Chapter 288 Family Event III: Witch Night (Part )
October 26, noon, Tongmenghui Building.

"Brother is back... He's really efficient. He got on a plane to Huanjing right after hearing about Xiaoni this morning. With his personality, he won't leave unless he sees Bai Zini, so he must be there on the day of Witch Night."

Blue Owl took the glass-walled elevator down, and the city scene behind him fell along with his body.

He lowered his head, pondering in his mind.

"Now if we want to find out what the witch is doing... we can only rely on Shi Naian."

"Assuming that the witches have captured my sister, they probably won't take the initiative to invite Shi Naian to the meeting - because the condition for launching the Witch Night is to gather six extremely talented witches."

"And they also said before that Schneider was just a backup. What they really wanted was my sister's witch form. With my sister around, they wouldn't need Schneider anymore."

"So... I need to convince Schnaian to take the initiative to use the letterhead and enter the witch's meeting space."

"As for Dad, although I don't think he needs to worry, there may be only one person in the entire Superhero Association who knows where he is. If this person doesn't know, then it is even less likely that others will know. It won't take much time to ask."

Thinking of this, Blue Owl took out his spare cell phone and called Che Zhengchen.

"Dudu-"

Blue Owl put the phone to his ear, and the slightly dull sound reached his ears, followed by a warm voice from the other end of the phone.

"Blue Owl, what's wrong?"

"Commander Che, I need to talk to Qing Ya about something. Have you seen him these past two days?"

Che Zhengchen replied: "Sorry, I didn't see him. I wanted to find him last night, but he didn't show up in the association." His answer did not surprise Ke Mingye. Finding Qing Ya was a difficult task.

"I understand, hang up first."

After saying that, Blue Owl hung up the phone.

He lowered his eyes and looked down at the city shrouded in snow through the glass curtain wall of the elevator.

"Although I feel very sorry for the girl below me, I can only rely on her," he thought.

Ke Mingye knew clearly that if the witches caught Ashes, then in their eyes, the Sloth Witch Shi Naian would have completely lost her remaining value. At this time, if Shi Naian used the letter to take the initiative to enter the Tower of Babel, facing these witches with no bottom line, she would probably be in danger.

But he would do that.

He was also willing to admit that he was indeed an extremely selfish person.

Blue Owl let out a deep breath. The air in the glass-walled elevator was so thick that he felt as if he was going to suffocate and die of shock.

He closed his eyes slightly, and the prosperous city was replaced by darkness.

At the same time, Yandai Primary School.

It was still the same classroom, with the ghostly pumpkin lantern above swaying and casting orange flames. I don't know if it was because of the shadows brought by the lights, but the magic girls from abroad looked worried, and the atmosphere was a little heavy for a while.

Everyone present had heard from Xiziyue that the group of witches were most likely coming for the magical girl Huijin. But they all believed that Xiziyue could protect Huijin, and no one expected that Huijin would disappear so suddenly.

The midday breeze brought a chill into the classroom. The magical girl Kunou Sakura was sitting silently on the windowsill, squinting at the falling snow outside. Her ochre-red hair flowed over her white shoulders, reflecting the winter sun.

Her eyes flickered slightly, and she thought, "Logically speaking, given Xiziyue's style, there shouldn't be any countermeasures left, but Xiziyue hasn't responded yet."

Shaking her head to dispel the thought, Kunou Sakura glanced at Qili and asked:

"how's it going?"

"Xiziyue has finished the meeting," Qili lowered the brim of her hat and looked down at her phone, "but she said she is not free right now, so she asked us to do our own things for now and prepare for the Witch Night in five days."

Upon hearing this, Kunou Sakura looked gloomy, "Is that so... So there is still no news about Mr. Huijin?"

Qili shook her head and consoled her, "Don't worry. Huijin always does what she wants. Maybe she's just looking for a place where no one can disturb her to relax."

"Well, since we have nothing to do now, can I go on a date with Little Red Riding Hood?"

Yuya said lightly, raised her hand to lift the hair by her ear, and looked sideways at Little Red Riding Hood.

"Sorry, I'm not in the mood to chat until Senior Huijin comes back."

Little Red Riding Hood had no expression on her face and quickly refused.

Beside her, the magical girl Hong and the magical girl Feng both looked a little melancholy. They were both very worried about the whereabouts of Senior Huijin.

However, at this moment, only Shi Naian was lying on the desk bored, his chin resting on his arms, sighing softly.

She wondered how long she would have to stay in jail here before she could go home and play with her own Universal Nikki?

"Schnaian... Schnaian."

