The blade of "Jiaoxin" lightly pressed against Lin Xiu's chest.
"According to the code of Magicians, any ordinary third party present during a battle must be executed," Li Wei said with a light cough, her near-deep-purple eyes emanating a dim glow.
It was a faint light that the boy could see even without using his Mystic Eyes.
"But... what if I'm a Pupil Master? Even though I don't care to admit it."
Li Wei knew this, of course, but her action was not meant to question the boy; rather, she hoped to use his voice to respond to her own inner choice—
The blood-stained blade-tip pressed harder, yet the Witch's eyes remained clear and soft.
"Pupil Masters and Magicians are sworn enemies. All the more reason to kill you..."
Her articulation was forceful, her tone endearing, and the hum at the end of her sentence was telling herself "No." — *He's gone this far for my sake; how could I bring myself to strike?*
It was also saying "No" to her Magician father and Witch mother. — *I have the right to decide whether I kill or do not kill (or like or do not like) this boy.*
Having understood, the boy gradually retracted his exposed crimson Demon Eye—the zero-attribute Mystic Eye unacknowledged by his father.
If the Student Council President really wanted to kill me, she could have used any number of ways to stab, slash, or even dismember me the moment I stepped into the Ancient Mansion, right?
Yet she did not do that.
Lin Xiu closed his eyes, savoring the sensation of being cornered by the girl as if bracing for pain. For he knew this was his freedom at that very moment.
No matter what, Li Wei revealed to him alone the side that broke away from all barriers between Magicians and humans.
She was the Student Council President, she was a responsible classmate, she was a brave and resolute girl...
Rather than a bloodthirsty, terrifying Magician.
"If you want to stab me, go ahead, but then we'll really die here. Dying here with me must be quite beneath a Witch like you, big sis."
"Idiot..."
The corners of the Witch's lips twitched slightly; she knew he had won this round, so she continued in a soft voice.
"Anyway, you're in my hands from now on, and I decide when you die."
"Huh?"
Li Wei slowly relaxed the arm holding "Jiaoxin," reluctantly leading the stunned Lin Xiu toward the twitching little boy on the ground.
During the brief breathing space, Lin Xiu tried several times to ask questions about magic and Magicians, only to be interrupted by the silver-haired beauty's actions.
"Tell me, where is Yuyu Kami?"
Punched through with pain, the little boy's lips wriggled, his limbs pinned to the ground as if nailed down.
"I... have no authority to question his whereabouts, Miss Witch."
Li Wei started to step forward to grab his collar and press him further, but the boy gently caught her outstretched hand.
"Let me ask."
Lin Xiu squatted down, patted the little boy's head, and murmured something softly, as if speaking to himself.
"Such a familiar aura. — Born in a dark environment, you've never seen what a clear sky looks like, have you?"
"?"
The little boy's panting gradually slowed to a halt, leaving him silently at a loss.
"Yearning for life outside the cage must be a biological instinct, right? So, since you're a living creature, you can't be a fool."
"I can't walk out of here... Master is my everything, yet you killed him." His reply was not filled with anger, but with a tone of resignation.
"Yuyu Kami sent people to rob me of nine thousand yuan. How are we going to settle this score?"
"Nine thousand... paid for with innocent lives? Pupil Masters really aren't any good..."
The little boy's words were so piercing that Lin Xiu could not refute them. — Perhaps he truly wasn't a good person.
Yet he was not the one who struck first.
Why should he be the one condemned?
"He's not dead yet. If we want, Mr. Philos can live," chimed in Li Wei, who could no longer bear to watch from the side.
Perhaps she was softening her heart because of someone else's words for the very first time. — *As if.* She simply didn't want to leave Lin Xiu with a ruthless, bad impression.
In fact, Dr. Philos was indeed just a workaholic. The basement of the Vise Building, serving as their stronghold, was his research lab. Over the past few months, to supervise Philos's research on "technology-compatible magic," Yuyu Kami had practically lived here.
Li Wei had set her sights on this unusual Magician long ago. She had also regarded the basement of the Vise Building as Yuyu Kami's hiding place.
She had wanted to use this person as a target to practice her skills.
Her mother, Aiminh, had stopped her, telling Li Wei everything about Yuyu Kami, including the existence of "Yuyu Yiyi."
