After finishing their noisy late-night snack, Lu Yuan finally dragged her tired feet back down to the apartment building.
After some joking and bantering with Lin Wan, the turmoil in her heart caused earlier by Qing’s bluntness had settled quite a bit.
Lu Yuan took out her keys, just about to open her door, when her gaze casually swept past the window of the first floor next door.
That was Chen Lianxue’s home.
Warm light glowed from inside the window, and the flickering shadows from the TV screen were faintly visible, but apart from that, there was silence.
Lu Yuan’s hand froze in place.
Since Chen Lianxue had awakened from her long coma, bearing the body of a nineteen-year-old with the mind of a nine-year-old, and joined their squad, she always seemed to drift on the fringes.
During patrols, she usually followed quietly at Lu Yuan’s side; at meals, she sat in the corner, nibbling food quietly, blinking her big eyes as she listened to their chatter, rarely joining the conversation.
Lin Wan’s outgoing personality made her clingy; Qing, though unique, was very present; but Chen Lianxue… she was too quiet, so quiet that she was almost easy to overlook.
A trace of guilt suddenly blossomed in Lu Yuan’s heart.
She had an adult’s body but only a child’s cognition and understanding. To wake up and face this strange world, and even bear the responsibilities of a Magical Girl—was she scared? Was she lonely? As a teammate, Lu Yuan realized she had never truly cared about her state, just tacitly accepted her quietness and following.
Lu Yuan withdrew her keys and turned to the door of Chen Lianxue’s home.
She took a deep breath and knocked gently.
“Lianxue? You’re not asleep yet?”
Her voice was low, careful not to wake her if she was really asleep.
There was no reply from inside. Only the faint voices from the TV’s news channel drifted out.
After a few seconds, still silence.
“Looks like she really is asleep,” Lu Yuan murmured softly, and the tiny worry in her heart faded away.
A child with the mind of a nine-year-old falling asleep watching TV was perfectly normal.
She stopped thinking about it, turned around, took out her keys, and opened her own door.
Click.
The door lock turned.
Lu Yuan stepped inside, closed the door behind her, cutting off the light from the hallway completely.
The room was silent, no one else around.
Had Qing not come home yet?
Lu Yuan kicked off her shoes and lazily flopped onto the sofa, letting out a long sigh.
Taking Qing out for dinner, dealing with Lin Wan, and that brief moment of worry about Chen Lianxue—even though none were major issues, piled together, it was tiring enough.
She stared at the ceiling, lost in thought for a few minutes.
For some reason, although she believed Chen Lianxue was probably asleep, when she had knocked with no answer, the tightly closed door and the continuing TV sound behind it left a tiny sting of unease in a corner of her heart.
Maybe… she would check on her again tomorrow.
With that thought, Lu Yuan yawned and decided to take a shower first, hoping to wash away this minor worry.
She stood up and walked toward the bathroom, not giving the little incident much thought.
The apartment returned to quiet, as if everything would fall silent forever, as if nothing more would happen.
Except tonight, when Lu Yuan was already fast asleep in bed, Qing quietly climbed in beside her, slipping into her arms and almost giving her a start.
***
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking and the air still carried the coolness left from the night,
“Knock knock knock.”
A sharp knock on the door.
Lu Yuan, a light sleeper, was awakened.
She frowned and instinctively glanced at Qing still sound asleep beside her, carefully moved the arm Qing had draped over her, and wrapped herself in a jacket before going to open the door.
Honestly, she really didn’t want anyone knocking on her door. Judging by recent days, a knock at her door never meant anything good.
“Who is it, so early…” she mumbled, pulling open the door.
Seeing Lin Wan standing outside, the rest of her words stuck in her throat.
Lin Wan’s face was tense, her brows tightly furrowed.
She gripped her phone tightly, eyes full of worry.
“Lu Yuan,” Lin Wan’s voice was low but anxious, “something’s wrong. I can’t get in touch with Lianxue.”
Most of Lu Yuan’s sleepiness instantly vanished. “Can’t get in touch? What do you mean?”
“We agreed to meet at seven this morning for patrol.” Lin Wan raised her phone, showing a call log full of missed calls and unread messages. “It’s almost 7:30 now! I can’t get through to her, and she’s not replying! This is definitely not normal! Lianxue would never do this! Even if something happened, she’d tell me beforehand!”
Lu Yuan’s heart sank sharply.
“When was the last time you contacted her?” Lu Yuan’s voice also grew serious.
“Last night around nine. She said goodnight and said she’d watch some cartoons before sleeping.” Lin Wan replied. “I didn’t think much of it at the time, so I didn’t follow up.”
“Wait here.” Lu Yuan hurried back into her room, grabbed a skirt and blouse, ready to leave.
“Uh…” Qing was woken up.
Lu Yuan hesitated at the door.
“Qing,” Lu Yuan quickly said to the sleepy girl sitting up and rubbing her eyes, “stay home, lock the door tight, we’ll be back soon.”
No time for further explanation, Lu Yuan grabbed Lin Wan and rushed out.
***
The two of them hurried to Chen Lianxue’s apartment. The building was silent except for their quickened breaths.
Lu Yuan raised her hand and knocked, harder than Lin Wan had before.
“Lianxue! Chen Lianxue! Are you in there? Say something if you hear me!”
Inside, complete silence.
But when they held their breath to listen carefully, the TV was still playing inside Chen Lianxue’s home.
Yet no one answered.
Something was wrong…
Lu Yuan’s eyes sharpened, and without hesitation, she said to Lin Wan, “We have no choice. Step back.”
Lin Wan immediately moved aside.
Lu Yuan took a deep breath, ignoring the skirt she wore, lifted her leg high, and with a sudden burst of power unleashed a high whip kick, striking the door lock hard.
Bang!
The door groaned under the force; the lock shattered, and the door swung open violently inward!
The two rushed inside the living room.
The TV screen was indeed still on, playing a cartoon.
Two cute stuffed toys lay casually on the sofa, one had fallen to the floor. On the coffee table was a half-finished glass of milk, a thin layer of skin formed on the surface, with an opened half-pack of teddy bear biscuits beside it.
Everything showed signs of someone having lived there, even as if the owner had just stepped out momentarily.
But Chen Lianxue was nowhere to be found.
Bedroom, kitchen, bathroom… every room was empty.
No signs of struggle, no notes left behind.
Chen Lianxue had vanished as if silently swallowed by the room filled only with the TV’s noise.
Lin Wan stood frozen, face pale, looking around at the eerily normal yet deeply abnormal scene, finally her gaze settled on the still blaring TV as her voice trembled in a whisper:
“How could… where is she? Lianxue… where did you go…?”
Lu Yuan stood in the center of the living room, the flickering light from the TV playing over her face.
The unease from last night had become the worst reality.
Chen Lianxue was missing.