Chapter 244: The Girl with Pink Hair

"Killed…?"

She repeated it softly.

In the next second, the hunchbacked body of Jiantong Zangyan began to sprout fine ice crystals on its surface.

The ice crystals spread rapidly, thickening as they climbed from his feet upward, and within a few breaths they enveloped his entire body in a translucent yet solid layer of cold ice.

The freezing process was silent, even preserving the last frozen look of astonishment on his face.

Chang Ye Yue snapped her fingers.

"Crack—"

The frozen body shattered in response, turning into countless tiny ice shards that fell onto the floor like snow powder blown by wind, then quickly melted away without leaving any trace.

A Magus who had lived for centuries and extended his life with Insect Technique vanished completely, silently and without a speck of dust left behind.

As for Yan Ye, who was lying on the ground…

Chang Ye Yue walked to his side, crouched, and lightly tapped the back of his neck with her fingertip.

A deep red aura seeped into his skin.

"You'll have a good dream,"

she said calmly, "a long, peaceful dream. When you wake… perhaps everything will be different."

After that, she stood up and gestured toward the floating jellyfish silhouettes behind her.

The jellyfish carried Xiao Ying, drifting lightly toward a relatively clean and tidy guest room in the mansion.

(Where is A Xing?)

Chang Ye Yue sensed briefly and found A Xing in a room on the first floor of the mansion, apparently fascinated by an old phonograph and trying to study its sound mechanism.

(Forget it, let her explore on her own.)

Chang Ye Yue turned and headed toward the Summoning Circle prepared by the Jiantong Family in her Memory.

It was a room converted from a Basement, small in size, with some obscure Magic diagram drawings hanging on the walls.

In the center of the floor, a complex circular Spell Array was drawn with some silver powder, its lines interwoven and runes dense—a typical Heroic Spirit Summoning Circle.

Chang Ye Yue stood before the Spell Array.

"The time is about right," she murmured to herself.

Following the "Summoning Procedure" extracted from Jiantong Zangyan's Memory fragments, Chang Ye Yue raised her left hand, and the Command Spell on the back of her hand warmed slightly.

She aligned her palm with the Spell Array on the ground and began chanting the rigid incantation—though, by her nature, this "ritual" was mostly a formality.

"Proclaim—"

The voice echoed in the silent Basement.

"You shall heed my command, my destiny rests upon your sword—"

The Spell Array began to emit a faint glow, and the silver powder on the floor seemed to come alive, flowing slowly.

"If you wish to follow this principle, from this law, then answer my summons—"

The light grew brighter, and invisible Magic Wave turbulence began to surge in the air.

Chang Ye Yue's crimson eyes calmly stared at the center of the Spell Array, though she felt no particular expectation.

After all, they had no relics and no serious preparation; it was pure "summoning Heroic Spirits empty‑handed," so whatever appeared was considered normal.

"Here I swear—"

The incantation was nearing its end.

"I am the one who accomplishes all good deeds in the world, I am the one who spreads all evils in the world—"

The Spell Array's light had become dazzlingly bright, and the Magic Wave's turbulence was so intense that the whole room trembled slightly.

In theory, this "hard summon" would call forth the Heroic Spirit most compatible with the summoner, but Chang Ye Yue was curious which being in this completely unfamiliar world's Heroic Spirit Hall would resonate with her.

"Yet you shall be blinded by chaos, serving my body—"

She uttered the final line:

"You, the one imprisoned in a frantic cage, I, the one who wields its chains—"

"Boom!"

A towering red light erupted from the center of the Spell Array!

It wasn't the usual golden or silver glow of a summon, but a deep crimson like blood, like the lingering sunset.

The entire room was bathed in a wash of red, and the Magic turbulence almost formed a tangible storm!

Chang Ye Yue narrowed her eyes slightly.

Within the red light, the outline of a slender figure gradually solidified.

The light faded.

Standing at the center of the Summoning Circle was a girl with pink hair.

She wore a pink coral‑fleece pajama printed with cute stars and moons, barefoot, her hair a bit tousled from sleep, rubbing her eyes groggily, looking utterly bewildered as if thinking, "Who am I? Where am I? How did I get here?"

Then she lowered her hand, blinked her beautiful, still‑sleepy eyes, and looked at Chang Ye Yue standing outside the circle.

Silence.

Two seconds later.

"Eh…?"

The girl tilted her head, and her pink ahoge wavered.

"Chang Ye Yue… sister?"

Her voice was soft and sweet, with a freshly‑woken nasal tone and 100% genuine confusion.

"Am I… still dreaming?"

System Space

Black Curtain Lady: "……"

System: "……"

In front of the huge screen, each person and each doll fell into synchronized silence.

On the screen, in the Summoning Chamber, San Yue Qi in pink pajamas and Chang Ye Yue in a black‑red dress were staring wide‑eyed at each other, giving the picture a strange sense of harmony.

Heimu's mouth corner twitched uncontrollably.

She turned her head slowly, slowly, and looked toward the System beside her.

The violet‑red cross‑shaped‑pupil doll girl was also watching the screen; though her delicate little face showed little expression, the data stream surging in her eyes had clearly accelerated by an order of magnitude.

"System,"

Heimu's voice was soft, "What did you just... see?"

The System was silent for two seconds, then answered with its perfectly steady electronic tone:

"Based on visual analysis, Chang Ye Yue performed a standard Heroic Spirit summoning ritual. The Summoning Circle responded. The current‑world entity's characteristics are: pink hair, pajamas, barefoot, facial resemblance to 'Starry Dome Train Group·San Yue Qi' 99.87%, voiceprint match 99.92%, behavior pattern preliminarily matches San Yue Qi's daily conduct. Conclusion: the probability that the summoned entity is San Yue Qi is 99.99%."

Heimu pressed a hand to her forehead.

"Why,"

She asked haltingly, "Why would San Yue Qi appear here? Summoned as a Servant? And look at her—she's basically the original, right?! Wearing pajamas! Just woke up! She was dragged straight from the train's bed, wasn't she?!"

The System calmly began analyzing possibilities: "Possibility one: the world's Heroic Spirit Summon Mechanism has undergone an unknown mutation, forcibly pulling a non‑Heroic‑Spirit Hall recorded entity in. Possibility two: the 'Joyful' Star God Aha intervened, making an 'adjustment' to the summoning process. Possibility three: there exists some as‑yet‑unexplored 'profound connection' between Chang Ye Yue and San Yue Qi, which the Summoning Circle identified as 'highest compatibility', thereby—"

Her words were cut off.

On the screen, just as San Yue Qi puzzledly asked, "Am I still dreaming?" a line of colorful, sparkling‑effect text suddenly popped up, occupying the lower‑right corner:

【Gift! (? ω?)】

Next to the text was a cheerful thumbs‑up emoji.

Heimu: "……"

System: "……"

The air fell silent again for a few seconds.

"Aha."

Heimu forced those two words out between her teeth, her violet‑black eyes filled with complex emotions.

She inhaled deeply, tried to steady her mind, and looked back at the screen.

In the picture, Chang Ye Yue seemed to have recovered from her initial shock.

She was studying San Yue Qi with an indescribable gaze—one that carried a subtle hint.

And San Yue Qi? She seemed finally fully awake.

The girl lowered her head to glance at her own pajamas, then at her bare feet, then looked up at the room filled with Magic diagram circles, and finally fixed her gaze on Chang Ye Yue.

"Wait, wait, wait—"