Magical Girl? There's No Going Back!

"I thought it over carefully, and you were right. Fish tastes best when it's fresh, so I quietly slipped away." Li Sijie smiled.

"Oh? A top student at Clear Lotus University skips class too?"

"It was an elective. I know the teacher well, and attendance had already been taken, so she'll turn a blind eye if I sneak off. You're lucky. If it had been a major course, I wouldn't have dared skip it. It'd be awful if I couldn't graduate." As Li Sijie spoke, her gaze fell on the fishing bucket on the table.

"Pretty awesome, right? Saltwater fish I caught in Clear Lotus Lake!" Li Xuan opened the bucket and said proudly.

"How... could there be saltwater fish in a lake?" Li Sijie looked at the mackerel surrounded by ice packs, then looked at Li Xuan with the utterly baffled expression of Rei Ayanami saying goodbye.

"Obviously, it was influenced by my innate sacred fishing body and swam all the way from the ocean to get caught by me." Li Xuan bragged.

"Only children would believe that nonsense of yours. Don't tell me you bought it at the market? But that smug expression of yours doesn't look fake." Li Sijie said suspiciously.

"Stop guessing. I'll tell you." Li Xuan leaned close to Li Sijie's ear and told her everything that had happened the night before.

"Hahahahaha... That's way too funny! They released it over there, and you fished it right back up over here. I can already imagine their faces when they found out."

After hearing it, Li Sijie laughed so hard she rocked back and forth. Her eyes curved into crescent moons, and her long lashes fluttered, seeming to sparkle with tears brought on by laughter.

Li Xuan had never seen a girl laugh so beautifully. He shared something joyful with her, and her joy in turn came back to him, sweeping away all the anxiety and gloom he had felt earlier.

Li Sijie's Loving Lunch

After laughing, Li Sijie reached out and picked up Li Xuan's fishing bucket. "You haven't eaten yet, have you? Then let's count this as breakfast."

"You're going to cook here?"

"That's right. I often work at the cafeteria to earn money for socks, so I know all the chefs here pretty well. Sit tight for a bit. I'll go talk to them. Oh, right, the WiFi password is the full pinyin of 'Clear Lotus Learn Five.'"

Li Sijie smiled, carried the fishing bucket over to a food stall, and began talking with the chef there.

The chef nodded and let her inside. Li Sijie put on an apron and hairnet, then busied herself within. Every now and then, she borrowed things from other stalls. Li Xuan had no idea what she intended to make, but judging from her movements, she seemed to be kneading dough—did cooking fish require kneading dough?

Li Xuan grew increasingly curious about what she was making for him. Time passed bit by bit amid his anticipation. At around eleven, scattered students began entering for lunch, and the chefs at every stall became busy as well.

Just as Li Xuan was about to go take a look, Li Sijie finally emerged from the stall carrying a tray.

"You must be starving, right? I didn't expect it to drag on until lunchtime." Li Sijie put the tray on the table, removed her hairnet, and wiped the beads of sweat from her forehead with a tissue.

Li Xuan looked down and saw a plate of delicate little dumplings, a plate of fragrant braised mackerel, a bowl of rice, a small dish of pickles, and a cup of fizzy soda.

"Normally, you wouldn't pair rice with dumplings, but it'd be such a waste not to soak rice in the braising sauce." Li Sijie sat down.

"Honestly, rice with the sauce alone would've been enough for me. You didn't have to go through the trouble of making dumplings too." Li Xuan picked up his chopsticks.

"Don't be so quick to judge. Have a bite first." Li Sijie smiled confidently.

Seeing her mysterious expression, Li Xuan curiously picked up a dumpling and put it in his mouth. A rich freshness instantly spread across his tongue. The filling was soft, tender, and delicate, almost unbelievably so, making him wonder what exactly was inside.

Driven by curiosity, Li Xuan picked up another dumpling and bit it in half. Only then did he discover green chives and tender white fish inside.

