“What, are you so angry that I threw you in the trash that you won’t call me Master anymore? You wanted to send me to prison, but now that the dog’s had its fill, it still won’t call for its Master?”
Luo Tianyou leaned weakly against the sink and spat out some saliva.
“….”
Yuexia Liuli froze for a few seconds.
She tilted her head and smiled, reaching out to toss the hair draped over her fragrant shoulder behind her.
She took a step toward Luo Tianyou, bending her knees to crouch down.
She scrutinized Luo Tianyou, looking at her slightly pale cheeks.
“If you like me to call you that, then I will. If not, I’ll just call you Luo Tianyou.”
“I like it when you bark like a dog.”
“Woof.”
“Tch.”
Luo Tianyou turned her head away, letting out a disapproving sound from her nose.
This time, she had no other choice.
Yuexia Liuli looked at her forced composure.
In truth, she herself was somewhat dazed.
How long had it been since she had followed someone’s will in such a submissive manner? And it was toward this girl she had harmed not long ago, a girl who had been utterly disappointed in her.
This girl was even the target she had intended to harm.
She reached out and gently supported Luo Tianyou’s shaking arm.
Her Moonlight Mana was channeled into Luo Tianyou’s body with extreme restraint, helping her steady herself and alleviating the weakness caused by her dried-up mana.
“You leave first. I’ll handle things here.”
Luo Tianyou didn’t want to talk to her.
She brushed her hand away and left, her hair whipping against Yuexia Liuli’s cheek as she turned.
Yuexia Liuli smiled with a sense of relief.
She straightened her back and stretched her body forcefully.
Luo Tianyou’s body contained several times more mana than her own; otherwise, it would have been impossible to literally engorge her by force through mana alone.
But on the other hand, Luo Tianyou was too clumsy.
She seemed to have no idea how to operate her own mana.
Normally, with that level of mana, even if someone didn’t know how to use it, just gathering two energy balls to smash an opponent would make them a qualified B-rank Battery, capable of unlimited bombardment.
How exactly did Flora educate Luo Tianyou back then?
Yuexia Liuli never imagined Luo Tianyou would agree so quickly.
Or rather, the fact that Luo Tianyou was willing to believe her words and entrust her mana to her in that way again was inherently absurd.
There truly weren’t many “good things” among magical girls, and in Luo Tianyou’s heart, she was already the worst kind.
Even so, Luo Tianyou’s heart was simply willing to give her abilities for the sake of the ordinary people in this area.
She really was a simple, kind person without any ulterior motives.
Like a piece of peerless jade, incomparably pure.
Yuexia Liuli didn’t know what she was thinking.
She had secretly plucked a strand of Luo Tianyou’s hair just now and tied it into her own.
“Time to get to work.”
“I don’t know which beast managed to dig out this kind of barrier. Using Kiriell’s power, people don’t even realize they’re infected when it happens. By the time they find out, they’ve already become completely infected slaves.”
“Xiaoyuan should be able to synchronize and check the situation here soon. She’ll likely provide some assistance from her end. If we strike at the same time, we should be able to resolve this incident completely.”
***
Luo Tianyou left the restroom.
Sister Chen, Chen Xiaoyu, and Li Huayu all looked at her nervously, not knowing what was inside.
“It’s fine. Let’s keep moving. Be quick.”
Luo Tianyou didn’t explain.
She couldn’t explain.
Sister Chen wanted to ask something, but Luo Tianyou’s status as a magical girl provided a sense of trust. She simply nodded and didn’t ask further.
Chen Xiaoyu, however, looked like she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible.
Luo Tianyou just took an extra look at Chen Xiaoyu.
Was she infected? Or not?
Yuexia Liuli hadn’t said anything.
She wasn’t the type to only mention Li Huayu on purpose, so there shouldn’t be any major issues with the girl.
Li Huayu stepped forward and supported Luo Tianyou’s arm, her eyes full of concern.
“Tianyou, your face looks terrible. Are you okay?”
Perhaps because of Yuexia Liuli’s reminder, Luo Tianyou finally noticed Li Huayu’s abnormality.
