Upon hearing Pei Keke’s words, Su Ziling’s gentle demeanor instantly faded. Her eyes turned calm and deep, carrying a trace of barely perceptible scrutiny.
“You’ve been investigating me?”
“Not at all~” Pei Keke’s smile remained bright, but it had lost some of its innocence, replaced by a hint of cunning. “Senior, maybe you don’t realize it, but your ‘exploits’ are known to everyone in the Magical Girl Alliance!”
She reached out again, palm up, as if inviting in a seductive manner.
“How about it, Senior? Let’s team up and make our debut! The profits split fifty-fifty, absolutely fair! Not only would it free you from your current predicament and ease your financial strain, but we could also uphold justice together! It benefits both sides—a win-win situation. Isn’t that great?”
“…”
Su Ziling didn’t reply. She simply took a step forward and walked onward calmly.
A flicker of expectation crossed Pei Keke’s eyes. Thinking the other had finally been swayed, she quickly extended her hand, ready to welcome this historic moment.
However… Su Ziling’s figure passed her by without a pause.
In the moment they brushed past each other, Su Ziling’s gentle yet distant voice drifted softly into Pei Keke’s ears.
“Your proposal is indeed tempting,” Su Ziling looked up, her short hair framing a still bright smile. “But I don’t have ambitions or dreams as grand as yours. For me, I just want to protect my own little patch of land and the people around me. So… I must respectfully decline.”
“…”
Pei Keke’s hand froze midair.
She stood rooted to the spot, as if bound by invisible threads, stunned for more than ten seconds.
Only when the sound of Su Ziling’s footsteps had completely faded into the depths of the rain did she slowly withdraw her outstretched hand. Then she let out a sigh full of meaning.
“Senior… Why must it come to this?”
—
To keep her identity and whereabouts hidden, she always took a long detour home after completing each mission.
Especially after hearing Lin Yizhou’s words, she had to be doubly vigilant.
The detour consumed time and energy but bought her a relative sense of safety.
So even though it was drizzling and the north wind was blowing today, Su Ziling decided to take an extra hour of detour before heading home.
Unlike the bustling noise of her previous life, the night here was bone-chillingly cold and dead.
Empty streets saw neither people nor cars, only the monotonous sound of raindrops hitting the ground. The dim streetlights on the roadside flickered weakly, clearly having gone unmaintained for a long time.
The halos of light blurred in the rain and mist, like eyes staring at the girl from the darkness.
Su Ziling didn’t walk on the main roads. Her figure merged into the night like a ghost, swiftly darting through unoccupied alleys and the shadows of buildings.
After repeatedly confirming that no unusual presence lingered behind her, she slipped into an abandoned parking lot.
The interior of the parking lot was labyrinthine, with many exits. Skilled, she cancelled her transformation in a corner and then emerged quietly from a completely different exit.
This was a getaway point she had carefully chosen; no matter how skilled the tracker, they would find no trace.
But there was one problem now…
The rain had been falling since morning and showed no sign of stopping. It looked like it would pour for a long, long time.
So… what should she do?
Su Ziling checked the time. It was already very late. If she delayed any further, she wouldn’t be able to get up early tomorrow to prepare breakfast and lunch.
After a brief weighing of options, she took a deep breath and prepared to grit her teeth and dash into the cold curtain of rain.
But before she could take a step, a blinding white light pierced through the rain and landed squarely on her.
Su Ziling squinted against the harsh glare, her nerves instantly on high alert!
When her eyes adjusted, she recognized the familiar figure behind the light source.
Lin Yizhou.
He was wearing an obviously out-of-place pair of oversized plastic slippers, still in that eye-catching shirt with a print of Magical Girl Meluke. One hand casually held a shopping bag and an umbrella, while the other gripped a powerful flashlight.
The whole picture radiated a near-absurd sense of ease and otaku-ness that clashed with the cold, rainy night.
“Uh… huh? Su Ziling?”
Seeing the short-haired girl, he too showed a hint of puzzlement.
After confirming it was Lin Yizhou, Su Ziling couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief, even knowing he was a Monster.
“…You startled me.”
“What are you doing here?”
“Just finished a mission, heading home now.”
Su Ziling’s gaze fell on the shopping bag in Lin Yizhou’s hand. Looking closer, it was packed full of snacks and drinks, so she asked.
“You’re eating this for dinner too?”
“No way,” Lin Yizhou shrugged and pointed toward the nearby Kentucky Hamburger Shop, indicating. “I still eat proper meals for dinner, okay?”
“…Sigh.”
Seeing where he pointed, Su Ziling couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh.
To be honest, she usually didn’t think she cared about others that much. But seeing Lin Yizhou’s eating habits, she couldn’t stop herself from nagging a little.
“Eat less of that junk food… Take care of your own body.”
“Meat is nutritious, vegetables are healthy, and having bread is fine—how do these three things combined become junk food?”
Alright, this guy’s language system was still that blunt.
‘So can someone explain to me… what exactly did my future self see in this guy?’
But Lin Yizhou didn’t intend to dwell too long on his own diet. Instead, he turned to examine Su Ziling, who was standing under the awning.
She had no backpack or bag, so obviously she hadn’t brought an umbrella or raincoat.
And this was New Moon Block, at least one kilometer from the apartment she lived in.
The rain showed no signs of stopping and was getting heavier, combined with the biting north wind.
Walking a kilometer in this rain… even an adult couldn’t handle it.
Besides, once the Spiritual Attire was dismissed, no matter how powerful a Magical Girl was, she was just an ordinary person.
After a brief thought, Lin Yizhou shoved the umbrella in his hand into Su Ziling’s grasp.
“Take it.”
With that, he put the shopping bag on his head and strode quickly into the rain, not giving Su Ziling a chance to refuse.
Because he knew all too well that with her personality, she wouldn’t easily accept his kindness.
Rather than argue back and forth, it was more straightforward to just leave.
“Consider this as repaying you.”
“Wait, what about you—?”
As Lin Yizhou had predicted, Su Ziling, after a moment of shock, moved to return the umbrella, only to find that his figure had already vanished into the night.