Once a rift opened, those terrifying existences—Demonic Beasts—would pour into this world like madmen.
The top priority was to hide first. The first wave of Demonic Beasts always came with overwhelming force. If one confronted them head-on, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Su Bai looked around and her eyes lit up. That security booth had been smashed by large rocks until only a small hole remained, yet there was still a modest enclosed space inside.
Both Su Bai and Xiao Xi had small builds. Hiding inside would be perfect.
Carrying Xiao Xi on her back, Su Bai quickly ran to the side of the small hole.
“Get in quickly. Whatever you do, don’t make a sound.”
Xiao Xi had already stopped crying. She might have been so frightened that she had gone a little numb. Hearing Su Bai’s words, she immediately ran into the hole to hide.
Su Bai used a bit of magic to amplify her own strength and moved several sizable rocks over.
She positioned the rocks carefully, then squeezed into the hole herself and directly covered the entrance.
She left only a small gap to observe the outside situation, preventing the Demonic Beasts outside from noticing them.
Su Bai amplified the bracelet’s built-in aura-elimination function a little more in order to hide herself better.
Then she checked again and again whether there were any gaps she had overlooked. Only after confirming there were none did she slowly sit down on the ground to rest.
“Xiao Xi, promise me. No matter what sounds you hear later, don’t look outside and don’t make any noise, okay?”
Xiao Xi nodded. In the face of such danger, this not-so-big child had become obedient and well-behaved.
They were temporarily safe now.
Su Bai opened her phone. She wanted to confirm the situation of the others right now.
The phone signal had mostly recovered. When a rift first opened it would emit powerful electromagnetic interference.
Once the expansion ended, the electromagnetic interference disappeared, and the signal naturally recovered.
Su Bai opened the chat app and sent a message to each of the two of them.
『Are you okay? I’m fine. I’m currently trapped here on the first floor. Where are you?』
Right, there was also Xiao Xi’s mother. Su Bai used the phone number that had called earlier and sent another text message.
『Hello, Xiao Xi’s mother. Your daughter is fine for now. We’re hiding on the first floor. You hurry and hide too. There are monsters!』
She truly hoped the several of them were all safe!
Having done everything she should, Su Bai closed her phone, narrowed her eyes, and planned to recover her stamina first.
Suddenly the phone vibrated. Su Bai froze, then looked at the phone. It was actually a reply from Jiang Yuelan.
『I’m fine. Xiao Xi’s mother is also fine. We’ve already escaped!! Where on the first floor are you? I’ll have the rescue team look for you.』
What had happened on Jiang Yuelan’s side during this time? Let time rewind to the moment the rift first appeared.
At that time she was just walking out of the broadcast station.
“I should go back and find Xiao Bai,” Jiang Yuelan was thinking this when—
She suddenly sensed something wrong. A violent energy fluctuation abruptly appeared around her.
This energy was similar to magic power, yet different.
Purer, more violent, and more primitive.
Jiang Yuelan’s heart jumped in shock, then she felt that energy continuously strengthen like a rising tide, constantly slamming against something.
Crack.
A shattering sound that only Jiang Yuelan could hear suddenly appeared.
After that came the familiar scene—the headache-inducing low hum and the collapse of the building.
It was a rift!
Jiang Yuelan also reacted. This was also her first time experiencing the formation of a rift on-site in her capacity as a witch.
She made an immediate decision. She waved her hand at once, and a powerful surge of magic power erupted from her body.
Xiao Bai was no longer by her side, and she was near a rift, so there was simply no need to hide her strength anymore.
Jiang Yuelan glanced at the people around her. Some were still in a daze, while others had already started running in a frenzy.
Jiang Yuelan shook her head helplessly, then raised her hand and struck the ground.
Streams of shadow surged out from beneath Jiang Yuelan.
Then they rapidly spread out toward those crowds of people.
Bang. A rock fell from the sky and was about to smash onto the head of a fleeing man in a suit.
Whoosh. The power within the shadows instantly exerted force, using an impact almost invisible to the naked eye to shift the concrete block at an angle so that it just missed hitting the man.
The man was also startled by the falling rock.
Afterward he let out a long sigh of relief as if he had narrowly escaped death, as though marveling at his own good luck.
Little did he know that all of this had been the work of a mysterious witch helping him.
“The power of familiars is also very limited. People from the Association should arrive soon. I cannot expose my identity.
This is already the limit of what I can do. As for the remaining dangers, you all can only fend for yourselves.”
Ever since becoming roommates with Su Bai, Jiang Yuelan had softened a great deal.
In the past she would never have cared about the life or death of these people. She was a witch. There was no reason to risk saving them.
But it was different now. If the one in her position right now were Su Bai, she would save people without ever considering the consequences or the cost.
If she remained indifferent at this moment and watched people die without helping, Xiao Bai would definitely be disappointed in her.
Jiang Yuelan did not want Su Bai to be disappointed in her, even if Su Bai might never know about this matter.
Yet the moment she thought of that possibility, the moment she thought of the disappointed expression on Su Bai’s face, Jiang Yuelan could not accept it.
What a ridiculous reason this was.
Perhaps Su Bai really has changed something in me.
A self-mocking bitter smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Yuelan’s mouth. She did not think any further.
The top priority was to quickly find Xiao Bai. Right now the phone still had no signal, so she could not contact her.
Su Bai, where are you?
Immediately a surge of magical energy enveloped her entire body. In the eyes of ordinary people, Jiang Yuelan vanished without a trace.
Then she pushed off with both feet and directly flew up through the floors, weaving up and down, left and right, dodging the “barrage” composed of reinforced concrete.
First she would go take a look at the place where Su Bai had been just now.
Just as Jiang Yuelan was preparing to do so, she suddenly heard a heart-rending cry:
“Xiao Xi! Where are you! Mommy has come to find you. If you hear me, answer me, Xiao Xi!”
Jiang Yuelan stopped at once. She had actually run into Xiao Xi’s mother here?
Looking at the resemblance in appearance, it was probably her mother.
Xiao Xi’s mother was running against the flow of people, seeming to want to go find her daughter.
But the crowds fleeing for their lives paid no attention to such things. Xiao Xi’s mother accidentally tripped and fell to the ground.
If she simply fell onto the ground, forget about flying rocks or the subsequent Demonic Beasts—the stampede effect of the crowd would trample her to death on the spot.
No.
Jiang Yuelan did not think further. Magic power instantly formed a large hand that directly pulled Xiao Xi’s mother out of the crowd and to her side.
Perhaps because the force was a little too strong, or because of excessive fright, Xiao Xi’s mother had already fallen unconscious.
“Unconscious is perfect. I was planning to knock her out anyway. Otherwise carrying a burden while still having to hide my identity would be troublesome.”
Jiang Yuelan directly used magic to bind Xiao Xi’s mother behind her.
Then she considered her next move.
First of all, Xiao Xi’s mother did not know when she would wake up. If she woke up without Jiang Yuelan noticing and saw her abnormal behavior, it would be difficult to clean up.
Jiang Yuelan closed her eyes again and used magic to sense the surroundings:
As expected, it still would not work. The magical fluctuations were extremely chaotic. She could only sense that Su Bai was still alive, but could not locate Su Bai’s position.
After thinking it over, she still had to quickly take Xiao Xi’s mother and leave this place.
Calculating the time, there should at least be Association rescue teams arriving outside by now.
Therefore, when escaping next, she could not appear in too rough a manner. She had to give people the feeling that she had escaped only after great hardship.