Chapter 31

"Good, very good, unbelievably good!" Li Xuan nearly spat blood at Tang Xi's irresponsible remark. He grabbed Tang Xi and summoned mana-draining tentacles to bind her tightly around the waist.

"To commend your achievements, I've decided to reward you with a little dark room. Get back to writing from the chapter where the protagonist didn't die, and stay in there until the story is finished!"

After saying that, Li Xuan stormed out of the wine cellar.

"Master! No! You can't be so heartless! I don't want to work! I want to slack off!" Tang Xi's wail echoed from the cellar, but Li Xuan pretended not to hear it.

By now, Li Xuan had vented far too much enthusiasm on Tang Xi, and his mind had returned to rationality.

Looking at the dim yellow sky outside, he suddenly remembered the huge pile of monsters he had left unattended in Flower River City. Mian Yin had not come looking for him again either. He had no idea whether she had fled amid the chaos or simply could not enter his little pocket world.

It was time to take a look outside.

So Li Xuan summoned Wu Yan in his mind and instructed her to take care of Tang Xi's daily needs while checking her writing progress every day. If she caught Tang Xi slacking off, she was to use the tickling technique Li Xuan had taught her.

Wu Yan was terrified of being tickled, but the moment she heard she could tickle someone else, she became interested. She eagerly swiped a power bank and two bags of chips from Alulu before visiting her little prisoner.

After arranging Tang Xi's situation, Li Xuan felt refreshed. He opened a passage and stepped into the outside world.

After Li Xuan's departure, Flower River City had already fallen into a state of panic. Lilika had gathered every magical girl she could from the surrounding area and surrounded the hotel where the monsters had gathered, yet no one dared to act rashly.

The evacuation had been completed. Lilika was burning with anxiety. When the monsters had first appeared, she had followed Li Xuan's instructions and kept every magical girl from approaching them. After evacuating the civilians, they had merely watched from afar.

Shortly after the monsters appeared, the presences of two magical girls and Li Xuan disappeared one after another, never to reappear.

Lilika gripped her phone and called Li Xuan again and again, but it always said he was out of service range. She had the magical girls tighten the perimeter, but she still did not dare launch an attack on the monsters.

After all, Flower River City's elites had long since departed with the bishop. Those left behind were all Grade C or even Grade D newcomers. Though they seemed numerous, they were at an absolute disadvantage compared to the monster army before them. It was hard to say who had actually surrounded whom.

Looking at the monsters ahead, Lilika could not help tensing up. Though Li Xuan had said the monsters would not act without his orders, a massive horde capable of flattening the city gathered there in grim silence was even more oppressive.

If something went wrong, she could not bear the responsibility!

Second by second, Lilika gradually began to entertain a terrible thought. Could Li Xuan have perished together with the two magical girls from Guardian Abbey?

The more she thought about it, the more likely both possibilities seemed. If magical girls died while transformed, they would turn into light and dissipate from the world. This kind of death was called "Light Dissolution," and monsters likewise left no traces after dying. If they had perished together, she would not even be able to find their bodies.

Or perhaps the two magical girls had killed Li Xuan, then canceled their transformations and left as ordinary people, making it impossible for her to notice them.

Lilika grew increasingly panicked. She knew that anyone Guardian Abbey sent out would never be ordinary. The fact that they had operated in Flower River City for so long without the Church discovering them already proved that. Li Xuan appeared extremely confident, but could he truly guarantee that nothing would go wrong?

The thought frightened her. She worried not only about her daughter's fate, but also about Li Xuan's safety.

Though they had not known each other long, and he was still the kidnapper she hated to the bone, the tenderness they had shared in bed was an undeniable fact. Li Xuan had indeed let her feel the happiness of being a woman again after so long, gradually melting the years of ice in her heart into gentle warmth.

Especially after learning from her daughter's letter that she had not been treated harshly and was even living quite well, those feelings had quietly sunk deeper into her heart.

Normally, she had not noticed this subtle change within herself. But now that life and death were on the line, Lilika, who used to curse Li Xuan every day and hope a passing truck would send him flying, desperately wished for him to return alive to her side.

The Advancing Valkyrie

By then, the sun had gradually risen to the center of the sky, and the surrounding air kept heating up like her anxious heart.

