Chapter 20: Go to Your House

"Waaah... ugh, ugh... waaah waaah..."

After the battle settled, Lin Xiaolu knelt on the ground, retching continuously while tears welled in her eyes.

From the moment foul-smelling tissue fluid splashed her, she had vomited into a heap on the ground, then burst into tears, crying for a while before retching again, crying after vomiting, until her face was streaked with snot and tears.

"It's okay, it's okay."

Senior Cuique squatted beside her, gently patting her back and comforting her in a cold yet soft voice: "It just smells a bit, and no one else saw. You can wash the smell off with a good bath at home."

Seeing her daughter reduced to such a state, Senior Cuique found it hard not to feel heartache.

So even though comforting her like this somewhat went against her persona, she couldn't help but do it.

"Senior Cuique... ugh ugh ugh, ugh... waaah ahhh..."

Lin Xiaolu looked at Senior Cuique through teary eyes, but before she could even say two words, she couldn't help but retch again.

Xia Liang nearby wasn't much better, leaning against a roadside signal pole with a sickly green face. However, her willpower was stronger than Lin Xiaolu's; after retching a few times at the start, she suppressed the physiological reaction through immense self-control and didn't vomit on the spot. She managed to preserve her dignity, at least.

The sour stench at the scene was truly foul; even Senior Cuique, a battle-hardened magical girl who had seen all kinds of filthy battlefields, felt a bit nauseous and couldn't help but cover her mouth and nose with her hand.

After squatting beside Lin Xiaolu for a while and realizing she wouldn't recover anytime soon, Senior Cuique flew over to Xia Liang and asked with slight concern: "How is it? Feeling better?"

"Ugh... it feels much better than at the very start."

Xia Liang covered her mouth, her face twisted in bitterness, forcing a smile: "It's just that my head feels sticky and uncomfortable. Can you, Little Senior, use water magic or something?"

"Sorry, I don't have much research in that area either."

Senior Cuique spoke the truth.

The "water magic" Xia Liang mentioned actually existed, usually called the "Water-Generating Spell Formula," but this formula was not within Senior Cuique's mastery.

For magical girls, once their ability blossoms to the Leaf stage, using spell formulas becomes one of the basic abilities. However, to become proficient and master various spell formulas still requires dedicating significant effort to study and research.

Lin Yun once had little interest in learning spell formulas; he only learned some of the most basic projects to assist in combat and didn't put in much more effort. The spell formulas he mastered weren't actually that many.

But the current situation didn't require the Water-Generating Spell Formula to solve, so Senior Cuique waited a while until Lin Xiaolu's condition improved slightly, then proposed to the two:

"Since the residual beast has been dealt with, you should go home and wash up first, then rest properly."

Lin Xiaolu, lying on the ground, struggled to speak: "But, ugh... this afternoon, we still have to go to school..."

"No need to worry about that."

Senior Cuique waved her hand to show her ease: "Coordinating with the Alien Strategy Bureau is exactly for situations like this. Next, I will report the matter to the Alien Strategy Bureau, and they will send someone to contact the school and resolve the attendance issue."

In fact, if it weren't for Xia Liang accompanying them, this matter wouldn't even require using the Alien Strategy Bureau's channels; one could simply call the school in Lin Yun's name to request a sick leave for the daughter. Adults have rich means at their disposal.

"Ugh... then okay... ugh." Hearing Senior Cuique's words and having no further objections, Lin Xiaolu weakly stood up from the ground.

Standing still, she spent a short while focusing her attention and looked around to confirm her bearings, re-establishing her sense of direction. After quite a bit of effort, she squinted and thought for a while, seemingly just remembering which direction her home was in.

Taking two steps toward the marked direction, Lin Xiaolu prepared to fly toward her home once her mana recovered, but before long, she realized someone seemed to be following behind her.

She looked at Senior Cuique standing nearby, confirmed that someone else was following her, stopped, squinted, and turned back: a purple-clad magical girl was standing behind her with a smile on her face.

Undoubtedly, it was Xia Liang.

Seeing Lin Xiaolu turn back, Xia Liang seemed unaware of her hostile gaze, simply raising her hand to wave and smiling obediently. She had no intention of explaining her behavior at all.

"Why are you following me?"

So Lin Xiaolu asked in a bad mood.

"Hmm... looking for a place to take a bath?" Xia Liang said naturally, yet somewhat uncertainly, as if she were saying this to find a public bathhouse.

"Don't follow me, go back to your own home to wash." Uninterested in her half-true, half-false rhetoric, she threw down a stiff sentence and turned to leave.

But after taking just a few steps, she realized something was wrong; the footsteps behind hadn't disappeared. Clearly, Xia Liang was still following her.

"You!"

This time truly feeling a bit angry, Lin Xiaolu turned around again and stared straight at Xia Liang's face: "I should have already said not to follow me. What exactly do you want?"

"Nothing."

Xia Liang blinked innocently: "I just want to go to your house and take a look."

"Huh? Why should I let you go to my house?"

Lin Xiaolu looked utterly baffled: "Why don't you just go back to your own home?"

"Hmm..."

Xia Liang seemed to be truly thinking, pondering for a moment, then tilted her head and answered: "It seems I can't?"

"I don't care about your attitude... by the way, why is that a question?" Lin Xiaolu frowned.

Hearing this, Xia Liang first smiled brightly, showing a hint of pride on her face. Then, as if saying something very remarkable, she puffed up her chest and said haughtily:

—"Because I ran away from home."

Silence.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiaolu froze right where she stood. Even Senior Cuique, who hadn't spoken, raised an eyebrow and looked at Xia Liang with a somewhat shocked expression.

Fortunately, Senior Cuique was an adult and quickly realized the current situation, feeling that at this moment it would be better to let her daughter continue the conversation to build a closer relationship, so she poked Lin Xiaolu from behind.

Coming back to her senses, Lin Xiaolu could only ask in disbelief: "You... what did you just say?"

Hearing Lin Xiaolu's question and seeing both of their gazes turn toward her, Xia Liang, thinking she hadn't expressed her meaning clearly, blinked and repeated her words:

"Ah, I mean, I ran away from home, and now I actually have nowhere to go. May I ask if you can give me a place to stay?"