That night, after the lights went out, perhaps because she had spent so much energy during the day, Yang Mo quickly sank into a deep sleep.
Qianling thought back to the night before. Back then, Yang Mo had also fallen asleep in no time at all—one second she was talking, and the next, she was already asleep.
She gazed at Yang Mo’s peaceful, sleeping face and couldn’t help but sigh.
This girl can just drop off to sleep without a care, while I have so much on my mind.
Sleeping in the same bed as another girl… I wonder when I’ll ever get used to this… No, is this really something a person can get used to?
For normal humans, if they try too hard to keep still, it actually puts the body in a tense state, making it even harder to maintain the same position for long.
Right now, Qianling was exactly in that situation.
On one hand, she felt a bit at a loss, and on the other, she was afraid of moving around and waking Yang Mo.
But now that she was a doll, her control over her body far surpassed what she’d had as a human. Before long, she found the knack and allowed her body to become completely calm.
At the same time, her consciousness also began to blur.
That night, she slept deeply—no nightmares, and no memories from the past coming to haunt her.
The next day, it was the phone at the bedside that woke her up.
When she opened her eyes, Qianling found that what covered her was nothing but a cartoon-patterned comforter, and she hadn’t shifted position at all in her sleep. Instantly, she breathed a sigh of relief.
Then, she fumbled to turn off the alarm on Yang Mo’s phone.
But just as she thought nothing unexpected would happen and tried to get up, she realized her left arm was being tightly held, and she could faintly feel a soft sensation on her arm.
She looked down at Yang Mo lying on her left and immediately understood the source of that sensation. Flustered, she forcefully pulled her arm out of Yang Mo’s embrace.
Only then did Yang Mo wake up, rubbing her barely opened eyes and murmuring, “…Is it morning already?”
At that moment, Qianling was reminded of what happened when she woke up yesterday.
She hadn’t heard the alarm then—maybe because she woke up too early.
So did I play the role of a human alarm clock for once?
But that was only once. Today, Yang Mo really kept her promise and didn’t move around in her sleep.
No matter how she tried, Qianling just couldn’t figure out how that worked.
Since you’re unconscious when you sleep, how do you keep control of your body?
In this sense, maybe Yang Mo’s self-control over her body was even better than her own as a doll.
So Qianling decided to be a little gentler with Yang Mo today.
Looking at Yang Mo, whose eyes were slowly closing again, Qianling pinched her cheek with even more gentleness than yesterday.
“Don’t be lazy—get up.”
“Mmm… mm…”
Just like yesterday, Yang Mo let out a muffled sound and finally sat up, now fully awake.
“Qianling, could you try waking me up in another way next time…?”
“Then can I switch to tugging your ear?”
“No way!”
The two of them, now changed and ready, chatted as they walked down the stairs.
Since they woke up even later today, Yang Mo wasn’t as leisurely as yesterday. Qianling could clearly feel that everything Yang Mo did was noticeably faster than before.
In no time, she was all set at the door. Before leaving, she told Qianling, “After today, it’s the weekend. Qianling, you can really look forward to tomorrow!”
“Mm, I’m looking forward to it.”
Her reply made Yang Mo grin brilliantly, then she hurried off toward school.
Qianling remained at the door, watching her leave, then murmured to herself, “And… not just ‘that’ tomorrow.”
For this, Qianling had to fulfill her responsibilities.
The search for “Sisters” continued as usual today.
The reason Qianling was so persistent about this wasn’t just to protect Yang Mo and everyone else’s safety—there was another reason, too.
She also didn’t want the hands of the Doll Witch to be stained with blood.
In the original story, the Doll Witch awakened her powers not long before the plot began, so there was still time to stop her.
And almost every witch in the original had a heavy past; the Doll Witch was no exception.
If Qianling had the chance, she hoped to change not just the fate of the Magical Girls, but the tragic destinies of the witches as well.
Is that too greedy?
