Hua Ling Meimei strolled down the street.
The girl looked up blankly at the dim streetlights along the road.
The light seemed to recede from her, and the fragrant smell from the late-night snack stalls filled her nostrils, but it failed to stir any appetite.
Hua Ling Meimei couldn't remember how long she had been wandering.
After parting ways with Dandelion, she hadn't returned home, even shaking off Bai Ling, and flew alone over Rong City for over an hour, venting her frustrations, before being forced to land and revert from her transformation due to insufficient magic.
Her head was spinning, her mind a blank, not knowing where to go or what to do.
She was utterly lost, like a walking shell.
Hyacinth was captured, Mu Yao also fell into a magical slumber, and she, as the core firepower of the team, failed to protect anyone.
“Magic Girls are born to protect; the power you possess should be used to protect your companions, not just to blindly attack,” Mai Sui Senior's words echoed in the girl's heart.
Yes… wasn't her original intention in becoming a Magic Girl also to protect everyone?
But did she truly protect anyone?
Hyacinth was tricked by Xin Yuehu and took her strange magic head-on; could she have interrupted the spell at that time?
Nightingale was ambushed by Cheshire Rabbit; she had clearly practiced techniques to deal with stealth attacks, but why couldn't she unleash them?
Now only Dandelion remains, and she is an auxiliary type with almost no combat power; even if she can use enhancement magic on her, can she truly bear the trust Dandelion places in her?
“You can't protect anyone.”
In a daze, Hua Ling Meimei seemed to hear Cheshire Rabbit's faint whisper in her ear.
But this was just her hallucination—besides herself, there was no trace of magic fluctuations around, just an illusion.
Yet, even if it was an illusion, Hua Ling Meimei could feel an intense panic and unease.
To outsiders, Hua Ling Meimei was a quiet literary girl who usually liked to sit and read alone.
However, Hua Ling Meimei herself was well aware that her situation was not optimistic.
—A frequent visitor to the psychology department of the association's affiliated hospital, she once relied on medication to improve her mental state. Fortunately, she met Hyacinth and the caring Tianqing Jie; otherwise, Hua Ling Meimei felt her current mental state would be even more shattered.
But Hyacinth was captured.
That Magic Girl Hyacinth, who stood in front of her, stepping forward to protect her, was captured by Xin Yuehu.
Hua Ling Meimei didn't know how to face Nan Father.
He worked late every day, but he deeply loved his daughter; if he knew Hyacinth was captured by Xin Yuehu…
Not just Nan Father, but also Teacher Meteor, and others who cared about them, how could she face their questions? How could she respond to their anxious gazes?
Whether it was that night four years ago or the disastrous defeat against Xin Yuehu, the feeling of losing everything seemed to return, impacting the girl's fragile mind.
Thinking of this, Hua Ling Meimei felt suffocated.
It was as if her throat was tightly gripped by a pair of hands; just imagining the scene she was about to face, this pressure made her feel utterly terrified.
In a trance, flashes of razor blades seemed to flicker before her eyes.
Piercing alarms and wails seemed to ring in her ears.
“Ah… Ah ah ah…”
The girl nearly fell to the ground, grabbing the roadside railing and gasping for the cold winter air, trying to stay conscious.
It's happening again… this feeling again…
It was as if her soul was being drawn from her body, flowing away and dissipating from her fingertips, and even the world before her seemed to recede with it.
Post-traumatic stress disorder—that's what the doctor said.
She would have an episode whenever she experienced similar scenes, and in severe cases, even just recalling them could trigger symptoms.
The girl held onto the cold railing beside her, struggling to stand upright, and looked ahead.
Rongcheng Medical College was not far ahead.
In a daze, had she actually come to this place? Tianqing Jie and Jia Yu Jie lived nearby. Was it a coincidence? Or was it because she had a deep-seated hope for something?
Hua Ling Meimei pulled out her phone from her pocket and dialed a number.
“Hello, Hua Ling Meimei, is something wrong this late?”
The pleasant, gentle whisper made Hua Ling Meimei freeze for a few seconds.
What should she say?
Cry loudly on the phone like a child, then pour out her heart?
Or carefully organize her words to make her speech more logical?
After a long silence, or perhaps just for an instant, the girl finally gave up all other thoughts and softly said:
“Tianqing Jie… I'm sorry to call you so late… Did I disturb your rest?”
“It's okay, I'm still awake. Is there something you need, Hua Ling Meimei?”
“…………”
Another long silence.
Not disturbing her rest calmed Hua Ling Meimei's mood a little, and the gentle voice seemed to soothe the frenzy in her heart, like a wisp of straw in the wind, making her desperately want to grasp it.
Keep going, keep talking to Tianqing Jie.
Only this thought remained in Hua Ling Meimei's mind.
“Tianqing Jie, can we talk?”
“Of course, we can. Should we talk on the phone? Or use video call?”
“…I'm at the entrance of Rongcheng Medical College, Tianqing Jie.”
The other end of the phone fell into a brief silence.
The sound of slippers, the opening of a door, the creak of a window being pushed open.
In the dead of night, every tiny sound was noticeable, and with the lingering magic enhancement, Hua Ling Meimei immediately caught the sound of the nearby window and looked up.
Golden Fox, wearing pajamas and a sleeping cap, stood by the window, searched for a moment, and met her gaze.
“Hua Ling Meimei?… You, why are you here?”
Golden Fox's worried voice came through the phone,
“You stay right there, I'll be down to pick you up immediately!”
“I'm sorry, I've caused you trouble, Tianqing Jie… I…”
Hua Ling Meimei was a little nervous, but strangely felt a sense of peace in her heart.
Just seeing Tianqing Jie made her feel calm and comfortable; what kind of wonderful feeling was this?
The call ended.
Soon, Golden Fox, wrapped in a thick coat, appeared by the roadside and waved to her.
“Hua Ling Meimei! Over here!”
“Tianqing Jie…”
The girl slightly opened her mouth, stepped forward, and met the gaze of the worried Golden Fox before her.
“Why are you still outside so late? Did something happen?”
“…”
Hua Ling Meimei remained silent, not daring to tell the truth.
Golden Fox seemed to sense her inner turmoil, took her hand, and led her towards the nearby apartment.
“It's really cold outside today. Come to my place, rest a bit, have some hot water, and then we can talk properly about what happened.”
“…Thank you.”
Hua Ling Meimei murmured to herself.
Su Tianqing seemed to say something else, but Hua Ling Meimei couldn't hear anything.
The girl silently made up her mind,
Today, she would confess everything,
Tianqing Jie, if it's you, then you can definitely…