Twenty minutes later, a figure streaked down like a meteor, appearing above the ravaged Beida Street commercial district.
This was the first time since her retirement that Xiaoxi had openly appeared as Eternal Star, but at this moment, she had no time to care about appearances.
The commercial street was left in ruins, and Xiaoxi spotted the withered Scarlet Flower in front of the Fountain Square—it was Ding.
The Blood Moon Witch had indeed appeared here.
“Miss L, any sign of the Blood Moon Witch?”
“No. You know, Axing, the Blood Moon Witch can embed herself within her creations to escape. The seven or eight B-rank magical girls on site couldn’t stop her at all.”
Xiaoxi frowned and quickened her pace away from there.
She knew this was the best chance to catch the Blood Moon Witch and hadn’t expected her to actually appear in Xianghai City!
Gradually, a drizzle fell, tapping against the wrecked streets.
All the magical girls of the Xianghai City Magical Girl Association had mobilized, searching everywhere in the city for any trace of the Blood Moon Witch.
Many had seen the Eternal Star—absent for three years—appear in midair.
That day, ordinary residents of Xianghai City lived in fear; everyone understood the kind of… monster the Blood Moon Witch was when she appeared on Beida Street.
If left unchecked, she could destroy the entire city by herself.
It wasn’t until nightfall that Xiaoxi dragged her exhausted body back home.
She had spent the whole afternoon searching for the Blood Moon Witch, but to no avail.
“Don’t worry, Axing. The Association has set up inspection stations at all exits from the city. The Blood Moon Witch will definitely be spotted if she tries to leave Xianghai City.”
“At least now we can confirm she’s hiding somewhere inside the city. That’s actually good news. You know the Blood Moon Witch’s ability gives her an advantage in escape—it’s normal we can’t find her immediately.”
Xiaoxi shook her head. “If you get any news about the Blood Moon Witch, notify me immediately.”
After hanging up, Xiaoxi finally pulled out her key and opened the door.
Outside, the drizzle had turned into a downpour; dark clouds and gloom hung heavy over the city.
“I’m back…”
Xiaoxi’s voice was full of fatigue. She greeted as usual, but the dark, cold living room made her words catch in her throat.
No one answered. Right… Yeli Lan should have moved out by now.
She had said they’d meet again after work today, but it seemed that wouldn’t happen.
For the first time, Xiaoxi felt how empty and lifeless this apartment was.
At some point, she had gotten used to coming home each day to lights on in the living room and Yeli Lan lazily lying on the sofa.
Today had been full of nothing but trouble… Xiaoxi shook her head, slipped on her slippers, and prepared to find something to fill her stomach.
But as soon as she stepped into the living room, faint sobbing caught her attention. Xiaoxi flicked the light on and widened her eyes at the sight of Yeli Lan curled up on the sofa.
“Xinglan? I thought… you’d already moved out.”
Relief mixed with surprise. Xiaoxi was glad she hadn’t gone straight home on Miss L’s call earlier; otherwise, Yeli Lan would have overheard those few words.
But she soon noticed something was wrong. Yeli Lan hugged her knees, eyes swollen and red—she had clearly been crying.
“Xinglan, are you alright?”
So cold! That was Xiaoxi’s only thought as she tried to pull Yeli Lan up.
Yeli Lan’s hands and feet were icy; no one knew how long she had been sitting alone like this.
At this moment, Yeli Lan wanted to pour out everything to Xiaoxi, but she restrained herself.
She still remembered how, that afternoon, standing in Fountain Square, she was like a target—everyone’s eyes on her were either fearful or disgusted.
Friends who had been chatting with her just minutes ago squeezed into the crowd, their looks no different from the others.
Yes, no one liked the real her, not even after she had just defeated a monster and averted disaster.
As night deepened, when Xiaoxi pulled out a spare set of pajamas from the wardrobe, the rain outside was still pouring.
The moving company had cleared out Yeli Lan’s room earlier, not even leaving a single set of pajamas. So tonight, Yeli Lan would have to stay in Xiaoxi’s room.
