The perspective shifted to Qing, just after Lu Yuan had thrown her onto the subway.
The subway, like a beast breaking free from its cage, roared as it disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel.
Qing collapsed onto the cold, shaking floor of the train car, panic consuming her expression.
【Wh… why?】
Her fingers trembled as they traced the cold glass of the window, as if she could still reach the shrinking figure on the platform.
Bloodstains marked the glass where her hand had touched. Qing nervously licked the blood, recognizing it as Lu Yuan’s—she remembered that taste from when she had treated Lu Yuan’s wounds before.
Why… why was Lu Yuan’s blood on my hand?
Qing didn’t understand. Her consciousness had abruptly gone blank moments ago. She had no idea what she had done to Lu Yuan.
But the Lu Yuan she just saw was clearly injured, and her own hands were stained with blood. Connecting those facts, it wasn’t hard to guess what had happened.
Startled by a stranger approaching, Qing instinctively took a step back, her eyes flashing with caution.
This reaction only deepened the suspicions of the security personnel.
Could this person… be the one from the news just now?
“Please show your identification.”
ID? Qing couldn’t understand. She just stared at them, her body tensing.
The security guard pressed the walkie-talkie, his tone growing serious:
“Miss, please cooperate.”
A sharp sense of danger pricked at Qing’s nerves.
Just as the guard was about to call for backup, Qing spun around suddenly, like a frightened puppy, pushing past several bystanders and sprinting toward a less crowded area!
“Stop! Block her!” The security shouted behind her.
Run! Hide!
Instinct overtook thought. Qing’s body seemed to know better than her mind how to evade capture.
She nimbly weaved through dense crowds and luggage carts, using the airport’s complicated layout and the people as cover.
If it were only humans chasing her, she was certain she could escape.
But she could sense something else—an aura of magical power began to permeate the air.
It was the detection magic of the Magical Girls!
They were here too!
Terror clenched Qing’s heart tightly. She couldn’t be caught! If caught, she’d never find Lu Yuan again!
After twisting and turning, she slipped into a huge janitor’s closet, curling up tightly between mops and buckets.
She held her breath, listening to hurried footsteps and the chatter over the walkie-talkie outside.
Normally, no one could hide in a closet like this. But Qing was a slime, so she barely managed to squeeze herself inside.
In the darkness, only her rapid heartbeat and suppressed breathing could be heard.
She didn’t understand why everyone was chasing her. She just… just wanted to be back by Lu Yuan’s side.
Time ticked by, and the search outside grew more intense rather than easing.
She couldn’t stay here any longer.
Carefully, Qing pushed open a crack of the door to peek outside.
She saw more guards stationed at the entrance in the distance, uniformed personnel meticulously checking every traveler.
She had to get out of the airport!
Her gaze landed on an electric luggage cart hauling a large number of suitcases, its driver preparing to enter the freight passage.
Seizing the moment the driver looked down at the checklist, she transformed into a pale blue slime and silently slid behind the cart, swiftly seeping into an unlocked suitcase, perfectly hiding herself.
The cart jolted as it left the terminal, heading toward the freight area.
Inside the dark, cramped suitcase, Qing hugged her knees tightly, shrinking herself smaller.
Light flickered dimly across her face through the cracks.
The girl curled up in the suitcase crossed her arms over her chest, compressing her body with all her might—not to be discovered, to escape, to see Lu Yuan again.
She was like a blank sheet of paper, with only one name written on it: Lu Yuan.
In her world, there was only Lu Yuan. She just wanted to be back with her, caring about nothing else.
Because to Qing, Lu Yuan was the most “special” person.
Qing really was a little girl who understood nothing at all—she didn’t even know this was called love.
***
At Yun Jing International Airport, at the VIP channel entrance.
Lu Yuan stepped out of a white Masarati.
“Sister Su Li, I really can go back by myself…” Lu Yuan struggled as she closed the car door, “You don’t have to trouble yourself to see me off…”
Su Li seemed not to hear her. She lifted Lu Yuan’s lightweight suitcase out of the trunk, closed the door, locked the car, all in one fluid motion.
“Lu Yuan.” Su Li’s voice interrupted gently, softer than a direct order, yet impossible to argue with. “Listen, this is Headquarters’ rule, and it’s for your own good. What you need now is rest, not to stay in this den of troubles.”
“I…” Lu Yuan tried to protest.
She had been waiting for a chance to slip away, to find Qing before she was caught. But she never got the chance.
Qing was now wanted—though people didn’t know she was a Calamity yet, only saw her as a normal person to be captured.
If Qing was caught, it would be very difficult to hide her true identity!
Seeing Lu Yuan’s distracted expression, Su Li mistook it for post-battle shock and lingering fear of Rose, and her tone softened further.
“I know this has scared you. Go home and get some good sleep. Forget about everything that happened in Yun Jing for now.”
As she spoke, she naturally guided Lu Yuan toward the passageway, walking at a pace that accommodated Lu Yuan’s rhythm.
“But…” Lu Yuan’s heart was in a blaze of anxiety, yet she didn’t know how to explain.
She really wanted to tell Sister Su Li that Qing was a good Calamity, that she cared deeply for her, that they had to save her.
But she didn’t know how Su Li felt about Calamities and couldn’t reveal Qing’s true identity.
She wanted to shout: Qing isn’t doing this on purpose! She’s being controlled! She needs help, not capture!
But the words stuck in her throat, silent and suffocating.
The boarding call rang out, completely cutting off Lu Yuan’s last chance to resist.
She was like a puppet that had lost its soul, gently but irresistibly ushered onto the plane by Su Li and settled into her seat.
“When you get to Tongmen, send me a message.” Su Li stood at the cabin door, offering one last reminder.
***
The plane took off and landed.
Lu Yuan dragged her suitcase slowly up the stairs, inserted the key into the lock, and turned.
“Click.”
The door opened.
Inside, it was silent—just as it had been when she left—an oppressive stillness filled the air, as if no one had lived here.
She closed the door behind her, leaning back against the cold wood. Her suitcase stood lonely in the entryway.
A suffocating wave of loneliness and helplessness instantly overwhelmed her.
Perhaps dog owners might understand this feeling.
If you have a dog that sticks to you every day—clinging to you while you eat, sleep, even shower—sometimes you might begin to hate her for not knowing boundaries, for being too clingy, thinking you’d be better off without her.
But when you really get rid of that dog, you realize what you missed most when coming home was that annoying, clingy little dog rubbing against you.
Lu Yuan slid down slowly until she sat on the floor, her suitcase thudding heavily beside her.
And Qing—the frightened, trembling Qing who had probably been hiding in some corner for a whole day and night—was now officially classified as a target to be captured and dealt with by the powerful Magical Girl organization she trusted most.
And Lu Yuan could do nothing.
She was safe now, protected.
Lu Yuan buried her face deep in her knees, her shoulders trembling slightly.
***
“Knock knock knock.” Suddenly, there was a knock on Lu Yuan’s door.