“Xinglan, listen to me—forcefully twisting a melon only makes it taste bitter.”
Xiaoxi swallowed nervously. Ye Xinglan’s grip on her phone was as fierce as a suicide squad holding a bomb, ready to perish together.
Xiaoxi had no doubt that if she said the wrong thing next, Ye Xinglan would definitely call Xiao Keke!
“And even if you let Keke know about this, it still wouldn’t change my mind.”
That made sense, but Xiaoxi’s second sentence made it hard for Ye Xinglan not to blush.
“What mind? You mean your mind is that you don’t like me?”
“No, I mean… sigh!”
Xiaoxi was at a loss for words. She knew Ye Xinglan’s emotional turmoil tonight was because she had kept the secret of being a magical girl from her. But Xiaoxi hadn’t really thought that deeply.
After all, when Xiaoxi first joined the association under the magical girl name Sirius, it was just a deal with Miss L. Xiaoxi originally thought that after helping out Miss L, they would be even, but unexpectedly the matter just kept getting more complicated.
Whether it was the scar-eyed guy from the black market or the Class-A Monster and Blood Moon Witch appearing on North Street, Xiaoxi realized this was not something that could be resolved anytime soon.
“Jerk!”
Ye Xinglan had no intention of reasoning anymore. Seeing Xiaoxi unable to explain herself, she took a more straightforward approach.
She tossed her phone aside and pinned Xiaoxi’s hands down, pressing her hard onto the bed and kissing her fiercely.
“Xinglan, don’t… uh…”
Xiaoxi tried to struggle, surprised—since when did Ye Xinglan get this strong?
Even without transforming, magical girls were generally stronger than ordinary people, but now, despite using all her strength, Xiaoxi couldn’t break free from Ye Xinglan’s grasp.
It proved that no matter how tough someone was verbally, they were soft when kissed.
Ye Xinglan bit Xiaoxi’s soft lips, her teeth pressing lightly, as if venting her frustration.
The young rich girl smelled really nice—Xiaoxi wasn’t sure if it was because of the perfume she sprayed this afternoon or something else—but it made her dizzy and distracted her from noticing the fleeting flash of crimson in Ye Xinglan’s eyes.
When Ye Xinglan was emotionally stirred, she easily lost control of her powers.
The strength in her hands unconsciously increased, and tiny black tendrils emerged from beneath Ye Xinglan’s loungewear.
If this continued, Ye Xinglan would uncontrollably transform into the Blood Moon Witch… and then the events Xiaoxi had written in the novel might actually happen to herself.
Worse, Ye Xinglan didn’t realize this. She sat upright while Xiaoxi lay beneath her, gasping heavily. That kiss had lasted way too long.
Xiaoxi had thought Ye Xinglan had calmed down, but unexpectedly Ye Xinglan lifted her hands and began stripping off her clothes.
Was she really planning to go all the way in one go?
“Xinglan, this really isn’t okay! Don’t… don’t just start taking off my clothes!”
Xiaoxi genuinely panicked this time, but Ye Xinglan’s strength was even greater than before, and she rolled Xiaoxi onto the bed… No, if this kept up, Xiaoxi would have to consider transforming into Sirius to break free!
Just then, a puzzled voice from nearby made both of them jump.
“…Xinglan? Sis?”
Ye Xinglan immediately sat up straight and looked over—her phone screen had paused on Xiao Keke’s contact page.
It seemed that in the midst of their close struggle on the bed, someone had accidentally answered the call.
“Are you two…?”
“Ahem, nothing! We were just messing around, Xinglan sis! Uh… when did you start listening?”
Xiaoxi was panting and growing nervous. She hoped the call had just connected so she could explain, because if Xiao Keke found out about her being a magical girl, it would be disastrous!
“I started listening from when you told Xinglan sis not to take off your clothes,” Xiao Keke teased. “Looks like you two are having quite the time, sis?”
“It’s okay! I have no problem with this kind of thing, and I’m not a kid anymore!”
“But… next time when you’re doing that sort of thing, could you not call me? I’ll be silently cheering for you in my heart.”
Xiao Keke’s tone was helpless. The moment she answered the phone, she heard… well, all sorts of noises.
