Chapter 87: An Unexpected Encounter and a Desperate Escape

Mo Qiu had contemplated numerous scenarios for her next encounter with the Mysterious Person, yet none of them had prepared her for the reality unfolding before her.

Massive vines lashed out, whipping violently towards the girl and pulverizing the very ground beneath her feet.

Perched on the rooftop, the Mysterious Person observed the lingering dust cloud. Suddenly, their black robe billowed, and from its folds, barbed vines shot forth, deflecting a dagger that had been hurtling towards them.

“Clang.”

With a brief glance at the dagger embedded in the earth, the Mysterious Person turned, only to find the girl, resplendent in her elegant gown, standing directly behind them.

Witnessing the dagger, thrown by her mirror image, effortlessly batted aside, a wave of annoyance made Mo Qiu’s brow furrow involuntarily.

She hadn’t anticipated such a high level of vigilance; even her mirror illusion, designed to flank them, had proven utterly ineffective.

Her starlit eyes fixated on their black robe, where the protective vines, having served their purpose, receded back into its folds, vanishing as if they had never materialized.

They could not only conjure troublesome vines from the ground with a mere gesture but also conceal them within their garments. Clad in such a bulky robe, the Mysterious Person’s true extent of armament remained utterly inscrutable.

In both offense and defense, they had appeared to expend minimal effort. Such an adversary was undeniably far more formidable than either Saluk or Xinleit.

As the Mysterious Person lifted their hand, Mo Qiu quickly interjected, her voice cutting through the tension: “Hold on. I don’t believe there’s any need for us to fight to the death, is there?”

The Mysterious Person’s motion halted.

“If your animosity stems from my past deception, consider your ambush a settlement of that score. Perhaps a mutual retreat would be a more sensible course of action?”

Mo Qiu offered an innocent smile, then gracefully lifted the hem of her skirt, revealing black stockings adorned with a mesmerizing, dynamic starry sky pattern, before executing an elegant curtsy.

The girl, with one eye still open, winked playfully, her star-shaped pupil sparkling with impish light.

“We are both creatures of magic, both serving the Emperor. What purpose would be served by our mutual destruction?”

“Creature of magic?”

The Mysterious Person let out a cold scoff, their voice remaining an enigmatic blend that defied gender identification.

“Do you truly believe a mere human such as yourself possesses the right to stand among us?”

‘Hated once more.’

Joining the Imperial organization as a human was a truly arduous endeavor. Not only were they branded traitors by their own kind, but even among the demons, such individuals were not universally accepted. Of the demons she had interacted with extensively, only Aiqi displayed a degree of warmth, while Saluk and Xinleit harbored palpable disdain.

As for Elia… Mo Qiu possessed insufficient knowledge of her to ascertain her true feelings. Furthermore, Elia’s prolonged absence had sparked whispers, leading many to suspect she had vanished from Windchime City altogether.

Demons perceived her as human, while demon hunters branded her a demon; she was an anomaly in both worlds. Thankfully, Bai Chen, to this day, still believed Libelle to be a pure demon, rather than a demon-human hybrid.

“Wielding the power of demons, yet your body remains human. What, precisely, are you—”

“—or are you still merely human?”

The Mysterious Person continued, “How utterly laughable. You have ostensibly joined the Imperial organization, yet one foot remains firmly planted within the human faction.”

…

Mo Qiu let her skirt fall, yet her smile remained unwavering. “Where is it?”

“What ‘thing’ are you referring to? I have no idea,” Mo Qiu replied, spreading her hands in a gesture of feigned innocence.

“Cease this charade of ignorance. Saluk was your victim, and Xinleit met his end by your hand,” the shadow beneath the Mysterious Person’s hood scoffed coldly. “What, pray tell, do you imagine I am referring to?”

At these words, Mo Qiu’s expression froze, and she barely managed to mask the profound astonishment surging within her.

‘Regarding Saluk and Xinleit, surely I was the sole one privy to the full truth?’

Mo Qiu’s gaze sharpened, piercing the shadows beneath the Mysterious Person’s hood, as if discerning a face twisted in derision.

