Chương 148: explains the whereabouts revealed by the conversation.

Facing the gaze of Ji Ying, whose dark red eyes seemed to conceal some kind of worry and reluctance, Xing Xian's eyes flickered slightly.

She paused briefly, seemingly weighing something, but her eyes quickly regained their firmness.

Xingxian slightly raised her delicate eyebrows and replied in an almost matter-of-fact tone, "Of course."

"As the only remaining active magical girls in Jiangchuan City, they have the right to know everything that their former comrades-in-arms have gone through, and they also have a clear understanding of the severity of the current situation."

"Concealing the truth will not bring them any real benefit. It will only put them in greater, and possibly fatal, danger in future battles due to a lack of intelligence and a misjudgment of the enemy's strength."

Xingxian paused, her silver-gray eyes turning to Jiying, her gaze calmly fixed on her: "What, do you—have a different opinion on this?"

Looking into Xingxian's unwavering gaze and sensing the firm resolve in her words, Jiying sighed softly in his heart.

She knew that on this matter of principle, persuading the inspector in front of her would be much more difficult than convincing her that she was a good person at heart, and any form of argument with her would probably be pointless.

Moreover, rationally speaking, Xingxian's words were not wrong. Letting Liuli and Yinxue understand the truth and recognize reality is indeed a necessary prerequisite for helping them grow and survive in the cruel battles to come.

But—just thinking about the immense guilt and self-blame that Liuli might feel when she learns that those seniors who were once "indifferent" to her were not deliberately distancing themselves, but may have met with misfortune, makes Jiying feel a tightness in her chest.

But in the end, she did not voice these deep-seated worries. Instead, after a moment of silence, she nodded gently.

Seeing that Ji Ying did not raise any objections, Xing Xian tacitly accepted the other party's approval of the decision.

She nodded slightly, bringing the topic back to the point that had puzzled and concerned her more: "I already know that the enemy lurking in this city is Mirror Lord."

"But is there any necessary connection between this matter and your partner's forced departure from the city?"

Ji Ying took a deep breath, trying to make his voice sound calm and steady, without too much emotional fluctuation: "Of course."

"Miss Xingxian, since you know something about Jingjue, you should know that he has the ability to create mirror images of himself, right?"

Upon hearing this, Xingxian nodded slightly, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes: "Yes, there are indeed records of this in the kingdom's archives. His mirror image not only possesses extremely strong combat power, but also seems to have the ability to think independently, making him very difficult to deal with."

Then, she looked at Ji Ying with some confusion: "However, I still don't understand why you suddenly brought this up?"

"Because—although I maintained contact with her for quite some time, before that, I was just an ordinary person."

It has only been a few days since I gained the power of this Shadow."

"And the source of this power—" She raised her head, looking directly into Xingxian's eyes, and said, word by word, "is the illusory source left behind by one of Mirror Lord's independent mirror images after it was defeated."

"The Void Source?!" Xingxian's pupils constricted sharply, his body involuntarily leaning forward slightly, his voice rising a few decibels in shock, "You mean—" Jiying ignored the surprise and doubt in Xingxian's tone, and continued to slowly narrate a carefully crafted "truth" in her calm tone: "Not long ago, my partner was unfortunately attacked by Jingjue's independent mirror image clone during a mission."

"Although she ultimately succeeded in defeating and destroying the mirror image, her 'Tear of the Star' was severely damaged in the fierce battle, rendering her temporarily unable to transform again."

"That's why, shortly after that, she told her two Stardust-level juniors that she had to leave Jiangchuan City for a few days because of an urgent matter."

"Actually, she just didn't want them to worry and blame themselves too much because they knew their true situation."

Jiying paused for a moment, then continued, "After that, she handed over the virtual source that originally belonged to Mirror Lord's independent mirror image to me."

"She hopes that I can use this unexpected power to handle any emergencies that may occur in the city during the time I am temporarily unable to transform, and also—take good care of those two inexperienced juniors."

That's roughly how things went.

Jiying raised her head, her dark red eyes calmly fixed on Xingxian, awaiting her reaction.

This explanation can both explain why "Starfrost" failed in her duty and the source of power for her identity as "Silent Shadow".

Moreover, aside from deliberately describing his actions as those of two different people in order to conceal his identity, almost everything he said was the truth.

Of course, whether Xingxian will believe it or not depends on the other party's judgment.

After listening to Ji Ying's account, Xing Xian did not immediately raise any questions, but instead fell into a long silence.

Her eyes gleamed with a complex light, as if she were rapidly analyzing and digesting the vast amount of information that Ji Ying had just revealed.

After a moment, she slowly nodded, a complex expression of relief on her face: "So that's how it is—if the Star Tear is damaged, preventing her from transforming—then there's nothing I can do about her not showing herself during this time."