Her face was indeed pale, her lips had lost their color, and her eyeballs were covered in heavy bloodshot veins that twitched as if they were breathing—or as if internal organs were squirming.
It was almost gruesome.
Is this the power of the Cognitive Distortion Barrier? It made her subconsciously ignore these obvious danger signals.
Luo Tianyou suppressed her heart’s palpitations and the urge to immediately grab Li Huayu and run.
Yuexia Liuli had said that they couldn’t act out of place here.
She had to be natural, acting as if nothing had happened, or special changes would occur within the barrier.
“I’m fine, probably just low blood sugar,” Luo Tianyou made an excuse, then said to Sister Chen, “Sister Chen, I know there’s a lecture about magical girls in the city center. It’s about to start. We need to hurry. They said some leaders would be there.”
“Right, right, right. Let’s go immediately.”
Hearing this, Sister Chen suddenly perked up and urged Chen Xiaoyu to move faster.
Chen Xiaoyu didn’t delay either, grabbing her things and running.
Becoming a magical girl seemed to be her dream as well.
The three of them walked quickly out of the dormitory building.
The scene on the street was almost exactly the same as when they arrived.
The vendor selling roasted sweet potatoes, a few children fighting over toys, a little girl sitting on a brick…
Everything was operating normally.
Sister Chen carried a woven bag in one hand and gripped her daughter Chen Xiaoyu’s wrist with the other.
Her pace unconsciously quickened as she walked at the head of the group.
As she walked, she couldn’t help but look back frequently and glance left and right, her brow furrowing tighter and tighter.
“Strange…” she muttered in a low voice.
“Why does it feel like these people are doing the same things over and over? That sweet potato vendor… I saw him flipping those same two sweet potatoes when I went up and when I came down. They’re already burnt to mush. And that little girl singing, her tune hasn’t changed once… even those women smoking, the cigarette butts next to them are piled up to their ankles, and they’re still smoking?”
Chen Xiaoyu kept her head down and walked hurriedly, only urging, “Mom, move faster. Didn’t you say we have to catch the lecture?”
“Oh, right, right…”
Sister Chen responded, but her gaze still couldn’t help but drift toward the side of the road.
She saw the man she had asked for directions earlier.
He was still squatting in the same spot, his posture hadn’t changed at all.
There seemed to be a strange smell in the air.
A very fishy, sweet scent.
A chill quietly crept up Sister Chen’s spine.
“Magical girl lady…”
Sister Chen couldn’t help but lean closer to Luo Tianyou.
“This place… is something wrong? Why does it feel so weird? These people don’t seem right.”
“Just walk faster, Sister Chen. It’ll be fine once we’re out.”
“Is… is that so?”
Faced with such a situation, Sister Chen could only place her hopes on Luo Tianyou.
Except…
Why could she only hear Luo Tianyou’s voice but couldn’t see Luo Tianyou herself?
“Ah, wait, wait, wait! Mom, my phone and wallet are gone!” Chen Xiaoyu cried out, standing still and rummaging through her backpack.
“What happened? I saw you put them in your jacket pocket when we left. Were they stolen?”
“I don’t know…”
“Sigh, forget it, forget it. Let’s just go.”
At this moment, Sister Chen only wanted to follow Luo Tianyou and leave this strange place immediately.
“Oh, oh. But Mom, you’re going the wrong way. The exit is this way. Don’t lead us in the wrong direction.”
“Really?”
Sister Chen was pulled by Chen Xiaoyu toward a Management Bureau vehicle parked by the road.
“This way, Mom.”
“Oh.”
It seemed like this was the way.
She had seen a Management Bureau car at the intersection when they arrived.
Sister Chen didn’t think there was a problem and walked in alone.
Ring ring ring!!
Sister Chen’s phone rang.
It was Chen Xiaoyu calling.
This girl… didn’t she just say she lost her phone? Why is she calling me? Is she teasing me on purpose? She wants to see if I’ll buy her a new one, doesn’t she?
Sister Chen smiled and answered the phone.
