Chapter 137: Rebuttal

After seeing off the uninvited guest who had come to the Director's office, Lin Yun, burdened with worries, headed to the cafeteria of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau.

Although he was now the Director, he insisted on maintaining no special privileges in his lifestyle, keeping everything consistent with ordinary employees and enjoying no special treatment.

Eating a few mouthfuls of the food on his plate as if chewing wax, Lin Yun pondered the conversation in the Director's office that morning, suddenly feeling his head as large as a bucket.

He felt he had lifted a stone only to smash his own foot.

He did not know what Bai Jingxuan's mindset had been previously, nor her views on life and hatred. But the fact that she now harbored such a brutal thought seemed inextricably linked to the battle he had fought with her on the night of the Full Moon Festival.

Lin Yun often reflected on this matter: whether his choice at that time had been too extreme, whether he should have used such a cruel method of combat in front of the girls, and whether it might produce some negative influence.

In fact, as early as when she killed Moses and reunited with the girls, Bai Jingxuan's eyes had already seemed off. Among the three girls, only her expression held no worry or fear, but rather pure excitement and admiration.

It was as if she had finally found a certain direction, finally gained a certain realization, and thus displayed such an attitude.

At that time, Senior Cuique did not know what Bai Jingxuan was thinking; looking back now, that child had probably already harbored similar twisted thoughts. This twisted thought settled for half a month, underwent some unknown fermentation beneath her calm and obedient exterior, and finally manifested as her current appearance.

Senior Cuique did not wish to shirk responsibility for this matter; as a senior on the path of the Magical Girl, she indeed failed to set a positive example in this regard.

However, since the situation had evolved into its current state, hesitating would serve no purpose; what she needed to think about was how to remedy it. How could she tell Bai Jingxuan that such thoughts of hers were inappropriate?

Carrying complex feelings, after finishing lunch, Lin Yun returned to his office somewhat exhausted.

Pushing open the flat door of the Director's office, he fixed his gaze inside, only to see that green-haired girl with a single ponytail who should have already been sent away.

Tian Sheng was standing aside with an awkward expression, not knowing what to say.

"... Why is she still here?" Lin Yun turned his head and asked Tian Sheng.

"I tried to dissuade her, but she insisted on coming," Tian Sheng explained in a low voice, "and I couldn't stop her, so I just followed behind."

"Didn't the Security Department come to drive her out?"

"They did, but since she is a Magical Girl... the Security Department people couldn't do anything to her either." Tian Sheng scratched the back of his head.

Lin Yun's gaze swept over the two of them; after a brief pause, he sighed imperceptibly and said to Tian Sheng, "Alright, then you can go back first; I will talk to her."

"Do you not need me to stay here?" Tian Sheng pointed to himself, "If we still can't reach an agreement..."

"You wouldn't be able to dissuade her either, would you?"

Lin Yun waved his hand: "You were troubled this morning; go back and rest."

Tian Sheng seemed to have something else he wanted to say, but seeing the atmosphere between Lin Yun and Bai Jingxuan, which was subtly confrontational, he abandoned the thought and left the Director's office with a slightly worried expression.

Having thus sent Tian Sheng away, Lin Yun returned to his desk. He looked at Bai Jingxuan, and Bai Jingxuan looked back at him with a somewhat stubborn expression.

"I should have said it; I will not agree."

Lin Yun shook his head and spoke again: "Unless you can change your intention, do not participate in operations with a mindset of simple revenge. Do not mention words like 'massacre' or 'torture'; simply eliminate the enemies in an ordinary manner."

"Then, then I won't say those things, I'll just fight the bad guys in an ordinary way..." Bai Jingxuan tentatively suggested.

"I need a guarantee, not a momentary perfunctory act. I do not want you to verbally submit before me, only to go back on your word once you actually participate in the operation and slaughter the enemies."

As if seeing through her thoughts, Lin Yun stated flatly: "If you can do this, then I will agree to your request to participate in the operation."

"Hmm..." Bai Jingxuan pressed her lips together, somewhat troubled.