"They're mackerel dumplings. I didn't add any MSG at all—the freshness comes entirely from the fish itself. It's not easy to find these in Clear Lotus City, is it?"

Seeing Li Xuan's surprise, Li Sijie looked proud. She even seemed to secretly let out a sigh of relief, as though the previous two hours of work had finally not gone to waste.

"Delicious! So delicious! This trip was totally worth it!" Li Xuan stuffed four or five little dumplings into his mouth at once, chewing until both cheeks puffed out.

"Why is there only one pair of chopsticks? Aren't you eating?" Li Xuan took a sip of soda, then started sampling the braised fish with rice.

"I ate this morning, so I'm not hungry yet." Li Sijie shook her head.

"Then I won't hold back!" Li Xuan's appetite was not small to begin with, and the food suited his tastes. He no longer cared about table manners and devoured it like a whirlwind.

The braised fish was sweet without being cloying, while the dumplings were fresh without being fishy. The filling seemed to have already been perfectly seasoned, making dipping sauce unnecessary. Both dishes were salted exactly to Li Xuan's liking—his tastes were actually a little stronger than most people's, and he had no idea how Li Sijie had gotten it so perfectly right.

Li Sijie said nothing more, merely propping her chin on both hands as she watched Li Xuan eat the food she had carefully prepared until only one dumpling remained.

"You have to eat the last one. How can a chef not taste her own work?" Li Xuan pointed at the final dumpling with his chopsticks.

"I actually tasted them when they came out of the pot, but since you insist, I'll have another one." Li Sijie reached for Li Xuan's chopsticks, but Li Xuan did not let go.

"If you won't give me the chopsticks, do you expect me to eat it with my hands?" Li Sijie asked in confusion.

"Open your mouth." Li Xuan picked up the dumpling and brought it to her lips.

"What era is this? You're still playing this outdated feeding play?" Li Sijie smiled, deftly curled out her tongue, swept the dumpling into her mouth, then slowly chewed with her lips closed.

By then, the cafeteria had grown crowded. Li Xuan's feeding gesture drew some attention, but Li Sijie seemed completely unconcerned with the looks she received.

"Come on, I'll show you around campus." Li Sijie swallowed the food in her mouth, brought the tray to the return station, then took Li Xuan's hand.

Li Xuan had been thinking the same thing, so he followed her on a stroll through the clean streets of Clear Lotus University. Along the way, he felt countless gazes directed at him. Some were envious, some jealous, and some even carried a hint of hatred.

"Are you famous at school? Why are they all looking at me like that?" Li Xuan asked curiously.

"I performed an escape magic trick at the freshman welcome event, and then lots of younger boys came to confess to me. I clearly rejected all of them, but I didn't expect them to keep refusing to give up." Li Sijie said troubledly.

"No wonder they're looking at me like that... A few of them look like they want to kill me." Li Xuan laughed.

"Maybe because I've never had a boyfriend, everyone thinks they still have a chance. Seeing us walking around campus together might make them calm down a little." Li Sijie said, linking her arm through Li Xuan's.

"So I'm being used by you?"

"I made you such delicious food. Isn't it only fair for you to be used a little?"

"Fair, fair. It's just that this atmosphere... Let's go somewhere quieter." Li Xuan awkwardly suggested as he saw a male student with a pained expression repeatedly smashing his own head with a book.

"That was exactly what I was thinking." Li Sijie nodded, led Li Xuan into a teaching building, and after several twists and turns, brought him to a classroom covered in photographs.

"This is a photography department classroom. There are no classes today, so nobody will come. You definitely didn't come to see me just for a free meal, did you? If there's something you want to say, you can say it now." Li Sijie closed the classroom door and turned to Li Xuan.

"I can't hide anything from you." Li Xuan smiled. He stopped beating around the bush and directly asked what was on his mind. "What color are your panties today?"