Just then, Kobe's voice rang out in her arms.

She looked down at Kobe.

"what happened?"

Kobe blinked at her and asked in a low voice, "Do you think Miss Ashes was captured by the witch?"

"It is possible..." Shi Naian did not deny this possibility.

Kobe said, "Then let's take the initiative to use the letterhead and go to the gathering place of the Witch Church. Maybe Miss Ashes is there."

"Eh——I'm going to die, okay? I don't want that."

Shi Naian had just finished speaking and was about to tilt her head and take a nap on the desk when suddenly a glowing letter appeared in front of her. For a moment, cold sweat broke out on her back and her face looked a little dull.

"It's over. Now my undercover identity has been exposed."

This was her thought last second.

However, the next second, she mustered up the courage, raised her head from above her arms, turned her head quietly and looked around, only to find that no one else seemed to have noticed the letter.

Shi Naian withdrew his gaze with a sense of relief, breathed a sigh of relief, and stared at the letter thinking:

"So I'm the only one who can see this thing... Is it the system that's helping me, or is it God that's helping me, or is it that only I can see this letter?"

"Schnaian, this is..." Kobe murmured.

"Yes, those bad girls are calling me again."

Shi Naian knew clearly that the appearance of this letter basically meant that the group of witches were summoning her again, so she turned her head to look at Little Red Riding Hood.

"Little Red Riding Hood...I suddenly have something to do."

"What's the matter?" Little Red Riding Hood turned her head and stared at her with blue eyes.

"The one that happens once a month. I'm going to go back to my house to find some hygiene products, and we'll meet up later."

"Oh, then you go first."

"Ah."

Shi Naian stood up from the wooden chair, holding Kobe, and walked out of the classroom with his head down.

Fortunately, she was just a nobody in the Alliance. At this moment, the attention of several magical girls in the classroom was focused on the matters of Huijin and Xiziyue. They were so engrossed in the discussion that no one cared that Shi Naian left the classroom silently.

After Shi Naian walked out of the classroom, he crossed the empty corridor, climbed the stairs to the rooftop, and then raised his wand and dropped down from the rooftop. After he released his transformation, he ran into the Tobacco Street and found an abandoned alley with no one around to sit down.

Leaning against the wall, she breathed a sigh of relief and looked up at the letter that appeared before her.

"Shi Naian, those witches chose this time to find you. It seems... Miss Hui Jin's matter may really be related to them!"

Detective Kobe's voice sounded in my head.

"if not?"

As Schnaian spoke, he put down his schoolbag on the stone steps and took out a whip-shaped magic wand from it.

Holding the handle of the staff, she changed into the form of the Witch of Sloth in an instant. A thick trace of ink was drawn upward from the corner of her eyes, and a pair of bat-like black wings extended behind her, like a demon.

She opened her eyes that were filled with cold flames, reached out to touch the letter, and murmured, "If possible, I really don't want to be involved..."

As soon as he finished speaking, the letter was opened and strange things happened.

As the pattern of the Tower of Babel unfolded above the pale blue sky, a magnificent beam of light suddenly fell from between the clouds, engulfing the body of the Witch of Sloth.

When the Witch of Sloth opened her eyes again, she found herself in the dark space engraved with the past of the Witch and the Tower of Babel.

The candlelight on the round table flickered, illuminating a figure beside him.

The witch Black Rose sat beside the candle, hugged her shoulders with one hand, crossed her legs, used the thorns to hold up a wine glass, and brought the wine to her mouth.

She took a sip of the blood-red wine and looked up at the Witch of Sloth: "So slow."

The Witch of Sloth yawned, raised her hand to cover her mouth, and said dejectedly, "So what's the matter with calling me here?" "Before that, have you seen our new guest?"

Black Rose said faintly.

As soon as the words fell, the candle on the table suddenly burst into a bright light like a torch, and the shadow covering the meeting space was instantly burned away by wildfire.

The Witch of Sloth followed Black Rose's gaze to the right, and saw a cross standing on a stone building similar to an altar.

And on top of the cross was tied a girl wearing a gray and black long skirt in British Gothic style.

She was as pale as a paper doll, and was blocked on the "altar" by a visible barrier. Her slender legs were kneeling on the ground, and her skirt was spreading on the stone surface of the altar like a withered flower.

The girl in the Gothic skirt was sleeping, her dark hair hanging messily in front of her forehead, covering her tightly closed eyes.

"Senior Huijin..."

The Witch of Sloth stared at the girl in the Gothic skirt and was slightly stunned.

She thought to herself, "Sure enough... was she caught by the witch?"