"Sit down; there is no need to keep standing and talking. If I may suggest, perhaps you could go back and ask the 'teacher' you speak of."

Lin Yun sat in his seat and pointed to the chair in front of the desk: "You said you wanted to learn from her; then what is her view on your current decision? Have you thought about it?"

"... I don't know."

Bai Jingxuan shook her head, still standing in place: "I haven't asked her yet."

"That is to say, coming to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau was entirely your own decision, without seeking your teacher's advice."

Lin Yun picked up the water cup on the desk: "Even from this perspective, were you not too impulsive?"

"I think my teacher wouldn't refuse..." Bai Jingxuan muttered quietly.

Your teacher is refusing very strongly right now.

Lin Yun's hand holding the water cup tightened.

"No matter how you feel, the opinion of the person concerned is mandatory."

He tried to calm his feelings and spoke as gently as possible: "Go back and ask first; come to the Anomaly Strategy Bureau again only after you have a concrete answer."

Having said this, his meaning was already quite clear: it was another refusal. However, this time it was not leaving no room for maneuver, but rather handing over the follow-up handling of the matter to Senior Cuique.

In his view, given the current situation, he could not offer any constructive advice in his capacity as Director of the Anomaly Strategy Bureau to make progress in the conversation. To shake Bai Jingxuan's decision, he seemed to need to change his angle, or even change his identity.

Since Bai Jingxuan's current thoughts were related to Senior Cuique, then Senior Cuique's opinion would undoubtedly be more useful. Perhaps, if he used the identity of a teacher to dissuade her, Bai Jingxuan might listen to some of it.

However, Bai Jingxuan did not reply.

After listening to Lin Yun's words, she simply stared at Lin Yun, her expression somewhat complex, not knowing what she was thinking in her heart. Lin Yun could only see the expression on her face shift from seriousness to hesitation, from hesitation to determination, and finally she spoke again:

"But, Uncle, you also hate those bad guys, don't you?"

"I already know that Uncle is Sister Xiaolu's father, and Senior Ying is Sister Xiaolu's mother, so Senior Ying is your wife, isn't she?"

Bai Jingxuan clutched the hem of her skirt: "She died at the hands of those people, so you should hate them and resent them too; letting me take revenge on them, is that not allowed?"

"... This has nothing to do with you."

Lin Yun lowered his gaze, looking into Bai Jingxuan's eyes: "This matter is far more complex than you think."

"Uncle, don't you want to take revenge on them?"

"I do, but not in the form of 'slaughter' or 'torture'."

"I don't understand." Bai Jingxuan also lowered her head.

"You don't have to understand, but I can guarantee you that these criminals lurking in Fang Ting will receive the punishment they deserve."

Lin Yun tapped his fingers on the table: "So you don't need to dirty your own hands; just stand aside, watch their end, and clap your hands in delight, alright?"

"But that isn't my revenge, is it?" Bai Jingxuan still kept her head down.

"Revenge never requires one to act personally." "... If I don't kill them with my own hands, I feel like I feel nothing, Uncle."

Bai Jingxuan raised her head; within her obedient and quiet eyes was a void: "I still want to do it myself."

"Then I will never let you go, Bai Jingxuan."

With no one else in the office, Lin Yun stopped hiding his identity and called the girl's name directly: "I won't let a magical girl follow my employee to kill people, even if those people are utter villains."

"But my teacher killed bad people!"

"Your teacher is my lord; you are not. Your situations are different."

"This has nothing to do with being my lord!"

"It does."

Lin Yun's tapping on the table gradually sped up: "Because no my lord would allow such a thing to happen under their nose."

"Why?" Bai Jingxuan asked, confused.

"Our lives are already set in stone, but you still have hope."

Lin Yun looked seriously at the girl before him: "We have already shouldered the responsibility of taking lives, and we are destined to walk this path. But you haven't yet; your life still holds other possibilities."

"I don't need such possibilities!"

Bai Jingxuan shouted anxiously: "Being like my teacher is good too!"

"Is your teacher really that good? Why do you judge her that way?"

