Chapter 5: Flower Tower.

“……I’ll think about it.”

In the end, she only uttered these few words, her voice dry and hoarse.

Luo Xingli sat beside her without urging. She simply drew closer quietly and gently wrapped her slightly cool fingers around Lin Xibai’s wrist.

Her fingertips carried a cool temperature, and her voice became exceptionally soft, filled with a cloying sense of attachment.

“Alright, no rush. Sister Xibai, we can take our time thinking about it. If you decide to go… I will go with you. No matter where.”

The electronic voice inside the screen did not stop because of their conversation. It rang out again at the right moment, calmly stating the cold reality.

【You should understand that we have invested enormous resources and cutting-edge technology into this genetic-specific medicine. Its value cannot be measured by money. This opportunity comes only once, and its time limit is also limited.】

【Whether you want to go or not, please consider it carefully.】

After these words, the screen dimmed, and the hall fell back into silence.

Lin Xibai remained motionless for a long time.

“Sigh…”

Finally, a sigh filled with endless exhaustion and helplessness escaped her lips.

Consider?

How was this a consideration?

This was clearly a situation with no choice at all.

When her son’s life was placed on one side of the scale, as his father, how could she have any room left to consider?

She felt like a pebble being pushed along by the tide. No matter how she struggled, she would ultimately be swept back into the abyss she wanted to escape the most.

“Let’s go, Xingli.”

Lin Xibai stood up straight. The black gauze layers of the gothic dress cascaded down, concealing her slightly trembling legs.

It didn’t matter anymore. No matter what, as long as they agreed to provide assistance, that would be enough. Just this once. As long as it succeeded, everything afterward would be over.

Her child would be completely cured. Perhaps their relationship could slowly mend, and the debt issues could also be resolved.

Thinking of this, Lin Xibai found renewed strength.

“I will do my best to persuade them to help. But the medicine… I don’t want to delay any longer.”

Lin Xibai clenched her fist tightly.

Even when speaking harshly in this delicate body, it lacked any real force.

【Rest assured, we still trust the character of a first-generation magical girl.】
【The medicine will be handed over to you now. Luo Xingli, take her inside.】

“Yes.”

The screen turned off completely.

Luo Xingli solemnly brought over a small silver-white metal box and placed it in Lin Xibai’s arms.

The box was very light, but in Lin Xibai’s perception, it weighed a thousand catties.

This was a life-saving item.

She hugged the box tightly, feeling the heart that had died for more than a decade start beating again.

She had obtained it. The thing she had desperately sought for so long was finally in her hands.

Next, she only needed to finish this one job, and she could go home, never having to deal with the magical side’s mess again.

Almost at the same time, the smooth floor beneath their feet began to tremble lightly without warning.

Immediately after, an empty door frame materialized out of thin air. There was no scenery inside the door, only rippling water-like halos constantly flowing, with circles of ripples spreading outward, carrying an illusory luster.

“Sister Xibai, let’s go~”

Luo Xingli’s light and cheerful voice sounded. She walked toward the shimmering door and turned back to extend her hand to Lin Xibai.

“Mhm…”

Lin Xibai put the box away properly, took a deep breath, and followed.

Standing beside Luo Xingli, a trace of luck flashed through her heart.

At least with this familiar old friend who worked here accompanying her, probably… nothing would go wrong, right?

She subconsciously turned her head and looked out through the floor-to-ceiling windows behind her.

The sunset by the sea had completely sunk below the horizon, leaving only the final trace of afterglow.

The sky, the clouds, and the entire Qingchuan City were bathed in a hazy yellow.

‘Lin Yuan, if one day you discover that Dad turned into a monster even I myself don’t recognize in order to save you…’

‘Will you still come home for dinner every day like you do now, even though you hate it?’

She shook her head with self-mockery, no longer hesitated, turned around, and stepped into the flowing halo.

A violent wave of dizziness struck her.

It felt as if her soul had been briefly thrown out of her body, drifting in the disordered void.

Her sense of time became blurred. It could have been an instant, or it could have been endlessly long.

Lin Xibai only felt her stomach churning violently. When she landed, the intense dizziness and spatial disorientation surged back fiercely. She staggered and nearly fell forward.

“How is it? Everyone feels uncomfortable the first time they enter. You’ll get used to it later.”

Luo Xingli’s gentle voice sounded beside her ear. A pair of arms softly supported her shoulders.

Lin Xibai could feel the other party’s warm body heat coming through the thin clothes. This kind of closeness between friends now gave her an inexplicable sense of horror.

“I’m… I’m fine.”

She blinked hard, trying to dispel the double vision on her retinas.

Only after the world stopped spinning did she tentatively blink again and look at the scene before her.

Even though she had mentally prepared herself, she still couldn’t help but freeze in place.

It was a magnificent vista that surpassed the limits of human imagination.

They were standing at the edge of a massive landmass floating above an endless body of water.

Huge tower layers overlapped and floated atop one another, each one like an independent continent.
The towers were adorned with vines, flowers, and flowing clouds. The higher the layers, the smaller their volume and area seemed to become, extending upward in clear hierarchy until they disappeared into the thin mist sparkling with starlight, the top invisible.

The layer they were on was clearly the bottommost one, and also the most vast in area.

As far as the eye could see were vast stretches of extremely brilliant blooming flowers.
Green meadows stretched all the way to the sea horizon on the edge of the sky, dotted with fairy-tale-like bushes, swings, gazebos, and small fountains.

Among the flower bushes, countless exquisitely dressed and adorable girls were playing and frolicking together. Their silver-bell-like laughter drifted in the wind.

Behind them lay an equally boundless white sandy beach and crystal-clear sea. Gentle waves lapped against the shore, creating foam like scattered diamonds.

Lin Xibai knew very clearly.

Every girl here was a magical girl who, during the long years of battle, had chosen to forever indulge in this fairy-tale illusion to escape the pain of reality.

This place was both their sanctuary and their cage.

Seeing unfamiliar faces appear, the girls who had been playing among the flowers and chasing each other on the beach immediately had their attention drawn. They all stopped what they were doing.

Then, bringing with them a fragrant breeze, they swarmed over in a rush and instantly surrounded Lin Xibai completely.

“Wow, look! Such a cute girl, just like a lost little bunny!” A girl with twin ponytails wearing a fluffy dress bent down, her eyes sparkling as she leaned in close.

“Yeah, yeah, that pure white long hair… Oh my god, can I touch the tips of your hair? Little sister, what’s your name?” Another voice came from the side, full of curiosity.

“Little sister, are you new here? What’s your name? My house is right over there, and my yard has really delicious strawberries. Want to come play? If you get tired, you can sleep right away~”