Chương 193: Exposure

The mirror surface rippled violently like water, emitting a cold and eerie light.

Under Ji Ying's unwavering gaze, the figure of a girl with her eyes closed was supported by an invisible force and slowly "pushed" out from the huge floor-to-ceiling mirror.

Xingxian's limbs were bound by some kind of energy shackles, nailed to mid-air in a stretched-out posture, as if there was an invisible cross behind him, making him look like a helpless sacrifice.

Her once dashing and elegant light purple combat suit was now tattered, revealing the girl's fair skin, shocking wounds, and faint bloodstains through the tears.

Her long, pale purple hair hung down in disarray, with a few strands clinging limply to her pale cheeks, which were drained of magic. Her long eyelashes seemed to still bear traces of undried tears, making her look fragile, helpless, and full of broken beauty.

The moment he saw this scene, the dark red eyes inside the menacing black helmet of the Shadowless Warrior suddenly contracted, and a fury that almost burned away his reason surged up from the deepest part of his heart.

—Mirror Lord!!!

This bastard! A hopeless scumbag! To torture and humiliate a magical girl who fights to protect others in this way, to display his companion's pain as an "artwork" is a despicable act that has completely crossed his bottom line.

The murderous intent emanating from the depths of his soul was almost uncontrollable; his fists clenched uncontrollably. For a moment, he even wanted to rush forward recklessly and tear the ridiculous masked man in front of him to shreds.

However, Ji Ying ultimately managed to suppress the rage that was enough to destroy everything by relying on her strong willpower, and on the surface she still maintained an almost cold calm.

She stood there quietly, without anger, without sympathy, and without even the slightest emotional fluctuation, as if she were truly appreciating an interesting "work of art".

He knew that the Mirror Lord in front of him was most likely just a mirror image, and destroying it completely would be useless. Instead, it would expose him and make it even more difficult to bring Xingxian back.

Especially in times like these, it's crucial to remain calm. Never forget your fundamental reason for being here.

"How is it, my dear fellow?" Mirror Lord's voice broke the brief silence. His tone was slightly raised, full of boastfulness. He was very satisfied with Ji Ying's reaction at this moment, enjoying the pleasure of showing off his "masterpiece". He then made a "please" gesture to Ji Ying in an elegant tone, like a theater manager inviting a VIP.

Are you satisfied with my sincerity? Why don't you come forward and take a closer look at this most perfect "collectible" of mine?

Ji Ying suppressed the murderous intent surging in his heart, nodded slightly, and accepted the other party's "invitation".

He didn't step forward immediately, but instead stood there for a moment with his arms crossed, scrutinizing the floating star string with the same care he would give to the goods, as if assessing its value.

Then, he took a step and strolled slowly to Xingxian in a leisurely manner.

He stretched out his right hand, which was covered by an arm guard, and roughly lifted Xingxian's smooth chin, exposing her pale face completely to him, and then looked her over from side to side.

Sensing that Xingxian had almost no magical fluctuations, Jiying's heart sank. He knew that the other party must have gone through an extremely fierce battle to become like this.

Although he was extremely anxious about Xingxian's safety, Jiying maintained his arrogant and indifferent demeanor on the surface, letting out a sneer full of contempt.

He turned his head and looked at Jingjue not far away, saying in a disdainful tone, "Is this the inspector? He doesn't seem that strong, and he looks half dead."

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"Heh—I hope you can maintain this arrogant assessment when you're 'playing' with her later." Mirror Lord replied indifferently, "This Rainbow Light caused me quite a bit of trouble before."

"By the way, I have no objection to fighting her, but remember to control her. If she recovers too much power and escapes from your grasp—you'll have to bring back a magical girl of the same level for me, as per the oath."

"Of course, I remember it all," Ji Ying replied casually.

"Since you've given such an assessment, she must be quite formidable when she's in her full power."

