After meeting Yang Xia, Gan Ling did not respond to her greeting immediately. Instead, she opened her phone to check the time, confirming that it was indeed the hour when school let out. She gave a flat reply to Yang Xia: “What a coincidence.”
By then, Yang Xia had already walked down the steps, coming to a stop in front of Gan Ling. “You aren’t here specifically waiting for me to finish school, are you?” Seeing the way she narrowed her eyes and laughed as she spoke, Gan Ling knew she was joking. She immediately denied it.
“Of course not. I’m not your bodyguard.”
“Then what is it for?” Yang Xia leaned one elbow against the riverside railing. Before Gan Ling could even open her mouth, Yang Xia arrived at the answer herself. “Oh… I’ve got it. Is it because of your new job?”
“Correct this time. I just finished cleaning someone’s house nearby.”
“How was it? Was it hard work?”
“It was okay.”
As the conversation reached this point, Gan Ling took the opportunity to tell Yang Xia about what she had seen while cleaning. When she reached the part about the cockroaches, a look of blatant disgust appeared on Yang Xia’s face.
“Ew… Come to think of it, any room that needs a cleaning company to step in must be like that. Wait…” Yang Xia suddenly took half a step back, putting some distance between herself and Gan Ling. She looked at her with a nervous tone and said, “Gan Ling… Um, you didn’t actually touch any, did you? Like, the cockroaches…”
“I did not!” Gan Ling glared at Yang Xia and continued, “I already told you, I used a broom to handle them. Besides, I used magic the entire time I was cleaning, so I didn’t get dirty at all. If you don’t believe me, see for yourself.” With that, Gan Ling spread her arms to show Yang Xia her entire body.
It was only after Yang Xia scanned her from top to bottom that she was willing to return to their previous distance. Letting out a sigh of relief, she said, “Then I can relax.”
“It’s rare for us to run into each other like this. Is that all you have to say to me?” Gan Ling couldn’t help but complain.
Yang Xia scratched her cheek, looking a bit embarrassed, before giving her a bitter smile. “Sorry, sorry. Now that you mention it, it really is quite rare for just the two of us to be alone together.” Seeing that she seemed to be genuinely reflecting, Gan Ling pressed her advantage by crossing her arms.
“And besides ‘sorry’?”
Her original intention was to steer the conversation toward scoring a free meal. However, Yang Xia’s expression suddenly calmed, and her gaze seemed to drift into the distance along with her thoughts. “Also…” As her eyes returned to Gan Ling, she replied, “I haven’t really found the chance before, but I actually wanted to say thank you for everything these past few days, Gan Ling.”
“Why bring that up now?” Gan Ling asked, feeling puzzled.
Yang Xia continued to explain, “Every time I see my sister lately, she’s in such high spirits. I think that’s probably thanks to you. I can’t really bring up this kind of topic in front of her. Also, seeing how hard you’re working, I’m guessing you want to buy something for her? Did I guess right?”
“You did… How did you know?”
Hearing Gan Ling’s question, Yang Xia gave her a mischievous grin. “Even though you always act like you don’t care, your actual thoughts are actually quite easy to guess.” She left it at that meaningful remark without explaining further. Instead, she turned back to Gan Ling. “Let’s not talk about that for now. Since you’ve been working so hard, I can treat you to something to eat today. There are a lot of snacks with good reputations near our school.”
“Then what are we waiting for? Let’s go.” The conversation had circled back to the starting point, and Gan Ling was very satisfied with the result. She jabbed her thumb toward the stairs, signaling for Yang Xia to get moving.
However, just as she thought she was about to get a free meal, a sudden reaction of Magic Power interrupted her movements. Beside her, Yang Xia’s eyes widened at the same time. Her expression turned serious as she faced Gan Ling, their gazes meeting for a moment.
“This feeling… it’s a Badma. Why does trouble always have to start right when I’m about to eat…” Gan Ling’s shoulders slumped, and she let out a long sigh of disappointment at the poorly timed interruption. Seeing this, Yang Xia was stunned for a moment before she eventually couldn’t help but laugh.
“Well… do you want to come with me?” Yang Xia asked while using her index finger to wipe away a tear caused by holding back her laughter.
Gan Ling answered without the slightest hesitation, “Of course I’m going.” Even if she had complaints about the timing, she couldn’t just ignore a Badma.
Yang Xia nodded at her, then turned toward the direction of the Magic Power reaction and shouted, “**MAGICAL GIRL LIUHUO, TRANSFORM!**”
Perhaps because she was Yang Mo’s sister, her transformation process was somewhat similar to Yang Mo’s. A cluster of crimson flames instantly ignited from Yang Xia’s right hand. As she held her right arm high, the flames flowed through her arm and across her entire body. As if being reborn through fire, her appearance and clothing changed as the flames spread. Her braids grew longer, and both her hair and eye color turned into a shimmering, radiant crimson. Her school uniform was replaced by a combination of a military jacket and leather shorts. Both were primarily white with red accents, giving an initial impression somewhat close to a marching band uniform.
The true form of Magical Girl Liuhuo was revealed before Gan Ling’s eyes. This was the first time she had seen Yang Xia transform, but Yang Xia didn’t ask for her thoughts. After they confirmed their intent with a look, Yang Xia immediately stepped out, tracking the direction of the Magic Power reaction.
During the process, Gan Ling could clearly feel that Yang Xia’s running movements while transformed were much more agile than Yang Mo’s. ‘The physical abilities of different Magical Girls after transforming usually don’t differ much, but I guess whether you’re good at sports still has an impact on combat…’ She thought this while increasing her own speed using Iron Thorn to move.
As they drew closer, they soon discovered that a street adjacent to an elementary school was in a state of chaos. Even before they arrived, screams could already be heard coming from that direction. From her high vantage point, Gan Ling was the first to see the source of the chaos: a black beast, easily two stories tall, was rampaging. Three different heads were crowded onto its neck, resembling a dog, a wolf, and a leopard, respectively — though all of them looked much more bloated than the original animals. Both its face and body were covered in rolls of fat, and its entire form was shrouded in sharp, black bristles.
On one side of the road, a girl crouched in terror behind a utility pole, hoping to hide from the beast-shaped Badma’s tracking. Unfortunately, one of the Badma’s heads still peered around the pole. Just as the Badma prepared to swing its claws at the girl…
“Don’t even think about it!” The crimson Magical Girl stepped forward. She grabbed a piece of rubble from the roadside and held it up. In the next instant, the rubble transformed into a gray shield. The Badma’s claw strike was repelled by a strange force the moment it touched the shield’s surface.
Once the brief crisis was resolved, she turned back to tell the girl behind her, “It’s okay now. This sister here will take you to a safe place.” It was only then that the girl noticed a silver-haired, red-eyed Magical Girl had appeared beside her at some point. Gan Ling also gave the girl a small smile and a nod before picking her up and quickly leaving the scene. Yang Xia, meanwhile, shifted her gaze back to the Badma.
The first joint battle between Gan Ling and Yang Xia had begun.