Ning Li carefully cupped a Magpie in both hands, its hard, brightly colored wings still dotted with bloodstains.
Just a minute ago, this Magpie had been nothing but a lifeless object, but now, it stood in Ning Li’s palm, alive and curious, looking around energetically as if it couldn’t understand why it was here.
Ning Li gently stroked its head with her thumb.
The soft feathers felt warm, nothing like the stiff, icy coldness from before.
Ning Li lifted her hands a little higher.
“Fly.”
The Magpie didn’t fly.
Xiao Hei gazed on eagerly from the side.
Ning Li understood what Xiao Hei meant, but it was impossible—absolutely not allowed.
She could never keep another bird.
Besides, birds like Magpies belonged in the wild, not caged by her.
So—
“Fly.”
This time, perhaps the Magpie heard her.
Without hesitation, it fluttered its wings and soared into the distance.
The Frontline, which had felt dead and empty except for Guides and Sentinels, now had a touch of life.
The silence—like that of a graveyard—was broken by the Magpie’s chattering calls, circling nearby and lingering for a long time.
After releasing the Magpie, Ning Li returned to the Guide Academy.
Everything had been handled, and her three-day leave was in its final day—she really should go back.
Just like when she came, Ning Li walked five kilometers on her way back.
Only after five kilometers did she find a motorbike driver and asked him to take her to the nearest bus stop.
After changing buses at several stops, she finally arrived near the Academy.
But before she could get within five meters of the Guide Academy, someone waiting at the gate spotted her.
Almost instantly, a group of Sentinels surrounded her with a rush.
“It’s Ning Li!”
“She’s back!”
“Report to the Officer!”
Three minutes later, the Principal arrived at the gate, accompanied by the Officer the Sentinel had mentioned.
As soon as he saw her, the Officer stepped forward with refined manners.
“Hello, Ning Li.”
He seemed graceful, scholarly in appearance, and spoke in a gentle voice, but Ning Li didn’t dare to relax for a moment.
He wore a dark blue, close-fitting Sentinel Uniform, and on the upper right sleeve was a Badge emblazoned with an Eagle.
What kind of position was this?
Ning Li had no idea who this man was.
Maybe he was the personal guard Yuan Yuan had mentioned.
Ning Li answered calmly, “Hello.”
The Officer chatted with her as if making small talk.
“Where have you been these days, Ning Li?”
Frontline. That answer almost jumped out of Ning Li’s mind in an instant, nearly slipping from her lips.
But before she could say it, she pulled herself back to her senses just in time.
A cold sweat broke out on Ning Li’s back.
What had just tried to control her will?
Even though the sweat soaked through her clothes and she was on high alert, Ning Li kept her expression and tone perfectly calm as she answered, “Just wandering around.”
The Officer seemed surprised by her answer.
Though Ning Li’s body was tense, she showed no panic.
Perhaps she should be grateful that no one dared to take an order to the Frontline, so she’d had to walk the last five kilometers herself.
The area near the Frontline was deserted, with wild grass taller than a person.
It was unsafe, so most basic facilities were old and broken.
No professionals would risk repairing them, nor was there any reason to.
In the end, everything just broke down.
There was no surveillance there.
As long as she didn’t give herself away, no one would know she’d been to the Frontline, or that she’d swallowed the Bead.
While they chatted, a small Jellyfish slowly appeared on the Officer’s shoulder.
Maybe the Jellyfish had been there all along, but because it was transparent and the light was odd, she hadn’t noticed.
This Jellyfish was umbrella-shaped, shimmering with a pearly sheen like the surface of a shell when the light hit it.
If one didn’t know its danger, anyone would call it a beautiful sea creature—mysterious, elegant, noble.
Ning Li drew on her knowledge of marine life.
Moon Jellyfish.
The stinging cells on its tentacles could paralyze prey.
So, had her mind been numbed just now?
Ning Li didn’t dare underestimate this Jellyfish Spirit Entity.
She worried that with one slip, she’d blurt out something she shouldn’t.
Sure enough, the next question suddenly became sharper.
The Officer’s gentle inquiry turned into an interrogation.
“Your friend Yuan Yuan said the item is with you.”
Ning Li wasn’t surprised that Yuan Yuan had given her up.
She herself had nearly fallen for the Jellyfish’s numbing attack just now—she knew Yuan Yuan couldn’t resist it.
Did the Jellyfish attack the language center of the brain?
Is that why the paralyzed person would blurt out the truth?
This Spirit Entity was truly the nemesis of liars.
Ning Li knew denying it was pointless.
What she wanted to know was how many questions they’d asked Yuan Yuan, and how much they’d learned.
She admitted crisply, “Yes, it’s with me.”
Under the attack of the Jellyfish Spirit Entity, no one would doubt her honesty—besides, she was telling the truth.
“The Bead?”
The true intention was finally revealed.
“It was…”
Swallowed.
As soon as the Officer asked this, Ning Li felt her mind being controlled more strongly, almost—just almost—she was about to tell the truth.
A chill ran through her—she’d even said the first two words.
Though her emotions churned inside, she calmly finished, “…thrown away.”
“You threw it away?”
The Officer’s calm, composed demeanor vanished in an instant!
“Where did you throw it?”
Ning Li noticed the little Jellyfish on the Officer’s shoulder gradually turning pink from transparent.
In the real animal world, mature Moon Jellyfish turn pink, but in the Sentinel world, their characteristics and habits might not be the same—relying on past experience could be fatal here.
Ning Li felt her mind growing cloudy.
The Jellyfish must have increased its control over her thoughts.
But three seconds later, her mind cleared again.
Her Spirit Sea, now expanded to the size of a small town, was still enough to resist the Jellyfish’s paralyzing attack.
In her heart, Ning Li thanked that unknown Sentinel once again.
Why not a Sentinel lady?
Because the moment she swallowed the Bead, she seemed to hear a faint, carefree laugh left in the Bead by its previous owner—a bright, youthful laugh.
The deceased Sentinel couldn’t have been much older than her.
Done.
She heard herself answer coolly, “A few miles away, I don’t remember exactly where.”
The Principal tried to smooth things over.
“She says she can’t remember. Maybe you should go look quickly, or someone else might get to it first.”
The Officer ignored the Principal, staring at her with piercing eyes and asking the final question of the day, “Why throw it away?”
This was a question Ning Li could answer easily.
“Because I found the Bead to be a hassle.”
After this answer, the Officer gave her a deep look, then waved his right hand, signaling his subordinates.
How these people planned to search wasn’t Ning Li’s concern.
The Principal stepped forward to comfort her.
“Scared you, didn’t they? It’s okay now. Just remember not to pick up random things next time.”
Ning Li nodded obediently.
“Let’s go!”
She glanced back at the departing Sentinels.
They wore blue-toned, close-fitting uniforms, the leading Officer in a dark blue Sentinel Uniform.
Their backs were straight as they left without looking back.
The last question—she hadn’t lied.
That Bead really was trouble.
Because of it, she’d been targeted by Scarface, by this Officer, and attacked by a Jellyfish with paralyzing powers.
But as for her—
She was never afraid of trouble.
So, she gladly accepted the Bead.
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