Chapter 33: Graffiti

Deep in the ruins, before the entrance to a half-collapsed basement.

Fei Xia held the torch that had been forcibly shoved into her hand, staring expressionlessly ahead.

It seemed this had once been the entrance to an underground facility. 

Now it was blocked solid by heavy rubble and twisted rebar, leaving only a pitch-black hole just wide enough for one person to pass through.

A chilling draft blew out from the gaps in the opening, carrying a damp musty odor mixed with a sickly sweet, nauseating stench.

“Aww, don’t look so serious!”

Amber Flowing Light held another torch, the orange flame lighting up her excited little face.

“We could obviously strengthen our night vision with magic power or just use an illumination spell…”

Fei Xia couldn’t help but complain.

“You don’t get it! This is called atmosphere! How can an adventure not have torches!”

Amber Flowing Light retorted righteously, then dove into the hole first.

Fei Xia sighed. 

She really couldn’t understand the thought process of these “normal magical girls” and could only resign herself to following.

“Wow! Little Red Bean, look! Even though that puddle of green water couldn’t burn, I found something even more interesting! Look at the walls!”

Fei Xia looked in the direction she pointed.

By the flickering orange light of the torch, she could clearly see what was on the walls.

They were graffiti drawings.

Not faded traces left from the old era, but recent drawings done with colored chalk.

The style was very childish—crooked lines full of a child’s innocence—yet they carried an indescribable eeriness.

The first drawing:

A group of tiny stick figures sitting around a bonfire.

The second drawing:

A tall stick figure appeared, holding colorful candies and handing them out to the little stick figures.

The third drawing:

The little stick figures who ate the candies transformed one by one into various small elves with different shapes.

“Wow… Is this some kind of wasteland-style performance art?”

Amber Flowing Light’s eyes sparkled as she examined the graffiti, as if she had discovered some earth-shattering secret.

Fei Xia, however, just thought it was random scribbling and didn’t think much of it.

“Huh? There’s more stuff here!”

Amber Flowing Light cried out like she had found a new continent. 

She squatted in the corner and dug out a small box from under a pile of debris.

When the box was opened, it contained several empty glass bottles scattered inside.

Labels made of some unknown material were stuck on the bottles, printed with text that Fei Xia had never seen before—composed of complex geometric patterns.

Compared to the incomprehensible bottles and jars, what caught Fei Xia’s attention more were the items Amber Flowing Light had pushed aside.

Worn-out children’s clothes, a teddy bear missing one eye, and plastic soldier figures with broken legs…

Had this place once been a welfare institution or a daycare facility?

“Wow! Little Red Bean, come quick! Big discovery!”

Just as Fei Xia was speculating, Amber Flowing Light shouted excitedly from up ahead again.

“What now…”

Fei Xia walked over helplessly.

Amber Flowing Light was now standing at the end of the corridor, in front of a thick, dust-covered metal door.

A faint buzz of electricity came from the door crack; it was clearly still operational.

“The treasure room must be behind this!”

Amber Flowing Light’s eyes gleamed as if she could already see through to the treasures inside.

After confirming Fei Xia was following, she took a deep breath, braced herself, and pressed both hands heavily into the cold gap of the door.

“Watch this! Super… Open… Sesame!!”

Orange magic power glowed around her body. She gritted her teeth, her face turning red from the effort, trying to use her enhanced brute strength to pry open the sealed door.

However, reality was harsh.

The door might as well have been welded shut.

Although it let out a few creak creak metallic groans and shook off a layer of dust, it only trembled a bit before going still again.

“Haah… haa…”

Amber Flowing Light let go, slumping over with her hands on her knees, panting heavily. Fine beads of sweat covered her forehead.

Clearly, she had used every ounce of her strength in that attempt.

She turned her head, looking at Fei Xia with those big, watery eyes full of a pitiful, helpless, “please help me” vibe.

Fei Xia sighed.

‘Babysitting is exhausting.’

“Let me try.”

She stepped forward and motioned for Amber Flowing Light to move aside.

No flashy shouts, no overflowing magic effects.

She simply slid her hands into the narrow gap that Amber Flowing Light had barely managed to create. Dark red magic power erupted instantly in her palms.

She took a deep breath and exerted force.

Crack—crack crack crack—!!

The teeth-grinding sound of tearing metal exploded, echoing through the empty ruins.

The heavy blast door that had stumped Amber Flowing Light was torn open in Fei Xia’s hands like a crumpled aluminum can.

Sparks flew everywhere as the entire door was forcibly ripped open wide enough for two people to pass through side by side.

“Waa—!! So amazing! As expected of Little Red Bean!”

Amber Flowing Light instantly revived at full health, clapping like a seal, then without hesitation bounced through the gap.

Fei Xia dusted the rust off her hands, picked up the torch, and followed with an expressionless face.

By the light of the torch and the half-functional lamps, the scene inside came into view.

It was an abandoned laboratory.

Huge glass cultivation tubes lay broken everywhere. The liquid inside had long since dried up, leaving only shards of glass on the floor.

Only a few in the corners remained relatively intact.

Fei Xia walked up to one of the complete tubes.

Inside the murky yellow liquid floated a bizarre “lump of flesh.”

It was still faintly pulsing. The surface was covered in tiny tentacles and suckers, looking like both an organ and some kind of mollusk.

Fei Xia frowned. 

She searched her memories but couldn’t find any similar creature.

But if Qinghai Starlight had been here, she would have been horrified to realize:

The texture of this flesh lump was almost identical to the small monsters she had encountered before facing that Beta-class wolf-type monster in the underground garage that day.

For some reason, the longer Fei Xia stared at the lump, the more an inexplicable chill rose in her heart, as if the thing would open its eyes at any second.

Buzz—!

In the deathly silent air, a sudden vibration rang out abruptly.

“Wah!”

Amber Flowing Light jumped in fright, nearly dropping her torch.

Fei Xia’s body tensed as well. She quickly pressed her pocket.

The vibration was the half-hour countdown alarm she had set.

“Time’s up. We need to head back.”

The vibration stopped, but the prickling sensation of being watched that Fei Xia had felt didn’t disappear. Instead, it grew even stronger with the flickering of the torchlight.

Ever since stepping into this place, she had felt like something was spying on her.

“Fine~ We’ve pretty much gathered everything anyway.”

Though Amber Flowing Light still seemed reluctant, she saw Fei Xia’s grim expression and obediently dusted off her hands.

She casually picked up a dusty old rattle drum from a shelf and shook it curiously.

“Little Red Bean, how do you play with this?”

“…Rub it in your palm.”

Dong—dong—dong—

The crisp, ancient drum sounds echoed through the silent laboratory, sounding especially jarring.

“Wow~ Little Red Bean, you’re a genius!”

Amber Flowing Light, like a child with a new toy, rubbed the rattle drum while following Fei Xia as they turned back toward the camp.

Their footsteps, accompanied by the drum sounds, gradually faded into the darkness until they disappeared.

Gurgle—

In that dark corner, on the broken glass shards.

That puddle of green slime appeared once more. Its bloodshot, murky eyeball locked rigidly—once again—on the direction Fei Xia and Amber Flowing Light had left.

“Hungry…”

An extremely faint voice, so weak it was almost impossible to catch with the ear, dissipated into the air.

Then the puddle of slime began to slither slowly, inching forward in the direction the two had gone.