Inside the Azure Cloud Sect's pitch-black secret base on the outskirts.
There was no light at all. Only the tender green four-leaf clover stood out in the mirror, constantly spinning within it.
An ethereal voice rang out. "The Witch Association's stench is as nauseating as ever..."
A young, lively voice came from the other side. "Sister Four Leaves Clover, I've detected people from the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau."
"Activate the Illusory Moon Grand Formation to interfere with their observation."
"Sister, which Illusory Moon Grand Formation?"
"Idiot, didn't the sect master name Obscuring Leaf's fifth form the Illusory Moon Grand Formation earlier!"
"No, sister, the sect master clearly said the Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams Illusory Moon Grand Formation."
"Aren't they all the same?"
"The sect master said the prefixes make a big difference. The Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams Illusory Moon Grand Formation is..."
"All right, all right, I know, Six Leaves. Hurry up and deploy the Heaven and Earth Illusory Moon Grand Formation."
"It's Heaven and Earth Eight Trigrams..."
"Six Leaves!" A hint of embarrassed irritation entered the ethereal voice.
"But that's what the sect master said..." The lively voice sounded a little aggrieved. Then countless leaf veins began spreading over the mirror, concealing the four-leaf clover as well. "Third form, second form, first form, mediocre work, Illusion of One Leaf Obscuring the Eye."
"Fifth form, masterpiece, Mirror Flower, Water Moon."
"Having to deploy them from the beginning every time is too slow..." After muttering that complaint, the ethereal voice immediately drew in the four-leaf clover in the mirror. "They're here. It's the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau."
Countless eyes opened within the mirror, but every time a pair opened, leaves covered them.
More and more eyes appeared. As the leaves covered them, fewer and fewer leaves remained on the mirror, until its entire surface was clear and a single closed eye appeared.
Then it snapped open! It sought to take in everything here!
"As expected of the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's magical granny. She's really something, breaking through this far."
"Six Leaves, don't be so rude. Call her magical auntie."
"Oh, magical auntie's eye really is useful. Too bad Six Leaves' Mirror Flower, Water Moon is even more perfect."
Then a leaf drifted gently down through the air into the pupil in the mirror. A ripple spread through that pupil as though it were water, and ring after ring of leaf veins appeared.
As though it had been hypnotized.
Then that wide-open eye slowly closed before disappearing completely from the mirror.
The four-leaf clover reappeared on the mirror. "We can finally investigate the Witch Association. What a nuisance, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau..."
"All they do is hold us back."
The ethereal voice drifted through the air. "Turn over Four Leaves Clover's Fate Cards."
As the four-leaf clover spun, the mirror showed Limp, who had accepted the Grief Seed. As the clover rotated counterclockwise, it even revealed a woman clad in a black robe that concealed her figure.
It captured the instant she took out the Grief Seed and handed it to Limp.
"Divination, first hexagram, name."
The first leaf turned over. "Du Juan."
"Divination, second hexagram, identity."
The second leaf turned over. "Magical girl."
"Divination, third hexagram, location."
The third leaf...
The instant it turned over, it suddenly burst into flames!
The remaining leaves withered together, and the ethereal voice gave a brief cry of pain.
"Sister, sister, are you all right?"
"I'm fine. The Witch Association noticed us. That Auntie Du Juan must be a core member of the Witch Association. Why did she approach the sect master?"
"The Obscuring Leaves on the sect master and Lady Bingtang haven't disappeared yet. It should just be a coincidence."
"No, it might be the sect master's little sister. They've set their sights on Keke."
"Then we have to notify Lady Bingtang right away!"
The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, divination room.
The cyan magical girl, who had been wearing glasses and sitting primly before the desk, suddenly slammed her head into it.
Yinluo, who was reviewing documents beside her, jumped in fright. She immediately put down her pen, went over, and shook the cyan magical girl. "Peony, Peony? Why did you fall asleep again?"
Only after a long while did the cyan magical girl manage to push herself up from the desk. She fumbled around for ages before finding her glasses. After struggling to put them on, she hissed through her teeth and rubbed her forehead. "Those two hateful little brats! Sooner or later, I'm going to arrest them!"
Yinluo sighed in relief and returned to her seat. "Haven't you failed to beat them even once?"
