Chapter 425
The girl glanced at the animal balloons fluttering in the wind and clustered together beside the subway entrance, bought one for the other person as if coaxing a child, then took out a transit card from her wallet and led the other person into the subway.
The subway lines in Sea Capital are exceptionally bustling, with commercial developments expanding throughout the area. Supermarkets and various food stores are a common sight, while vending machines are largely deserted and seem rather quiet.
Upon entering, you'll see "Flash Dance" advertisements covering both sides of the passageway.
However, unlike regular advertisements, this one features a glittering group photo of Kiriwake Yayoi, Xie Qingxuan, Chu Wangshu, and Tang Liuli, who have won the Public Performance championship, bathed in lights and golden ribbons.
Little Sakura holds a golden trophy shaped like Dream Weaver Rabbit, her eyebrows curving and her smile radiant.
Chu Wangshu leaned against the other person's shoulder; she was slightly shorter and in the center of the group, making her seem like the group's darling.
Green Eyed Cat stood to the side, trying to sneak behind Chu Wangshu, clearly uncomfortable with this grand scene where everyone was watching. Unfortunately, her shoulder was held down by the Great Demon King next to her, so she was still captured in the shot completely unharmed.
The scene captured in the photo, once still, reveals many details of the close relationship between the four members, which once caused a surge in the number of group fans, and has recently led to many fans taking photos and checking in under similar advertisements.
Xu Ling slowed her pace, not because she wanted to take a closer look at the group photo.
In fact, her computer wallpaper is already a dynamic version of this, so there's really no need for her to be interested in the advertising space in the subway.
The girl's gaze was fixed on the right side of the advertisement, where a figure was sitting on the ground next to the Great Demon King on the far side of the screen.
The girl wore an oversized gray sweatshirt, the hood covering her face and revealing only a glimpse of her fair chin. A few strands of her delicate, silky hair cascaded down her chest.
She was holding a guitar, strumming the strings with her head down. Her right hand wasn't manicured; her nails were neatly trimmed, pale pink, and the tips looked like scallion segments.
But what's even more eye-catching is her "left hand" holding the guitar. The silver material extends with hollowed-out textures, forming knuckles and fingers, reflecting a cool glow. Every curve is exquisitely sculpted, like some kind of work of art, an artwork that symbolizes incompleteness.
--She must be very beautiful.
Xu Ling stopped in her tracks as if possessed, a nonsensical thought popping into her head. Her attention immediately fell on the guitar, which she had seen in a video of Little Sakura "reporting" to her fans during her daily training.
This should be the same model, and it's been deliberately aged to make it more similar to the guitar in the video.
So, she's also a fan of Yayoi?
My thoughts drifted, and the melodious singing lingered in the vast subway.
I know that I'm running out of time.
"I want it all, mmm, mmm (I still hope everything is under my control)."
And I wish they'd stop trying to turn me off.
The girl listened intently to the song that came from her lips.
The late summer breeze swept through the passageway, carrying the scent of treetops and grass. The roar of passing trains filled the air, and the chirping of cicadas and the clamor of speeding trains intertwined and mingled, slowly unfolding a bizarre and fantastical dream.
Hospital, chase, stage, singing...
Then, all the fragments vanished into nothingness upon revival.
Ignoring her cousin's questions, Xu Ling stood there blankly.
--<Just Like Fire>.
She had heard this theme song from Alice in Wonderland 2 many times, but this time it struck a chord deep within her soul, as if knocking on the door of the past and stirring up tender yet unfamiliar emotions.
Pei Xiaotong tugged at her cousin's sleeve, her eyes sparkling, and whispered:
Wow, her voice is so beautiful!
As the little girl spoke, she also felt a bit strange. Her small hand subconsciously touched her round, fair, and smooth thigh with excellent skin texture and a warm touch, and then she carelessly complained:
"But it's 37 degrees today, wouldn't it be super hot to wear this kind of hoodie?"
The girl wore a hoodie on top and stylish black jeans on the bottom. Only a section of her calves was visible when she sat cross-legged, revealing her fair, jade-like skin and the cool, metallic sheen.
Pei Xiaotong's words came to an abrupt end.
At this moment, many people nearby were captivated by the singing and subconsciously stood still, listening to the guitarist's performance. Fortunately, the passageway was spacious and did not cause any congestion.
