"Fall for someone else?"
Susan said expressionlessly, "I have plenty of complaints about Ziyuan, and I don't want to sing her praises, but objectively speaking, which of us four do you think could measure up to her and make Jiang Si fall for someone else?"
"We have to try." Yinluo looked serious. "Letting Jiang Si stay entangled with Ziyuan won't just be bad for his future life. It'll be bad for Keke's future too."
In reality, it was bad for Yinluo's own life and future.
God only knew how Yinluo had felt when she saw those two together...
Back then, because she had concluded that Jiang Si was using polluted magic power to strengthen himself, she had simply told him to come to her if he couldn't hold out anymore-to be honest, she hadn't spelled it out, and her wording itself had been rather ambiguous.
If Jiang Si wasn't that sensitive, he probably wouldn't think along those lines.
Even if he did, she had plenty of explanations she could offer.
So Yinluo hadn't actually been very worried when she said those things to Jiang Si-provided Ziyuan wasn't involved.
That cold-blooded magical girl wouldn't let a single Witch Association member slip away.
Once she grew suspicious, Yinluo's little tricks and schemes wouldn't amount to much.
But again, without conclusive evidence, the Azure Cloud Sect wouldn't casually kill people, not even Ziyuan.
When they dared to kill, they would definitely leave behind evidence that the other party was a Witch Association member. Otherwise, the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau would have turned against them and called in people from headquarters long ago.
So as long as she didn't leave more evidence behind, Ziyuan couldn't just act at will either.
What she feared was being hauled off for interrogation.
Leaving aside her unmatched strength in Beihai, the magical girls within the Azure Cloud Sect not only had diverse abilities but had developed them extensively. They had plenty of ways to pry her mouth open.
Although her first thought had been to flee straight back to the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, once she calmed down, she quickly realized that this was precisely the time when she couldn't run.
If Ziyuan wanted to capture her, running back to the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau would do no good.
The situation hadn't completely spiraled out of control yet. She couldn't panic and flee back to the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, exposing herself before the other side had even done anything.
She had to find out exactly what was going on first.
At the very least, she had to separate Jiang Si and Ziyuan first.
If all else failed, she could only use her last resort to escape...
"My question's still the same," Peony said quietly again. "Are you sure this won't anger Ziyuan?"
"That's why we need to make Jiang Si show his ugly side and make Ziyuan dislike him," Yinluo explained. "Seduce Jiang Si, let Ziyuan discover he isn't faithful, make her dislike him and break up with him herself. Then it'll have nothing to do with us."
"That makes sense. I'm just afraid she'll take it out on us."
"As the head of the Azure Cloud Sect, surely she has at least that much magnanimity?"
"With a girl in love, who knows..."
As for her actually taking her anger out on the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, that was naturally something Yinluo would welcome right now.
The fiercer the conflict between the Azure Cloud Sect and the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, the better her circumstances would be.
"Besides, Jiang Si is clearly an inexperienced boy."
Yinluo glanced toward Ziyuan. Even though Jiang Si's display of strength had drawn a great deal of attention.
Quite a few people were still sneaking glances at Ziyuan.
Even among magical girls, her looks were outstanding. A university laboratory had once researched the positive correlation between magical girls' looks and strength, but it had later been mocked so widely that the study was canceled.
Yinluo had only treated it as a joke back then, but now she couldn't help wondering a little. Perhaps there really was a connection?
Gathering her thoughts, she smiled teasingly. "Jiang Si won't necessarily like the prettiest girl. Besides, we each have our own strengths in looks and bearing. It's not as if we're completely inferior to Ziyuan. Maybe he likes another type. From what I've seen along the way, he hasn't seemed that interested in Ziyuan. Don't you agree, Yinlian?"
Startled at hearing her name, Yinlian nodded. "Right..."
Yinluo had intended to have Yinlian try.
As her older sister, how could she not know that her little sister was somewhat fond of Jiang Si?
