Apocalypse, then transforming into a magical girl

Chapter 200 The Female Version of Tieguai Li

The next morning, Xiao Lü felt an intense soreness in her wrist.

"Ugh—you're awake! Stop shaking me!"

The lion yawned groggily, too lazy to even open its eyes.

"It's making me so dizzy—"

She drew out the last syllable of her voice with dissatisfaction, her tone heavy with a nasal tone.

"Actually, your breasts also made us dizzy, so we're even," Xia Zhaozhao complained.

Little Green nodded silently.

"Huh? I didn't hear you—"

"It's nothing."

Early in the morning, a feeling of exhaustion already enveloped my entire body.

It's just that getting up is exhausting. Xiao Lü feels like she's no different from Sisyphus, except that what she's pushing is made of flesh.

Xia Zhaozhao and her two sisters are all the type who don't like to get up early. When it comes to sleeping in, the three of them are completely united.

While I'm happy to have some peace and quiet, if I continue to indulge myself like this, it'll be a question whether I'll even be able to leave this house before sunset.

After dealing with Xia Zhaozhao and the wolf, Xiao Lü finally realized that the real final boss was actually the lion.

It's called a lion, but it's just as hard to wake up as a lion-headed goose, the kind that's simmering in a pot.

"So, what are you trying to do by waking me up so early?!" Lion finally sat up, rubbing her sleepy eyes, her flaxen hair a mess like a bird's nest.

Xiao Lü decided to abandon reiterating the message "I am older than you" and instead went straight to the point.

"I told you yesterday, you said you were going to collect protection money from a deformed person."

"Oh, I see—"

The lion raised its arms high above its head, stretched its body into a "V" shape, and yawned.

"In that case, we'll have to switch to the business-style leg. After all, we'll be driving, right?"

As she spoke, she looked around the bedside.

Xiao Lü's gaze followed her, eventually landing on the prosthetic limb.

Unlike the sports prosthetic leg with a C-shaped carbon plate from yesterday, this one is almost indistinguishable from a real human leg.

Aside from the overly uniform color and the lack of the blood and texture of a living person, it is almost indistinguishable from the real thing.

Even the thickness of her limbs was exactly the same as her intact left leg. Without a doubt, it was a custom-made item that cost a fortune before the apocalypse.

(Forced by the wolf) After washing up, she opened the wardrobe, rummaged through it for a while, and seemed to decide to dress a little more formally today.

Of course, for her, being formal meant wearing all the necessary accessories, casually tying her long hair back, and adding a loose cotton-linen shirt and work pants.

Then, Lion rolled up her sleeves, munched on the potatoes that Wolf had steamed earlier, found two packets of instant black coffee powder in some unknown corner, poured them into her mouth like she was taking drugs, and then led the group to her car.

"Here, I found it after the apocalypse."

Lion pointed to the car not far away.

Xiao Lü followed the gaze and, upon seeing the car clearly, her lips twitched slightly.

She was very familiar with the logo on the front of the car.

It's a Wuling Hongguang. The sheer number of these vehicles in this area can only be described as tragic.

"Why don't you pick a nicer car?" Xia Zhaozhao complained.

However, Xiao Lü approves of this choice.

After all, this thing can carry both people and goods, has a huge space, is sturdy and durable, and because of its ridiculously large number of units, spare parts are readily available, making it an optimal choice in the apocalypse.

It's just that—I always feel like it doesn't quite fit the character of a lion. No, it doesn't seem like it doesn't fit at all; it's all quite acceptable.

"Are you sure you don't need me to drive?"

Little Green still asked a question. After all, the other person was missing a leg.

"No need, no need!" Lion replied casually.

"My driving skills are excellent, losing a leg doesn't matter."

that's the truth.

She started the car with practiced ease, smoothly engaging the clutch, shifting gears, and releasing the handbrake, showing absolutely no signs of inconvenience.

Then, as the engine roared to life, the car's stereo started playing.

The melody was light and catchy, completely out of place with the post-apocalyptic world, instead giving the air in the carriage a taste of an urban night.

Xiao Lü even had the illusion that she was in the night of the bubble economy era, shuttling through a sea of ​​neon lights.

Then, the sound of the Wuling Hongguang's window rattling pulled him out of the barrier.

Lion looked quite relaxed. She held the steering wheel with one hand, while her other elbow rested casually on the car window, her fingertips tapping lightly, and she even hummed along.

