“Ugh…!”
Lu Yuan let out a sharp gasp, her face instantly turning pale as white as paper.
Her hands clutched desperately at her lower abdomen.
“Someone’s been stabbed!” People in the subway station screamed and scattered in all directions. “Quick, report to the Magical Girl!”
Lu Yuan’s mind went blank for a moment, the intense pain in her abdomen making it impossible to think clearly.
What does this mean… Qing attacked me?
Lu Yuan looked down at the blood pouring from her wound and weakly turned her head to look behind her.
Qing was still standing there, her eyes like an abyss, hollow and empty.
Her hand had transformed into a sharp blade, the edge dripping with her own blood.
***
No… not Qing!
Lu Yuan’s gaze locked onto a figure leaning against a seat in the distance, wearing black-rimmed glasses.
It was Rose! She was behind this! She could actually… control Qing?!
Tsk, I should’ve realized sooner… If Qing is a Mimetic Disaster, then Rose must be able to control her to some extent.
“Oh my… How did the bodyguard get stabbed by her own employer? Want me to have Miss Qing treat you again?” Pu Wei teased.
“You—You…!” Lu Yuan snapped angrily, but even speaking was a struggle with her injured abdomen.
This is bad.
Right now, she was just an ordinary girl without any Magical Girl abilities.
That means if she died from blood loss now…
…then she would truly be dead!
“Ugh—!”
***
At that moment, accompanied by a thunderous roar and a gust of wind, a subway train thundered into the station like an iron dragon, stopping precisely by the platform.
The train doors slid open with a “pshh,” but no one entered. The subway, once packed, had instantly emptied because of Qing.
Qing still stood dazed behind Lu Yuan, awaiting Rose’s next command.
Just as the doors started to close with the urgent “beep beep beep” warning, Lu Yuan suddenly swung both hands hard, flinging the feather-light Qing into the train car in the final instant before the narrow gap shut.
“Shadow!”
The doors shut tightly behind Qing, nearly clipping the ends of her hair.
Qing stumbled and fell onto the train floor. The hollow look in her eyes seemed to clear for a moment from the impact, then returned to that naturally vacant expression.
She struggled to get up and crawled to the window, pressing her hands against the cold glass.
Her suddenly wide green eyes were filled with shock and panic.
She stared fixedly at the lone, helpless figure outside, then at her own blood-covered hands, unable to understand what had happened.
The train started moving, slowly accelerating.
Lu Yuan’s heart pounded wildly, almost ready to burst.
She didn’t dare look to see if Qing had boarded safely. All she could do was gamble—betting on Qing’s instincts to follow her last order, hoping the subway would take her away!
Like a young beast fiercely guarding her final territory, she used her insignificant body to buy Qing a faint chance at survival.
Lu Yuan gasped heavily. Her hoodie had already slipped off during her frantic run earlier, revealing her pale face.
She knew she was likely done for—no Transformation, no power, severely wounded, facing Rose with no hope of survival.
But Qing had a chance to get away.
That was enough.
She lifted her head and met Rose’s gaze in the distance.
The purple-black eyes no longer held mockery or amusement. Instead, they were filled with genuine surprise, quickly turning into a rage provoked by an ant’s defiance.
The thing she wanted had actually been sent away right under her nose by this little mouse?!
***
Lu Yuan looked at Rose’s instantly darkened expression and instead smiled—a pale smile, but one filled with a liberating satisfaction.
“Hey!” Lu Yuan’s voice was soft but dripping with clear mockery. “The thing you wanted is gone, you know?”
She spread her arms, showing her empty hands and her ordinary girl’s body.
“Now, it’s just me left.” She stared at Rose. “A ‘powerless’ ordinary girl—no Qing… no Transformation Crystal. So, what do you want to do now?”
Lu Yuan understood clearly—Rose had only two targets: her Transformation Crystal and Qing. But now, neither was on this subway.
Cold murderous intent flickered in Rose’s eyes as she looked at Lu Yuan—the girl who was pale yet smiling like she’d won the whole world.
For the first time, Rose truly felt… irritated.
Her strength was far greater, so why did Lu Yuan keep thwarting her?
The rain battered the subway station roof with relentless fury, as if playing a sorrowful symphony for this silent standoff.
A powerful witch and an ordinary girl, separated by noise but locked in a mute confrontation.
At this moment, the roles of hunter and prey subtly reversed.
Lu Yuan had staked her life on a gamble—not for herself, but for the important “monster” she couldn’t abandon.
“Heh.” Rose suddenly laughed.
“It’s fine. As long as she’s alive, I can sense where she is.” Rose touched her Transformation Crystal, and several tentacles began to spread out from her back.
“Well then, let’s make things a little more chaotic, shall we?”
***
Yunjing International Airport, Departure Hall.
