Chương 202: The Return Journey After the Sun Clears

Let's go back to the present.

After recovering from her daze, Xingxian looked at Yinxue, who had a firm attitude, and although she was a little confused, she subconsciously shook her head and refused her invitation to accompany her. She then said, "Let's forget about it. You should know that the true identities of magical girls are very important secrets."

"Even with companions, it's not appropriate to casually tell each other things before the relationship becomes close enough. It's not suitable for me to just rashly go back with you like this."

Although her tone was calm, the determination it conveyed was undeniable.

"Who cares about that kind of thing at a time like this?" However, Yin Xue seemed not to understand Xing Xian's words at all, and curled her lips impatiently.

She crossed her arms, as if to hide her embarrassment at being rejected, and deliberately added in a more aggressive tone, "Let me make this clear first, the reason I'm letting you come back with us isn't because I've forgiven you, or because I'm particularly happy to have you!"

"Judging from your current weakened state, I feel like even I could easily defeat you. What do you plan to do if you encounter another enemy before you can recover your strength?"

Her emerald green eyes scanned Xingxian's tattered combat suit from head to toe, her disdain undisguised.

"In the end, won't you just drag our Xiaoying down with you again, making her go through all that trouble to come and rescue you?!"

Upon hearing Yin Xue's seemingly harsh words, Xingxian immediately sensed the awkward kindness and concern hidden within them, and an indescribable warmth welled up in her heart.

She then realized that Yin Xue's earlier decision to have her and Liuli stay here while he took Xiaoying to that secluded corner for a "private chat" was not to exclude her, but rather to discuss how to handle his own affairs.

This junior named Yin Xue is actually—surprisingly quite cute.

However, her professional ethics as an inspector, and the ironclad rule against revealing her true identity casually, still caused her to hesitate instinctively.

"But—" Seeing that Xingxian was still dragging his feet and not knowing how to adapt, Yinxue seemed to have completely lost patience.

She stopped trying to persuade him with words, and instead turned around, grabbed Liuli's hand, and said in a feigned angry tone, "Since you're so unwilling, then forget it! Xiaoli, Xiaoying, let's go back! Let's ignore this stubborn guy!"

However, although she spoke resolutely, Yin Xue suddenly stopped after taking a few steps after turning around.

Somewhat unwillingly, she turned her head and issued a final ultimatum to Xingxian, who was still standing there dumbfounded: "Hey! Are you coming with us or not? You won't get such a good chance next time, don't think we'll really wait for you here forever!"

Seeing Yin Xue's stubborn yet soft-hearted arrogance, Ji Ying, who had been standing quietly to the side, revealed a helpless yet indulgent smile and stepped forward to Xing Xuan.

She knew that now was the time for her to step in and give this inspector, who was still hesitating between principles and personal feelings, a way out.

"Xiaoying————" When Xingxian saw Jiying approaching, she subconsciously uttered the name that made her feel incredibly close to her.

Immediately, she recalled the outrageous and daring things she had done to the unconscious Ji Ying, and the soft, delicate touch seemed to still linger on her fingertips and lips.

Her originally pale cheeks flushed slightly uncontrollably, and she looked away somewhat guiltily.

Jiying was unaware of Xingxian's complex girlish feelings. She simply extended her slender, fair hand in an inviting gesture and said in a gentle and sincere voice, "Come back with us, Xingxian."

"It's not just because you're not able to protect yourself right now; we also need to exchange and share the important intelligence we've gathered and our experiences in battle as soon as possible."

She paused, a meaningful smile playing on her lips, and added, "Isn't this your duty as an inspector?"

Liuli, who was standing to the side, smiled and nodded, then stepped forward and chimed in, "Xiaoying is right. Rather than waiting until tomorrow to meet in that dilapidated school building, it would be better for us to get together tonight and exchange all the information."

Listening to the sincere words of advice and feeling the undisguised concern from her companions, Xingxian felt a warm current flowing through her heart, and her eyes even became slightly hot.

The resentment and disappointment from losing the battle for "Xiaoying's ownership" were instantly relieved, and the restraint and hesitation stemming from the duty of the patrol officer completely disappeared at this moment.

She no longer hesitated or refused, but nodded vigorously, a genuine and radiant smile appearing on her face: "Well—then, thank you for your help."

Immediately, Xingxian raised her hand, wanting to grasp the outstretched hand of Jiying as the most direct response to this kindness.

However, just as her fingertips were about to touch Ji Ying's soft little hand...

Stop thinking about it!"

A sharp, jealous shout suddenly rang out.

Immediately afterwards, a figure in emerald green suddenly darted out from the side like lightning, slapped away Ji Ying's hand that was still hanging in mid-air, and then grabbed Xing Xian's wrist with a "snap".

"Hold Xiaoying's hand? Dream on!"