Xiao Lü recognized this music genre. It seemed to be called city pop, something that was popular in the 1970s and 80s.

"Your taste in music is really quite retro."

"Oh, I didn't know that. You're quite knowledgeable, Ephemeral Sauce."

The lion stopped humming, and there seemed to be a hint of pleasure in its tone.

"I know a little about it. But this thing is older than you and me combined, isn't it?"

Little Green couldn't help but complain.

"Speaking of which, what do you usually listen to? Let me see if there's anything you like here."

"I haven't listened to it much since the apocalypse, and I haven't downloaded any of the music to my device. I basically just listen to it by listening to her music."

Xiao Lü gestured to Xia Zhaozhao in the back seat with her eyes.

"That guy's playlist has nothing but anime music."

"Huh? Doesn't it sound good?" Xia Zhaozhao's protest came from the back seat.

"No, it sounds nice," Little Green replied.

"Oh, I see." Lion didn't make any judgment, but just casually said, "I should also have the anime songs you guys mentioned, and I quite like that one by my older sister."

"Oh?"

Xia Zhaozhao instantly became excited, leaning forward and sticking her head out to the front row.

"Is it a song from an old anime? Like EVA or the original Gundam? Give me a copy, give me a copy!"

The lion shook its head, a mysterious smile on its face.

She skillfully switched to a song.

As the intro began, a very familiar melody gave Xiao Lü a bad feeling.

The lion hummed along happily to the rhythm.

"Oh my god♡ Oh my god♡ Black Cat Sheriff♪♪~"

'

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,,,「」

Inside the carriage, a deathly silence fell.

Xiao Lü, Xia Zhaozhao, and Lang all fell silent at the same time.

This collective silence seemed to perfectly hit the lion's funny bone.

She couldn't hold it in any longer and almost burst into laughter.

Xiao Lü probably understood what Xia Zhaozhao meant when she said earlier that "the lion was so carefree it was almost heavy."

After leaving the scenic area, everything around became even more dilapidated.

The music in the car finally returned to normal.

It's no longer Citypop, nor is it the indescribable Black Cat Detective; it's an old Chinese song that's not exactly new either.

Xiao Lü couldn't recall the exact name, but the song's unique historical feel convinced her it was probably quite old—

He's a full twelve years older than me.

The bread truck bumped along the uneven road, the windows rattling and clanging, but Lion didn't care and hummed along softly to the song.

"I heard someone's voice♪ Like the sobbing little river in my dream♪~"

Xiao Lü discovered that after she stopped playing pranks, her voice was actually quite nice.

It wasn't the kind of clear, professionally trained sound; it was rather lazy and nonchalant.

Ignoring the strange noise from the windowpane, Little Green silently turned her gaze to the outside of the window, resting her chin on her hand as she listened to the lion's song.

The scenery outside the window and the singing blended together strangely, as if they had stepped into the old era.

This is clearly an old mining area in Longshan City. A place that was decisively abandoned by the times after its resources were exhausted.

The place the vehicle entered appeared to be the staff dormitory building.

The buildings here are no more than four stories high, and they are the kind of tenement buildings that were most common in the 1980s and 1990s.

Even though it was located on a mountaintop and the damage was relatively minor, large areas of the wall plaster had already peeled off, revealing mottled dark red patches on each wall, and the original safety signs were no longer legible.

"That mournful song always awakens me in my dreams♪ It tells of some sorrowful past events♪~"

"That seemingly nonchalant turn of the head♪ was actually a desolate shadow after the tears had dried♪~"

"Ah—we've arrived."

"Before we collect protection money, we've come here to grab something."

The lion stopped the car and stopped humming. Then, it opened the car door and prepared to get out.

Xiao Lü also got off the bus.

Before me were several dormitory buildings that still looked habitable, with broken windows barely covered up with plastic sheeting and wooden boards.

It seems that this is one of the survivor strongholds of Longshan.

The lion and the wolf led the way, with Xiao Lü and Xia Zhaozhao following behind.

"To be honest—old woman, you actually sing quite well."

Xia Zhaozhao's voice came from next to Xiao Lü.

"Of course! If it weren't for the fact that I have absolutely no interest in being an idol—wait, who's the old woman here!"

The lion suddenly turned around and glared at her fiercely.

"That guy next to you is way older than me! She's the older one, isn't she!"

So he's finally admitting he's older than her?

