After Yinlin was finished being tickled, it was Huanhong’s turn. She tried her best to hold it in and actually managed for a little while.
A few minutes later, she also collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.
“The punishment this time is being hung from a tree for ten minutes.” Lvye’s words frightened Yinlin quite a bit, as if she had already decided she was the unlucky one again.
Lvye began to state the question: “Recite Joule’s Law.”
Yinlin answered hurriedly: “Q equals………… equals……………”
What did it equal again?
Jinluan seemed to want to help Yinlin out and take the hit for her. She looked full of confidence, yet she didn’t answer the question.
Huanhong also began to think: “Q equals I^…………”
Seeing that Huanhong was about to answer, Jinluan quickly cut in: “Q=I^2Rt.”
Helping Yinlin was fine, but Huanhong was another story. She was clearly playing favorites.
Consequently, Huanhong and Jinluan were hung under the tree in a split. Then came the next question, a problem about voltage, current, and power. Yinlin and Huanhong were tickled while being hung, nearly losing half their lives again.
Next, she asked what the chemical CO2 was.
It sounded familiar! I really know this one! Tears streaming down her face, Yinlin painfully recalled what the teacher had said back in school. What exactly was this CO2? Anyway, it was familiar, very familiar—so familiar it was as thin as window paper.
Until Jinluan answered: “Carbon Dioxide.”
Only then did Yinlin suddenly snap out of it. Right, it’s fucking Carbon Dioxide!
An hour later, Yinlin and Huanhong lay on the ground, rolling their eyes. Jinluan, on the other hand, was perfectly fine. She hadn’t received a single punishment, escaping unscathed with a 100% correct answer rate.
Lvye had played enough. She dropped the key to the handcuffs on the ground for them to pick up themselves and prepared to leave.
Jinluan threatened harshly: “Don’t think you can escape. We’ll catch you sooner or later and make you pay for your actions.”
Lvye believed in their abilities: “Then you’d better work hard. I’m looking forward to it.”
It wasn’t sarcasm. Among the three sisters—Jinluan, Yinlin, and Huanhong—Lvye could consistently handle Huanhong, but she couldn’t consistently deal with Jinluan and Yinlin. Jinluan’s endurance was too strong, and her burst was also powerful; it was easy to be worn down to death by her. It was also easy to be taken out by Jinluan’s ultimate move.
The most dangerous one was still Yinlin. Once charged, her Magic Cannon and Spear of Heaven could easily take care of Lvye. So, Lvye believed they could truly do it. If she continued to fight them, she would eventually slip up.
Turning around, she continued to leave.
Jinluan shouted from behind again: “Why won’t you join us to deal with the Other Demons? The Other Demons are the real enemy, and your behavior is equivalent to helping them.”
Lvye: “Not interested.”
23
Jinluan: “But you’re a magical girl too. You have power. You could be a hero who protects humanity; you could clearly be better. Even if you don’t want to protect humans, there’s no need to keep targeting us, is there?”
Lvye shook her head and walked away. She truly didn’t have the slightest bit of interest in such topics.
Jinluan crawled over, found the key, unlocked her own handcuffs, and then released the eye-rolling Huanhong and Yinlin.
It took more than ten minutes for them to recover. They quietly put on their clothes and fixed their hair. No one mentioned the details of what just happened. Today’s shame was noted, remembered even more clearly than the last time.
That time hadn’t really leaked out; no one else knew, so they could pretend it never happened. This time, they couldn’t pretend. Everyone knew.
“We can’t just let this go!” Yinlin finally stood up to express her view, wanting to lead the team forcefully. “As long as Lvye is around, we won’t be able to eat or sleep in peace!”
Huanhong: “Right!”
Huanhong naturally responded. She wanted to deal with Lvye so badly, but her abilities were countered, making it almost impossible to defeat Lvye in a solo fight. With her sisters coming forward to form a team for a subjugation, she had no reason to refuse.
Jinluan, however, was wavering. There were points of hesitation, but she finally half-agreed.
Then they discussed the details of the subjugation. After learning that Yinlin didn’t intend to kill Lvye, Jinluan breathed a sigh of relief and officially agreed to the hunt. Specific details hadn’t been decided yet. They said they would discuss it in a few days. Everyone was tired today; it wasn’t the right time.
Tomorrow, Yinlin had something important to do and wouldn’t have time either. It was uncertain if the matter of the Gravity Orb could be settled tomorrow, so the time for the next Subjugation Meeting hadn’t been decided yet.
Before leaving, Yinlin asked Jinluan about the badge again. Lvye already knew about it.
Jinluan could only apologize. Lvye had found out from her phone after seeing the chat records.
“What was her attitude? What did she think of that badge?” Yinlin scouted for information on Lvye.
“Same as always. She has no interest. She doesn’t even know what that badge is; I’ve asked.” Jinluan felt a sense of frustration, as if disappointed that her potential was being wasted.
Speaking of this, Jinluan looked at Yinlin again, feeling that same frustration. In some ways, Yinlin and Lvye were actually quite similar—neither was willing to take the initiative to shoulder the responsibility of fighting the Other Demons.
If it weren’t for Diamond’s urging, Yinlin probably wouldn’t even want to deploy. The current Yinlin was much better; she would take the initiative to strike when encountering difficult Other Demons instead of passively waiting for others to do the work. This was still better than Lvye. One had to know that Lvye really had zero interest in Other Demons and absolutely no intention of saving humanity.
After the main matters were discussed, Jinluan held Yinlin down and began to inspect her. Looking at the marks on her hands and feet, she said with heartache, “We’ll catch her sooner or later. Whether it’s for revenge or something else, we can’t swallow this insult.”
At least eighty percent of her selfish motives were written all over her face. Seeing them start to get intimate, Huanhong didn’t feel like staying as a third wheel and left.
“Why don’t you support me killing her? I feel like you want to protect her. Is it my imagination?” Yinlin asked this question after all.
Jinluan stroked the marks on her wrist and said softly, “Let’s decide when we catch her… if you can actually go through with it.”
The conversation ended, and everyone went their separate ways.
Yinlin also looked at her backpack and found traces of it being rummaged through. Lvye had indeed investigated the bag. But for some reason, she hadn’t asked about the backpack, nor had she taken it away.
Lvye seemed somewhat concerned about this backpack. Could it be that the backpack was exposed?
Yinlin was shocked, suddenly remembering a loophole of hers. Song Wuli carried this backpack to work every day. Thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people on the road had seen his backpack. Could it be that on the way to work, someone had seen this backpack, and Lvye was among them? Was that why Lvye seemed a bit concerned about it?