Crunch, crunch. Crunch, crunch.
A strange sound echoed from the darkness.
Rustle, rustle. Rustle, rustle.
The faint, chaotic noise didn’t stop for a second.
Veronica stood in the middle of an empty hall, glancing around in a daze.
Why am I here?
Her mory felt hazy, and her mind was far from clear. It was as if she were caught in so illusion—yet everything felt eerily real.
She stepped forward, the crisp clack of her heels on the floor echoed outward, scattering the chaotic noise like ripples.
After a brief mont of silence, it was replaced by a soft, whispering murmur.
Veronica couldn’t tell where the voices ca from. They seed to belong to n and won, old and young alike. But they all shared one thing in common—they were laughing.
The hushed laughter tangled with the echoes of her footsteps, layer upon layer, repeating over and over, gradually sharpening into an unbearable screech.
The noise spiraled upward, pounding her ears as if trying to rupture her eardrums. The searing pain in her head made her frown instinctively.
She activated a spell to block the sound, but just as she began to move, the shrill noise vanished.
The echo, the whispers, the laughter—all gone. As if they had never existed. Everything returned to how it was at the start: just faint, chaotic noise in the darkness.
What exactly is that sound?
Veronica couldn’t figure it out.
Just as she tried to move forward to investigate, a sudden light appeared in her field of vision.
A blinding beam of light shone from behind her, casting her shadow long and thin on the ground ahead. She could see the swaying hem of her skirt within the silhouette, even the rounded shape of her bonnet. No doubt about it—that human-shaped shadow was her.
Her shadow stood silently, just like her, rooted to the spot.
What light is this?
She struggled to focus her sluggish mind to think, but her thoughts felt like a gluey ss—utterly stuck.
Suspicion stirred within her, and she ant to turn around. But then, her shadow changed.
Suddenly, in the blink of an eye—like a few fras had been cut from a video—a second black silhouette overlapped with hers. The new shadow flickered, shimred, and then began to spread and take form.
Sothing had appeared behind her.
Veronica realized it in that instant.
But she couldn’t turn her head.
Every hair on her body stood on end. Her limbs turned icy and stiff. Her gut scread at her: Don’t turn around.
And then, the shadow overlapping hers finally took shape through the flickering. It appeared before her eyes—clear as day.
It was an insect with its wings spread.
Or more accurately—it was a moth.
That was when Veronica finally understood.
The once faint, chaotic noise had drawn so close—it was now right by her ears.
She lifted her hand and looked at her arm—
——“Attention passengers, attention passengers. This journey has now ended. You have arrived at your destination: Fangting City.”
“...Huff, hah!”
With a deep breath, Lin Yun’s eyes snapped open as he sat upright in his seat.
Panting instinctively, he glanced around in confusion and found himself inside a strange ship cabin.
The noisy surroundings and the overhead announcent gradually brought back his mory—he was on a landship, returning to Fangting City from Bo’an City.
“I fell asleep?”
He muttered under his breath and turned toward the porthole beside him. The glass faintly reflected his own face. Only now did he notice the cold sweat covering his forehead.
He must’ve had a nightmare.
Now he was sure of it.
Fishing out his phone from his pocket, he checked the ti and noticed two missed calls. One from Lin Xiaolu, the other from an unknown number.
He unlocked the screen and tapped into the ssage app, where he saw Lin Xiaolu’s ssage: [What ti are you getting ho tonight?]
She actually cared enough to ask?
Lin Yun raised an eyebrow, a little surprised.
After all, he wasn’t returning as Veronica today—he was coming back to Fangting City as Lin Yun, for the holiday.
Even though things had llowed out between him and Lin Xiaolu, they still didn’t share many topics in common. For her to take the initiative and send that kind of ssage already showed a lot of effort.
Feeling sowhat comforted, his expression softened as he typed a reply: [I’ll be back in an hour.]
It had been planned long ago—after all, today was the Moon Festival.
A few days earlier, Lin Xiaolu had ssaged both her father and Veronica, asking if either of them would be coming ho for the holiday.
What she didn’t know was—both ssages ended up in the hands of the sa person. The subtle emotional difference in how she addressed the two identities made Lin Yun smile wryly.
In the end, he only responded affirmatively to one—Lin Yun.
As for Veronica, he made an excuse about an ongoing investigation and a heavy workload, and declined.
There was a reason for this choice. Most importantly, Lin Yun wanted to spend the Moon Festival as a father, with his daughter.
Even though he knew Lin Xiaolu might’ve preferred Veronica’s company, the Moon Festival carried special aning for people in Donghua Province—a celebration of blood ties and family reunion.
Sure, it was easier to talk to his daughter as Veronica. But the Moon Festival wasn’t just any day—it was ant for family.
Regardless of either side’s preferences, he had to spend it as her father.
That wasn’t just an emotional whim—it was a way of honoring their relationship.
And frankly, he didn’t want to play the ntal gymnastics of juggling identities during a rare holiday.
The investigation in Bo’an City had drained him. The lingering side effects from his magic overexertion during the fight with The Spider still hadn’t gone away—he suffered occasional migraines.
All Lin Yun wanted now was to go ho and enjoy a peaceful festival. A mont of calm for his weary soul.
After replying to Lin Xiaolu, he exited the landship with the rest of the passengers and set foot on Fangting City soil. Along the way, he checked his call history and returned the missed call from the unknown number.
Unfortunately, no one picked up.
He figured it might’ve been a wrong number or a prank, and was about to put his phone away when it suddenly vibrated again.
He looked—sa unknown number.
He picked up and held the phone to his ear, asking curiously, “Hello, who is this?”
The hiss on the other end made him freeze.
He rembered this sound. And the next words from the caller felt all too familiar.
“...Be careful.”
The mont the voice rang out, Lin Yun was dragged back to five months ago—to the ti he first found out Lin Xiaolu had beco a Magical Girl.
Sa unknown number. Sa fuzzy voice. Sa warning—“Be careful.”
Even though he was surrounded by the noisy crowd, he felt like he’d fallen into an ice pit—cut off from the world around him.
“...It’s you?” Realizing the call's significance, he imdiately pressed, “What’s going on? Who are you? What’s about to happen?”
Hiss—
“Hello?”
“Be careful tonight’s... hiss—”
The second half of the sentence was swallowed by static. Lin Yun couldn’t make it out and quickly asked again, “What did you say?”
“Be careful tonight’s...”
Beep. Beep. Beep.
This ti, the call didn’t even finish. The hiss was replaced by the busy tone.
Lin Yun stood amid the crowd, staring at the now-dark phone screen, his expression stormy.
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