Yes, I did all of this!

"Yuhi - Explosive Punch!"

As the sun rose in the west, it seemed as if a crimson phoenix was spreading its wings and crying out behind it, colliding with the domineering phantom of the sea whale in the abyss. The heat waves surged and spread outwards.

boom!

The heat surged continuously where Duanmu Mo was, the bubbles protecting him began to ripple, and the orca beneath his feet let out a mournful cry, carrying Duanmu Mo further away.

Duanmu Mo continued to watch the battle between the two. As the flames and turbulent currents gradually dissipated, the situation inside came into view.

—Xi Ri and Cang Yuan were both knocked back, but Cang Yuan was knocked back several meters, while Xi Ri was knocked back several times as far as Cang Yuan. Her trench coat transformed into wings burning with crimson flames, and an energy platform extended from her feet, but she was still trying to maintain her standing posture.

"Stop right there!"

The setting sun let out a low roar, its body suddenly shuddered, and another ring of red light burst forth, forcing its body to brake abruptly and come to a stop.

"Huff, huff..."

She gasped for breath, staring at the vast abyss before her, her hands trembling slightly at her sides, only crimson flames slowly flowing along her arms before regaining strength and clenching her fists once more.

"Is that all? Is that all?"

"..."

Cang Yuan gazed at the setting sun, then said softly, "Yes, this is my strongest move. To be able to block this attack, you are truly strong."

But then she paused, and said, "...Instead of this, would you like to take a break?"

"—No need! I can take another punch from you!" These words seemed to touch a nerve with Yuri Aoko's heart, and he immediately gritted his teeth and said like a cat with its fur standing on end.

"There's no need for that."

Cang Yuan turned his head and looked in Duanmu Mo's direction. The orca beneath his feet immediately swam over quickly and let out a cry.

"Looks like it's over." Duanmu Mo looked at the two of them and said with a smile, "It's a draw, isn't it?"

"Hmm, a draw." Cang Yuan nodded.

"There's no such thing as a draw, I lost." Xi Ri didn't argue, turning her head to mutter to herself. Being so concerned about saving face would be shameless, and she wouldn't even bother arguing about something like this.

"Really? But from my perspective as an ordinary person, you're all evenly matched." Duanmu Mo said, feigning ignorance, causing Xi Ri to turn her head to the side.

"No way..."

Despite saying that, she was visibly much happier; that's just how she is, very easy to please.

Sunset also looked at Cangyuan, exhaled, and said:

"Judging from your appearance, you probably can do more than just one punch, right?"

"You want me to tell the truth, or..."

"Stop with all this beating around the bush, just tell me directly without hesitation." Xi Ri rolled her eyes and interrupted Cang Yuan, asking.

Cangyuan pondered for a moment before nodding:

"Hmm... I can now fire this attack repeatedly, and the energy consumption is within a manageable range."

Upon hearing this, Xi Ri paused for a moment, then sighed deeply: "...Ah, although I was mentally prepared, it's still very painful."

"Don't dwell on it so much. In my opinion, you're already very strong—okay, since we've fought enough, let's go home and have a good meal. I'll cook for you. What do you want to eat?"

Duanmu Mo also signaled the orca to approach Xi Ri, and naturally picked Xi Ri up in his arms, asking with a smile.

"Hey!"

Xi Ri instinctively wanted to struggle, but fearing she might hurt Duanmu Mo, she had no choice but to relax.

Suppressing her weakness, which she didn't want to show, Xi Ri could no longer bear it after leaning on Duanmu Mo. Her body went limp, and she pressed herself against him. In despair, she closed her eyes and deactivated her transformation.

"Ah, never mind! Let's hurry home, I want to eat meat."

Seeing this, Cang Yuan smiled and relaxed. He casually raised his hand, and the surrounding scenery instantly disappeared, bringing the two of them into the air and causing them to fall to the ground.

Chapter 916: Tenant

—That evening, when Yuzhi and Ling returned home, they were immediately greeted by the rich aroma of meat. In the kitchen, they could see Duanmu Mo and Shenwu Yin busily working.

"We're back."

Yuzhi and Ling changed their shoes in the entryway, put on slippers, and walked into the living room:

"It smells so good, what are you making?"

"A rich broth made with meat and bones, started at noon, plus various kinds of meat, a whole chicken, potatoes, carrots, and onions that's been cooking in the microwave for quite a while, and pork chops that are being prepared." Duanmu Mo poked his head out of the kitchen and greeted the two of them.

"Welcome back! How was school?"

"Everyone's still the same, just like Mr. Duanmu said, apart from Huizi, not many people pay attention to my hair..." Yuzhi smiled, her expression somewhat helpless and resentful: "--Could it be because I'm not very active at school, so no one cares at all..."

"Upon closer reflection, it's not wrong."

Xia Yan lay on the sofa, looking at Duanmu Mo's magazine, and said nonchalantly, "After all, you didn't have many classes in the first semester of your senior year... Let me think, it seems that the stone giants and the plague resurfaced one or two months after the start of the semester, right? Back then, classes were suspended until now because the moon was about to fall, right? Plus, you've been dealing with magical girl matters all along, so it's normal for our relationship to be a bit distant."

"I did attend some online classes during that time," Shen Wuling added lazily, sitting down on the sofa where Xia Yan was, nudging her feet with her bottom. "Move aside, the chairs at school are so hard. I should have just continued using my wheelchair."

