Chapter 449: Binding

Countless doubts and fears churned in her mind.

She was just an ordinary female high school student, whose biggest worries were homework, exams, and occasional friends' troubles.

Supernatural combat?

These things should only exist in comics and novels!

But everything that just happened, that irrational power, completely shattered the world of Cognition she had known for seventeen years.

(Calm down…Tengcun Lixiang, calm yourself!)

(Uncle Wei Gong once said, when faced with danger, first stay calm, then observe the surroundings, look for an opportunity…)

She forced herself to take a deep breath, trying to recall what Uncle Wei Gong had taught her.

Yet the approaching high‑heeled steps outside, tapping the stone floor with a "tap… tap…" like a death‑drumming beat, almost nullified her effort.

The sound stopped outside the warehouse door.

Lixiang's breathing suddenly halted, every muscle in her body tensed.

She could feel that terrifying presence just beyond the door, "watching" this thin wooden door.

Time seemed to freeze.

A few seconds later, just as Lixiang was about to suffocate—

"Found you, huh? Little bunny~"

"Boom—!!!"

It wasn't the door that was pushed open, but the warehouse roof, together with half a wall, ripped away as if by an invisible giant hand!

Moonlight and night wind poured in unhindered!

Lixiang stayed crouched, staring blankly as she lifted her head.

Above her field of view, the ceiling was gone, replaced by a boundless, cloudless sky dotted with countless stars.

The evening breeze brushed directly against her sweat‑damp face.

(…huh?)

Her brain froze for a second.

Then she suddenly realized—where was the roof?!

The part above my head?!

She stiffly turned her neck, looking around.

The entire outer wall of the warehouse, along with the corresponding roof section, had vanished without a trace, the cut edge unnervingly clean, the remaining rim shimmering with tiny dark‑purple light particles.

She was like a hamster suddenly exposed to the open air, crouching inside a "box" that now had only three low walls.

Then her gaze met a pair of crimson eyes just within arm's reach.

Ailixiya stood on the freshly "demolished" clearing outside the warehouse, head tilted slightly, her dark‑blue hair flowing in the moonlight, a sweet harmless smile on her face as if she had merely brushed away a fallen leaf.

"Little bunny poked its head out, how cute~"

She said softly, extending the hand—gloved in a long black glove—toward Lixiang.

Lixiang's blood nearly froze!

She tried to flee, but her legs went limp, unable to move!

At that moment, she suddenly felt a slick sensation at her ankle.

"Eh?"

She instinctively looked down.

She saw a purple‑black tendril, like a living thing, slithering out from the shadow by her foot, gently coiling around her ankle.

The tendril's texture was between semi‑solid gel and cold metal, its surface bearing dark‑red patterns like a circuit board.

"Yaa—!!!"

Lixiang finally couldn't hold back a short scream, desperately trying to kick it off.

But it was already too late.

"Swoosh! Swoosh swoosh!"

More purple‑black tendrils shot out like lightning from the floor and the shadows of the walls!

They were unbelievably agile, instantly wrapping around Lixiang's calves, thighs, waist, arms…

The slick, icy feel passed through the thin school uniform fabric to her skin, delivering an indescribable shiver.

"Let go of me! Let go!"

Lixiang struggled in vain, but the tendrils' strength was immense, lifting her whole body off the ground, suspended in mid‑air.

She resembled a trapped insect caught in a spider's web, limbs pulled apart, her body further bound by more tendrils, only her panicked head exposed.

After the initial violent struggle and terror, a strange feeling began to spread.

(What… what is this?!)

Lixiang's face flushed bright red in an instant.

Compared to the threat of death, this current situation—being suspended by strange tendrils in a "binding play"—filled her with overwhelming shame!

Especially in front of that terrifying yet beautiful woman!

"Ugh…"

She let out a meaningless whimper, wishing she could crawl into a crack in the ground, but all the gaps were filled with tendrils.

Ailixiya watched with satisfaction as Lixiang, hanging in mid‑air by the tendrils, face flushed red with both shame and fear, her crimson eyes curved into a crescent.