Mo Qiu’s heart hammered an insistent rhythm against her ribs. It was unsettlingly clear: just as she had been investigating the Mysterious Person, they, too, had been investigating her.

‘How much did the Mysterious Person truly know of her schemes and objectives? Why had they withheld this information from Aiqi and Elia? And what had they been doing during their prolonged absence?’

After a brief, charged silence, the girl’s smile returned. She took a confident stride, advancing towards them with an air of complete vulnerability.

“Oh, come now, we are both members of the Imperial organization; there’s truly no need for such bitter antagonism. As you can see, I am but a novice, having only recently joined, and there remains so much I have yet to comprehend.”

Mo Qiu grinned, closing the distance, but a segment of vine, snaking ominously from the ground, brought her to an abrupt halt.

This was the Mysterious Person’s unmistakable warning: ‘One step further, and they would unleash their power.’

‘Their vigilance was truly remarkable.’

The mirror card, concealed within Mo Qiu’s sleeve, was now rendered useless. With a sigh, she reluctantly abandoned her facade of amicable smiles.

“I truly wish to avoid conflict. I still have to find Bai Chen.”

Faced with such an obdurate opponent, Mo Qiu’s sentiment was singular. She raised her slender right hand, extended her pale middle finger, and then defiantly contorted her face into a mocking grimace.

As if unable to endure her blatant provocation, the Mysterious Person raised their arm. Inadvertently, their gaze locked with the girl’s eyes, which pulsed with mesmerizing peach hearts, and their movement seized abruptly.

The instant Mo Qiu’s lips curved into a triumphant smile, her vision abruptly plunged into darkness. Clapping her hands over her eyes, she let out a piercing shriek.

‘No! The Puppet Demon Eye is proving ineffective!’

The disparity in their power was simply too vast; she couldn’t even influence their mind, let alone control them outright.

The “Mo Qiu” who stood hunched over was instantly impaled by several vines, her form shattering into a cascade of mirror fragments upon the ground.

The hooded Mysterious Person moved to the very edge of the rooftop, their gaze following the girl’s fleeing figure down the street, her long, deep blue hair borne aloft by the wind.

Mo Qiu ran, her eyes narrowed against the elements, the wind still lashing at them with a sensation akin to needle pricks.

“It still throbs immensely, but at least I haven’t gone blind.”

Though tears streamed uncontrollably, her eyes had begun to feel marginally better.

From Mo Qiu’s perspective, the Mysterious Person operated with meticulous caution, striving to remain as inconspicuous as possible. Ergo, heading towards a densely populated area might offer her a chance to elude them.

Unless…

No sooner had Mo Qiu’s vision cleared enough to discern the street ahead than a dark silhouette soared overhead, startling her into an abrupt halt.

A car, flung high into the air, slammed violently onto the street before her, sending sparks showering as its metal shell grated against the asphalt. The driver, slumped lifelessly within the cabin, presented a gruesome, distorted visage that was truly sickening to behold.

‘Impossible. Were they not renowned for their caution?’

The terrified screams of fleeing pedestrians assaulted her ears, and the ground beneath her small leather boots vibrated with a palpable tremor, as if some immense force was rapidly closing in.

The girl spun around, and the spectacle that unfolded before her eyes rendered her utterly motionless.

Wherever the Mysterious Person stepped, fissures spiderwebbed across the pavement, from which gnarled tree roots rapidly proliferated. Colossal plants erupted from the earth, their tentacle-like vines thrashing violently, assailing everything in their vicinity.

Immense floral discs gaped open, their fissures resembling monstrous mouths, revealing rows of razor-sharp teeth within.

‘Could these truly still be called plants? They were unmistakably demonic entities, merely disguised as flora!’

In a mere few minutes, the once-peaceful street had swiftly devolved into a living inferno. The Mysterious Person stood at the epicenter of this botanical onslaught, akin to a general commanding a vast army. Soon, this entire thoroughfare would be consumed by them and their monstrous legion.

‘And it was glaringly obvious that they were targeting her specifically.’

