“Yaho, no sleeping allowed here.”
“Hmm?”
Waking from a dream, Jiang Yao finally let go of the hand clutching her own clothes.
Upon opening her eyes, she saw a woman dressed in ancient clothing slightly bowing and studying her.
“Eh… huh…?”
“Just kidding. Judging by your look, someone else must have come to help you already.”
The woman in ancient attire extended her hand toward Jiang Yao. “Don’t worry, you didn’t time-slip to ancient times. These clothes are my spirit garment.”
She glanced at a glowing token-like object in her hand and read aloud from it:
“Let me see, Magical Girl [Crystal], contracted fairy is Tanggula Afiar St—”
“That’s me, that’s me.”
Jiang Yao quickly responded, having heard Xiao Bai’s full name so many times, it was better not to question it further.
By now, she had already stood up and realized she was on a flat ground outside the factory perimeter.
Looking back, the battle-worn factory lay in ruins—several outer walls had collapsed, and the roof was almost completely torn off.
Noticing her gaze, the woman explained:
“The later damage was done by me. Nobody wanted this factory anyway. I just went to search around.”
She turned back. “Didn’t find any other enemies, only massive magical residue. Looks like it was a tough fight. How do you feel? Any discomfort?”
“I…”
Jiang Yao moved her body a few times. The tearing pain in her internal organs and bones was gone.
Her body felt perfectly normal—actually better than when she left.
You could say she was fully revived.
However, the mental fatigue still weighed on Jiang Yao’s mind, making her feel groggy and a bit sluggish when thinking.
“May I ask, did you see the person who saved me?”
“No.” The woman shook her head. “When I arrived, you were the only one lying here. That person must have just left not long ago—a wild magical girl.”
“Wild magical girl?”
“Yeah, don’t you know? Unlike you, who operates within a fixed city as an assigned magical girl, people like me run around everywhere.”
The woman held out one hand. “Almost forgot to introduce myself—you can just call me by my Taoist name, [Mingxin].”
“Taoist name…”
“It’s also a magical girl code name, but I cultivate immortality.”
Mingxin pointed toward the factory ruins. “Since the one who saved you doesn’t want to show up, I’ll just take credit for it. I’ll report to the higher-ups and get some compensation for you.”
“Ah.” Jiang Yao was stunned. She didn’t even know such things were possible.
Still, if that’s the case, that ancient magical girl named Aurora must really exist.
She claimed to have saved Jiang Yao’s mother, so Jiang Yao could only accept that for now, though she still felt uneasy.
Right now, all Jiang Yao wanted was to go home and confirm if her mother had returned safely, and how she was doing—if she had been frightened.
Thinking of her kind and gentle mother going through such an ordeal, possibly left with lasting psychological scars like other victims of dark incidents, Jiang Yao felt a heavy weight in her heart.
Meanwhile, Mingxin noticed Jiang Yao’s distracted expression upon waking and grew a little worried.
She quickly took off a gourd hanging from her waist, flicked the sealed mouth open with one finger, and inserted it into Jiang Yao’s slightly open mouth.
“Mmhm?!”
Jiang Yao, still lost in thought about her mother, didn’t anticipate this move.
By the time she reacted, her mouth was already full.
Magical liquid from the gourd was poured inside.
The entry felt gentle, like a trickling stream carrying the fragrance and sweetness of flowers.
But once it reached her throat, it immediately felt like a fire dragon, scorching its way down into her stomach, then transforming into a warm current flowing through her limbs and body.
“Cough cough… cough cough cough…”
As the gourd was pulled away, the girl almost lost her knees, wobbling as she coughed and struggled to wipe her lips.
“What is this stuff?”
“My own brew—Peach Blossom Nectar.”
Mingxin proudly put her hands on her hips. “Pretty good, right?”
“That’s just alcohol!”
This was Jiang Yao’s first time drinking, and the other party’s homemade brew was probably very strong pure liquor.
No wonder she was uncomfortable to the point of nausea.
“Don’t worry, dizziness is normal.”
Mingxin came closer and patted her shoulder.
“Feeling better now?”
“Better… huh?”
Jiang Yao was initially irritated but then looked up in surprise. “Better?”
After the initial dizziness passed, Jiang Yao’s mind felt remarkably clear.
When she lifted her head and looked at the world, there was a strange but indescribable sense of clarity.
It was as if she had been wearing dirty glasses before, and now they had been wiped clean.
Logically, nothing about the world had changed, and it was indeed the same as before—no real “clarity” had been added.
Yet Jiang Yao was experiencing something magical.
“See, see? Immortal arts—they’re amazing, right?”
“Immortal arts?”
Jiang Yao asked curiously.
“Aren’t you a magical girl?”
“Yeah.”
Mingxin said matter-of-factly, “But I cultivate immortality.”
“Uh…”
The other party used magic, showed magic, and claimed her clothes were spirit garments.