Before Xingxian and Jiying could react, under the former's astonished and unwilling gaze, Yinxue bent down, put his hands under her knees and armpits, and picked her up in a standard princess carry.

Her figure left the unfinished building and flew into the air in the next moment, her movements so skillful that it seemed she had practiced countless times.

"Now that we've made up our minds, let's get going!" After successfully bringing Xingxian into the air, Yin Xue revealed a sly smile of triumph.

"Eh?! Yin Xue, you—" Xingxian was caught off guard by the sudden princess carry and let out a short gasp.

The sudden feeling of weightlessness as her body was lifted into the air, and the strange sensation of being tightly embraced by a soft, unfamiliar hug, left her mind blank and her body instantly stiff.

After realizing what was happening, she instinctively tried to struggle. This wasn't just to maintain her dignity as an inspector and a senior, but also because—why, why wasn't it Xiaoying who was carrying her?! I clearly—I was just a hair's breadth away from touching her hand!

This feeling of resentment welled up uncontrollably from the depths of her heart.

However, Xingxian quickly and rationally abandoned the idea, because she knew very well that in her current state of depleted magic, it was impossible for her to fly, and moving around randomly in this situation was not a wise choice.

In the end, she reluctantly accepted reality, gave up resisting, and blushed as she let the other person hold her in this extremely shameful position. Only a hint of resentment lingered in her heart as she silently thought: Damn it—if only I were being held by Xiaoying, that would be so much better— As if he had completely read Xingxian's mind, Yinxue deliberately spun her around in mid-air, eliciting another suppressed gasp from the girl in his arms.

Then, she lowered her head, looking at the "captive" in her arms who, though unwilling, was still relatively obedient. She gave a soft snort and whispered in her ear in a tone full of warning, "Although I invited you to my house, it was only because you're too weak right now, out of pity. Don't even think about having any improper thoughts about our Xiaoying!"

Immediately, ignoring the fleeting look of guilt and shame on the girl's face in her arms, she turned to Liuli, who was still standing below, and loudly instructed her, "Lili! Xiaoying is in your care! We're going now!"

After saying this, she didn't linger. Enveloped in emerald green magical light, she held Xingxian, who had completely given up struggling and closed her eyes resignedly, in her arms. She transformed into a dazzling stream of light and flew towards the distant horizon.

Inside the unfinished building, Ji Ying watched Yin Xue and Xing Xian's figures gradually disappear into the distance. Then he glanced at the girl beside him whose ice-blue eyes suddenly lit up and who was looking at him with a self-assured and joyful gaze. Alarm bells rang in his heart.

She frantically waved her hands, trying to make a last-ditch effort: "Um—Xiao Li, look, I can actually fly by myself, so I don't need to—" However, before she could finish speaking, a petite figure with a happy smile on her face rushed up and hugged her tightly.

"Hehe, Xiaoying, let's go too~" Immediately, Liuli, along with Jiying, whose face was also flushed and eyes were closed, closely followed Yinxue's trajectory, also transforming into a deep blue stream of light, flying towards the horizon dyed golden by the afterglow of the setting sun.

In a lavishly decorated and incredibly spacious room somewhere in Jiangchuan City, unknown to anyone.

Dozens of antique mirrors of different styles and ornate frames hang on the four walls, reflecting the scene inside the room repeatedly, forming a bizarre and dazzling mirror maze.

The crystal chandelier hanging from the ceiling emitted a cold yet bright light, illuminating the entire room as if it were daytime, but this also made it seem even more empty and lifeless.

In the very center of the room, on a luxurious sofa covered in velvet, a figure wearing a dark long trench coat and a pure black top hat suddenly awoke.

It was Jing Jue.

- His consciousness, the instant his "perfect mirror image" was completely torn apart by Ji Ying's Shadow Chains, fled back to his original body, which was hidden in a safe place.

"Ugh—!"

The moment he regained consciousness, he let out a suppressed groan of pain and instinctively clutched his chest tightly with his right hand.

Although his physical body was unharmed, Ji Ying's final attack, which pierced through the heart of the mirror image, seemed to ignore the barriers of space and dimension, following his soul.

A deep, bone-chilling phantom pain exploded in his chest, instantly contorting Mirror Lord's pale face, hidden beneath his mask, in agony.

The extreme sense of frustration, the anger of being humiliated, and the shock that originated from the soul made it impossible for Jingjue to maintain his outward elegance and calm.

"Bang--!!!"

He suddenly stood up, grabbed a beautifully carved silver candlestick from the coffee table beside him, and smashed it fiercely against a huge floor-length mirror on the wall with all his might.

The mirror shattered instantly, scattering countless glittering fragments across the spotless, expensive carpet.

"How dare he?! How dare he fool me like this?!"