Xiao Lü sighed inwardly, feeling numb to this pointless age war.

"Actually, we're not that much older."

She simply responded with that one sentence.

However, the two figures with vastly different body sizes ignored this statement.

The conversation was not loud, but it dispelled the deathly silence of the place.

A response came quickly.

On the second floor, a plastic sheet was gently lifted, and Xiao Lü saw a head with a full head of silver hair peeking out.

He was an old man.

The old man squinted, as if trying to identify the person who had come.

A few seconds later, she gave a gentle smile and waved tremblingly to the group.

The group waited downstairs for a moment, and then the door creaked open from the inside.

The one who leaned out was the same old woman from before. A refined old lady wearing reading glasses.

"Teacher Jin?" Wolf smiled.

Then, he happily introduced the person in front of him to the group of people in front of him.

She was her teacher before the apocalypse.

Before Little Green could even think about the relationship, several children had already poured out from behind the door, chattering and surrounding the wolf.

The wolf was clearly used to this scene. She happily took out a few candies from her pocket and used telekinesis to make the colorful candies trace perfect arcs in the air, landing precisely in the palms of each child.

A slightly older child didn't try to grab the candy; instead, he curiously tugged at Ms. Jin's sleeve, looked up, and asked loudly, "Teacher, why can she make the candy fly through the air?"

"The teacher doesn't know either."

Teacher Jin affectionately patted his head and frankly admitted her ignorance.

"However, science can definitely explain it. After the disaster is over, scientists may come to study it."

—It's better if that day never comes.

Xia Zhaozhao muttered something under her breath.

"I don't want to be dragged into scientific research—"

"Hey, Ms. Jin, you're feeding the kids your useless stuff again!"

Just then, a loud voice came from inside the door.

Immediately afterwards, a sprightly old man with a goatee walked out from inside, his hands behind his back.

"Forget about science, this is clearly a deity descending to earth to save us from suffering!"

He first respectfully bowed to the lion and the wolf, then straightened his back and continued in his booming voice, "Look, one leg is good, one leg is bad, isn't this the Dharma form of the Iron-Crutch Li Immortal!"

'

""

The moment Xiao Lü heard the name "Tieguai Li," she clearly saw the smile on the lion's face freeze instantly.

The corners of his mouth were still turned up, but near his temples, blue veins were already throbbing faintly.

Xia Zhaozhao covered her mouth, desperately trying to suppress her laughter.

Xiao Lü was speechless. This old man's imagination was a bit too unrestrained.

Immediately afterwards, the goatee-bearded old man completely ignored the lion's subtle changes in expression, cleared his throat, and struck a pose like a storyteller towards the group of children.

"Kids, don't believe the nonsense your teacher spouts!"

Then, pointing to the ground beneath his feet, he said, "Speaking of Longshan, it has been a place of auspicious geomancy since ancient times!"

"A thousand years ago, Li Tieguai, one of the Eight Immortals, traveled here and immediately took a liking to this place, saying it was a dragon's lair where dragon veins converged, and he even rested here!"

He abruptly changed the subject, his face showing a pained expression, and pointed towards the mountaintop.

"But what happened next? Those damn developers, uncultured and lacking any sense of reverence, insisted on digging a huge water pit on the mountaintop! They ruined a perfectly good dragon vein!"

"Now look what's happened! The evil spirits underground can no longer be suppressed, and they've all come out to harm people!"

—This logic is so self-consistent that Xiao Lü was speechless for a moment.

She stole a glance at the lion.

However, contrary to her expectations, the veins on the woman's face had already subsided when she first heard "Tieguai Li," and in their place, she had an expression of great interest.

It seems this woman is also a pure entertainer.

So that's why!

The goatee-bearded old man became more and more enthusiastic as he spoke, and once again bowed respectfully to the lion.

"The immortal deity couldn't bear to see mortals suffer, so he descended to earth to save us!"

"But Grandpa Jiang, isn't Tieguai Li a man?"

The child who had asked the question earlier spoke again, hitting the nail on the head.

The goatee-wearing old man glared at him.

"What do children know? Immortals descending to earth possess countless forms; how can they be bound by the distinctions of male and female?"

"Deities transforming into women is for the convenience of relieving suffering and appearing more approachable! This is called a 'compassionate appearance'! Do you understand?"

"Hahahaha—it is indeed I, the Taoist priest, here to save you from suffering!"

Finally, the lion couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.