Go to work, and then educate magical girls.

Chapter 68 Withering

A cup of fine oolong tea was placed on the small tea table in front of Shengxue.

Shengxue looked up at her close friend who was silently serving her tea, and felt a strange, indescribable feeling.

Jinju lowered her eyes. After the tea was served, she couldn't wait to escape this strangely atmospheric place.

But she failed to escape.

Saint Snow grabbed her arm.

"Jinju, were you there voluntarily, or were you coerced?"

Saint Snow asked the question once again.

This time, Jinju finally heard clearly. She looked into the other person's clear, unadulterated eyes, lowered her head, and dared not look into those pure eyes.

Perhaps she once had such pure eyes, and perhaps she once held firm against the attacks of strange people for quite some time.

Even today, she still maintains a certain steadfastness.

But she is no longer as innocent as she was at the beginning.

Especially after completely entrusting herself to Tang Feng, Jinju found that her mindset had undergone a subtle change.

An inexplicable connection developed between them.

She didn't know how much of her current charade with Tang Feng was real and how much was fake.

But she was definitely not as determined as before; that night, plunging the gun tip into the other person's heart had already taken a great toll on her strength.

Whether it is physical or mental.

Then she experienced something that happened to her for the first time in her life.

Although it wasn't a wonderful experience, the other person had already left a deep mark on her heart.

It is even more profound than the mark of flesh and blood slavery.

Although she has not been completely defeated in this battle, she is already teetering on the brink of collapse.

The question Shengxue asked at this moment undoubtedly struck at the heart of her heart.

Although she was indeed coerced at the beginning.

but now……

"voluntary……"

Jinju's voice was incredibly dry.

If she answers that she was coerced, Shengxue might turn against Tang Feng, and Shengxue's fate wouldn't be good. Tang Feng would also be angry because of her answer.

This results in losing both ends.

Therefore, voluntariness is the most correct answer.

Jinju comforted herself, telling herself that she had answered that way for the greater good.

It must be.

Hearing this answer, Tang Feng wasn't too surprised, but he still smiled.

Saint Snow was slightly taken aback.

While she was still in a daze, Jinju had already withdrawn her arm, moved away from her, and stood behind Tang Feng.

Then, Jinju reached out and began to massage Tang Feng's shoulders, like a caring little maid.

Shengxue looked at Jinju and pursed her lips slightly.

Then, she turned her gaze to Tang Feng.

His face was so handsome, so gentle. She used to like him so much, and he treated her so well, giving her many experiences she had never had before.

But now, it feels so... unfamiliar.

"Can I still call you Teacher Tang Feng?"

Saint Snow spoke softly.

"Why not, Saint Snow?" Tang Feng countered.

Shengxue didn't speak; she was also thinking.

Why?

Is it simply because he's a weirdo?

Textbooks say that monsters are utterly wicked and are the natural enemies of humans and magical girls.

This is something that everyone in the world is exposed to from childhood.

But in Shengxue's memory, Tang Feng did not seem to be as evil as described in the textbook.

The most outrageous thing Tang Feng did, as she witnessed it with her own eyes, was his indecent behavior towards Senior Feng Ye that night.

As for the evil crimes committed by the strange man, she had only heard about them.

Therefore, she wanted to ask him directly.

If Tang Feng is truly so evil, then she...

Shengxue looked into Tang Feng's eyes and asked.

"Ziwan said you did something very awful to her, is that true?"

"Does that mean you want to adopt her as your daughter?"

Shengxue looked surprised, and Jinju's hands, which were massaging her shoulders, stopped without her realizing it.

"What's going on?" Shengxue couldn't help but ask.

Tang Feng then patiently explained.

.

"But that's not what Ziwan said at all," Shengxue said, seemingly finding it difficult to speak. "She said..."

Tang Feng immediately understood that their fabricated testimonies had gone awry and had been misunderstood by Sheng Xue. So he said, "This is a simple question. Just call Zi Wan over for a face-to-face confrontation, and we'll know the answer in no time."

Seeing Tang Feng's open and honest demeanor, Sheng Xue was somewhat skeptical.

"Even if you wanted to adopt her, the law wouldn't recognize it."

"We'll admit it."

"Did she...did she really admit it?" Shengxue's words were somewhat incoherent.

She was a girl in the same class as her, yet she had to call Tang Feng... Dad?

Then, wouldn't she also...?

