Chương 112: The Disguise Exposed at Lightning Speed

The night breeze carried a slight chill, rustling the leaves of the trees in the park.

Yin Xue and Liu Li stood side by side, looking at the petite figure in front of them, whose limbs were firmly bound by emerald green magic vines and who looked somewhat dejected. For a moment, they were both at a loss for words.

"So—" Liuli broke the silence first, turning her head to the side, her icy blue eyes filled with disbelief and deep confusion.

"You mean, after you spotted him, he didn't even turn his head and just ran away? He didn't have any conflict with you at all?"

Yin Xue nodded, her face also showing confusion: "That's right, I just shouted 'Who are you?' and she ran away in a flash, her speed was frightening!"

She paused, then countered, "And what happened after she met you, Xiao Li? She was only focused on dodging your attacks, showing absolutely no intention of retaliating?"

"Hmm." Liuli responded, "Not only did they not retaliate, they didn't even put up a proper defense, as if—they were afraid of hurting me."

This obvious fact left both inexperienced magical girls completely bewildered.

They simply couldn't understand why this mysterious girl, who exuded powerful ethereal energy and possessed astonishing speed, would do something so contradictory.

Meanwhile, Jiying also felt extremely helpless.

After Yin Xue arrived at the scene, she realized that it was impossible for her to escape without attacking the two of them or summoning her arm armor for defense.

Continuing to fight them would not only waste precious energy, but also risk being hit by one of their attacks and getting injured, which would be a greater loss than gain.

Therefore, the moment she was entangled by Yin Xue's vines, she decisively chose to surrender.

Then, she decided to try to "negotiate" with these two juniors who were clearly still wary and hostile towards her.

If she could get away with it, all the better; if not, she would have to look for another chance to escape.

Although the magical vines summoned by Yin Xue seemed to bind her in a position that could easily evoke some unhealthy associations, to be honest, it wouldn't take her much effort to break free if she really wanted to.

However, doing so would waste energy unnecessarily, and it would also inevitably provoke the two girls in front of him who were clearly still on high alert.

They might launch a new attack on her without any regard for the consequences, binding her into an even stranger and more easily misunderstood position.

Therefore, she did not intend to make any rash moves in the short term until she found a foolproof way to escape.

"Hey! Who exactly are you?!" Seeing that Ji Ying had been keeping his head down and not speaking for a long time, Liu Li finally couldn't hold back any longer, took a step forward, and questioned him in a deep voice.

Jiying slowly raised her head, revealing an expression that she perceived as "innocent and friendly," but which appeared somewhat "suspicious and pretentious" in the eyes of Liuli and Yinxue.

"I'm definitely not your enemy."

Liuli's brows furrowed even more: "You're radiating such obvious ethereal energy fluctuations; how can we believe you're not an enemy?"

"Virtual energy and magic are ultimately just two different types of power," Ji Ying immediately retorted.

"They are neither good nor evil in themselves; the key lies in how they are used, and—who is the one using them."

"Putting everything else aside, doesn't your Jiangchuan City's Bureau of Extraterrestrial Intelligence also have many affable but incompetent field agents? Are they—also your enemies?"

Upon hearing this, Liuli was momentarily speechless. She did know that there were some agents with special abilities within the Bureau of Extraordinary Abilities, but— Liuli quickly found a new point of rebuttal, her sharp eyes fixed on Jiying: "The ethereal energy fluctuations emanating from you, and the astonishing speed you displayed earlier, are beyond the reach of ordinary field operators!"

"This explanation does absolutely not clear your name of suspicion!"

"But I've been deliberately trying to avoid conflict with you all," Ji Ying said, her tone carrying just the right amount of grievance.

"From the very beginning, I haven't shown you any hostility, have I? You should have noticed that too, right?"

Listening to their conversation and seeing Ji Ying's pitiful appearance, Yin Xue's vigilance relaxed somewhat.

She hesitated before speaking, "Well—Xiao Li, what she said seems to make some sense—"

"Yinxue!" Liuli immediately turned her head and glared at her with slight dissatisfaction.

Yin Xue stuck out her tongue, not daring to say anything more.

Liuli turned her gaze back to Jiying and shook her head: "I have never met anyone before who exudes such powerful ethereal energy fluctuations as you, yet is not our enemy."

She paused, a complex light flashing in her icy blue eyes, as if she had remembered something: "Besides that mysterious being I met in the park before, codenamed 'Silent Shadow'."

As soon as she finished speaking, she suddenly raised her head and fixed her gaze on the face of the girl who was bound by vines.

An absurd yet undeniable thought flashed through her mind like lightning.

"Could it be that you are Jiying?"

Hearing Liuli's astonishing guess, Yin Xue's eyes widened instantly. She looked at her incredulously, "Isn't 'Silent Shadow' the one you mentioned, the one who forced back the Void Realm Apostle Mirror Lord and effortlessly killed the Corrosion-level Void Beast—the heavily armored knight covered in black?"

She looked the petite and adorable girl in front of her up and down, who looked to be no more than twelve or thirteen years old, and couldn't connect her with the powerful and oppressive figure that Liuli had described earlier.

Liuli herself felt that this guess was too outrageous and unbelievable.

Connecting that powerful and terrifying heavily armored knight with this girl dressed in an excessively daring manner is as absurd as saying that a little kitten can dismantle a Gundam with its bare hands.

However, as she tried to calm her shock and carefully recalled the brief and chaotic exchange, Some details that she had previously overlooked were gradually pieced together in her mind, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.

First and foremost is attitude.

Whether it was the "Silent Shadow" they had encountered in the park before, or the strange girl in front of them, both exhibited a similar attitude.

They all seem to be deliberately avoiding real conflict with themselves, or even intentionally or unintentionally protecting themselves?

If this could only be considered a vague feeling, then the black arm armor she had seen on the girl's arm in that instant was important evidence.

Although it is much smaller, its design and its ridiculously strong defensive capabilities are exactly the same.

She knew best how sturdy her ice blade was; it was a weapon capable of inflicting effective damage even on the shell of an erosion-level Void Beast. Yet, it shattered the moment it hit the arm armor.

Because everything happened so fast, she couldn't connect these suspicious points immediately.

When the bold guess that "the girl in front of her is Jiying" appeared in her mind, she seemed to be able to recall everything that had just happened more clearly.

Faced with Liuli's sudden question, Jiying thought to himself that something was wrong; the thing he least wanted to happen had finally happened.

She knew that her previous act of briefly revealing her arm armor to prevent injury was an unavoidable point of suspicion. Once noticed, Ruri would definitely be suspicious, and she would be unable to provide a reasonable explanation for it.

She tried in vain to hide it, forcing a confused and innocent expression on her face, and asked, "Ji Ying? Who is that? I—have never heard of him."

However, on the other side, after a fierce internal struggle and logical reasoning, Liuli was clearly seven or eight parts certain of her guess.

She ignored Ji Ying's denial and turned to her companion, saying, "Yin Xue, let her go."

Yin Xue hesitated for a moment. Although she was still full of confusion, she chose to do as instructed out of trust in her partner.

As the magical vines gradually disappeared, the restraints on Ji Ying's body suddenly loosened, and he regained his freedom.

She glanced at Liuli in front of her with a complicated expression, then lowered her head slightly.