Chapter 322
But Xiao Qiu trusted her intuition.
This conflicting feeling made Xiao Qiu very uncomfortable.
Therefore, she needs to determine the situation of the central node, or at least figure out whether her intuition is right or wrong.
Sneaking back secretly isn't actually that easy.
Because it cannot be guaranteed that Nino is not under control, and given that Magical Creatures are extremely sensitive to magic, Xiao Qiu cannot reveal even the slightest trace of magical energy.
She needs to control her magic power within a certain range to prevent it from dissipating and causing a reaction from the other Magical Girls.
Seeing her companions as enemies made Xiao Qiu feel even worse.
But because of this, Xiao Qiu acted even faster; she was determined to find out exactly what was going on.
As night deepened, dark clouds began to gather in the sky.
Dark clouds obscured the moonlight, making the entire city appear even darker. This ominous sign of an impending storm weighed heavily on Xiao Qiu's heart.
Her brow was twitching; her keen intuition told her that something was about to happen.
Under such pressure, Xiao Qiu finally arrived at the central node.
Then--
She saw a figure standing next to the abandoned building.
When she saw the figure, Xiao Qiu let out a cry of surprise mixed with relief.
"Brother Fang Ming?!"
Yes, that figure that appeared at the center of the node—
That's Fang Ming.
(Run, Xiao Qiu!!)
(The person in front of you is the mastermind! Run!!)
(Seeing how relaxed Xiao Qiu looked, my heart clenched... Could something have happened to Xiao Qiu too?)
(No, she's the main character!)
(Www is right)
(But it's strange, if Stella can hypnotize Xiaoxia and the others, why doesn't she hypnotize Xiao Qiu?)
(Didn't I say she's the main character? www)
(No, this has nothing to do with whether or not someone is the main character... Even if someone is the main character, they still need to make sense...)
(I'm not sure, maybe Xiao Qiu is special?)
The discussion in the live chat also made Xiao Bai look at Xiao Qiu.
One comment in the video is correct: even if Xiao Qiu really is the main character on the Sky Screen, some things should at least be done logically.
For real people, Xiao Qiu doesn't have any protagonist's halo. There must be a very important reason why Stella didn't control Xiao Qiu.
This isn't because Xiao Qiu is the main character, nor does it have anything to do with the protagonist's halo.
It's simply because Stella can't do it.
So... what exactly is the reason that Stella is unable to hypnotize Xiao Qiu?
Xiao Bai sized up Xiao Qiu for a while, and then looked at Stella.
To find out the reason, you'd probably have to ask Stella herself.
Volume 4 <Magic Autumn> Movie and Season 3: Chapter 350 The Timely Appearance of Xiao Bai, and Another Xiao Bai
"It is hope."
Stella said, "The real reason I couldn't completely hypnotize Xiao Qiu is because the Emotion Seed Xiao Qiu's emotion is hope."
Why was Xiao Qiu chosen as the main character?
Xiao Qiu's experiences and her own Emotion Seed both fit the profile of a 'protagonist'.
Stella's inability to hypnotize Xiao Qiu in the Sky Screen was not because Xiao Qiu was the main character of some anime series; the main reason was that Xiao Qiu's Emotion Seed was hope.
The Witch's power, in fact, subtly contradicts hope.
Witch's power can coexist with qualities such as courage, gentleness, Passion, and friendship, but it cannot coexist with hope.
Because the source of the Witch's power is actually from the Demons, or more accurately, from the Demons's Erosive Power.
The Erosive Power and the power of Magical Girls, combined, created the existence of the Witch.
Therefore, in some ways, Witch and Demons are similar; neither can coexist with love and hope.
Love, hope, and light—these absolutely positive qualities are precisely the reason why Xiao Qiu cannot be hypnotized.
Fang Ming was standing right in front of me.
Standing on the outer edge of the magic circle where Dongdong once stood.
He was wearing a thin coat, and in early March, wearing such a coat made one worry that he might catch a cold.
Xiao Qiu was a little worried, but at the same time she was also very curious as to why Fang Ming was here.
"Brother Fang Ming, what's wrong with you...?"
"I felt something was off about you guys today," Fang Ming said, turning to Xiao Qiu.
"Although you've hidden it well, I can tell that there's been a rift between you and Xiaoxia and the others, which shouldn't have happened."
"That's why I came here."
Fang Ming succinctly explained why he was there.
Xiao Qiu looked at Fang Ming with slight emotion:
"Brother Fang Ming... that's wonderful! I... I thought I was the only one who thought this way, I thought... it was all just my imagination..."
Throughout the entire day, Xiao Qiu was worried about her companions and the node issue.
She even began to doubt that Xiao Chun and the others were right, and that she was just stubbornly believing in the existence of a central node based on her intuition.
Xiao Qiu was in a bad mood due to the conflict between her self-blame for doubting her companion and her curiosity to find the truth.
Fang Ming saw this and took action, coming to the point that Xiao Qiu cared about most and agreeing with Xiao Qiu idea.
This was the most touching thing for Yu Muqiu.
So moved by her emotions, Xiao Qiu overlooked many details.
She overlooked the fact that Fang Ming knew the truth about the magic circle, overlooked the fact that Fang Ming was just an 'ordinary person', and failed to notice that Fang Ming had one hand behind his back, and that hand seemed to be hiding something.
