Recalling the days spent with Yang Mo: watching TV, reading paper books, getting complained at by Yang Xia for not checking messages.
Qianling almost thought Yang Mo was someone completely cut off from modern life.
Her words made Yang Mo’s eyebrows twist into a deep frown.
“Qianling, even if I am just a plain country kid, I still know these kinds of things. I just prefer the way I’ve always lived, that’s all.”
“Sorry…” Qianling lowered her head slightly, saying, “I didn’t mean to make fun of you.”
But as she was still blaming herself for her slip of the tongue, Yang Mo continued, “I do know about it, it’s that… ‘surfing the web,’ right?”
“……”
Qianling fell silent.
What era is that term even from? Even if the era depicted in isn’t exactly up to date, it shouldn’t be this outdated.
She couldn’t help but want to take back what she’d said.
After thinking for a moment, she tossed a question at Yang Mo:
“Are you GG or MM?”
With her expressionless face and flat, monotone voice, the effect was even more striking.
At first, Yang Mo tried to keep a serious face, but she couldn’t help laughing in the end.
Then she said to Qianling, “And you say you’re not making fun of me!”
Still, not being familiar with the Internet might not be such a bad thing.
Qianling recalled all kinds of social media from her previous life, always full of a heavy atmosphere of conflict—even something as trivial as differing opinions about a character could escalate to personal attacks.
After seeing it once, she decided to only use the internet for searching from then on.
Given her understanding of the original work, Qianling knew that the network in this world sometimes featured strange discussions about magical girls, so if Yang Mo didn’t get involved, it was probably for the best.
By now, the two of them were walking up a sloped path. It was a ways from the school, not a main route for most students after class, and fairly quiet.
Maple trees lined both sides of the road. Since it wasn’t yet the season for falling leaves, the branches were still thick with green, and only a few narrow shafts of sunlight filtered through the gaps onto the road.
Partway along, Yang Mo walked a little ahead, as if leading the way for Qianling.
But, judging by what she knew of the area, this route was hardly the shortest way home, even if you were just walking, so Qianling asked:
“Yang Mo, are you taking me the long way around?”
“Correct!” Yang Mo turned around with her hands behind her back, walking backward as she told Qianling, “Anyway, my sister’s not coming home today, so it’s fine for me to wander with you, right?”
“You really shouldn’t walk like that, it’s not safe at all. But as for the rest, I don’t really mind.”
“Alright~ Qianling, you’re starting to sound just like my sister.”
She puffed out her cheeks as she spoke.
Then, with a light twirl, she faced forward again, slowed her pace, and fell back to walk shoulder-to-shoulder with Qianling.
The two continued along the slope. After rounding a corner, they came to a wide, open road.
Looking toward the guardrail on the right, you could almost see the entire low-lying new district stretching to the horizon. Glancing down, you’d see a cluster of one-story houses gathered below the rail, their moss-covered rooftops cluttered with antennas and solar panels.
So that’s it—this must be near the border of the old and new districts.
Qianling instantly realized where they were.
Yang Mo stopped there, gripping the rail and gazing off into the distance. Qianling halted beside her.
“They say this used to be a vast stretch of farmland.”
She said this to Qianling, then asked:
“So? Isn’t the view nice here?”
Following her question, Qianling looked again at the town below the guardrail.
Bathed in the setting sun, the buildings were split into distinct patches of light and shadow, creating a strikingly layered scene.
But this kind of view no longer moved Qianling.
“It’s nice… but I’m already used to it.”
She stated her feelings honestly.
Yang Mo stared at her in disbelief, uttering a stunned, “Huh? How come?”
“Because I usually move around from high places.” Qianling explained, “Remember that time I was pretending to be a housekeeping robot? After I escaped, you found me on top of the statue in the park, right?”
“That’s true… And the way you jumped down was so graceful, too.”
“As long as you understand. Also…”
Qianling glanced around, and after confirming there was no one nearby, she spread out her right hand for Yang Mo to see.
“Watch carefully.”
She dropped the disguise on her right hand, revealing the distinctive joints of a puppet.
Right before Yang Mo’s eyes, Qianling’s palm suddenly split open with a click, and from the gap emerged the tip of a steel tentacle.
“I can use this like a grappling hook.”
Only then did Qianling realize she hadn’t deliberately shown her magic to Yang Mo before.
As soon as she saw the “Iron Bramble,” Yang Mo’s eyes began to shine.
“This is… the thing you used at school to climb the wall?”
“That’s right. It’s my magic, too.”
Before Qianling finished speaking, Yang Mo was already brimming with excitement.
“I wanted to see it back then, but you ran off too fast!”
As she spoke, she reached for the steel tentacle, startling Qianling into retracting it at once and closing her hand.
“Don’t touch it.”
“Ah…”
With her chance to play with something new slipping away, Yang Mo drooped her head like a plant deprived of sunlight.
“Let me see it again, just a little longer…”
Yang Mo pleaded, sounding utterly pitiful.
But out of safety concerns, Qianling refused her request.
“No.”
Then she explained why: “This is technically a weapon of mine. If you touch it, you might get cut.”
Though she could actively alter its properties by shifting its form, in its default state, even the chain was still a sharp weapon.
Who knew if Yang Mo actually took that in; she just pressed her index fingers together and muttered softly with her head down, “I see…”
Qianling couldn’t help but sigh.
She thought: This girl’s curiosity is a bit too intense…
At the same time, wanting to cheer Yang Mo up, she came up with an idea.
So she asked, “Aren’t you curious about anything else?”
At her words, Yang Mo immediately perked up.
“…Anything else I’m curious about?”
“For example…” Qianling put one hand on her hip, raised a finger, and asked, “Aren’t you wondering how I move around with that thing? Don’t you want to try it yourself?”
Yang Mo froze for two seconds, and then energy flowed back into her.
“Of course I do!”
Just as Qianling predicted, this was the only answer she could possibly give.