After defeating the Badma, Gan Ling and Yang Xia went to a hidden spot on the street corner together.
As soon as Yang Xia deactivated her transformation, Gan Ling told her, “Regarding that Badma just now, there is something else that bothers me. Can you come with me for a moment?”
Yang Xia looked surprised and asked, “What is going on? To think you’d actually postpone eating for this.”
“The girl we just rescued… she has a slight scent of a Badma on her.”
“Is it because she was attacked by one?”
“No, that Magic Power reaction is being emitted from within her.” Gan Ling shook her head at Yang Xia and continued, “I suspect she might be the source that generated the Badma, so I’m a bit concerned.”
“Such a small girl… what kind of Defect could be so severe that it even produces a Badma?” Yang Xia’s expression grew increasingly serious as she spoke. “Now that you mention it, I’m worried too. Let’s go have a look.”
She eventually agreed to Gan Ling’s request and followed her guidance to a residential area on an old street. At the corner of an alley, Gan Ling signaled for Yang Xia to peek out with her. Yang Xia did as instructed and indeed spotted the girl on the other side of the street.
She looked like any other elementary school girl one might see anywhere, with her hair in a ponytail, wearing a pink T-shirt and a yellow skirt, carrying her schoolbag during this after-school hour. However, there was a gloom in her eyes that did not match her age, and traces of tears remained at the corners of her eyes.
Watching her, Yang Xia whispered to Gan Ling, “When we rescued her earlier, I thought her expression was just from being scared by the Badma. It seems that wasn’t entirely the case…”
Gan Ling did not respond but placed her index finger against her lips and gave a soft “shh” to tell her to be quiet. The two of them silently watched the girl’s every move from the corner. They saw the girl take a piece of copy paper out of her schoolbag and use tape to stick it to the wall. Because the distance was too great to discern the contents, the two waited for the girl to walk away before approaching to take a closer look.
She and Gan Ling stood on either side of the paper, staring at its contents while lost in thought. In short, what the girl had posted was a Lost Dog Flyer. At the very top of the flyer was a photo of a small dog. From its appearance, it looked like a very standard Chinese rural dog. In the photo, it was grinning as if smiling, sticking its tongue out at the two people on the other side of the image. From the detailed description below, they learned that the dog’s name was Red Bean and that it had gone missing three days ago in the street adjacent to where the flyer was posted.
“So that’s how it is… This makes it very easy to understand.” It explained not only the reason for the girl’s sadness but also the appearance of the Badma. Yang Xia sighed in front of the dog’s photo. Seeing her like this, Gan Ling leaned in and asked, “Have you had a similar experience?”
At the question, Yang Xia put her hands on her hips and shook her head weakly. She said, “We’ve almost never had pets in our house. Only once, my elder sister caught a goldfish for my younger sister at a temple fair and brought it home, but that goldfish died the very next day.”
“I heard about that from Yang Mo as well.” Gan Ling still remembered it clearly because the phone she currently used was one that Yang Xia had passed down to her, and it happened to have a photo taken during that temple fair. Yang Mo still couldn’t bear to delete it. Yang Xia seemed to know the photo was still on the phone and immediately guessed how she knew.
“It seems you two have talked about those photos.”
“Yes,” Gan Ling admitted directly.
Yang Xia gave her a bitter smile and continued to explain, “Although I didn’t have much of a connection to that goldfish at the time, Yang Mo was very sad. It made me feel sad too, so I can understand to some extent. That child has spent much more time with her pet than we did with that goldfish; her grief must be much heavier.”
After making this statement, Yang Xia’s next words pulled Gan Ling back to the present. “By the way, since your sense of smell is so sharp, can you help her find that dog?”
“I think you don’t want to find a dog; you’re just treating me like a dog,” Gan Ling replied with a hint of displeasure. Then she reiterated, “My ‘scent’ is only sharp regarding Magic Power. In other areas, my reactions are just a bit faster than an average person’s.”
“I guess it wouldn’t be that easy… but if we’re the ones looking, we’ll definitely be better at it than most.” Gan Ling understood what she meant. After all, they were a Magical Girl and a Murder Doll, respectively. Both were constantly searching for each other’s traces, so they could be said to have extensive experience in finding things.
However, Gan Ling still wanted to remind Yang Xia of one thing. “It’s been missing for three days already. This might be a waste of effort.”
“It doesn’t matter even if it is.” Yang Xia’s expression did not waver in the slightest as she answered, so Gan Ling felt at ease. She told her, “As long as you understand that, I can go with you.”
“Thanks, Gan Ling.” A relieved smile appeared on her face. Gan Ling simply sighed at her and said, “The owner herself hasn’t said thank you, so why are you?”
—
After that, they tore off a flyer and searched the area together for clues about the small dog. Gan Ling used her Iron Thorn to climb onto the rooftops, searching the places where stray cats and dogs liked to stay from a bird’s-eye view. Meanwhile, Yang Xia took the flyer below and asked people nearby if they had seen the dog in the photo. Unfortunately, they found nothing in the end. The only thing they learned from the local residents was that there had been no culling operations for stray animals recently, nor were there rumors of other households losing pets.
By this time, the sun was gradually sinking in the west. If they delayed any longer, it would be difficult for Gan Ling to return to Yang Mo’s house before dinner, so the two had to give up for the time being. Just as they were walking down the main road in low spirits, a gruff voice suddenly called out to them.
“Hey, you two young girls over there! Are you looking for that dog?”
Gan Ling and Yang Xia looked toward the source of the voice and found it was the owner of a roadside fruit stall speaking. Seeing them turn around, he specifically pointed his finger at the flyer in Yang Xia’s hand.
Finally, a lead? Both were overjoyed and hurried closer to the fruit stall. Yang Xia asked urgently, “Yes, Sir, have you seen it?”
“I’ve seen it, but…” The stall owner’s next words completely extinguished their hope. “But that dog is already dead.”
Yang Xia froze in place for a moment. Only after a long while did she open her mouth to ask, “Can you tell us? …What happened?”
The stall owner let out a long sigh and told them the truth. According to him, the day the dog went missing, it had actually been hit by a motorcycle. It happened right in front of the stall owner, on this very road beneath Gan Ling and Yang Xia’s feet. The stall owner had carried it into the nearby alley and tried to save the dying creature, but unfortunately, it was beyond help and soon stopped breathing. After a while, even the body disappeared; it was likely cleared away by sanitation workers while the stall owner wasn’t looking. The stall owner had personally explained this situation to the girl, but she refused to believe it no matter what and was still posting those flyers everywhere even today. As the stall owner said this, a hint of sadness couldn’t help but seep into his gruff voice.
Having learned the truth, Yang Xia lowered her head and murmured, “How could this happen…” Gan Ling gently patted her shoulder. At a time like this, this insignificant gesture was all Gan Ling could do to comfort her.
On the way back, Yang Xia finally realized a certain fact. “A Badma is created from a Defect, but even if we defeat the Badma, the original Defect won’t just disappear…” As she spoke, she didn’t look at Gan Ling but kept her eyes fixed on the setting sun.
Gan Ling didn’t look her way either. As she walked, she told her, “Don’t be too pessimistic. At least we stopped the Defect from spreading, and this is something we must do.”
“Yeah… but only now am I starting to feel this way. Being a Magical Girl… is a truly sad job.”
Gan Ling did not give any response to Yang Xia’s lament. But in reality… ‘I couldn’t agree more.’ That was the thought in Gan Ling’s heart.