Chapter 34: Hidden Agendas

“Let go of me! Let go of me now!”

“I absolutely will not be tempted by your beauty!”

“Ting Ting, hehehehehehehehe—”

Ji Yue looked utterly speechless at the hands tightly gripping her waist—she wasn’t even resisting, just leaning her body down slightly.

Let me go?
You say you won’t be tempted by beauty?
Do you want to check how honest your body is?

“Though you say it so fiercely, your hands are still holding me tight, aren’t they?”

Luoyou instantly stopped struggling.

Anyone unaware would’ve thought she was about to suffocate.

“Puhah!”

Suddenly pushing Ji Yue away, Luoyou gasped for air like a survivor just escaping drowning, her eyes staring at Ji Yue with a feigned look of terror.

“You, you want to kill me?!”

Soon, Ji Yue’s expression of “How can someone be so shameless?” was seen by Luoyou, which deeply hurt her pride.

No choice—when caught, you have to think of a way to cover it up.

“Sorry, I just wanted to test you.”

Ji Yue apologized, but it didn’t sound like a real apology at all.

“That female pervert I mentioned said her favorite type was big sisters who could suffocate her with their chest, so I…”

“So you used that to test me?!”

“Yes… but now I’m sure, you’re probably not her.”

“Hmph! Of course not, the type I like isn’t what you said. It’s someone who can use a small little… no, I don’t like girls at all, that’s it!”

Before she could derail further, Luoyou opened the sauna door and bolted out.

Ji Yue’s expression slowly turned intriguing.

Her fingers twitched with anticipation.

“Luoyou… could it really be you?”

When Luoyou was forcibly blindfolded earlier, Ji Yue could almost see through her expression of ecstasy—very much like when she was humiliated by Ellera before.

Both were so desperate.

Treated like toys.

Not releasing until the last moment before suffocation.

The only difference was that now Ji Yue was the active party, but Luoyou’s reactions were almost identical to Ellera’s.

Besides this, there were other clues only Ji Yue herself knew.

Back in Huahai City, Ellera had just saved Luozining—this seemingly trivial detail was actually suspicious to those who knew.

Zhou Xi had told her before that Ellera had a daughter, that was one point.

Then Luozining and Luoyou arrived at the Jiuming Sea almost simultaneously, and soon after Luoyou left the hot springs, Ellera appeared at the Canglan Ruins—two.

What kind of coincidence is that?

Ji Yue preferred to believe that Ellera saving Luozining was not a coincidence but something destined.

By now, she was about 60-70% sure.

With that much certainty, she could choose to risk killing the wrong person rather than let Luoyou go free, gather forces to capture her, and interrogate her slowly. But currently…

“Ji Yue, what’s wrong?”

The tightly closed sauna door suddenly opened.

Zhou Xi, wrapped in a towel, stepped inside.

“I just saw Youyou run out. Did something happen?”

“Maybe she couldn’t handle the heat.”

“Oh… I wanted to talk to you about that group you mentioned that pulled me in before…”

“About that… forget I said anything.”

Ji Yue’s sudden change confused Zhou Xi.

She had previously expressed immense hatred towards Ellera, but now it seemed to have vanished.

“Why… I won’t ask. I’m here just to politely refuse, don’t worry. I’ll rest now.”

“Mm.”

Not pursuing it was a relief because Ji Yue had other ideas now.

She understood the advantage of proximity.

If Luoyou really was Ellera, then she was the only one who knew her identity.

The only one.

Even if she gathered other magical girls to defeat her, not to mention whether they would succeed, ownership of Ellera would never fall into her hands.

Instead of that, it would be better to…

“Don’t blame me, sisters, first come, first served, right?”

Ji Yue muttered to herself.

“But I think I’ve already scared her today. She must be on guard now, so I need to do something to dispel her suspicion.”

“Also, tomorrow I’ll try to apply to the Magic Alliance to transfer to Huahai City.”

Hmm?

***

“Phew! That was close, she definitely suspects me now!”

Luoyou changed clothes with lingering unease and hid in her room.

She didn’t believe she had gotten away with it earlier—only someone naive would think that.

“Tch, what should I do… why would she suspect me? Ever since becoming a magical hag, my intuition has doubled in accuracy.”

“Out of millions, Ji Yue specifically chose me.”

“By logic, as the guardian of the magical girls, I should be the least suspected!”

“Ji Yue didn’t follow me…”

Confirming Ji Yue hadn’t followed her, Luoyou slipped into Xue’s room.

Xue was lying on the bed with nothing to do, rolling around casually. She rolled over and bounced right in front of her.

“You!”

“Hey, call me by my real name properly.”

“It’s You, sounds close enough. And now you’re lecturing me? Brainwashing and hypnosis!”

It was always like this. Xue never resisted—it was routine now.

