21: Chapter 21 Encirclement

"Zhaaaang——Chu——laaaaan!!" Mia finally couldn't take it anymore. If Xia He kept acting like this, the situation was going to veer into some weird territory.

Mia burst out of the sunflower field. Behind her followed Feng Baobao, who had gotten a face full of scallions and cilantro, Xu Si with his hair mussed up from Xu San's roughhousing, and Xu San whose suit was slightly wrinkled from the tussle.

The fake Mia's face completely crumbled. Xia He's true form emerged, breaking out of the human skin like a cocoon. The five fingers she had wrapped around Zhang Chulan's neck gathered a pink qi.

"Too late, little priestess~!" she giggled, drifting backward. Zhang Chulan's eyes were vacant, his pupils glowing with a pink light as he followed her like a marionette. "Your little virgin's inner demons... are more delicious than I imagined! Also, he really is quite obsessed with you."

"Here!" Xia He tossed the drooling, vacant-eyed Zhang Chulan to Lv Liang who had hurried over. Lv Liang and a bespectacled, scholarly-looking young man stuffed Zhang Chulan into a black van.

"Well, who do we have here? Two of the Four Furies have come. You must think quite highly of my Chu Lan." Xu Si teased, a cigarette dangling from his mouth.

"What? You think you can just come and go as you please?" Xu San said with a smile, already using telekinesis to lift a large boulder.

Sister Baoer didn't say a word. She poked Mia with her small hand. "Don't worry. That Zhang Chulan guy is a sneaky one. He'll be fine."

Mia gritted her teeth, pushed off the ground, and leaped forward, delivering a diagonal kick from above aimed at Xia He's head. The sonic boom generated by the friction between her [Sacrilegious Vestments·phantom silk stockings] and the air sent Xia He's pink hair whipping upward.

Xia He narrowed her eyes, took a step back, then charged forward. Her gloved fist, enveloped in pink qi, collided with Mia's form, creating a shockwave.

"Hmm? You—" Xia He was slightly taken aback. She realized Mia was completely unaffected by her Bone Scraping Knife. While this ability wasn't specifically for use against women, it shouldn't have had zero effect at all.

"Guess why he's so obsessed with me?" Immediately after, Mia performed a forward roll in mid-air, her heel smashing down viciously towards Xia He.

"Could it be you know what I know?" Xia He retreated, crossing her arms to block the strike. The ground seemed to shudder under the pressure, kicking up a cloud of dust. Seizing the moment, Mia used Xia He's arm as leverage, brought her legs together, twisted her waist, and spun her whole body like a cannonball, striking Xia He's chest with the tip of her foot.

"Yah~!" Xia He screamed, kicked several meters away and crashing into a small tree. Yet, she chuckled. "Oh, fighting so desperately. Let me guess, is it because I stole your little boyfriend's first kiss?" With that, she brushed the dirt off her clothes, stood up, and assumed a fighting stance.

Shen Chong stood alone, blocking Xu San and Xu Si. Xu Si smirked. "Old Three, we're being looked down upon." Xu San habitually adjusted his glasses but said nothing. A boulder roughly the size of a chair, wrapped in telekinetic force, shot towards Shen Chong like lightning. "Whoa, getting angry? That's not like you," Xu Si continued to tease. "Then I'll take care of that kid from the Lv family!"

He took a drag from his crumpled cigarette and walked towards Lv Liang. Shen Chong tried to intervene but was completely suppressed by Xu San's relentless telekinetic bombardment. Xu Si held several photographs between his fingers. With a flick, the photos embedded themselves in the concrete at Lv Liang's feet.

"Take a look? Photos of that descendant of corpse drivers you tricked. She claims to be a new recruit of the Quanxing." Xu Si spoke unhurriedly. "She got relatively good treatment. If it were an old-timer like you who doesn't cooperate, getting caught would probably mean having your limbs chopped off first. So, how about it? Want to cooperate and give Zhang Chulan back? I'm a pretty lazy guy. I'd rather not move if I don't have to."

"Ah, I didn't intend to oppose the Company either. It's Fourth Brother, right? I'll hand Zhang Chulan over right now." Lv Liang's glasses suddenly reflected the light. He pulled Zhang Chulan out of the van and tossed him to Xu Si.

On the other hand, Mia was still locked in fierce combat with Xia He. A faint crimson halo gathered around Mia's feet, making each strike unstoppable. A sweeping kick from Mia sent Xia He tumbling to the ground. Following up with a forward 360-degree flip, Mia delivered two consecutive downward axe kicks, causing Xia He's pink qi to explode in the air like rippling fireworks.

Mia's kick was deflected at the last moment by an invisible barrier—clearly the blue light of Lv Liang's Soul-Seeing Technique. Using the recoil, Mia flipped through the air and landed on the roof of the van, only to find Xia He, a trickle of blood at the corner of her mouth, smiling even more bewitchingly.

"Quite fierce for a little girl, aren't you?" Xia He wiped the blood from her lips, then suddenly pressed her blood-stained fingertip against her own collarbone.

A horrifying scene unfolded: her skin began to flow like melting wax, gradually revealing the facial features of Mia, down to the exact position of the teardrop mole by her eye. "Isn't this the kind of big sister your little virgin likes the most?"

Mia's pupils constricted. Xia He hadn't just copied the appearance; her voice now mimicked Mia's perfectly: "Chu Lan~ come teach this sister how to train, okay?"—These were the exact words Mia had said to Zhang Chulan in the cafeteria the night before.

Even more terrifying, Zhang Chulan, who had been caught by Xu Si, suddenly began thrashing violently. Pink qi flames erupted from his seven orifices as he actually started crawling towards the imposter. Xu Si decisively chopped the side of Zhang Chulan's neck, knocking him unconscious.

"Don't waste your energy," Shen Chong said, pushing his gold-rimmed glasses up as he stepped from the shadows. "Once Xia He's [Painted Skin] comes into contact with the target's blood, even the original will temporarily be perceived as the imposter." Three talismans slid from his sleeve, perfectly blocking the telekinetically-propelled stones Xu San hurled at him.

Mia suddenly understood why her succubus constitution was unaffected—Xia He had only copied the surface appearance of the human Mia. She tore the damaged stocking, letting the Lance of Longinus on her garter cut her skin. When the nail tip, now stained with divine blood, pierced the ground, the entire grove was suddenly bathed in a rolling crimson light.

Because next, she might face a combined attack from teammates and enemies alike, all misled by their perceptions.

Xu San's telekinetic stones suddenly halted mid-air. Feng Baobao, who had been about to charge forward, also froze in place—both were now warily staring at Mia on the car roof.

"Mia?" Feng Baobao tilted her head, looking at Xia He. A flicker of hesitation passed through her blank eyes.

"Sister Baoer, don't be fooled!" Mia urgently shouted, simultaneously noticing a look of disgust appearing on Xu Si's face. Xia He's ability was more terrifying than she imagined. Now, everyone saw her as Xia He.

"Tsk tsk, what a pitiful girl~" Xia He sighed softly in Mia's voice, pink qi coiling around her fingertips like snakes. "Even your closest companions don't believe you anymore."

Before the words fully faded, Feng Baobao had already appeared before Mia like a ghost, the gleaming kitchen knife in her hand aimed straight for Mia's throat— "Shhhrrk!"

The blade grazed Mia's collarbone, but she managed to dodge it at the last possible moment. Blood flowed down her fair neck, soaking into the collar of her nun's habit.