Follow the Sound of the Heart

After a fierce internal conflict, Fang Ran reluctantly accepted the fact that he had drawn a useless card. He once again remembered his honourable status as a great onmyoji, and recalled the numerous times that he had drawn the Ibaraki Dōji1.

"Hah~"

Fang Ran let out a sigh and turned on the old TV, the only entertainment appliance in his rental flat.

The China Central Television channel was still broadcasting the news. The newscaster on the TV read out the last few pieces of news in a formal tone.

"There is still no news about the criminal who took the cultural relics previously. The authorities are still investigating."

Fang Ran was speechless.

After a long silence, Fang Ran turned around resolutely and made his decision. 'Indeed, as a decent citizen, a good citizen, I think that leniency will be given to those who confess. The country will definitely give me a…'

"Xiaomi! Master Xiaomi! Save me! I don't want to be arrested!!! I'm still young!! I don't want to go to jail!!!"

Fang Ran glided across the floor and sunk onto the floor right in front of Ling, in a proper dogeza.

"What in the f*ck are you doing?!"

Ling had a sudden fear of Fang Ran. This guy just started kneeling to her with mucus and tears all over his face. She quickly flew up to avoid him.

"Xiaomi! Mi! You can't leave your master to die without doing anything to save him!"

Fang Ran continued shuffling forwards with his knees, the expression on his face caused Ling to feel utterly disgusted.

"Get lost! Don't call me Xiaomi! Also, I am not your summoned beast!"

Ling bellowed in disgust and used her telekinesis to control the slippers to give Fang Ran's face a hard smack.

However, at this moment, Fang Ran could no longer be bothered about the slippers, losing face, or whatever dignity he had left as the owner of the power bank. They had all been flung to the back of his mind. With unshed tears in his eyes, he looked at Ling, at the power bank (summoned beast) who seemed to know everything, as if she was his last saving grace.

"Can you not be so worthless! Look at your pathetic self! Just a piece of news can terrify you to this extent!"

Ling looked at Fang Ran contemptuously. Of course, Fang Ran could not see her expression, and could only infer it from her voice.

"Oh please! That's an official arrest warrant! If I get caught, I'll end up in jail! And this is not even a three-year issue, it's at least ten f*cking years!"

Fang Ran covered his face and said in denial.

As if she couldn't understand it, Ling's eyes twitched as she stared at Fang Ran and genuinely pondered in confusion,

'Can there really be such a cowardly Night Battle participant?'

'Irregardless of what they are doing in their real lives, all Night Battle participants will at the very least have a strong mind.'

Ling knew that many people lived their entire life in a gloomy world.

For Night Battle participants, it was just an arrest warrant. And to add on, the officials did not even have a photo of your crime, it was probably just a warning from them. After all, they were also Night Battle participants.

'But just that?'

'And you're panicking into this pathetic state?'

Ling's incredulity at this was like that of someone who was accustomed to the upper-class society suddenly encountering someone who was so afraid that they would not be able to foot the bill for even just one sip of black tea.

Although it did not entirely match the situation, this was the feeling Ling had right now.

Seeing Fang Ran panicking to death, Ling suddenly had an idea. The corners of her lips curled up into the little fiendish smile that she often had during her childhood.

"Don't panic first. Go bring that cultural relic to me to take a look. Then, tell me everything that happened from start to finish~"

Ling's tone grew gentle all of a sudden and her Loli voice was brimming with conviction. It instantly steadied Fang Ran's emotions.

"Okay!"

Upon hearing that Ling was willing to help him, Fang Ran hurriedly took out the bronze snake-head statue from under his bed.

Ling looked at him speechlessly.

'So you simply hid a missing cultural relic by stuffing it under your bed?'

"Listen to me, the story begins from that day when I was returning home from a comic-con in the city center…"

Clenching his teeth and stomping his feet, Fang Ran finally made up his mind to recount that day that he did not want to recall.

"Wait… Comic-con? You still go to that kind of place, hmph, truly a die-hard otaku." Ling sneered.

"Uh, there are very complicated reasons for that,"

Unexpectedly, Fang Ran did not quibble. Instead, he touched his head, and with a complicated expression in his darting eyes, he said while smiling derisively.

"What happened after that? How did you snatch this special reward from the state officials?"

The power bank (Ling) floated onto the sofa unhurriedly, while Fang Ran continued kneeling on the floor in front of her, forming a very strange picture.

"I don't know," Fang Ran said with a sour expression. Then, he began recounting to Ling in detail, from the very beginning when he entered the station.

From time to time, Ling would utter an 'um' as she listened. When Fang Ran was done recounting, Ling had roughly understood this rookie's situation at that time.

