Tian Sheng never imagined that as a law-abiding citizen and a casual enthusiast of magical rituals—who had never actively sought danger—he would one day find himself caught in a terrorist attack by a gray magic organization.
As an ordinary caregiver at Fangting City First Orphanage, he was now using a ritual to conceal his presence, hiding alone in the storage room of the care building.
He had chosen to work at the orphanage for two reasons: first, the stable environnt and good pay; second, it allowed him to study magical rituals in his free ti.
He had been working as a caregiver for five years, and his knowledge of magical rituals had barely reached the beginner level. Recently, he had been considering changing jobs and trying to join the local Counterasure Bureau.
But just as fate would have it, on the very next day after having this thought, the orphanage was attacked.
The assailants were well-trained, expertly bypassing and disabling the alarms, subduing most of the staff and residents, and brutally killing those who resisted—silencing the entire facility in bloodshed.
The mont Tian Sheng realized sothing was wrong, his first instinct was self-preservation—sneaking away quietly. However, he soon discovered that the entire block had been sealed off by a massive Magical Barrier. Leaving was out of the question; even if he had the ti to analyze the barrier’s structure, his pitifully weak magical abilities made breaking through impossible.
This only confird one thing: the attackers weren’t ordinary criminals. They were likely mbers of the infamous gray magic organizations—a na that struck fear into even underground magic practitioners.
"Gray magic organizations" was a general term referring to groups of magic users who engaged in illegal activities. These organizations were notorious dens of vice, gathering criminals involved in illicit magical research and supernatural cris. To put it bluntly, they were cri syndicates with access to magical rituals.
There was no shortage of such groups, and every single mber was a dangerous villain to the average citizen. Even soone like Tian Sheng—who also studied magic—had no desire to associate with them.
Fortunately, the Counterasure Bureau was responsible for maintaining order in the city, dismantling several of these hideouts every year and arresting nurous magical criminals. People like these attackers would eventually be caught—it was just a matter of ti.
That was how Tian Sheng had always thought. And reality had proven him right—until today.
Never in his wildest dreams did he expect such a brazen group to launch a full-scale assault on a governnt-operated public service institution in broad daylight.
With the enemy arriving so suddenly and vastly outmatching him, he had no choice but to hide.
While he had grasped the basics of ritual magic, he was still far from proficient—nowhere near being called a "magic user." His arsenal of spells was laughably small and weak. Facing an entire team alone? He wouldn't even know how he died.
Fortunately, his remaining magic reserves were sufficient to keep his concealnt ritual active, hiding his breath and magical fluctuations. At least for now, he didn't have to worry about being discovered.
His plan was simple: stay put and wait for the Counterasure Bureau to arrive. Until then, he would lie low and be the perfect little coward.
But after hiding in the storage room for a while, the sound of movent in the hallway caught his attention.
Soone was passing by.
Despite his earlier resolve, Tian Sheng couldn't help himself—he quietly pushed the door open a crack and peeked outside.
And then, he saw a familiar figure.
Bai Jingxuan never made it back to her room.
As she hurried down the hallway, trying to return, she spotted several black-robed figures wearing masks.
She didn't know who they were or what they wanted, but the orphanage was eerily silent, and their deanor was anything but friendly. That alone was enough for Bai Jingxuan to realize one thing: she could not let them see her.
So she hid.
Walking through the corridors was too risky, and even if she made it back to her room, there was no guarantee they wouldn't co knocking. Her only option was to turn around and head back the way she ca.
Her reasoning was simple—on her way here, she hadn’t encountered any of these intruders, so the courtyard should still be safe.
But that hope was destined to be crushed.
Before she even reached the care building’s entrance, she heard voices from ahead:
"Still no sign of her?"
"We searched every hiding spot in this area. Nothing."
"Damn it, where the hell could a little girl hide? Are we sure we got the right location?"
"Impossible. The informant's intel is always accurate. After the Xizhao Minxin Hospital incident, every witness was tracked. That kid was definitely sent here."
"She wasn’t adopted?"
"Previous records say no. We're confirming with the staff now."
"Then where the hell is she? Unless soone’s hiding her?"
"That’s a possibility. Either way, let’s report this to Bingchu San and see if he wants us to search room by room."
After that, the two stopped talking. Monts later, she heard footsteps—several people were heading her way.
Bai Jingxuan barely understood what they were talking about, but she caught a few key words: "Xizhao Minxin Hospital" and "little girl."
They were probably talking about her.
Because three years ago, Xizhao Minxin Hospital was where she and her parents had been attacked. After that incident, she was the only surviving orphan sent to this facility.
Realizing she was their target, Bai Jingxuan's mind raced with theories. But she quickly shook her head—now wasn't the ti to think. She needed to run.
Bai Jingxuan had always been quick to act. The mont she made up her mind, she moved.
Sticking close to the wall, she quietly retreated, stepping as lightly as possible. She needed to get out of their line of sight before they entered the corridor.
There were staircases at both ends of the hallway leading to the second floor. She had no idea how many more of them were upstairs, but right now, it was her only escape route.
She tiptoed up the stairs, but before she had climbed more than a few steps, she heard a shift in the sounds behind her—
The distinct noise of boots stepping off concrete and onto the building’s tile floor.
They were inside.
With her heart pounding and breath held, Bai Jingxuan rushed up the stairs at the fastest speed she could manage in silence.
The stairway was long—if she wanted to completely escape their sight, she needed to reach the second-floor landing before they reached the base of the stairs.
Both sides moved forward with vastly different mindsets.
She could already see the second-floor corner ahead, almost tasting her escape.
But then—
Her calf suddenly went numb.
And in the next instant—she lost control of her leg.
Her entire lower limb went limp, completely unresponsive—like a broken chanical part, stripped of all function.
Unable to stop her montum, Bai Jingxuan stumbled forward, toppling onto the stairs.
Crash.
The harsh sound of fabric and flesh slamming into the steps shattered the silence in the hallway.
User Comments
0 comments from readers