Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 45 The Magical Girl of the Past

After the highway, there is a narrow stone path nestled in the mountains.

Occasionally, one can see several diagonal lines heavily engraved on the tree trunks in the mountains, which should be traces left by the Ximing Sect.

As the sun began to set.

The faint guidance in my mind gradually faded, but my perception became increasingly intense.

—It's nearby.

Gu Bai's reason for returning home earlier was not just to drop off some things. More importantly, he wanted to take Tao Zhuo and Dong Chun with him on their journey, as having magic would indeed make things more convenient in many places.

However, what he saw yesterday made him think twice.

Tao Zhuo will cry, Dong Chun will despair; once human flesh and blood are shattered, there will be no miracle of them growing back.

The outcome of this trip to find the magical girl is unknown.

Being alone is enough.

Just then, the voice that had been echoing intermittently in my mind drifted over once more.

It felt as if an invisible hand was gently pressing on his back, urging him to move forward.

At the end of the road, a section of the mountain was hollowed out, and a building was embedded in it. The outer layer was made of bluestone, and vines climbed all over the lower half. A sign hanging from the top was inlaid with faded diagonal lines.

The gate was open, as if inviting outsiders to come in.

Gu Bai didn't have the convenient ability to sense magic, so he became more vigilant and took small steps into the passageway inside the door.

A cold wind blew outwards, and the weak afterglow of the setting sun could not illuminate much of the interior; soon all that could be seen was darkness.

A diagonal relief occasionally appears on the stone walls on both sides of the passage, extending all the way in from the entrance.

Each one is carved a little deeper than the last.

After walking about three to five hundred meters, he entered a spacious round hall.

Looking around, the twenty-four stone pillars supporting the inner walls seemed to be mocking the magical girl's doom.

In the very center of the hall stood a large jar.

It is about three meters tall, with a glass-like texture. The bottom is embedded in a stone platform, and the outer wall is covered with a thin layer of water mist. The jar is filled with a pale golden liquid, which is not too turbid, but has an extremely slow flow, as if it is breathing for someone.

There's something inside...

Gu Bai stared intently at it and noticed a girl floating in the viscous liquid.

The girl, floating in the liquid, was curled up, her hands gently folded in front of her, her long silver-gray hair slowly spreading out in the liquid.

Like a sealed corpse.

But her eyes were open, and those eyes were now fixed on the visitor.

Gu Bai didn't speak, and the girl in the jar didn't move either.

The only sound in the entire rotunda was a slow, breathing-like or receding tide-like sound from within the liquid.

The guidance has been interrupted, confirming that this is the place.

After a long while, the girl moved her lips slightly.

She probably didn't make a real sound, because no bubbles were generated in the liquid, but Gu Bai still "heard" it, not in his ears, but directly in his mind.

Gu Bai was adopted by an orphanage. He met Mo Xin in childhood, knew she was a magical girl, and believed from a young age that he would marry her and live a simple, peaceful life with her.

First came a passage about Gu Bai's personal information, spoken in a flat tone as if reading from a file.

Gu Bai naturally frowned.

"After Mo Xin left, you traveled to Yu Chao, Cang Zhou, the Free Federation, and even the Witch Realm in just a few years to search for her."

"During the journey, you discovered that she seemed to have bestowed upon you several special protections."

"Intuition, though it may not always lead to the terrifying things we desire, often points us in the right direction in situations where we're at an impasse."

"Immortality is similar to that of the witch, but while a witch's alien core truly dies after being destroyed, you can still regenerate even when you're just a skin."

"Adaptation is key; you gradually get used to your opponent's moves during battle. I just didn't expect that the magical girl Fuyutsubaki, who only used her time magic a few times, would be caught in my attack patterns—"

"—So you're the magical girl from the past."

Gu Bai interrupted the magical girl's speech.

This guy in front of me knows too much; there are some things he has never mentioned to anyone.

"yes."

The sound continued to travel into Gu Bai's head.

She didn't try to answer with a riddle, but instead readily admitted the truth.

"And as you wished, you found a clue, because I've been watching over you on her behalf."

For her?

Who she is needs no further explanation.

Gu Bai stared at the person inside the jar for a long time, then relaxed his clenched hand that was hanging by his side.

"That's enough. Since you called me here, you should be here to tell me about her, right? You don't need to tell me about my affairs."

Inside the jar, Wang's eyes flickered, a look that seemed both joyful and sorrowful.

She turned slightly in the liquid, her hair spreading out further with the flow of water:

"Let's skip this part then, since I don't have much time left."

"Over twenty-four years old?"

Gu Bai wondered if the liquid in the jar was her way of extending her magical abilities as a magical girl: "Soaking in it can freeze my age?"

"It's just a delaying tactic."

She didn't deny it, but seemed unconcerned about her situation, and then made a crazy request:

"Come, draw your sword, kill me, and you will know the answer."

"No, the dead can't speak."

Gu Bai had absolutely no intention of fighting. Strange invitation, strange place, strange magical girl.

He had so many questions to ask, how could he possibly listen to what she was saying at this moment and draw his sword to kill her?

"Chest, scratches; right forearm, knife wound..."

Unconcerned, her voice rang in Gu Bai's mind again, and at the same time, the wounds she had described instantly appeared on Gu Bai's body.

"cough--!"

Completely unprepared, he couldn't help but let out a muffled groan.

Some familiar pain...

Even so, Gu Bai still did not reveal the ink sword in his hand. The more someone is determined to die, the less likely they are to be dealt with in a simple way.

Gu Bai leaped behind a nearby stone pillar to hide himself and began to think about what to do next.

But for him, such hiding seemed completely meaningless.

"Thighs, nibble..."

Gu Bai, who was moving, leaned forward and almost fell to the ground.

The pain was so intense and clear that he immediately understood the magical girl's abilities—after all, he had almost thought he was going to die without an heir when he suffered this injury in the Witch Forest.

Are you reliving the wounds I suffered in the past?

"Falling—several times, you still have a penchant for jumping off cliffs?"

Wang did not directly answer Gu Bai's question, but seemed to have seen an interesting fragment in his past, and his tone fluctuated slightly.

"Ugh..."

Gu Bai, supporting his head and barely managing to stay conscious, tried to respond to the other person's "lazy joke":

"Isn't it normal for falling off a cliff to be associated with good fortune after surviving a near-death experience?"

"That's a pity, Luo..."

Even though I was standing on solid ground, I suddenly felt as if I had lost my balance and landed on solid ground. Then, a wave of pain surged from within my body.

One can imagine that if his body weren't undergoing self-repair at this moment, Gu Bai would be no different from a dead man.

However, the "immortality" buff is merely a safety net. At this moment, the situation of being beset by countless pains is far from pleasant, and if he faints, he will die.

What should we do then?

Gu Bai slowly stood up, the pain still burning in his body. He straightened himself up and looked at the girl in the jar again, saying, "Wang, can you give me a minute to think about it?"

"good--"

--call out!

At the same moment that the magical girl was distracted and spoke, Gu Bai suddenly rushed out!