Yu Hua slipped back into the corner of the stairwell once more and whispered, “Transformation.”
A swirl of colorful light, and her Magical Girl form returned.
“Head, give me some Presence Reduction Magic, ten minutes.”
“What are you up to?”
Xing Li tilted her head, but still raised her hand and tapped Shui Hua on the shoulder.
The aura of her ability seeped in, and Shui Hua’s presence became noticeably fainter.
Even if she strutted down the street in full Magical Girl attire, she’d probably just be mistaken for an inconspicuous passerby.
“You’ll know soon enough… Alright, once the magic’s active, cancel your transformation, and we’ll make a quick trip to the shopping center over there.”
Xing Li, though puzzled, trusted in her plan and canceled her transformation.
Before transforming, Xing Li wore a blue and white High School Uniform, her hair cut in a neat, shoulder-length bob, glasses perched on her nose, with faint dark circles under her eyes—a classic high schooler’s look.
Shui Hua grabbed Xing Li, who had returned to her usual appearance, and marched straight out of the stairwell, across the street, and into the mid-sized shopping center near their neighborhood.
With her sights set, she led Xing Li directly toward the Womenswear Section.
“Hurry, Xing Li, help me pick out… something a kid would wear.”
Shui Hua managed to keep her face expressionless, but her eyes were clearly not on the clothes; she pressed Xing Li to help her choose.
Xing Li’s gaze swept over Shui Hua’s slender figure and those twin blue ponytails, then the clothes around them, and instantly understood her plan.
She grabbed a pure White Lace Dress with lacy frills from the rack and handed it over:
“Trying to dress up as a little kid, huh? Give this one a shot.”
“This… Fine.”
Shui Hua took the dress and darted into the fitting room.
When she came out holding her Magical Girl outfit, Shui Hua had transformed from a Magical Girl to the girl-next-door.
The white dress accentuated her petite figure, and her sky-blue long hair cascaded over her shoulders. Coupled with her naturally youthful doll-like face, she looked for all the world like an innocent little girl.
Standing beside her in a school uniform, Xing Li now had the air of a big sister taking her little sister out.
She stood to the side, trying to maintain a stern demeanor, but the corners of her lips kept threatening to curl up.
“Alright, let’s go.”
Shui Hua didn’t pay any mind to Xing Li’s strained expression, picking up her Magical Girl outfit and stuffing it into a shopping bag.
Back at the door of Room 302, Shui Hua took a deep breath, adjusted her expression and breathing, then pinched her voice into a child’s tone and called into the apartment, “Grandma, Grandma, hello! We’ve come to play with you!”
There was a moment of silence inside, then Grandma’s voice rang out, still filled with wariness:
“Who are you? I don’t know you.”
“We heard your dog has three heads. That’s so amazing…”
Shui Hua continued in her childish voice, “I want to see it, but Mommy says your dog is really bad and dangerous and won’t let me look…”
“Who said that? Nonsense!”
Grandma’s voice instantly became sharp.
“My Da Huang is very well-behaved. He’s never bitten anyone. You kids don’t know anything.”
“Really? He really doesn’t bite?”
Shui Hua pressed her advantage, still pleading like a child.
“Then can we see him? I want to play with him.”
A brief silence fell inside.
After a few seconds, the sound of the door lock clicked open.
The door opened a crack.
Grandma peeked out, her gaze sweeping over the two girls at the door—no matter how she looked, they were just an innocent little girl and a student.
Her tense expression finally softened a little, and she opened the door wider.
“Come in. Go tell your parents at home—my Da Huang never bites. Save me the trouble of people always coming to bother me.”
The two of them finally managed to slip inside.
Their eyes quickly scanned the living room, then turned toward the bedroom door.
There, in the corner of the bedroom, they spotted their target for this mission.
A burly yellow dog was chained to the foot of the bed by a thick iron chain.
Three very different canine heads sprouted from its neck, all three of them clearly agitated.
Drool dripped constantly from their exposed fangs as they jerked and twisted, desperately trying to break free from the collar, as if they might break loose at any moment.
Suppressing her disgust, Shui Hua moved closer to the dog, stretching her right hand toward the middle dog head—just close enough for it to reach.
Sure enough, the middle head didn’t hesitate for a second, lunging forward to bite Shui Hua’s hand hard.
“Waaah—Ow, it hurts! The dog bit me! Help!”
Shui Hua instantly put on a loud, wailing performance.
“Didn’t you keep saying your dog doesn’t bite?”
Xing Li immediately turned to Grandma, her voice stern and accusatory.
Grandma still tried to argue, “M-my Da Huang never bites anyone. You just startled him by getting too close, that’s all. He only bit you because he was scared…”
“So, you’re admitting it was your dog that bit her?”
Xing Li instantly raised her voice.
“N-no, it’s not,” Grandma frantically waved her hands and quickly shifted blame, “It’s that, that… Anomalous Entity, that monster! Not my dog!”
“Big sister, big sister, help! It hurts… I’m bleeding… Hurry, get Magical Girl sis to help…”
Shui Hua kept up her loud cries, at the same time signaling Xing Li what to do next.
“Hang on, little sister, I’ll get help right away!”
Xing Li dashed out the door, immediately transformed into Magical Girl form, and rushed back in, prying open the jaws of the dog head clamped on Shui Hua’s hand.
Shui Hua’s fair little hand was now covered in hideous wounds.
Xing Li pointed at the injuries and demanded, “Is this your dog? You let it bite a little girl like this!”
“It’s not my dog,” Grandma instantly denied responsibility and lied, “It’s a monster that ran in from outside! I almost got bitten too! It’s all because you heroes didn’t show up in time.”
“In that case, this ‘Anomalous Entity’ that hurt a child—I’ll need to take it away for processing. Any objections?”
“N-no objections, take it away…”
Grandma waved her hands repeatedly, desperate to see them gone.
Xing Li knocked out all three dog heads and hefted the beast up with one hand, while her other hand supported Shui Hua, who was still wailing and sobbing.
The two of them left the room quickly with the dog in tow, while Grandma scrambled to shut the door behind them.
They didn’t stop until they reached the bottom of the stairs.
Only then did Xing Li release Shui Hua’s arm and look at her, still dramatically clutching her own, and asked formally, “Your hand okay?”
“It might not be, but it’s not likely,” Shui Hua said, dropping the act and shaking her wrist, quickly recovering her usual state.
This was Shui Hua’s Healing Magic.
When used on herself, wounds of this level could heal instantly.
Not only that, but she’d also used Pain Masking Magic while being bitten.
She didn’t have any offensive spells, only these kinds of support magics—but for situations like this, they were more than enough.
“That’s why you’ve got to make the most of a Magical Girl’s strengths.”
Shui Hua was still wearing the children’s white dress and hadn’t changed out of it yet.
She shrugged, as if helpless, but her expression didn’t show much concern.
“Uhh…”
Xing Li had no idea how to comment on that.