Chapter 11: Disaster Forewarning

Morning sunlight filtered through the skylight and shone on Su Xiaocheng’s face, making her eyes squint slightly.

She gazed at Lu Yinxi’s defenseless sleeping face beside her, pried open the slender legs clamped around her body, and gently tidied Lu Yinxi’s slightly messy bangs.

In this way she quietly admired the rare beautiful sight before her.

An unknown amount of time passed like this until the terminal’s message notification tone sounded, shattering the peaceful moment.

“Who is it? They really don’t know how to pick the time.” 

Seeing the groggy Lu Yinxi fumbling for her terminal after being woken, Su Xiaocheng pouted in dissatisfaction.

Taking the terminal and noticing Su Xiaocheng’s displeasure, Lu Yinxi first leaned in and planted a kiss on her lips. 

“This is a good morning kiss~” Only then did she check the message.

“It’s Youzi. She wants us to drop by the branch office when we have time. Is there something that can’t be said over the terminal?” 

Lu Yinxi said with some regret. It seemed their private world with Xiaocheng would end early.

***

When they arrived at the lounge, Youzi and Xiaobai had already been waiting inside for quite a while.

Lu Yinxi glanced at the opened letter on the table, picked it up casually, and said, “Looks like this is the reason they called us here.”

The content of the letter was very simple: At eight o’clock sharp tonight, a witch disaster will occur in Changle County.

“What is this? A prank?” 

Lu Yinxi was quite displeased. 

She had never heard of anyone predicting the appearance of a witch disaster in advance. 

Of course it was not impossible, but it was meaningless. 

Magic could achieve such future-seeing abilities, yet the magic power consumed by abilities involving this aspect was an incredibly terrifying amount. 

Even an S-rank Magical Girl would find it hard to bear the cost.

“I don’t know. I thought it was a prank at first too, but the Magical Girl stationed in Changle County didn’t check in this morning. After receiving this letter I tried contacting her, but she still hasn’t replied.”

Youzi’s voice was somewhat serious. 

According to regulations, county-level stationed Magical Girls were required to check in daily. 

Because the number of Magical Girls was limited, there was often only one stationed in county-level areas. Some counties with smaller populations did not even have one, so in emergencies they could only request support from surrounding areas. 

Timely reporting of local conditions was extremely important.

“What about the detection devices?” 

As soon as the words left her mouth, Su Xiaocheng realized she had spoken unnecessarily. 

If the devices had detected anything, they would have received the alert immediately and would not still be sitting here chatting.

“I remember the Magical Girl in Changle County is named Jia Yun’er, right? Let’s wait a bit. If she hasn’t replied by afternoon, Xiaocheng and I will go check it out. Youzi, you and Xiaobai stay and guard the city.”

Youzi held a different opinion. 

“I’ll go alone. You two stay and guard the city. The safety of the city is more important.”

“No way. If she’s been out of contact for a whole day, it’s probably a real incident. Whatever can prevent a Magical Girl from even sending a message, you wouldn’t be able to handle it either, Youzi.” 

Lu Yinxi argued reasonably. 

“Besides, Youzi, with your current condition you really shouldn’t push yourself anymore.”

“You’re really not holding back at all. Xiaolu, you used to be so obedient.” Youzi said with a bitter smile.

After waiting a long time, there was still no word from Jia Yun’er. 

According to the logistics staff at the Changle County branch, Jia Yun’er had gone home after checking in yesterday morning. 

This was also within the freedom of Magical Girls, so no one had paid it any mind. 

After that, no one had seen her. 

After Youzi contacted them, they had also coordinated with the local police for a search, but no clues were found.

“We can’t wait any longer. Xiaocheng, let’s head out.” 

Putting down her chopsticks, Lu Yinxi decided decisively.

At seven in the evening, Su Xiaocheng and Lu Yinxi arrived at Changle County by special car.

It was a small county town nestled against mountains and by a river, with a permanent population of only a little over a hundred thousand. 

Due to inconvenient transportation, local development was quite backward. 

The pedestrians on the streets were mostly elderly people who could no longer work hard and left-behind children. 

In the entire large county town there was not even a single KFC.

At this time only a short while remained until the time foretold in the letter. 

To save time the two directly transformed into their Magical Girl forms and quickly headed to the Changle County government office.

“Report the current situation.” 

Changle County had already activated a B-rank alert. Lu Yinxi directly took over command authority for Changle County.

The mayor of Changle County was a mature and capable woman in her thirties. 

She reported, “Currently all detection devices within Changle County jurisdiction are operating normally, with no abnormal signals detected. We have increased search efforts, but we still haven’t located Yun’er’s whereabouts.”

“She’s been out of contact for a day and a half already? Then we have to prepare for the worst-case scenario that Jia Yun’er has lost control.” 

Lu Yinxi rubbed her brow. 

“In that case, if someone knew about Jia Yun’er’s condition in advance, that letter does make some sense. It’s just, why did the other party choose this method, and how could they give such a precise time?”

When a Magical Girl’s Maiden Heart became completely corrupted, the Magical Girl would lose her sanity and transform into a Witch. 

This change would take a certain amount of time, depending on the strength of the Magical Girl, generally ranging from one to seven days.

Su Xiaocheng said, “We should have brought Xiaobai. She might be able to find Jia Yun’er’s location.”

Searching for someone like finding a needle in a haystack consumed enormous magic power, but Xiaobai’s development path involved various uniquely effective items. 

After meeting the prerequisites it could significantly reduce the magic power consumption, like the last time they tracked a witch’s location.

Lu Yinxi shook her head and said, “Jia Yun’er has likely already lost control. Wasting magic power on searching for her wouldn’t be meaningful.”

Hearing Lu Yinxi’s judgment, the Changle County mayor’s expression looked grim. 

If something had happened to Jia Yun’er, given Changle County’s population size the county would remain without a stationed Magical Girl for a very long time.

Time passed minute by minute, getting closer and closer to eight o’clock.

Suddenly the mayor’s phone rang. She answered the call and put it on speaker. 

“Report, we’ve found Jia Yun’er. She’s at the Changle Bridge!”

Lu Yinxi decided immediately. “Let’s go. We’re heading over!”

***

Changle Bridge was a landmark building in Changle County, connecting the new and old districts on both sides of the river and providing much convenience for the daily lives of the county residents.

Over thirty years ago, with the planning of the new district, Changle Bridge was completed and Changle County had experienced a period of rapid development. 

However, influenced by various factors, Changle County ultimately could not escape the fate of population outflow and being forgotten by the times.

Having endured over thirty years of wind and rain, Changle Bridge now bore many more traces of time than before. 

Green moss had grown on the stone railings.

A plain-looking short-haired girl was now standing in the center of the bridge with her head lowered. 

Even as passing vehicles honked their horns loudly, she showed no intention of moving at all.

A small sedan swerved extremely close past the girl and stopped not far behind her. 

The driver rolled down the window, stuck his head out, and cursed angrily, “What the hell are you doing standing in the middle of the road at night, pretending to be a ghost?”

Two streams of light descended—it was Su Xiaocheng and Lu Yinxi who had hurried over. Seeing the driver actually get out of the car and walk toward the girl, Su Xiaocheng hurriedly shouted, “Don’t get close to her!”

The driver also noticed the two in Magical Girl outfits and realized things were not simple. 

He turned to run back to his car, but it was already too late.

It seemed like a faint ringing of a bell could be heard.

At this moment the minute hand completed a full circle and returned to its starting point.

It was eight o’clock.