"It seems that I did have some unnecessary misunderstandings about some of her actions."

Xingxian's gaze turned to Jiying again, and in addition to the initial surprise and inquiry, there was now an undisguised curiosity in her eyes.

"But speaking of which, how was it that you were able to so perfectly absorb and transform the immense void energy contained within Mirror Lord's Void Source into your own power when you were still an ordinary person?"

"As far as I know, whether it's the magic of us magical girls or the ethereal energy of those ethereal apostles, they all contain a unique mark belonging to the user."

"Without the individual's subjective guidance and cooperation, it is extremely difficult for others to absorb and utilize this knowledge; forcibly absorbing it will only result in a backlash."

"How did you do that? This is unheard of, it completely overturns my understanding of the power system."

Xingxian recalled that when Jiying was unconscious, he had tried to sense the faint but exceptionally pure ethereal energy fluctuations within her body.

The feeling was as if that power was something she was born with, perfectly integrated with her own soul, without any signs of rejection or disharmony.

This mysterious girl who calls herself Jiying is practically a walking "miracle" and "unknown".

Looking at the almost overflowing curiosity in Xingxian's eyes, Jiying shook her head helplessly: "To be honest, Miss Xingxian, I myself don't know exactly why."

"Perhaps—it's just because I'm special."

"However," she changed the subject, trying to steer the conversation away from herself, "now doesn't seem like the time to delve into such matters, does it?"

"I've finished my story, so—what are your thoughts now?"

Xingxian looked at Jiying, who clearly didn't want to talk about this issue anymore. Although she was still full of curiosity, she knew that now was not the time to pry.

She pondered for a moment before slowly revealing her decision: "I still want to meet with those two Stardust-level newcomers first to understand their current situation and their views on recent events."

"As for your partner—I'll have a proper talk with her myself once she regains her transformation ability."

"Before we go any further, let's exchange our contact information to facilitate intelligence sharing and necessary communication later on."

Ji Ying nodded slightly and took out her phone from her pocket—the black smartphone she had always used when she was "Lin Che".

She hesitated for a moment when she took out her phone, after all, this phone was connected to her identity as "Lin Che".

But then she thought, since the secret that Jiying was Lin Che had already been exposed to them, even if Xingxian called while the two of them were present, she could just answer the phone after transforming.

She could sense that, using the identity of "Starfrost," she would have many opportunities to interact with the inspector in front of her later on.

If you exchange contact information with Xingxian using another mobile phone now, and there are situations in the future where you need both Xingshuang and Jiying to contact Xingxian at the same time, that would be digging your own grave.

After saving Jiying's number into her phone, Xingxian put her phone—a smartphone with cute stickers on its casing and an exquisite silver snowflake pendant—back into the "Tears of Stars" on her chest.

Ji Ying's gaze lingered on the rather "girlish"-looking phone for a moment, a hint of confusion flashing in her eyes, but she did not raise any questions.

"Thank you so much for sharing that important information, Jiying." Xingxian put her phone away and looked at Jiying again, saying sincerely, "This information will be very helpful for my next investigation."

She paused, then asked with a hint of anticipation, "Regarding Jing Jue, or other possible anomalies in Jiangchuan City, do you—do you have any more information to provide?"

Ji Ying pondered for a moment, then nodded slightly: "There is indeed another very important and extremely dangerous piece of information about Jing Jue that I think you need to know."

Upon hearing this, Xingxian's expression immediately turned serious again. She leaned forward slightly, gesturing for Jiying to continue: "Please speak."

"Based on my companion's previous experiences, I deduce that there is a traitor lurking within the Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs in Jiangchuan City."

"Moreover, this traitor is very likely to have direct collusion with the Void Realm Apostle, Mirror Lord."

"What?!" Upon hearing this shocking news, Xingxian's brows furrowed deeply instantly.

"What's the basis for this? Please explain it to me in detail."

Jiying organized his thoughts for a moment, then slowly began, "It's like this—" After listening to the girl's account, Xingxian's face turned extremely ugly, his eyes filled with obvious regret and self-blame: "Just earlier today, when I arrived in Jiangchuan City to conduct preliminary situation investigation and intelligence gathering, I had already visited the local Bureau of Extraordinary Affairs in accordance with the standard procedures for the operation of the Kingdom's Inspectorate."

"And—I informed them of my identity and the main purpose of my trip, and requested that they provide all necessary assistance and intelligence support."

Upon hearing Xingxian's words, Jiying's dark red pupils contracted sharply, and his expression instantly became extremely solemn.

She looked at Xingxian's delicate face, which had paled slightly at the realization of some terrifying possibility, and her voice was somewhat low: "If that's the case, it means—"

"he----"

"We already knew you were coming."

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