To be honest, before today, Jie Tianxin always subconsciously thought that in the romance between the two, Ye Xinglan must have been the dominant one.
After all, Ye Xinglan was wealthy, willful, and definitely had that commanding, mature beauty.
In contrast, every time Xiaoxi showed up at the café wearing a maid outfit, she gave off an impression of being cute and pure, so Jie Tianxin always assumed Xiaoxi was the one being pinned down by Ye Xinglan.
So when she unexpectedly learned today that Xiaoxi was actually Xiaoxiaoxiao Laoshi, Jie Tianxin felt her entire perception turned upside down.
She never expected someone with such a cute appearance to write things so… intense.
No matter how she thought about it, the author of such works just didn’t seem like someone who would take the submissive role!
“Keep Xiaoxi here. I need to talk to you about something!”
Muxingge clearly hadn’t expected an ordinary person like Ye Xinglan to dare come over and snatch someone from her. It seemed their relationship was truly deep.
“No, this time I absolutely can’t let it slide,” Muxingge gritted her teeth and grabbed Xiaoxi’s collar. “If other people wrote stuff like this, fine, but you’re a Magic Girl yourself and you actually dared to write this? Using your own captain as the subject, no less?”
Xiaoxi wanted to argue that when she first started writing, Muxingge wasn’t even her direct superior yet, but thinking it over, that would only add fuel to the fire, so she let it go.
“A Magic Girl?! Xiaoxi’s a Magic Girl?!”
Jie Tianxin’s eyes widened to their limits. The information density in Muxingge’s words just now was enough to nearly fry her brain.
Muxingge then realized she had misspoken. When emotions run high, it’s easy to overlook details.
“It’s okay, Xinglan, you and Tianxin go back first. I’ll have a private talk with Senior Xingge.”
Xiaoxi could tell Ye Xinglan truly wanted to snatch her away from Muxingge, but she didn’t want to drag Ye Xinglan, an ordinary person, into their conflict.
“You guys wait in the housekeeper’s car. After I’m done talking with Senior Xingge, I’ll come find you. There won’t be any trouble.”
After all, Ye Xinglan couldn’t just transform directly into the Blood Moon Witch and wrestle with Muxingge for Xiaoxi.
Given Xiaoxi’s words, Ye Xinglan reluctantly nodded in agreement.
“Wait!”
Just as Muxingge was about to drag Xiaoxi away, she looked at the calling Jie Tianxin and raised an eyebrow.
Her girlfriend had already relented, so why was she trying to stop things again?
“Well, um, Muxingge Laoshi, I’ve liked your singing for a long time…”
“No problem, come on over! Thanks for the support~”
Jie Tianxin clearly wasn’t trying to stop anyone. Muxingge immediately understood and waved at Jie Tianxin, her expression smoothly switching to a professional smile.
After signing autographs and taking photos in one go, Muxingge hugged Jie Tianxin sweetly and gave a peace sign.
The next second, as she grabbed Xiaoxi’s collar again, her face instantly darkened.
“If you have nothing more to say, then come along.”
Xiaoxi shuddered. Muxingge’s tone was like a grim reaper asking if she had any last words before dragging her away. She definitely wasn’t ready to die!
Watching Xiaoxi being slowly pulled like a drowning dog into the darkness deep within the underground parking lot, Jie Tianxin excitedly tugged on Ye Xinglan’s sleeve.
“Xinglan, Xinglan, I want Muxingge’s autograph! And Xiaoxi is actually a Magic Girl…”
“Don’t say anything reckless after we leave.”
Ye Xinglan made a “shush” gesture toward Jie Tianxin, who nodded in understanding.
But now that she thought about it, Xiaoxi really had hidden this well.
Jie Tianxin recalled all the past conversations about novels and Magic Girls, never imagining that among them was a Magic Girl writing little romance stories just listening to her ramble!
“But Xiaoxi shouldn’t get into trouble, right? From what I see, Muxingge’s personality is quite gentle and understanding. She shouldn’t do anything too extreme to Xiaoxi, right?”
Ye Xinglan snorted quietly. She wanted to say that Jie Tianxin hadn’t seen Muxingge on the battlefield.
As a Magic Girl with the Coordination attribute, Muxingge was supposed to serve as a support and healer in combat.
Yet Ye Xinglan had more than once seen Muxingge lose her temper mid-fight, snatch the magic staff, and rush forward to bash someone.
That kind of person gentle and understanding? She could only say Magic Girls were all hypocrites, playing a role for outsiders… Of course, Xiaoxi was the exception.
……
Not long after, deep in the parking lot, Muxingge cornered Xiaoxi like a street thug demanding money from a student.
Xiaoxi’s tone was earnest: “Senior Xingge, I really realize my mistake, truly.”
Though the hem of her clothes was slightly disheveled, Xiaoxi had no obvious injuries.