Lin Yun countered: "Is it possible she often regrets her past actions?"

"No!" Bai Jingxuan said, somewhat displeased. "My teacher clearly saved everyone and punished the bad people; how could she regret it?"

"She does." Lin Yun's voice sank slightly: "In places you don't know, your teacher actually often regrets her actions; in fact, she is always regretting."

"Why? How do you know these things, Uncle?"

Because I am Senior Cuique.

Lin Yun really wanted to say that.

The fact that Senior Cuique and Lin Yun were the same person was something he had no reason to deliberately hide from Bai Jingxuan; the only reason he hadn't mentioned it before was simply that Bai Jingxuan was too young and might slip up and tell Lin Xiaolu upon learning the truth.

But now, compared to such a tiny possibility, Bai Jingxuan's psychological issues were clearly more important; if revealing his identity here could advance the conversation, then admitting it wouldn't be so bad.

So, should he admit it? Reveal his identity here and tell her, in the capacity of her teacher, that he did not approve of such actions?

In such a situation, would revealing his identity like this really help change the situation, rather than making everything worse?

Just as Lin Yun was pondering whether to reveal the truth, Bai Jingxuan spoke again, posing a question that left Lin Yun's mind blank:

"Is it because you, Uncle, are going to marry my teacher?"

"Because... huh?"

Lin Yun swallowed the words he hadn't yet spoken, looked up in astonishment: "What did you say?"

"Is it because you, Uncle, have already decided to marry my teacher, so you don't care about Senior Ying anymore?" Probably because Lin Yun's reaction was somewhat exaggerated, after shouting this sentence, Bai Jingxuan shrank her neck back in fear.

"Who did you hear that nonsense from?" Lin Yun asked blankly.

"Moko told me!"

Bai Jingxuan was somewhat timid, but quickly gathered her courage: "It said you and my teacher have a very good relationship, already like a couple, and might be together in the future!"

"It's lying through its teeth." Lin Yun stated flatly.

At the same time, though his face showed nothing, he had already made a decision in his heart. Once he returned, he must have a serious talk with Senior Nini and make her increase her discipline over Moko.

"If you, Uncle, are going to marry my teacher, shouldn't you be even more determined to avenge Senior Ying!"

On the other side, Bai Jingxuan hadn't listened to his words at all and continued: "If you two are really going to be together, then at least you should let Senior Ying rest in peace!"

"Where did you hear this nonsense again?" Lin Yun's eye corner couldn't help but twitch.

"Sister Xia Liang said it!"

That girl.

In Lin Yun's mind, the image of Xia Liang wearing a mischievous smile seemed to float up.

"And, and!"

Bai Jingxuan tried hard to recall and calculate, waving her fingers in the air, and then finally, as if remembering something, her eyes lit up as she shouted loudly:

"If you, Uncle, and my teacher get married, you might adopt me afterwards; if you adopt me, then you, Uncle, will be my father, and my teacher will be my mother!"

"Father! Let me go, I want to avenge her!"

The office returned to a death-like silence.

The impact this sentence brought to Lin Yun was simply too huge; and because he was truly too shocked, Lin Yun had completely forgotten the motion of tapping the table, and his foot under the desk had also stopped trembling at some point. He stared at Bai Jingxuan, and for a moment, even what expression to make had been forgotten; he could only weakly ask another question:

"... Who told you this?"

"Sister Lin Xiaolu told me this!"

Bai Jingxuan was completely serious.

Lin Yun fell silent again.

He lowered his head and began to rethink his previous plans regarding whether to reveal his identity in front of Bai Jingxuan.

If before he had leaned towards admitting his true identity, then after hearing Bai Jingxuan's subsequent words, he had completely abandoned that idea.

With this child's mouth, if he really told her his identity, Lin Xiaolu would probably know by tomorrow.

"... Let's put the topic of revenge aside for now."

After thinking, he raised his head again, his face carrying a somewhat affectionate and kind expression, and asked in a gentle voice: "Tell me first, what else did your 'Sister Lin Xiaolu' say to you?"

(End of this chapter)