Rubbing her eyes, Qiye felt a wave of exhaustion wash over her as she glanced at the clock, noting it was almost two in the morning.
“It’s already quite late,” she murmured. “With Senior out, the burden of protecting Tanhua City falls to us.”
She paused.
“Here’s what we’ll do: I’ll take responsibility for the nights, and the two of you will handle the days.”
Upon hearing this.
Weizhan and Xincheng exchanged a glance, nodding in silent agreement.
In terms of combat prowess, Qiye was undeniably the strongest, wielding her fiery demonic sword.
Xincheng spoke softly.
“Please be careful.”
Weizhan, for her part, simply patted Qiye’s shoulder, offering no further words.
“Alright, off to bed with you two. We’ll meet at Chaoyang Mountain in the morning. Contact me anytime if anything comes up.”
Qiye shook the phone in her hand, forcing herself to rally her spirits.
As she turned, her fiery red hair gently fanned out with the movement before she quickly vanished around the room’s corner.
She was heading back to her room to change.
****
The moment her door clicked shut, Qiye’s taut body went slack, and she slid down the door panel, her back against it.
She reached out, taking a photo frame from the cabinet.
Beneath the glass, a moment was captured: Silvia and she, face to face, sharing a biscuit.
Qiye’s fingertips trembled as they brushed over the photograph, her eyes gradually reddening.
“Silvia Senior, please, please be safe,” she choked out. “I promise I’ll find you.”
She whispered, her voice thick with emotion.
‘Feeling both self-reproach and a deep loathing for herself, she truly was a mess.’
‘If anything were to happen to Silvia, she would be condemned to a lifetime of regret.’
After a while.
Qiye rose and changed into a long black trench coat, her slender legs encased in black stockings.
She deftly unlatched the window, and the night air, imbued with a biting chill, rushed in.
Red magical energy coalesced around her, and in the next instant, Qiye transformed into a streak of light, piercing through Tanhua City’s silent, snowy night.
****
The night, surprisingly, did not feel long.
Perhaps Qiye had been too engrossed in patrolling Tanhua City, for by the time dawn approached, she found herself at Qinghe High.
Inside Ling Qinghe’s office.
As per their agreement, Qiye had used a magic-blocking device on Zhennu Yibai, who, in turn, would help Qiye suppress the demonic flames within her for half a year.
“Professor He…”
Qiye greeted politely the moment she stepped through the door.
“Follow me…”
A moment later, Ling Qinghe led Qiye to the laboratory.
Qiye stepped into the array Ling Qinghe had prepared beforehand, where sixteen dark purple light pillars rose from the ground, intertwining above.
With a wave of Ling Qinghe’s hand.
Sixteen glass bottles filled with purple liquid floated over, each settling into one of the array’s sixteen corners.
“First, set aside the clothes you’re wearing, then lie down there…”
Ling Qinghe pointed in a direction.
Qiye complied, removing her trench coat and inner garments, attempting to cover herself as best she could with one hand across her chest and the other below.
“The Five Elements have a cycle of mutual generation and overcoming; your demonic flame naturally fears water and ice.”
“By the way, doesn’t your team have a water-element magical girl? If you could form a relationship with her, it would greatly aid in suppressing the demonic flame.”
“I don’t want to…”
Qiye shook her head, acknowledging her fondness for Weizhan and their long cohabitation, yet she wasn’t ready for a romantic partnership.
‘Their bond was more akin to camaraderie, tinged with a slight rivalry.’
“Heh heh, it was merely a suggestion. Now, I’ve procured sixteen bottles of Extreme Cold Holy Water for you. These are imported from the Western world and cost quite a bit.”
Soon.
The array began to hum, and the sword-shaped mark on Qiye’s lower abdomen transformed: from nonexistent to faint, then deepening, changing from black to red.
The moment the first drop of holy water touched it, a dark green demonic eye abruptly sprang open!
It restlessly swiveled there.
Qiye let out a muffled groan but clenched her teeth, enduring the pain.
Sixteen streams of purple water surged from the bottle mouths, converging on her lower abdomen.
The dark green demonic eye was scoured by the holy water, struggling as its wide opening rapidly diminished.
