Upon hearing the girl’s question, a young police officer stood up from his post and saluted her.
“Report, First, there is indeed no information about this girl in any domestic database. Second, she only appeared recently—the earliest sighting coincides exactly with the mall disaster incident ‘Doll Vines.’”
“Before that, during all previous time frames, we never spotted a little girl on any of the streets near that residential area.”
“Oh?”
Upon hearing that, a flicker of curiosity stirred within the girl.
“So you’re saying she appeared out of thin air?”
The officer scratched his head.
His scientific training absolutely forbade him from saying anything that bizarre.
The girl picked up on what he was thinking.
“There’s nothing to be afraid of. Just say it—there’s already something off about that girl to begin with.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
The young officer adjusted his phrasing and spoke again.
“Commander, as far as we can tell, that girl really does seem like she appeared out of nowhere.”
The girl was starting to get the picture.
That girl truly was wrapped in mystery.
And for something like this, they needed someone who could clearly judge right from wrong.
No wonder that stingy Xing Wei came to her for help.
Indeed, in this situation, they needed someone who could stabilize the scene.
And obviously, someone like Xing Wei, who could barely scrape by, had no such ability.
A ruler is born, not made.
The girl lifted her white hair with her right hand, gazing intently at the screen.
She was growing more and more interested in the black-haired girl shown on it.
Her name was Bai Tong, a young lady from the Bai family of Guiyun City.
At the age of fourteen, she had awakened as a magical girl.
Now sixteen, she was already a B-rank magical girl.
Bai Tong sat back down in her chair and waved for the officer to do the same.
“Send someone to that residential management office and look into this girl’s background. I want to see if she really did appear out of nowhere.”
After saying that, Bai Tong pulled out her phone and dialed Xing Wei’s number.
Ring… ring… ring…
After a moment, a voice came through.
“Hello? Bai Tong?”
Once she confirmed the call had connected, Bai Tong began to speak.
“Hey, Xing Wei, I’ve already found a general location. If you don’t mind, I suggest you spend a night in front of Unit 2, Building 3.”
“If that bothers you, I could arrange for a few private surveillance cams inside the building—but I figure that might raise some suspicions. After all, who installs a whole set of cameras in just one unit, right?”
“So yeah, I still recommend you go yourself.”
“If you want me to go with you, I guess I could, but…”
“No need. I’ll go myself. Thanks for all the help—just send me the address. I’m still eating.”
Before Bai Tong could finish, the other side hung up immediately, not giving her a chance to say another word.
“Damn it!”
Bai Tong was instantly a little pissed.
She hadn’t even finished talking and Xing Wei had already hung up, leaving her no room to explain.
Xing Wei sipped her porridge while glancing at the ended call, letting out a sigh.
“Sigh~ Good thing I hung up early.”
Xing Wei could already guess what that girl was going to say next.
She had absolutely no desire to get involved with the young lady’s weird fetishes.
After finishing her meal, Xing Wei called out toward her parents’ room, “Mom, Dad, I just made plans with a classmate. I’m going over to her place tonight!”
With that, Xing Wei left her seat.
“Be careful on the road. If anything happens, remember to tell Mom and Dad, okay?”
Her mother’s voice echoed from inside the house—nothing matters more to parents than their child’s safety.
“I knowww.”
After replying, Xing Wei put on her cotton coat, changed into sneakers, slung her backpack over her shoulders, and opened the door to leave home.
Arriving at Wenxin Garden, Xing Wei experienced the rundown atmosphere firsthand for the first time.
“It’s even more worn-down than it looked on screen.”
There are some things that video can never fully convey—only by seeing them with your own eyes can you truly feel that inexplicable sense of something.
The winter night wind made Xing Wei shiver uncontrollably, but she knew she couldn’t leave.
This residential area didn’t even seem to have security guards.
Xing Wei hadn’t even noticed where the management office was.
“If it were Bai Tong, she’d probably just send the police to ask the property manager, wouldn’t she?”
Xing Wei couldn’t help but imagine that ridiculous scenario.
As she spoke, her eyes wandered up toward the moon, now nearly full—up there lived some pioneers who had immigrated from Blue Star.
“Come to think of it, Lantern Festival is only a few days away.”
“I’d love to see the sky lanterns the folks in Guanghan Province release, hehe~”
Without realizing it, Xing Wei had amused herself into laughter.
But just smiling wasn’t going to help—she had to find a way to survive the freezing night.
“Can’t just rely on willpower, right?”
This wasn’t some light novel. Powering through with nothing but passion—yeah, better just forget it.
After all, northern winter nights really could freeze people to death.
“Though maybe… willpower could work after all…”
Just as she was about to abandon that foolish thought, she remembered the heroes from her history textbook—those people really had done it.
If those pioneers weren’t afraid, then why should she be?
Magical girls were meant to be heroes. From the moment they awakened, they bore the duty of protecting the world. This level of hardship wasn’t enough to make her quit.
Once she worked that out, Xing Wei found a small convenience store nearby, bought dozens of pieces of gum, then took out a small folding stool from her backpack.
In front of Unit 2, she picked an inconspicuous little corner, and with nothing better to do, started chewing gum to pass the time.
During this boring stakeout, Xing Wei could feel the blood in her chest burning. Accompanying that was a dizzy lightness in her breath—yeah, staying up late really did wreck the body.
Occasionally, a few late-night pedestrians passed by and asked her a thing or two.
“Is something wrong?”
“Why aren’t you home sleeping?”
“Beautiful lady, if you’re interested…”
Basically, there was no shortage of strange conversations.
Xing Wei answered them all the same way: “I’m fine. You can go.”
The next morning.
Ye Jinyi put on sunglasses and a mask, pulled up her hood, and stepped out of the house.
Once out of the building, she turned and headed straight toward the exit of the complex.
In a spot she didn’t notice, Xing Wei took off her own sunglasses, revealing the heavy dark circles hidden underneath.
“Ahhh~”
Xing Wei let out a long yawn, expressing her dissatisfaction with the previous night.
“Finally, I made it through…”
No doubt about it—that spectrum was the same Flame That Burns the World she’d failed to catch last time.
Xing Wei had no time to waste—she had to follow that girl immediately.
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