“Um… Miss Xing, I’m sorry, but I can’t accept your invitation.”
Before Li Chi could explain, Xing Yuan Cai suddenly rushed in front of him, looking at him in disbelief.
“Wait! Why are you refusing me!”
At that moment, a panda plush suddenly rushed out and smacked right onto Xing Yuan Cai’s face.
Li Chi knew this was his little sister’s doing, so for the rest of the time, he just needed to play dumb.
Xiao Qi solidly smacked onto Xing Yuan Cai’s face. The other party let out a “Wah” and retreated two steps.
The panda plush took the opportunity to fly back to Li Guang’s head, arms akimbo, with a smug expression like the plan had succeeded.
After Xing Yuan Cai steadied herself, her gaze immediately locked onto that familiar panda plush.
“A spirit?” She lowered her voice, her eyes darting uncertainly between Li Guang and Li Chi.
“You’re Hai Lan’s spirit? Then this one is…”
She looked at Li Chi, then at Li Guang, a bold guess gradually forming.
Xiao Qi waved its paw in front of her, hurriedly saying, “Keep it down! This is my host’s family member—an ordinary person! Don’t mention anything about magical girls—right! Use telepathy!”
『Ordinary person?! …Wait—family member?!』
Xing Yuan Cai’s pupils shook, her gaze falling back on Li Chi’s overly refined face and that head of soft, shoulder-length blue hair.
On closer inspection, there really was a resemblance.
Why was Hai Lan’s spirit so naturally staying by his side? Unless…
She looked at the obedient Li Guang beside her and noticed the other was also looking at her.
The two didn’t say anything, just exchanging a glance, and they roughly understood the situation.
Although magical girls resembled their true selves to some extent, through the rule-level magic of suggestion, ordinary people couldn’t connect a magical girl to her real identity.
Even if the truth was right in front of them, they’d subconsciously ignore it.
『He’s really Hai Lan’s family?』 Xing Yuan Cai quickly reacted. 『Twin sister? Wait…』
She suddenly remembered her earlier slip about “sister flowers,” combined with this big sister’s overly clear and low voice, and an even more shocking thought popped up.
Xiao Qi nodded desperately then shook its head, the information overload making it unsure how to explain for a moment.
Li Chi took in their silent exchange completely but kept an appropriate expression of confusion and patience on his face.
He tilted his head slightly, looking at the suddenly silent Xing Yuan Cai with her ever-changing expressions using those clear eyes of his, and asked softly at just the right time, “Miss Xing? Are… you okay? Did you think of something important?”
His tone carried just the right amount of concern, with a subtle undertone of “What exactly are you doing standing there doing nothing for so long?”
Xing Yuan Cai snapped back to reality, looking at Li Chi’s face so close by—the brow and eye contours, the height difference, the shoulder width… The string in her mind called gender recognition snapped with a “pa.”
“You… y-y-you…” Her finger trembled slightly as she pointed at Li Chi, her voice changing pitch. “Are you… a boy?!”
Li Guang immediately covered her face beside him, her shoulders starting to shake again.
Xiao Qi held its forehead with a paw.
Li Chi’s face showed a timely hint of offense while trying to stay polite, along with a subtle helplessness. He cleared his throat lightly.
“…Yes. I’m Xiao Guang’s brother, Li Chi. Miss Xing, I think there might be some misunderstanding here.”
“Brother… boy…” Xing Yuan Cai seemed to have suffered a major blow to her career and aesthetic sense, murmuring to herself. “But this hair, this face… this voice clearly…”
She shook her head, forcing herself to calm down. Two blushes quickly flew onto her face, whether from embarrassment or excitement.
“V-very sorry! Mr. Li Chi! I was too reckless! But! But your physical conditions are really, really special! Even as a male idol, you could definitely…”
Her words came to an abrupt halt.
Because an undisguised, even somewhat impatient massive magical fluctuation, like a boulder thrown into a calm lake, suddenly rippled out from the park entrance direction.
A young man in a tailcoat, with black hair and golden eyes, a somewhat foul expression on his face, was walking this way, a highly conspicuous long sword at his waist.
His gaze swept over the group, pausing for a moment on Xing Yuan Cai and that conspicuous panda plush, his brow raising.
It was White Lion, who had followed Xing Yuan Cai’s unmasked magical aura and stumbled upon an interesting scene.
Xing Yuan Cai sensed that powerful magical aura belonging to a high-ranking cadre of the Dark Organization.
The smile on her face instantly stiffened, her body’s instinct making her subconsciously retreat half a step, immediately entering alert mode.
White Lion also recognized this popular idol magical girl, but his focus wasn’t on that right now.