“Xiaoyu, as long as you become a magical girl, I’ll do whatever…”
“Mom! Where did you go?! I can’t find you anywhere! Quick, tell me your location, I’m coming to find you right now.”
“Huh? Aren’t I right next to you?”
“I’m here too.”
Sister Chen turned around.
What she saw was a pale face identical to her own.
The eyelids were tightly shut, and the body was shivering like pig skin.
“….”
The phone was silent for a long time.
Ten seconds.
Half a minute.
Five minutes.
Li Huayu hung up the phone and shook her head.
She felt like her eyes were starting to blur again; she couldn’t see things clearly.
She didn’t even know what she was doing.
She was clearly supporting Tianyou, so why was there a cold, hard square in her hand…
She looked down and saw that at some point, she was holding a phone and a canvas wallet with a cartoon bear pattern.
The phone screen was still lit, showing an intimate photo of a mother and daughter—Sister Chen and Chen Xiaoyu.
This was Chen Xiaoyu’s phone and wallet.
How did they end up in my hand?
Li Huayu’s brain buzzed, turning completely blank.
“Ah, wait, wait, wait! Mom, my phone and wallet are gone!” Chen Xiaoyu’s voice came through.
“I saw you put them in your jacket pocket when we left. Were they stolen?”
I didn’t steal them!!
“No! I didn’t take them!”
Li Huayu let out a terrified low cry and threw the phone and wallet away.
Clatter.
The phone and wallet hit the ground not far away with a crisp sound.
Sister Chen and Chen Xiaoyu, who were walking ahead, turned back.
They saw the items on the ground and Li Huayu’s pale face.
Chen Xiaoyu frowned and walked back quickly to pick up her things.
She checked them and said nothing, but the look she gave Li Huayu was extremely wary.
Sister Chen was also somewhat stunned.
She opened her mouth, but in the end, she only spoke to ease the atmosphere.
“…Little girl, did they just accidentally fall off? It’s fine, it’s fine. As long as they’re not broken.”
“I… I really didn’t…”
Li Huayu wanted to explain, but she felt cold all over, unable to defend herself.
Luo Tianyou, standing beside her, said nothing.
She only slowly turned her head, her gaze indifferent…
No!
Please! Don’t look at me!!
I really didn’t steal them!!!
Fear and powerlessness almost drove Li Huayu insane.
She collapsed to the ground.
Everything began to fade and deform.
In its place was another scene—
It was a noisy, dirty snack street, teeming with people.
A thin girl, about twelve or thirteen years old, walked through the crowd with numb eyes.
Her gaze was fixed on a middle-aged man with a sorrowful face.
He was covered in sweat, clearly having just finished hard physical labor.
He was muttering to himself: “Five thousand… just three thousand more… and I’ll have enough for the surgery fee.”
The girl approached.
With a nimble flick of her fingers, the cash in his clothes vanished into the girl’s pocket.
The man’s face had just shown a sliver of hope.
He reached into his pocket and froze instantly.
He searched every single pocket on his body.
His face turned from red to white, then from white to green.
Finally, he let out a desperate, beast-like howl, collapsing to the ground and weeping with his head in his hands.
The surrounding crowd cast indifferent or curious glances, but no one stepped forward.
A hospital ward.
“It’s too late. If you had brought the money that day, your mother might have been saved.”
A piercing straight line appeared on the monitor.
A white cloth was slowly pulled over the face of an elderly woman.
The middle-aged man knelt by the hospital bed, slamming his head against the ground.
His forehead was bloodied, and his eyes were hollow as if his soul had been snatched away.
No… it wasn’t like that… I didn’t know at the time… Sister Wang only said he was a “fat sheep”… I didn’t know that was life-saving money… I didn’t know!!!
Li Huayu trembled all over, wanting to cover her eyes.
The scene shifted again.
This time, it was a dilapidated university dormitory.
A thin young man was putting a stack of crumpled bills into the hidden compartment of his backpack.
That was the money he earned from a whole summer of manual labor, combined with the blood and sweat his grandparents had sent from the mountains.
