Dark-colored Fairy Tale: Seven Magicians - Chapter 51
Chapter 51
A Father’s Harsh Cure
Watching his daughter turn away, her eyes and breath shut tight, Li Li’s heart ached. He didn’t want to force her, but the incident from ten years ago had affected Li Qiuyu too deeply. He had considered other methods, but none would work. For all these years, Li Qiuyu had never forgotten. Her every action and word revealed one thing: she refused to interact with ordinary people. For a magical being, such a mental vulnerability was terrifying.
The saying, “The dragon-slayer eventually becomes the evil dragon,” wasn’t said without reason. He was afraid that one day, Li Qiuyu would become a demon because of this. So when this incident occurred, he chose to add fuel to the fire. He wanted to use this radical cure to finally uproot the stubborn ailment that had festered in his daughter’s heart for years.
“Li Qiuyu, open your eyes. You need to treat the foreign magical being. You don’t want this to turn into an international incident, do you?” Li Li pushed her, but it had no effect.
Li Qiuyu kept her eyes closed, saluted, and then turned away. As if by careful calculation, the direction she turned was precisely where Chloe lay.
“You are a great disappointment.”
Li Qiuyu heard her father’s words. She didn’t respond, but her body trembled.
Her movements were clumsy, her vision was black, and she relied only on her familiarity with magical fluctuations to feel her way toward Chloe. After a long time, she could feel she had arrived. She made sure her peripheral vision and all her senses could not perceive the spot where the girl had fallen. Only then did Li Qiuyu open her eyes. She looked at the collapsed Chloe, remaining silent for a long time.
She didn’t know how Chloe would react when she woke up and learned of Liu Menglu’s death—whether she would feel regret or simply find a replacement. But seeing Chloe’s bloody hands, she thought that at the very least, this magical being had tried to save that girl. Even if, like her ten years ago, it was all in vain, at least she had tried. At least she had tried…
The Truth Revealed
At the same time, Liu Menglu looked at the motionless Li Qiuyu and the unconscious Chloe, her eyes filled with frantic worry. Her brown eyes pleaded with Li Li.
Liu Menglu wasn’t dead.
When she fell from the second floor, she thought she was a goner, but just as she was about to hit the ground, she was caught. As a normal girl, the shock rendered her speechless. When she came to her senses, she found herself in the arms of a severe-looking man. Just as she was about to thank him, she realized she couldn’t move or make a sound. If it weren’t for the unique emblem of China on his uniform, Liu Menglu would have struggled with all her might.
The man then showed her a piece of paper that explained the plan and its goal. He wanted Liu Menglu to cooperate. Unaware of the true situation, Liu Menglu readily agreed. Li Qiuyu was her friend, and this simple favor was a small price to pay. However, a precondition for her cooperation was that her friends not be harmed. The man had immediately agreed. But now…
Ignoring the distraught Li Qiuyu for a moment, the unknown fate of Chloe alone was enough to stir all of Liu Menglu’s rebellious spirit. But a magical being’s power was not something a normal girl could fight against. Liu Menglu couldn’t move a single muscle. This was the first time she had realized the immense gap between her and a magical being and the uncrossable chasm of their different identities.
Li Li saw the girl’s plea and helplessness, but he did not release his restraint on her. He needed this girl to help him resolve his daughter’s deep-seated ailment. It was a decision he made on a whim, but this was the most opportune moment.
Because it was all too similar. It was too much like what happened back then.
A Final Test
“Li Qiuyu, are you really not going to turn around? Are you really not going to see this girl one last time? As a magical being, you should know that tomorrow, at the very latest, the day after, the world will have no photos of this girl, and no one will remember her existence.”
Li Li’s words were like the whisper of a demon, constantly tempting Li Qiuyu. Even as her back bent and her body trembled, Li Li didn’t stop.
“Congratulations, Li Qiuyu. You are about to lose your second friend. And just like the first time, you won’t even say goodbye to her. You truly are a coward.”
Li Li’s tone was calm and emotionless, but his words pierced Li Qiuyu’s heart. Her already bowed back bent even more, but she still refused to turn. Li Li looked at his daughter, whose entire being was filled with loneliness. They remained in a tense stalemate. As time passed, Li Li began to lose hope. After all, how could a girl she had known for only a few days compare to a friend she had spent every moment with?
He sighed. Just as he was about to release his restraint on Liu Menglu, Li Qiuyu made a move. Her body was trembling. She was wavering, unsure if she should save a person or look at the girl who had died because of her.
Her small movement invigorated Li Li. It’s working!
“Turn around. Face your mistake and calmly accept that humans die. This is what it takes to be a qualified magical being.”
“You think this is what a true magical being should be?” Li Qiuyu’s voice was low and muffled. She felt his words were absurd.
Li Li replied, “Yes, that’s what I believe. That is what a qualified magical being is.”
Li Li had been raised by the elders of the Li family and knew their core philosophy: a magical being’s mission is to protect ordinary people. This core belief was also the source of an immense psychological burden. Many of the family’s children were trapped by their inner demons because they had hurt or even killed ordinary people during a battle with a demon. This was the psychological block they all had to overcome.
Li Qiuyu had been plagued by this issue for the longest time. The family had invested countless resources to pull her out of this shadow, but they had never succeeded. If it were anyone else, the family would have given up. But Li Qiuyu was the next family head and the host of an ancient sacrifice, so everyone in the Li family was doing everything they could to help her. But this inner demon was a deep-seated ailment that couldn’t be shaken.
Now that he finally had this opportunity, Li Li would not give up, even if it meant the host of the Fayalon ancient sacrifice dying in China.