Something's off about this magical girl.

Chapter 47 Setting the Scene

The night wind pressed down from the mountain pass, bringing the coolness of the bluestone to the back of my neck.

It was completely dark, and a few lights floated up in the distance, scattered like candles in a cup placed in the night.

Gu Bai walked out of the mountain path.

I took out my phone, turned it on, and the signal was restored at the same moment. A "beep" sounded from the loudspeaker.

It was a voice message sent by Tao Zhuo half an hour ago.

She said that she and Dongchun had finished their cultivation and had nothing to do recently, so she asked if there was anything she could do to help. Did they really think they couldn't see what the teacher was doing?

But how could the two of them possibly help me?

After turning off his phone, Gu Bai sighed and decided to walk home. However, he stopped after taking the first step and turned back to look at the depths of the mountains.

Looking back, the magical girls' performances in the past...

Previously, I had been too hot-headed after hearing about Mo Xin's news, but after a gust of wind, I came to my senses and noticed something unusual.

For example, the reason why magical girls used to seek death might be said to be—

Although it's just a guess, it's worth spending some time trying it out.

After making his decision, Gu Bai dialed Dong Chun's phone number:

"Dongchun, there's something I need to tell you. You can explain it to Taozhuo afterward, and I'll trust your account."

There was a half-second silence on the other end of the phone, followed by Dongchun's soft voice as she slightly turned the receiver away: "Playing on speakerphone."

Then, Tao Zhuo's voice exploded: "Teacher, what do you mean? Are you implying I'm stupid?! This is blatant discrimination against physical cultivators! You know, my academic scores are even higher than Dong's!"

"Alright, alright, listen to me!"

Gu Bai let Tao Zhuo's voice fade away with the mountain breeze, and finally began his statement...

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The sun sets and rises again, and a new day begins.

For most people, there aren't many things that can bring a little warmth to their hearts, but the arrival of a day off is definitely one of them.

Morning at Wish Cafe.

Sunlight streamed in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a glossy sheen on the silver coffee machine in front of the bar.

There weren't many people in the shop; the only sounds in the background were the low hum of the coffee grinder and the occasional soft laughter.

The booths by the window.

Guanlan slowly twirled her index finger around the end of her long, light blue hair.

Looking at the two people in front of him, his eyes curved slightly, and his voice carried a hint of doubt: "What do you want to do by asking me to meet you at this time on Saturday?"

"Saintess...do we need to use this title for you?" Tao Zhuo asked, picking up her coffee cup first.

"A name is fine." Guanlan didn't care about that.

"Wow, this coffee is as bitter as my life, which is currently shorting stocks..."

Tao Zhuo immediately reached for the sugar cube box on the table, asking at the same time, "Do you want to hear the truth or a lie?"

"Of course, either way is fine."

Guanlan didn't care. In fact, she didn't intend to listen to Taozhuo's words seriously. Seeing Dongchun's appearance, she probably had something to say.

"I want to see my contracted beast."

Dong Chun pressed her finger to her lower lip, lowered her voice, and got straight to the point.

"It's a bit of a dilemma, since Yubi told me that it doesn't want to be disturbed, so it chose to live underground to rest."

Guanlan's eyes curved slightly, and in an instant, she realized what Dongchun wanted.

Magical girl contract beasts do indeed know some unknown information, and naturally, information related to immortality may be among them.

Dong Chun never hides her pursuit of immortality.

Guanlan was well aware of this, and as the future representative of the Ximing Cult, he was happy to cultivate a good relationship with them.

Well then, let's just do that as a favor. Anyway, given that stupid contracted beast's personality, it'll definitely give us a good scolding.

"But we're good friends, so..."

Guanlan raised her head and nodded gently, thus completing her sentence.

"Thank you, let's go then." Dongchun didn't hesitate for long and immediately got up and set off with Guanlan.

Tao Zhuo, who took the last step, was caught off guard.

The planned schedule has changed unexpectedly, and it seems I don't have the money to pay.

Helpless, he used the money-making magic of "nodding and blinking" while complaining about how expensive and terrible the coffee was, and hurriedly followed the two who left.

On the way to that underground space in Guanlan.

The choice of topics for the three people's conversation also relates to their stance and orientation.

"We understand the difficulties Qixin is currently facing, and Ximing is actively communicating with them, hoping to assist Qixin in completing the control work in the disaster area as soon as possible."

Along the way, they talked about the Ximing Cult's attempt to infiltrate Qixin's territory, but mostly about the strange events that occurred in the disaster zone last week.

"This is the first time in recent years that we've suffered such a huge blow. The cause of this anomaly is most likely the witch's problem; she's been quite restless lately," Guanlan concluded.

"Yeah, we can't possibly go deep into the witch world to capture them and deal with them. It's fine under normal circumstances, but it's really frustrating to be on the defensive in situations like this."

Tao Zhuo exclaimed from the bottom of her heart.

"Xi Ming occasionally forms advance teams to hunt down witches, if you're interested... just kidding."

As Guanlan spoke, she noticed that Dongchun was looking at her, and finally changed her tune, saying that there was indeed no need to invite the magical girl next to her to join Ximing.

Then, he pointed ahead and said, "We've arrived."

Enter the basement.

Having learned from experience this time, Tao Zhuo skillfully led Dong Chun down the spiral staircase, where lights illuminated each floor, making the underground space brightly lit.

"Yubi, a new magical girl has come to see you." Guanlan walked ahead, his voice carrying a respect he rarely heard before.

"..." Tao Zhuo was a little at a loss. Her last statement was unexpected. Should she be more obedient when facing someone who can control star promotion?

"hehe."

Inside the acrylic hut, a round figure slowly floated out, hovering in mid-air, and looked the three magical girls in front of it up and down.

Sleeping all the time is boring, so listening to them flatter me and then humiliating them is a good way to pass the time.

—That's what Yubi was thinking.

"this..."

Fuyu Tsubaki's red eyes were fixed on the suspended Yubi, and her voice was low: "Ugly."

"A corner?"

Yubi froze for a moment, her ahoge twitched, and then she raised her two short arms and flapped her wings aggressively, about to rush towards Dongchun.

But it hadn't even flapped its little wings twice.

--boom!

A small, bright red burst of fire struck it, scorching its once-spirited tuft of hair until it drooped and charred a section.

"..."

Yubi flapped her wings, taking half a second to regain her balance in mid-air. Her ahoge (cowlick) barely stood up, and she looked at Fuyutsubaki, uttering a somewhat unconfident sentence:

"Oh, a new magical girl."

"It can even talk, that's even more disgusting." Dongchun couldn't accept the existence of this creature, and subconsciously raised her fingertips again, as if she was about to circulate magic.

"Calm down, calm down, Winter Sister, this is a contracted beast after all!"

Tao Zhuo quickly reached out and grabbed Dong Chun's arm, secretly glancing at Guan Lan's reaction out of the corner of her eye.

Guanlan stood still, remaining calm and observing the situation, her eyes slightly curved, showing no intention of smoothing things over or intervening.

"A rare find, if it's not just for show..."

Yubi muttered to herself, raised her little hand to wipe her mouth, and turned her back:

"Hmph, woman, are you playing with fire? Are you deliberately trying to get my attention?"

"..." This time, Fuyu Tsubaki didn't say anything more. She gently withdrew her gaze from Yubi and gave Tao Zhu a brief nod: "I'm leaving now."