"You will stay here with her for a while, and you are not allowed to leave until the day when the Witch Night is activated. Do you understand?"

As she spoke, Black Rose raised her right hand, and layers of sharp thorns emerged from her sleeves, enveloping the figure of the Witch of Sloth.

The Witch of Sloth remained silent. She was not someone who was unaware of the current situation, not to mention that the sharp thorns were standing so clearly at the side of her head. So she was forced to take two steps forward and approach the stone "altar".

Then a corner of the barrier slowly opened, leaving a hole just big enough for her body to enter.

The Witch of Sloth glanced sideways, and the thorns surrounding her body were like poisonous snakes, ready to move, as if they would strangle her neck the next moment if she didn't obey the order.

If Black Rose was alone, she would have a chance to win. After all, she had not been idle for two months. The attribute points provided by her player identity and the magic power absorbed from the magical girl allowed her to reach B+ level combat power.

What's more, her "Glow Hands" upgraded from Glow Tentacles can suppress any form of magic, which can be considered a special attack whether against a magical girl or a witch.

But... Black Rose isn't the only one here.

From the corner of her eye, she saw four little dolls of different appearances sitting around the conference table behind Black Rose. They represented -

The "Doll Witch" with white hair and eyes, and a white cloth like tree bark draped over her body;
The "Lost Witch" who wears a pointed hat, dark wizard clothing, and has eyes and hair the color of maple leaves;
The "War Witch" with dark red hair and wearing a torn Prussian uniform;
The "Crown Dream Witch" wears a blue round hat, light blue pajamas, and has blue wavy hair.

Under the candlelight, the four exquisitely crafted dolls tilted their heads and stared at the Witch of Sloth with their button eyes.

The Witch of Sloth sighed softly, retracted her gaze, and walked to the edge of the altar. The barrier then closed, trapping her and the Magical Girl Ashes inside.

"That's a good child..." the Lost Witch doll said softly.

"We won't let you stay in here for long." The puppet witch doll said emotionlessly.

The War Witch doll asked: "Come to think of it, I didn't expect it would be so easy to get her?" As it spoke, the doll turned its head stiffly, and looked at the girl in the Gothic skirt on the altar with its red button eyes.

The Lost Witch said: "It's not that simple... but after all, there are people she knows here."

As soon as the words fell, the four dolls turned their heads and stared at the witch Black Rose with their button eyes.

"She's so stupid..."

The witch Black Rose whispered as she climbed up using the thorns as a ladder, her eyes level with the ashes on the cross.

"It was so easy to trick her out by just sending a text message."

At three o'clock in the morning today, the witch Black Rose sent an email to Bai Zini using the email address she used when she was still "He Yinlu".

The content of the email was simple. It began with the code she and Bai Zini had agreed on when they were in elementary school, "Baccano1929", followed by an address and a sentence: "Come alone. I just want to meet you."

After receiving this email, the magical girl Ashes slammed the door and walked out without thinking, and came to the remote park holding the magic umbrella Cinderella. When she looked around in the falling snow under the moonlight, she did not see the person she wanted to see.

Instead, he saw the "Witch Black Rose" and the "Lost Witch" who had been waiting there for a long time.

At this moment, the girl in the Gothic skirt lowered her eyes, unconscious, her beautiful hair cascading down around her ears and across her snow-white cheeks.

The War Witch listened to their story and said sarcastically, "Should I say he is just a teenager after all..."

The Crown Dream Witch doll rubbed its button eyes and said in a sleepy tone, "No matter what means are used, as long as we get it... The most troublesome part is over. What remains is when to set the stage."

Black Rose was silent for a moment, then she raised her thorns and pointed at the Witch of Sloth and said, "Since there are already six witches including Ashes, the conditions for activating Witch Night have been met...Should we let the Witch of Sloth go? She is not very strong and seems a bit of a burden here."

The Witch of Sloth sat on the stone steps of the altar, holding her face in her hands, and said dejectedly: "I have no objection. You big guys are fighting, so a chores like me should just go back and take a nap, right?"

"No." The puppet witch said coldly, "In fact, the Witch of Sloth is one of the keys to activate the Witch Night, and Ashes is not one of them. She has another purpose."

"Another function means..." Black Rose raised her eyebrows slightly and asked in confusion.

"You will know on October 31st," said the puppet witch.

Black Rose remained silent and did not dare to ask more questions.

The doll of the Crown Dream Witch tilted its head and asked, "By the way, won't Xiziyue ask for help from the Round Table? If Zeus comes, we will be in trouble... Haah..." Her doll yawned, and the mouth with wool on the top and bottom opened, looking a little scary. "Let me make a deal... If Zeus comes, I will be the first to run away. I don't want to fight a battle that I have no chance of winning."