The two attended the same school, and Yinluo also knew about Yinlian stepping in to protect Jiang Si when a teacher had given him trouble there.
Her silly little sister never hid anything from her.
Compared with the overly mature and composed Ziyuan, Yinlian was livelier, and her relationship with Jiang Si wasn't bad. They attended the same school and had plenty of opportunities. There was no harm in trying.
She could also help find out whether Jiang Si had told Ziyuan what Yinluo had said.
Unexpectedly, Peony raised her hand and volunteered again. "Leave it to me!"
Keke, Susan, and Yinlian all gave her strange looks. Yinluo looked at this perpetually flighty member of the magical combat squad with something of a headache. "Uh, you're already a teacher, Peony. A teacher and a student wouldn't be appropriate..."
"We're not at school right now."
"I meant your age..."
Peony immediately snorted. "What do you know? What little virgins like him fall for most is a mature, charming older woman. I only need to make a little effort, and I'll have him in the bag."
"You'd better."
Susan curled her lip beside her. "A charming older woman nobody's ever confessed to."
"As if anyone's ever confessed to you, Susan!"
"I got love letters in high school."
"I got them in elementary school too!"
Yinlian, who had been staring blankly until then, frowned and tapped the equipment beside her. "Quiet."
Though short, Yinlian's voice carried authority when she grew serious. After all, she was the magical girl combat squad's captain and was used to giving orders.
Susan and Peony stopped arguing and looked at Yinlian, who had assumed her captain's bearing.
"This is important. We can't be careless. Peony, are you sure you want to try?"
Peony nodded. "I believe I can do it. Captain, you need to believe in me too. When have I ever lied to you?"
"...Plenty of times."
"Huh? Have I?"
Sighing, Yinlian hesitated before asking again, "Do you really want to try?"
"I really do."
Yinlian asked again, "You don't... like Jiang Si, do you?"
"You might as well say I like Ziyuan, Captain Yinlian." Peony looked speechless. "This is just for the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau, and to keep Jiang Si from going astray."
"You're certainly selfless." Susan had intended to mock her, but after glancing at Ziyuan in the distance, she seemed to suddenly remember something.
She grabbed Peony's hand and said earnestly, "This mission is arduous. You absolutely have to succeed."
Having no idea what had gotten into her friend, Peony curled her lip. "Fine. Watch me."
Yinlian finally stopped questioning her too, only saying quietly, "Don't push yourself too hard. If it doesn't work, let it go."
"Don't worry, Captain. I'll definitely complete the mission!"
"Uh, you don't have to complete it..."
Watching Peony straighten her clothes and even deliberately expose some skin, Yinlian couldn't help saying again, "Is that really necessary?"
"Visual stimulation is essential, Captain. When would a little virgin have seen anything like this?"
Peony proudly patted her chest. Of the five girls, she had the best figure and the largest bust. Patting her chest now was something of a show of superiority:
"Ziyuan is pretty, but she's got a little girl's figure, skinny as a board. Nothing worth looking at. Boys prefer my type. As long as I'm a little bolder, I guarantee he'll blush scarlet, show every bit of his ugly side, and get dumped by Ziyuan right away."
"How do you know so much?"
"I deal with adolescent boys at school every day. Of course I know. Those little brats pick Chun-Li when they play Street Fighter and Mai Shiranui when they play The King of Fighters..."
"All right, all right, I get it..."
As she watched Peony head over, Yinlian glanced back at Keke.
Slumped listlessly over a piece of equipment, Keke stared blankly at Ziyuan in the distance. Who knew what she was thinking?
Ever since seeing Jiang Si and Ziyuan together, Keke had seemed dispirited.
It was understandable, really.
Keke admired Ziyuan most of all. Yinlian had known that from their very first meeting.
Keke had joined the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau to catch up to Ziyuan, meet her more often, and become her friend.
And Jiang Si was the older brother she hated most.
Her most revered teacher had become a couple with her most hated brother...
Yinlian hardly dared imagine how Keke felt now. It had to be terribly complicated and painful.
