The Ordinary Excess…

“If you act on your own again, you’re out of the team. If you don’t value your own life, don’t drag others down with you!”

A cold white light flashed in the empty alley, and only then did Xia Cheng let out a heavy sigh of relief.

“So naggy. It’s not like…”

“Chengzi!”

A slightly embarrassed and annoyed voice interrupted Xia Cheng’s grumbling.

She looked over to see Pan Nannan puffing her cheeks and staring at her.

She quickly put her hands together in apology. “I’m sorry, Nannan. It was my recklessness that put you in danger!”

“That’s not what I’m angry about!”

Pan Nannan’s voice had a childish lilt to it, sounding soft and gentle, suggesting she wasn’t very old.

But a closer look revealed that she was already quite developed, at least looking more like a middle school student than Xia Cheng.

It was just that both her clothes and her face looked quite ordinary.

“When I brought you into the team, I told you that fighting as a magical girl is very dangerous. The actions of Anomalies are unpredictable, and it’s best not to fight alone before you’ve leveled up. Why didn’t you listen? Did you ever think about what would happen if something happened to you? What would your mother do then? What would I do! Can’t you just think before you…”

Pan Nannan rattled off a lecture at Xia Cheng like a string of firecrackers.

Xia Cheng immediately sensed trouble.

Through their years of friendship, she knew very well that once Pan Nannan started her lecture mode, it wouldn’t stop for a while, and she had never succeeded in refuting her.

She could only lower her head and obediently take the scolding.

After about ten minutes, Pan Nannan’s tirade finally ended.

Xia Cheng hurriedly went over to massage her shoulders and said ingratiatingly, “Yes, I’ll definitely be careful next time!”

“Next time?”

“No, there won’t be a next time!”

Hearing Xia Cheng’s words, Pan Nannan’s expression finally softened a little. “As long as you know.”

“Hehe, anyway, thank you for saving my life, Sister Nannan. How about I let you copy my homework next time?”

“Please, you’re the one who always copies mine, okay!” Pan Nannan swatted Xia Cheng’s hand off her shoulder.

After a few seconds of silence, she said, “Besides, I wasn’t the one who saved you.”

“Huh?” Xia Cheng was a little confused. “If it wasn’t you, who could it be? Was it Sister Lin?”

To be honest, Xia Cheng’s memory of the battle was quite fuzzy.

The only thing she could clearly remember was the moment her wand was knocked away.

Everything after that was a blur, like a dream.

When she woke up, she saw Nannan and her team leader by her side, who immediately gave her a scolding.

“It wasn’t Sister Lin either…” Pan Nannan’s expression seemed a bit conflicted, as if she were trying to find the right words to describe what she had seen. “It was a black metal man. He saved you, and me.”

“Black metal man?” Xia Cheng repeated, then looked at her friend with a strange expression. “Have you been watching too much Kamen Rider?”

“Hey, you’re right, he did say his name was Knight!”

“Huh?”

Pan Nannan recounted everything that had happened, including how the figure had easily defeated the terrifying silver spider Anomaly.

But when Xia Cheng finished listening, there was not a hint of belief in her eyes.

“That’s too ridiculous. A black knight falling from the sky? Are you sure it wasn’t a hallucination? The only ones in this world who can deal with Anomalies are magical girls. Where did this metal man come from? Besides, Leng Xuan went to check the scene too and didn’t see anything.”

“Maybe you misremembered because you were too nervous? My head is still spinning right now.”

Pan Nannan didn’t answer, because she was sure her memory was not mistaken.

But she had just described the same thing to Sister Lin, who had immediately gone to check the scene and returned saying she saw nothing.

She had a vague feeling that something was wrong, but she couldn’t pinpoint what it was.

If only she could see that Knight one more time.

“Forget it, Nannan. Since we’ve escaped with our lives, let’s go get a good meal to celebrate.”

Xia Cheng casually threw an arm around Pan Nannan.

The high-intensity battle and her recent recovery had left her stomach rumbling with hunger.

But when she took out her phone to check the time, she froze. “Huh? It’s already ten-thirty!”

