A wisp of black smoke emerged from the Sealing Card, forming the shape of a hand, pointing at Xia Mo beside them.
Look, isn’t this girl the perfect choice? She’s a magical girl, pure of heart, with no conflict of interest or emotional entanglement with you, and she can give you a thorough examination from head to toe.
With such a perfect option in front of you, you’re still thinking of going to someone else?
“I don’t think that’s a good idea. She definitely wouldn’t want to…” Luo Shuangyue shook her head at once. That wouldn’t do!
She could tell with her toes that the kind of “examination” Ye Lin meant would definitely involve taking off all her clothes and letting Xia Mo check her all over, inside and out.
Even though she was using the Lord Dark Moth identity now, Xia Mo was still Xia Mo to her. She just couldn’t cross that line in her heart!
“I don’t mind. This is important—there’s no room for hesitation!” Xia Mo glared at Luo Shuangyue with blazing eyes.
She really didn’t have any other thoughts; she was just worried Luo Shuangyue might be in trouble. Having someone else check wasn’t as reassuring as doing it herself.
“We can discuss this…”
“No time for discussion! Come with me!”
Xia Mo grabbed Luo Shuangyue’s wrist and dragged her toward the bathroom.
At a time like this, what’s there to hesitate about? You’re Lord Dark Moth now, not Luo Shuangyue—what’s there to be afraid of? I’m not going to eat you, am I?
Pulled firmly into the bathroom, Luo Shuangyue felt her throat go dry.
This was probably the first time she’d ever stood face-to-face with Xia Mo in a place like this.
Though they’d always been mutually attracted, their relationship had hovered in an awkward limbo—never quite lovers, never quite strangers. The things that couples do—they had never done those.
“Take it off!” Xia Mo stared at Luo Shuangyue, her tone leaving no room for argument.
This power dynamic wasn’t at all what Luo Shuangyue had imagined.
“Can’t you check through my clothes?”
“We’re both girls, what are you afraid of? Quit stalling—are you worried I’ll eat you?” Xia Mo stamped her foot in annoyance, not caring whether her actions were proper, and directly began taking off Luo Shuangyue’s clothes.
Luo Shuangyue’s clothes were still the ones Xia Mo had bought her the last time they went shopping, so Xia Mo unfastened them swiftly and efficiently.
Before Luo Shuangyue could even react, her upper body suddenly felt cold—her clothes were already tossed aside.
It was summer, after all. She was wearing light, thin clothes, so once they were off, only a piece of underwear was left to cover her rather flat chest.
“Should I take this off, or will you do it yourself?”
“I’ll do it!” Luo Shuangyue immediately surrendered. Xia Mo’s aura was so overwhelming right now that she wanted to resist, but somehow, as soon as she thought about it, her instincts screamed warnings.
It was as if someone was standing by her side, whispering over and over: “Don’t resist, don’t resist…”
Forget it, I’m Lord Dark Moth now anyway. Thinking that, Luo Shuangyue braced herself, suppressing her deep-seated shame, and took off the rest of her clothes.
She neatly folded the clothes she took off and set them aside, then stood there ramrod straight like a telephone pole as Xia Mo circled her twice, murmuring quietly.
“So thin. I think you weigh even less than Shuang Xing.”
Among her peers, Luo Shuangxing wasn’t considered big, but compared to her, Luo Shuangyue seemed even more slender in certain areas.
However, Luo Shuangyue was a little taller than Luo Shuangxing, so their weights were probably about the same.
From the outside, Xia Mo didn’t see anything unusual. All she confirmed was that Luo Shuangyue was indeed a girl, and a rather cute one at that.
“Relax. I’ll use my Magic Power to look inside your body.” Having checked the outside, Xia Mo started to examine her internal condition.
She placed her hands on either side of Luo Shuangyue’s body, channeling her own dream power inside.
The sensation of something foreign invading her body made Luo Shuangyue extremely uncomfortable, and almost reflexively, she activated her own Magic Power.
“Huh?” Xia Mo quickly drew back her hand, and a vivid line of red blood beaded on her fingertip.