"Purple, but I'm guessing that isn't what you really wanted to ask." Li Sijie smiled.

"All right, then I'll be direct. You must already know that the Witch Band has come here, right?"

"The Witch Band? Are they famous?" Li Sijie asked doubtfully.

"The Witch Band! That notorious mercenary group! Don't tell me your informant didn't even tell you about them?" Li Xuan reminded her.

"To avoid affecting my studies, I told my informant to stop contacting me after summer vacation ended. As for this Witch Band you mentioned, I really haven't heard of them." Li Sijie shook her head.

Li Xuan saw that she did not seem to be pretending, so he could only explain helplessly, "Simply put, the Witch Band is a mercenary team made up of four Grade A magical girls. The Church intends to have them kill me."

"Four Grade A's? They aren't enemies you can handle right now." Li Sijie frowned and folded her hands together, seeming to sink into deep thought.

"They're really difficult to deal with. I've encountered them twice, and I've already deeply realized the gap in our strength." Li Xuan nodded.

Li Sijie frowned. "Once I transform, the Church's pursuers will immediately be drawn here. By then, I probably won't be able to study in peace anymore. If you're mentally prepared to roam the world..."

"I appreciate the offer, but I didn't come to ask for reinforcements this time. To be honest, I've already figured out how to defeat the Witch Band." Li Xuan smiled confidently.

"You're going to fight four Grade A's? Seriously?" Li Sijie said in surprise.

"Seriously. Truer than Ding Zhen Pearl. There are just a few uncertain factors, and I'd like you to help me test them." Li Xuan said firmly.

I Feel Like You're Looking at Me Lecherously

"It's really just a test? You aren't treating me as a hunting target too?" Li Sijie smiled.

"Really, really. When have I ever lied to you?" Li Xuan said seriously.

"All right, then how do you want to test it? But let me make this clear first: I can't transform casually, or the Oracle Machine will detect my location immediately." Li Sijie reminded him.

"This test does require you to transform, but the Oracle Machine won't detect it." Li Xuan said, reaching out to open a passage into the Delusive Badlands.

"That's right, once we enter here, it's another world, so I can transform without being discovered! You really are useful!" Li Sijie's eyes immediately lit up when she saw the pitch-black portal.

"My ability is useful. Don't make it sound like I'm some kind of bedding." Li Xuan made an inviting gesture.

"Before we go in, could you place the destination a little farther away from the two platforms?" Li Sijie asked.

"Any particular reason?"

"Nothing much. It's just that I need to transform this time, and I'd like to reduce the possibility of being watched by others as much as possible. For us Sealing Types, the fewer people who know our transformed appearance and magic, the better." Li Sijie explained.

"You really carry the principle of secrecy through to the end. No problem, but that means there won't be a stable area for us to move around in. We'll have to spend time rebuilding a platform."

"That's fine. I'll solve the footing problem."

"Then what are we waiting for?" Li Xuan opened another portal far away from the main platform and entered it with Li Sijie.

"World, in the name of love and hope, transform!"

In the endless void, Li Sijie chanted softly.

There were no dazzling lights or special effects. Li Sijie's transformation was extraordinarily quiet. A streak of intertwined black-and-white light swept over her body, and the transformation was complete. Li Xuan could not even sense any fluctuations of magical power during the process.

"Let's begin." Li Sijie stepped into the void, and countless crisscrossing lines immediately appeared beneath her feet, forming a massive checkerboard-like platform.

"Not yet. This is the first time I've seen you transform, so I need to get a good look." Li Xuan used his authority to move a floating rock above them, then fashioned several glowing monsters from Fallen Blood and hung them from it as light sources.

"I knew it..." Li Sijie helplessly turned sideways, placed one hand on her waist, and struck an angle suitable for Li Xuan's appraisal.

Li Xuan greedily looked over Li Sijie's transformed appearance.