"No." The puppet witch asserted, "Xiziyue knows that this is her own 'private matter'. As the proudest magical girl of the four thousand years, she doesn't want to involve others, and she is even less likely to ask for help from the Round Table..."

She paused and said, "Besides, even if Zeus came, he might not be able to defeat us."

"You really know Xiziyue." The War Witch sneered.

The puppet witch's doll did not answer, but turned its head stiffly and slowly, its white button eyes staring at the war witch motionlessly, in silence.

At this moment, the doll of the Crown Dream Witch asked: "Let's not talk about the Round Table Meeting for now. By the way... is that annoying crow still around Beijing?"

The Lost Witch replied calmly, "The power I cast on him last night has taken effect. The hallucinations caused by the side effects of his supernatural powers are serious enough. Now with my power, he must have gone completely crazy and poses no threat to us."

Hearing this, the War Witch doll sneered coldly.

She said slowly, "Then we have nothing to worry about... Qing Ya is a member of the Round Table and can call in dangerous people from the Round Table at any time. On the other hand, without this guy's order, other branches of the Superhero Association would not rashly send support to avoid angering him... Now that Qing Ya has gone crazy, we have already won this war."

"Are you sure Qing Ya has left Huanjing?"

The puppet witch asked again.

The Crown Dream Witch also said: "I suggest you check it carefully. We almost fell into his hands once before..."

The Lost Witch doll lowered its button eyes and said slowly, "Ha... who do you think I am? I saw it with my own eyes. The crow man's condition was already bad enough. I could see all kinds of weird emotional energy accumulating in his mind - you know how exaggerated it is. Even if I use the magic of controlling emotions on an ordinary person, it is estimated that it would be difficult to reach the level of madness of the crow. The fact that he has persisted for so long without committing suicide is already amazing... Now with my magic power pushing him, even if he doesn't die, it should be enough for him to drink a pot for a while."

She paused and said, "In short, you won't see Qing Ya around Beijing in the short term..."

At this point, the Lost Witch tilted her head again, "By the way, I don't know where he has gone now. His ability is really amazing. If he is given a day, he can probably fly around the earth, right?"

At the same time, Siberia.

In the vast white world, a shadowy figure shrouded in a pitch-black cloak stepped on the ice formed by the lake surface, leaving footprints of varying depths and ice chips flying lightly.

The blue crow bent slightly, took off the bird-beak helmet on his head, buried his empty eyes in his messy hair, and knelt on the ice as if exhausted. "Whoosh!" The cold wind suddenly whistled, echoing between the cold mountains like the scream of a ghost, covering the muffled sound of the ice cracking slightly.

He lowered his eyes and stared at the image reflected on the ice - thousands of crows wrapped around his body, devouring him until only a pair of blood-red eyes were left in the darkness. The blue crow looked into those eyes and whispered softly:

"I...will never be defeated."

"You are still deceiving yourself--!" The black shadow wrapped in thousands of crows roared.

"Hallucinations... cannot defeat me." Ke Youqing stared at the figure under the lake with his empty eyes wide open, muttering hoarsely to himself, "I have come all the way this way. That evil monk, the watchmaker, the scarlet letter cultist, even they... even their thoughts have never shaken my will. How could I... fall on myself? I... will never..."

"Wake up and look at yourself... Can you tell which is you on the lake or which is you under the lake... Are you Qing Ya or Ke You Qing?" the shadow under the lake said, "Or... Are you just a coward who doesn't want to face reality?"

"I know exactly who I am..."

Qing Ya lowered his eyes and looked at it, blood flowing from his eyes, and his voice gradually became louder.

"You... absolutely cannot defeat me—"

He almost growled as he said this, and then the ice beneath him instantly cracked, and a tide of crows violently poured out from the cloak behind him, and the howling blizzard seemed to stop for a moment...

"You are still stubborn... You don't have much time left."

The figure beneath the lake spoke deeply.

The next moment, the ice layer within a radius of 100 meters collapsed.

The blue crow fell into the bottomless lake, sinking, sinking, and sinking continuously... The water under the ice was obviously cold enough to freeze to death tens of millions of ordinary people, but Ke Youqing felt that the world was a little quieter and all was silent.

In the sky, a flock of crows scattered listlessly on the lake, splashing cold waves with "patter" and "patter", and then everything slowly returned to the cold and dead silence.

The Siberian wind is still cold and the deafening whistling sound penetrates my ears.

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(End of this chapter)