"So I'm also very curious, since she was able to destroy your prized 'rat hole' like this, how did you manage to defeat her?"

"That's my secret, I can't tell you," Jingjue replied coldly.

What a joke! Are you really going to tell this annoying fellow human who knows nothing about you all your trump cards and fighting style?

"Heh, is that so?" Ji Ying scoffed again, "He must have used some underhanded tricks again, right? How boring."

Although these words sounded like something a martial arts fanatic would say, the intense, heartfelt disgust they conveyed stirred something within Jingjue.

His eyes, hidden beneath the mask, narrowed slightly, and his tone became somewhat playful: "Interesting. Why do I get the feeling—you seem to be taking her side?"

"Could it be that you are—concerned about this inspector?"

Ji Ying's heart skipped a beat, and without hesitation, she replied in a matter-of-fact tone, "Of course I care about her. I need to know how much power she has left, and whether she has suffered any irreparable harm."

"If her Star Tear is damaged or suffers some other permanent damage because of this boring battle with you, then I'll lose a lot of 'fun' fun afterwards, won't I?"

"Hehe—" Jingjue's eyes flickered, and he let out a low laugh, seemingly accepting the explanation.

"Don't worry, she's unharmed. She's just temporarily unconscious due to exhaustion of her magic."

"Speaking of which, Jiying, you've never told me before what important mission you were sent to such a remote little city as Jiangchuan to carry out?"

"Couldn't you—tell me, your 'fellow human being,' just a little bit?"

Ji Ying retorted bluntly, "What's it to you? Haven't you always kept your true purpose in this city well hidden?"

"Could it be that your mission is related to this Inspector? For example, is it that some important information can only be obtained from a magical girl of the Inspector level?" Mirror Lord continued to probe subtly.

Ji Ying clicked his tongue in annoyance, then said, "Don't try to test me anymore. I'm not interested in answering your boring questions, and I won't tell you anything unless—you're willing to reveal some of your plans for this city—in exchange."

"Hehe, then let's forget about it." Jingjue chuckled and shrugged elegantly.

"It's better for us to maintain the status quo."

Ji Ying was silent for a moment, then asked, "Speaking of which, Mirror Lord, I'm quite interested in something else, you—" Why show such unusual attention to that Stardust-level magical girl?

"Hmm?" Jingjue made a noncommittal nasal sound.

Although I sensed this when we first met, today's experience shows that your focus on that stardust is beyond my expectations.

"You said it was to help me out of a tight spot, but your previous actions were actually just to distract me from that stardust. Anyone who isn't blind can see that."

"Could it be that—that little girl plays some important role in your plan?"

Upon hearing Jiying bring up this matter, Jingjue's strange feeling resurfaced uncontrollably once again.

Why is this guy so concerned about a weak magical girl? A martial arts fanatic whose mind is only focused on fighting and muscles shouldn't even care about such an insignificant character.

Whether it's that inspector or this star, his attention to those magical girls seems—too much.

Although he was slightly puzzled, Jingjue still maintained his elegant smile on the surface: "Hehe, you're overthinking it. That Stardust has nothing to do with my plans. I'm paying attention to her, but it's just—a very insignificant personal interest of mine."

"Oh? Your interest?" Ji Ying immediately feigned interest and pressed, "Why don't you—explain it to me in more detail?"

"Hehehe—don't you think she's delicious?" Jingjue's voice suddenly became somewhat fanatical and morbid. He opened his arms as if embracing something.

"Watching a prey, dangling at the slightest glimmer of hope, only to be mercilessly pushed into deeper despair —"

"Her predecessors disappeared one by one before her eyes, and all the people she could rely on left her. In the end, when she faced the malice of the whole world alone, what kind of desperate yet beautiful expression would she show?"

"I'm really looking forward to it!"

Faced with Jingjue's extremely offensive remarks, Jiying remained silent.