Lilika finally decided that she could not wait any longer. She called over several steadier Grade C magical girls and instructed them, "Keep watch here for a while. Before I return, do not act rashly!"

After giving her instructions, Lilika flew toward Autumn Mountain Park in her Valkyrie form.

As a Battle Type magical girl, her perception was weak. She could only infer that the fiercest battle had taken place in that direction. If anything had happened to Li Xuan, it was most likely there.

"You bastard, you'd better not have gotten yourself hurt! Please come back quickly. A lap pillow, anything at all—I'll give you whatever you want!"

Lilika gripped her phone tightly. Her trembling little hand looked sharply out of place against the huge screen. She no longer held much hope of getting through to Li Xuan, but out of habit, she kept dialing his number again and again.

"Are you that worried about me?" Li Xuan's voice suddenly sounded beside her ear.

"Huh?" Lilika stared at her phone in surprise and found that the call had not connected. Then the voice had come from—

The next second, a pair of strong arms embraced her from behind.

"Let me go! You filthy pervert! You sick lolicon! You disgusting freak who won't even spare an old lady! Why didn't you just die? How dare you come back now?!" Lilika cursed as she struggled with all her strength, but Li Xuan remained unmoved and simply held her tightly.

After raging for a while, Lilika's voice gradually turned tearful. She threw away her sword and shield, turned around, and threw herself into Li Xuan's arms, crying bitterly. As she cried, she pounded his chest hard with her fists and occasionally bit him with her sharp little canine teeth. It was as though every grievance she had suffered over the years had become tears at that moment.

Even Li Xuan had not expected the highly guarded Lilika to feel such intense emotions toward him. He could only let her curse him and hit him. Only after she had vented her feelings and lay sobbing softly against his chest did he whisper lightly into her ear, "Don't be afraid. I'm here."

That gentle sentence filled Lilika with immense reassurance. She wrapped both arms around Li Xuan and clung to him coquettishly like a real little girl.

After clinging to him for several full minutes, Lilika suddenly realized how improper her behavior had been. She hurriedly pushed Li Xuan away, wiped her tears, and said seriously, "I did as you told me. I didn't let the magical girls stationed here cause you trouble. But it's too dangerous to have so many monsters piled up in the city center. Hurry up and find a way to deal with them."

Li Xuan approvingly stroked Lilika's golden hair, which she had messed up by rubbing against him. Though the magical girls left behind were weak, there were many of them. If they truly fought to the death, he would have had some trouble.

Besides, if he went to war with them, the Church would definitely learn of his movements. That would be very unfriendly to his strategy of lying low and developing slowly.

From that perspective, Lilika had indeed done a lot for him this time.

Then he ought to reward her.

"Listen, Lilika. I'll return to the monsters and have some of the weaker ones try to break through. All you need to do is fight while retreating and draw everyone farther away. Then I can collect the monsters without attracting attention, and the credit for this battle will be yours." Li Xuan spoke gently.

"Hmph, I don't believe you. Would you really be that kind?" Lilika said, puffing out her less-than-generous chest.

"Relax. I don't need to play tricks to deal with a bunch of Grade C fodder. If you establish yourself firmly in the Church, you can provide me with more intelligence. Once this is over, go back to your hotel room and wait patiently. After I handle things here, I'll take you to see your precious little treasure." Li Xuan reassured Lilika confidently, completely forgetting that not long ago, he himself had been Grade C "fodder."

The moment she heard she could see her daughter, Lilika switched from a tsundere loli to a loving mother at light speed. She hurriedly agreed, "Then let's begin now. You have to come pick me up quickly."

"Alright, alright. The moment this is handled, I'll come get you." Li Xuan smiled, opened a portal, and returned to the middle of the monster army.

The monster army, silent for so long, immediately turned to face its creator as soon as it saw him, as though awaiting his command.

"Fallen Blood monster unit! Anyone below Grade C, step forward!" Li Xuan ordered.

A large group of weak monsters stepped forward. Many of them were byproducts or failed creations from when Fallen Blood produced powerful monsters, while others had simply split off from stronger monsters. Many were missing limbs, and their combat strength was pitiful.