Muxingge hadn’t brought herself to harm her teammate, plus there were many ways to torment Xiaoxi… Weren’t the suggestions she’d made earlier at the KTV pretty good?
“What mistake?”
“I was wrong for disrespecting seniors, for disrespecting Magic Girls…”
In truth, Xiaoxi was thinking she was wrong for writing those little romance stories using Muxingge as a model.
She figured it would’ve been better to write stories based on herself instead!
After all, she was selling her dignity for money anyway — better not to upset old teammates.
Xiaoxi now thought that the Eternal Star x Blood Moon Witch storyline Jie Tianxin had mentioned earlier was pretty good, really.
“Senior, I really understand now. Can we change the punishment? I’ve never done anything like this before…”
“No way. Who are you trying to fool? You’ve written those little romance stories, so you’ve definitely done these things.”
“Sign the Magic Contract under the conditions we just agreed on, and we’ll call it even. Otherwise… You don’t want your little sister to find out you’re a Magic Girl, do you, Xiaoxi?”
Muxingge kindly pulled out a small metallic balance scale. Xiaoxi sighed bitterly. Why was everyone threatening her with Xiao Keke?
Xiaoxi knew the Magic Contract was a special ability of an S-Class Magical Girl. Both Xiaoxi and Muxingge knew that girl, but Xiaoxi hadn’t expected Muxingge to still have this thing.
The Magic Contract was a type of rule-based ability with a powerful effect.
As the name suggests, two people could use a balance scale created by that Magical Girl to form a contract, which neither side could violate.
In this situation, Muxingge naturally had the power to set one-sided, overbearing terms. Xiaoxi had no right to refuse.
She sighed, channeling her Magic Power into one side of the scale and sealed the Magic Contract under Muxingge’s conditions.
“Oh, one last thing. You’re not allowed to reveal the contract’s contents or the real reasons to anyone. Understand?”
Muxingge wanted to protect her gentle and understanding idol image in public.
This rule was insurance, especially since she’d just accidentally exposed Xiaoxi’s identity as a Magic Girl.
“Okay, no problem, Senior.”
Xiaoxi hung her head, feeling utterly defeated. At this moment, she truly understood what karma meant.
She was definitely the one who’d dug her own grave!
……
That night, in the residential area of the Underground Black Market.
Shandie climbed the worn, narrow stairs, her eyes betraying undeniable exhaustion.
The current residential area was originally built as an emergency shelter during the chaotic times long ago. Conditions were abysmal.
Back then, the buildings only considered population capacity, with no thought for comfort.
If one were to compare, these dilapidated structures resembled a beehive—tiny rooms packed closely together, one pressing against the next.
Nowadays, every city had new Association-built shelters, mostly underground. But these old shelters had long since been abandoned.
“Ah, it’s Luodie sister! Luodie sister’s back!”
Two or three kids were chasing and playing in the hallway, and upon seeing Shandie coming upstairs, they swarmed around her.
“Don’t look, no candy today. Too much candy isn’t good for your teeth.”
A rare smile appeared on Shandie’s usually cold face as she patted the heads of several children in turn.
“Have you eaten? Chen Auntie and the others aren’t back yet?”
The kids all shook their heads.
“I’ll make you a simple meal to tide you over. Just play nearby—don’t wander off.”
Shandie returned home and was about to put down her things and cook, but immediately frowned as her gaze landed on the shadows in the room.
“Come out.”
Watching Black Rose slowly emerge from the darkness, Shandie’s expression grew even darker.
“We agreed to meet only at the Black Market. You crossed the line, Black Rose.”
“Don’t be so harsh. I snuck in quietly—didn’t let the kids outside see me.”
But Shandie still frowned. It wasn’t just about that. She had never revealed her address to Black Rose.
“Wasn’t Muxingge inviting you out today? That was a great chance to strengthen bonds. Why didn’t you go?”
“I have to work—can’t you smell the cooking oil on me?” Shandie was preparing ingredients. “I already took a day off to go with them to the KTV. I don’t have that much free time.”
Black Rose watched Shandie skillfully stir-frying at the stove with interest. “Didn’t expect you to be so caring—to cook dinner for the neighbor kids.”
“For people like us living here, helping each other is about surviving better. Besides, Chen Auntie has helped me a lot.”
Without looking up, Shandie said, “Get to the point. You didn’t come here just to chat.”
“The point is, I hope you can build good relations with your new teammates and earn their trust. That’s important.”
“After all, after handling so many sudden Monster Attack Cases together last time, your relationship with those girls should have improved quite a bit, right?”
Suddenly, Shandie realized something. Her hands stopped moving.
“It was you—so it really was you. The monsters in the restaurant and all those sudden monster attacks were your doing.”
Black Rose smiled. “Playing together is fun, but fighting side by side really strengthens the bond between teammates. Besides, did you think nobody would suspect when you joined the Association so abruptly? If we’re going to put on a show, we might as well make it convincing.”