His gaze circled intriguingly between Li Chi, Li Guang, and that nervous panda plush, lingering a few seconds longer on Li Chi’s face.
“Yo,” White Lion drawled lazily, his tone carrying a hint of enjoying the show.
“Pretty lively in the park this late at night. Miss Ying Guang, and… who are these two?”
His gaze finally settled on Li Chi, a flash of amusement in his golden eyes.
He could sense that everyone present had some magic in their bodies, except for this young man—he seemed to be the only ordinary person in the group, the sole outlier.
As for the other one beside him… another magical girl?
Unexpected harvest.
Hm… an ordinary person sandwiched among a bunch of ability users? Pretty out of place.
The scene instantly became exceptionally complicated.
Xing Yuan Cai looked at White Lion, then at Li Chi, then at Li Guang.
She took a deep breath, her professional demeanor as a top idol and veteran magical girl instantly overriding all the embarrassment and confusion.
A light flashed over her body and vanished, the dress replaced by a starlight-like battle skirt, a microphone-shaped magic wand appearing in her hand. She stepped forward, subtly shielding Li Guang behind her, facing White Lion with a flawless yet subtly vigilant smile.
“Good evening, Mr. Silver Edge. What a coincidence.” Her voice was clear and melodious, yet carried an extremely obvious wariness. “These two are my friends. May I ask, what brings you here?”
Magical Girl Ying Guang, making her dazzling entrance here—
Ying Guang protected Li Chi and Li Guang behind her. Through Xiao Qi’s explanation, she already knew that Li Chi “didn’t know” Li Guang’s magical girl identity.
There was an unwritten rule among magical girls.
It was best not to reveal their identities in front of family.
Although no one knew where this rule came from, everyone followed it quite diligently.
Because if their family found out they were wearing those flashy skirts every day, playing free-for-all fights with monsters on the streets, it would be really awkward!
Of course, that was just a secondary reason.
The main reason was still fear of worrying their family.
If exposed…
Ying Guang really didn’t know, because from the moment she became a magical girl, she was in front of her family.
However, Li Guang’s family obviously didn’t know her magical girl identity yet.
As a senior, she naturally couldn’t reveal the junior’s identity.
Therefore, Li Guang couldn’t transform in front of Li Chi right now.
This also made Ying Guang have to be on guard.
She knew that on her own, she obviously couldn’t confront this “elegant leader” head-on.
Especially White Lion’s sword, which made her even more wary.
As the second-in-command of the Dark Organization, White Lion’s equipment couldn’t be subpar.
The sword in his hand was an S-rank magic item personally authenticated by the Magic Association.
『Ice King Sword』
Attack Power +5000
Magic Power +1000
Defense Power +1000
Magic Resistance +1000
Special Effect: Extreme Cold Ice
Special Skill: Unknown…
Yes, unknown.
Because White Lion had never used the Ice King Sword’s abilities in front of anyone.
His previous battles could be said to have been fought entirely relying on his own mastered swordsmanship.
It could be said that White Lion with the Ice King Sword was in no way inferior in strength to Black Dragon, the BOSS of the Dark Organization.
This made her feel like she was facing a formidable enemy.
The best approach right now was to stall him, creating space for the siblings behind her to escape.
But that was difficult.
Ying Guang gripped the microphone in her hand tightly, her mouth slightly opening.
She couldn’t let him draw the Ice King Sword! Otherwise, this battle would end in an instant.
“You guys run! I’ll hold him off!”
As soon as the words fell, an invisible sound wave shot out like a cannonball, everything in its path instantly turning to dust.
The sound wave charged toward White Lion.
She thought it would catch him off guard, but unexpectedly, White Lion didn’t even draw his sword. He just raised his arm to block in front of his face.
The invisible sound wave collided with White Lion’s sleeve.
The expected impact didn’t come; White Lion just casually waved his arm, and that massively powerful sound wave was instantly dispersed.
“Heh heh heh heh…”
This was White Lion’s classic villain laugh, sounding both grating and creepy, with a touch of demonic charm.
Li Chi, watching from not far away, almost wanted to take out a notebook on the spot to jot it down.
White Lion placed his hand on the sword hilt, about to draw the Ice King Sword, but as if suddenly thinking of something, he hesitated for a moment and put his hand down again.
“Come on, I won’t draw my sword. I’ll give you a chance.”
White Lion crossed his arms, looking disdainfully at the three in front of him (the manager lady reduced to background), seeming quite confident in his own strength.
Heh, after staying in the organization for so long, what do people take me for?
You really think I’m a pushover?
Let me put it this way: In the organization, if you call me a pushover, I won’t argue with you.
But outside, what should you call me?
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