While questioning herself in her heart, Qianling soared above the town.
Fortunately, she still had some confidence in this matter—
If what the Doll Witch wanted was the “perfect” doll, then the secret to stopping her lay with Qianling herself.
Thinking these things over, Qianling had unknowingly searched through several neighborhoods.
But she still found nothing—not even a trace of Corrupted Spirits.
After running around non-stop for over two hours, Qianling began to feel tired and finally decided to take a short break.
“…I’m getting bored.”
She let out a long breath atop a water tower.
Hugging one knee, she rested her head against it as she sat.
Yesterday, besides searching, she’d also visited Yang Mo’s school. Maybe that bit of variety was what had kept her work from feeling so tedious.
Speaking of Yang Mo, what would she be doing right now?
If her deskmate asked about me, what would she say?
Did I explain that homework problem to her correctly or not?
Qianling inadvertently glanced toward the direction of Yang Mo’s school.
Could it be… this feeling isn’t boredom, but loneliness?
Realizing that thought, she quickly patted her cheeks twice to clear her head.
“Absolutely impossible.”
Qianling declared firmly, completely denying the possibility.
At the same time, far away at Xinghu Town Middle School, it was still class break time.
In one classroom, a girl with glasses and a low ponytail was quietly watching another girl leave her seat.
Her name was Zhou Xiaohui. She was the class monitor, and the girl she was watching had pale golden hair—Yang Mo, Zhou Xiaohui’s deskmate.
Ever since she met Yang Mo’s “distant relative” yesterday, Zhou Xiaohui had been especially concerned about what exactly had happened to her deskmate.
She always felt that, when talking with them, there were parts they were deliberately hiding. And thinking of Yang Mo’s complicated family situation, she couldn’t help but suspect that something big had happened.
Could Yang Mo need help?
At the very least, Zhou Xiaohui did consider Yang Mo a friend, but she always felt Yang Mo was too strong-willed and would rather keep quiet even if she was struggling.
With her eyes, Zhou Xiaohui watched Yang Mo leave the classroom and turn left. She immediately realized she was heading for the homeroom teacher’s office.
Because only the homeroom teacher’s office was in that direction.
Could she be talking to the teacher about that distant relative? If she remembered right, her name was Qianling?
Zhou Xiaohui couldn’t help but secretly follow her, taking along a pile of Chinese homework as a cover.
As she neared the office, sure enough, she heard the voices of Yang Mo and the teacher inside.
She knew eavesdropping was shameful, but…
Wrestling with her conscience, she ended up by the edge of a balcony, separated from the office by just one wall. Because the office window was open, she could hear their conversation clearly from here.
Zhou Xiaohui leaned against the wall, flipping through the homework books in her hands, pretending to be checking them.
The first voice she heard was that of a middle-aged man—the homeroom teacher.
“Why do you want to order a new school uniform?”
On the other side of the wall, Yang Mo put on a troubled expression and replied to the teacher, “My spare uniform got stained and won’t come clean, and honestly, I always thought it was a bit too big anyway, so I want to order a smaller one.”
Hearing this, the teacher immediately switched to a lecturing tone. “Yang Mo, whether it’s in life or in your studies, you need to be more careful in the future.”
Yang Mo kept the same look on her face and quietly listened until he was done.
“But you’re in luck. The school’s organizing a batch order soon. I’ll check with the general office in a bit—just fill out a form when the time comes.”
“Alright. Thank you, teacher.”
With that, Yang Mo slowly walked out of the office, still wearing a pitiful expression. But as soon as she was out the door, her face broke into a honeyed smile, and her steps grew light.
Compared to her previous look, it was like a Sichuan opera face change.
And in that instant of transformation, she came face to face with Zhou Xiaohui, who was about to hand in homework.
Zhou Xiaohui was so startled by the odd scene that she stood frozen, clutching her homework in front of her.
Yang Mo’s just-formed smile froze as well.