It was his tuition and living expenses for the new semester.
The next second, he was tangled up by a pitiful little girl who had “accidentally” bumped into him.
While he was frantically helping the little girl up, she had already stolen most of the money from his backpack.
The boy discovered the money was missing and searched the streets like a madman.
Finally, he collapsed under a bridge in despair, staring hollowly at the flow of traffic.
Images flashed one after another, like a fast-forwarded horror movie.
Scene after scene, case after case.
A lonely old man who had lost his only son tremblingly put his last bit of savings into a cloth bag, wanting to buy some medicine, only to be picked clean at the vegetable market.
He fell ill immediately after returning and never got up again…
A single mother discovered the money for her child’s medicine had been stolen and wept in despair in the cold winter wind while holding her feverish child.
A young couple saw the travel fund they had worked so hard to save for their wedding stolen; they had a huge fight and broke up, becoming strangers.
A student stole a classmate’s living expenses, causing the other person to be suspected and subjected to school violence, leaving lifelong psychological scars…
Every scene was incredibly clear.
The face of every victim was distorted with pain, despair, and anger.
Their pleas and curses were like the most poisonous hexes, lingering in Li Huayu’s ears.
She saw the families broken because of her.
She saw the hopes extinguished because of her.
She saw the lives withered because of her…
“No… don’t… don’t show me… It wasn’t me… I didn’t mean to… I didn’t know… I really didn’t know it would be like this…”
Li Huayu pressed her hands tightly over her ears and curled up on the ground.
Tears gushed out, mixing with snot and saliva as they flowed freely across her already out-of-control face.
She wanted to deny it, wanted to escape, but those images and sounds were everywhere, nailing themselves deep into her soul.
She couldn’t deny it!
Li Huayu cried with a heart-wrenching pain.
So… those crimes she had deliberately tried not to think about, using the excuses of survival and being forced into it to numb herself, were built upon such bloody tragedies.
She hadn’t just stolen money.
She had stolen hope, life, and the lives of living human beings.
“I’m a sinner… I’m a killer… I killed so many people… I deserve to die… I should have died a long time ago…”
The vision before her eyes began to blur and spin.
Her ears were filled only with the shrill cries of the victims and the sound of her own heart-shattering sobs.
“Li Huayu! Li Huayu!”
Luo Tianyou’s anxious calls seemed to come from an extremely distant place, blurred and unclear.
Li Huayu’s scattered gaze barely focused.
She seemed to see Luo Tianyou’s worried face attempting to get close to her.
No… don’t come over here…
I’m so dirty… so bad… my hands are covered in blood… I don’t deserve to be touched by you… I don’t deserve to be saved by you…
I’ll get you dirty…
Li Huayu used the last of her strength to crawl backward, away from Luo Tianyou, like a maggot trying to hide in the shadows to rot.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry to everyone… I’m sorry… Tianyou… I… I don’t deserve this…”
She murmured, her voice barely audible.
Her eyes completely lost focus, leaving only darkness.
A piece of yellow paper drifted down.
There were a few lines of text on it.
[Father loved Mother very much. When Mother died, he lay on the coffin and refused to let her be buried. After much persuasion, he put one of Mother’s phones into the coffin with her.]
[In the days that followed, Father was constantly miserable, spending his days drinking. He was rarely sober.]
[Until the sixth day, when Father rarely didn’t drink. He looked at his phone, his face pale.]
[That night, he threw his phone along with some of Mother’s belongings into the fire.]
[Because he was afraid that the one calling was Mother, yet wasn’t Mother…]
“What kind of ghost story is this? We have magical girls here, we don’t have that junk.”
Yuexia Liuli crushed the yellow paper with one foot.
Mana tinged with gold rippled out and pushed back the darkness, grabbing Li Huayu’s palm.
“Look, you’re really overthinking things. Do you not even recognize the things you stole anymore?!”
“None of the things you just saw were done by you! They’re all fake!”
Yuexia Liuli rubbed her forehead helplessly.
At this moment, Sister Chen and Chen Xiaoyu were floating behind her, wrapped in golden mana.
