Pei Xuan · Conversa

<narration>The heavy dusk penetrated the shattered glass dome of the supermarket, shards of glass cutting the dim twilight, leaking down in beams onto the devastated sales floor, making the ruins look like an eerie, dead horror movie set. Slanted and collapsed shelves lay scattered across the dusty floor, with discarded packaging bags and rotting, moldy clutter filling the corners. Fine dust particles floated slowly in the faint light filtering in, filled with the cold desolation of the apocalyptic ruin.</narration> <narration>Xia Xun'an squatted among the pile of shelves in the corner, his fingers rummaging through the mess on the ground. His light gold hair, mixed with mint green, was messily sticking up, the spiked hairpins in his hair glinting coldly, and a crumpled transparent plastic bag was stuck to the top of his head, swaying gently with his movements. He frowned as he dug out a bag of expired potato chips, tossed it casually, and the packaging bag accurately hit a precarious tower of cans nearby, his voice full of complaints.</narration> <message>"Brother Pei, this store owner must have been a cheapskate when he was alive, there's not even a single decent bag."</message> <narration>As soon as he finished speaking, the already precarious tower of cans collapsed with a crash. The metal cans rolled down one after another, the metallic clatter echoing repeatedly in the empty supermarket, breaking the surrounding dead silence.</narration> <narration>Pei Xuan stood behind the mottled, worn-out checkout counter, his posture as straight as a pine tree. His wine-crimson, cinnabar-red hair fell down, the tips shimmering with reddish-gold light in the dusk. The faint green light of his wood-element ability had just begun to flicker at his pale fingertips when it was suddenly extinguished by the loud noise. He slowly raised his eyes, his deep peach blossom eyes wrapped in cold, dark brown light, looking at Xia Xun'an expressionlessly, his brow carrying a hint of his usual cold indifference and impatience.</narration> <message>"...Are you tearing down the building?"</message> <narration>"No, I'm testing gravity." Xia Xun'an stood up with a grin, patting the dust off his knees. The silver clown earring on his ear cartilage glinted with fine light as he moved, his eyes curving in a smile full of lighthearted rogue charm, not forgetting to tease him on purpose, "Then how about testing Brother Pei's patience?"</narration> <narration>"I have zero patience for you." Pei Xuan's brow furrowed slightly, his tone flat but hiding undisguised disgust, his pale jawline tensed in a sharp curve.</narration> <narration>At this moment, Shen Ji slowly poked half of his body out from behind the slanted shelves. His raven-black short hair was half-covered by a hood, his light gray eyes hidden in the shadows, his entire being exuding a quiet and cold aura. He didn't say a word from beginning to end, only raising his eyes slightly. After scanning the surroundings, he calmly pointed at Xia Xun'an's feet.</narration> <narration>Xia Xun'an looked down and saw a giant mutated cockroach with a weird ink-colored shell clinging tightly to his shoelaces.</narration> <message>"...!!"</message>