Chapter 33: The Descent of the Flame Witch

That night, unable to sit due to a throbbing ache, Xiao Xi stood in the corridor, letting the breeze wash over him. It was then that he witnessed something truly astonishing.

In that instant, a fierce gale erupted, transforming the once serene surroundings into a sudden cacophony. Xiao Xi’s drowsy mind was jolted awake by this cosmic anomaly.

He gazed about in utter bewilderment. ‘What in the world is happening? Why has such a powerful wind suddenly sprung up?’

Yet, there was nothing to be seen all around him. ‘No, that wasn’t entirely true. There was something… It was…’

Xiao Xi narrowed his eyes. ‘Before me… a rope? How could there be a rope right before my eyes?’

It wasn’t merely dangling from the ceiling. No, it seemed to be a rope descending from the very rooftop of the building.

‘What is this?’

‘Have I become so wretched that even the heavens have deemed my existence too pathetic to bear? Has some divine entity begun offering me a rope, urging me to ‘restart’ my life? Isn’t this a bit too minimalist? Oh, great deities, I’m still missing a small stool!’

Xiao Xi extended a hand, intending to touch the rope—this sudden apparition that felt utterly incongruous and jarringly out of place within his surroundings.

But just as his fingers neared it, suddenly!

“Whoosh~ *Bang!*”

A resounding *thump* echoed.

A young woman landed with remarkable poise, her hands outstretched. She still held the dynamic posture of her descent, having just completed a flawless aerial maneuver.

Then, with a languid, satisfied stretch, she arched her back, her long, fiery wine-red hair fanning out. A pair of adorably sharp fangs peeked from her smile.

“Ah~ my flying magic is becoming more and more refined~ However…”

The young woman opened her beautiful, ruby-like eyes and scanned her surroundings. “Hmm? Where’s that white-haired beautiful girl? Where did she go? Wasn’t she just here?”

“I…”

Xiao Xi, pinned beneath the red-haired beauty’s foot, slowly extended a hand. Hearing his voice, the red-haired beauty looked down. Uh…

“Oh, so you’re here, haha. White-haired Miss, are you practicing earth-burrowing magic by lying here? Hmm~ so we’re colleagues, what a coincidence, hahaha… So, I didn’t happen to land on you when I flew down, did I? Surely not? Hahaha… How could that be?”

“Uh… wh-white…”

Xiao Xi lifted his head, glancing at the red-haired beauty who was attempting to convince herself. She paused, puzzled. White? What was white?

‘Uh…’

‘Could he be talking about my panties?’

The red-haired beauty’s face quickly flushed the exact same color as her hair.

“Aaaah! White-haired Miss, you’re utterly shameless! Anyone who peeks at this Witch Miss’s panties will be incinerated by me! I’ll definitely purify your eyes with a Grand Fireball Spell! A Grand Fireball with a fifty-meter diameter!”

The self-proclaimed Witch Miss stomped fiercely on Xiao Xi’s face with her black-stockinged foot, all while muttering strange, nonsensical words to herself. Was this some magical incantation to punish Xiao Xi? If it was, it was certainly odd.

“No… A fifty-meter diameter Grand Fireball? Are you trying to purify my eyes or just cremate me directly? If you have that kind of power, go work at a crematorium! Stop stomping, I… I’m so embarrassed!”

Xiao Xi lay on the ground, wailing helplessly. Uh…

The Witch Miss blinked, then silently withdrew her foot, ending her playful assault. She nodded obediently, then hopped off Xiao Xi.

Xiao Xi slowly picked himself up from the ground, whimpering. Just moments ago, only his backside ached; now, his entire body throbbed. Forget sitting, he could barely stand. He might just have to lie down.

Fortunately, he had already fallen once recently, and his body had undergone sufficient training. He could now survive being struck by a strange, descending girl without breaking any bones. Thank you, Senior Sister, thank you, little sister. Was this your foresight?

Speaking of which…

Xiao Xi stood frozen in place for a good while, then silently looked up at the Witch Miss, who was supposedly reflecting on her mistake. ‘Speaking of which, are you *really* reflecting? You’re clearly just picking at your fingers with your head down!’

****

‘Come to think of it… why is there a strange, beautiful girl wandering around the school in the middle of the night, and even flying down from the sky?’

‘Is this logical?’

The Witch Miss before him was dressed in a peculiar manner. Her upper body was clad in a witch’s robe, resembling a cosplay outfit from some anime. Her lower body, however, wore a Japanese-style pleated skirt. Ah… an eclectic mix of East and West, uh…

‘Quite impressive, but Witch Miss, where’s your large hat? That enormous witch’s hat that’s big enough to flatten your head?’

Hmm…

Xiao Xi couldn’t quite figure it out. This… it was simply too abstract. Xiao Xi never imagined he’d encounter such a situation: a beautiful girl appearing mysteriously at night, even calling herself a witch… Could it be?

‘Is she a ghost!?’

‘On my very first night staying out late, I’ve encountered a supernatural event? This, this, this… isn’t this a bit targeted at me?!’

Xiao Xi retreated, staring at the beautiful girl in terror. Yet, somehow, the more he looked at her face, the more he gradually felt at ease.

‘Such a cute ghost miss… she probably wouldn’t harm anyone, right?’

But he was still so scared. Didn’t they say pretty girls were the most dangerous? Like Sister Yuan, for instance,呜呜…

“Are… are you trying to escape?” The red-haired beauty, who called herself a witch, looked at Xiao Xi’s strange movements with confusion. Xiao Xi nodded… no, he immediately shook his head vigorously, explaining in a panic: “No, Miss Ghost, I, I, I… um, my husband called me home to warm the bed, I, I… I’m running away!”

Xiao Xi was incoherent, but that didn’t matter. The important thing was to turn and flee quickly, or else he’d be dragged to the underworld by Miss Ghost!

“Heh~ Want to run? No way!”

The Witch Miss grabbed Xiao Xi by his collar, yanked him back forcefully, and then, with a resentful expression, asked the trembling Xiao Xi:

“You just said… you have a husband?”

“No… No, no, no, I don’t,呜呜呜, that was just something I made up to trick you, don’t eat me, don’t eat me…”

‘I’m going to be eaten!’ Xiao Xi was on the verge of tears. ‘At least, at least don’t implicate Sister Yuan. I can’t let Miss Ghost learn of Sister Yuan’s existence from my words…’

Xiao Xi silently shed tears. ‘Forget it, I didn’t want to live anyway, so let it be… Who knows what kind of ‘tutelage’ I’ll endure after being taken to the underworld by Miss Ghost—no, what kind of torment… In any case, Sister Yuan, don’t forget me,呜呜.’

“You… why are you crying?! First of all, I’m not a ghost, I’m a living person! *Cough, cough*… To be precise, I am Mia, the Flame Witch, a great magician who wields fire magic. Tonight, I was merely practicing my flying magic, not some ghost wandering the campus…”

“呜呜呜… I don’t believe it, there are no witches in this world, don’t lie to me, Miss Ghost, don’t eat me, don’t eat me…” Xiao Xi continued to wipe away his tears.

‘Ah, this…’

“Hey, hey, hey, that’s not right! You believe in ghosts, but you don’t believe in witches! Are you looking down on witches? You really are looking down on witches!”