Earlier, when Keke came out of the restroom at the cold-drink shop, even her eyes had been a little red.
Although Yinlian's own feelings were complicated too.
Beside her, Susan had started arguing with her sister again. Hearing how heavily the air reeked of gunpowder, she didn't go over to interject.
Her sister and Susan had never gotten along, but both were veteran employees of the Disaster Countermeasures Bureau. They knew their limits, so she didn't need to worry.
Just as she was wondering how to comfort Keke, Keke suddenly asked, "Yiyi, do you like Jiang Si?"
Yinlian parted her lips, her cheeks slightly red and her gaze a little troubled. "Like him? I-I don't think so yet. We haven't known each other very long, even though I've seen him at school plenty of times..."
She really hadn't given the question much thought.
Jiang Si had already been something of a celebrity at school before, causing trouble everywhere, fighting delinquents, and infuriating Teacher Zhang, who could do nothing about him. Even with all the classes he skipped, the principal had insisted on preserving his enrollment.
Of course Yinlian had known about him long ago. Back then, though, she had viewed him as a cautionary example, even if she occasionally thought he looked impressive when she saw him fighting.
But she was a magical girl, after all. However good ordinary people were at fighting, to her it was no different from playing around.
After she got to know him through Keke, many of her impressions changed. His attitude toward Keke sometimes upset Yinlian, but most of the time, she still felt Jiang Si wasn't that bad.
He just wasn't that good either.
"Then do you hate Jiang Si?"
Yinlian immediately shook her head. "No. Although Senior Jiang Si goes overboard with some things, I still don't think he's a bad person. It's just that sometimes his personality is awful and makes people angry. It would be nice if he could change that."
At the very least, she believed that if he could communicate properly with Keke, the siblings' relationship wouldn't have reached this point.
Keke sat blankly for a while, then said quietly, "Then would you want to..."
Halfway through, Keke suddenly shook her head again and shut her mouth.
That wouldn't be good for Yiyi.
Unless she really liked him, having her approach someone like Jiang Si and try dating him would be harming Yiyi.
She looked up at Teacher Ziyuan with some distress.
Just what had she fallen for in Jiang Si?
She couldn't understand.
Over there, the brimmingly confident Peony had already reached Jiang Si's vicinity.
Since he was still lifting weights, quite a few people surrounded him. By now, even the voices speaking to him had stopped. Everyone simply watched in stunned silence as he repeatedly lifted a barbell heavier and taller than the boy himself.
They all sucked in cold breaths, leaving the surrounding air a little short of oxygen.
Peony couldn't get close for the moment and could only wait nearby.
Only once Jiang Si finished exercising did the people around him gradually disperse. There was almost nobody around Ziyuan either. Though outstandingly beautiful, in a gym she lacked the appeal of a monster like Jiang Si.
Once she walked beside Jiang Si, few people stared at her.
With Jiang Si beside her, the gym's men only had eyes for this boy with an unremarkable build and terrifying strength.
Peony quickened her pace and approached. She had intended to find a chance to strike up a conversation and display her charms, but Jiang Si and Ziyuan walked all the way to a yoga practice area.
This frighteningly large gym offered a variety of services, including a yoga practice area and a boxing ring.
The yoga practice area was empty now too. Peony looked up and saw that yoga instruction wouldn't begin until evening.
The two stepped onto the yoga floor with their shoes on. The yoga instructor, who had been sitting by the wall looking at a phone, immediately stood up, frowning and ready to scold them.
But before the instructor could speak, Jiang Si suddenly whipped a fierce roundhouse kick at Ziyuan's head!
Never mind the yoga instructor-even Peony was dumbfounded!
He had absolutely held nothing back in that kick. Its force was terrifying!
Yet Ziyuan still wore a smile. Casually catching the right roundhouse kick that was almost a blur in midair, she abruptly twisted it. Jiang Si could only spin through the air with it to keep his ankle from being snapped.