Li Xuan looked over the motley, misshapen bunch before him. Their combined combat power probably could not even defeat the three little ones from Clear Lotus City. Keeping them would only waste space, so he might as well give them to Lilika to farm achievements. After waiting a little while and estimating that Lilika had returned to the front line, he gave the order for all the weak monsters to attack in the direction of Autumn Mountain Park.

This ragtag army charged out in an instant, rushing toward the magical girls' formation. Though they were weak, their numbers were great, and they still cut an imposing figure for a moment. Many Grade D magical girls who had only recently entered the field had never seen such a scene before and retreated in fright.

"Don't panic! Everyone gather here, fight while retreating! The monsters aren't strong. Pull the battle line farther out and spread out their attacks!" Lilika took the lead, swinging her sword and cutting down several monsters in succession. She then used her shield to block an attack for a Grade D newcomer beside her whose limbs had gone weak from fear.

Seeing Lilika remain so calm, the other girls gathered their courage and began fighting as well. Magical girls arriving to reinforce them from other sides of the encirclement also joined the battle. Everyone followed Lilika's rhythm, fighting while retreating. Countless monster corpses were left along the way, yet not a single magical girl died.

After a round of rookie-on-rookie brawling, the magical girls quickly realized that their enemies truly were weak. Their morale immediately soared. After holding out for a while, they stabilized their formation and no longer needed to retreat to disperse the monsters' offensive.

By then, the monsters' defeat was already impossible to hide. Lilika climbed to a high point and looked toward the hotel, only to find barely any monster presence left there. Knowing that Li Xuan had already moved them away, she pointed her sword forward. "Injured sisters, fall back! Everyone else, kill!"

After issuing the order, Lilika still charged forward at the head of the group. The magical girls advanced together, and before long, they scattered the monsters like fallen petals and crushed them all the way back to the hotel entrance.

When they arrived, Lilika discovered in surprise that a gigantic monster was hidden there. It looked like an enormous Rafflesia, continuously spewing new monsters from its flower core.

The aura emanating from the Rafflesia indicated that its Evil Energy level had almost reached Grade B.

"What the hell is he doing?" Lilika frowned, unable to understand why Li Xuan had left behind such a powerful monster. Had he deceived her again? Did he actually intend to capture all the magical girls in one sweep?

Alice's New Home

Lilika had not yet figured out Li Xuan's intentions, but the magical girls, already bloodshot with battle fever, could not wait for her command. They formed a formation on their own and attacked the Rafflesia. Seeing that things had come to this, Lilika could only join the battle reluctantly.

The battle was neither easy nor difficult. The high-spirited magical girls worked together, shouting about friendship, bonds, and all sorts of things as magic flew everywhere. In the end, they destroyed the Rafflesia down to its roots without suffering a single casualty.

After the battle, several Grade C magical girls still stained with monster blood ran over and bowed to Lilika in apology. "Senior Lilika, we completely defeated the enemy's big boss this time, all thanks to your leadership! We used to question how someone who arrived out of nowhere could take on such an important command position. We're truly sorry."

Lilika froze for a moment before understanding Li Xuan's intention. Defeating a powerful monster could dispel the magical girls' suspicions and make them believe they had eliminated the culprit. At the same time, it made the battle more difficult, raising the value of her "Flower River City Defense War" by another level.

"It was everyone's effort. Clean up the aftermath properly. I'm a little tired, so I'll return to rest first." Lilika knew the true nature of this "great victory," so naturally she did not feel as accomplished as the others. Besides, she was worried about her daughter. After casually encouraging them a few times, she returned to the hotel alone.

If a cameraman had pulled the lens back at that moment, all the way to the rooftop of the neighboring building, he would have captured countless black butterflies dancing in the air. The patterns on their wings were bewildering fractal geometry, endlessly extending and changing. Even the butterflies themselves seemed dreamlike. At times they drifted down like scraps of paper, and at others they passed through the middle of the railing, as though they did not interact with any matter in this world.

Yet those illusion-like butterflies could settle on only one person: a golden-haired girl in a black dress.

The girl sat lightly on the rooftop railing amid the butterflies, silently watching Lilika's monster-subjugation battle. Her calves, wrapped in black tights, swung between the gaps in the railing. She twirled an unknown wildflower between her fingers, with only her bottom resting precariously on the railing. It looked extremely dangerous.

