“Get behind me!”
Looking at the hand Xiao Zi extended toward her, Wei Yang found it completely incomprehensible.
Was she really planning to save someone who was about to capture her? Even stupidity should have limits. From Xiao Zi’s perspective, letting Wei Yang get attacked by those eerie magic puppets would actually be the better outcome. If someone annoying disappeared, that would obviously be a good thing. Anyone would think that way—especially enemies.
That was how it should have been.
Yet the girl in front of her refused to follow common sense, stretching out her snow-white hand straight toward Wei Yang.
“Hurry up!” Xiao Zi urged.
Her eyes were incredibly sincere.
Wei Yang couldn’t help but feel a bit impressed.
“You really are something… idiot.”
Wei Yang grabbed Xiao Zi’s hand and climbed behind her, wrapping her arms around the girl’s slender waist.
It probably tickled a little—Xiao Zi let out a soft gasp—but she quickly shook her head and focused again.
“Alpha, let’s go!”
She immediately gave the command.
The demon wolf Alpha shot forward at full speed.
But the puppets behind them were just as fast, quickly catching up.
Xiao Zi looked like she was about to cry.
“Oh come on… Beta!”
From her shadow, a demon elephant slowly rose up.
“Beta, spray them away!”
As soon as the command was spoken, magic responded.
The elephant lifted its trunk, and a powerful torrent of water burst forth, blasting the pursuing puppets away.
For a while after that, the two girls rode the demon wolf under the bright moonlight. Their shadows stretched across the ground as they raced forward.
It looked like something straight out of a fairy tale.
After some time passed, the puppets stopped appearing.
The two girls looked around and confirmed they had created enough distance.
Xiao Zi finally let out a long sigh of relief.
“Um… little… angel. Do you need me to take you home?”
Wei Yang activated her astonishingly intelligent brain and thought for a moment.
“Sure. I’ll guide you.”
“That was quick. Aren’t you worried that if I know where you live, I might harm you later?”
“Don’t worry. I trust you.”
Xiao Zi was deeply moved.
***
Xiao Zi tilted her head in confusion, but she agreed.
Wei Yang went inside and seemed to do something in the room.
After a while, she came back out again.
But this time, the halo above her head had disappeared.
“Put Alpha away first. I have something to talk to you about.”
After Xiao Zi dismissed the demon wolf, she looked at Wei Yang blankly.
Then—
Wei Yang tied Xiao Zi’s hands together.
And brought her bound into the house.
“WHY?!”
Looking at Xiao Zi—now tied up and thrown onto the bed, struggling and shouting in embarrassment—Wei Yang sighed.
“Don’t you understand? I’m very grateful that you helped me escape earlier. But you’re the one who summons nightmares to scare the townspeople every day. How could I possibly just let you walk away?”
“I’m so angry! How can you be this evil?!”
“Hey, isn’t this outcome completely natural? Besides, you’ve already seen my face. Didn’t you consider that this might happen…?”
***
Meanwhile, Lu Ran stood nearby watching the two argue, yawning repeatedly.
She had been sleeping earlier when she suddenly felt something warm pressed against her body. When she regained her senses, she realized that the angel was clinging tightly to her with her clothes slightly disheveled.
After hugging her peacefully for a while, Wei Yang woke Lu Ran up and went out again.
Lu Ran had just finished getting dressed and getting out of bed when Wei Yang returned—
Dragging in a purple-haired girl tied up.
At first she thought it was Anna, but after looking carefully she realized it wasn’t.
So Lu Ran had no idea what was going on.
At that moment, the girl on the bed was still struggling and crying.
“Please don’t! Waaaah… let me gooooo!”
Wei Yang remained unmoved.
“It’s fine. You haven’t actually hurt anyone. They’ll probably release you after a while.”
“How long is ‘a while’…?”
…
Wei Yang turned to Lu Ran.
“I’m not very familiar with the laws here. Lu Ran, you tell her.”
“Um… probably around two years.”
Xiao Zi nearly spat blood.
“NOOO! Something terrible will definitely happen! Please don’t turn me in!”
Wei Yang scoffed.
“What could possibly happen? Don’t tell me you’re some princess from Jiuzhou or something.”
The two continued arguing endlessly.
Lu Ran knew Wei Yang’s personality well. Once she decided something, she would never change her mind.
She could only shake her head helplessly at Xiao Zi.
At the same time, she roughly understood the situation.
This girl must be the one responsible for summoning the nightmares.
***
“Lu Ran,” Wei Yang suddenly said, “watch her for a moment. I’m going out.”
“Huh? But it’s already late. Is that really okay?”
“It’s fine. I already absorbed some divine power from you earlier. I’m going back to the garden to take a look.”
Wei Yang reasoned that once the binding spell had been activated, it wouldn’t stop on its own.
That meant the gold-and-white magic puppets must still be tracking her.
If they had some kind of tracking ability, staying here any longer might bring unnecessary danger to Lu Ran.
To forcibly stop them, she needed to deal with the caster.
And Wei Yang already had an idea where that mysterious caster might be.
The garden.
Whenever a spell or divine artifact was activated, the caster would certainly become aware of it. That person would very likely go to the garden to check the situation.
So she had to go back.
Ironically, Xiao Zi’s earlier actions had helped her.
Because of the nightmare incident, the townspeople had all shut their doors tightly. No one dared to go out at night.
Otherwise, letting those dangerous puppets wander through the streets might have caused chaos.
***
Seeing that Wei Yang was really about to leave, Xiao Zi couldn’t understand it at all.
“If you’re going out, at least take me with you! It’s dangerous! Do you seriously think you can beat those creepy things alone?”
Can she win?
That was exactly what Lu Ran was worried about too.
Although she didn’t know what was happening outside, it certainly wasn’t anything good.
“Angel… maybe we should wait until tomorrow. We could ask the nuns for help.”
Wei Yang paused at the half-opened door.
Then she turned back and smiled casually.
“It’s fine.”
Her eyes were filled with determination.
“I will win.”
It was Wei Yang’s declaration of victory—her divine power fully recharged after her “hug-charging session.”
Without hesitation, she stepped out the door.
***
Along the way, she moved carefully, hiding as she advanced.
Surprisingly, she didn’t encounter a single magic puppet.
Not even a trace of their gold-white magical residue.
Confused, she continued forward until she finally approached the garden.
At the corner, Wei Yang slowly peeked around.
Sure enough—
Someone was there.
Looking at that familiar face, Wei Yang couldn’t help but sigh inwardly.
You really are something.
If the mastermind truly was her, it actually made sense.
The only Cardinal-ranked nun of Saint Eri Palace Church, the flawless Arch-Nun—
Ah Li.
She stood before the garden.
And around her, the magic puppets were slowly gathering together.