lerbook Chapter 338: Persistence always yields some results.
Chapter 338: Persistence always yields some results.
The next day.
It's 5:30 in the evening.
The sun hung dimly on the horizon, slowly and steadily setting.
The cat and the fox sat side by side, gazing at the building facade illuminated by the golden glow of the setting sun.
After finishing their tutoring classes for the day, Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu delivered food to an elderly patient in the hospital. They sat on a bench at the hospital entrance, as if waiting for something.
The festive atmosphere of the Lunar New Year has fully spread throughout Chengdu.
Hospitals are no exception.
Spring Festival couplets and red lanterns were hung at the entrance, adding to the festive atmosphere, but the flow of people was still as large as ever.
"There are so many people! It's almost Chinese New Year, and there are still so many people in the hospital."
"Maybe it's because people who went home for the Lunar New Year noticed that their elderly relatives were sick, so they made a special trip to the hospital to see a doctor."
Su Tianqing said calmly.
I see this scene often.
When elderly people are reluctant to go to the hospital for treatment, their children may notice their condition when they return home for the Chinese New Year, which can actually make the hospital busier.
"Little fish."
"uh-huh?"
"Grandma is recovering very well. The doctor said she can be discharged and go home tomorrow afternoon."
"I heard the doctor mention it; I think he said Grandma had some kind of chronic illness that had an acute exacerbation?"
"AECOPD, acute exacerbation of chronic bronchitis, is a common ailment among the elderly during winter."
The attending physician, Fox, was conducting a teaching activity with a serious expression.
"Little Fish, look, Grandma's blood test results have all returned to normal. She'll go for a follow-up CT scan tomorrow to check the infection in her lungs, and she can go home this afternoon."
"Eh...is that so?"
Freshman Nan Jiayu blinked her bright, cat-like eyes as if listening to gibberish.
After the discussion about the illness ended, the two remained seated side by side on the bench, watching the sunset that was almost below the horizon.
"Time is almost up."
"Yeah, I hope no weirdos will show up today," Nan Jiayu murmured.
Su Tianqing nodded with a wry smile.
Aurora's guardian star is very special; it triggers a transformation when the sun sets, which brings her enormous trouble in her life.
Moreover, it will summon a strange, ripped monster next to her.
Yesterday, Rabbit and Cat worked together to defeat that troublesome monster, putting it into a one-day resurrection cooldown.
But if you have to go and take care of it every other day, no one can stand it in the long run.
Not to mention, its body is covered in blades, and even the little fish that loves to fight doesn't seem willing to fight that gutted monster, which makes things even more troublesome.
"Speaking of which, has Inari-senpai contacted us?"
Suddenly remembering something, Nan Jiayu asked.
"Not yet. It's best not to bother her until she contacts us first," Su Tianqing said, shaking her head.
Yesterday, I asked Ms. Inari to help investigate the case of the gutted monster.
But Inari hadn't contacted her all day, which made Su Tianqing feel quite uneasy.
This gut-opening monster actually stumped even Inari?
Inari can touch the laws of time with her magic in her ordinary form, and she has developed countless experimental astral magics. She is an absolute magical genius!
If even a genius like this couldn't figure out the origins of the Ripper, then...
"Ring ring~ Ring ring~"
Suddenly, the familiar intro to the theme song of a magical girl anime started playing. The cat and fox were stunned for a moment. Su Tianqing took out her phone and looked at the contact list on it.
【Namiya Chiho】
Ah, I remember now, I did exchange contact information with Inari.
Su Tianqing answered the phone, and the cat girl also came over, sticking both cat ears and fox ears onto the phone at the same time.
"Ms. Chiho."
Good evening, Miss Sunny.
After a polite greeting, the two quickly got down to business.
"Miss Tianqing, are you free now? I have something important I'd like to discuss with you."
"I'm free. Please wait a moment, I'll contact you."
After a conversation that sounded almost like an encrypted call, Nan Jiayu almost curled her cat tail into a circle.
……
Later that evening, on the villain's rooftop.
Having acquired a new codename, Aurora sat obediently and properly on the villain's rooftop sofa.
From now on, Su Tianqing will call Aurora the magical girl "Alice".
The golden fox and the cat girl sat opposite her, talking to the red fox girl on the other end of the communication stone.
"Hmm... I see..."
Using the camera's view of the familiar, Inari carefully examined Aurora's condition, her red fox tail swaying slowly as if she were pondering something.
"Miss Inari, what did you see in Alice?" the golden-haired fox girl asked.
"...A very special transformation method, which only exists in theory, is the first time I have ever seen it."
Inari said,
"Miss Heart Moon Fox, are you familiar with [The Dark Shadow of the Stars]?"
"I know, and both Maomao and I have witnessed it firsthand," Su Tianqing answered honestly, and then told Inari about the state of the iris flowers back then.
"I see. That makes it much easier to explain."
.
"Magic has two sides."
"It can transform us into magical girls with powerful magical abilities, or it can possess stray objects or wild beasts, turning them into monsters or witches."
"Once the magical girls' beliefs waver, and a twisted will or other obsessions arise, they may enter the dark side of the Shadows and transform into Star Shadows that act solely for their obsessions."
"If they remain in the dark shadow of the stars for an extended period, the magical girls' guardian stars will be tainted by this shadow, leading to some unexpected situations."
"Miss Alice, this is probably what's going on in your life."
Aurora blinked blankly.
Su Tianqing and Nan Jiayu exchanged a glance, and then they suddenly realized what was going on.
Sure enough, the problem lies with Aurora's Guardian Star!
There must be something wrong with the Guardian Star that forcibly transforms at sunset; Su Tianqing had this thought from the very beginning.
However, his analytical magic failed to reveal the problem with the guardian star, and he even thought it was just an ordinary guardian star.
You're still not good enough, Fox!
"So, that means..."
Alice looked nervously at the Guardian Star in her hand and said,
"Could this guardian star... truly harbor a terrifying evil spirit...?"
"No, that's the only thing that's impossible."
As Inari spoke, Alice opened her mouth in bewilderment, at a loss for words.
"The guardian star shrouded in shadow will amplify the darkness and obsession within you, projecting it through complex astral reflection effects, gathering magic into the grotesque, disemboweled monster you see."
"Alice, if it's alright, may I ask you some more in-depth questions?" Su Tianqing replied.
Have you experienced anything unpleasant that brought you to the brink of collapse?
silence.
The girl was bewildered for a long time, and subconsciously wanted to shake her head, but what came out of her mouth were completely different words:
"I...but, I..."
She lowered her head, gripped the hem of her skirt tightly with both hands, and pursed her lips.
Su Tianqing narrowed her eyes.
It seems that Aurora's past experiences were quite heavy, enough to make her so reluctant to talk about them.
A long silence followed.
But the words that came out of her mouth stunned all three of them:
“…………”
"...I killed my stepmother."