No, no, Shengxue quickly banished the thought from her mind. Her head was spinning. Ziwan knew that Tang Feng was a strange person; she was the one who shouted the commotion in the warehouse back then, yet now she was acknowledging a thief as her father…

Something feels off...

At this moment, Tang Feng patted Jinju on the shoulder and said, "It's time for you to play your role as class monitor. Go and call Ziwan over."

Upon hearing this, Jinju left the office, and soon after, she returned with Ziwan.

Three extremely beautiful girls gathered together.

After Ziwan entered the office, she saw Shengxue, who had already transformed, and Tang Feng opposite her, and immediately understood what had happened.

It seems that Shengxue also knows about Tang Feng's eccentric identity.

"My dear daughter, please explain this to Shengxue." Tang Feng's voice came.

Ziwan's eyes twitched almost imperceptibly twice.

She remained silent for a long time.

The air suddenly became quiet.

She didn't deny this statement, which is tantamount to admitting it...

The two girls next to them stared wide-eyed.

"Ziwan, what exactly is going on between you and Tang Feng...?"

Saint Snow's dizzy voice came from the side.

After a pause, Ziwan spoke calmly.

"The past is in the past. For now, we are father and daughter."

"Then what you just said..." Shengxue hadn't yet recovered from the huge shock of the other party admitting it himself.

"I lied to you just now, I'm sorry." Ziwan didn't offer any further explanation and chose to apologize directly.

Shengxue finally accepted this unacceptable fact. Although she hadn't fully sorted it out yet, she decided to put it aside for the time being and continue looking at Tang Feng.

"Where's the lapis lazuli? Did you make it?"

"Does Saint Snow think I would do that?"

"Of course Teacher Tang Feng wouldn't, but you..." Sheng Xue didn't finish her sentence, but the meaning behind her words was quite clear.

Tang Feng became interested. He interlaced his fingers and rested them on his chin. "You've taken it upon yourself to separate me from Teacher Tang Feng?"

"I can only do this until I'm certain that you and Teacher Tang Feng are the same person."

"But I have always been alone."

"Teacher Tang Feng would never do such a thing, so you are not him," Sheng Xue insisted.

"Maybe that's just your delusion?" Tang Feng began to laugh. "He was never the person you imagined him to be. What you saw was merely what he wanted to show you."

"Stop talking." Shengxue's expression was resolute. "I just want to know if you've done something irreparable, whether Liuhuang is related to you, and what about those criminal organizations."

Jinju began to feel nervous. She noticed that Shengxue was walking down the path she had once walked.

Based on her understanding of Tang Feng, she knew he was someone who responded better to gentle persuasion than force. Such a forceful question might provoke his resentment. Even though she knew Tang Feng hadn't done these things, she couldn't be sure how he would respond.

Just as Jinju had predicted, Tang Feng, chin in hand, began to smile dangerously.

"What if I said that Liuhuang is related to me? What would you do? Punish me, Little Saint Snow?"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Jinju quickly stepped forward and hugged Tang Feng from behind, gently rubbing her soft body against his back.

She leaned close to Tang Feng's ear and lowered her voice.

"Master, don't bother with her. Let's go somewhere else to play. You can play whatever you want there."

Tang Feng ignored the little vixen who was deliberately trying to seduce him; how could he not guess Jin Ju's little scheme?

Saint Snow's reaction now made him even more eager to see what choice she would make.

Your favorite person and the most wicked monster are the same person. Will you choose to uphold the spirit of a magical girl and fight against evil, or will you succumb to his power and embrace your former feelings?

The scene fell into an eerie silence, with only the curtains swaying gently by the window indicating that this was not a still picture.

The curtains suddenly started swaying more violently.

Inside the office, a torrent of magic is surging.

The source of the magical torrent is the Heart Gem in Saint Snow's heart.

At that moment, an extremely dazzling silver-white light was erupting from there.

Saint Snow's entire body was also enveloped in this silvery-white light.

She slowly floated into the air, her calm yet resolute expression containing an indescribable desolation.

"Holy Snow!"

Jinju couldn't help but cry out.

Did this scene ultimately come to pass?

The two drew their swords against each other, and then Saint Snow was forced to submit to the strange man's Yinwei, becoming a little slave girl like herself.

Don't do this kind of thing!

Her forbearance and perseverance ultimately amounted to nothing.

