Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 23 I'll Protect You~

"There's a problem!"

Tao Zhuo instinctively retreated to the side and back, while simultaneously making a hand gesture to Dong Chun.

Dong Chun understood immediately. A flash of white light appeared at her fingertips, and a highly compressed light bullet accurately shot into the beast's body through the crack.

With a muffled thud, the beast's shell exploded from the crack, spraying a thick, white liquid like pus all over the ground. The irritating low-frequency buzzing also stopped abruptly.

Tao Zhuo breathed a sigh of relief. Just as Qi Xin had instructed, it would be easier to conquer from within.

Gu Bai stood two steps away, watching the entire killing process unfold, but his brows, which had just relaxed, furrowed again.

The low-frequency humming sound actually started again.

"Tao Zhuo, step back," Gu Bai said in a deep voice.

The pool of foul-smelling white liquid on the ground began to writhe wildly, as if it were a living thing!

It's not flowing, but rather retracing back.

The liquid rapidly condensed at the very end, as if countless invisible threads were forcibly pulling back the blasted fragments and bodily fluids.

The speed was outrageous; in just half a second, the crack closed and the shell reformed.

The strange beast stood unharmed, and even the dent that Tao Zhuo had made earlier had vanished without a trace.

Instead of retaliating, it followed the mountain path, retreating rapidly towards the valley on the side in a strange rolling motion.

Looking at the unharmed monster's back, Tao Zhuo remembered the reminder from the girl who was stationed in the village to pray for help.

It consists of two parts, one on the mountainside and the other on the summit; it may require both to be destroyed simultaneously to defeat it...

Now this is an indestructible "half-body".

"I just tried to control its main body with [Stop Magic], but it was ineffective."

Dongchun stood there, staring into the distance. After a moment, she spoke in a very restrained tone: "It would take breaking two of them at the same time to kill this beast. It seems there's another, clumsy one hiding on the mountaintop."

"I'll go after this one, you guys go up the mountain." Gu Bai made the decision that best suited his responsibility.

"No." Dong Chun turned her head and rejected Gu Bai's suggestion without hesitation.

The girl's ruby-like eyes shone with reason and composure. Then, a faint white light shone from her fingertips, swiftly drawing a pale golden magic rune in the air:

"Tao Zhuo, I have established a [communication bridge]. Connect to it, and then take the teacher to the mountaintop. Once I reach the valley and find the other half of the main body, I will send a signal through the bridge, and we will destroy it simultaneously."

"good!"

Tao Zhuo also realized that Dong Meimei meant she was being entrusted with the task of protecting the teacher.

Sigh, this is indeed the only way to get by.

After all, adults have a strong sense of self-esteem, especially in front of students.

"...Let's communicate anytime if there are any problems."

Gu Bai certainly understood the implied meaning, but he was indeed caught off guard.

He couldn't very well declare himself a combat-type talent now, especially considering the difference between four-star and five-star. Having Tao Zhuo by his side would be better in case of any unexpected events.

Besides, it's just a gray lead; no, it should at least be considered a silver-grade one.

Dongchun nodded slightly in response. She turned her gaze back to the rugged path leading into the depths of the valley, quietly circulating her magic power, her brow furrowing almost imperceptibly.

"Then I..."

Before Tao Zhuo could finish speaking, a few drops of cold liquid suddenly splashed onto the backs of everyone's hands.

It's raining.

Dong Chun changed the subject. She reached out and caught a few tiny raindrops, then looked up at the sky, which was pressed low by leaden-gray clouds. She seemed calmer in the cold rain: "Autumn has arrived, and the weather changes quickly in the mountains."

The rain wasn't heavy.

The fine rain seemed to seep from the mist, pattering on the withered grass and broken tiles of the abandoned village, making a soft rustling sound, but making the already sticky air even more damp, cold and oppressive.

Before leaving, Dongchun's gaze lingered on Taozhuo's face for a moment:

"Control your energy. Don't get hurt, and don't let the teacher get hurt either."

"Don't worry, Dong-mei!" Tao-zhuo covered her chest with both hands, feigning a heart-wrenching expression of emotion.

"Let's get this straight: if my sister dares to lose even a single hair in this valley, she'll have to pay off the debt currently owed to me in my account when we get back, as compensation for my emotional distress!"

"rest assured."

Dong Chun raised her right arm, and the pulse on her left wrist, visible in the four fingers, immediately lit up with five star-shaped marks: "I'm gone."

Turning around, she stepped steadily onto the muddy mountain path, her pure white figure quickly swallowed up by the rain and the darkening sky.

The rain gradually intensified.

The sky darkened considerably at that moment. It wasn't the shadows cast by the moving clouds, but rather a uniform, pervasive grayness.

The cold raindrops pounded on Tao Zhuo's cheeks, carrying the biting chill unique to the deep mountains.

Tao Zhuo stared at the direction she left in for a few minutes, then pulled her hat down a bit, turned to Gu Bai, and the playful smile on her face mostly disappeared:

"Teacher, do you think Dongmei's behavior just now was normal?"

Gu Bai glanced at her: "You were affected too, weren't you?"

"No, the magic barrier went down when she used detection magic at the village entrance." Tao Zhu lowered her voice: "It's normal for me, but for a five-star magical girl, it's like she forgot to breathe for a moment."

Gu Bai did not respond immediately.

Dongchun appeared nonchalant, but she handled many things too quickly, as if she didn't want anyone to see anything more.

"If she needs to inform you, just tell me."

Gu Bai had no choice but to do this in the end; in any case, he could guarantee that nothing would go wrong.

"Sigh, it's good that the teacher has connections and can call in reinforcements, but this isn't Qi Xin's territory after all. I'll protect you for now~"

Tao Zhuo curled the corners of her lips, her eyes brightening again as she looked towards the mountain steps:

"The Teacher's Personal Bodyguard is being serialized! Come on, let's go up the mountain and deal with that immobile one—hey, teacher, come closer, I'm about to cast a spell!"

Tao Zhu shook her finger, and magic gathered on the back of her hand, emitting a pale peach-colored light. Finally, a light barrier appeared above the two of them, blocking the rain.

Tao Zhu shook her finger, and magic gathered on the back of her hand, radiating a warm, pale peach-colored light.

Finally, a semi-transparent barrier of light, like a large umbrella, was placed over their heads, keeping the cold rain out.

The rain has turned into moderate rain.

The rain was noisy, its heavy patter on the tiles and its clear sound as it struck the withered grass. Water seeped into shallow puddles on the ground and flowed downhill along the mountainside.

Just then, a barely perceptible tremor came from the soles of my feet, dull and muffled, unlike any accidental geological movement.

Gu Bai raised his eyes and looked towards the mountaintop.

The thick fog and cold rain had completely obscured the summit, which looked like a giant gray beast with its mouth wide open, beckoning to the two of them, but they could not see it from where they stood.

"Let's go?" Tao Zhuo asked.

"Let's go."

"This is free, close-fitting protection from a beautiful girl~"

Tao Zhuo raised an eyebrow and smiled, trying to lighten the mood:

"If, in such a perilous situation, a teacher falls hopelessly in love with Tao Zhuo because of the 'suspension bridge effect,' I could barely understand it—but this kind of teacher-student relationship could get their teaching license revoked, you know~"

"That's alright."

Gu Bai stepped onto the first slippery stone step, his tone flat and devoid of any emotion: "I was an unlicensed teacher from the very beginning."

"ah?!"