Chapter 417: Pure White Witch’s Business

Time flew by like a white horse running past a crack, gone in an instant.

On September 20th, the vast Sea City officially stepped into the cool autumn, leaving behind the heat. On Nan Jin Road, full of historical charm, the neat old trees by the street turned yellow and dry, while swirling ginkgo leaves scattered softly like a carpet over the stone pavement.

This town is full of tall buildings, but their design and decoration resemble styles from many decades ago. The old-style alleys, with their antique charm, little lanes selling sweet drinks and rice cake ribs, and the old residential blocks squeezed side by side next to the streets—all convey a quiet sense of time gone by.

Like other places, the big streets and small alleys are still filled with popular advertisements about youth idols.

One month ago, ten winning teams rose up all at once. With assistance from all over the country, they debuted one by one and toured nationwide in just 30 days. They traveled through dozens of cities and held nearly a hundred shows, gaining significant fame. Their popularity spread from the internet to real life, like a never-ending festival.

Now, not only in Sea City, but even in some mountain villages without internet cables, the show “Dazzling Stage” has brought great support, providing every home with a TV and free internet access.

At the village entrance, village office, mountain roads, and Hope Primary School—you could see ads featuring those shiny, glowing, popular idols about to step onto the stage.

This has caused the fans, popularity, and excitement surrounding the “Dazzling Stage” players to grow even beyond those of top stars from the past. Their leading group, Pure White, already has 790 million fans online.

Occasionally, news surfaces that so-and-so idol is a magical girl. Videos show these “Dazzling Stage” players building Magic Armor on the street to protect people and using magic to defeat disaster beasts in public.

Words like idol, magical girl, disaster beast, Countermeasures Bureau, Pure White High Wall, and other surreal topics have become the focus of recent discussions.

As a result, nearly everyone in the entertainment circle has come to a standstill. Any gossip or trending news about stars or shows was seen as “using public resources.” Even the most famous artists became quiet and hidden, all to pave the way for the “Dazzling Stage” rescue plan.

Under this treatment, the natural charm and radiant beauty of magical girls, their endearing traits, and the official explanations of the benefits of the live stage have created an unprecedented phenomenon of idol fans throughout the internet.

At this moment, Xu Ling sat on a park bench near the old neighborhood, holding her small dinosaur-shaped bag. She looked at a green-eyed cat poster on a charity box far away, deep in thought. She glanced at the person next to her with doubt and asked:

“Honey Tong, are you sure we can meet Teacher Lin here?”

Pei Xiaotong, with round cheeks, was eating a hand-grabbed pancake. After swallowing a piece of meat, she said confidently:

“Don’t worry, it will work this time. I promise your money won’t be wasted. Today we will definitely find that mysterious guitar player!”

Xu Ling did not completely trust this, but since her little cousin had indeed seen the mysterious guitar player yesterday and even took a photo, she decided not to question it for now.

It is worth mentioning that the mysterious guitar player Pei Xiaotong saw yesterday didn’t play guitar or dance on the street anymore. Instead, he pushed a pink little food cart, seriously selling milk tea and grilled sausages.

Although she didn’t see it in person, no matter how she thought about it, someone so cool and beautiful, even with imperfections, like a perfect fairy, pushing a small cart on the street selling sausages and milk tea, created a very surprising picture.

With such an extraordinary appearance, not to mention her skills in guitar, singing, and dancing, she could easily start a live stream online and become very popular. Why would she choose to work as a street vendor and compete with the city officers?

Xu Ling thought this was akin to Teacher Lin talking about guitar, singing, and dancing on the street; it was a new form of performance art, and she wanted to show her respect for the art.

For instance, by buying some sausages grilled by the person and some milk tea made by them.

Xu Ling said earnestly:

“Teacher Lin already has 500,000 fans on TikTok. She will become famous in our country sooner or later. We need to support her more while she is still not famous.”

The young girl folded the bag from her hand pancake, preparing to throw it away soon. She looked oddly at her cousin’s carefully made-up face, thinking quietly.

Although that mysterious guitar player was indeed enchanting, why was Honey Ling so obsessed? She didn’t even know if she could meet her, yet she had seriously put on makeup. Could it be that she had already fallen in love at first sight?