He stared at the other person silently, his eyes seemingly devoid of any obvious emotional fluctuations, but upon closer inspection, one could discern a flame burning deep within his pupils, a flame known as "hatred."

Immediately, Ji Ying delivered a final assessment of Jing Jue's morbid statement in an extremely cold and contemptuous tone: "—So, your so-called art is nothing more than a lowly trick of tormenting the weak in the shadows?"

"It's absolutely disgusting."

This is it!

Upon hearing Ji Ying's assessment, Jing Jue's lips, hidden beneath his mask, curled into a cold smile, almost certain that his suspicions were true.

However, one last thing is missing—an irrefutable piece of evidence.

On the surface, he seemed oblivious to anything amiss, instead bursting into laughter at Ji Ying's "comment": "Hahahaha! Disgusting? That's truly the highest praise for my art!"

Jingjue laughed so hard he almost fell over, as if he had really heard some great news, but in reality, he had already made his final decision.

The laughter stopped abruptly the next moment. He resumed his elegant demeanor, gestured to Ji Ying as if to let her go, and then lightly snapped his fingers.

With a crisp sound, the surface of a mirror not far away began to ripple like water, quickly forming a vortex outlet that led to the outside world and emitted a faint light.

"Alright, this farce should end now. Since our 'agreement' has been reached, please hurry up and leave with your 'spoils'."

"For the foreseeable future, she's yours. Hopefully, she'll bring you plenty of enjoyment."

"Next, I need to fix this messed-up stage to prepare for the next performance, and I don't want it to be disturbed by irrelevant people again."

Ji Ying snorted coldly and didn't say anything more, after all, he had no intention of staying here any longer.

Although they couldn't extract more information about his plans from this cunning fellow, the most important objective—rescuing Xingxian—now seems to have been achieved.

Jiying strode toward Xingxian, who was still unconscious and floating in the air. With a casual gesture, as if dealing with a piece of luggage, he grabbed her and let her soft body rest on his shoulder armor.

Then, he put one arm around Xingxian's waist and turned to walk towards the mirrored exit.

Jingjue stood to the side, facing Jiying, his right hand on his chest and his waist slightly bowed, as if he were respectfully seeing off his guest.

However, just as Ji Ying was about to step into the exit, the "Star String" on his shoulder, who had been unconscious, suddenly opened its eyes. Those beautiful silver-gray eyes were now flashing with a scarlet light that was exactly the same as Jing Jue's, full of malice and mockery.

A black dagger exuding an ominous aura silently materialized in her hand, and with an extremely tricky angle, it stabbed fiercely into Ji Ying's back.

Jiying sensed the attack in an instant, but the instinct deep within his soul—the unwillingness to harm any of his comrades—overwhelmed all his combat intuition.

His first reaction was not to counterattack, not to block, not even to use his indestructible armor to withstand the attack, but to suddenly lunge forward in a slightly disheveled manner, while forcefully throwing the "Star String" on his shoulder to a safe area to the side and rear.

This action protected "Star String" to the greatest extent, and the stab did not leave any mark on Silent Shadow's armor.

However, at this moment, Ji Ying was completely unable to care about this matter.

Because when he saw "Star String," whom he had thrown out, gracefully flip over in mid-air to regain its footing, revealing a mocking smile identical to that of Mirror Lord, he instantly understood everything.

—This is not Starstring, but a fake.

I was completely fooled by that bastard!

Jingjue, who had been calmly observing everything from the sidelines, could no longer contain his smugness after seeing Jiying's instinctive protective action.

"Hehehehehehehehehe—I see—I see!"

He slowly raised his head, his scarlet eyes, hidden beneath a smiling mask, fixed intently on Ji Ying, filled with morbid excitement and undisguised killing intent.

"I'm still wondering which fool of my kind dares to interfere with my plans time and time again—"

"I never imagined that beneath your black armor, you would harbor a heart just like those magical girls—foolish and naive."

"My gut feeling was right after all—"

"You're on their side, right?!"