Yet the girl seemed not to understand danger at all. The swing of her legs grew larger and larger, carrying her whole body along with them, as though she could fall from the towering rooftop at any moment.

"So I finally found you, Mianyin Alice." Li Xuan slowly climbed onto the roof. He had actually noticed Mian Yin here long ago, but in order to avoid the magical girls' perception, he had canceled his transformation after sending the monsters to the Delusive Badlands and waited nearby. Only after they left did he reveal himself and come here.

"Cousin, how did you know I was here?" Mian Yin twisted her head from above at an angle no human should be able to achieve and looked at Li Xuan.

"These butterflies led me here." Li Xuan reached out to touch one, but it passed through his palm, and he felt nothing at all.

Mian Yin swung her legs over the railing and changed to a seated position facing Li Xuan. Her head also returned to its normal angle. "After the pursuers disappeared, I wanted to find you. But your traces vanished without a trace. Even Mian Yin couldn't find you."

"Looks like your dreams aren't connected everywhere after all." Li Xuan smiled.

"I waited and waited, waited and waited, and finally you came back. But you were busy, and Mian Yin was very good, so I kept sitting here and waiting. Cousin, running and running all the time is exhausting. I want to live in your dream. I have a very small appetite. Just a little dream residue every day is enough." Mian Yin spoke with a pitiful expression.

"I'm sorry, but that probably won't work. I lack even a basic understanding of you. Of course, you can tell me more about yourself. Then perhaps we can get along more pleasantly." Li Xuan did not approach her further, instead stopping more than ten meters away.

The girl before him was simply too mysterious, forcing him to remain wary. Though they had worked together before, it had only been a temporary arrangement to deal with their mutual enemy, the magical girls. If he rashly allowed her into his dream, who knew what consequences it would bring?

"What does Cousin want to know about Mian Yin?" Mian Yin asked, swinging her legs.

"For example, why is Guardian Abbey pursuing you? Your identity? Your name? All of it is a mystery to me." Li Xuan gave examples.

"Mian Yin doesn't know. Human things are all learned from the dreams I eat. The things Cousin wants to ask aren't included in them." Mian Yin looked at Li Xuan with a blank expression.

Li Xuan recalled the sinister way she had acted around Bing Rui. For a moment, he could not tell whether she was deliberately playing dumb or truly knew nothing.

"How boring. Humans all look about the same, and they all taste about the same too. No one wants to have interesting dreams." Seeing that Li Xuan said nothing, Mian Yin stretched out a hand and let a butterfly settle on the back of it.

Li Xuan was about to say something when Mian Yin's small, perky backside suddenly jerked backward. She lost her balance and toppled off the roof headfirst.

"Mian Yin!" Seeing the emergency, Li Xuan hurriedly extended a tentacle to catch her. Yet Mian Yin fell much faster than an ordinary object should, and he had not expected her to jump from the building. His attempt missed completely, leaving him able only to watch as her body hit the ground.

Yet Mian Yin made no sound when she struck the ground. Instead, she turned into countless black butterflies that fluttered back up to the rooftop and gathered once more into her body.

"Cousin really does worry about me. As long as I confirmed that, it's enough." Mian Yin leaned sweetly against Li Xuan, looping both hands through his arm with the intimacy of a girlfriend acting cute.

"You scared me to death just now. Stop pulling pointless tests like that." Li Xuan frowned.

"Sorry. Mian Yin didn't mean to cause Cousin trouble, but confirming Mian Yin's place in your heart is very important. If you wouldn't save Mian Yin, then Mian Yin wouldn't dare stay here any longer. Those bad people will come looking for me again sooner or later." Mian Yin spoke shyly.

"Don't worry. I can't let you live in my dream for now, but I can provide the safe house I promised you before." Li Xuan stretched out his hand and opened a portal to the Delusive Badlands.

"Inside is a place where not even the laws of the world can interfere. Some cute magical girls live there. I'll allow you to move into that world and feed on the magical girls' dreams. But you must behave yourself and cannot do anything to harm them. Otherwise, I won't even need to deal with you personally. Your two mortal enemies, Tang Xi and Bing Rui, both live inside."

At the mention of Tang Xi and Bing Rui, Mian Yin shuddered. Her voice also became solemn. "Understood. Mian Yin will behave."