It was hard not to guess what the two were up to. Was she now some kind of unwitting participant in their play?
Ye Xinglan had somewhat calmed down now. She noticed the tendrils extending from beneath her clothes and quickly withdrew them.
Fortunately, Xiaoxi hadn’t noticed earlier.
“Xinglan, I know you’re upset because I didn’t tell you the truth, right?”
Xiaoxi gave Ye Xinglan an out. She guessed Ye Xinglan was a bit hurt.
For a moment, Xiaoxi saw the redness in Ye Xinglan’s eyes.
“Let’s calm down and talk this through…”
At that moment, Xiaoxi’s own phone rang. Seeing who was calling, the flushed expression on Xiaoxi’s face instantly turned serious.
She grabbed the phone and moved to a corner of the room to answer.
“West Street? Confirmed Blood Moon Witch sighting? Okay, I’m on my way!”
It was Miss L. At such a critical moment, Xiaoxi couldn’t afford to be careless about the Blood Moon Witch.
“Sorry, Xinglan, the association’s… superior just called to report a sighting of the Blood Moon Witch. I have to go out.”
One advantage of coming clean to Ye Xinglan was that Xiaoxi no longer needed to invent so many excuses to leave.
She had been on call almost 24/7 these days. Whenever Miss L had news about the Blood Moon Witch, Xiaoxi had to set out immediately.
“Don’t go. Let’s clear things up first!” Ye Xinglan grabbed Xiaoxi’s sleeve. “And this intel is definitely fake!”
“That won’t do. Xinglan, how can you be sure it’s false intel? I have to go see for myself.”
Ye Xinglan was gnashing her teeth. Didn’t she know if the intel was fake or not—she, the Blood Moon Witch herself?
“Let’s talk when I get back. This can’t wait. Leaving the Blood Moon Witch loose is too dangerous!”
Ye Xinglan froze. “But… didn’t you say you’d treat any monster equally, even the Blood Moon Witch?”
“That’s what I think, but do you know how dangerous the Blood Moon Witch is?” Xiaoxi’s tone became serious. “First, the Blood Moon Witch’s powers aren’t fully under her own control. Until this is resolved, she should be locked up in the association’s Prison!”
“Second, the biggest problem with the Blood Moon Witch is… she’s too strong. We can’t be sure if she’s friendly.”
This was Xiaoxi’s biggest worry. Of course, she was willing to get along with the Blood Moon Witch—if the other party wanted that too.
Xiaoxi had never seen the Blood Moon Witch in a normal state.
The Witch always appeared in battle under the control of the Divine Summoners, making Xiaoxi worry—what if the Witch herself wasn’t willing to be peaceful?
Xiaoxi knew how much the Blood Moon Witch hated the Eternal Stars and just how terrifying she was—terrifying enough that Xiaoxi dared not gamble on her goodwill.
The Witch’s prison break already showed something was wrong. Moreover, she was now in Xianghai City.
Xiaoxi didn’t think agreeing to Ye Xinglan’s confession now was a good idea.
“At least for now, the Blood Moon Witch must stay in the association’s Prison. That’s best for everyone.”
Ye Xinglan’s grip on Xiaoxi’s sleeve loosened. Xiaoxi muttered “Sorry” and hurried out.
She could tell Ye Xinglan was down, but attributed it to her rejecting Ye Xinglan’s confession, not thinking further.
Ye Xinglan flopped on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling.
She suddenly realized Xiaoxi’s kindness toward the Blood Moon Witch didn’t extend to condoning such a villain’s prison break.
Maybe they really weren’t meant to be.
Ye Xinglan admitted she’d been impulsive, mainly because the ring incident had made her furious.
But on second thought, even if Xiaoxi accepted her confession now, would that really be good?
Did she want to keep hiding the fact that she was the Blood Moon Witch from her girlfriend?
If Xiaoxi found out Ye Xinglan was the Blood Moon Witch… would she hate her?
Ye Lilan suddenly recalled something. On the day she saved Jietianxin on North Street, she hadn’t just been dazed because her friend had looked at her like a monster.
That day, Ye Lilan didn’t want to fight with the other magical girls present, but they refused to listen.
She had been forced to injure three magical girls before escaping into the black mud.
