After witnessing the farce just now, Su Bai furrowed her brows and fell into thought.
Jiang Yuelan let out a derisive snort, clearly showing disdain for the scene that had just unfolded.
Activities of this kind—magical girls offering consolation—were common. Su Bai herself had participated in a few, though she had never looked into them deeply.
They were generally Association events held under the slogan of “boosting morale.”
The appeal of magical girls truly could not be underestimated.
Yet this one was clearly different from any Su Bai had taken part in before.
Previous ones had been collective in nature, and the focus had still been on the victims.
But this one… how to put it? The spotlight felt far too concentrated on showcasing the magical girl herself.
Moreover, the photography and security team that clearly carried a private nature had turned the earlier “consolation” into a personal show.
Jiang Yuelan, however, was already used to such things. Over the years she had seen many magical girls.
Magical girls like Moonlit Sakura who wanted fame and wanted to make big money were plentiful.
What was worth noting, though, was the “dad” she had mentioned earlier.
Her father must hold considerable influence. Even the doctors and nurses of this hospital were willing to cooperate.
“Just staged shots. Nothing more worth watching. Let’s rest early. We’ll be discharged as soon as it gets light tomorrow.”
Jiang Yuelan closed the door and quickly instructed Su Bai.
“Alright, alright, I know. Do I look that much like a child in your eyes?”
Su Bai pouted and walked back to sit on the bed.
She had barely sat down long enough for her backside to warm the mattress when she suddenly heard arguing voices from downstairs.
What now? This hospital just won’t stay quiet today.
After a short while the arguing only grew louder.
The noise made Su Bai’s ears ache, so she walked to the window, intending to close it more tightly.
Reaching the window, she casually glanced downward.
She saw a large crowd gathered at the base of the building, and the gathering spot was right below their room.
What the hell? Isn’t that the same group from earlier?
“Jiang Yuelan, come take a look. It seems like a fight’s breaking out downstairs.”
The two of them moved a chair over, sat by the window, and opened it a little wider so they could hear clearly.
“The Association… is all trash… Why do I have nothing left? My whole family is gone…
Only I’m left alive. They…”
A man was crying out as he desperately tried to charge forward, wanting to reach Moonlit Sakura’s side.
Several bodyguards firmly blocked the man outside.
Seeing this scene, Su Bai could not help letting out a sigh:
“Sigh, what a bitter fate. I’m afraid there’s already something wrong with his mind.”
Jiang Yuelan, however, raised an eyebrow. “It doesn’t seem that simple. Keep watching.”
Moonlit Sakura looked around and noticed the onlookers growing more numerous. She probably felt that letting things continue this way would not be good.
She then stepped forward, pushed past a few of the security guards, and released the man.
The originally indifferent expression on her face instantly changed into a smile similar to that of a receptionist welcoming guests, and she said:
“Sir, please calm down first. Can we talk about whatever the matter is properly?”
“My whole family, young and old, all died in this rift disaster, yet the Association did nothing.”
The man accused through tears and sobs.
“What are you talking about? Can’t you see how many people the Association saved?”
“Yeah, yeah, they did their best.”
The surrounding people clearly did not believe such baseless accusations. Some had already secretly taken out cameras and started recording.
The hospital entrance had heavy foot traffic, clearly different from the earlier corridor, and it exceeded the jurisdiction of those few bodyguards.
“Sir, I understand. What happened to you also pains me greatly, but taking it out on others is wrong.” Moonlit Sakura replied in a deliberately sweet tone.
“Taking it out on others? Ridiculous, too ridiculous… Hahahahahaha!”
The man suddenly spread his arms wide, threw his head back, and howled toward the sky. His entire demeanor was like that of a madman as he shouted at the crowd.
“None of you understand! The end of the world is coming! Everything is going to be destroyed…
The Association knows everything… They know everything!”
Seeing this scene, Moonlit Sakura rolled her eyes in annoyance. She had originally thought it was some sort of petition on behalf of the people.
It turned out to be a madman. She felt that even speaking with him had dirtied her mouth.
Moonlit Sakura helplessly raised her hand, spread her ten fingers, then lightly clenched them.
Thud.
The man instantly fell silent and collapsed to the ground, falling asleep.
“Alright, quiet at last.” Moonlit Sakura muttered under her breath, then turned to the watching crowd and said:
“This should be a mental issue caused by excessive grief. I’ve already used magic to calm him down.”
Moonlit Sakura continued with her professional smile:
“If any of you have psychological problems, please seek a therapist in time. Dragging it out to this state would be troublesome.”
“Alright everyone, please disperse. Nothing more is happening. Also, friends who were recording, please don’t upload it online and spread it.”
Moonlit Sakura finished with a cute waving gesture, maintaining her lively and adorable persona.
“That’s it? I wanted to keep watching the drama. The crazy uncle just dropped.”
“Yeah, yeah. If he’d kept talking there might have been big tea.”
“The end of the world, huh? Talking like it’s real.”
The crowd was still restless, continuing to discuss in bits and pieces.
Upstairs, Su Bai had already closed the window completely and lay down on the bed.
It was over. What remained was just idle gossip, and it was a bit noisy.
“The Association’s reputation has been pretty bad these past few years. Even rumors this outrageous have people believing them. Heh.”
Out of nowhere, Su Bai suddenly tossed out this sentence.
Hearing this, Jiang Yuelan’s eyes narrowed. She actually wanted to hear what insightful opinions Su Bai had regarding the Association’s messes.
“Sister Lan, can you tell me what happened that day? I’m a little curious.”
Jiang Yuelan nodded and told Su Bai about the events she had experienced that day, of course omitting the part where she had escaped as a witch.
She also particularly emphasized the fact that the Association had deployed very few rescue personnel that day.
“Xiao Bai, what do you think of the Association?” Jiang Yuelan asked at the end.
Su Bai fell silent. She slowly let out a breath, then lay flat and stared blankly at the ceiling.
She did not quite understand either.
How could she not know about the various problems within the Association?
Yet even she, who had once been a top-tier magical girl, had thought about changing things and resisting.
But it had been completely useless. Magical girls, including herself, found it difficult to touch the core management of this behemoth known as the Association.
Especially since she had never been interested in such matters to begin with.
She had even less way of knowing the vast and complex internal intelligence of this organization.
Su Bai suddenly recalled many, many things from her own past, along with certain details… Her thoughts followed those old memories farther and farther away…
…
“Xiao Bai?” Jiang Yuelan called softly. There was no response.
“Xiao Bai… Xiao Bai.” She called a few more times, still without an answer.
“Snore… snore…”
Before long, soft little snores drifted out.
Eh, no way.
Jiang Yuelan looked at Su Bai’s sleeping posture, with a snot bubble almost forming, and was genuinely half-annoyed, half-amused.
She had truly thought their legendary magical girl, great hero, and national idol White Iris would come up with some profound and mysterious answer.
After all that buildup, she had just been putting on a cool dazed expression and then fallen asleep???
Looking at Su Bai’s cute and completely unguarded sleeping face, Jiang Yuelan could not hold it in and laughed out loud.