Where she had just touched, a small, pitch-black spike had appeared—it was this sudden spike that had injured Xia Mo’s finger.
“You’re growing spikes on your body now?” Xia Mo looked at the black spike emerging from Luo Shuangyue’s skin, worry filling her eyes.
Wasn’t this exactly the body change Ye Lin had mentioned?
“I… I don’t know. It’s not normally like this,” Luo Shuangyue was equally confused. No one had ever dug so deeply into her body before, so nothing like this had ever happened.
And even more confusing, why did her body have spikes? She was Lord Dark Moth—a butterfly!
Butterflies don’t have spikes!
Looking at the black spike protruding from her body, Luo Shuangyue remembered the Thorn Whip used by that Demon earlier. The whip seemed to have those same barbs.
This is bad!
Did I really get infected?
“Am I going to turn into a cordyceps fungus or something?” Luo Shuangyue poked the spike with her hand. It didn’t seem to hurt her, and she could even push it back in.
For now, this extra thing was still pretty obedient, but she couldn’t guarantee it would stay that way.
After all, she hadn’t eaten it willingly—it couldn’t be safe.
“Maybe… let Senior Long Wen take a look at you?” Xia Mo suggested.
This sort of matter had clearly surpassed their capabilities; they could only rely on a more experienced senior for guidance.
Coincidentally, there was just such a senior in Xinghai City.
Should she let Long Wen take a look at her?
After a not-so-difficult round of thought, Luo Shuangyue temporarily rejected this idea. She and Long Wen belonged to two different factions—if Long Wen learned she had absorbed the Original Magic Power of a Royal-Class Magic Beast and decided she was a hidden danger that needed to be eliminated completely, what would she do?
She didn’t want to die young just because she’d picked up something she shouldn’t have.
“I’ll hold off for now. I’ll have our boss check me first.”
Besides, Long Wen was obviously a martial-arts type of Magical Girl; she probably didn’t know as much about these things. If Luo Shuangyue wanted advice, she’d be better off finding Monice.
Now, there was a true expert.
“I’m still a bit uneasy… Dark Moth, do you live alone?”
Even though Xia Mo knew who was really hiding beneath Dark Moth’s exterior, she still had to pretend to know nothing and ask.
“Yeah, of course I live alone.” Luo Shuangyue nodded without thinking.
Then Xia Mo placed a hand firmly on her shoulder.
“Either I come stay with you, or you come stay with me. Pick one.” “Huh?”
“You live alone. If something happens, there won’t be anyone there to help you, right?” Xia Mo’s reasoning was perfectly valid—if Lord Dark Moth lived alone, with no one watching over her, who knew when her body might go wrong.
If I come and stay with you, at least I can keep you from quietly turning into a winter worm and summer grass.
How could Luo Shuangyue possibly agree to this? The Dark Moth identity was nothing more than a fleeting existence—she didn’t have anywhere for Xia Mo to stay.
And even if she moved into Xia Mo’s place, how would she explain things to Luo Shuangxing? She couldn’t very well go home in the evening, cook dinner, take a bath, pretend to fall asleep, then slip out in Dark Moth’s costume to Xia Mo’s place, could she?
That was way too convoluted and unnecessary.
“No need. I’ll just stay at the base.” Luo Shuangyue resolutely declared that she would not fraternize with Magical Girls.
She might live alone, but Eternal Night was her home. Living in the Eternal Night Base was far better than staying with a Magical Girl like Xia Mo, wasn’t it?
Seeing Luo Shuangyue come up with this excuse, Xia Mo had no way to forcibly keep her at her place. Still, she wasn’t disappointed; it was only a casual suggestion anyway.
After all, Shuangyue was still juggling several roles—if she really moved in, she wouldn’t be able to keep up the act.
“Alright then… But if you feel even a little unwell, you have to tell me right away!”
“If you need something urgent, call me back! Do you realize I was at a crucial point in my research?” Monice returned after being called back by Luo Shuangyue’s phone call, looking extremely displeased.
Her face practically screamed, “If you don’t give me a good reason, I’ll fire you on the spot.”