"Good. Also, don't let the magical girls know about your existence for now. If there's an emergency and you need to find me, tell the red-haired one." Li Xuan thought that one thing truly did restrain another. It seemed Guardian Abbey had not sent those two to capture Mian Yin without reason.

"Yes, Mian Yin will be good." Though Mian Yin could not help feeling afraid at the thought of living with her two enemies, she figured it was still better than drifting about outside. So she obediently slipped into the portal.

"Whew. In the end, I still know nothing about her... Forget it for now. Next, it seems I should go pick up Ms. Lilika." Li Xuan checked the time and headed toward the hotel where Lilika lived.

Master Isn't Home Today

As Li Xuan set off to pick up Ms. Lilika, the twelfth floor of the Stone Tower had already become a sea of noise and joy.

Near the walls stood two arcade cabinets that had somehow been moved in. The three little ones from Clear Lotus City were playing games wildly with Alulu. They were only missing a banner reading, "Master Isn't Home Today."

"Damn it, damn it, damn it! Xu Rou, why did you eat my drumstick again? Weren't you already at full health?" Wu Yan furiously spun the joystick as though she would not stop until sparks flew from it.

"Eating it at full health gives points. Besides, who says it's yours just because you beat it out? Everyone relies on their own skills." Xu Rou said smugly.

"Xu Rou, shouldn't we pay a little more attention to teamwork? The guide says the next boss is very difficult..." Qi Mo reminded her softly.

"Waaah, how can all of you pull off skills?" Alulu was standing on a small stool because she was too short. It was her first time playing this kind of game, and she was still unfamiliar with the controls.

The next boss really was difficult. Wu Yan's character was already at low health, and one screen-wide attack killed her on the spot. Since the boss had an obnoxious health regeneration mechanic, the remaining three players also died one after another. All that remained on the screen was a huge continue animation: the barely clothed heroine was tied to a wooden horse while the stage boss slowly approached with a lecherous grin.

"We died! It's all your fault!" Wu Yan complained, glaring at Xu Rou. She took a coin from the box and ran over to Tan Xiang. "Tan Xiang! Save us! Please! Show them what you can do!"

"O-Okay... If I don't play well, don't make fun of me." Tan Xiang was somewhat shy and had not wanted to join them. But watching them clumsily fight each other had made her hands itch, and she and Wu Yan had both suffered harm from the Holy Mark, giving them a bit of fellow feeling. After hesitating for a while, she took the coin and walked over to the cabinet.

"Don't worry, just play. Whoever dares make fun of you, I'll be the first to kick her ass!" Wu Yan said, patting her chest.

"Then I'm starting..." Tan Xiang inserted the coin at the final second before the continue timer ran out, then swiftly selected a character. The moment she landed, she used a bug that locked the boss in endless hit stun and pinned it in the corner, hacking it to death.

Wu Yan had only known that Tan Xiang was good at handheld games, so she had asked her to give it a try. She had even been thinking, I can't be the only one suffering, hoping her good sister would get beaten up too.

But she had never expected Tan Xiang to dominate the moment she touched the controls. Not only did she avoid needing another continue, she even cleared the entire game in one go without taking any damage, at a speed that left everyone dumbfounded.

"Not bad. It's rare to see a girl who's this good at arcade games. Looks like you've played plenty," Li Xuan said with an approving smile. At some point, he had mixed into the crowd to watch.

"Ah, Master's here!" The magical girls scattered in all directions the moment they saw Li Xuan. Alulu especially hid behind Qi Mo, peeking out timidly.

"Why are you hiding? It's not like I forbid you from playing games—wait, where did these come from?" Li Xuan asked curiously.

"They're from Alulu's home. She said her family used to run an arcade, and there are still some machines in storage, so I swiped two to play with," Wu Yan answered.

"As long as it doesn't affect your homework progress, it's fine. But why are all of you avoiding me? It's not like I'm going to eat you." Li Xuan looked at their uneasy expressions. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the handheld console he had given Alulu had somehow snapped in half and been carefully placed on the table.

With trembling hands, Li Xuan picked up the handheld console, now sporting the same style as 2.5 Gojo, and asked in grief and indignation, "Who did this? This was the newest limited-edition collaboration handheld!"