Two days later, Jin Luan was the first to be released from prison, though she was still injured.
Huanhong and Yinlin remained bedridden, with a long time yet before their release.
Even getting out of bed was still very difficult at this point.
Jin Luan’s suspicion toward her grew stronger.
Last time, her recovery had been incredibly fast, but this time she was recovering slowly, like an ordinary person.
This little ancestor was definitely hiding some secret again.
Jin Luan heightened her guard and secretly observed her, up until this day.
Yinlin felt that just lying there wasn’t going to work; it was such a waste of time.
If she kept lying down, the company’s layoffs would be over by then.
Compared to punishing evil and promoting good, she cared more about the company.
Huanhong couldn’t hold on any longer; her mana was completely drained.
That day, Huanhong canceled her transformation and returned to her original form.
Sure enough, it was that uncultured Chen Jiayuan she had met at the milk tea shop—mostly expected, with only a few surprises.
“Why are you looking at me like that? Never seen a beautiful girl before?”
She even blushed.
Yinlin had to pretend not to recognize her, to avoid revealing her true form.
Her Old Song form and Xiao Yao form had both been to the milk tea shop.
Yinlin said, “I don’t understand, speak Mandarin.”
Chen Jiayuan: “Only I was seen by the Lis, that’s unfair! The Lis should show me their true forms too.”
Yinlin: “Once my mana is gone, I’ll transform back and show you.”
Jin Luan said, “Better not do that, in case we get caught all at once. Someone like you can’t keep your mouth shut; if caught, you’d definitely betray us.”
She looked at Huanhong, but quietly glanced at Yinlin as well.
At that moment, Yinlin hadn’t yet realized that Jin Luan was planning something, already playing psychological games.
Suddenly, Diamond said, “That’s good. Seeing the three of you get along so peacefully puts me at ease.”
There was a vague feeling that Diamond was entrusting some final matters.
This made Yinlin very uncomfortable, not at all at ease.
She grew more resentful of the Contract Goddess, and of how easily she had fallen into the path designed by the Contract Goddess.
Distractedly, she chatted a little, deciding that today she absolutely had to talk to that bitch.
Whether for the sake of her health or to confront that person, she needed to meet face to face.
She casually lied, saying she needed to perform a secret spell, and asked everyone to leave to give herself some time alone.
Diamond also chimed in, helping to persuade them.
Yinlin had her secrets and couldn’t share them with everyone.
The conversation had come this far—it was almost as if she was plainly saying, “You two are outsiders; it’s not appropriate to see this secret.”
They had no choice but to leave the ward, leaving Yinlin and Diamond behind.
Once again, she had to meet the Contract Goddess.
This time, she was determined to question her properly.
If all this really was the Goddess’s expected outcome, then this so-called goddess was seriously problematic.
Just as she was preparing to enter the false space, she suddenly sensed something, looking out the window.
Diamond also suddenly looked outside.
“Ahem, you felt that too?” This time it was really somewhat distant; even Diamond was surprised.
“Not sure. It’s very faint mana, very easy to miss.” Yinlin struggled to describe what kind of mana it was.
A sudden anomaly appeared, almost at the very edge of vision, perhaps tens of kilometers away.
A pillar of light shot down from the sky—a beam like a railgun.
It was the same move she had seen on TV before, very similar to Yinlin’s own technique, but with greater power.
The Contract Goddess had said it was a 150% power magic cannon.
She never said who fired it.
A chilling milky-white explosion spread out.
Even lying on the hospital bed here, they could feel the ground tremble; the glass creaked ominously.
Seconds later, a muffled explosion sound came.
The ward door was pushed open, and Jin Luan rushed in.
“What’s going on? I thought you were out. You scared me.”
She looked at Yinlin on the bed, then at the distant explosion still lingering outside.
“See? There really is a magical girl who can do that move. It wasn’t me.”
Yinlin said casually on the surface, but inside she felt more wary.
Magical girls and the Contract Goddess—there were too many secrets hidden.
Jin Luan and Huanhong, the most diligent people in this city, knew fewer secrets than Yinlin did.
Even Diamond, one of the Contract Beasts closest to the Contract Goddess, didn’t know anything about the Creation Artifact.
Yinlin vaguely sensed a hierarchy in the Contract Goddess’s mind.
The closer you were to the top, the more access to secrets you had.
She didn’t understand why she was at the top, Diamond in the middle, and the other magical girls at the bottom.
It was an extremely uncomfortable realization.
From these clues came an even worse guess: the world of magical girls might be more akin to a dark, brutal, R18-level reality, rather than child-friendly content.
Could this be the other side of the Contract Goddess’s wager?
The One-Year Agreement?
If the world beyond ordinary people really was a dark, brutal one, Old Song would probably be even more reluctant to give up the magical girl identity and harder to return to a normal life.
Looking at Jin Luan’s faintly youthful face, such a dark and brutal truth was something these little sisters could never bear.
“Stay here and don’t move. I’m going to check it out.”
Still injured, Jin Luan flew out of the room toward the explosion site.
Looking at her phone, there were messages from Jin Luan in the group chat, photos taken from a high vantage point.
One photo every few minutes.
They were getting closer to the scene.
Apart from seeing some people evacuating and a special team rushing to handle the site, there was no sign of the culprit yet.
What was that magical girl attacking?
The explosion site was in the farthest outskirts, very close to the [Boundary].
Beyond it was the Demon Zone.
The Boundary was a wall tens of meters high.
It wasn’t quite enough to keep out demons—they could climb it.
But demons didn’t cross the Boundary in a group.
Some said demons feared the mines planted at the Boundary, supposedly many of them nuclear.
But that rumor seemed off—demons weren’t known for intelligence, how could they fear mines?
Others said demons feared the electric fences atop the Boundary, but many demons could jump over or fly past.
That made little sense either.
In short, demons seemed to abide by some sort of Gentleman’s Agreement, staying outside the Boundary, in what was called the Demon Zone.
Very few demons ever stepped inside the Boundary.
This peaceful state had lasted for decades, until now.
Magical girls usually only cleaned up demons that appeared inside the city—they didn’t go beyond the Boundary.
This explosion was very close to the Boundary, making many people nervous.
Reporters, onlookers, livestreamers, security forces—everyone was there.
Jin Luan soon arrived at the scene but found nothing unusual.
The large crater on the ground suggested a battle might have taken place.
No mana could be sensed above or below ground, only some residual traces slowly dissipating.
The mana seemed to carry a unique aura.
Jin Luan sniffed around, then flew above the clouds to thinner air, almost struggling to breathe.
She sniffed again.
Finally, she returned to the hospital and looked at Yinlin, suspicion deepening on her face.
Diamond asked curiously, “Did you find anything?”
Jin Luan shook her head, “No.”
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