The more Pei Xiaotong thought about it, the stranger it seemed. This was too interesting; she had to share it discreetly with her aunt later. She asked cautiously:

“So, why do you call her teacher? She isn’t a teaching blogger.”

Xu Ling pondered for a moment and said:

“I could call her Honey Lin like the online fans do, but it feels strange to say that in person. Calling her Teacher Lin sounds more formal, don’t you think? It’s definitely better than just calling her the mysterious guitarist.”

Pei Xiaotong confidently responded:

“Her account name is Mysterious Guitarist, so she must want people to call her that. I think that name sounds cool. Calling her teacher sounds weird, like a tense blind date.”

The girl thought for a moment and replied, “That makes sense. Let’s stick with Honey Lin then. She’s so cute anyway.”

Xu Ling said, urging Pei Xiaotong to start looking for the guitarist’s trail, clicking the automatic guide button like playing a bad online game.

The young girl carefully took out a deck of tarot cards and seriously said, “Don’t rush. Let me draw a card to see which way we should go.” Then she spouted a bunch of confusing jargon and chose to head east.

Xu Ling was a little speechless. Leading the way like this was no better than just dropping a pen to find the direction. But thinking about letting her cousin act wild and having an excuse to dock her pay if they couldn’t find anyone, she didn’t stop her.

To be honest, she really wanted to meet that mysterious guitar player, but the main reason for going out wandering with her cousin was simply because they were bored.

She didn’t know why, but in the past few months, she seemed to have endless ideas for writing and videos that barely required editing.

But lately, she felt weak and fatigued, as if her muse had been halved, and her workload had also been cut in half and then cut again. Even staying up late had just become a habit of scrolling through her phone, and during the day, she did nothing at all.

If her family wasn’t truly wealthy, this kind of empty creative work life would have made her anxious and ready to film silly challenges to gain some attention.

But the reality was, she had no reason or need to tie her life to a social media account. Since she was bored, it was better to go out and walk around.

The life of a blogger wasn’t exciting; most of the time, it was as dull as anyone else’s.

So, going out with her little cousin, who had just recovered from a serious injury and was now lively and cheerful, was better than staying home and getting stagnant.

At least, if nothing else, listening to this little girl speak confidently about nonsense was quite entertaining.

On the way, they didn’t see the white-haired, golden-eyed succubus selling milk tea. Instead, they saw an old lady selling sweet potatoes along with other street vendors.

Early in the morning, the alley was filled with breakfast vendors. By noon, most of the shops had closed, but it was still bustling. On the wall, there was a poster of a Liuli Cat lying on a sofa, playing games with its little legs crossed.

Although it looked very cute, and it truly was cute, this scene was actually a clip from a video game advertisement.

Yesterday, the twelfth episode of “Dazzling Stage” aired as scheduled. The most popular contestant in the Daxia region was decided without any issues, and it was still pure white, who had a significant lead before.

So, today, the ads for the national “Dazzling Stage” were assigned according to the final rankings.

Among them, all the ad space in Sea City was given to pure white, who came in first. Now, the city only had ads for Great Devil, Little Sakura, Honey Moon, and Liuli.

This old street on Nanjin Road had been nicknamed Cat Street by many fans because it only featured Liuli’s ads. The posters had been changed just yesterday, and fans quickly noticed this and came to take pictures.

Pei Xiaotong and Xu Ling had been at a park not far from here before, so it was reasonable for them to come here, guided by the tarot cards.

Xu Ling raised a question: “We didn’t see Honey Lin. Do you think she doesn’t like crowded places?”

Pei Xiaotong replied with a hint of sarcasm, “Do you think this is like catching little animals? The mysterious guitarist selling sausages takes it seriously. She wouldn’t do business hidden away in some corner. If you stroll around the nearby snack street, you’ll definitely find her.”

Xu Ling asked, “What if we can’t find her?”

The girl put away the tarot cards and said nonchalantly, “I’m a good person. If you can’t find her, I’ll give back half your money, 100 yuan.”

Alright, alright, Honey Tong, how are you any different from those shady agents who only profit from deposits?

