Chapter 165: The Second Stalking

Two days later, a perfectly ordinary noon.

Because the teaching building of Xizhao Middle School was being used as an examination hall for social exams in the afternoon, even on a workday, Lin Xiaolu and Xia Liang had obtained a rare half-day holiday.

Under normal circumstances, such a half-day holiday would likely be wasted away in the girls' idle daily routine, but this day was different; Lin Xiaolu had different plans.

"Well then, I'm leaving first. Goodbye."

Accompanied by Hong Siyu's voice sounding at the entrance, the girls turned together toward the door of the secret base, watching her leave until a dull "Bang" sound came from the doorway, after which they looked at each other in silence.

"Let's go."

Lin Xiaolu waved solemnly toward the door: "Follow her."

"Do you really want to do this?"

Xia Liang, feeling a bad premonition in her heart, was a hundred thousand times unwilling to make such an unreliable decision: "Didn't we already fail last time when we followed your father? Why not just call it off this time?"

Xia Liang was a girl accustomed to hiding her thoughts; the reason she revealed her true intentions this time, writing her resistance on her face, was that she truly believed this matter had no feasibility.

The reason her attitude was so pessimistic, aside from feeling the plan was unreliable, was actually mainly this: she was the true insider.

She knew Senior Cuique's true identity and could guess the relationship between Senior Cuique and Hong Siyu.

During the months of interaction with Hong Siyu previously, the feelings the other party harbored were something even Lin Xiaolu could see, so naturally she was no exception.

"Hong Siyu likes Lin Yun" was already an unspoken fact in the girls' eyes.

Precisely because of this, Lin Xiaolu had always held a considerable degree of wariness toward Hong Siyu, while Xia Liang watched the development of the situation with curiosity.

This development fell into stagnation after entering November, because Hong Siyu suddenly took sick leave and abruptly disappeared from the girls' sight.

And now, the other party had regained the power of a magical girl, returning to Fang Ting in such a form, and also returning to Senior Cuique's world in this way. From Xia Liang's perspective, this should be a rare window of opportunity for Hong Siyu.

If she herself were Hong Siyu and wanted to pursue "Lin Yun," she should seize the opportunity during this time, strive to demonstrate her importance and feelings before him, and thereby seek a chance for emotional victory.

Regarding the entanglement between Hong Siyu and Senior Cuique, Xia Liang actually had no subjective opinion—after all, she was not Lin Xiaolu and did not need to guard against that non-existent "stepmother." If forced to speak, her attitude was probably one of waiting and watching.

For one, she had no standing to interfere; for another, this was not exactly a bad thing.

If Hong Siyu's feelings could come to fruition, then not only for herself, but for "Lin Yun" as well, it should be beneficial. Perhaps it would be a bit hard for Lin Xiaolu to accept, but in the long run, the benefits would outweigh the drawbacks.

However, if Lin Xiaolu insisted on interfering next and tracking Hong Siyu's whereabouts, then the probability of this matter being ruined would increase greatly.

How much Senior Cuique doted on her own daughter, she herself had no self-awareness, and Lin Xiaolu had no perception either, but Xia Liang saw it all clearly.

If Lin Xiaolu really discovered something by tracking Hong Siyu and pierced this layer of window paper, even if the relationship between Senior Cuique and Hong Siyu warmed up, she would probably still choose to set it aside due to her daughter's opinion. And at that time, the relationship between Hong Siyu and Lin Xiaolu would likely become rigid.

This was not what Xia Liang wanted to see.

She did not mind if everyone in the squad became closer due to certain reasons, but she was extremely unwilling for everyone's relationship to deteriorate because of this.

If, due to the so-called tracking, it ended up with Lin Xiaolu and Hong Siyu falling out, everyone despising each other, and Senior Cuique stuck in the middle pleasing neither side, then it would be completely a case of gaining nothing and losing everything.

It was just that these were reasons Xia Liang could not speak aloud.

Telling these truths to Lin Xiaolu here would certainly dispel Lin Xiaolu's doubts and make her give up the act of tracking. But doing so, she would be true to Lin Xiaolu but untrue to Senior Cuique; the person stuck in the middle would become herself, and she did not want to be disliked because of this.

Therefore, she expressed her opposition so vividly.

"Failure is the mother of success; where you fall, you must rise again."

Unfortunately, Lin Xiaolu knew nothing of her thoughts, merely glanced at her sideways, and then spoke with conviction: "After the failure last time, I reflected deeply and reviewed many times, and have already found the crux of the failure; this time I absolutely will not repeat the same mistake."

"What is the crux?"

"Moko." Lin Xiaolu stated firmly.

— "Hah?"

Moko, who had originally been hovering on the side watching the fun, immediately became displeased: "It was clearly you two who got too close and were discovered; how can you blame me!"

"In the end, it was your failure to report in time! And you abandoned your post at the most critical moment, causing us to lose the key information source!"

Lin Xiaolu pointed at Moko: "Anyway, this time you stay home; we will act on our own!"

"Hmph, do you think I want to play this kind of make-believe with you?"

Moko snorted lightly, turned her body: "If you don't let me go, then I won't go. My lord the Sower has her own matters to attend to; do whatever you like!"