She threw Li Huayu in as well.
This was the Mana Space inside the barrier.
People who were infected would have a portion of their consciousness forcibly stripped by the barrier.
Here, through forged false or terrifying memories, their spirits would be made to collapse, and then the barrier’s consciousness would subtly replace parts of them.
Therefore, she could also see Li Huayu’s memories here, but what she saw were the real ones.
From the very beginning of her thieving career up until the day she met Luo Tianyou—perhaps because Li Huayu was truly a clumsy thief—she averaged only a few cents a day.
There were even weeks where she caught nothing at all.
She would get beaten almost every few days because she stole the least.
Even children just starting out were more skilled than her.
…Except when she ran into that freak Luo Tianyou.
On the bus, a stranger had intentionally shown kindness, offering her a shoulder so she could sleep peacefully. And she actually believed it with zero vigilance!
When she saw this scene, Yuexia Liuli truly laughed.
To some extent, she was simply foolishly naive.
There are many good people in the world, but you can’t be without a heart of caution, you dummy~
She didn’t continue watching.
She had business to attend to.
As far as this barrier was concerned, if no one stopped it, the barrier’s consciousness would eventually descend using the free will of the thousands of residents in this area.
And the consciousness of the barrier was that damn Kiriell.
It actually fucking wanted to descend to earth by controlling humans!!
From start to finish, its plan had never changed!!!
Everything happening here was the influence of Kiriell’s consciousness.
It was only because the main body was sealed that progress was slow and being carried out passively.
Yuexia Liuli found the center of the barrier.
Qingluan had been turned into a mana power bank, and there were some humans who had been completely infected—it could even be said they possessed a sliver of Kiriell’s consciousness—who had been reduced to tools that only knew how to revive Kiriell.
She slapped them all to death.
Because the barrier hadn’t been destroyed yet, she was trying to act as the center of the barrier herself, wanting to directly replace it, but she couldn’t do it just yet.
She had to wait until the main body of Kiriell in the suburbs was eliminated before she could synchronize the process here.
Xiaoyuan wasn’t ready yet.
However, after taking over the barrier, she sensed the current situation of Luo Tianyou and the others.
That was why she wanted to stabilize the consciousness of Li Huayu and the other two first.
It was likely because there were too many outsiders that the barrier subconsciously tried to devour the consciousness of these three first.
The other people in the residential area weren’t experiencing this yet.
Yuexia Liuli closed her eyes within the Mana Space.
The world outside was clearly visible.
Luo Tianyou’s forehead was dripping with blood.
She was panting, holding Li Huayu in her arms and dragging a suitcase.
Sister Chen was lying on top of the suitcase, and Chen Xiaoyu was on her back.
All three were tied to her with bedsheets or quilt covers.
She was walking forward one difficult step after another.
Cough.
Cough…
I’m going to die.
Luo Tianyou’s legs were trembling; her whole body was drained of strength.
As they were walking, one person suddenly said their phone was lost, and another took out a phone to say “hello, hello, hello.”
Then Li Huayu started screaming, which gave her a fright.
For a moment, she didn’t know who to stabilize first.
Sister Chen and Chen Xiaoyu collapsed to the ground within seconds.
Only Li Huayu kept shivering, her tears never stopping.
Luo Tianyou couldn’t wake them no matter how she called.
She channeled her last bit of mana into Li Huayu’s body, which seemed to help a little.
The girl went limp and was now only sobbing quietly.
But because her mana was overdrawn, Luo Tianyou had fainted.
Her head had hit the ground, and blood was flowing.
Only the pain had allowed her to wake up again.
Once awake, she didn’t hesitate or stop to think.
No matter what, she had to ensure Li Huayu left this area as quickly as possible.
Otherwise, she would die.
Thus, the situation had turned into this.
Luo Tianyou, with her mana completely overdrawn, should have collapsed long ago like any normal magical girl.
But she hadn’t.
She was still trying her best to carry three people out on her own.
Yuexia Liuli watched this scene.
“……Dummy, why don’t you call for me?”