Toyokawa Shoko doesn't want to become a witch

The wounds weren't healing properly, meaning Meowmeng's magic was constantly being activated, implying her magic power was continuously being depleted. And given her current posture, it was impossible for Meowmeng to use the Seed of Lamentation to purify herself.

Xiangzi had no idea how long Miaomeng had been holding on; she might be nearing her limit.

Xiangzi realized this and quickly asked:

"Where is your Soul Gem? Hurry up."

“On…the neck,” Meow Dream said.

Following her words, Xiangzi moved his gaze downwards and finally saw a black, shiny soul gem.

It's already full?!

Xiangzi's heart skipped a beat.

No, no, not yet. The turbidity is quite high, but it's still a long way from being fully turbid. If Meow Dream can't bear the pain and blocks out the pain sensation, then it's hard to say.

Xiangzi immediately took out his own Soul Gem and stuck it to Miaomeng's Soul Gem.

The tainted Soul Gem, as if touched by the Seed of Lamentation, became clean almost instantly.

"Is this how you saved Hatsuko...?" Meow Dream lowered her eyes, watching Shoko purify her, and exclaimed, "It really is like a miracle."

"Hurry up and activate the pain shield," Xiangzi said reluctantly. "With me here, you don't need to worry about energy consumption."

"Huh?" Miao Meng raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You're concerned about me?"

"You saved me, shouldn't I?"

"Wow, I'm so touched...cough cough—" Miao Meng choked on her own blood and coughed twice. "But I'll pass. I haven't blocked out pain for a long time. I should have told you that, but you didn't seem to notice."

"I thought you were joking..." Xiangzi stammered, "Why torture yourself?"

"To seek thrills," Miaomeng said, "because that's how I feel alive."

“I don’t believe it,” Xiangzi said.

She gazed at Miaomeng's only remaining eye with a complicated expression, and said nothing.

Meow Dream is lying.

She was definitely not just looking for thrills. If it were just about thrills, the selfish, profit-driven, fame-seeking Yutenji Ruomai in Xiangzi's memory wouldn't have gone to such lengths.

"Stop making fun of me, leave me some secrets." Miao Meng forced a smile and said, "You haven't forgotten that Chu Zi is still waiting for you, have you?"

"Oh, right, Chu Hua—"

Miaomeng's method of changing the subject was awkward but effective.

When Xiangzi heard the song "Chuhua" on the third and fourth bells, his heart suddenly skipped a beat.

She was bounced back by Mio. What should Hatsuka do now? Is it too late to go back? But with Nyanko in this state, it's impossible to just leave her like this. In fact, it's not just Nyanko; she herself is also trapped under the ruins.

What should I do.

What can I do?

Xiangzi panicked; his mind suddenly went completely blank.

She thought she had grown to the point where she could always make the right choices, but she was actually far from it.

Questions with one good and one bad, three long and one short, or three short and one long options are not multiple choice questions; they are multiple-choice questions.

The trolley problem that everyone hates is a choice, with no answer, only loss and losing more. It's like being tied to the tracks and forced to hold the lever, facing either being crushed or your loved one. It's a constant choice between the worst and the worst, and that's what a choice is.

"Are you struggling with what to do?" Miao Meng seemed to sense what she was thinking and said softly.

"..." Xiangzi looked at Miaomeng's distorted face, which was torn apart on one side and healing on the other, and nodded.

Xiangzi might not care about herself, but Miaomeng... even if this guy was a scumbag when they first met, they've spent so much time together, it's impossible for her not to care about him.

“Little kid,” Miaomeng said.

"what?"

Xiangzi felt that Miaomeng was always smiling, and that she could convey all sorts of different emotions through her smile. Now, Miaomeng's smile was one that carried a hint of contempt, but without much malice.

It's like... an adult seeing a child do something stupid.

“Only kids make choices; adults usually want it all,” Miaomeng said. “Why don’t you want it all?”

Why should I want them all?

"Don't carry all the burdens on your shoulders. Didn't we agree on this before we set off?" Miao Meng closed her eyes and let out a long breath. "The world can't be saved by you alone. We're a team."

==========

Meanwhile, on the stringed instrument.

Mu seemed to sense something and turned her gaze to the ruins left behind by the destroyed island.

"What's wrong, Mu?" Lixi asked, puzzled, when she suddenly looked towards the ruins. "Weren't we supposed to evacuate the passengers? Are there still people on the island?"

Mu nodded.

Then he flipped over and jumped off the boat, leaving behind a casual remark.

“Xianghe Miaomeng, there.”

"I have to go save them."

The Lost Tale: The Spirit of Youth: Chapter 255 The Great Tsunami

"The world can't be saved by you alone; we're a team."

Miaomeng said.

"You helped me purify the Soul Gem, so I can hold on for a while longer. With me here, it won't collapse."

"The rest can be left to Mutsuko."

"Mu?" Xiangzi's pupils contracted slightly. "What do you know?"

"Hmm~" Meow Dream pursed her lips, "Muko is sharing a room with me, you know. Don't forget, we've really gotten to know each other better these past two days. She's told me so many secrets that even you don't know, like~"

"Like what?"

"for example......"

"—How did you become a magical girl, Mutsuko?"

"After Xiang became a magical girl, she followed along."