She instructed her that there was no need to be hostile to this organization; as a local "underworld" force in Hexia City, they had long since colluded with Heixia Special Security.
The higher-ups simply turned a blind eye, engaging in exchanges of benefits and commercial dealings.
As a key municipal partner enterprise in Hexia City, the Anna Family had their Magician lineage concealed by the Hexia municipal government, while Anna enterprises privately granted them shares in exchange of interests.
Concealing magic was a Magician's bounden duty.
Once the Hexia municipal government agreed, they were already in the same boat; if they dared to disclose the secret, Aleister Yaming (Li Wei's father, a Rune Magicis-an) dared to deal with the matter directly using magic.
And how could Philos, a research doctor frantically pursuing magic, possibly understand all of this?
Perhaps he was merely a tool used by villains to commit crimes.
Before leaving, Yuyu Kami had reminded him that experimental subjects would automatically show up soon. Therefore, for months, he had deployed everything according to those instructions.
Yet he never imagined that he himself was also part of Yuyu Kami's arrangement.
Perhaps he had a malicious side as well.
His marriage was unfortunate, and he loathed romance, which was why he was obsessed with research where one could "hear the Way in the morning and die content in the evening," even risking violations to acquire extremely dangerous biochemical agents.
Yet for him, this was his own choice. He was a good father to his son, a good master to his apprentice, and a good mentor to his students.
These were the two sides of a human being. Yet he refused to die for his most mediocre side.
"Ah!!!"
Lin Xiu tried to pull the fallen little boy up, but the boy's sudden, agonizing scream startled them both.
A bullet flew in from the side, passing through the boy's body and leaving blood flowing endlessly.
"Master... why..." The little boy turned his head to look at Philos, who was slumped against the corner.
He was still alive, yet he had used his last breath to shoot him. A Glock was hidden in his pocket.
"Karl... dying under my gun like this... won't be too painful."
"If that's the case... then fine..." Perhaps in the eyes of this test subject, dying by his master's hand was better than dying by the demons'.
Wearing blood-stained lenses, Philos slowly raised his head to look at Karl, then drew a touch screen from the inner pocket of his lab coat.
Without hesitation, he pressed it.
In an instant, the lighting system of the entire underground laboratory surged to maximum power.
Moving from darkness to brightness in a split second would deal a massive shock to an ordinary person's vision, rivaling the effect of a flashbang.
Sensing it intuitively, Lin Xiu had covered his eyes in advance. The white-haired Witch beside him was protected by a barrier of her own, and even when flashed, she quickly recovered.
"Before I die, I want you both to take a good look at what Karl and I look like... For a Witch and a Tongyan, seeing the faces of the people you've killed must be a matter of pride."
He looked to be about thirty years old, young and dashing, reminding one of an energetic youth rather than a corporate drone who had lost all faith.
On the other side, Karl had a petite physique and a head of light blond curls, presenting the unmistakable image of a cute child.
Philos's blue-and-white eyes—one as clear as a mirror, the other utterly turbid—were the portrait of his entire life.
The nearly coagulated blood stained his chest red, reflecting an artistic membrane of blood under the light like a peony embroidered upon his clothes.
"Where on earth do you hear these things? This young lady doesn't have such necrophilia. Besides, as long as I use a hemostatic spell on you, getting you to the hospital is no problem at all."
Li Wei stepped forward and said coldly.
"It doesn't matter... Having come this far, I know I'm guilty. But I still have one final gift to prove myself..."
Philos swiftly raised the Glock in his hand.
"Careful!" Lin Xiu grabbed Li Wei's hand and pulled her aside to avoid being hit by the gunfire.
The girl froze for a second, then poked Lin Xiu's nose with a helpless yet irrepressible smile.
"Even if he shoots, he can't hurt me... You idiot..."
"Sorry, I had a trauma response."
————————
Philos's penultimate bullet struck the switch lock on the warehouse door behind Li Wei.
The sensitive activation device burst apart perfectly.
Hiss, hiss, hiss...
Hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss, hiss...
With his final bullet, he chose to shoot himself through the temple.
"I wish you both eternal happiness. Perhaps we will meet again in another way. My name is Philos Owen..."