Obviously, that D-27 was a special target that pretended to be a fog, while its real body was unlucky enough to run into Fang Ran. After sensing Fang Ran's stupidly weak abilities, it immediately chased after Fang Ran down ten streets. Eventually, by chance, after its disguise power had been eliminated by a gang of big shots, it so happened to get simultaneously killed by Fang Ran purely due to dumb luck.

I have to say, this coward's luck is quite good.

Ling, who was in the form of a data soul, flickered, and she narrowed her eyes slightly. Based on Fang Ran's description, she could roughly guess who the representative from the state officials was.

It should be that other sexy, enchanting night fairy from the state officials from before - Ye Sheng. Mystery division, cultivation powers, A-grade strength.

"Haha~" Ling's lips curled up into a smile. She could pretty much confirm that the state officials didn't possess Fang Ran's information. Otherwise, from the time when the scenario ended till now, which was two days later, this guy would already have been arrested.

'So… The news report on the broadcast is really just a warning?'

Ling smiled indifferently. The so-called warning was nothing more than the officials expressing their stance. However, for a special existence like her who did not belong to any country's forces and stayed in isolation in the Arctic Circle, it was of no use.

'Hah… But then…'

Ling swept a glance over Fang Ran's current state. He appeared extremely uneasy, fearing that she would say something like 'give up', 'don't put up a fight, just wait to go to jail', et cetera.

'Seriously pathetic.'

'Come on, you're a Night Battle participant now, alright?'

'In other words, you have super powers. You're not an ordinary person anymore.'

'Forget it, this guy won't understand it even if I told him anyway.' Ling knew very well that even if he understood, it would still take a very long time to change his mindset.

But, it will be really fun~

Flashing a little fiendish smirk, Ling cleared her throat and said gravely,

"To be honest, you are in a terrible situation now."

"Sure enough, that's the case." Fang Ran suddenly felt like a deflated ball.

"But…" Ling started. Immediately, Fang Ran raised his head like an invigorated garlic chive and asked, "'But' means there is a way?!"

"Of course," Ling said with extreme confidence, giving Fang Ran an extremely reliable peace of mind. "Be clear about your identity - You are now a participant in the Night Battle, with the extraordinary powers that Night Battle granted you."

"Even though it is the power of a magical girl." Fang Ran could not help but make a snide remark with a sour expression on his face.

"Shut up, don't interrupt!"

Ling yelled irritably to the guy who had interrupted her and almost made her forget her lie… Ahem, the excuse she had prepared.

"In movies, you are that kind of protagonist with superpower. That is to say, you have the foundation to settle down and live your life peacefully," Ling said earnestly, "However, to do that, you must become stronger and increase your Night Battle grade to at least B-grade. When you are at B-grade, you can find the suitable scenario and return this Dashuifa snake zodiac statue that was lost in history."

Etching what she said in his heart, he nodded and continued asking, "Oh oh oh, what should I do after that?"

"After that, the officials will think that you are expressing your goodwill to the authorities. Taking into account your B-grade abilities, they will not pursue the matter further. On the contrary, they will want to befriend a powerful person like you. Naturally, this matter will be let go, and that term of imprisonment will just be a joke," Ling threw out her final aim.

"Oh! Oh!" Realisation dawn on Fang Ran and he turned pensive.

"But!" Ling's tone changed. Fang Ran suddenly felt that his power bank's gaze had sharpened.

"If you are too weak, and get discovered, hehe~"

"What will happen?" Fang Ran swallowed his saliva nervously.

"The minimum sentence will be life imprisonment, and the maximum sentence will be death."

"Pfft!"

Fang Ran instantly vomited blood as he thundered in disbelief,

"No way! So serious! Even if we go according to the law, it shouldn't be that severe! The minimum sentence is clearly ten years, why did it suddenly become a lifetime!"

"Hmph, the world of Night Battle is a place where your abilities do the talking for you. If you don't have power, then naturally, the other party will not go easy on you," Ling said slowly.

Ling secretly praised herself in her heart. 'Now, this coward will be frightened into working hard to improve his abilities. As long as he has B-grade abilities, then I'll have hope of escaping from this damn power bank!

'Comparing ten years with life imprisonment, he should know how to make his decision.'

However, Fang Ran's next sentence thoroughly shattered her illusion, and made Ling regret terrifying him excessively even while she raged and yelled at him in her mind, 'How can such a cowardly person exist!'

"Hey, Xiaomi,"

After weighing his own ability against the ability of lightning girl, the only B-grade person he knew of, Fang Ran said with a sad face.

"How about we turn ourselves in!"