She was being hunted down, so she became a magical girl.

Faced with the crow's persuasion, Xu Ting expressed his opposition without hesitation:

"I'm going to choose her as the magical girl."

"Magical girls are the embodiment of miracles, and Qi Li desperately needs miracles."

The crow expressed strong opposition to this.

The dark, monstrous bird flapped its wings violently and said with great distress:

"Xu Ting, I understand how you feel. After hearing such a story, no one wants to lie to Qi Li again."

"But you must succumb to reality."

"The reality is that we are not in a position to save her."

"In the short term, we might be able to use the contract to help you quickly condense a magic core and gain the ability to heal the Gray Raven."

"But in the long run, we've just kept a witch in reserve by our side."

Xu Ting took off his cloak and draped it over Qi Li.

She leaned against the wall and began to argue with the crow in a firm tone:

"You tell me to consider reality, but have you considered reality yourself?"

"I've already promised Qi Li that I'd make her a magical girl. If I go back on my word, she'll definitely lose control and attack me."

"How will things end then?"

The crow provided the answer:

"You know perfectly well that Qi Li is not good at fighting."

"Even if she has a replacement prosthetic body, killing her would be very easy."

Xu Ting's face was gloomy. He punched the wall, startling Qi Li who was standing next to him.

"Crow, how could you say such a thing?"

"Are you really a contracted beast?"

She exhaled a heavy breath through her nostrils, then questioned:

"Think about it carefully, others can become magical girls just by signing a contract, but your contracted beast is actually dispensable."

"Could it be that you lied to me too, and that you're not actually a contracted beast at all, just like Tianyi Group deceived Gray Raven, and Qi Li's parents deceived Qi Li?"

The crow flapped its wings and flew forlornly into the rain.

Its wounds from the scorching flames had not yet healed, and raindrops falling on the bare scars made it look even more desolate.

"Xu Ting, it doesn't matter whether you believe me or not."

"But I need to make myself clear."

"No matter how you try to justify your current behavior, everything you've done has already proven—"

"You are sinking into a moral quagmire."

"In the city of Hercules, morality and lifespan are often inversely proportional."

It turned back to look at Xu Ting and said earnestly:

"When you were the one who lost your dignity, were you bound by morality?"

Xu Ting gave a noncommittal "hmm" and said:

"Maybe I really need to choose a magical girl name."

She shoved the contract she was holding into Qi Li's arms and said:

"Let's go, it's time to become a magical girl."

Qi Li raised her head blankly and asked subconsciously:

"Where to?"

"Let's go to the rooftop."

The crow was still sulking there.

"But it's still raining outside, and the rain has gotten much heavier."

"I'll shield you from the rain, trust me."

Qi Li tentatively walked out of the stairwell, the rain falling on her head, but was blocked by an invisible magical shield.

"You're amazing, senior!" she exclaimed sincerely. "You really didn't get wet in the rain."

The two approached the crow, who already knew that everything was already set in stone.

But it still made a final struggle:

"How do you plan to handle Qi Li's 'witch transformation'?"

"I'll just give her that evil beast crystal seed."

"Then what will you do?" the crow asked anxiously. "Even if your situation is special, you will still turn into a witch. I can already sense the slight resentment accumulating in your body."

"Qi Li is emotionally fragile and has a low threshold for becoming a witch."

"On the other hand, I have a strong inner strength, so my threshold for becoming a witch is actually very high."

After Xu Ting finished speaking, he took a few more steps forward, opened his arms, and faced away from the torrential rain.

"Don't I seem like a strong, beautiful magical girl, far removed from being a witch?"

Seeing Xu Ting suddenly open his arms, Qi Li mistakenly thought it was a step to becoming a magical girl and followed suit.

The aura that Xu Ting had painstakingly created vanished instantly, leaving her no choice but to speak:

"That's not how the contract works."

"I said, do it again."

Xu Ting turned his head toward the crow.

The latter sighed helplessly and flew back to Xu Ting's shoulder.

"Open the box."

"Take out the scroll."

"Mock your name in your mind, and then stick it on your body."

Qi Li followed the instructions one by one and stuck the parchment to her chest.

The crow flapped its right wing, and a black, bird-shaped shadow slipped into the parchment.

The parchment suddenly burst forth with dazzling golden light, completely engulfing Qi Li.

Xu Ting frowned in confusion.

The color of the light was different from what I felt back then.

She vaguely remembered that the light she received was multicolored, and the special effects when she transformed were also multicolored.

The colors of Gray Raven and Illusion Light when they transform are also different from his own, being gray and blue respectively.

As the golden light faded, Qi Li's figure reappeared in the same spot.

Xu Ting didn't hear the clatter of the prosthetic body falling to the ground, which means...

Qi Li stretched out her hands, a thin layer of flesh attached to the metal prosthetic body, looking like the claws of a monster, which made people feel very uncomfortable.

Qi Li looked at her ugly hands and disdainfully looked away.

Seemingly sensing Xu Ting's anxiety, the crow spoke up at the opportune moment:

"Don't worry, she'll recover eventually."

"Once she condenses her magic core and completes her ascension at the latest, she will be able to completely get rid of her prosthetic body and regain her health."

Xu Ting quickly relayed Crow's words to Qi Li.

The latter hid his hands under his cloak, nodded timidly, and asked:

What are "Magic Core" and "Ascension"?

These things are too complicated to explain.

Moreover, Wu Wanqiu found Qi Li in this slum, and they might arrive soon, so it's not advisable to stay here any longer.

"Come home with me first," Xu Ting said.

Qi Li could never go back to the coffee shop. Yan Yuling would know that Qi Li had become a magical girl as soon as she saw her hands.

Therefore, Xu Ting planned to place Qi Li in the stronghold of the Zengli Sect.

This requires Luo Ruowei's assistance.

Qi Li's normal diet, injections and administration of prosthetic inhibitors, and even daily activities must be entrusted to Luo Ruowei for peace of mind.

Even though the followers of the Gift-Giving Cult were all controlled by the Eye of Fear, Xu Ting did not want them to get close to Qi Li.

Who knows if those people have any marks left by the Lord of the Night?

Xu Ting disliked it for being dirty.

......

That day, at nightfall.

Yan Yuling picked up the phone and replied to Wu Wanqiu:

"Qi Li wasn't found in the slums."

"She has most likely already left."

"If you had told me earlier that she might be here, I might still be able to find her."

The person on the other end of the phone replied:

"Yu Ling, are you blaming me?"

"I wouldn't dare, I wouldn't dare blame you or those above me," Yan Yuling said expressionlessly.

She hung up the phone and checked another newly received message.

The information came from the gang she temporarily employed.

In her search for Qi Li, she called Tianyi Group, seeking help from her former classmate, but was ruthlessly rejected.

She wasn't very familiar with the middlemen and information brokers in the lower city, so she couldn't contact them for a while.

Left with no other option, she hired a group of gangsters, hoping they could find clues together.

"Target found..."

Yan Yuling read the message sent by the gangsters and replied with a text message, requesting that they take a picture of Qi Li.

The other party refused.

They said there was another group of people carrying a target who resembled Qi Li, and they didn't want to alert them, and they weren't quite sure if the blonde girl was Qi Li.

"You want me to go to the scene and identify it myself?"

Yan Yuling muttered about the gang's demands, falling into suspicion.