Isn’t she a magical girl?!
“You can’t say it like that.”
Mingxin seemed to read her mind.
“Look, if magic exists, who can say immortals don’t?”
“True… that actually makes some sense.”
“Right? Right?”
Mingxin said excitedly:
“I’m telling you, maybe the Dao Ancestor and other immortals back then weren’t some old bearded men at all, but earlier kinds of magi…”
“Stop stop stop! That’s sacrilege! Aren’t you afraid the heavens will strike you down?”
“Not afraid. My sword-riding skills are excellent.”
Mingxin said as she pulled out a little notebook from her bosom: “Look, I can even fly in the sky and draw immortal girls at the same time. Want some—”
“What kind of immortal cultivation jargon is that?!”
“Sister Quan, there’s been an incident.”
From afar, sensing a magical girl flying over, Jiang Lingwei quickly settled Jiang Yao in a conspicuous spot.
Only after seeing the sword-riding magical girl land and pick up her daughter did she relax and return home, lying on the bed to make a phone call.
“Hmm? Why call me all of a sudden? Already itching to go back to work?”
Wen Yaqian answered quickly, faint sounds of splashing water could be heard from her side—she must be showering.
“No, not that… but it’d be better if you can get ready earlier.”
Jiang Lingwei sighed. “But what I want to say is, something even weirder happened.”
At times like these, she was grateful to have an old friend to talk to, otherwise, all her worries would have no outlet.
“Darling~ wait for me a sec.”
On the other end, Wen Yaqian put the phone down for a moment, shouted to someone, then turned back with a serious tone.
“What happened?”
“Sister Quan, do you think… can magical girls use dark magic?”
“Hahaha, what a joke.” Wen Yaqian laughed. “We all know that’s impossible. If you try to force it, might as well bring a gas canister instead.”
After laughing, she realized Jiang Lingwei wouldn’t call her so late to discuss an impossible scenario.
“Wait, what? You really saw it?”
“…It was my daughter. She’s a magical girl, but… she used dark magic.”
Jiang Lingwei sighed deeply.
“…”
“…”
The two old friends fell into silence.
After a while, Wen Yaqian cautiously asked:
“So… did she explode?”
“…”
“…”
A “💢” appeared over Jiang Lingwei’s head.
“What kind of question is that?!”
“Of course! How else am I supposed to know the details?”
“Well, obviously she didn’t explode. My daughter’s fine. Besides, if she had exploded, what good would asking you do?”
“Who knows what you’re thinking! Such a pain.”
“Wen Yaqian! I’m coming to your place tomorrow!”
“Bring it on! Ha Jiwei, you’re asking for it!”
“Ha Ji… what’s that?”
“Hohoho, such an old meme and you don’t know it? Loser, little Aurora loser~”
Jiang Lingwei clenched her phone tightly.
Her fist really clenched.
“Alright, alright, since it’s fine now, we’ll talk tomorrow. Besides, I have to study this too.”
On Wen Yaqian’s side came some faint sniffling.
“Now, I’m going to bed with my husband.”
Then a man’s awkward voice whispered:
“Um, honey, you can keep talking on the phone, I’m not in a hurry…”
“Hmph, trying to escape?”
“Beep beep…”
Jiang Lingwei was stunned holding the now-disconnected phone.
She hadn’t expected to disturb her friend’s married life.
Yeah, Wen Yaqian was married now.
Guess she needed to be more careful calling her at night.
(Then, where did my husband go?)
Just as the thought popped into her mind, her hand shot up—
“Smack.”
When Jiang Yao got home, she saw Jiang Lingwei asleep on the sofa with a faint slap mark on her face and the light on.
“…”
Not daring to move her mother, Jiang Yao used simple magic to check her condition.
Breathing steady, body healthy.
That’s right, that Aurora seemed to have healing abilities.
If she could heal Jiang Yao so quickly, healing her mother shouldn’t be a problem.
Clenching her little fists, Jiang Yao covered her pretending-to-sleep mother with a blanket and gently stroked her warm, soft cheek, carefully applying a simple healing spell.
Jiang Yao cursed silently in her heart.
(That fiend.)
(Left such an obvious slap mark on my mother. Even Aurora couldn’t fully heal it.)
(Damn it, that must have been a terrifying injury QAQ.)
(If it weren’t for me… sigh… I’ll just have to wait until morning to check on Mom.)
Making up her mind, Jiang Yao felt more guilt than anger as she sat on the other side of the sofa, ready to guard her mother all night.
Just right, after drinking that Peach Blossom Nectar, she now felt energetic and wide awake.
She didn’t notice the thin layer of guilty sweat forming on her mother’s forehead.
(Good girl… someone’s watching so closely.)
(Your parents just can’t sleep.)
(But Yao Yao just went through a battle. Although I healed her body, her spirit must still be tired.)
(She’ll probably fall asleep soon, yep, no problem!)