Ultimately.
It was forced into a narrow slit.
The demonic eye was no longer visible, and the blood-red mark gradually turned into a dry black pattern before fading completely.
“There, done. For the next six months, you can freely use your magic without worrying about the demonic flame resurfacing.”
Ling Qinghe, observing from the side, spoke as she jotted down notes with a pen and paper.
“Thank you…”
Qiye expressed her gratitude and quickly redressed. As she was leaving the laboratory, something suddenly occurred to her, and she turned to Ling Qinghe.
“Um, Silvia Senior…”
“Don’t ask. You won’t want to know.”
Ling Qinghe cut off Qiye’s question, pointing her pen towards the door, indicating that she should leave.
****
Qiye had no choice but to exit the laboratory.
Yet, as she rounded the corner, she saw Ling Cheyin waiting for her.
‘So, she’d been staking out the place since early morning, had she?’
The moment their eyes met, Ling Cheyin, twirling a lollipop, instantly closed the distance between them.
“All done?”
As she spoke, the little witch leaned closer, pulled open Qiye’s clothes, and rubbed her lower abdomen with an unsettling familiarity.
Qiye, however, pushed her hand away.
“I have urgent matters to attend to. Please don’t touch me.”
Having said her piece.
Qiye turned to leave, needing to head to Chaoyang Mountain.
But she hadn’t gone far when Ling Cheyin pursued her again, calling out, “Want to know about Zhennu Yibai’s situation?”
At this, Qiye’s steps faltered, her back straightening rigidly.
“You know?”
Hearing this.
Ling Cheyin smirked, lollipop still in her mouth, and circled around to face her.
“Of course, I know! Sleep with me, and I’ll tell you…”
“Enough!”
Upon hearing this, Qiye once more yanked her hand free from the little witch’s grasp.
‘You always use these filthy ‘methods’ to force me into submission. Is that truly amusing?! I am a person, not a plaything, nor am I some call girl. I detest you, with your insatiable desires, always fixated on love and romance. You’re a pervert, hmph!’
Qiye stormed off.
The corridor lights extinguished one by one behind her.
Only Ling Cheyin remained, watching the retreating figure, even attempting to reach out to stop her from afar before finally letting her hand drop.
She then murmured.
“There’s nothing wrong with how I am. I give her information, and she sleeps with me… By all accounts, it’s a fair trade, a mutual agreement, isn’t it?”
****
The horizon was painted crimson by the morning glow.
A crimson streak of light pierced through the clouds, and Qiye landed on the bluestone steps of Chaoyang Mountain.
Catching sight of two graceful figures in the pavilion, she managed a strained smile; having just endured the ‘humiliation’ from the little witch, she was certainly not in a good mood.
Weizhan’s blue hair lifted in the morning breeze, her skirt hem brushing over the unmelted snow on the stone bench.
She waved to Qiye.
“Qiye, leave the daytime duties to us.”
Xincheng leaned against a vermilion pillar, observing Qiye’s somewhat pale complexion, and hesitated to speak. Both of them were troubled by the unknown whereabouts of their Senior.
After a moment.
Qiye ascended the bluestone steps into the pavilion, the mountain wind carrying morning mist, sweeping past her long trench coat.
In the distance, Tanhua City shimmered faintly through the haze.
Her gaze then fell upon the empty seat before the stone chessboard, conspicuously missing that one woman.
A sudden realization struck Qiye, and she took Weizhan’s hand in one of hers and Xincheng’s in the other. The three of them faced the rising sun.
Qiye cried out.
“Silvia Senior, while you’re gone, we will protect this city for you!”
“Yes, we will keep the lights of Tanhua City burning bright!”
Weizhan tilted her head skyward, the nascent sunlight casting a golden-red hue over her azure pupils.
“Whether mimic beasts or wicked witches, if they dare to threaten Tanhua City, they’ll have to get past us first!”
Xincheng’s usually gentle voice was now imbued with unwavering determination.
Their cries echoed through the mountains, startling a flock of white doves that soared into the sky.
The morning sun slowly climbed above the horizon, casting long shadows of their figures standing side by side.