Excited, Xiao Qiu moved closer to Fang Ming and said quickly:
"Brother Fang Ming, please listen to me! Today, Xiaoxia and I checked the magic circle nodes on Spring City. At first, everything was normal, but after checking the sixth node, Xiao Chun said that the check was already complete!"
"This is very strange, because there are seven nodes in the magic circle. So if we're not mistaken, we should wait until we check the last node before we can conclude that the nodes are fine. But Xiao Chun ..."
Xiao Qiu spoke very quickly; her worry for her companion all day had reached its peak at this moment, causing her words to sound somewhat incoherent, as if she were saying whatever came to mind.
As she spoke, she moved closer to Fang Ming.
She tried to check the central node behind Fang Ming, but suddenly, a hand reached out from behind her and grabbed her arm.
"!!!!"
Xiao Qiu was startled and turned her head sharply. "... Xiao Bai!?"
A silver-haired girl, dressed only in a thin nightgown, appeared behind Xiao Qiu at some point. She grabbed Xiao Qiu's arm, her eyes filled with confusion, and whispered to Xiao Qiu:
"Sister Xiao Qiu, you can't go over there..."
"Hey? Xiao Bai, what's wrong? Why are you here? What did you mean by saying we can't go over there?"
Xiao Qiu didn't quite understand the situation. She was more worried that Xiao Bai might catch a cold because he was wearing so few clothes.
She subconsciously took off her coat and draped it over the silver-haired girl. The silver-haired girl let Xiao Qiu do this, but she wouldn't let go of Xiao Qiu's hand.
The silver-haired girl looked at Fang Ming, who was smiling at her. She instinctively wanted to move forward, but her body reacted very strangely by grabbing Xiao Qiu's hand and pulling her back.
"I can't go... Sister Xiao Qiu... I can't..."
The silver-haired girl shook her head and backed away, unable to explain why she couldn't.
Looking at the silver-haired girl, a sudden inspiration seemed to flash through Xiao Qiu's mind, and she looked at Fang Ming in disbelief:
"It's you... Brother Fang Ming..."
"No, you're not Brother Fang Ming... who are you?!"
Xiao Qiu suddenly understood everything.
She suddenly understood why Xiao Bai had sometimes refused to get close to Fang Ming these past two days, and why Aurora sometimes frowned when looking at Fang Ming.
They realized even more clearly why Fang Ming was there.
The other person wasn't Fang Ming, or rather... the other person wasn't the Fang Ming that Xiao Qiu knew!
"Xiao Qiu, Xiao Bai's memory is very confused right now. Don't let her words affect you. I'm your cousin."
Fang Ming smiled at Xiao Qiu and gestured to Xiao Qiu, "Come here first. Didn't you want to solve the node problem? I can help you."
"..."
The person in front of me was gentle and kind, just like the Fang Ming I knew before.
But when Xiao Qiu realized that 'Fang Ming is not Fang Ming,' the man's actions in front of her seemed very incongruous to her.
Although the other person's posture, tone of voice, and expression seemed similar to Fang Ming's, a closer look revealed subtle differences in their demeanor compared to that of an adult male.
Is it a feeling, or an even more irrational intuition?
After sensing that something was wrong with the other person, Xiao Qiu saw in her eyes that the other person's shell had been peeled away, and she could vaguely see the girl hidden inside...
Xiao Qiu took a deep breath, protecting Xiao Bai behind her with one hand, preparing to transform. At the same time, her voice turned colder as Fang Ming:
"You're not Fang Ming, stop acting like that!!"
"Xiao Qiu... it hurts me to hear you say that..."
"Don't you dare use Fang Ming's appearance to talk again!!"
Hearing Fang Ming's gentle voice as always, Xiao Qiu became unusually angry. A light flashed across her body, and in an instant, she switched from her normal state to her Magical Girl Form.
Xiao Qiu raised her wand and pointed it at Fang Ming in front of her:
"Who are you?!"
One second, two seconds...
After a dozen seconds, the gentle smile that Fang Ming had maintained on his face gradually disappeared.
He sighed and looked at Xiao Qiu expressionlessly:
"So, isn't it better to keep pretending? When today is over, you'll find that nothing has changed. Your companions are still by your side, your brother Fang Ming will still take care of you as always, and even your favorite Xiao Bai... will regain his memories..."
"If you just do nothing tonight, that's right... If you didn't do anything, things wouldn't have turned out this way."
Fang Ming sighed.
He seemed genuinely regretful, sighing over Xiao Qiu's choice.
"Restore... memories...?"
Xiao Qiu turned around, and the silver-haired girl hid behind her like a child, the confusion in her eyes never fading.
"So, you mean... Xiao Bai's memories weren't burned away by herself, but... but by you..."
Xiao Qiu guessed the truth.
After realizing that Xiao Chun and the others' memories and thoughts had been altered, Xiao Qiu had suspected that Xiao Bai's memories might be faulty.
But at that time, she didn't firmly believe her guess.
After all, if Xiao Bai's memories can be erased, there's no reason not to erase the memories of others as well.
This way, the Magical Girls can actually be prevented from causing trouble.
At the very least, if everyone had lost their memories and their behavior patterns had regressed to those of early childhood, then Xiao Qiu would definitely not have had time to come and investigate the magic circle nodes today.
She will wait at least a few days until these 'children' have settled down before reopening the investigation.