After finishing the movie with Linglan, Li Wei soon passed through A6 Street, which Lin Xiu had already entered and which was now sealed off by a magic barrier.
This type of barrier was quite classic, using psychological suggestion to unconsciously drive away all outsiders.
However, for someone with the bloodline of a high-ranking magic family who understood sorcery and even magic, it posed almost no hindrance whatsoever. (Though the caster could sense the presence of their own kind through magical energy.)
Li Wei easily detected this.
"Accompany me just this far today, I have some things to take care of."
"……Is that so? See you tomorrow, then~"
Linglan was a tactful girl after all. Hearing those words, she naturally understood the meaning and slowly drifted out of sight.
The very reason Li Wei had so deliberately tried to shake off Linglan was because of this magic barrier.
Her main goal was to see what kind of magic user was being so blatant nearby. With any luck, she might even encounter a new "puppet" that caught her eye.
"Puppet"—
This was a term used exclusively among magical clans. It referred to anyone below one's own level of strength or any summoned servant (similar to an apprentice) who did not belong to one's own branch of magic.
Thus, Li Wei's identity was obvious.
She was the magic successor and sole young miss of the Anna Family, having directly inherited a Magic Crest (possessing the ability to use magic from birth).
"Using a barrier like this in the middle of the night... Could some magician with sinister motives toward women have appeared?"
While it was close, the reality seemed to be the exact opposite—a certain female magician was harboring sinister motives toward a certain male.
Li Wei catwalked stealthily and lightly toward the depths of the street, a hint of cute curiosity betrayed by the interlacing and swaying of her fingertips.
A self-protective magic domain slowly unfolded behind her, resembling a tea rose sketched in spray perfume. A dreamlike, particulate mist shrouded her surroundings.
The sounds of combat grew increasingly distinct.
And the voice carrying over grew more and more familiar.
————Isn't this... the voice of that new international student?
Her already suspended heart soared even higher.
Not daring to rush directly forward, she touched the air with her finger to tear open a magic rift, embedding her smartphone within it to form a perspective magic technique combining modern technology, silently monitoring the current state of combat.
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Lin Xiu had thrown the masked girl into a panic with just a single glare. Judging from their states, however, Lin Xiu was the one on the defensive.
A trace of relief, yet more of a suppressed, smiling micro-expression gradually surfaced from beneath her mask.
*Hmph*, as expected, he was just a "semi-finished" amateur after all... the "masked female thief" thought to herself.
She had actually thought even the Ran Family had set their sights on Anmi's turf...
She calmly analyzed the youth before her while rapidly releasing several magic fragments and magic waves from her right arm beneath her robe.
Her body didn't idle either, moving toward the target along with the fragments, seemingly intent on showcasing her combat skills through a combined set of close and ranged combos.
Leaping and spinning, her black robe billowed out swiftly like a pair of wings.
Lin Xiu's eyes had returned to normal. His leather jacket fluttered from time to time in the breeze, and his harmless appearance only made the "magician" before him grow even more excited.
*Whoosh!*
*Thud, thud, slap, slap!* The fragments far exceeded the speed limit of normal humans, quickly filling the surrounding air with the roaring sound of explosions.
The "slender" beauty before her even executed a void-spin flip, deploying purple blades of light through the tearing space high above.
This was a highly threatening assault launched against the youth in tandem with the dancing magic fragments.
Lin Xiu, however, retreated unhurriedly step by step.
The ever-changing timing appeared in his pupils like strings of code.
A well-timed left-and-right sidestep allowed him to dodge the rain of magic fragments as easily as if they were feathers. Even so, this seventeen-year-old youth was still struck in the left arm by the very last fragment.
"Fast."
Whether viewed from the perspective of movement or the rhythm of the entire skill combo, the most intuitive feeling Lin Xiu got was "fast."
"Fast."
Whether viewed from the perspective of reaction speed or the grasp of the timing to neutralize the attack, the most intuitive feeling the girl before him got was also "fast."
She was even somewhat incredulous as her missed blades of light swept back and forth at Lin Xiu to no avail whatsoever.
*How could this be...*
Cold sweat broke out across her back almost instantly. What was most fatal was her realization that the owner of this Demon Eye before her was no mere weakling—meaning that if she continued using ordinary magic, she would likely be counterkilled.