After transforming, Li Sijie wore an OL outfit brimming with mature office-lady charm: the classic combination of a white blouse and black pencil skirt. However, her enormous G-cup chest pushed the whole blouse upward. The buttons bore immense strain, as though they might burst at any moment.

The legs extending from beneath the pencil skirt were wrapped in sheer black stockings, around 30 denier. A faint fleshiness of skin could be seen through the mysterious black, leaving them right on the edge between opaque and transparent.

From behind, her thighs were full and firm, her calves slender and shapely, and even the small hollows behind her knees were perfectly formed.

Even though he had seen them many times already, Li Xuan still had to praise her national-treasure-class legs. He had not felt much when he first saw them, but the more often he looked, the more he found them endlessly pleasing to the eye. Every inch highlighted the wonder of the human body.

Li Xuan's gaze lowered. Li Sijie wore black strappy high heels, their thin soles secured to her legs entirely by several narrow straps. A few gleaming silver studs were set into the straps, their purpose presumably being to increase the wearer's attack speed and critical hit rate.

Thinking about it carefully, Li Sijie's transformed outfit seemed very similar to what she had worn during their first interview, except this time it placed greater emphasis on a professional air.

Setting aside those headlights that were simply too eye-catching, she now looked exactly like a capable and shrewd white-collar worker—though Li Xuan could not tell where her transformed weapon was hidden.

"President Li, please don't be like this. You brought me here because there should be something more important to do, right?" Li Sijie reminded him with a smile.

"Don't be like what?" The moment the words left Li Xuan's mouth, he realized that his hand had somehow already landed on those dazzling headlights.

"Ah, sorry, sorry. Those excessively huge boobs must have distorted the gravity around them and pulled my hand over—let's get started." Li Xuan hurriedly withdrew his hand and took several steps back while facing Li Sijie.

"What are you planning to test? If it's combat, please find someone else. That isn't my specialty."

"Of course it isn't combat. Your Sealing Type's perception abilities far surpass those of the other kinds of magical girls, and that perception is quite troublesome for me.

Grade C Qi Mo could detect my observation, and Grade A Yao could even detect someone's gaze from hundreds of meters away. I don't know your magic power level, but your perception surely isn't inferior to theirs, right?" Li Xuan asked.

"Your judgment is correct." Li Sijie smiled, seemingly having already guessed what Li Xuan intended to test.

"Next, I'll use various skills from two hundred meters away. I'd like you to tell me whether you can sense what I'm doing." Li Xuan said.

"I understand. You want to use me to test the perception abilities of a Sealing Type, so you won't fall into a disadvantage during an intelligence battle?"

"Exactly. Yao is what worries me most right now. Differences in combat strength can be erased through various means, but once she notices me, it means total failure. So I need to know precisely which skills I can use in front of her."

"No problem. I'll limit my perception as much as possible to the level of a Grade A." Li Sijie pulled a stocking from her sleeve, covered her eyes with it, and tied a knot behind her head, making a simple blindfold.

Seeing this, Li Xuan counted his steps as he slowly retreated to a point two hundred meters away, then checked the Hunting Radar's status.

[Magical girl detected nearby]

[Distance: 200 meters]

[Detailed information can be displayed after visual lock-on]

"Can you sense anything?" Li Xuan asked.

"Nothing at all."

With no obstructions or ambient noise, they could easily hear each other even from two hundred meters apart.

Li Xuan then focused his gaze on Li Sijie, and the Hunting Radar displayed another prompt:

[Magical girl locked on]

[Name: Unknown]

[Magic power level: Unknown]

[Type: Unknown]

[Height: Unknown]

[CUP level: Unknown]

It seemed that unless she voluntarily removed her stockings, his Hunting Radar still could not detect Li Sijie's information. However, that was not worth worrying about, because Yao clearly did not possess such an ability to hide herself.

"Tell me what you sense now." Li Xuan asked while maintaining visual lock-on.