Jinju hugged Tang Feng tightly, afraid that he might suddenly attack.

But she suddenly noticed that Tang Feng seemed a little nervous.

Jinju rubbed her eyes. Had she seen wrong?

Is it possible for this guy to have such an expression?

She must be dreaming.

When she opened her eyes wide and looked again carefully, she found that Tang Feng was indeed nervous.

Jinju felt like the sky had fallen.

What the hell? Sheng Xue can threaten Tang Feng? Is she hallucinating because she's too nervous?

Jinju couldn't help but slap herself across the face, trying to slap away this bizarre illusion.

Then, something even stranger happened.

Tang Feng reached out his hand and said nervously, "Shengxue, stop for a moment, let's talk this out."

The jujube tree collapsed to the ground, unable to rise.

She closed her eyes.

This world is too strange. She'll be fine once she wakes up.

!

A sudden jolt of electricity ran through my mind.

Jinju suddenly opened her eyes.

She got it!

Jinju rolled up from the ground and stared at the sacred snow floating in mid-air.

At this moment, Saint Snow's silver hair danced in the air, her clothes fluttered, and a dense torrent of magic power surrounded her, continuously pouring outwards.

She knew this was not preparation for battle.

But...

Withering away.

A magical girl who blossoms because of her inner beliefs loses all qualifications to be a magical girl when those beliefs collapse, and thus withers away. The best outcome is that she becomes an ordinary person again.

The faint sound of gemstones shattering could be heard in the air.

"stop!"

Tang Feng finally couldn't hold back and intervened, forcibly interrupting the withering process.

Holy snow fell silently from the sky.

Tang Feng caught her; the girl's body was as light and weak as a feather.

Shengxue opened her eyes and looked at Tang Feng, her pure eyes containing no impurities. She spoke softly, "This comes from the heart; no external force can stop it."

As she spoke, her magic continued to dissipate, and spiderweb-like cracks began to appear on the Heart Gem.

Jinju watched all of this in silence.

She just figured it out.

What in this world could threaten Tang Feng? And what does he care about most?

Jinju knew that what he cared about most was the magical girl.

That's what she was betting on when she jumped from the high building.

Although she wasn't a magical girl at the time, she had already become Tang Feng's target.

The other party cannot give up on her.

Right now, the withering of the sacred snow will mean that this world will lose a magical girl.

This is something Tang Feng cannot accept.

So that's how it works. So that's how it threatens Tang Feng.

Jinju suddenly realized.

She took out her Heart Gem and began to think.

But she soon gave up.

She couldn't make the Heart Gem crack.

As Saint Snow said, this comes from the heart.

Only when faith begins to waver, only when cracks appear in the heart, will the gem of the heart shatter.

The tangerine tree cannot do this.

Could it be that unwavering faith has become a debuff at this moment?

Jinju looked at Tang Feng and Shengxue in his arms.

What is the belief that Seiyuki has in becoming a magical girl? Why does it waver so easily?

After thinking about this question, she understood.

The answer was actually quite simple.

At this moment, Tang Feng tightly grasped Sheng Xue's soft and slender hand and spoke in a commanding tone, "Stop now."

Shengxue gently shook her head. "I can't do it. My teacher Tang Feng has committed an unforgivable sin, so what right do I, who became a magical girl because of him, have to continue?"

"I can't absolve you of your sins, and I can't become a magical girl."

"No," Tang Feng said.

"I was just joking. I didn't do what you're thinking. Liu Huang's matter has nothing to do with me. In fact, I even saved her from another weirdo."

Saint Snow and Jinju both turned their gazes toward them.

"The Tang Feng teacher in your heart did not do evil. You are qualified to continue being a magical girl, Shengxue. Stop for now, let's talk slowly," Tang Feng said seriously.

Upon hearing Tang Feng's words, the magic power emanating from Sheng Xue gradually stopped, and the spiderweb-like cracks on the Heart Gem ceased to expand.

Tang Feng finally breathed a sigh of relief.

This girl.

They actually got hold of his lifeline.

He had never seen a magical girl like this before in all these years.

Those who can become magical girls often possess exceptionally strong beliefs and wills, and they will not easily succumb to his various forms of discipline.

Therefore, he could freely play with them.

However, an exception has emerged.

There are actually people who became magical girls because of him.

Each crime he committed added a crack to the gem of the girl's heart.

Tang Feng started to get a headache.

(End of this chapter)