Xu Ling laughed in annoyance, momentarily speechless. She decided not to look at her cousin’s ugly face anymore, walking while scrolling through her phone, glancing at the messages in the fan support group.

Xu Ling felt a bit thoughtful, just like what people in the group were discussing; most people online were talking about the next part of the competition.

According to the news from Dream Weaver Rabbit, the top three teams would leave Daxia on the 21st to go to the larger Donghong competition area, where they would meet the top three teams from other areas to arrive together at Shining City, the City of Performance, for a global live broadcast.

If the 21st meant they would arrive that day and the competition would start immediately, then Pure White probably took the plane yesterday to fly abroad, meet the other little idols from different areas, and prepare for rehearsals.

This schedule was really like a nightmare.

If it weren’t for the little idols of “Dazzling Stage” looking so full of energy and lively month after month, and almost all of them having time after their tour to quietly visit local cities, take photos, check out hotspots, play, and work, their fans would probably be heartbroken just thinking about it.

It could only be said that people and magical girls didn’t share the same resilience.

These energetic and always cheerful idols truly made dark and lonely fans feel as if the sunshine was too bright, and even their bruises seemed to fade away—it was very comforting.

But…

“What kind of place is Shining City, really?”

Xu Ling looked through the discussions but still couldn’t understand.

The national war was not surprising. Long ago, in the initial announcements of “Dazzling Stage,” it was stated that the major regions would eventually fight each other. What truly caught everyone’s attention was the mysterious, unknown location where the final battle would take place.

That location was referred to as the so-called City of Performance, Shining City.

The little girl thought for a moment, took five yuan out of her cousin sister’s pocket, bought a sugar-coated hawthorn stick, ate one berry, pondered for a long while, and then answered:

“I don’t know.”

Xu Ling, “?”

You don’t know, but you still took my money? And didn’t even buy me anything!

Pei Xiaotong handed the half-eaten sugar stick to her sister and jokingly said:

“But online, aren’t they saying it might be the place closest to ‘Pure White,’ or even a cool City of the Sky?”

Xu Ling took the candied hawthorn with a frown. After taking a bite, she mumbled,

“That feels too unreal, not very credible, even less believable than those guesses about it being a magical girl’s base.”

The girl looked up at the sky and hesitated,

“But speaking of ‘Pure White,’ haven’t you noticed it’s gotten a little fainter lately?”

Pei Xiaotong blinked and looked up with her too.

For the past 17 years, through spring, summer, autumn, and winter, the shining Pure White High Wall had stood tall like a mirage at the edge of the world, admired by people everywhere.

But… just like her cousin sister said, it seemed to have grown dimmer, even a little farther away.

This difference was very subtle. Curious, she took out her phone, pointed the camera at the sky, and zoomed in again and again, only to be shocked that even then she couldn’t see the Pure White High Wall more clearly or larger.

It felt like the distance between humans and “Pure White” was stuck at a fixed limit.

Pei Xiaotong put down her phone. Suddenly, she remembered seeing some posts recently where some netizens claimed that staring too long at “Pure White” granted them superpowers. It was a ridiculous post. After looking at that magical, unreal creation for a while, she sighed with worry and said:

“Is the rush of ‘Dazzling Stage’ related to its changes?”

“If disaster beasts were appearing everywhere like dumplings, flying all over the world, could those idols of ‘Dazzling Stage,’ who are about our age, really change anything with their performances?”

Xu Ling bit into the candy coating in her mouth. Her tongue touched the sour hawthorn inside. She chewed the mix of sweet and sour flavors and was about to say something constructive when, out of the corner of her eye, she saw a small pink food cart.

In that moment, all heavy topics and deep thoughts vanished, and her mind was filled with the image of that lovely and tempting face.

The girl excitedly grabbed her little cousin who cared so much about the world and rushed like lightning to the Pure White Witch’s food cart. In a super fast voice, she placed her order:

“Ten grilled sausages: one cumin, one black pepper, two medium spicy, two with sweet sauce, and four extra spicy.”

“Ten cups of milk tea: three with coconut jelly, three with red beans, two with taro paste, one passion fruit, one peach oolong. All extra iced. And lastly… make everything as slow as possible!”