Chapter 37: Is not right

Old Industrial District, West City.

Most of these were electronics factories. Due to the impact of the Kiriael Incident, many factories that were already under-operating had completely shut down, with no date for resumption in sight.

The residential area beside the factories was home to local residents, as well as workers and their families.

At this moment, however, it had become unusually lively.

Workers without jobs for the time being gathered in small groups on the streets, smoking and playing cards.

Some vendors pushed modified carts selling snacks.

Most people chatted about when work would resume or whether there were other factories hiring, their eyes somewhat numb and hollow.

Li Huayu spent over two hours walking here because she couldn’t afford the fare.

She wore a hat, her hair tied in a low ponytail. She wasn’t unfamiliar with this environment—in fact, it felt oddly familiar—but her brows were furrowed as she watched her surroundings warily.

Too “lively.”

This kind of liveliness seemed strange in the context of B-rank magical girls Qingluan and Hongying having just gone missing here.

Normally, the Bureau would have increased security and patrols in the area, and people would be tense or discussing it.

But as she walked, apart from seeing some Bureau personnel setting up a checkpoint at a distant intersection, people here seemed unconcerned about the disappearance of magical girls—or perhaps, completely unaware.

The Bureau members also didn’t seem to notice anything wrong here.

Moreover, whether it was an illusion or not, Li Huayu felt the smiles on many faces during conversations were particularly stiff.

Their words repeated phrases like “Once work resumes, we’ll have money” and “Those above will take care of us,” and, in the air, there seemed to be a faintly sweet and cloying scent—like cheap perfume, or perhaps the smell of rotting fruit fermenting.

She was particularly familiar with this scent.

It was the smell she could always detect when under control.

Something was wrong.

Li Huayu’s heart tightened.

She walked up to a stall selling roasted sweet potatoes, rubbed her hands together, and quietly asked the vendor, “Big brother, can I ask you something? Has anything unusual happened around here lately? Or have you seen any unfamiliar faces—especially pretty women in strange clothes?”

The vendor was a dark-skinned middle-aged man.

He looked up at Li Huayu, his gaze murky and his response slow.

“Unfamiliar faces? No…didn’t notice. It’s chaotic here, all kinds of people come and go. Little girl, what are you doing here alone? Go home early.”

Li Huayu thanked him and walked away.

She saw a group of half-grown children fighting over cartoon plastic toys, their actions rough, almost turning violent.

A little girl in a dirty dress sat alone on a pile of abandoned bricks, humming an off-key song and drawing circles in the air with her finger.

Several young women squatted by the roadside, chain-smoking and occasionally shouting, maintaining stiff poses.

This really isn’t right.

Li Huayu thought of the Organization.

Sister Wang and the others had ways of controlling children—not just violence, but sometimes drugs or hypnosis-like psychological suggestion.

The children, once controlled, would act numbly.

Li Huayu walked deeper into the residential area, heading toward the older factory zones.

Some of the Organization’s strongholds were inside.

The further she went, the fewer pedestrians she saw, and the more dilapidated the buildings became.

Most factories here were abandoned, with almost no residents.

The sweet, cloying scent in the air seemed stronger.

Piles of trash and discarded items lined the streets.

Occasionally, a huddled vagrant or a hurried passerby could be seen.

Just then, out of the corner of her eye, Li Huayu caught a glimpse of a familiar figure darting through a narrow alley.

Though it was only a glance, that short, fat build and the way he walked…

A member of the Organization, codenamed Fat Rat, specialized in transporting and hiding “goods.”

The so-called goods—meaning children like her, most of whom were lured from other places, with no identification, making them untraceable.

Occasionally, local children would also be taken, but their uses weren’t just limited to theft and scams.

Li Huayu had never known the details.

But why was Fat Rat here?

Wasn’t he supposed to operate in another district under Organization control?

She pressed herself against the wall and slipped into the alley.

The alley was deep and cluttered with junk.

Fat Rat entered a rusted iron door, from behind which faint voices could be heard.