Xu Ling still didn't reply to her cousin. She unconsciously moved closer and looked at the person next to the advertisement. The four Little Idol were right next to her, and the golden ribbons in the picture seemed to float out, carrying the lights, glory, and cheers of that time, and falling on her slender shoulders.
In a daze, I felt dizzy and disoriented.
The girl's heart pounded. She felt timid, fearful, surprised, excited, and confused. It was like seeing the morning star in boundless darkness, but the star sometimes shone and sometimes dimmed, like the static on a television screen.
This bizarre and indescribable state gradually subsided only after she finished singing "Just Like Fire." Her toes seemed to touch the ground again, and she regained a sense of being alive, though her mind was still lingering with dizziness.
The mysterious guitarist stopped playing. Like a poet improvising as she walked the earth, she picked up her guitar case, politely nodded to the crowd of listeners, and then turned and left, asking for nothing in return.
Xu Ling's thoughts froze, her mind went blank, and her body moved involuntarily. Under Pei Xiaotong's dumbfounded gaze, she quickly caught up with the guitarist and mustered her courage to ask:
"Um, you sing very well, may I see your face?"
The guitarist stopped and turned around. She was silent for a moment, then took off her hood, and her pure white braided hair fell loose.
The girl's gilded eyes were like burning candlelight. Her features were perfect, her face exquisite, like a gift from the gods. Her pale skin was like a crushed pearl, and even the dark cracks that spread like the crazing of porcelain only added to her fragile and unique appearance.
But in the other eye socket, there was a luminous eye, as if sculpted from silver.
Left hand, right leg, left eye, skin.
This woman, who was so beautiful that she was out of her mind, had many terrifying defects.
Xu Ling felt as if something was blocking her chest; a strong bitterness mixed with sorrow, like strong liquor being poured on a wound, left her speechless.
Should we offer comfort? From what standpoint?
Should we pity her? What right does she have?
Why should she tell those who suffered this tragedy that she was sad? What reason did she have to tell them she was sad in front of them?
Ultimately, what escaped from his lips was merely a selfish question:
"Can you tell me your name?"
Is this question important? She didn't know.
But for some reason, a voice inside her urged her to know more about the other person.
The girl put on her hood and whispered:
My surname is Lin.
As soon as he finished speaking, the mysterious guitarist walked forward, and soon stepped out of the subway, disappearing into the bustling streets.
Xu Ling stood there, lost in thought, repeating the surname in her mind, until her angry little cousin hugged her tightly and shook her for a while, bringing her back to her senses. She suddenly realized what had happened and said with deep regret:
"Ah! I forgot to film the video of that girl playing the guitar!"
"I'm your sister!" Pei Xiaotong, who had been ignored for so long, was furious.
Xu Ling pulled out a hundred yuan from her wallet to stop the child's anger, then ignored him completely and started arrogantly asking passersby if they had filmed the video, completely forgetting about her subsequent plans.
Outside a fast food restaurant on the street, a few radiant cherry blossom petals are slowly drifting down in front of a bench, swirling in the wind and lingering for a long time.
"Xiaoqing, that child's affection for you is almost like that of a selfless believer."
Chu Yuanqing listened to the Witch's words, her pink lips smeared with sweet bean sauce, her hand holding an egg pancake with pork tenderloin and spicy strips. Her beautiful face beneath the hood was serene, like a small animal engrossed in its meal. After patiently chewing, she replied:
"Yes, that's why she can't hear me sing a second song."
"Even if the [Void] didn't completely devour me, ordinary people are better off not remembering anything related to me, otherwise they are prone to mental problems."
Otherwise, she wouldn't have deliberately given Xu Ling the wrong surname.
At this moment, the cherry blossom tree, which simultaneously resides in the soul and in the void dimension, shines brightly.
The figure of the Witch materialized from within, dressed in the robes of the Saio, like a ghostly figure, both aloof and alluring. She sat beside Chu Yuanqing on a bench and softly said:
"The most dangerous moment has passed. As you thought, Charlotte still remembers you, and others are also trying their best to preserve your memory."
"These anchor points successfully woke you up after seven days of sleep."
"But in return, you have been... forgotten by the world."
Volume 1: Chapter 400. Qing Bao Sleeping Under the Bridge.
Chu Yuanqing responded softly:
"This is the result I wanted."
Since giving birth to the Magical Girl with limitless potential, the stars have been in a state of decline and stagnation, unable even to maintain their will and revive.
