Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 38 The Strange Man

The figure slowly raised its head.

A pitiful-looking girl's face, her hair disheveled, her eyes red-rimmed, her lips trembling, as if she had been crying for a long time and her tears had dried. Her gaze lingered for a second on Guanlan's outstretched hand, then she slowly raised her own hand—

Just as their fingertips were about to touch, something settled in Gu Bai's eyes: "Guanlan, retreat!"

Before he could finish speaking, the hand silently split open at the wrist.

That familiar, sticky, blood-red texture welled up from the cracks, as if something had been trapped inside the skin for too long and finally couldn't wait any longer.

The crack spread from her palm to her forearm, then to her shoulder, and finally to her neck. In an instant, the 'girl's' face lost all expression, and the cracked corners of her mouth stretched open to the sides, revealing the unique, bloody white interior of the strange beast.

A huge mouth aimed directly at Guanlan's neck as he bent over and reached out, and pounced down!

boom.

There was a muffled thud, but it wasn't the sound of something being crushed.

It was softer than a cracking sound, shallower than a slapping sound, like something being forcefully grasped and then suddenly crushed; the sound was so quiet that it was completely disproportionate to the event itself.

Then came silence.

The 'girl's' body froze in mid-air for less than a second before collapsing from the top, like a cardboard box punctured from the highest point. With a whoosh, it was sliced ​​into several pieces by the black umbrella that had somehow passed through its body, and scattered on the ground, motionless.

Guanlan stood there, still bent over, her hand still outstretched, her fingertips close to the edge of the pile of debris.

She glanced down, then straightened up, clapped her hands to dissipate the faint aftershocks of magic, and bent down to pick up the black umbrella from the ground.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

Tao Zhuo stood beside Gu Bai, completely silent.

She pushed the perception magic towards the wreckage, then withdrew it, took a deep breath, and mentally calculated the magic power value she had read, then calculated it again.

Then she lowered her eyes, slowly turned her head, and looked at Guanlan with a complex expression. Her peach-shaped eyes held equal vigilance and traces of a worldview that had been forced to be updated.

"It's...a weirdo." Tao Zhu finally let out a very soft, helpless sigh.

The object used as bait was clearly meticulously designed beforehand, mimicking human form, emotions, and even the magical fluctuations were deliberately suppressed. If it weren't for Gu Bai's shout, and if I had rushed forward instead—

Forget it, I don't want to.

Guanlan strolled back and stood in front of Gu Bai, holding the black umbrella in the crook of her arm. Her expression remained calm and unhurried, as if the farce had never happened, rather than as if she had foreseen the outcome and chosen the easiest solution.

"Greetings from Magical Girl Guanlan."

She bowed slightly, her tone becoming softer than before: "Thank God for guiding us to meet here."

Gu Bai didn't rush to accept the formalities. He mentally reviewed the moment Guan Lan had dealt with the piece of wreckage. Clearly, it was all under her control.

"Sorry, I was a bit too hasty just now. Do you think I'm a magical girl like this?" Guanlan asked, calmly uttering this question.

"A true magical girl." Gu Bai said calmly, "Judging from her performance just now, whether it was in battle, protecting civilians at the first moment, or killing after the mutation, she is worthy of this title."

Guanlan's lips curved into a slight smile.

The way she bends around the words makes it hard to tell whether she's genuinely enjoying it, or just putting on an act, or perhaps feeling a slight sense of surprise that she even got to this point.

"That's too kind of you."

"That strange person must be very good at hiding, right?" Tao Zhuo, who had been holding back her silence, finally spoke up when she had the chance.

"God's instructions."

Guanlan's answer was brief, simply stating those four words without offering any further explanation. His gaze lingered on Gu Bai's face for a moment, as if waiting for him to ask another question.

But Gu Bai didn't respond to the question.

He was interested in Ximing, but he felt there was no need to waste time on Guanlan.

"I'm here to talk business."

"I see..."

Guanlan looked up at the sky above. The clouds in the disaster zone were low, filtering the light into a hazy gray-white.

There was no further movement. The wind pushed the debris on the road into the corner, and the puddles on the broken curb blurred into a shallow mirror, reflecting the sky and making it appear even darker.

"Let's go," she finally said. "We can talk as we walk."

"Where?" Tao Zhuo followed, her mouth still running: "It's not the Xi Ming outpost, is it? I'm not wearing formal attire today, I'm not going to get arrested by your cultists, am I?"

"No, it's the saintess's private place."

The words were spoken casually, as if they were nothing out of the ordinary, but when Gu Bai heard them, he subtly slowed his pace by half a beat.

Was she deliberately showcasing her saintly status?

But regardless of the goal, it all points to the same thing, and she has made preparations on her end.

Tao Zhuo moved closer and whispered a few words in Gu Bai's direction: "Be careful, he's a dangerous character with a lot of power."

"Yes," Gu Bai replied calmly. "She heard it."

Tao Zhuo froze abruptly, turning her head towards Guan Lan at an extremely slow pace.

Guanlan walked ahead without turning back, but the black umbrella swayed gently in the crook of her arm as a sign of acknowledgment.

It seemed she couldn't say any more. Tao Zhu swallowed the rest of her words, shut her mouth tightly, and followed behind in a 'playing dead' manner.

As he walked, Gu Bai went over the word "weirdo" again.

The difference between beasts and monsters is indeed obvious at a glance.

In the previous discussion, if the alien beasts were choosing to attack indiscriminately, then the monsters were clearly targeting magical girls. They were placed in the Calamity Zone not to cause any destruction, but more to lure magical girls into a trap.

"Um, Guanlan, I just saw some human arms..."

During the journey, Tao Zhuo finally asked a question, clearly unable to let go of the scene she had just witnessed.

Fortunately, Guanlan delivered relatively good news:

"I'm sorry, I came to provide support. When I arrived, the previous team of magical girls had already been defeated. I sent them away because they were seriously injured, and the wounds didn't seem to be caused by any monsters. That's why I was cautious during the final rescue. It seems my luck was better this morning, thanks to divine protection."

"It's alright." Tao Zhuo was relieved. At least her life would be saved once she was sent to Qixin Medical Department.

"Are we going to meet the magical girl from the past?"

Gu Bai's gaze fell on the tip of Guan Lan's umbrella, and he chose to change the subject.

With increased contact with Guanlan and Ximing Church, I believe many things will become clearer.

"We've arrived, Lord Gu Bai. It's a pity that the Sect Leader is currently experiencing some health issues and is unavailable. I will certainly call upon you as soon as the opportunity arises!"

Guanlan stopped, having already put the black umbrella back into her storage bag at some point. She bowed slightly, gesturing for Gu Bai and Tao Zhuo to enter the building in front of them.

"What we are seeing today is a magical girl contract beast."