Chương 8: An Encounter

Jiangchuan City, South Suburb Park.

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon. The August sun lazily shone on the park's lawn, and a gentle breeze rustled through the distant birch forest.

A petite girl with pink hair sat alone on a swing, her slender fingers wrapped around the iron chain, her toes lightly touching the ground, gazing at the seesaw in front of her with a calm expression.

Perhaps because it was a weekday and the location was somewhat remote, there were few pedestrians near the girl, not even the elderly people who would regularly check the park every day.

This situation perfectly suited the girl's desire to be alone, and it could be said that this was why she specifically came to this remote place.

But precisely because of this, the little girl who suddenly appeared in front of the girl and was curiously looking at her with her bright black eyes seemed a bit strange.

"Little sister, Uncle is thinking about some very important things. Why don't you go play by yourself over there?" The girl's voice was as melodious as a nightingale's, but what she said was quite unexpected.

The little girl tilted her head, seemingly finding the sentence quite difficult to understand.

"Sister, you're clearly a woman, so why are you calling yourself 'uncle'?"

"That's because... never mind."

Xing Shuang's lips twitched. This morning she had tried everything: speaking in a gruff voice, sitting with her legs spread apart, and even shouting "I am Lin Che" into the tree hole for ten minutes.

But if you're not careful, her sweet, girlish tone will slip out, and now even innocent children can see right through her.

Xing Shuang took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing her distress, and forced herself to show a gentle smile: "Little sister, I have very important things to do right now, please don't bother me, okay?"

Her face was already beautiful, but when she suddenly smiled, she became breathtakingly beautiful, almost too stunning to look at directly.

If it were anyone else, they probably wouldn't be able to say no to such a smile and earnest request, but for the little girl, it didn't seem to be enough to extinguish her curiosity.

"What's your name, sister?"

"... Just call me Starfrost."

"Star Frost Sister, are you a magical girl?"

"no."

"But the clothes you're wearing seem..."

"I'm cosplaying."

"Cospe... what is that?"

......

The conversation continued like a tug-of-war until the little girl mentioned that "Daddy went to a very far place."

Xingshuang's expression softened instantly. She gently pulled the little girl to her side and ran her fingers through her soft hair.

"What's your name?"

"Su Xiaoye".

"Xiaoye, where did your mother go?"

"I don't know. She brought me here, and then she disappeared."

"Are you lost? Shall I take you to find your mother?"

Su Xiaoye shook her head vigorously: "I'm not lost."

"If you weren't lost, how come you didn't know where your mother went?"

"Mom is lost."

"Shall we go together and find her when she gets lost?" Xing Shuang jumped off the swing and said to Xiao Shuang with a smile.

"Come on, let's go this way." She took Su Xiaoshuang's hand and walked towards the south exit of the park.

"But I came from the other direction, so my mother shouldn't be there."

"It's alright, trust me." In Su Xiaoshuang's other hand, which she couldn't see, a magic wand emitting a soft light flashed and disappeared.

The two walked a short distance toward the exit, and sure enough, a middle-aged woman with an anxious expression came up to them. She went straight to Su Xiaoye, who was being led by Xing Shuang's hand. For some reason, Xing Shuang felt that she had seen her somewhere before.

"Ah! I found Mommy!" The little girl, who had been lost without realizing it, cried out in surprise when she saw her mother suddenly appear.

"You silly child, I was so worried about you! How could you run around like that? You've only just recovered from your illness." The middle-aged woman squatted down and hugged Su Xiaoshuang tightly, complaining as she spoke, but her expression was clearly much more relaxed than before.

Xing Shuang released her hand, took two steps back, and watched the woman comb the child's messy bangs with trembling fingers. As she smiled, a feeling of bitterness suddenly welled up in her nose.

"Thank you so much for taking care of this child. I brought her to visit some elderly people in the southern suburbs, and she disappeared on the way back without me noticing. What's your name?"

A moment later, the middle-aged woman stood up, bowed slightly to the petite girl in front of her, and expressed her sincere gratitude.

Xing Shuang suppressed her doubts and shook her head with a smile: "It's okay, but we should pay more attention to her next time, in case she runs away again... Just call me Xing Shuang."

"I didn't get lost! What got lost was... um!" The middle-aged woman gently pressed Su Xiaoshuang's head down, silencing her protest before she could even voice it. Then she looked up at Xingshuang with a curious expression.

"Starfrost... that sounds like a code name. Could you be...?"

"It's just a hobby. I'm a fan of magical girls, and this is cosplay. I had arranged to come here with my friends to take photos, but they stood me up," Xing Shuang explained, waving her hands frantically.

"I see." The middle-aged woman nodded.

"That's right, after all, what magical girl would be alone in a park during the day... Ahahaha."

"Oh, right..." The middle-aged woman took out her wallet from her handbag, pulled out two large denomination bills, and continued, "Although this amount of money is not enough to express my gratitude, please accept it."

"I didn't help that child for the reward," Xing Shuang said with a smile, slowly shaking her head.

"I see, I understand." The middle-aged woman put her wallet back and pulled Su Xiaoye forward.

"Xiaoye, come and thank your sister quickly."

Su Xiaoye stepped forward obediently and said, "Sister Xingshuang, thank you for helping me find my mother."

"Yes, you're welcome. But next time, make sure to keep a close eye on your mother."

The middle-aged woman glanced down at her watch and then said, "It's getting late. I have to take this child to meet someone, so I'll be leaving now."

"Since your companions aren't coming, you should go home as soon as possible. Thank you again, Miss Starfrost."

"Be careful on the road." As Xing Shuang watched the mother and daughter walk away, her smile gradually froze.

"Go home... I want to go home so badly, but how can I go back in this state?! Ah!!!" After confirming that no one was around, she finally broke down and squatted down, burying her face in her palms.

Memories of sneaking out this morning flashed before her eyes—after learning that Lin Chen was home today, she made an excuse to go out but had nowhere to go, so she could only hide in this park, the only place she was somewhat familiar with, and sit there foolishly waiting for the forced transformation to end.

[Note: Even if you stay at home, there is an 80% chance that your information will not be detected.]

"This isn't a matter of probability; if I'm discovered, I'm finished!"

Xing Shuang gritted her teeth and continued, "How long will this punishment transformation last? It won't make me miss our meeting tonight, will it?"

[Twenty minutes remaining. Hopefully, the host will remember this lesson and not discard the transformation device carelessly again.]

"That's alright, I'll be able to go home soon. I rode my bike here last night and worked up a sweat, and I didn't even get a shower before being forced into this state..."

"Speaking of which, do magical girls not have sweat glands? They've been wearing such thick clothes and sunbathing here all day, but they haven't sweated a bit, and it's the end of August."

Star Frost stared at her hands and suddenly a strange idea popped into her head.

Before she could think further, a somewhat familiar, clear voice suddenly came from behind her.

"Senior Xing, is that really you? What are you doing here?"

Xingshuang's figure froze instantly.