If even the weakened stars cannot forget themselves, then it is even less likely that they can deceive the higher-ranking and more troublesome swarms of calamities.
After all, just as the stars remember this Savior out of gratitude.
After slaughtering and devouring tens of millions of worlds and civilizations, he fell before Chu Yuanqing, and through her, he saw the swarm of hope for evolution, leaving a deep impression on him as well.
They even recorded her in the deepest part of their records.
This "emotion" is a mixture of hatred, covetousness, fear, and a strong desire for survival and evolution, and in some ways, it is the opposite of love.
So,
Chu Yuanqing must be shrouded even deeper in the [Void] in order to have a chance of being forgotten by the stars and the disaster group.
The Witch looked up at the crowds on the street. She glanced at the children holding balloons, their faces beaming with joy. On her beautiful and graceful face, her eyes, as cold as winter's chill, revealed a longing, their gentle light shimmering.
This being, dwelling in the cherry blossom tree, looks almost identical to Little Sakura, only appearing much older. Her waist remains slender, but her waist-to-hip ratio is even more outstanding, and her upper body is more voluptuous, with her full breasts making her clothes bulge.
And like the Demon King in the apocalypse...
The first impression Witch gives is not one of lewdness or beauty, but rather... a towering presence.
The girl's temperament was excessively fierce, sharp, and cold. Her extraordinary presence made one feel as if they were looking at the graveyard of many epics and stories, as if they were about to step into the underworld, or as if she were some kind of overly vast celestial body, endowed with a heavy majesty.
This is the price to gain power. In order to fight against the Disaster Tide, she used her own body as material to forge Mythical Weapon. She has long since become inhuman. Her seemingly normal flesh and bones are all mythical concepts woven into threads, equivalent to humanoid weapons.
The Witch admired the peaceful scene and whispered:
"The Sea of Truth will not forget you; its gaze still lingers."
Even at such a cost, you can't buy humanity more time.
Chu Yuanqing turned her head slightly, her only remaining bright golden eye looking intently at this familiar person.
The Witch is beautiful.
Aside from her temperament and figure, unlike the cherry Little Sakura whose eyelashes, hair, and eyes are all pink, the Witch's hair and eye color are a darker raven-blue, appearing jet black in the light, with a hint of purple-green radiance.
Chu Yuanqing smiled and said softly:
"I know."
The Witch maiden glanced back at the person who had finished the last bite of the egg pancake, wiping her lips with a smile. A hint of helplessness flickered in her eyes as she softly said:
"You could have done it another way, couldn't you?"
Chu Yuanqing readily nodded in acknowledgment. With her younger self as fuel and the Demon King's blessing, she was fully capable of pulling Xiao Shu out of the catastrophe, physically disrupting the sunflower's conspiracy, and ending the incident happily for all.
But...
That won't truly save Xiao Shu.
The sunflower has perfectly merged with Xiao Shu's soul, making it virtually impossible to separate them.
Without the power of [nothingness], even at his peak, he might not have been confident he could extract the complete [Child of Man] from her without harming his daughter.
Chu Yuanqing certainly believed that with Xiao Shu's potential, she could gradually wear down the sunflower in the future, perfectly defeat a Disaster God, and naturally accept the other party's power.
There's no time left.
Furthermore, the premise of all this is the absence of external interference.
Chu Yuanqing looked at the bustling square ahead. She slightly turned her head, and in the only part of her field of vision she could see, the sunlight was still clear and bright, and the golden rays of the sunlight enveloped the earth.
"The recent disaster-stricken groups will probably be quite well-behaved."
"The leaders of the Thirteen Sects, and the Disaster God trump card left behind in the outside world—the Apostles/ Supreme Calamity Beast —were all wiped out in one fell swoop."
"But this peace is temporary. As [Pure White] continues to weaken, more Apostles and Supreme Calamity Beast will hatch and be born, and their strength will far surpass that of the batch that appeared in Sea Capital."
"These new generation of children are wonderful and have great potential. Unfortunately, there is no time for them to grow up. The next attack will inevitably result in many more injuries, with casualties thousands or even tens of thousands of times greater than this one."
"By then..."
Even if she could protect Xiao Shu, she and the other Magical Girl couldn't protect any more innocent people.
Moreover, she will eventually revert to that state of losing herself and focusing all her energy on fighting against [nothingness]. She might be able to force herself to act once or twice, but any more than that will lead to the ending in her future dream, or even worse.
Chu Yuanqing didn't continue.