The instant the gravity of the situation dawned upon her, Mo Qiu hurled a mirror card into the distance. The very moment her mirror doppelgänger was pulverized by the encroaching vines, she materialized far away, transported by the trajectory of the flying card.

Again, she flung a mirror card, instantly teleporting, repeating the maneuver until she had successfully eluded the relentless pursuit of the Mysterious Person.

Mo Qiu’s face was ashen, her actions a frantic, repetitive blur. The demon hunters would undoubtedly arrive at the scene soon; there was absolutely no reason for her to engage in a direct, grueling confrontation with such an adversary.

The Mysterious Person continued their relentless advance, yet the sprawling vines proved incapable of matching the girl’s instantaneous teleportations, leaving them swiftly trailing in her wake.

‘Success was within her grasp!’

She glanced back, a flash of relief illuminating her face, and without a moment’s hesitation, teleported to the location of her flung card.

Then, with a sickening thud, the girl collided head-first with someone’s chest. Both let out a yelp of surprise, but she remained upright, her wrist firmly gripped by an unseen hand.

‘Who was it?’

Upon recognizing the face before her, Mo Qiu froze in stunned disbelief.

“Bai Chen?”

“Libelle?”

‘How could he possibly be here?’

Mo Qiu glanced down at her gripped wrist, and comprehension immediately dawned. The card she had just flung must have been intercepted by him, likely mistaken for a covert projectile.

Bai Chen, too, paused in bewilderment for a moment, before his expression hardened into one of furious indignation.

“You again! Causing chaos in the streets, no less!”

He gripped the girl’s slender wrist with such crushing force that Mo Qiu found her fingers utterly useless.

“My apologies, but I truly have no time to ‘play’ with you right now.”

“What did you—”

Mid-sentence, Bai Chen caught sight of the peach hearts swirling within her eyes and instantly slammed his own shut.

Mo Qiu, having long anticipated this reaction, seized the opportune moment to wrench her hand free, flung a card into the distance, and vanished instantly from Bai Chen’s bewildered gaze.

Having made her escape, Mo Qiu did not press on. Instead, she pressed her back against a shadowed wall, finding refuge in Bai Chen’s blind spot.

Firstly, her supply of mirror cards was dwindling, precluding any further waste. The second reason, however, was Bai Chen himself.

“He actually came back?!”

Mo Qiu’s heart lurched. She cautiously peeked out, her starlit eyes wide with alarm.

Bai Chen indeed did not continue to search for her. Instead, the fool was charging directly towards the Mysterious Person!

“No! Why are you rushing to your doom?!”

Mo Qiu nearly cried out, quickly clamping a hand over her mouth.

The seismic stars in her pupils swiftly settled, and the girl’s thoughts pivoted: ‘Perhaps this is an opportunity?’

Bai Chen possessed a mysterious power. If unleashed, could he possibly contend with the Mysterious Person?

She glanced at Libelle, who remained oblivious, as Bai Chen ran forward until he spotted the culprit wreaking havoc in the city.

The street was ravaged by animalistic plants, and one sunflower-like entity was the first to notice Bai Chen, its maw gaping like a blood-filled basin as it charged at him.

Bai Chen saw the shredded flesh and cloth clinging to its teeth, his face darkening rapidly as his black-gloved hand clenched into a fist.

A flash of electricity, and a blade sliced through the air.

He noticed the Mysterious Person, whose foot rested on a withered branch, halt their steps and look towards Bai Chen’s position.

The sunflower that had been charging him was cleaved in two, dark ichor gushing forth and splattering onto his clothes.

“I knew I shouldn’t have worn white today.”

Bai Chen loosened his collar, the longsword of blue lightning in his hand tapping the ground, crackling with arcs of electricity.

“Are you the one who created them?”

Bai Chen took a deep breath, raising his longsword and pointing it at the Mysterious Person.

“Prepare to die, demon.”

On the shattered street, he was the sole human still standing before the Mysterious Person, his upright figure perfectly framed in Mo Qiu’s eyes from behind.

The girl stood stunned, as if witnessing that familiar figure who had once swept through legions of demons.