"My perfect plan—the impeccable, magnificent stage I prepared for that inspector—it's all because of him! It's all because of that unreasonable, damned madman—Silent Shadow!!!"

An angry roar echoed in the empty room. Jing Jue was breathing heavily, his chest heaving. After a long while, the rage that was enough to burn everything was finally suppressed by his returning reason.

He leaned on the sofa, slowly straightened up, his gaze sweeping over the mirrors reflecting his disheveled appearance. He snorted coldly and began to assess the heavy losses suffered in this operation: The "perfect mirror image" that he had created with a great deal of ethereal energy and effort, capable of bearing most of his own power, was completely destroyed.

The meticulously designed and proudly constructed Mirror Maze has completely collapsed after losing its reinforcements, as the Corruption-level Void Beast that served as its "anchor" was destroyed by the Inspector.

The numerous mirror beasts kept inside the labyrinth were also annihilated during the spatial collapse.

Thinking that all of this had been destroyed in just one afternoon by that damned inspector and the even more damned Silent Shadow, Mirror Lord's fist clenched uncontrollably again, his knuckles making a "crackling" sound from excessive force.

But this time, he forcefully suppressed his anger, compelling himself to continue calmly reviewing the situation.

He admitted that his most important goal for this trip—to deal with the Inspector Starstring and to replicate her power of law for his own use—had completely failed.

Moreover, the cost was far more severe than imagined.

However—Jingjue began to carefully recall every detail of his confrontation with Jiying, especially—the opponent's astonishing performance in the later stages of the battle, which was completely different from his previous one, and his composure that seemed to see through everything.

"What exactly happened to that guy in the end?" he muttered to himself, his heart filled with confusion and apprehension.

"Why was he able to distinguish the authenticity of my reflections in an instant? That feeling—it wasn't like the perception of magic or ethereal energy, but more like—a kind of insight that went straight to the essence."

"I still haven't fully grasped the nature of his authority, but I can determine that it's that strange authority that gave him the ability to distinguish between the real and fake versions of my mirror image. This is simply—the nemesis of my Mirror Authority!"

Despite being filled with apprehension about the unknown power of Ji Ying, Jing Jue also realized that his actions this time were not entirely fruitless; in fact, he could be said to have learned some extremely important information.

He learned of a special kindred spirit who was not bound by any oaths, who could act according to his own will, and who possessed the true "freedom" he had longed for.

"free----" Jingjue murmured the word softly, his heart burning with intense passion.

In his eyes, Ji Ying had transformed from a mere troublemaker into a "prey" he valued even more—a threat that had to be eliminated, but also the only key to freedom!

However, the thought of Jiying's mocking and contemptuous declaration of victory before destroying his own mirror image caused Mirror Lord's anger to rise uncontrollably once again.

He clenched his fists, his voice cold and venomous as he muttered to himself, "Just you wait, Silent Shadow! Let's see if you'll actually kill me first, or if I'll take the freedom I want from you first, and then—I'll make you kneel at my feet like a dog!"

"Don't forget, my dear fellow human," in the previous battle, you—truly and completely exposed your weakness to me—that almost foolish concern and protectiveness towards magical girls.

"Hmph, how naive."

"Their strength over there now—two little girls at the Stardust level—is negligible."

"That inspector Xingxian was ambushed by me. Although he hasn't completely lost his fighting ability, he certainly won't be able to recover in a short time."

"So, the only enemies I really need to face in the coming period of time are that unknown new moon and that hateful and mysterious 'Silent Shadow'."

Jingjue recalled an extremely interesting scene he witnessed on the day he first met Jiying—the genuine surprise and dependence on the expression on the face of the Stardust-level being named Liuli, who was present at the time, after sensing the magical fluctuations of the new moon.

A cold smile crept across his face beneath his mask.

"How about we use the rest of my mirror images to test it out properly?"

"But before that—" He looked around at the empty mirrors, his tone becoming somewhat dissatisfied, "the reflections of my beloved collectibles have all been destroyed by that damned Shadow. It's time to replenish them."

Jingjue gracefully raised his hand and gently snapped his fingers.

"Smack."

A crisp sound echoed in the empty room. The next moment, ripples appeared on the surfaces of the ornate mirrors around the room. Under the gaze of Mirror Lord, which was filled with morbid admiration, four magical girls dressed in combat suits of different colors, with their eyes closed as if they were asleep, were slowly raised from the mirrors by an invisible force.

Xiaoxing, Ziqiu, Feiying and——Yue tide.

These are the true magical girls who were thought to have "sacrificed" or "disappeared" by the outside world.

"Good evening, my beautiful collection." Mirror Duke opened his arms, his voice ecstatic and wild.

"The show is about to begin again."

"Soon, you will be able to shine your brightest on a new stage."

2