The normally orderly space was now thick with a tense, oppressive atmosphere.
The huge electronic display screens showed dense flight information, but eye-catching among the entries were large blocks of [Delayed] and [Canceled].
Outside the window, the rain showed no sign of letting up. The world outside was a blur of chaos as rain lashed furiously against the glass walls, producing an incessant, maddening patter.
Liu Zhe stood at an airline service desk, sweat beading on his forehead.
He tried to keep his voice calm, but it only sped up uncontrollably.
“No, miss, please check again—this is just a thunderstorm, right? Not a typhoon? So theoretically, once the storm passes, we can fly, right? Why cancel outright?” He pointed outside, trying to reason with the professionally smiling ground staff behind the counter.
The attendant maintained her professional smile but her eyes revealed a hint of impatience.
“Sir, I fully understand your feelings, but current weather conditions do not meet flight safety standards. Also, subsequent flight paths are heavily congested with no clear takeoff time. For passenger safety, we decided to cancel the flights.”
“I get safety, but can’t we wait a bit longer? Maybe the rain will ease soon?” Liu Zhe pressed on stubbornly.
He still held Qing’s beige windbreaker—the one she’d lazily handed him, annoyed by the trouble.
Really, ever since he took an interest in Miss Qing, he’d felt like her father these past few days.
“Sir, sorry, this is the company’s policy based on meteorological warnings,” the attendant’s smile stiffened slightly. “You may choose to get a refund or reschedule for a later flight.”
A later flight? Tomorrow? The day after?
“Ugh…” Liu Zhe let out a long sigh, all his energy drained, his shoulders sagging.
There was no winning by arguing with rules and procedures.
“Fine, fine, reschedule then, for the earliest flight tomorrow.” He resigned with a wave of his hand, rubbing his weary temples.
With the reschedule voucher in hand, Liu Zhe dragged two enormous suitcases like a defeated rooster, sulking over to a nearby waiting area.
He plopped down onto the cold plastic chair, feeling utterly exhausted.
He needed to inform Miss Lu Yuan of this bad news immediately.
He took out his phone, unlocked it, and habitually opened the news app to check when the weather warnings might be lifted, only to immediately see a shocking local news alert in his notifications:
【Breaking! High-floor suite in Hualai Hotel, Yunjing City Center, severely damaged for unknown reasons! Strange creature traces suspected on site?!】
Liu Zhe’s heart skipped a beat.
***
Hualai Hotel? That name sounded so familiar!
His fingers trembled as he tapped the news, quickly scanning the report and the few mosaic-blurred but still horrifyingly damaged photos.
This was exactly the hotel he had booked for Lu Yuan and Qing!
“Calamity… has there been a Calamity attack?!” Liu Zhe’s face went deathly pale, cold sweat pouring down.
Miss Lu Yuan and Miss Qing were there earlier! How were they?!
Call! He had to call right now!
He frantically dialed Lu Yuan’s number.
“Beep… beep…” The cold automated voice sounded like a bucket of ice water pouring over his head.
He tried Qing’s number next, but it was also unreachable.
A surge of overwhelming fear gripped Liu Zhe’s heart—something had happened! They were definitely in trouble! Trapped in the hotel? Or worse…
He jumped up from the chair, spinning around like a headless fly, then dashed madly toward the airport’s taxi waiting area.
But what he saw made him utterly despair.
The queue for taxis snaked endlessly out of sight. The storm had nearly paralyzed all ground transportation. Taxis were scarce, and even when one or two appeared, they were instantly snatched up by those ahead in line.
“It’s over… it’s over…” Liu Zhe looked helplessly at the unrelenting rain outside and the hopelessly long line before him.
His vision blurred.
No, he couldn’t just wait! He had to confirm their safety!
His eyes scanned the airport hall desperately and froze on a corner where several rows of shared bicycles stood neatly.
An idea flashed into his mind.
Without hesitation, Liu Zhe seized what felt like a last lifeline and charged over, pulling out his phone to scan a QR code.
“Click”—the lock clicked open.
Liu Zhe shoved the heavy suitcases against the wall, hastily stuffed Qing’s windbreaker into his backpack, then clumsily mounted the bike, which felt a bit small for him.
The next moment, this man in an ill-fitting oversized suit, hair soaked with sweat and rain, rode the bright yellow shared bicycle recklessly into the storm outside.
The rain drenched him instantly; the icy water blurred his vision, and the fierce wind almost tore the handlebars from his grasp.
The bike struggled on the flooded streets, wheels splashing muddy water.
“Hold on… Miss Lu Yuan… Miss Qing… you have to hold on!”
He pedaled fiercely, mumbling nonsense under his breath.
Like a tragic Don Quixote charging at windmills, he rode desperately toward the city center hotel.