Li Huayu carefully approached and pressed her ear to the cold metal.

“This batch of goods is in poor condition. They might not last long if sent in,” a rough male voice—Fat Rat.

“Doesn’t matter. The other side is pushing for fresh, lively ones. Damn it, the feed we got this time seems off. Too strong—several are already dazed,” another voice complained.

“Enough talk. Get them in quickly. The Mentor is coming for inspection tomorrow. Also, about those two controlled magical girls—one was sacrificed, the other is being used as a… magic extraction human blood bag. That one’s an official magical girl. If she’s discovered…”

“Shut the hell up!” another voice panicked.

“That’s above our pay grade! The more small fry like us know, the faster we die! Do your job…”

“By the way, have you felt anything weird in your body? Like something extra, feeling off—things you touch rot faster…”

The voices grew quieter.

Li Huayu pressed against the wall, her body cold.

Magical girl… human blood bag… sacrifice…

Was it Qingluan and Hongying? Were they still alive? What did magic extraction mean?

When did such things happen in the Organization…

Fear rose from her heart, but a stronger emotion surged—anger.

Hongying and Qingluan were her benefactors. How could they be treated like this!

She had to tell Tianyou. She had to save them…

Bang!

A dull crash sounded inside, as if something heavy had fallen.

Li Huayu flinched in fright.

The next moment, the iron door creaked open from within, knocked by force.

A person fell out, landing face-up in the filthy water.

It was the man who had just been talking to Fat Rat.

His face was pale as paper, eyes bulging, almost popping from their sockets.

Dark purple lines writhed like living things across his bare arms and neck, wherever they touched, even the sewage on the ground sizzled and released acrid white smoke.

It was as if his life force was being drained, his face rapidly withering.

He was dead.

“Dead?”

Fat Rat sat on the floor, his back cold.

He had seen corpses before, even watched Organization members die in front of him.

But the bulging eyes on the dead man’s face filled him with dread.

Fat Rat hurriedly grabbed a mirror and looked at his face.

Reflected back was a face also turning pale, eyes beginning to bulge.

“Weren’t they…weren’t they supposed to recover quickly…”

Terrified out of his wits, Fat Rat abandoned the corpse and scrambled madly out of the alley, touching bricks and scrap iron in his panic, leaving gray, corroded traces wherever he passed.

Li Huayu shrank in the shadows, clutching her mouth tightly, unnoticed.

Only after the sound faded did she slowly crawl out, avoiding the dead man at the door.

Peering inside, she saw no trace of kidnapped children—this must have been just a private hideout for Fat Rat and the man.

She had to leave quickly and return to find Tianyou.

Li Huayu hurried away, returning to the factory residential area.

Here, nothing had changed since she arrived—almost exactly the same.

The children still fought over toys, the little girl still sang, the young women at the corner continued their stiff chain-smoking, everyone’s faces as numb and lifeless as before.

Something was very wrong.

Li Huayu didn’t even dare linger, unable to fathom how the Bureau personnel could just stand there and chat as if nothing was happening.

Suddenly, a blue figure caught her eye.

“Tianyou!”

Li Huayu cried out in delight.

But as she drew near, she realized it was just a woman with a blue bag.

“Ah, I’m not nearsighted, so how did I mistake it?”

Li Huayu rubbed her eyes. She couldn’t tell if it was her imagination, but her vision really seemed off.

Did she suddenly become nearsighted, or was she just scared?

It should recover soon.

Without thinking much more, Li Huayu started heading back to the hotel.

This time, on the way, she really did see Luo Tianyou sitting in a car, looking sick.

“Tianyou!”

Li Huayu called out happily at first, then stood awkwardly, fiddling with her hair.

Luo Tianyou had told her to stay at the hotel, yet she’d gone out.

No doubt, Luo Tianyou came looking for her after seeing she wasn’t there—even enduring motion sickness to find her.

She had done something wrong.

She would be punished.

Li Huayu lowered her head shyly.