The two of them bickered over there, not caring whether the words spoken were appropriate. Bai Jingxuan, standing nearby, listened quietly to the conversation between Lin Xiaolu and Moko, while another train of thought had already arisen in her heart.

I must find a chance to secretly tell Dad.

This was her thought.

The reason was very simple: "Mom and Dad" said so.

Lin Yun had once instructed her not to reveal his work at the Yice Bureau, especially not to tell "Sister"; Senior Cuique had also privately told her not to reveal the events at Lakeside Spring for the time being.

Bai Jingxuan actually didn't quite understand why, but it did not hinder her from choosing to be an obedient child. Precisely because of this, Bai Jingxuan in these days acted against her usual nature, keeping her mouth shut in front of Lin Xiaolu. Even though she was full of flaws in the process and any clear-eyed person could see she was hiding something, Lin Xiaolu simply could not get it out of her.

And now, since Lin Xiaolu decided to track Hong Siyu, Lin Yun's work at the Yice Bureau would very likely be exposed. In Bai Jingxuan's view, this would very likely make things difficult for Lin Yun.

Since that was the case, she needed to report in advance so Dad could prepare and not be discovered.

So she had been waiting quietly on the side; only after Moko made her statement did she find a gap in the conversation and interject somewhat stiffly: "Um, Sister, I don't really want to go out today. Since Sister said so, I'll stay with Moko at..."

"You are coming with me." Lin Xiaolu said expressionlessly.

"Eh?"

Bai Jingxuan's shoulders trembled slightly, her heart skipped a beat, and then she blinked somewhat guiltily: "But if Moko stays home alone, no one will be there to play with it..."

"That creature is shrewd; if there's no one else at home, it will sneak out to mix around; you don't need to worry at all about it getting bored."

Lin Xiaolu reached out and placed both hands on Bai Jingxuan's shoulders: "As for you, among the three of us now, you are the one who looks most like a traitor; you knew about the matters in the Li Star District and did not report them, which has already aroused my suspicion."

"I really know nothing." Bai Jingxuan struggled to refute.

"No problem, you can know nothing, but today you must act with us."

Lin Xiaolu flicked her forehead lightly: "Let me keep an eye on you, little traitor."

"I'm not a traitor..." Bai Jingxuan mumbled, but in the end she could not prevail against Lin Xiaolu and was pushed by the shoulders to the entrance.

"That woman has been out for about a minute; we are just leaving now, so we can stay outside her line of sight."

Standing at the entrance of the secret base, Lin Xiaolu, while changing her shoes and socks, instructed her two teammates: "Because the opponent is a magical girl, and a Flower-class one at that, all means involving magic are prohibited during the process, and transformation is also forbidden; her magic perception will only be stronger than ours. If anyone among you transforms and uses magic, causing the operation to fail, then I will mark you."

"What if she chooses to fly mid-journey? If we don't transform to follow, we'll lose her; if we transform to catch up, we'll be discovered. It's too easy to expose ourselves."

Xia Liang placed her hands on her hips, hesitating to change her shoes, and sighed deeply: "It's a rare holiday; wouldn't it be better to watch TV at home? Didn't you say a few days ago there was an anime you wanted to watch? Won't going out now mean missing it?"

"The anime can wait until we return to watch the recorded broadcast online."

Lin Xiaolu pressed her lips together, her gaze lowering slightly, clearly having made a firm decision: "But opportunities to tail that woman are rare; any day other than a workday is unsuitable!"

"Um, my stomach suddenly hurts."

Bai Jingxuan held the shoes Lin Xiaolu had shoved at her, dawdling and speaking evasively: "How about you sisters go out first? I'll catch up immediately..."

"Stick your foot out," Lin Xiaolu said suddenly.

"Eh?"

"Stick your foot out; I'll help you change your shoes."

Lin Xiaolu bent down, grabbing Bai Jingxuan's ankle: "If your stomach hurts, I'll carry you out on my back. In any case, you must follow me. Don't even think about secretly sending a warning."

"I, I didn't think about sending a warning."

Bai Jingxuan's eyes darted away: "I really just have a stomachache."

"Is that so? Where does it hurt?"

Lin Xiaolu took the shoes from Bai Jingxuan's hands, picked them up, and started putting them on the other person's feet: "Transform first and heal yourself; it's a matter of ten or so seconds. I can wait."

"T-transform to heal a stomachache?"

Bai Jingxuan's voice suddenly rose, even shifting slightly in tone; she clearly hadn't expected this point Lin Xiaolu raised: "I think it probably can't be healed that way..."

"Last month when I was on patrol and got injured, where did you heal me?" Lin Xiaolu had finished putting on one shoe and reached out to put on the other.

"Stom... stomach..." Bai Jingxuan stammered.

"Any other reasons?"

"... None."

"Alright, then, unanimous approval. The Fang Ting City Magical Girl Squad's second tailing operation for special circumstances begins now!"

Lin Xiaolu announced loudly while pushing open the door, a look of triumphant confidence on her face: "This time, I will absolutely drag the truth out!"

Thanks to reader Mu Jiang Yi Xi for the Alliance Master donation, and thanks to reader 3zh-bth for the Helmsman donation.

First day of resuming daily updates; time to perk up, meow.

(End of this chapter)