Meeting up with friends to battle at an internet café was the perfect kind of vacation. There might have been better equipment at home, but nothing could replace the atmosphere of chatting face-to-face.
Teachers at school called these games, but in Ling Feng and his friends' eyes, this was a pursuit! Esports! Electronic sports didn't require eyesight!
During the period after the high school entrance exams, Ling Feng had even played in the top 500 professionally with Zhao Ping and the others. But just as they wanted to go further, high school began. Perhaps that was one of their regrets.
Inside the internet café, people came and went. A delicate-looking young man in a baseball cap slowly walked out.
The young man took out a cigarette, lit it with a lighter, and took a deep drag. The next second, he began coughing.
"Cough, cough... I really need to smoke less of these five-yuan-a-pack cigarettes. Ruining my lungs wouldn't be worth it." After saying that, the young man took another deep drag.
"It's my turn to go out and get food this time. I was planning on eating instant noodles, but this is the last vacation before finals. I have to treat myself properly."
Under the streetlights, the young man crossed several intersections in a row before finally spotting the food stall ahead.
The young man excitedly broke into a jog. His feet were already aching after sitting in the internet café all day and then walking this far.
But the moment he saw his destination, he became excited and dashed toward it.
After sitting for so long, his reactions were a little slow. A second or two later, the young man realized something was wrong.
Not far away, the roar of an engine was rapidly drawing closer.
The young man only had time to turn his head for a glance before he saw a car speeding toward him.
He was sent flying by the impact, without even seeing the model or license plate.
The night was dimly lit. Although the piercing sound of brakes rang out, the car did not stop in time.
The front of the car struck the young man's legs and lifted him off the ground. Then his upper body slammed into the windshield, leaving a large web of cracks across it.
The young man then spun twice through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground like a sack.
The driver did not hesitate. He stomped on the accelerator and vanished in the blink of an eye.
This time, the young man truly could not get up again. A crowd quickly gathered around him. Some called 120 for an ambulance, but not a single person came forward to help him up.
"My... fuck!! Am I getting transported to another world?!"
The young man lay on the road and tried to take out his phone, but his whole body was growing cold, and he could not muster any strength.
After great difficulty, his hand reached into his pocket, yet he did not even have the strength to grasp his phone.
Suddenly, a streak of white light cut across the night sky, drawing closer and closer...
By the time it reached him, it had transformed into a pretty young girl.
The girl had white hair and blue eyes, with exquisite features, though a trace of childishness remained in her brows. She looked no older than fifteen or sixteen.
Without a word, the white-haired girl hoisted him onto her shoulder. A flash of white light appeared, and she vanished instantly. The surrounding crowd stared at one another in shock before erupting into commotion.
By the time the police arrived, there was nothing left.
The Hit-and-Run Driver's Account
Late at night, the silent road was deserted.
In the distance, the shadows of two people stretched long beneath the moonlight.
The girl walked slowly, carrying a young man on her back. He lay relaxed against her fragrant shoulder, squinting slightly in the evening breeze.
"Th-this... is this an angel? Have I been transported to another world already?"
"Transported my ass. If I hadn't happened to see you while passing by, you'd be lying in a hospital right now."
The person on Ling Feng's back was none other than her classmate, Zhao Ping.
Ling Feng had originally planned to take a taxi home, but she spotted Zhao Ping lying in the middle of the road on the way to hail one.
The scene had been horrifyingly bloody. Zhao Ping had practically been lying in a pool of blood.
At first, Ling Feng could not make out his face. Only when she got closer did she recognize him. She hurriedly dragged him away, used up her last healing potion, and cleaned him up along the way.
Ling Feng tossed the dazed Zhao Ping right outside his house, rang the doorbell, and hid nearby. She did not leave until she saw Zhao Ping's mother cursing as she dragged him inside.
Ling Feng had a feeling that tonight was destined to be another sleepless night.
The night was pitch-black, as though layers of endless ink had been brushed across the sky, without even the faint glimmer of stars.