She didn’t know exactly what Luoyou was doing to her but only that after a while she felt relaxed with no harm—sometimes even pleasant.

“Is this what they call… me being made to do something embarrassing?”

Xue asked innocently.

“…In a way, yes. Just remember not to say anything that could be misunderstood to others, or I’ll end up in jail.”

Though she was a girl who couldn’t be locked up anyway, Luoyou thought silently.

Soon Xue was successfully hypnotized, her mind blank and vacant like a wooden doll.

“How to deal with her is another headache. I still have to find a way to erase Ji Yue’s suspicion… so annoying!”

Luoyou irritably walked to the window.

Outside lay a dense forest blanketed in snow.

Hot spring hotels always liked to be built in places without developed transport, sparsely populated and remote.

“…Oh?”

Luoyou’s eyes flickered with red light.

In the snow-covered ground below, everything seemed normal—a simple white sheet of snow.

But it was as if her “Insight Vision” was activated, marking any suspicious traces below with a special red glow, like a main quest marker in a game.

“Are those people finally losing their patience?”

Someone wanted to make a move against Zhou Xi—Luoyou had noticed this yesterday while soaking in the hot springs.

The suspects were from a heterodox organization.

Their goal: to extract information about Ellera.

“Such a great opportunity, I’ll make use of it.”

Luoyou chuckled in her heart—like a pillow being delivered just as she was dozing off, here came a chance to clear suspicion from herself.

Thinking this, she glanced at the dazed Xue and left a note on the table before heading out to Zhou Xi’s room.

Knock knock.

“Who is it?”

“It’s me.”

Luoyou took out a jar of honeyed citrus.

“I bought this on my way back yesterday. If you don’t mind, please accept it.”

“Oh? How kind of you… please come in and have a seat?”

Zhou Xi was mentally and physically exhausted after attending the morning’s meeting, but now that Luoyou had come specifically, she couldn’t just leave her outside—the rest could wait.

Inside, two cups of hot tea were served by Zhou Xi, the aroma of honeyed citrus drifting in the air.

It was meant for brewing tea.

“Drink up.”

“Thank you.”

The sweet taste and fragrant scent made one drowsy.

After the sugar intake, Zhou Xi’s eyelids began to droop.

“Ah, it’s nothing, don’t mind me. Just rest.”

“So why did you come to me?”

“Uh, to hide…”

Luoyou gestured toward the next room, meaning was clear.

Luozining had gone out earlier, so now she was hiding from Ji Yue.

Zhou Xi noticed something odd between Ji Yue and Luoyou but didn’t intend to pry. Others’ private affairs weren’t hers to ask about.

“I’m going to sleep then. Just close the door when you leave.”

“Sorry to bother you.”

Time passed slowly, only Zhou Xi’s calm breathing filled the room.

Luoyou sat motionless in the chair, quietly gazing out the window.

At one moment—

A cold wind carrying chills suddenly blew in from nowhere into the tightly sealed room.

Luoyou shivered, then felt her brain lose control over her body.

She collapsed sideways, hitting the floor hard.

Zhou Xi on the bed was startled awake.

“Who’s—uh—!?”

Just as she tried to transform, she experienced the same symptoms as Luoyou—her body went limp and collapsed.

She only managed to catch sight of several unfamiliar workers in the room before her vision went black.

Half an hour earlier—

Magic Alliance Huahai City Branch

“Whoa, isn’t that dangerous?”

Magical girl Qiushui was scrolling through her phone video, voice filled with concern.

This caught Xingyue’s attention.

“Excuse me, what’s going on?”

“Hm? A new face? Are you new here?”

“No, I’m just here to visit today, nice to meet you.”

Xingyue smiled gently, not revealing her identity.

After all, she was just visiting, not sure if she’d stay.

“Did you see something unpleasant just now?”

“Ah, this. Look.”

Qiushui showed her phone screen, displaying a post from a popular fitness blogger, with a bunch of comments.

The latest update read: ‘Blocked by a big sister with an amazing figure in the sauna room.’

“Isn’t this a crime?”

Qiushui pointed to the post, “Shouldn’t someone go help?”

Xingyue glanced and sighed, “You’re taking this too seriously, it’s a script, fake.”

“Eh? A script? So there’s no need to intervene?”

“Right, maybe she even enjoys it.”

Xingyue shook her head—these ordinary magical girls were all too innocent… huh?

Her gaze was suddenly caught by the previous post—a photo soaking feet in a fish therapy pool.

“Please enlarge this photo.”

“What’s strange about it?”

Looking at the photo of soft, pink feet soaked in hot water, Xingyue narrowed her eyes slightly.

“Find out the location where this account posts from. I’ll go take a look.”

“Eh? But you said it’s a script and we don’t need to care?”

“I’d rather make a pointless trip than miss any possibility of a crime. Hurry up.”