She walked forward slowly, extending her hand, the fingertip gracefully reaching toward Lixiang's cheek as if to caress a precious relic.

"Alright, alright~ disobedient little bunny, you'll have to undergo a little check, okay?"

Her voice, with a hypnotic charm, "Let sister have a look… at what's hidden inside your body, exactly…"

Her fingertips drew ever closer to Lixiang's face, the dark‑red nails seeming to contain a power of Corrosion that devours everything.

Lixiang closed her eyes in Despair.

Just at the Shana when Ailixiya's fingertip was about to touch Lixiang's skin—

Whoosh—!!!

A sharp whooshing sound tore the night sky!

Several pink‑blue magical light projectiles, flashing with a radiant glow, shot in at high speed from beyond the courtyard's side wall, their aim fixed on Ailixiya's back!

Ailixiya's reaction was astonishingly fast.

She didn't even turn around; the several tentacles coiling around Lixiang surged forward like a flailing chain ball, hurling Lixiang with force toward the opposite direction of the incoming light projectiles—into the interior of that small warehouse that had only three walls left—!

At the same time, her own figure drifted away toward the rear side like a phantom.

Waaah—!!!

Lixiang only felt the world spinning, the startled shout stuck in her throat.

She flew like a human projectile over the short distance, and with a "Bang" she crashed into the old rain‑proof canvas piled in the warehouse corner, shattering completely.

Her nose throbbed with a sour ache, and warm liquid seeped out.

Ugh… it hurts…

She covered her nose and sat up, her hand a vivid red—she was nose‑bleeding.

A few drops of fresh blood fell onto the dust‑covered old wooden floor.

At the same time, those light projectiles exploded with a roar at the spot where Ailixiya had originally stood!

The pink‑blue magical light illuminated the courtyard, leaving several shallow, charred pits on the ground, with soil and grass clippings scattering.

Ailixiya landed lightly a few meters away, unscathed.

She looked toward the direction from which the attack came—with interest—the courtyard wall.

There, the once‑intact wall had been blown open by the after‑effects of the light projectile into an irregular large hole.

The smoke and dust slowly cleared, revealing three figures standing outside the hole.

In the center stood a silver‑haired little girl in a pink dress—Ilya—who was holding a staff, striking a slightly awkward "shooting" pose, her small face full of tension and… a hint of embarrassment.

Obviously, she hadn't expected her "magic projectile barrage" to punch a hole straight through the wall.

To her left, a ruby hovered, sparkling excitedly: "Well done, Ilya! The first shot drove the enemy back! Though your aim and power control still need practice… but the momentum is great!"

To her right stood the elegant, composed Robin.

Her lake‑green eyes calmly watched Ailixiya inside the courtyard, the verdant pupils holding a hint of vigilance.

She seemed to hum a short syllable softly, leaving a soothing rhythmic echo in the air.

Eh hey…

Ilya put down her staff, sheepishly scratching her cheek, "Um… I didn't mean to blow up the wall… The ruby said to direct the attack toward that bad woman, force her to dodge, and save the captured person… but I think… I over‑exerted?"

Her gaze passed over the hole, looking into the courtyard.

First she saw the dark‑blue‑haired woman standing in the moonlight, breathtakingly beautiful.

Ilya's little mouth opened slightly.

(So… so beautiful! Pointed ears… is she an elf? She seems even more… uh, a different kind of beautiful than Zhigengniao Jiejie?)

The ruby instantly screamed in her mind: "Ilya! Focus! That's the enemy! The enemy! Did you forget that she just used something strange to bind that orange‑haired sister?! And the magic aura around her feels terribly off! She's a bad woman! No matter how beautiful a bad woman looks, she's still a bad woman!"

"Ah! Right, right!"

Ilya snapped back to her senses, her little face reddening again, this time with frustration.

(Honestly! Robin sister is already so charming, how does another equally gorgeous enemy appear! How am I supposed to focus on fighting!)

Ailixiya's gaze swept over the trio outside the hole, lingering a moment on Ilya; her scarlet eyes deepened with amusement, as if she had found a more interesting toy.