“What do you think? It took us almost an hour just to heal you and wait for you to wake up,” Pan Nannan said, shrugging.

“I’m doomed. I’ve never stayed out this late before. Mom’s definitely going to yell at me… Speaking of which, why have I been getting yelled at all day today!”

As Xia Cheng wailed, she suddenly noticed a blind spot she had overlooked.

Pan Nannan glanced at her, thinking to herself that she deserved it.

“You should just go home now. I’m tired anyway, and I have school tomorrow.” Pan Nannan sighed and was about to transform to go home.

After all, there was no mode of transportation in the world faster than a magical girl’s magic.

From here, it would only take five minutes to get home.

But just then, Xia Cheng suddenly threw herself at her, grabbing her arm tightly and preventing her from transforming.

“Don’t go!”

“Huh? Why?”

“Because I told my mom I was hanging out with you. If I go back alone, I’ll definitely get scolded. She’ll be too embarrassed to do it if you’re there.”

“Why are you using me as an excuse again?”

“At worst, I’ll let you copy my homework the day after tomorrow too?”

“I told you, you’re the one who copies mine!”

In the end, Pan Nannan couldn’t win against Xia Cheng’s pestering and followed her with a look of utter resignation.

In the distant sky, two streaks of light flashed quickly and then disappeared in an instant.

Not long after, the two girls peeked out from the shadows of a building.

“Reporting, Lilia, all clear. We can proceed.”

“Didn’t we agree not to use that name when we’re normal?”

“It’s not fun otherwise!”

“What’s not fun about it?”

Xia Cheng was laughing and joking with Pan Nannan, but just then, a voice suddenly came out of nowhere, startling them both.

They quickly looked back.

Under the dim streetlight, Bai Hai stood with his arms crossed, staring at them.

“What are you doing here?” It took Xia Cheng a long time to recover from the shock.

She immediately reverted to her prickly, keep-your-distance mode, her tone accusatory.

“Who’s this?” Pan Nannan whispered, a little curious.

“My brother.”

“When did you get a brother?”

“Aiya, it’s complicated. I’ll explain later.”

Pan Nannan looked at the siblings strangely, with many questions in her mind.

She could only watch silently as the situation unfolded.

Xia Cheng’s “brother” walked out of the streetlight’s glow and stood before them, his expression unreadable. “Mom asked me to find you. There was an Anomaly in the East District. Where did you go?”

“What’s it to you?”

Bai Hai looked at Xia Cheng, not surprised by her answer at all.

In fact, he knew this question was rather pointless.

After all, he knew exactly what this so-called sister had been up to.

He was just trying to maintain the persona of someone who knew nothing.

After parting ways with Reina, Bai Hai had come here and waited for her, just for this question.

Otherwise, it would be difficult to explain where he had been for so long.

The only thing he hadn’t anticipated was that Xia Cheng would come back so late, causing him to stand under the streetlight striking a pose for several hours…

“Everyone was worried about you.” Bai Hai reined in his wandering thoughts and continued to look at Xia Cheng seriously. “Even though this is our first time meeting, as your older brother, I want to tell you: please think before you act. Don’t just think about yourself.”

“Since you know we’re not close, you…”

Xia Cheng’s face was dark.

She hadn’t expected to be lectured by this cheap brother instead of her mom upon her return.

She was naturally unwilling to take it, but just as she was halfway through her retort, Bai Hai’s gaze shifted directly to Pan Nannan.

“You’re Xia Cheng’s friend?”

Bai Hai looked at the girl before him, guessing that she was the blue magical girl, Lilia, from earlier.

Her civilian appearance was quite different from her transformed one.

Also, compared to Xia Cheng, she was much more outstanding.

However, Pan Nannan didn’t react at all, which brought Bai Hai’s line of questioning to a halt.

Even Xia Cheng looked at her in surprise.

She just stood there, staring blankly at Bai Hai’s face.

After a long moment, she finally spoke.

“Have we… met somewhere before?”

Bai Hai: “…?”

‘Seriously, kid? I was in that monstrous form, and you can still recognize me?’