She remembered her first reaction to seeing the bleeding magical girl—excitement. She had an uncontrollable urge to see more blood.
Just now, holding Xiaoxi down, she almost lost control and transformed.
Maybe she really should be locked up in the association’s Prison.
But… the things the association did to her while she was locked in the Ossuary…
“It really… hurts so much…”
Ye Lilan curled up with Xiaoxi’s pillow on the bed, whispering to herself.
………
Under the night sky on West Street, a loud bang echoed.
Watching the freak Xiaoxi had punched into the ground, Miss L gasped in pain.
That punch probably broke two or three ribs. Ah Xing seemed to be in a bad mood tonight.
The luck of these monsters pretending to be the Blood Moon Witch and robbing people was just terrible.
Xiaoxi had come as the Eternal Stars’ [Morning Star].
“Sorry, Ah Xing. Looks like it was another false alarm. These days there’s always some idiot trying to stir trouble using the Blood Moon Witch’s prison break as an excuse. This is one of the lighter cases.”
Miss L sighed. The magical girl department head had been busy and frustrated these past few days.
“Looks like the association couldn’t keep this under wraps,” Xiaoxi flicked her wrist as the logistics team arrived to clean up the mess.
“Nothing they tried worked—blocking news, PR explaining it was just a monster that looked like the Blood Moon Witch, all useless.”
“The incident happened on a weekend, right in the commercial street. There were just too many witnesses. Do you know how many people got clear footage of the Blood Moon Witch’s strike?”
“Now the Blood Moon Witch’s prison break has spread online, and public dissatisfaction with the Magical Girl Association has reached its peak.”
Miss L shrugged. The Public Relations Department had complained about the association’s social media accounts being flooded with angry private messages—numerous and vicious.
“Ah Xing, don’t you think now would be the perfect time for the association to release some good news to divert attention and calm the public? Like…”
“Forget it,” Xiaoxi said flatly. “I’m not on the association’s side. I won’t join them as Eternal Stars.”
“Instead of trying to shift focus with talk, the association should actually do something useful—like questioning that scar-eyed guy they caught in the black market a few days ago. Did they get any valuable info from him?”
At a bar in Xianghai City’s underground black market.
Shandiao pushed open the door. Her fluorescent blue hair shimmered under the bar’s lights. She immediately spotted the person she was looking for in the corner.
“I admit I underestimated you. So letting the association find the black market was all part of the plan!”
“Not only did you lure the tiger away, you trapped the association’s strongest [Lark Songstress] in the black market, and even brought out the Blood Moon Witch to cause chaos in the city. Nice move!”
Shandiao looked excited. She grabbed the glass in front of Black Rose and downed it in one gulp.
Black Rose, as mysterious as ever, was dressed darkly. Shandiao could only see the half-exposed forearm holding the bottle, covered in tattoos of thorns and roses.
“The Blood Moon Witch’s breakout wasn’t part of my plan,” Black Rose said calmly, taking back her glass and pouring herself another drink. “Originally, I only planned for the Class-A Monster to cause some havoc, but unexpectedly, an even tougher player showed up.”
“But from the result, isn’t it better? The news headline ‘Blood Moon Witch Appears in Xianghai City’ definitely hits harder than ‘Association Unable to Contain Class-A Monster Disaster.’”
“So, is our plan almost a success?” Shandiao was barely able to contain her excitement. “If we do this a couple more times, the association will be blasted to pieces by public opinion, right?”
“Unfortunately, no. Do you think Class-A Monsters are easy to come by? Do you think I can just pull out a dozen to cause trouble?”
Black Rose shrugged. “This single attack is already the limit. I need to figure out how to recharge my magic.”
She dodged Shandiao’s attempt to grab her glass and, as usual, pushed a glass of Orange Juice toward her.
Shandiao pouted but then suddenly noticed the tattoo on Black Rose’s arm… had it shrunk a lot since last time?
“So now the plan enters the next phase. We need a new strategy,” Black Rose gently coaxed. “This is where you come in, Shandiao.”
“You want me to go cause trouble somewhere? No problem!”
“No… I want you to join the association as a magical girl, Shandiao.”
After a moment, the bar echoed with Shandiao’s incredulous “Huh?”
Nice