Chapter 33: I found!

“Gift?”

Wu Menghan’s frown deepened. She felt that Teacher Xia was acting a bit… inexplicable today.

“Ahem, it was all in the past. I still remember, back then, he gave me a small cookie, shaped like a heart.”

“I thought he was going to confess to me, but that guy just ran off after giving it to me. I didn’t even get a chance to talk to him.”

“Only he would do something like that, like a block of wood. My hints were so obvious back then, but he didn’t even dare to confess.” As she spoke, the smile on Xiaxiaoling’s face turned into a bitter one, as if mocking herself.

“It was my own fault for being so silly. Thinking back on it now, I should have just told him outright.”

As she listened, Wu Menghan felt this story sounded a bit familiar. It seemed like her older brother had once told her a different version.

A sliver of suspicion rose in her heart, so she cautiously asked in a soft voice.

“Um… Teacher Xia, that person… who was it?”

“Mm… Just a classmate from middle school.”

Xiaxiaoling raised her brows, answering lightly while dodging the question, the smile at the corner of her mouth tinged with bitterness.

In her mind, the image of that shy yet stubborn little boy surfaced inexplicably. She shook her head helplessly, as if sighing with regret.

“Ahem, anyway, I haven’t asked you yet—what did you want from me?”

Since Xiaxiaoling was being vague, Wu Menghan didn’t press further and followed the change in topic.

“It’s nothing much, actually. I just wanted to check on Vivi.”

“Oh, her? She’s not back yet. You’ll have to wait a bit.”

Upon hearing this, Wu Menghan’s heart tightened.

She hurriedly asked, “Where did Vivi go?”

“Oh, she went to work at the café…”

Halfway through her sentence, Xiaxiaoling suddenly realized something and glanced at the time.

It was already six-thirty.

“That’s odd. She should have been off work by now.”

She exchanged a glance with Wu Menghan, then quickly reacted.

“Wait a moment, I’ll call her.”

She rushed into the kitchen in a panic, not even stopping to tidy up, and called Vivi.

The phone rang for a long time, but no one picked up.

Xiaxiaoling grew anxious. If she couldn’t get through to Vivi, something must have happened.

So she called Xia Yu. The call connected quickly.

“Hello? What’s up, little sister?”

“Did Vivi leave?”

“Yeah, she left right after her shift ended.”

Her shift ended at five, and now it had been more than an hour. Even if she was walking, Vivi should be nearly home by now.

Something must have happened to Vivi. Xiaxiaoling was frantic with worry.

She didn’t have time to explain to her sister and hung up at once.

She then untied her apron, turned off the induction cooker, and hurried back to the bedroom.

Her movements were fluid and fast; in just a few minutes, Xiaxiaoling was dressed and ready.

She glanced at the location on her phone and slowly breathed a sigh of relief.

Thank goodness, at least Vivi’s phone was still with her. But the location made Xiaxiaoling’s heart clench again.

The tracking showed Vivi was heading toward the outskirts, and there was a small village nearby.

If she remembered correctly, there had been a major incident there in the past couple of days.

For some reason, she was gripped by panic.

There was no time to waste—not even a second. Every moment lost put Vivi in more danger.

Gritting her teeth, Xiaxiaoling grabbed Wu Menghan and rushed downstairs.

As they drove out of the community, Xiaxiaoling floored the gas pedal, nearly stomping right through the floor.

Wu Menghan, sitting beside her, was startled and tense, but she was anxious as well and said nothing.

They drove in silence, quickly arriving at the location shown on the tracker.

Vivi’s location was now deep inside the mountain. The road was rugged and still mostly a primitive dirt path—Xiaxiaoling’s car couldn’t make it through.

They had no choice but to get out and walk. Fortunately, Xiaxiaoling had packed a three-section multipurpose military shovel in the trunk.

It could handle almost anything in the wild. After assembling the shovel and a short spear, the two of them headed straight into the mountains.

The mountain at night was cold, with the howling wind mingled with occasional birdsong, making the place even more eerie.

The mountain path was extremely winding, full of jagged rocks and prickly wild grass.

After just a short distance, Wu Menghan’s legs were already scratched in several places.

Time was too tight—she was still wearing shorts, not having had a chance to change.

Xiaxiaoling was a bit worried about Wu Menghan, but Wu Menghan just waved her hand and said,

“It’s fine. Protecting Vivi is what matters most right now.”

Seeing the determination in her eyes, Xiaxiaoling nodded and said no more.

The light around them was dim. The deeper they went into the mountains, the taller the trees grew, and the darker the surroundings became.

The thick canopy blocked out the moonlight entirely, so the two had to use their flashlights and grope their way forward.

The signal was getting closer. Both women’s palms began to sweat.

Gripping their weapons tighter, Wu Menghan was preparing herself mentally for what was to come.

Irena had always told her it was best not to use magic in front of ordinary people.

But in this situation, there was no other way.

She quietly steeled herself and began circulating the magic power in her body.

Before long, they heard footsteps ahead.

But the sound was strange, like some kind of viscous liquid squirming across the ground.

Wu Menghan frowned, stepped forward, and parted the grass.

A bit of moonlight filtered through the treetops, just enough for Wu Menghan to see the people not far away.

There were six people ahead, all with the build of young girls. But under the moonlight, their bodies looked a little odd.

For now, the two ignored those details—their gazes were locked on the blue-haired girl.

Because in her arms, the girl was holding a petite little loli.

“Vivi!”

In her panic, Xiaxiaoling tried to rush forward, but Wu Menghan pulled her back.

Xiaxiaoling looked at Wu Menghan in shock, not expecting her to have so much strength.

She glanced at the surroundings, then at the unaware group ahead, and lowered her voice.

“Teacher Xia, something feels wrong. Please wait here and let me check things out first.”

“…Alright.”

Recalling Wu Menghan’s special abilities from before, Xiaxiaoling finally nodded.

Wu Menghan took a deep breath and closed her eyes, carefully sensing the flow of magic in the air.

Nothing seemed amiss for now…

Wait!

Suddenly, Wu Menghan noticed that the woman at the front was shrouded in an incredibly dense aura of magic.

Wu Menghan didn’t know what kind of magic it was, but she was certain that person could use magic.

And right now, aside from Irena, the only one who could use magic was Eno.

But what was Eno, a slime girl, doing catching Vivi?

And what about the others with her? Were they all slime girls too?

Wu Menghan felt a headache coming on. This was out of her league—she had to notify Irena immediately.

But just as that thought formed, Eno stopped walking, turned her head, and stared straight at the bushes.

Her gaze landed directly on Wu Menghan, their eyes meeting.