Chapter 94: Unconsciously Taking on Responsibilities

Song Wuli was deep in thought, pondering what kind of persona to use when dealing with the man in glasses.

Should she continue pretending to be an innocent, naive little girl?

That would just make the man in glasses look down on her.

When it came time for important decisions, she’d have no voice.

She decided to tone down the little-girl act a bit, and add a touch of wisdom and composure.

This mix of traits would make future negotiations with the man in glasses — and the Witch Faction — more advantageous.

Tapping away on her phone, she sent a message:

[Uncle, didn’t your family teach you that when you’re about to discuss something with someone, you should introduce yourself first?]

That probably stunned the man into silence — it took a while before she got a reply.

[Too risky to talk about that stuff over the phone. Not secure enough.]

[I hope you’ll tell me what you saw last night.]

Song Wuli returned to thinking about her persona.

She came to a conclusion: when faced with someone as unyielding as this man, it was time to bring out the CPU persona — cold, perceptive, unshakable.

She didn’t reply.

Just put down her phone and headed to the cafeteria for lunch.

Huang Yijun and Qian Dehao were there, chatting about what happened the night before while eating lunch.

They clearly hadn’t seen the uncensored high-res photos, and were excitedly speculating.

Song Wuli, however, completely lost her appetite.

Seeing the pork reminded her of the flesh chunks at the crime scene.

The greens made her think of hair matted with fluid.

The soup resembled blood.

In the end, she could only sip on a drink — the one thing she could still stomach — and filled herself up that way.

She didn’t go to her part-time job at the milk tea shop that day.

She didn’t feel well and didn’t want to move.

During her lunch break, she found a spot on the rooftop, laid down some clothes, and lay down.

Ever since becoming a magical girl, she’d grown fond of high places and rooftops.

The warm breeze blew over her as she slowly drifted into sleep.

In her dreams, she once again found herself reliving last night — standing at the scene of the incident, staring at the tomato-juice-colored mess.

She scanned the area: there wasn’t a single living being at the scene, nor any signs of a demon.

Far in the distance, some curious residents had gathered to watch from a safe spot.

Within her range of perception, there was no magical energy.

Nothing.

Whoever did it had vanished within minutes, escaping beyond her detection range.

She opened her eyes and woke up, back on the familiar rooftop.

She was drenched in sweat, her clothes soaked halfway through.

She checked the time.

The alarm hadn’t gone off yet, just a few minutes left.

Almost time for work.

As she walked down the stairs, her mind returned to the events of the previous night.

Not only had brutal incidents like this been rare in recent years, but it was even rarer for the attacking demon to escape after the fact.

Most demons weren’t particularly intelligent.

When they crossed over from the demon zone into the human world, the majority were intercepted by the Human Alliance soldiers at the outskirts.

Only a few managed to get into the city.

And the ones that did usually went on mindless killing sprees.

They didn’t know how to hide.

Eventually, they’d be taken down — either by magical girls or by special ops from the Human Alliance.

That was the typical demon incident cycle.

But after Lightning Man and Undying Pearl showed up, some of the demons encountered around that time were actually smart — capable of attacking and retreating strategically.

Something had clearly changed on the demon side.

The event last night followed that same unsettling pattern.

If it really was a demon’s doing, that meant it had intelligence — it attacked and fled.

It was thinking.

That made Song Wuli extremely uneasy.

She thought again of the Contract Goddess and Tree Grandpa — the anomalies occurring over there.

Demons were evolving too.

It felt like a countdown was ticking in the background — invisible, relentless.

And if nothing was done before it hit zero, humanity was doomed.

Even if she didn’t want to take on the duties of a magical girl herself, someone had to do something.

If not her, then someone else.

That’s what she told herself.

She checked her silver phone.

A few unread messages.

The UPC strategy had worked — the man in glasses replied.

He wanted to meet in person.

He was getting desperate.

Song Wuli sent a time — again, after her shift at work.

Nothing major happened that afternoon.

The news updated: the death toll had risen to 18, with 13 still missing.

An extra piece of tragic news: a family member of one of the victims had committed suicide at the scene, slashing themselves.

To restore public morale, the leader of the Failure Squad made an appearance.

He gave a speech at the crime scene:

“We dedicate everything to humanity!” he shouted passionately to the grieving families.
“I promise I will find and kill the one responsible!”

His speech lasted ten minutes.

It managed to comfort some of the devastated families and gave worried residents a sliver of hope.

That evening, Song Wuli adjusted the meeting time — she had originally planned for a late-night meeting but changed it to 8:30 PM.

She didn’t work overtime that night.

A little after 8, she clocked out — then transformed into Yin Lin for the meeting.

This time, she was cautious — after all, she was dealing with a fully functioning adult with brains, someone who worked for the Human Alliance.

She made a deliberate detour to the beach and walked barefoot on the sand, letting grains — wet and dry — stick to her shoes.

She also intentionally got some sand and mud on her dress, targeting spots hard to notice.

While passing through a park, she even put some flower petals in her hair.

Only after all that did she head to meet the man in glasses.

The meeting place was atop the arm of a construction tower crane — over ten stories high.

A magical girl could reach it easily.

A regular human would need some effort.

He had arrived early.

When Yin Lin touched down on the crane arm, he was already there, waiting.

She landed about four meters away from him.

“If you told me you were only 14, I wouldn’t believe it,” said the man in glasses, his tone serious.

He scanned the area. “You’re way trickier than the other two. Even though we haven’t interacted much, and my understanding of you mostly comes from public footage, I’m sure of one thing — you’re more seasoned than both of them.”

“Uncle, shouldn’t you start with an introduction?” Yin Lin deflected without acknowledging his comment.

“Secretary of the Eastern Alliance’s Anti-Demon Division — Huang Yi,” he said, extending his right hand.

But she didn’t shake it, keeping the four-meter distance.

She replied:

“State your purpose. Keep it brief.”

Huang Yi awkwardly pulled back his hand, grabbing onto the crane railing for safety.

He adjusted his glasses and said, “I want to hear your firsthand account of what happened last night. This matter is critical — I want your version of the story.”

This time, Yin Lin didn’t make things difficult.

She recounted her version of events — saying she had been on patrol when it happened, not heading home.

She said she felt a magical disturbance and went to investigate, where she found the aftermath of the massacre.

She edited it slightly, but didn’t leave out the major points.

Huang Yi thought for a long while after listening.

He stared into the sky.

Then, he asked her:

“Do you think this was done by a high-ranking demon?”

Yin Lin:
“Not sure. But at the very least, it had to be a high-level demon with a magic-focused build. Or… there might be some exceptions — for example, if a demon had received a certain blessing.”

The “blessing” she mentioned was actually referring to Creation Artifacts, but she couldn’t say that to a human — it was a top-level secret.

Huang Yi then asked a chilling question — very serious, very direct:

“Do you think… it’s possible that a human or a magical girl did this?”

He stared at Yin Lin without blinking, his gaze sharp.

Yin Lin, on the other hand, suddenly felt a little unnerved.

If we’re talking about intelligent beings, then yes — humans and magical girls counted.

But it had never crossed her mind that they might be the culprits.