The three sisters—Jin, Yin, and Hong—chatted late into the night before each prepared to go home.
As Huanhong just took off and left, Jinluan suddenly called out to Yinlin.
“Aren’t you going to wish me a safe journey? I’m heading out to risk my life for an investigation, you know.” There was a hint of coquettishness in Jinluan’s voice.
“Oh, then I wish you a safe trip.” Yinlin’s tone was rather perfunctory.
She took off and left, not bothering with a wind barrier, drifting leisurely through the air at a hundred kilometers per hour.
Naturally, she wasn’t attacked by any creepy uncles or aunts—her journey was safe all the way.
The next day, Old Song went to work as usual, and Huanhong busied herself with her own affairs.
Jinluan, just as they had agreed last night, began her investigation.
She didn’t contact Huang Yi, afraid that things would get even more complicated. Besides, she and Huang Yi were ultimately too far apart—there was a fundamental difference between a magical girl and a human.
It was only natural that Jinluan trusted Huanhong and Yinlin more.
In order to unravel the ever-growing web of mysteries, Jinluan spent her free time flying at low altitude over the city, trying to sense if there were any portals on the ground.
She found nothing the entire day.
She also searched online for information about the Badge Symbol Yinlin had obtained, but there was no obvious progress.
On her way home, she glanced at the Mark at her doorstep and was suddenly struck by a thought.
She finally had a lead for her investigation.
Besides being a mark of honor, could a Badge Symbol also be a sign used by a group?
Like… an Organization?
Jinluan carefully questioned Yinlin again in the group chat, asking about the details of the fight with Biscuit Boy, as well as specifics about that Badge Symbol.
Song Wuli confided most of what had happened to her—he trusted her more than most.
Jinluan’s suspicion grew ever stronger: she felt that the Demon Head’s earpiece and that Badge Symbol might be connected.
That Badge Symbol could be the mark of an Organization, and the person commanding the Demon through the earpiece might be someone from that same Organization.
The guy on the other end of the earpiece probably thought the Badge Symbol could save Biscuit Boy’s life, but in reality, Yinlin didn’t recognize the Badge Symbol and killed Biscuit Boy anyway!
Yes! That had to be it.
Jinluan posted her investigation findings in the three sisters’ group chat.
To have found so much information in just one day—surely she deserved some praise?!
But then Yinlin stumped her with just a few words.
[Jin-jie, try using your brain a little more.]
[We couldn’t find any info about this Badge Symbol online. That means it’s something extremely secret, not commonly seen.]
[If it’s not a common Badge Symbol, why would the Demon and the mastermind think we’d recognize it and spare its life?] [The logic doesn’t hold up. I suggest you watch more Detective Conan North. It’s for kids, but it can improve teenagers’ reasoning skills.]
Jinluan was so angry she ground her teeth, almost wanting to smash the Cup in her hand on the floor.
Yinlin’s point was clear: her reasoning that the person on the other end of the earpiece commanded Biscuit Boy to hand over the Badge Symbol and beg for mercy from Yinlin was flawed and illogical.
It was more likely that Biscuit Boy acted on his own, not on instructions from the earpiece.
After being rebuffed, Jinluan didn’t want to talk to Yinlin for the rest of the day.
She was furious.
That night, she continued her investigation. How? She quietly paid a visit to the Religious Bureau, flew to the rooftop, and slipped in from above.
This place had very low security—sneaking in was no trouble at all, with no high-level anti-theft measures.
She slipped into the Archive, used an illumination spell to drive out the darkness, and began searching for documents inside.
She first looked through the paper records, which contained files on local or Eastern Region religious groups. These included the marks, Badge Symbols, and Flags of many Religious Organizations—all meaning pretty much the same thing.
What she sought was a symbol resembling the Demon Hand.
She actually found a few similar ones: some Organizations used the Demon Finger as their badge, others the Demon Head, and some the Demon Torso.
At a glance, none of them were up to any good.
Jinluan jotted down the addresses of those Organizations, then quietly left without leaving a trace.
She flew home at low altitude, hoping to sense if there were any portals on the ground.
Clearly, she was trying to get several things done at once—trace the Badge Symbol’s origin, and investigate the portal matter.
She had confidence in her own strength; even if she faced Female Silverling, she could break through that unyielding magical shield.
She was ranked third on the wanted list, after all, known for both her formidable power and cold-heartedness.
In order to sense a wider area, what harm was there in flying low?
That’s when trouble found her.
As she passed the park that Yinlin had destroyed before, she suddenly sensed a peculiar surge of magical energy erupt—it was as swift and dangerous as a venomous snake.
It shot toward her low-flying figure.
Ignoring the mana cost, she instantly changed her flight path, moving with such speed that it seemed like teleportation.
Looking back, she saw the spot she’d just passed was struck by a whip. The whip had lashed through the air, missing its mark.
Actually, the whip wasn’t all that fast, since it wasn’t swung with full force—more like it was making a loop to catch someone. Its speed was only average. Maybe the airheaded Yinlin wouldn’t have dodged, but for Jinluan, the goddess of speed, that loop was much too slow.
“What’s this? Looking down on me?” Jinluan shouted toward the pitch-black park, knowing the attacker was just testing her.
“As expected of a magical girl proud of her speed.” A girl slowly rose into the air, maintaining a distance of twenty meters from Jinluan.
This girl had long green hair and Western features.
It was none other than Magical Girl Greenfield, who’d been tormenting the Jin-Yin-Hong sisters these past few days.
She had a coil of whip in her hand—not very long, just a few meters—but Greenfield had attacked Jinluan from ground level while Jinluan was almost forty meters up, even if it was low altitude.
No mere meter-long whip could possibly reach that far.
Jinluan instantly deduced that the whip could extend and retract, at least up to forty meters.
If the attack came from that far, then Greenfield’s whip was far from slow.
Jinluan gripped her sword hilt, ready to strike. “Your Mandarin’s not bad. How many years have you lived in the Eastern Region?”
Greenfield smiled slyly, almost wickedly. “I know! As you Easterners say, this is ‘just talk,’ right?”
Jinluan: “Scared?”
Drool trickled from Greenfield’s lips, running down her chin. She used her hand to gather the saliva at the corner of her mouth, then wiped her chin with the back of her hand.
Her eyes brimmed with fanaticism, like the zealous followers of ancient religions.
Her cheeks were flushed, as if she were feverish.
“So delicious, I can barely hold myself back!” Greenfield rubbed her hands together, staring intently at Jinluan. “The East is such a beautiful place! I love it! I absolutely adore Eastern magical girls—this is paradise!”
A match made for each other