The two youngsters nibbled at their grilled fish in fits and starts, their hands moving mechanically as the savory aroma filled the air.
Well, things had come to this—might as well eat first.
They were college students, after all, at an age where appetites roared like wildfires.
With each bite of the crispy fish, their worries slipped away, forgotten in the rhythm of chewing.
“Are you Su Mu?”
The question came abruptly.
The pink-cheeked chipmunk of a girl, her cheeks puffed out with fish, froze mid-bite.
A young woman with short black hair had appeared before her, as if materializing from the evening haze.
Su Mu stopped chewing, staring blankly at Ning Ling.
She blinked, swallowed the mouthful of fish, and managed a hesitant, “How’d you know?”
“I heard from my master that you think my cooking’s got safety issues.”
‘That blasted rabbit!’
“Uh, well, that’s probably a misunderstanding. Look, I’m eating it like it’s the best thing ever!” Su Mu said, holding up her half-eaten fish with a nervous grin, wiping a bead of sweat from her forehead.
But Ning Ling wasn’t buying it.
With a cool, unflinching gaze, she pulled out her phone and tapped the screen.
A recording crackled to life, courtesy of that traitor, Tang Nai.
“Hello, 12315? I need to report a hotpot place serving dangerous food…”
Su Mu’s heart sank as her own voice echoed back, unmistakable and damning.
She stood rooted to the spot, her insides crumbling like dry leaves.
‘Tang Nai, you absolute monster!’
“It was just a joke! Honestly, I ate a ton that day!” Su Mu forced a smile, cursing that no-good rabbit under her breath.
“Fine, then. Prove it. Eat all of these right now, in front of me.”
Ning Ling’s voice was dangerously calm, her expression unreadable.
In her hands, she held ten skewers of assorted seafood, each more intimidating than the last.
Su Mu’s eyes locked onto a massive octopus tentacle, its size conjuring memories of another Ning—Ning Xi, was it?—who’d once bound her with tentacles in a far less pleasant encounter.
Still, she grabbed the skewers without hesitation.
Sure, they looked rough, and the texture wasn’t exactly gourmet, but the flavor was decent enough.
Time to chow down!
‘Ning Ling, you underestimate a college student’s stomach!’
Ning Ling watched intently as Su Mu powered through the skewers, her gaze unwavering.
Only when the last bite was gone did the icy edge in her demeanor soften, returning to its usual indifference.
For a fleeting moment, her presence mirrored that of Luo Linglan, commanding, oppressive, her tone brooking no argument.
Su Mu had always steered clear of such intimidating figures, but Tang Nai’s little trap had landed her squarely in this mess.
“So, we’re good now, right?” Su Mu ventured, hopeful.
Ning Ling nodded but made no move to leave.
Instead, she plopped down beside Luo Jialan, close enough that the two girls instinctively scooted away, their shoulders nearly brushing.
Undeterred, Ning Ling shifted closer, maintaining a precise 30 centimeter distance from Luo Jialan.
Her nose twitched faintly, as if savoring the sweet, ocean-tinged scent that clung to the other girl.
“Your scent’s nicer than last time,” Ning Ling remarked, her voice soft but matter-of-fact.
Luo Jialan, startled, pressed herself fully against Su Mu, eyeing Ning Ling warily.
The sudden move caught even Ning Ling off guard.
“We’re not that close, are we?” Luo Jialan said, her tone sharp.
Su Mu, meanwhile, was screaming internally as her personal space vanished.
‘We’re definitely not this close! Slow down, this is way too fast!’
“It’s nothing,” Ning Ling said, unfazed.
“I just sensed that the magic of restraint in you has grown purer. It drew me in. If I’ve overstepped, I’ll go.”
She pressed her palms together in a gesture of apology and turned to leave, silent as a shadow.
“Wait!” Luo Jialan called out, curiosity overriding her caution.
Su Mu, nudged twice by her friend, straightened up.
“What did you mean by ‘restraint’?”
Ning Ling paused, tilting her head.
“Restraint. It’s similar to my own power, so I’m sensitive to it. I noticed it the first time we met, but we weren’t close enough for me to ask.”
Su Mu and Luo Jialan exchanged a glance, their lips twitching.
‘Not close enough then, but you’re fine getting all up in our space now?’
“Miss Ning Ling,” Su Mu coughed, “we’ve only just met, haven’t we?”
“Oh, really?” Ning Ling blinked, her face blank.
“I figured since you ate my fish, you were basically mine.”
‘Don’t say stuff like that with a straight face! Slavery’s long gone, lady!’
Su Mu couldn’t imagine what Tang Nai and this girl had been through together, but Ning Ling’s odd mix of bluntness and cluelessness was, admittedly, more endearing than annoying.
“So,” Ning Ling continued, “do you want to hear more about restraint?”
“Yes,” the two answered in unison, though Su Mu quickly earned a flick to the forehead from Luo Jialan.
“What’re you so eager for?” Luo Jialan teased.
“Just curious,” Su Mu mumbled, rubbing her forehead.
It didn’t hurt, but the touch left her momentarily dazed.
“Restraint,” Ning Ling began, “is the opposite of desire. Long ago, the Desire Witch and the Magical Girl Ning Xi nearly destroyed each other in battle. But a B-rank witch like her? Erasing her completely is no small feat.”
She further added, “So, the Combat Division launched a covert plan called Thousand Faces. They shattered the cores of both the Desire Witch and Ning Xi into countless fragments, then rebuilt them with Ning Xi as the base…” Â
Before she could finish, Su Mu and Luo Jialan were already lost, their faces blank as if listening to an alien scripture.
Forget the avalanche of unfamiliar details—the Thousand Faces plan alone sounded like something you didn’t just casually discuss!
‘Girl, are you a bit too honest?’
“I’m Test Subject 0 Ning Xi,” Ning Ling continued, unfazed.
“But I didn’t like the name, so I changed it to Ning Ling. My core comes from the part of the Desire Witch tied to restraint, so I’m pretty stable.”
“Wait, hold on!” Su Mu interrupted, her voice tinged with panic.
“Spilling all this… that’s not gonna cause problems, is it?”
She had no desire to be hauled off by the Combat Division for a “friendly chat.”
As a self-proclaimed oddball, the Combat Division was her personal nightmare—visions of armed agents kicking down her door, tying her up, and tossing her into some soap-dropping prison haunted her dreams.
“Don’t worry,” Ning Ling said, shrugging.
“They told me not to talk about it, but I never agreed, so it’s fine.”
‘It’s clearly not fine!’
This so-called “restrained” girl seemed anything but self-restrained.
Luo Jialan, however, clamped a hand over Su Mu’s mouth, nodding at Ning Ling to continue.
“Uh, can you go back to that part about them destroying each other?” Luo Jialan asked.
“I thought the Combat Division said the Desire Witch was taken down.”
“I don’t know the details,” Ning Ling admitted, her honesty almost infuriating.
“All I know is that Magical Girl Ning Xi was the one who faced her in the end.”
‘This girl’s too damn candid.’
“But,” Ning Ling added, tilting her head, “I inherited some of Ning Xi’s memories. Seems like she and the Desire Witch knew each other before their fight.”
She paused, then dropped a bombshell.
“I think they were lovers. Or, at least, Ning Xi said something like, ‘You’ve been eating my fish every day, so you’re already mine. If you’re gonna die, it’s by my hand.'”
Su Mu clutched her head, groaning.
‘Ugh, what kind of abstract drama is this? I didn’t sign up to hear about this kind of messy love story!’