Chapter 33: Trap! The Magical Girl is Tricked!

Lin Qingya’s expression shifted subtly, ignoring even Xia Momo’s persistent tugging on her tail.

She gently tugged Weire’s sleeve, lowering her voice. “Hold on, Weire.”

“Hm? What’s up, Baixue?”

Weire, lost in petting ecstasy, looked up blankly, her hands still mid-stroke.

“I smell blood.” Lin Qingya’s face grew grave.

Weire’s petting froze.

Her dopey grin vanished, eyes sharpening with instant vigilance.

“Blood?” Her voice dropped, body coiling for action as she scanned around. “Can you pinpoint the direction? I’ll scout ahead.”

Gotta hand it to her—Xia Momo was rock-solid when it counted.

Lin Qingya’s nose twitched delicately, sifting the faint trace.

She pointed to the dilapidated greenhouse ahead.

“Seems… like it’s inside?”

Her heart sank.

As expected—same old song.

Blood scent, plus this bizarre “reinforce soil” directive—mirror of the wetland park fiasco.

Lin Qingya was dead certain: another unwitting crime cover-up.

Last time caught her off-guard.

Not this round—she wouldn’t be anyone’s pawn.

Plan set: Phase Shift in, extract the body from the dirt.

Weire needed to see with her own eyes the filthy truth behind their “justice missions.”

Perfect chance to hash out the real purpose of magical girl tasks too…

“I’ll go first—you cover me from behind.” Weire decided briskly.

She parted the ragged plastic sheeting at the entrance with agile grace, slipping inside.

Lin Qingya followed close.

But inside the greenhouse, the scene stunned them both.

At the center, where they’d expected to “reinforce” the soil, a pit over half a meter deep gaped open.

Around it, white chalk lines marked the edges crisply, with numbered stakes plunged nearby.

Those markings… screamed police crime scene tape.

Lin Qingya, geared for Phase Shift corpse retrieval, stood frozen.

Wh-what?

Different from last time?

Cops had already found the body?

Then what were they here for? “Reinforce soil”… cleanup?

Made no sense! Magical girls meddling would trample evidence!

As confusion mounted, a flurry of footsteps thundered outside, engines rumbling.

Bad!

Lin Qingya reacted lightning-fast, grabbing the still-dazed Weire and activating Phase Shift stealth without a second thought.

A faint white glow cloaked them, their forms blending seamlessly with the surroundings.

Almost simultaneously, dozens of uniformed officers swarmed from all sides, sealing the greenhouse airtight!

“People inside! You’re surrounded! Drop your weapons and surrender now!”

The bullhorn boomed across the empty suburbs.

Stealthed Weire’s eyes bulged—she was as lost as Lin Qingya.

Sure, magical girl forms muddled recognition, blurring faces from memory.

But “two oddly dressed people here” was ironclad fact—no erasing that.

Caught red-handed? Disaster!

The cops stormed in tactical formation, guns trained on the central pit, flashlights scouring every inch inside and out—ultimately finding zilch.

Faces grim, they regrouped.

The lead inspector paused at the entrance, querying a young officer with a tablet.

“Footage shows two strangely dressed folks nearby—real?”

“Yes, Zhang-team.” The young cop handed over the tablet. “They arrived and haven’t left.”

The inspector’s frown deepened, eyeing the empty greenhouse. “Fan out—search every inch! No trace overlooked!”

“Yes, sir!”

At his order, the team dispersed for a blanket sweep.

The inspector gave the pit one last look, sighing heavily, then turned away.

Once silence reigned, stealthed Lin Qingya and Xia Momo exchanged baffled glances.

Mutual confusion and bewilderment stared back…

…

Meanwhile, Jinmao Commercial Building’s underground garage.

Bang—!

Golden magic bullets clashed again with Linglan’s crystal arrows, erupting a blinding spark in the dim space.

Linglan panted, sweat beading on her brow.

“Crystal Cage!”

Her staff tapped the ground; dozens of sharp ice spikes erupted, forming a massive cage to trap the golden-haired girl.

But the foe’s reflexes were freakish.

The cage barely solidified when she leaped back, firing a shot—the golden bullet slamming a joint, shattering it.

Boom—

The nascent cage exploded into shards!

Xinlu’s assaults never let up either.

Her fingertips flicked, emerald notes turning dagger-sharp, swarming the golden girl from all sides.

But she dodged with eerie prescience—minimal moves, maximal speed—countering effortlessly.

This golden magical girl was insanely strong.

Her style was simple: pure marksmanship.

But her aim was surgical—each shot calculated, predicting trajectories, blocking dodges.

Worse, she seemed gifted with “danger sense.”

Linglan traded blows evenly with her, magical bursts clanging in echoes.

One against two, holding firm.

Linglan’s wide-range crystals, Xinlu’s flanking strikes—always anticipated, casually neutralized.

Fifteen minutes of deadlock, Linglan’s magic draining, yet not a thread of her opponent’s garb touched.

“So… we just start shooting without a word?”

Linglan held her guard, shouting over the din.

“Any reason we have to fight? Or is this the ‘magical girl exchange learning’ task?”

She couldn’t fathom it.

Fellow magical girls—why greet with gunfire, no hellos, straight to kill-or-be-killed?

“Exchange learning?” The golden girl paused at the phrase, halting her barrage.

She tilted her head, mumbling puzzledly: “Exchange learning?”

From the spar, she’d sensed no malice.

Their attacks were fierce but defensive, reactive.

Especially the blue one—potent magic, yet reined in, sparing the garage’s structure.

It deepened her own nagging doubts…

Could it be…