By the time Ling Feng returned home, it was already past eight. She found that Ling Xiaoyu and the others were not home, which struck her as strange, so she made a call.
Ling Xiaoyu gave her a few perfunctory replies and said she would not be coming back tonight.
Apparently, they would talk after the exams were over, and Ling Wanqing was staying over at her place too.
Ling Feng was speechless, but she did not really care. She undid her transformation and went to take a shower.
Even now, Ling Feng was still somewhat unaccustomed to that soft, delicate girl's voice. Just hearing it made her brain feel hot.
But that was normal enough. After all, her sexual orientation was fine.
Astral Mark Girls and Magical Girls still differed physically. They might all look petite and adorable, but some of them could snap an adult man's arm with one slender hand. Was that something like a superpower after transforming?
Some Astral Mark Girls with swords still could not beat a bare-handed Magical Girl. Ling Feng's strength was actually considered weak among them.
She truly was no different from a frail little girl, even weaker than she had been when she was still a boy.
When others became Magical Girls or Astral Mark Girls, their strength, speed, agility, and such were naturally level two or three.
For Ling Feng, all of those started at level one and could only be made up for through hard work. On the other hand, her singing, dancing, music, chess, calligraphy, painting, and the like were all maxed out.
Those Magical Girl idols and singers only had singing levels around four or five. If Ling Feng wanted to, she could absolutely leave them all in the dust!
But compared to those things, Ling Feng still preferred tinkering with blades, spears, staves, and clubs. Since childhood, she had grown up reading novels about martial arts masters, fantasy, mysticism, and cultivation.
She had watched countless anime. Her true heart had long since refused to be limited to this!
And her current strength had all been honed through her own efforts.
"Now that I finally have some free time, should I go shopping?" Ling Feng thought.
Ling Feng did not want to review her textbooks. It was too boring. And after what happened to Zhao Ping tonight, she did not feel like playing games either.
But since she was short on money, going out would not be of much use.
Suddenly, a whimsical idea surfaced in Ling Feng's mind.
Tea eggs!
"That's it. I'll boil a few and sell them. Once they're sold, I can go have a bowl of beef noodles. Or maybe I could investigate the hit-and-run driver who hit Zhao Ping?"
As Ling Feng made her plans, she got dressed and began preparing.
First, she boiled the eggs, then cracked their shells and put them back into the pot. Next, she added salt, soy sauce, tea leaves, star anise, and a little water.
This was basically the same original recipe everywhere. The rest had been mixed by Ling Feng herself.
Ling Feng herself did not understand why she was doing this. Wasn't it just boiling eggs?
Actually, Ling Feng had not seen Zhao Ping get hit, so she had no idea how to find the hit-and-run driver. She directly filtered that matter out of her mind.
At that moment, inside the police station, the hit-and-run driver was already sitting in detention. He had been stopped at the second checkpoint.
"Are the police this efficient these days?"
"Cut the crap. How are you going to explain yourself?"
"Although I appear to be an ordinary truck driver, behind this ordinary identity, I have another identity unknown to others. I am an interdimensional transportation ambassador! I search the world for promising candidates, and once I find one, I use a unique method to send them to a suitable alternate world. Everyone I send over is sure to accomplish great things, while I earn a meager salary doing the work of saving worlds."
That was the account of an ordinary truck driver. Then, under the police officers' expressions as though they were looking at an idiot, the driver was arrested...
An Elf Beneath the Moonlight
At night, beside Riverfront Lake, pedestrians wandered by the water. Every so often, someone would lift their head and be captivated by the magnificent evening glow over the river, stopping to gaze at the white sails.
It was a rare weekend, and Riverfront Lake was packed with visitors. The place was extremely lively.
The air by the river was fresh, and the night gradually turned cool. Relaxed visitors had gathered by the riverside in dense crowds—some strolling, some chatting, while children played in sand piles and splashed each other with water. It was bustling with excitement.
Ling Feng found a good spot to set up her stall, since there were many people here.
