Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 37, District 051

"Go into Area 051? Now?"

Before arriving at their destination, Tao Zhuo, who was beside Gu Bai, took out the Qi Xin app on her phone and glanced at it. Then, she looked up and spoke in a rather sorrowful tone:

"No, really going in? Why did you arrange to meet in a disaster zone, especially since we're currently suffering from a disaster? Are you planning to film a short video of a grand escape into the sunlight and then post it on a social media platform?"

"That's what Guanlan said."

"Ah, her..."

Tao Zhu clicked her tongue, paused, and turned her head to change the subject:

"Teacher, Dongmei and I will be switching classes at Ximing School soon, probably next week at the latest. Guess who our new students will be?"

"Guanlan?"

"Wow, that's so clever!"

Anyone with a normal mind could guess it, but Tao Zhuo still read it aloud without any sincerity.

Then, she put on a normal expression again: "Well, how should I put it? A saint who grew up in the church, suddenly coming to Qixin Class, doesn't the teacher find that strange?"

"That's strange."

"So, teacher, you'd better keep an eye on things for us; spies deserve to die!"

"So, what are you going to Ximing for?"

"When noble spies gather information about them to build beautiful prayers!"

Ignoring the fact that they were actually the same person, Tao Zhuo put her phone back in her pocket, looked up at the disaster zone warning sign in front of her, and followed Gu Bai into the area.

The moment she passed through the magic barrier, the texture of the air changed. That unique dampness and oppressive feeling seeped into her skin. Tao Zhu frowned, feeling that this battle was quite difficult and wondering whether she should help.

"Teacher, it seems like this place looks like—"

boom!

Before they could finish speaking, a gray-iron-level beast kicked over half of the broken wall and rolled out of the rubble, rushing straight towards the two of them. Its roar made their feet go numb.

Gu Bai was feeling annoyed when he conjured a black sword from his palm, and with a backhand motion, he swung it horizontally.

Clean, efficient, and without even stopping its forward momentum.

The strange beast split in two and crashed to the ground.

"Teacher." Tao Zhuo gazed at the still-dissipating remains of the strange beast on the ground, her tone carrying a rather subtle carefulness in her choice of words:

"That's too violent! What if it makes the news? And then a bunch of people will ask you how men can become magical girls?"

Having calmed down a bit, Gu Bai also came to his senses and casually patted Tao Zhuo's shoulder:

"As expected of my student."

"Huh?" Tao Zhu raised her index finger and pointed to her face. "Me?"

"I am pleased with myself."

"...Alright then." Tao Zhuo took the 'Sword Saint' hat, a slight smile playing on her lips. "Then next time, teacher, teach me swordsmanship!"

The two continued walking inside.

The sounds continued in the distance, but the Qixin APP indicated that the residents had already evacuated, so there was no urgent pressure to join the battle.

Otherwise, it would be easier if she encountered a more normal magical girl.

If you encounter a stubborn person, tsk, they might even blame you for stealing their credit!

It seems we don't need to worry about the latter situation today.

"So it really is someone they were talking about."

Once she reached the main battlefield, Tao Zhuo spotted Guan Lan immediately.

The girl stood in the middle of the intersection, a black umbrella tucked into her arm, her light blue hair fluttering gently in the wind.

Before her stood a gray-bronze-level beast leading three gray-iron-level beasts, poised to attack her from all sides. They bared their fangs and growled menacingly, clearly waiting for the right moment to pounce.

Trouble!

A group of monsters that have been corrupted by witches but still possess some intelligence is the most difficult and troublesome situation for magical girls to deal with.

What's even stranger is that there were no other magical girls participating in the battle nearby.

Tao Zhuo's gaze swept across the roadside and stopped at the base of that section of crumbling wall.

Several severed limbs, and a messy mass of broken pieces, as if it had been smashed from a great height.

"Damn it!"

The situation was bad. Tao Zhu cursed under her breath and instinctively rushed forward to help.

It's already too slow!

The leading beast could no longer restrain itself and took the initiative to move.

It leaped and darted left and right, moving nimbly as if dodging magic bullets that the magical girl might fire at it. Its hissing sound carried a rather unusual probing tone.

Guanlan took two steps to the side, unfolded the black umbrella, and a stream of light emanated from his palm. The movement didn't seem like he was condensing a magic bullet, but rather like he was outlining something invisible to the naked eye.

The moment the gray copper suit lunged at her, she turned to the right, sweeping the umbrella horizontally—not to meet the attack head-on, but to create momentum.

She redirected the momentum of the beast's attack along the curve of the umbrella pole, letting its own speed slam it into the crumbling wall beside her. With a loud bang, half of the bricks shattered.

Seeing this, the three gray iron beasts pressed forward simultaneously. Guanlan did not retreat either. The light in his palm spread outwards along the ground, interfering with the landing points of the three strange beasts for a moment.

It wasn't a blockade, but rather a carefully timed move to eliminate the individual footholds of the alien beasts, causing them to slip and lose their balance.

At the same instant, she had already lowered the tip of her umbrella toward the neck of one of them. With a flash of white light, the energy core inside the gray iron beast was precisely shattered and slowly dissipated.

Clean, light, and flowing.

It hardly looked like a fight; it was more like helping a few runaway troublemakers find their proper places to stop.

Tao Zhuo stared at it for a while, then whispered, "She only used the lowest level of [Dissipation Magic] to make the beast step into the air. The precision of that magic is astounding!"

"..." Gu Bai nodded; it was also the first time he had ever seen this kind of fighting style.

The other two gray iron ones were easily eliminated in the same way. The last gray bronze one took a half step back. It seemed to understand something. This time, it stopped probing and pounced straight at the enemy!

Guanlan opened the umbrella and turned in another direction.

What does it mean to give up resistance?

Tao Zhuo was still worried about the other person.

With a 'gurgling' sound, a shockwave exploded in mid-air. It seemed that something had changed inside the beast's body, and a cloud of filthy blood mist suddenly burst out, which was just blocked by the umbrella it had opened beforehand.

Guanlan closed his umbrella, turned around unhurriedly, took a few steps to the row of low-rise shops on the left side of the street, and finally stopped.

The storefront was long abandoned, and the roller shutter was half-drawn, making it pitch black inside, with nothing visible.

"Come out, everything's alright now."

Guanlan's voice was gentle, the kind of tone used to soothe an overly frightened ordinary person—light, steady, and without a trace of crisis.

After he said that, a pair of feet peeked out from under the half-closed roller shutter.

Wearing a pair of worn-out sneakers, with mud on his ankles, he walked hesitantly, as if startled by some noise but forced to move, taking each step with extra caution and hesitation.

Next came a curled-up body and a bleeding, injured arm; out came an eight or nine-year-old child who looked to be in bad shape.

"There are still residents!"

Tao Zhu blurted out, and subconsciously took half a step forward.

Gu Bai stopped her with his side.

Something was wrong, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. The feeling was vague; without magic, he felt like he was standing on the edge of a thick fog, only able to make out what was hidden inside, but unable to see its exact shape.