Once Yang Xia and Qianling stopped arguing, the two of them finally reached an agreement.
“In any case, I agree to let you stay at my place, but don’t even think about being my little sister.”
“Who wants to be your little sister? I wouldn’t even care to be your older sister.”
With that, both of them huffed, then turned their backs to each other.
“All right, stop arguing already.” At this moment, Yang Mo changed her attitude from earlier and began to persuade the two of them.
She walked to the middle, taking one hand from each of them and pulling them to face her.
“It’s almost mealtime anyway. Let’s prepare dinner for three, for the first time in a while.”
“That makes sense…” Yang Xia scratched her face and said, “I’ll head out right away, you two wait here.”
But as she was about to leave, Yang Mo still didn’t let go of her hand.
“It’s a rare chance like this. Let’s all go together!”
“All three of us?”
Yang Xia glanced uneasily at Qianling, then pointed at her. “Are you sure this one can really go out looking like that?”
As soon as she finished speaking, right before her eyes, Qianling activated her Disguise Magic. The puppet features on her body vanished without a trace.
“Like this?” she retorted to Yang Xia.
“Whoa… That’s your magic?” Yang Xia was startled, but that wasn’t her only concern.
“There’s more to worry about than just that… Oh right, Yang Mo, show her that thing.”
“I almost forgot about that…”
Yang Mo hurriedly let go of their hands, pulled out her phone, and showed Qianling a post on the message board.
“Qianling, look at this.”
Qianling looked where she pointed and saw that the post was reporting details about her eye and hair color.
“So what do we do?” Yang Xia asked. “Want me to post a clarification for you?”
“No need.”
Qianling immediately refused.
“But Qianling…”
“Really, no need.”
Even facing Yang Mo’s kindness, Qianling gave the same reply.
Maybe they’d think I’m refusing because I don’t want to trouble them, but that’s not it—there’s really no need.
Thinking this, she began to explain her reasoning.
“Like I said before, there are probably other puppets besides me around here, so I want other Magical Girls to stay alert.”
“I get that, but Qianling, aren’t you worried it’ll make it harder for you to go out?”
Qianling had already thought of this concern.
“I know a bit about this message board. It’s an app just for Magical Girls, and since they have to keep their identities secret, information isn’t shared with ordinary people. So there’s no need to worry about my info spreading to the public.”
“But aren’t you forgetting an even bigger problem?” Yang Xia reminded her. “What if a Magical Girl spots you directly?”
“That’s even less of a concern.”
As she said this, Qianling was standing with her back to the living room window. She merely inclined her head slightly, and her entire face was swallowed by a deeper shadow.
Within that shadow, her blood-red eyes gleamed with a dull light, and her mouth curved into a crescent-shaped slit.
The puppet girl spoke in a monotone, reciting the fact she knew.
“After all—there are only the two of you Magical Girls in this area, right?”
If some evil villain wanted to eliminate all the knowledgeable witnesses, maybe they’d say something like that first.
Yang Mo and Yang Xia both shivered involuntarily.
“Qianling! Don’t… don’t scare us on purpose!” Yang Mo’s voice trembled a little, clearly shaken.
Yang Xia wiped the cold sweat from her forehead and said, “You even know that? Should I be glad you’re not a real enemy?”
“I wasn’t trying to scare you. I’m just stating the facts.”
Qianling returned to her usual state and shrugged.
She was telling the truth this time, but she noticed something strange.
Even though I wasn’t trying to act all dramatic, this body just can’t help itself.
Should I say, as expected from the original villain’s body?
Even if it only adds a bit of villainous aura, I hope it doesn’t flare up when I’m facing Magical Girls in the future…
“All right, whatever you say.” Yang Xia looked exasperated, then urged, “If there’s no problem, let’s get going.”
Qianling thought for a moment and realized there really wasn’t anything else to worry about, so she followed as they left the house.
Once they reached the main road, the three walked side by side—Yang Xia on the left, Yang Mo in the middle, and Qianling on the right.
Since Yang Mo’s home was in a rather remote part of Xinghu Town, most of the houses they saw along the way were old, and as they walked further, the number of passersby gradually increased.
Along the way, a gap appeared in the row of buildings beside the street, leading to an area enclosed by brick walls.
At this time of day, it was bustling with people; by the entrance, there were vendors selling vegetables from stalls, as well as others selling steamed buns and other prepared foods.
Although there was no signboard above the entrance, it was obvious this was a market.
Qianling had thought today’s destination was here, but Yang Xia, walking on the far left, showed no sign of turning in.
She asked Yang Xia, “Aren’t we going in?”
Yang Xia replied, “I usually shop at the supermarket.”
She glanced at the market entrance, then turned back and kept heading forward.
“Our house is on the edge of Xinghu Town, not merged into the urban area. In a small place like this, if anything happens at home, it spreads all over town. Especially those old folks at the market—they always have something to say whenever I go, so it’s easier to shop at the supermarket.”
“I don’t really mind.” Yang Mo cut in. “Sometimes they give us a little discount, or throw in extra veggies, just to look after us.”
“I don’t really like that kind of thing. Besides, with this one around, it’d probably be even more of a hassle.”
Yang Xia leaned forward a little and pointed at Qianling with her index finger.
“Me?” Qianling also pointed at herself.
Yang Mo looked to her right at Qianling and said, “True, they might think our family really has a new little sister.”
“And this one even looks like a foreigner. Who knows what kind of misunderstanding that’d cause…”
With a sigh, Yang Xia let out a breath.
Qianling figured that the misunderstanding she had in mind was probably the same one Yang Mo’s deskmate thought of.
She didn’t really like being assumed to be the younger sister, but it was true.
To hide my identity… maybe the youngest daughter of the Yang family is the most reasonable setting after all.
Wait, why am I thinking like this?
I don’t want to be someone else’s little sister!
She hugged her head, falling into confusion, while the other two cast her puzzled glances.
After a while, the three of them reached a slightly more bustling street than before.
The supermarket was the most eye-catching building on the street, with a giant blue sign and white lettering above the entrance.
Looks like they’d soon be deciding what to have for dinner.