer approached the Crescent Group, requesting the removal of this obstacle."

Xu Yunzhou:

"So?"

Kirigaya Nuo was a bit bewildered:

"I feel like killing him won't make me feel guilty."

She fell silent for a moment:

"But thinking about his children, wouldn't they be in the same situation as me from now on?"

Xu Yunzhou thought for a moment:

"They were once beneficiaries of Yamamoto's crimes, naturally now they should also bear the consequences brought by this benefit."

Kirigaya Nuo fell silent. After a long time, she finally said softly:

"Teacher, I understand."

In her tone, that trace of bewilderment dissipated, replaced by an icy, almost cruel clear-headedness.

Soon, arriving at the ski resort.

Kirigaya Nuo wore a dark blue ski suit, wearing goggles and a knit hat, stepping on a snowboard, standing at the top of a beginner's slope.

She actually didn't know how to snowboard.

But her body's sense of balance, core strength, and precise control over muscles far exceeded ordinary people.

After brief guidance from an instructor, she was already able to stand steadily, and even attempted simple gliding.

The instructor shouted, his voice echoing over the empty snowfield:

"Pay attention to safety! Don't know why today, the ski resort's network is intermittent! Rescue calls might not go through!"

The corners of Kirigaya Nuo's mouth curled slightly.

That, naturally, was her masterpiece.

Because according to intelligence, Yamamoto Ryuichi would appear here in the afternoon, so she hacked into the ski resort's system in advance, understanding the internal layout and controlling the cameras.

And what she had to play now was just an ordinary tourist, enjoying the happiness of skiing.

"Teacher, it's like flying."

She glided down from the gentle slope. The sound of wind whistled in her ears, snow spray splashing arcs at the edge of the board. Her voice carried a rare, light joy.

Xu Yunzhou looked at the endlessly extending pure white snowfield ahead, the dark green coniferous forest in the distance, and the lead-gray mountain outlines even further away.

Very beautiful.

Like another world.

A clean, pure world unrelated to slaughter.

A few hours later.

Kirigaya Nuo walked toward the cable car queuing area, her demeanor as natural as if she just wanted to go to the advanced slopes to challenge steeper inclines.

She looked up, her gaze passing through the ski goggles, precisely locking onto that enclosed cable car ahead marked "VIP Exclusive."

The cable car slowly ascended, the snowfield below becoming increasingly open and magnificent.

Through the cable car glass, the figures of a man and a woman leaning against each other could faintly be seen.

"That is Yamamoto Ryuichi."

She confirmed in her consciousness, her voice calm without ripples.

"Mhm."

Xu Yunzhou responded,

"What do you plan to do?"

Kirigaya Nuo didn't answer immediately.

She just quietly watched that cable car, like a cheetah evaluating a prey's movement trajectory.

Then, she spoke softly, her voice carrying an almost cruel calmness:

"Teacher, look..."

"This snow, how white."

"Like a wedding dress."

She paused, adding a sentence:

"Also like... a shroud."