Ling Feng had chosen this place because of the pleasant surroundings. It was near a small bamboo grove, where there should have been fewer people in theory, yet it was crowded here too.
Ling Feng looked toward the deepest part of the crowd. By a pavilion beside the bamboo grove, a group of people had gathered around as though watching something. Ling Feng peered inside and finally saw it.
Inside the pavilion sat a breathtakingly beautiful girl, perhaps the prettiest girl Ling Feng had ever seen in her life.
Ling Feng even felt that the girl seemed to carry a faint trace of what she herself looked like after transforming.
The girl sat calmly at the front, her delicate brows slightly furrowed as she gently bit her red lips. Seated quietly in the bamboo pavilion, her slender fingers plucked at a guqin while her cherry lips softly sang a beautiful melody.
The girl's features were naturally exquisite, like a dreamlike flower in empty air. Her peerless figure resembled an immortal fallen into the mortal world!
She wore a pale pink dress, untouched by even a speck of dust. Her pink hair framed that peerless face. Her fine willow-leaf brows should have made her seem gentle and tender, but they were faintly knit, making her appear stubborn and distant.
There was not a ripple in her indifferent eyes. No emotion could be seen on her graceful face. Her red lips were soft and pink, yet carried no world-toppling smile, merely adorning that icy face with coldness. Her aloof demeanor clearly warned strangers to stay away.
When the girl finished playing, thunderous applause immediately erupted around her. Praise, compliments, and admiration echoed all around.
But Ling Feng did not pay much attention. She had not forgotten the purpose of her trip.
Because there were so many people, nearly all of Ling Feng's tea eggs had sold in less than ten minutes.
Ling Feng briefly counted her earnings. It was around forty or fifty yuan.
Not bad. Places with lots of people really were good for making money.
In the morning at the old town, she had mainly relied on passing students and office workers. This time, most customers were tourists out for a leisurely walk.
Ling Feng had been a little worried when she came over. Who ate tea eggs late at night? But there really were plenty of idle people around.
Only a few remained, and Ling Feng did not plan to sell them anymore. She began packing up to call it a night when a soft, delicate voice sounded beside her.
"Hello, please give me a tea egg."
Ling Feng looked toward the source of the voice and froze slightly. Wasn't this the girl who had been playing the guqin in the pavilion earlier?
The girl's voice was gentle and soft, like wind chimes. Her expression was calm, and there was not a trace of impurity in her eyes. Ling Feng could not read any emotion from her, so she simply replied.
"One fifty."
After Ling Feng said that, the girl began looking for money.
But at that moment, Ling Feng became curious. What kind of family could raise a child like this?
This girl seemed to have no emotions or feelings at all. One might even call her cold?
Ling Feng believed that if that cool and stunning face smiled, it would be incomparably breathtaking.
Her temperament was like an orchid's: proud and aloof, yet elegant and fragrant.
Her slender hand lifted lightly, holding a phone.
It was an iPhone 12!
Ling Feng recognized it at a glance! Damn rich people!
"Sorry, I don't have cash. Can I pay by phone?" the girl asked.
Ling Feng did not answer immediately. She remembered the Nokia still sitting in the left pocket of her pants.
She sighed inwardly. If only she had a touchscreen phone, she could at least try asking for her WeChat.
Even the computer Ling Feng used for gaming at home had been handed down by Ling Xiaoyu. It took half an hour just to boot up. Sigh, life~
"Have it."
Ling Feng did not care much and turned to leave.
In Ling Feng's heart, the girl was like an elf beneath the moonlight, both illusory and real.
They would not have any dealings in the future anyway. It was only a tea egg. She was not stingy enough to fuss over that.
The girl stood where she was, silently watching Ling Feng disappear into the sea of people as she murmured to herself.
"Would it be inappropriate to take something from someone like this?"
The girl peeled open the tea egg with her slender fingers, gently took a small piece, and brought it to her lips to taste.
"A faint scent of lilies..."
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