Immediately afterward, he drove a front kick hard into Ziyuan's arm, kicking away the wrist of the hand holding his right leg before landing steadily.
"You two..."
The yoga instructor had barely begun speaking when Jiang Si lunged again, his fists and feet bombarding Ziyuan like artillery shells!
Unhurried, Ziyuan steadily caught every attack, then found openings to unexpectedly strike his arm with her palm, punch his lower abdomen, or casually kick his ankle.
Before long, Jiang Si was covered in injuries, but he showed no intention of stopping.
Jiang Si had long wanted to try pitting his flesh-and-blood body at full strength against his own magical girl body.
Though the gap was enormous, he would never know exactly where it lay without fighting.
Although the magic puppet couldn't compare to Ziyuan when he transformed himself, the magic power supplied earlier hadn't been low. Coupled with Blue Flower's astonishing ability, the Ziyuan puppet before him already possessed almost thirty or forty percent of his transformed strength.
Thus, even while splitting his attention to control her, he handled his flesh-and-blood body's all-out assault with ease.
His own speed counted as sluggish in the puppet's eyes, so blocking the attacks wasn't difficult. As for finding openings to land unexpected blows on himself, that was because Jiang Si could clearly see enormous openings while controlling the puppet.
He didn't even need to seize those openings. A casual strike would hit.
Even holding himself back from attacking was difficult.
The yoga instructor, who had still wanted to speak, moved their lips, watching Jiang Si slam into the wall with a crash that made it shudder and shed dust, then climb up as though nothing had happened and keep attacking.
The instructor picked up the phone and quietly sat back down in the corner.
The other gymgoers naturally noticed what was happening too, watching the young couple's ferocious exchange with their jaws hanging open.
Finally, when Ziyuan kicked Jiang Si's right knee again, he immediately dropped to one knee and stopped attacking.
There was a bruise on his left cheek, his right wrist was swollen, and his left ankle kept trembling...
It was a thorough defeat.
"Sure enough, only this deserves to be called a date. Don't you agree, Ziyuan?"
Although he had been beaten black and blue, Jiang Si sounded exceptionally exhilarated.
He had spent the whole outing awkward and stifled to death. Fighting himself to his heart's content was far more satisfying.
This was also the best ending to the date he had come up with after thinking throughout the outing.
Ziyuan reached out and pulled him up, only saying gently, "As long as you're happy."
Despite that ferocious exchange, not a single strand of Ziyuan's hair was out of place. Every movement was as leisurely as a stroll through a quiet courtyard.
The gymgoers who had originally been drawn to Jiang Si now focused their gazes on Ziyuan again.
They had thought Jiang Si was already beyond reason, only to find his girlfriend even more inconceivable...
"That was a satisfying date. Let's do this again next time."
"Whatever you say."
Looking at the utterly compliant Ziyuan, Peony felt the world's disparities and absurdity.
Was this the same terrifying magical girl who had slaughtered the Witch Association's members in cold blood?
Even more terrifying, was this Jiang Si not human either?
Was this how people went on dates?
They actually ended it with a fight? And left each other covered in injuries, with bruised noses and swollen faces?
Seeing the couple emerge from the yoga studio, Peony immediately put on her clothes, covering her skin.
She turned and left.
What a joke! Who would want to seduce a freak like that!
When she returned, faced with all those skeptical gazes, Peony could only give an awkward laugh:
"I feel like they really are a perfect match, a talented man and a beautiful woman, a pair made in heaven..."
Three pairs of somewhat terrifying eyes instantly converged on her, frightening Peony into silence.
"Useless." Susan snorted. "Next, just watch..."
Before she could finish, the lovely figure who had been in the yoga studio just moments ago suddenly stood before the five of them.
The gentle smile at the corners of her lips had vanished without a trace, leaving only a bone-deep chill on her face.
She seemed like an entirely different person.
The purple-haired girl leaned forward slightly and swept an emotionless gaze over them. The girls who had been about to rise were forced back into their seats by her gaze alone.
"Seen enough?"
All five held their breath at once.