Qiu Feifei is good at imagination

After sending his photo, Su Ran quickly received a reply from Sister Qiuqiu.

She also told him, as promised, what the next punishment would be after he sent the photo.

“Find the most expensive outfit in your wardrobe, put it on, and then take another picture for Sister Qiuqiu?”

Qiu Feifei didn’t ask Xiaoran to immediately send over her home address so she could buy her clothes.

Instead, she had a plan to proceed step-by-step, waiting until they became more familiar during the upcoming play-along sessions, and after Xiaoran had opened up to her and Sister Xiaodie, she would then gradually ask for the address.

Qiu Feifei decided she needed to build up the image of a caring, understanding older sister in front of Xiaoran.

Su Ran looked at his own wardrobe; inside, apart from white t-shirts that were worn smooth from washing, there were only yellowed white t-shirts.

There were simply no “expensive clothes” like the one Sister Qiuqiu mentioned.

The teddy bear pajamas he was wearing had been bought by Eve, who couldn’t stand to look at his old ones anymore.

The teddy bear pajamas were clearly not going to satisfy her request for a photo.

He could only reply quietly: [Sorry, Sister Qiuqiu, all the clothes in my wardrobe are just ordinary. I don’t have anything particularly expensive.]

As it turned out, Su Ran’s simple and honest statement left Qiu Feifei quite perplexed.

“All ordinary clothes? Nothing particularly expensive?”

After seeing Xiaoran’s reply, Qiu Feifei frowned and showed the chat history to Li Xiaodie, wanting her to analyze what Xiaoran’s words really meant.

Pressing her head close to Qiu Feifei’s side, she read their chat from top to bottom.

Li Xiaodie suddenly had a moment of realization and began to explain to her roommate, “I was so focused on looking at Xiaoran that I didn’t pay much attention to the background. Look, doesn’t the wall behind Xiaoran look very old and worn?”

“Oh, I didn’t even notice until you mentioned it!”

Following the direction of Li Xiaodie’s slender, jade-like finger, Qiu Feifei nodded in agreement.

“Think about it, not everyone is a superhuman like us, able to go out and do missions for money. Xiaoran’s family situation probably isn’t very good, which is why she’s working as a play-along.”

Following Li Xiaodie’s line of reasoning, Qiu Feifei connected it with an anime she had once watched.

A drunkard father, a sick mother, and her, still in school and working part-time as a play-along.

All the experiences of the anime’s protagonist were now superimposed onto the image of Xiaoran.

Because something came up last night, she didn’t earn enough from the play-along session and now doesn’t know how she’ll get by today.

In Qiu Feifei’s memory, Xiaoran’s devastatingly beautiful face, enough to enchant the world, was so vivid, and she could even see the sorrow on her face with perfect clarity.

“I have sinned! I shouldn’t have docked Xiaoran’s play-along fee!”

At this thought, Qiu Feifei touched her own generous assets and showed her roommate a repentant expression.

However, Qiu Feifei’s words did not earn Li Xiaodie’s agreement. Instead, she kicked her while she was down, adding, “Feifei, you were the one who said yesterday that you wouldn’t pay the fee.”

Qiu Feifei hung her head and mumbled softly, “Well, I was thinking of compensating Xiaoran now.”

Even though Qiu Feifei and Li Xiaodie were both students, as superhumans, they weren’t short on money.

A single play-along fee for Xiaoran was only a few hundred yuan, which really wasn’t much to them.

Besides, seeing Xiaoran’s current family situation, they, being capable, genuinely wanted to help her out.

Li Xiaodie lowered her head in thought for a moment before giving Qiu Feifei an idea, “Why don’t we put this punishment on hold for now? We can wait until after we’ve bought her some clothes, and then have Xiaoran take a picture for us?”

Considering the living conditions revealed in Xiaoran’s photo, Li Xiaodie felt it was better to deepen their connection with her first before bringing up the punishment again.

And so, to Su Ran’s utter confusion, he received the payment from Sister Qiuqiu for last night’s play-along session.

He was also informed that if he could agree to turn on his camera instead of doing punishments, his trial period would end, and his rate would be restored to the original price.

Hearing this news, Su Ran breathed a sigh of relief.

At least she wasn’t angry about this little incident.

After all, he was truly short on money right now.

If he lost this play-along fee, he would have no way to solve the pressing issue of his utility bills.

Since she had decided to let it go for now, Su Ran made up his mind.

Before she asked for another photo, he had to find a nice set of clothes to satisfy Sister Qiuqiu’s request.

After all, she was supporting him with real money; he couldn’t disappoint her again.

On a certain mountain outside Laita City, a figure in a black robe walked cautiously.

She glanced back from time to time, trying to see if anyone was following her.

Before long, she stopped in front of a cave that was visible to its very end.

Just as she was about to step into the cave, a flash of bright silver appeared at the edge of her neck.

“A brief parting is not worthy of sorrow.”

A faint voice emerged, its direction impossible to discern.

The black-robed figure remained silent for a moment after hearing this.

Only when the dagger moved closer to her neck did she reply, “We shall meet again in the sun.”

With that, the black-robed figure removed her hood, revealing a head of brown hair.

It was Maimai, who had safely retreated under Philly’s cover.

After Philly had ordered the retreat yesterday, they had shaken off the Church’s pursuit and moved toward the agreed-upon meeting point.

Only Maimai, her heart heavy with worry for Philly, had not gone far, instead watching from a distance near the Church’s camp.

Afterwards, she had arranged to meet with the “Shadow” who came as reinforcement in this very cave.

“Are you trying to use this prayer to convince me to give up, Shadow?”

As Maimai spoke, a human figure emerged from the shadows, sheathing the dagger she held.

“That’s right. Laita City is plastered with portraits of Philly, and they’ve issued a notice for her public trial. You should understand what I mean.”

Shadow’s gaze met hers directly, showing no sign of compromise.

A witch captured by the Church usually met only one fate.

Since Philly was not dead, it meant the Church wanted to use her as bait to lure out more witches.

This was an obvious trap.

“The Church has seen what Philly looks like. Even if you manage to rescue her, you can only flee this place. You should know how difficult it is to escape under the Church’s pursuit. If Philly hadn’t covered our retreat last night, it would have been hard for any of us to escape.”

Seeing Maimai remain silent, Shadow was about to continue persuading her to give up.

“So am I just supposed to watch her die and do nothing?”

Maimai interrupted Shadow’s persuasion with an almost hysterical voice.

Maimai, whose nerves had been stretched taut all night, was already on the verge of collapse.

“No! Of course not! My dear, the Sequence Four Earth Dragon in Noda Forest is dead. You can find a way to guide the remaining magical beasts to attack Laita City. Amidst the chaos, won’t there be an opportunity to rescue Philly?”

Shadow gradually walked closer to Maimai, extending her arms to embrace her.

As she hugged Maimai, her figure gradually blurred, her form growing taller, and on her bare instep rested a quiet anklet.