"What did your father send you here to do?"
She blurted out without concealing the information she possessed at all, as if determined to know his identity even if it cost her life.
Lin Xiu did not answer. Instead, seizing her completely unguarded reflex state, he stepped forward quickly and delivered a flying kick that slammed heavily into her left shoulder.
The immense impact was attenuated layer by layer by magic.
The masked girl stumbled a few times and dropped a smoke grenade from her pocket, apparently intending to flee.
But Lin Xiu had no intention of letting those "9,000 yuan" go to waste; he at least needed some compensation.
"Is my money really that easy to spend? Care to share your achievements with me?"
While applying psychological pressure with his words, he used his left eye to calculate her whereabouts within the smoke.
"What are you talking about? I don't know anything about any money..."
Voices could not be completely muffled by smoke. Instead, the smoke allowed the Demon Eye to capture even more acutely the "information" that already transcended visual limits.
Seizing the exact moment, Lin Xiu flicked a dagger he had concealed before setting out from his sleeve. Though not fast, his prediction and accuracy were truly admirable.
The masked girl had never imagined she would get caught timing herself right in front of the "weakest Demon Eye" who had zero foundation in magic.
A simple dagger managed to rip a gash across her chest.
Although self-healing spells were standard issue for magicians, the time required to repair physically damaged internal organs was usually far greater than what she could endure in actual combat.
This meant that non-healing magicians suffering injuries that threatened vital organs had to end the fight or escape immediately.
The wound on Lin Xiu's left arm throbbed dully, but the stimulus of the pain seemed to push him to unleash a persona he didn't even know he possessed.
What glittered in the dark night was not only the magician who had now collapsed to the ground with zero capacity to resist, but also the burning anger in the youth's heart.
"Is it necessary to lie and say such things? If you really knew nothing about it, why lead me here? Wasn't it to silence me?"
"Why would I silence you... I merely sensed your aura, and what I wanted was your pupil technique... As for the nine thousand yuan, I know the inside story, but I really didn't steal it..."
Lin Xiu seemed moved by her frail, pain-laden voice and showed no intention of pulling out the dagger from his right sleeve.
The words "pupil technique" seemed to fall on deaf ears, though it was equally possible that he had never factored this ability into his own mindset in the first place.
"Then spit out everything you know."
Lin Xiu slowly crouched down and stared into her face with a gaze that was both disdainful and bewitching.
"I belong to Yuyu Yiyi... Your money was definitely taken by my superior..."
Before she could finish her sentence, the dark purple bracelet on her wrist erupted with a blinding light, much like the flashbang highlight in an FPS game.
By the time she realized something was wrong, she had vanished without a trace, leaving behind only obvious bloodstains on the ground and a faint, girlish fragrance lingering in the air.
It couldn't have been her own initiative to escape...
If she really possessed a flashing skill like that, she would have used it already. Based on the information she left behind, it was inevitably her affiliated organization forcibly dragging her away to prevent her from leaking secrets.
They didn't even use magic?
Which meant... they lacked long-range teleportation magic, or simply didn't deign to use it on her.
"Is it already ten-thirty... I better head back first... I'll come out to look for clues after class tomorrow. Nine thousand yuan is practically my life savings..."
With that, he clutched his injured left arm and hurried away from the deserted alley, walking back to the hotel amidst a chilly night breeze carrying the scent of cooking oil.
——————————
In a dark corner, Li Wei used a "peeping" spell to record every single moment of what had just transpired.
Both the sights and the sounds.
The memories flashing through her mind weren't just images of Lin Xiu remaining so calm and collected in the face of a magician, but also the stories her mother used to tell about the "Ran Family Demon Eye".
Wasn't a youth born with the Demon Eye precisely the "key" to unlocking the gates of magic that the Anna Family had always been searching for?
His footwork and combat skills both had some substance to them.
The secrets within his eyes were far too numerous and far too important...
Li Wei found herself growing increasingly attached to this new transfer student.
"Having his money stolen, nine thousand yuan... He's probably been strapped for cash all these days and can't even find a place to stay..." Li Wei's lips curved into a long-absent, sweet smile.
Well then... she would just have to bring him back to her place and "keep" him~