Chapter 247: Copycat, Meow?

In a corner of the Café, Qiuli greeted Xiaoxi briefly before pulling out a chair and sitting down.

Before Xiaoxi could even speak, Qiuli beat her to it.

“Let me guess. You want to ask me about Ling’er, right?”

“…How did you know?”

Xiaoxi was stunned, and a hint of suspicion couldn’t help but rise in her heart. ‘How could she be so certain?’

“Just a guess. Since the higher-ups sent you to secretly investigate the matter regarding Song of Parting, it’s only natural that you’d move on to Ling’er after finishing with me. Ask whatever you want; I’ll tell you everything I know.”

Qiuli’s attitude was very open. “However, you might not know Ling’er that well. With her personality, she would never get involved in something like this.”

In truth, Xiaoxi knew her very well. It was precisely because she understood Ling’er’s character that she had come to Qiuli to seek verification, refusing to give up on the girl’s innocence.

Qiuli was the type of intelligent person who was sensible and clear-headed. When talking to someone like her, there was no need for unnecessary probing.

Xiaoxi hadn’t come to ask before because she simply didn’t believe the incident could be linked to Silver Bell; she had viewed the investigation into Silver Bell as nothing more than a formality.

Thus, Xiaoxi got straight to the point. “Qiuli, are you certain that when you went to see Wange Yue… she was really still at home?”

“You guys couldn’t have actually found something on Ling’er… forget it, I won’t ask about things I shouldn’t. Wange Yue was definitely at home at that time.”

A question with such a strong implication immediately made Qiuli feel that something was wrong. This was the exact point that Xiaoxi couldn’t figure out.

If Wange Yue’s death really was related to Silver Bell, how could Qiuli—who arrived afterward—not have noticed anything?

Xiaoxi looked directly into Qiuli’s eyes. The latter’s expression was normal, and she didn’t look like she was lying.

Based on the timing alone, one could conclude that Silver Bell had nothing to do with Wange Yue’s situation. Yet, why would Wange Yue’s intimate clothing appear in Silver Bell’s home?

“Also, it’s said that the two of them had a fight once. Do you know specifically what it was about?”

That argument was the most reasonable explanation for a motive the Association could come up with.

Xiaoxi hadn’t taken it seriously before, but thinking about it now, the fact that Silver Bell would actively start a conflict with someone was strange in itself.

“The Association thinks that might be Ling’er’s motive?” Qiuli laughed. “That’s absolutely impossible. They had a fight in one of the Association’s empty conference rooms that day and were discovered by others. I wasn’t there at the time, but I can guess what it was about.”

Qiuli suddenly changed the subject. “Do you remember that Archbishop from the Church? Didn’t he cause you to be suspended for a while? He’s a very annoying old man, right?”

Xiaoxi nodded. That was the punishment the Association had given her after she talked back to the Six Seats last time.

Magic Girl Sirius was temporarily suspended and forbidden from participating in any operations… however, Xiaoxi knew herself that it was just a paid vacation to appease the Church.

Furthermore, even if the Astrologer really had something for her to do, she could just say… the one suspended was [Sirius], what did that have to do with her as [Eternal Star]?

Still, that Archbishop was indeed a very loathsome fellow. Xiaoxi agreed with that completely.

“Wange Yue only mentioned this to the two of us—maintaining [Discipline] year-round was a heavy burden for her. On top of that, the Archbishop kept scheduling high-intensity activities for her. During that time, Wange Yue’s body was reaching its limit. Both Ling’er and I were very worried about her.”

“It’s just that as a Monster with no real status, I couldn’t help much. Ling’er, as a Guardian, went to talk to that old geezer about Wange Yue’s health issues, but it didn’t have much effect. The Archbishop firmly refused to stop the [Discipline].”

“That was the first time I saw Ling’er so angry. But you know Wange Yue’s personality; even at a time like that, she wanted to push herself. She felt she could hold on a bit longer and didn’t want Ling’er to clash with the Church. That’s likely why they ended up arguing at the Association that day.”

Qiuli shook her head. Although she hadn’t been present, her implication was clear: Silver Bell had likely clashed with Wange Yue out of concern for her.

Something like that could never become a motive for her to harm Wange Yue.

In the end, Xiaoxi didn’t get any useful information from Qiuli. Based on Qiuli’s description, Silver Bell couldn’t possibly be connected to Wange Yue’s death.

Yet, those items had been found in her home. For a moment, Xiaoxi was at a loss as to what to do.

Xiaoxi had already notified the Astrologer about the situation, but there was no news from that side yet.

She returned home full of worry, only to be met by an excited Ye Xinglan.

“Xiaoxi, Xiaoxi! There’s a lead!”

“…What?”

Xiaoxi’s wandering thoughts instantly snapped back to reality. Then, she saw the news report about Eternal Star on Ye Xinglan’s phone.

“Someone figured out Eternal Star’s range of activity! This time it seems to be the real deal~”

Xiaoxi immediately lost interest. She gave a few casual replies and went into her room.

She remembered Sweet Xin mentioning that Eternal Star had appeared in North Blossom City before, but she hadn’t taken it to heart then either.

‘Maybe it’s some copycat who wants to be a vigilante?’ Xiaoxi had seen the news too.

That fake Eternal Star was indeed acting like a hero, so she felt there was no need to interfere.

Seeing her lack of enthusiasm, Ye Xinglan thought Xiaoxi was still jealous, so she followed her into the room, acting a bit spoiled.

“Don’t be angry anymore, Baby. I’ll be more careful next time.”

“I’m really not angry about that, truly… wait, I need to reply to a message first.”

At that moment, the Astrologer finally responded. Xiaoxi quickly locked herself in the room and started a video call with her.

“Xiaoxi, have you seen the recent news about Eternal Star appearing in North Blossom City?”

Xiaoxi thought there was news regarding Silver Bell, but she didn’t expect the Astrologer’s first sentence to be about this.

“Huh? I’ve seen a little bit. Is something wrong? Speaking of Ling’er…”

“Let’s talk about this first,” the Astrologer’s tone was unusually serious. “You might think it’s just an insignificant copycat, but I’ve actually been privately sending people to investigate that fake Eternal Star for a while now. It just felt off to me.”

“Now, my subordinates have sent word—that Eternal Star is very likely a fake created by the Divine Summon Order.”

Xiaoxi froze, instantly realizing the gravity of the situation.

If it were just a copycat trying to be a vigilante, it wouldn’t matter. But if that [Eternal Star] was something manufactured by the Divine Summon Order, then their purpose was very clear.

The Divine Summon Order had cast such a lure, and it was obvious what fish they were trying to catch… it was definitely Ye Xinglan!

Recalling how Ye Xinglan had indeed shown a massive interest in the matter recently, Xiaoxi immediately understood how serious this was.