"So she's the one who dragged you into this mess? How wicked!" Miao Meng pouted, feigning anger, standing up for Mu.

Mu hugged her pillow, huddled in the corner formed by the bed and the room, and shook her head.

“It was me who made the wish,” she said.

"Huh?" Meow Dream blinked. "Why?"

Mu turned her head, looked out the window, and said softly:

“I want to always follow Xiang, that’s my wish. Because of this wish, I can sense Xiang’s presence, which is why I can find memories related to Xiang in Mortis’s Memory Museum.”

"Is Xiangzi that important to you?" Miaomeng tilted her head. "Is he important enough to warrant making a wish to Cupid and entrusting your whole life to him?"

"I don't know." Mu looked at the sea blankly. "I haven't thought about this question either."

"Yeah, I didn't even think about why I wanted to make that wish when I made it." Miao Meng thought about her incredibly stupid wish, hugged her pillow, and rolled around on the bed twice.

Why did we mention the Japanese yen in the first place? The yen's exchange rate was so low; it would have been better to exchange yen for dollars!

"Ugh, how incredibly stupid of me!" she yelled, burying her face in the pillow. "How could I have risked my life on two million dollars!"

In a blur, she seemed to hear Mu saying something through the pillow.

"...Okay?"

"What? What?" Miaomeng suddenly looked up. "Muzi, what were you just saying?"

"..." Mu seemed surprised that Miaomeng wasn't listening at all, and remained silent for a while in astonishment. "Don't mention my wish to Xiang, okay?"

"why?"

"I don't want her to know that we're so close because of wishes."

"Hmm... I don't think she'd care, but it's fine if you don't want me to say anything." Miaomeng sat up cross-legged. "How about we make a deal?"

"What deal?"

"I'll keep your secret." Meow Dream blinked. "From now on, you can call me Meow Dream, dear."

Mu nodded.

"Shall we make a pinky promise?" Miao Meng propped herself up on the bed with one hand and extended the other hand to Mu, sticking out her little finger.

Two slender fingers were clasped together.

Looking at Miaomeng's smiling face, Mu said in a soft, sweet voice:

"Meow Dream, Japanese Master Chess 4".

"Meow Dream, are you alright?"

"Where were we? Oh, we were talking about Mutsuko's little secret, right...? I can't tell you that, it's a deal between Mutsuko and me." Meow Dream snapped out of her reverie and grinned mysteriously. "You're just waiting to see what happens. Ouch—it feels like something's gnawing at my head. Is it a bug?"

"I don't care about Mu's little secret. How are you doing now?"

Xiangzi was already in great pain lying on the ground. It's hard to imagine what kind of suffering Miaomeng, who was buried under countless layers of rubble and holding up a small space, was enduring.

"Me? I'm definitely fine." Miao Meng laughed.

Another bite was taken from the inside of her head by a bug. Miao Meng gasped and put on a blank, "I'm fine, don't worry about me" expression.

"You should hurry up and go find Hatsuko, don't waste your time."

"I believe I can hold on until we're rescued, I believe Mutsuko can find us, and we believe you can handle the sea witch and bring Hatsuko back safe and sound. Ugh, I feel like I've said these words of belief so many times already. You have to listen to my advice, Shoko. It's exhausting to always subconsciously think of yourself as a human being..."

"I understand!" Xiangzi raised his voice a little. "I'll listen to you!"

After saying that, she angrily closed her eyes and refocused her attention on becoming a spirit.

"Xiangzi...are you asleep?" Miaomeng asked.

"..."

Xiangzi's breathing became steady, and he looked as if he had left his body.

Miao Meng watched as she closed her eyes, kicked her legs, and became indifferent to the world, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Sigh, it feels like I'm trying to put my little darling to sleep."

The worms in her head were still crawling, making their way down through the hole poked in the branch, biting through her cervical nerves. But the severed nerves quickly reconnected themselves, and the pain only subsided for a moment before returning.

Miaomeng gritted her teeth.

"Where were we? We have to start counting again... 993, 986, 979..."

======

The first and second times, he needed to close his eyes and prepare for a while, but now Xiangzi can switch to a soul state as soon as he closes his eyes.

She glanced back at herself and the cat dreaming that had been supporting her through the ruins, then turned and flew upwards without looking back. She flew through the dark ruins, and the moment she left them, she even felt as if she were seeing the light of day again.

Xiangzi remembered that Mio said that the boulder was equivalent to the heart of Ji. If Xiangzi was not mistaken, the way Ji's barrier operated was quite different from all the witches she had seen, including Nirvana. The barrier was equivalent to Ji's internal organs, absorbing the souls of the entire sea area and supporting the operation of this behemoth from within.

In other words, she only needs to find Ji's true form to re-enter the barrier...

That's right.

But......

The clear night sky reflected the full moon as it began to set, with sparse stars scattered across the sky, creating a scene of stars surrounding the moon.

Xiangzi floated high in the sky, looking around, but he couldn't see Ji's figure in the sky.

"How is that possible? It's so big... Wait, what's that...?"

Xiangzi's gaze moved downwards, and when it reached the point where the sea met the sky, she stared in astonishment.

What exactly happened while she was buried under the rubble?!

A wall appeared between heaven and earth.

The wall grew larger and larger in view, becoming as huge as a mountain.