Seeing Yeli Lan standing by the bed, still looking dazed, Xiaoxi gently hugged her.
“Don’t overthink it. Not wanting the arranged marriage isn’t your fault. I thought your family had finally given up on it.”
That had been Yeli Lan’s excuse earlier. By Mo Lan’er’s plan, she should have already been taken back to Mo Lan’er’s villa.
“Get some rest early.”
After the lights were out and they got into bed, the rustling sounds and the feeling of someone pulling back the covers made Xiaoxi truly realize that tonight she would be sharing her bed with Yeli Lan.
The single bed wasn’t very wide. Xiaoxi turned on her side to give Yeli Lan more space and tried to stop herself from overthinking.
What Xiaoxi hadn’t expected was that Yeli Lan suddenly pressed closer, like a child lacking security.
“Xiaoxi, do you… hate me?”
Yeli Lan’s voice was hoarse. She had her reasons for being so down today.
After escaping the Bone Chamber, besides her wish to find Eternal Star for revenge, her greatest desire was to leave everything behind and live an ordinary life.
Yeli Lan knew she had been a humanoid weapon for the Church of the Divine Summons, but that wasn’t her true intention.
She always believed that after the Church’s destruction, people would forget the terrifying Blood Moon Witch, and one day she could live freely as an ordinary person.
But now she realized that unless she could hide her identity as the Blood Moon Witch forever, she would always be a monster in everyone’s eyes.
She didn’t want to live hiding her true self, like a rat in the sewers.
“Why do you ask?”
Xiaoxi rolled over and faced Yeli Lan on the bed.
She guessed that Yeli Lan must have faced something unpleasant on her way home.
Perhaps the Rich Girl wasn’t as carefree as she appeared.
“Because a lot of people hate me,” Yeli Lan curled up tighter, “it feels like no one likes… the real me.”
“Xinglan, look me in the eyes.”
In the dark room, Xiaoxi’s eyes shone brightly, staring seriously at Yeli Lan.
“I don’t know what you went through today, but I know exactly who the real Yeli Lan is.”
“You’d be willing to let this poor ghost like me off the hook on rent, and you’d be willing to be friends with a weirdo like the shop manager. I know that’s the real you. I could never hate that Yeli Lan.”
“You don’t understand what ‘the real me’ means…”
Yeli Lan murmured and closed her eyes, but her arms still instinctively wrapped around Xiaoxi’s body, clutching like a lifeline.
Yeli Lan suddenly remembered something Xiaoxi said to her a while ago on the way home from work.
Xiaoxi had looked into her eyes and said earnestly, “Even if you were the Blood Moon Witch, I’d still treat you this way.”
Yeli Lan’s heart stirred. Maybe, just maybe, Xiaoxi really was different from everyone else…
“Xinglan?”
Xiaoxi’s voice interrupted her thoughts. Yeli Lan opened her eyes and found Xiaoxi holding her tightly.
“I’m not going to ask what happened today, but I can answer your question from earlier—I absolutely, absolutely will never hate the real you.”
Yeli Lan’s tense nerves suddenly relaxed, like a drowning person grabbing the hand reaching out to save her.
The biting cold beneath the water vanished in that instant.
As the rain outside slowly eased, the two inside the room were already asleep in each other’s arms.
……
In the early hours, Yeli Lan suddenly opened her eyes as if she’d had a revelation.
She quietly moved Xiaoxi’s arm aside, took her phone, and slipped out to the balcony.
The next second, her phone rang.
“Miss, are you alright?”
“I’m fine, Alan. The Association hasn’t found my trace.”
“Phew… thank goodness. Luckily you didn’t come home straight away. The Association people stayed with me until just now.”
“Miss, where are you now? I have connections on the black market to evade the city exit inspections. The Association might bring in magical girls from other cities. Now is the best chance to leave Xianghai City!”
“Alan, I… I don’t want to leave. I think hiding where I was before is pretty safe. The Association never found that place.”
“No, no, no, that won’t do, Miss!” Alan’s voice became urgent, “That was before! Now, leaving Xianghai City is the safest choice! You know that too!”
