“Magical Girl?”
The moment the word ‘Magical Girl’ was spoken, all eyes around instantly turned toward He Wan.
Curiosity, fear, envy, suspicion—all mixed together in those gazes.
After all, in this era, Magical Girls had become professionalized. Those who became Magical Girls were without exception the cream of society, the elite of humanity.
In fact, the role of Magical Girl was beginning to take on the characteristics of a caste.
To put it simply, if the entire nation were divided into three castes—poor, middle class, and rich—then Magical Girls would form a fourth caste, positioned above the middle class but below the rich.
If one could connect with them, greet them, or even marry into their circle, one could easily leap across social classes and no longer have to toil as a mere worker!
Moreover, just looking at He Wan, it was obvious she was a quiet and easily bullied girl. If she were a bit tougher, maybe this plan would really work!
With that thought, several uncles and middle-aged men quickly crowded around her. Even the few blond-haired guys who had given up on chatting her up now regretted not approaching earlier:
“How old are you, young lady? Are you married?”
“I have a son—he’s quite handsome. You young people have a lot in common; I can introduce you.”
“Hey little sister, what’s your contact info? We don’t even have to date; just friends first.”
As more and more people gathered, Lu Liang’s face twitched. Being the center of attention like this wasn’t good news for either him or the ‘Expert’.
He hurriedly grabbed He Wan’s hand and pulled her away. The instant her hand was grasped, it trembled slightly, but she didn’t pull away. Instead, she let Lu Liang lead her through the crowd.
They weaved through the sea of pedestrians until finally shaking off their pursuers. Only then did Lu Liang release her hand.
He Wan looked at Lu Liang oddly, then stared at her own hand, which still carried the warmth of his touch. Suddenly, she raised it to her nose and gently sniffed.
“What’s wrong? Does my hand smell?”
Lu Liang felt a bit awkward seeing this. He sniffed his own hand.
Hmm… no strange smell. After all, he had washed carefully in the sewer to rid himself of any odor. It shouldn’t stink, right?
Or maybe this ‘Expert’ was just a neat freak?
But the next moment, Lu Liang realized he had overthought it.
After sniffing her hand, He Wan suddenly turned to him, her eyes sharp like a fierce Siberian wolf, making the hairs on Lu Liang’s scalp stand on end:
“What’s wrong?”
He Wan was silent for a moment, then leaned closer to Lu Liang and carefully sniffed the scent on his sleeve.
Lu Liang didn’t know how to describe his feelings at that moment.
He looked down at the little head just reaching his chest and thought he felt like he’d been spotted by a tiny Siberian hamster instead.
“There’s a smell.”
“What kind of smell?”
“The smell of a Monster.”
Lu Liang’s heart jumped. Instinctively, he tried to step back, but stopped himself mid-motion.
He thought: Is she trying to trick me? If she really confirmed I was a Monster, wouldn’t she have acted by now? Maybe… she’s only suspicious? There’s no proof yet?
Sweat trickled down Lu Liang’s palm. There was no denying the tension—after all, the person before him was a genuine Magical Girl.
He cursed the ‘Flat-Lying’ spirit silently. If you want to die, don’t drag me down with you! That guy’s always so lazy—where did he find such a Magical Girl as his expert?
Though nervous inside, Lu Liang kept his expression calm as he looked at He Wan:
“Isn’t it normal for me to smell like a Monster? After all, I made a deal with Flat-Lying to sell him Monster Insects. Here, take a look.”
Lu Liang opened the corner of the cloth bag he carried and showed her inside.
The twelve Monster Insects inside caught the slightest sunlight and, thinking Lu Liang was about to release them, their formerly listless spirits visibly brightened.
One by one, they raised their heads and chests proudly, lining up neatly and emitting faint insect-like chirps to please their owner.
It was quite a novel sight, but He Wan didn’t even glance at the insects. She simply said three words:
“Not the same.”
“What’s different?”
Lu Liang gritted his teeth and asked.
“The scent.”
He Wan stared at Lu Liang, her pupils vacant like fish eyes, as if trying to see right through him:
“It’s not the scent I smelled…”
Girl, are you identifying Monsters by scent?
Lu Liang was dumbfounded. Could it be that he truly carried some unnatural odor?
“If it’s not, then it’s not. I’m just a scavenger in the sewers. Picking up Monster smells isn’t unusual, right?”
Not wanting to prolong the topic, Lu Liang pretended to be annoyed and stood up, ready to leave:
“So, are you buying Monster Insects or not? If no deal, I’ll find someone else.”
Sensing Lu Liang’s determination, He Wan gently grabbed his arm and said softly:
“I’ll buy.”
Only then did Lu Liang “grudgingly” sit back down, sighing inwardly.
This was bad.
Being stared down by a Siberian hamster like He Wan meant she probably saw something off.
Not wanting to get dragged into more trouble, Lu Liang resolved to sell the insects quickly and escape.
“So, how much do you think my Monster Insects are worth?”
He Wan looked at Lu Liang eagerly, as if those insects didn’t even exist in her eyes:
“How much do you want?”
Lu Liang silently cursed Flat-Lying again. Weren’t you supposed to be the one assessing the value of these insects? Why are you asking me for a price?
But business was always about bargaining. Usually, the seller quoted a price far above what the buyer expected, then the buyer bargained down, the seller countered, and so forth, until they reached a price both found acceptable.
Lu Liang said:
“How about one thousand yuan per Monster Insect?”
Starting at ten times the market price, beginning at one thousand gave room for negotiation to a satisfactory deal.
Lu Liang was ready to haggle, but to his surprise, He Wan nodded without frowning:
“Okay.”
“Pft… cough cough… One thousand each is okay? Has the Monster Insect market price really gone this high?”
Lu Liang coughed, shocked. One thousand yuan each—twelve insects meant twelve thousand!
Would Flat-Lying really be this generous?
The next moment, He Wan seemed to read Lu Liang’s thoughts and said:
“The psychological price is five hundred.”
“Flat-Lying’s psychological price is five hundred?”
For some reason, although He Wan’s words were brief and contained little information, Lu Liang somehow understood her meaning:
“Then why are you offering one thousand?”
“The other five hundred is a reward.”
“A reward?”
“You’re really short on money, huh.”
He Wan pointed out Lu Liang’s predicament with few words:
“I’ll give you money so I can sniff you.”
She said this calmly, sounding almost like a pervert.