"Two against one isn't fair to begin with. I'm the only one in BH City's Disaster Countermeasures Bureau with this kind of investigative ability. Of course it's hard. Borrow a reconnaissance-type magical girl from the neighboring bureau to work with me, and I'll definitely take them down!"
After undoing her transformation, the cyan magical girl revealed a rather youthful, pretty appearance. She was not actually that old, only in her twenties, but with her glasses and stern face, she looked a little like a mature homeroom teacher.
Peony did indeed work as a teacher.
"They actually dared to call me auntie, and even granny!" Peony slapped the desk, gritting her teeth. "Once I catch them, I'm going to give their bottoms a good spanking! Students won't learn to behave unless you hit them!"
Yinluo smiled helplessly. "All right, so how are you going to explain this to Yinlian? The assignment she gave you was to find members of the Witch Association, but you ended up tangling with the Azure Cloud Sect again."
"I couldn't help it."
Peony hung her head dejectedly. "I searched all over and didn't see anyone from the Witch Association, but those two girls were far too conspicuous. I thought if I took them down, I might be able to follow the vine to the melon and find the Witch Association."
"I think you just wanted to settle a personal grudge." Yinluo was rather speechless. "Yinlian will definitely be angry. She won't let you fudge things when it comes to this."
At that, Peony, the teacher, looked even more miserable.
At school, Yinlian was a student and Peony was a teacher, and Yinlian still respected teachers, even one who did not teach her at the same school.
But at the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, Yinlian was the captain of the Magical Girl Combat Team and held absolute authority to reward and punish its members.
For failing to complete her assignment properly, Peony could not escape having her pay docked, or even writing a self-criticism.
When Yinlian grew serious, even seniors like them were afraid of her.
"Please, Yinluo, put in a good word for me. She's your little sister. Surely she'll listen to you..."
"Don't come to me. When she gets angry, she doesn't treat me as her older sister."
"How could she..."
Yinluo paused. "So, did you find any leads?"
Peony perked up a little. "No. As always, the Witch Association guards against this too tightly. They're impossible to find. Those two Azure Cloud Sect girls have unusual abilities, so they might pick up a few traces, but they'll probably get hurt too. I hope they don't push themselves. The Witch Association's methods are too insidious."
"Rather than worrying about the Azure Cloud Sect, you'd be better off worrying about the Witch Association."
Yinluo laughed. "Do you know how many Witch Association members the Azure Cloud Sect has killed over the years? So far, only one Azure Cloud Sect member has fallen and joined the Witch Association. Their casualty figures aren't even in the same league. There's nothing to worry about."
"I'm a teacher." Peony snorted. "No matter how many Witch Association members die, it's no loss. But those two Azure Cloud Sect girls have great potential, and they're not bad at heart. After all these years, the worst they've done is make me doze off. They've never struck to kill. Of course I don't want anything to happen to them."
"Don't harbor too many illusions about the Azure Cloud Sect," Yinluo said gravely. "You know better than I do what their sect master Shion has done."
Peony's expression turned rather unpleasant too. Then she shook her head. "I know. Don't worry. I'm only concerned about those two little brats. I don't know the others in the Azure Cloud Sect, and they have nothing to do with me. Whoever wants to arrest them can go ahead. It's not my place to interfere. But those two girls are mine to deal with personally. I'll spank their bottoms good and hard to vent my anger!"
Yinluo did not respond. She merely stared at the documents in her hands, lost in thought, with no telling what was on her mind.
Opening her eyes in the darkness, Du Juan touched the scar on her face.
She gave a surprised "Huh?"
"It actually failed?"
She muttered to herself in disbelief.
The Grief Seed Limp had received contained considerable power. Even if it was only a half-finished product, it was certainly not something an ordinary person could handle.
That power had approached that of a bud-stage magical girl.
She tentatively activated her crystal ball, intending to trace back and investigate what had happened.
But something clearly interfered with her retrospective viewing. Leaf veins covered the crystal ball, making it impossible to see what had happened. She could only vaguely make out Limp being knocked to the ground.
Was there interference magic on Jiang Si similar to that of the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's magical girls?
Perhaps it was a safety measure the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau had prepared specifically for new magical girls. After all, the Witch Association had often targeted new magical girls' families before. It was normal for them to take precautions.
As she pondered, the crystal ball in her hand suddenly lit up. The leaf veins covering it disappeared, and her captain's face appeared. "What are you doing, Du Juan! The Azure Cloud Sect has already divined your name. If I hadn't stopped them in time, even your location would have been exposed! Do you have a death wish!"
