Chapter 6: A Shattered Illusion

The air seemed to freeze instantly. The stifling heat of the early summer night vanished without a trace, replaced by a bone-chilling cold that pierced straight to her marrow.

Within Su Xinxin, the instinctive urge to struggle seemed to have been utterly drained, leaving behind only a quiet, fatalistic calm.

She couldn’t possibly win. Xiao Ming wasn’t here. If this person truly intended to kill her, she stood absolutely no chance.

Perhaps this was for the best. No more agonizing over staying or leaving, no more confronting the shame and unfamiliarity. Yet, this forced outcome ultimately betrayed the opportunity the organization had given her.

Even with a younger body, she was still like that old person on the hospital bed, with no room for choice.

She was still… useless.

Perhaps sensing the fleeting darkness and surrender in her eyes, the gaze, which had been scrutinizing her like a hunter assessing prey, lost its interest. The hand clamped around her throat loosened.

Su Xinxin collapsed to the ground, violent gasps and coughs tearing from her throat. She wasn’t even sure if this counted as being saved.

“Facing such killing intent from me, you couldn’t even muster the will to resist,” the voice remained cool and clear, its gender indiscernible, only a sharp edge that pierced her eardrums. “All I saw in your eyes was primal fear, not a shred of determination to ‘fight.’ How disappointing.”

Su Xinxin struggled to prop up her upper body, her vision blurring.

“I watched your test today,” the person stated, looking down at her, their words falling like icy pellets. “Utterly unremarkable. Nothing more than platitudes like ‘pure soul’ and ‘unblemished will.’ But let me tell you, against monsters, what you need is the ruthlessness to slay them, not the gentle, ineffective pacification favored by the Purification Faction! When you encounter stronger, more numerous ‘Corrupt,’ how will your slow comfort save anyone? Yourself, or those you wish to protect?”

Su Xinxin’s coughing gradually subsided, but the sharp criticism drilled into her ears, every word intact. So noisy…

“Who… are you?” she tried to lift her head, but an invisible weight seemed to press down on her, making her neck ache.

“Who I am is unimportant,” the person seemed to scoff. “I merely came to see the newcomer, to give a ‘greeting,’ and, incidentally, to gauge your worth. Unfortunately, all I found was a soft persimmon lost in naive dreams. And I—”

“—came specifically to shatter illusions!”

The person crouched down, their cold fingers suddenly delving into Su Xinxin’s hair, which still carried the scent of jasmine, and ruffled it. “Your hair smells lovely, though.” Their tone was almost playful. “Too bad reality isn’t a fairy tale. Remember that firmly.”

Then, a small, furry creature was gently tossed onto the floor before Su Xinxin.

It was Xiao Ming. Their eyes were tightly shut, their pristine white fur smudged with dust, and their ears and tail drooped limply. The faint rise and fall of their chest was barely discernible.

“Your little darling, picked up from the roadside. You’d barely been contracted for a day and already had a falling out? Look at this pitiful state.”

Su Xinxin’s heart clenched. “Xiao Ming!” She hastily scooped them up. The temperature radiating from her palm was alarmingly low; the small body felt soft and lifeless.

“You… what did you do to them?” she looked up, her voice trembling.

“Tsk, are your ears not working?” The person stood, their shadow falling over her. “I said, I ‘picked’ them up—from a group of formless, low-level ‘Corrupt.’ But now, it seems you’d rather imagine me as the villain? Very well, then.”

“Wait… wait!” Seeing the person turn to leave, Su Xinxin used all her strength to stand, cradling Xiao Ming. “Please… save them! Earlier, I… I spoke wrongly!”

“Beg me?” The person’s back was to her, their voice devoid of emotion. “I’ve changed my mind. Also, allow me to offer you a free piece of advice: if you harbor thoughts of pulling out at any moment, it’s better to quit early. The Magical Girl profession has no room for the indecisive.”

“Yes, I… I was wrong… I’m sorry!” Su Xinxin’s voice dropped, her knees buckling as she knelt heavily on the ground. “But please… save them. Truly… I beg you.”

She didn’t know what else she could do besides plead.

“You can save them.”

Three cold words drifted on the wind. The person’s figure had already merged into the dim shadows of the corridor like a phantom, vanishing from sight.

Su Xinxin froze for a moment, then understood. She tried to offer thanks, but found she had no strength left to utter a sound.

She knelt on the ground, carefully holding Xiao Ming before her eyes. The little one’s breath was weak, as if they could dissipate at any moment.

What should she do? A hospital? Which hospital would admit a Spirit Beast? Contact the organization? She had no idea how. Expose her identity to ask for help? That was even less an option…

Only one method remained.

She closed her eyes, trying to recall the feeling from that brief test earlier in the day. That desire deep within her to soothe, to purify.

She didn’t know specific healing incantations, only relying on instinct. This sensation felt familiar, stemming from the same gentle impulse that had surged within her when she purified the grey mist. Only now, this impulse was more urgent, more directly aimed at ‘life’ itself.

She continuously channeled that thought of ‘wishing them well’ into her palm, into the small life cradled in her arms.

‘It’s okay… you’ll be fine… hold on…’

She whispered in her heart, as if comforting Xiao Ming, and also herself.

Some power within her was clumsily mobilized, flowing out weakly but steadily.

There was no staff, no transformation, but she felt a warmth gradually bloom in her palm. It was very faint, yet undeniably present. A soft, pale yellow glow seeped from between her fingers, gently enveloping Xiao Ming.

She could feel it—no, she ‘saw’ it, ‘saw’ it in the darkness of her closed eyes—the chaotic, broken ‘lines’ within Xiao Ming slowly reconnecting in the faint light, the weak flame of life rekindling little by little.

The process was agonizingly slow. Every second drained her dwindling energy. The impact injury on her back began to burn, and her eyelids grew heavy, constantly wanting to droop.

But the temperature of the small body beneath her palm was indeed rising, little by little.

After an indeterminate amount of time, she felt Xiao Ming’s ear twitch softly.

It was then that her last shred of strength gave out. Her vision completely blackened, her body slumped softly to one side, and her consciousness plunged into a bottomless darkness.

When she opened her eyes again, sunlight had pierced through the curtain gap, cutting bright diagonal lines across the floor.

She first frowned, then instinctively tried to move, but felt a sharp ache in her back the moment she did.

“Ouch…” A clear, youthful cry of pain escaped her lips.

Memories slowly surfaced, and she realized this wasn’t a hospital bed, nor were yesterday’s experiences a dream.

She propped herself up, the thin blanket sliding off her. She was still in her light yellow cotton pajamas, her hair spread over her shoulders.

Memories, like shattered glass shards, pieced together the events of yesterday: Xiao Ming, Magical Girl, the contract… the door-breaker, that hand, Xiao Ming, kneeling for help, and then…

“Ow!”

Suddenly, something rolled to the floor with her movement, emitting a small complaint.

“Aren’t you an old man? Why are you getting up so recklessly like a youngster! My old bones… Oh, no, my delicate Spirit Beast body can’t take such a fall!”