"See you next time at the anime convention!"
"Mhm, goodbye Tianqing Jie."
After dinner, Hua Ling stood at the subway entrance, waving goodbye to Su Tianqing and the other person not far away.
The girl hugged the fluffy pillow she won from the game stall; even though it was wrapped in a packaging bag, she could still feel the silken smoothness and softness of the pillow inside.
Besides that, her backpack also contained many merchandise toys, a very fruitful haul.
Hua Ling took a deep breath, walked into the subway entrance, and started her journey home.
But in the shadows behind her, a small pink figure quietly appeared, trailing her like a Rabbit.
After passing security and getting on the subway, Hua Ling found a corner to sit down and looked down at her phone.
Many new photos had appeared in her album.
Many were selfies taken with her companions, and there were also group photos with cosplayers.
Hua Ling opened a photo that was marked with a red heart.
Looking at the smiling faces of everyone on the screen, the girl's lips curved into a joyful arc.
Group photos with everyone, it's really nice.
Especially when seeing their favorite merchandise, everyone's bright smiles were incredibly infectious, making those around them smile as well.
Should she print this photo out as a souvenir?
That would be a bit strange, perhaps it's better to make it her desktop background.
Thinking this, Hua Ling silently set the photo as her phone's desktop, her smile widening.
After doing all this, the girl put her phone away, stretched, and looked around.
The evening rush hour had passed, and the subway wasn't that crowded; she could see all the way to the end.
And not far away, a small pink figure caught Hua Ling's attention.
The presence of that figure was very faint; if she hadn't observed carefully, it would have been hard to notice her:
Pink Rabbit ears drooped on her head, a mask and sunglasses obscured her face, making her appearance unclear, and she was also wrapped in a very ill-fitting long coat.
Only her legs, wearing black stockings and pink sneakers, showed that she was a petite girl.
"A Rabbit Beastkin..."
Hua Ling muttered to herself.
There are quite a number of Beastkin in Rong City; Tianqing Jie and Jia Yu Jie are among them, and she often sees Beastkin with ears and tails on the subway.
But a Rabbit Beastkin... this was truly the first time she had actually seen one.
Speaking of which, she had seen her at the anime convention today. Was she going the same way as herself? She had barely seen her before.
Thinking this, Hua Ling didn't pay too much attention.
...
The subway arrived at the station, and the girl, holding her pillow, walked from the subway station back to the surface.
Strolling along the empty street, Hua Ling leisurely recalled her day.
Besides the pillow in her arms, she had also bought many interesting merchandise.
There were new Iris badges and tinplates, already hanging on the outside of her backpack, and besides that, there were many posters, colored papers, and laser tickets, enough to satisfy her spiritual needs for at least a month.
"But this pillow is still the best."
Hua Ling hugged the pillow in her arms tighter, her face full of happiness.
Xin Yuehu's tail pillow!
She was already very much looking forward to unpacking it and putting it on her bed to hug it to her heart's content when she got home; the feel would definitely be amazing!
"Rustle, rustle, clatter."
Suddenly, a strange noise came from behind her.
Hua Ling looked back and caught a glimpse of a fleeting black figure in the shadow of the wall corner.
"!!"
A bad premonition appeared in the girl's heart.
It was completely dark now, and there were few pedestrians; the surroundings were a bit eerie.
But the public security in Rong City had always been good, so logically, this kind of thing shouldn't happen...
"...!!"
A figure wearing sunglasses and a mask suddenly peeked out from the corner of the wall. Seeing Hua Ling staring this way, she immediately shrank back.
Hua Ling's heart was pounding in her throat.
What's going on?!
Didn't they say Rong City's public security was good?! Why would there be... a stalker like this...?!
The girl quickened her pace significantly.
Seeing this, the black figure also quickened her steps.
She turned a street corner, and the figure was still behind her.
She crossed another main road, and still saw her.
Hearing the continuous rustling footsteps behind her, Hua Ling was almost in tears.
A stalker!!
Why was being followed happening to her!!
Were the stalker videos she usually saw on websites real after all!!
Should she call the police?
The person behind her had been following her for over ten minutes; if she didn't call the police soon, she might...
The girl's heart was filled with panic, and she nervously fumbled in her bag, but she still couldn't pull out her phone.
The more nervous she was, the less she could get it out; instead, something fell out of her pocket.
But Hua Ling had no time to worry about what it was at this moment. After turning a few corners, she looked up and saw the gate of her own residential area not far away, and immediately darted towards it as if seeing a savior.
"Hmm? Is that Hua Ling Meimei? How come you're back today..."
"Uncle! There's someone following me, Uncle, please help me quickly!"
Before the security guard could finish speaking, Hua Ling nervously squeezed into the security booth and pleaded for his help.
Seeing the girl's tearful appearance, the security guard quickly looked behind her.
The figure wearing sunglasses and a mask appeared in his sight, startling him quite a bit.
"Gate A1! Something happened at Gate A1, two people come for backup quickly!"
"!!!!"
The small masked figure jumped in surprise, her ears, which had been flattened on her head, suddenly perked up, and she turned and ran.
Only then did Hua Ling suddenly realize the identity of her follower.
It was the Rabbit Girl she met on the subway?
But why... why would she follow her?
Thinking this, Hua Ling took out her phone, intending to tell Xiao Feng and the others about this.
But the moment the girl's hand went into her pocket, she noticed something unusual, and then suddenly froze.
—Her guardian star in her pocket was gone!
...
Xia Taotao walked dejectedly down the street, her backpack slung over her shoulder, her face full of exhaustion.
She messed up.
Everything was messed up.
To get that pillow at the shooting game, Xia Taotao had practiced shooting for two whole days.
She didn't expect that she would hesitate and not dare to step forward because she was afraid of the gazes of those around her, allowing that girl to get it first.
She had always wanted that tail pillow.
Rabbit Girl planned to negotiate with the girl who got the pillow, to exchange her backpack full of merchandise for the limited edition pillow in her hand, but she followed her all the way without the courage to go up and talk.
So she followed for half a day, and when she finally mustered the courage to go up, she was scared away by the security guard and fled in a hurry.
Two days of hard practice at shooting were completely useless, she couldn't get the limited tail pillow, and she couldn't even get the limited standee she had been longing for.
Rabbit Girl looked down at the heavy shoulder bag beside her, her nose stung, and tears immediately rolled down in large drops.
"Wuwu... Wuwa—"
"I'm really... really useless... Wuwa... Wuwuwu..."
"Clearly... clearly I practiced for two days... Wuwuwu..."
The girl's sorrowful crying did not attract anyone's attention; the street was empty, only a passing stray cat glanced at her and quickly ran away.
"Click."
"?!"
Suddenly, Rabbit stepped on something, stumbled, and almost fell.
Even a small stone wants to stop Rabbit me!
Steadying herself, Xia Taotao looked back with a tear-streaked face, but her expression suddenly froze.
"That is..."
Rabbit Girl, her face covered in snot and tears, walked back to where she had stumbled, bent down, and picked up something shiny from the ground.
Under the streetlight, Xia Taotao clearly saw what the object in her hand looked like.
A golden—guardian star.