Du Juan was left stunned by the scolding. Then she frowned. "How is that possible? I didn't sense anything."
"By the time you sensed anything, the daylilies would have gone cold! The Disaster Countermeasures Bureau and the Azure Cloud Sect have swept your area twice. Peony from the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau is manageable enough. Her reconnaissance abilities are limited. But with the Azure Cloud Sect, the slightest carelessness will let them see everything. How many times have I warned you! Be careful, be careful! This is the Azure Cloud Sect's territory!"
Du Juan's face and neck flushed under the scolding. She wanted to argue back, but could find no grounds to do so.
After all, if her captain had not intervened, she really might have been done for.
She had been absorbed in Limp and Jiang Si's battle from beginning to end, never realizing that the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau and the Azure Cloud Sect were already tracking her.
"Have you caught Jiang Si?"
When her captain asked again, Du Juan was rather embarrassed. "Soon. I sent a half-finished product to capture him earlier, but unexpectedly, it failed. Perhaps its unstable condition caused it to collapse on its own."
She said confidently, "That half-finished product was indeed an oversight on my part. I forgot to conceal it. I thought it would take Jiang Si down quickly, but it won't happen this time. I'll act personally and carefully conceal my aura so they won't detect me. I'll capture Jiang Si as quickly as possible! There absolutely won't be any mistakes!"
The captain's expression softened slightly. "I've always trusted your work the most, but you were far too careless this time. Be more cautious."
"Understood, Captain."
Then Du Juan added, "However, I tried to look back over Jiang Si's fight with my half-finished Calamity Beast earlier, and something interfered. Perhaps the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau placed magic on him in advance to guard against us making a move."
Du Juan analyzed the information she had obtained and offered her judgment. "It seems the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau places considerable importance on this new magical girl. Not only did they investigate immediately, they also gave Jiang Si protection in advance. If we capture Jiang Si and threaten that new magical girl, or even draw her into the Witch Association, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau will probably find it very painful. Hehehe."
"Good." The captain sounded pleased. "Oleander hasn't been making much progress over there lately. Our Calamity Beast still needs some time before it can be born. Right now, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau's attention is entirely focused on the Miracle Seed, making it hard for her to act. If your plan succeeds, their attention will shift, making things easier for Oleander too."
"Heh, I don't think Oleander is all that reliable. Is she unable to get it out, or does she not want to?" the woman said with a sinister expression. "If she can't bring out the Miracle Seed this time, I suggest we cripple her."
"Ever since the Azure Cloud Sect began hunting us, finding new recruits has grown harder and harder. Oleander's motives are entirely credible. I don't think there's any need for suspicion."
The captain continued gravely, "Besides, missions are becoming increasingly difficult. Every time, we face attacks from both the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau and the Azure Cloud Sect. Especially the Azure Cloud Sect-even you nearly capsized. We're already short on people. It would be better to have less infighting, Du Juan."
"Suit yourself. Just don't fly into a rage and take it out on me if Oleander deceives you. Still, the Azure Cloud Sect reacted so quickly and divined my name. They might be watching Jiang Si too."
The captain froze, seemingly not having considered that. "Really? Why would the Azure Cloud Sect be watching him? They only care about magical girls. He's a man, isn't he?"
Du Juan sneered. "For the first time, a new magical girl appeared and was taken away by the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau. With how petty the Azure Cloud Sect is, they're bound to try to regain face. They might also be thinking of abducting Jiang Si, then forcing that new magical girl to join the Azure Cloud Sect."
Understanding dawned on the captain's face, and she nodded. "Very possible. No wonder they found you so quickly. The Azure Cloud Sect really is no better. They use the same methods as us, yet still dare to condemn our Witch Association with such righteous indignation. What absolute animals."
"In short, we have to act before they do. That new magical girl, Jiang Keke, has only this one older brother left in her family. The two have depended on each other for so many years, so she's bound to care about him deeply. Once we capture Jiang Si, she'll walk right into our net. Hehehe..."
Once the captain left and the crystal dimmed, Du Juan stepped out of the wall again. It was already late.
After some thought, she turned back and took a seed from within the wall.
A pitch-black, already rotten seed.
Although she had not used it in a long time and did not think she would need it.
Still, there was never anything wrong with preparing for the worst.