“Miss, be honest with me, why do you have to stay there?”
“Alan, I…”
Yeli Lan’s gaze went blank, staring into the quiet night sky.
“I think… I’ve fallen for someone.”
……
Over the next two days, Xiaoxi searched everywhere in the city for any trace of the Blood Moon Witch but found nothing.
This only strengthened her previous judgment—someone in Xianghai City was definitely helping the Blood Moon Witch hide!
Since the Blood Moon Witch had vanished completely, Xiaoxi had no choice but to force herself back into her normal life.
These two days had already heavily disrupted her routine—she had almost missed her novel’s publication deadline due to lack of drafts.
As for Yeli Lan, she quickly returned to normal and never mentioned moving out again.
Xiaoxi never asked what had happened that day. Sometimes, she oddly felt relieved—if Yeli Lan’s family hadn’t insisted on the arranged marriage, their cohabitation might really have ended.
Of course! Xiaoxi insisted she didn’t care about Yeli Lan—but… if Yeli Lan moved out, her rent might jump back up to 3000 a month.
Yes, this poor ghost’s only reason for not wanting Yeli Lan to leave was the rent.
From the next day on, the two tacitly never spoke about that night again. Life seemed to return to its usual calm.
That afternoon, when Xiaoxi arrived at Nightingale Café for work, she was surprised to find Yeli Lan not sitting by the window where she usually did, but at another large table.
Xiaoxi glanced over—Yeli Lan was sitting with two or three girls. So the Rich Girl did have friends?
Well, Xiaoxi didn’t mean to be hostile; it was just that during the month they lived together, Yeli Lan had basically no social life.
Xiaoxi had never seen her go out with anyone… wait, Yeli Lan had mentioned meeting some online friends recently, hadn’t she?
“What’s wrong, Xiaoxi? Jealous your girlfriend’s hanging out with other girls?”
Su Ying’s teasing brought Xiaoxi back to reality, and she hurriedly shook her head.
“No! I was just surprised Yeli Lan actually invited friends out today.”
“Huh? She didn’t tell you? She’s met some new online friends recently—apparently through gaming?”
Now Xiaoxi was sure about those friends’ identities. Looks like she was right.
“Alright, Xiaoxi, you go change in the back first. I’ll bring these desserts over to them.”
While Xiaoxi changed, Yeli Lan chatted happily with her new friends.
“Phew, that day really scared me. Didn’t expect we’d run into such a serious monster attack!”
“Yeah, and not just monsters—the Blood Moon Witch too…”
A shadow flickered across Yeli Lan’s eyes, but she didn’t respond.
“Come on, let’s forget the past. The important thing today is to make up for the part we didn’t get to enjoy last time!”
The speaker was Datianxin—the girl who’d been caught by the tentacle monster that day.
“I’m telling you, I’ve wanted to come to this café for a while. I saw videos about this place before—the maids here are so cute!”
“Speaking of which, wasn’t that maid who just went behind the counter? I want to take a photo with her later!”
The others nodded in agreement. Su Ying’s social media promotion was clearly working well.
Su Ying, who’d just brought the desserts over, winked at Yeli Lan, silently saying, “Looks like your girlfriend’s pretty popular,” but Yeli Lan didn’t catch the hint; she just tilted her head, staring at the desserts.
“Eh, Manager, did you bring the wrong order?”
“No, this is a new item. Try it,” Su Ying smiled, “Since Xinglan’s a regular and even brought friends this time.”
When Xiaoxi finished changing and came out from behind the counter, Yeli Lan was happily chatting with her new friends. Since she hadn’t requested maid service today, Xiaoxi didn’t join but glanced over occasionally.
Not long after, when the café’s crowd thinned, Su Ying suddenly came over beside Xiaoxi.
“So, Xiaoxi?” Su Ying nodded toward Yeli Lan’s table, “Anything you want to say?”
“Huh? I… don’t have anything to say.”
Xiaoxi looked confused. She couldn’t understand the eager gleam in Su Ying’s eyes.