Xia Yan yawned, then suddenly her facial muscles twitched, and she grimaced as she moved back, "Ouch—it hurts..."

"I sensed your energy fluctuations with Cangyuan back at school, so you went to fight him, right?" Shen Wuling sat on the sofa, pulled out her handheld console, and started playing. "I really don't know what you're thinking, suffering for nothing?"

"I'm doing this to hone my skills," Xia Yan retorted irritably.

"Yes, yes, so you got beaten so badly that even your flames can't heal you quickly, right?" Shen Wuling said, glancing at her sideways.

"—Speaking of this." Shen Wuyin's voice came from the kitchen doorway, her tone somewhat subtle, causing Shen Wuling to stiffen. She knew that when her sister spoke in this tone, it was usually not a good thing for her.

"Rin, you haven't been training much lately, have you?" Shen Wuyin said slowly, looking at Rin. "There are formidable enemies surrounding the seal, yet you're always playing games."

"Well... this is about balancing work and rest, you know," Shinmain stammered. "Look, we've all worked so hard hiding inside the seal from the outside. And the most important thing for a magical girl is her emotions, you know, as they say, you can't force a relationship..."

"But you're too relaxed, Ring..."

Shen Wuyin was about to say something when Duanmu Mo interrupted her:

"Okay, okay, Yin, you're being too tense. We don't need to be so tense all the time."

Duanmu Mo pulled Shen Wuyin away and brought her back to the kitchen: "Trust Ling, she knows what she's doing. Now, sealing away what's happening outside is none of our business. Focus on cooking, and help me check if the soup is ready."

“Mr. Duanmu… well, alright.”

Shen Wuyin said helplessly, but still chose to trust Duanmu Mo's judgment.

Although he didn't really understand things like magical girls, he understood each of their personalities, and even more so than her, as the older sister, Ling preferred to listen to Duanmu Mo.

Even so, it's enough to give Yin a reason to trust Duanmu Mo.

Duanmu Mo calmly cut a small piece of pork rib and watched whether the meat was raw or cooked.

In his view, Shen Wuling was actually quite reliable. She had already resolved her inner conflicts back in Fengchuan City. Her only problem was that she was quite rational. When faced with a problem, she would first assess whether she could overcome it, and if not, she would give up.

This behavior would be considered very safe in other places, but it's not enough in this idealistic world, so progress is relatively slow compared to others.

But it's just slow; it won't cause any emotional blockage like with music. When the time is right, things will naturally fall into place.

Duanmu Mo cut a small piece of roasted pork rib and handed it to Yin, asking, "Would you like to try some?"

"Ah, oh..." Shen Wuyin paused for a moment, brushed her long hair behind her ear, lowered her head and bit into the pork chop in Duanmu Mo's knife, tasting it: "Hmm, you can add some more salt, both Ling and Xia Yan seniors like it saltier."

"Okay, make it saltier, right?"

Duanmu Mo put down the knife, and Shen Wuyin naturally took out the salt bottle and handed it to Duanmu Mo, their understanding between them unwavering.

"Speaking of which, we're almost out of soy sauce at home. I'll buy some more when I go out tomorrow..."

Shen Wuyin poured another spoonful of soup into the bowl, tasted it, added some seasoning, and then looked at the remaining soup in the bottle and said.

"Buy some..."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Mo paused, as if realizing something, and finally understood:

"Oh right! Am I out of money again?"

"You still got found out. I wasn't planning on telling you anyway," Shen Wuyin said with a helpless smile as she looked at him.

Duanmu Mo's expenses were not high to begin with, and in addition, his phone was linked to not only his own SIM card, but also the SIM card belonging to the family.

Besides the fact that most of the money earned from commissioning works goes there, the money earned from Linghua Comics also goes into it to support the family of seven.

Therefore, without realizing it, Duanmu Mo was also living off Shen Wuling's money... He was living off a little girl who was not yet an adult?

—Wait a minute, when was the card that the family used for these seven people issued?

Duanmu Mo remembered that Shenwu Yin and Ling felt bad when they lived here and wanted to pay rent, even though the villa was, in a way, Shenwu's family property.

Then, it seems that it was originally intended for the magical girls to live together so that they could discuss matters, but gradually everyone used this place as a base for discussing tactics, and later it naturally became their home.

So, they're just tenants in this house?

The thought flashed through Duanmu Mo's mind, but he immediately dismissed it. He felt that if he suddenly asked the six magical girls, "Are we tenants and landlords?" it would probably provoke them to attack him.

Now that we've finally managed to get these magical girls back into the good kids, let's not let them turn back into problem children.

Clearing his mind, Duanmu Mo asked Shen Wuyin, "You knew all along?"

"Yes, it seems like it was when Neville first placed people all over the world in the network world, Mr. Duanmu, that you didn't do any commissions back then."

"I'd almost forgotten about it..." Duanmu Mo was swamped dealing with the strange people and the shelter; if he'd known he was almost out of money, he probably would have hacked into the internet and entered several zeros into his account balance long ago. "I thought you'd remind me..."

Upon hearing this, Shen Wuyin smiled and shook her head: "No, I think the situation was quite tense at the time, and it wasn't necessary for Mr. Duanmu to keep going out, so we kept it a secret—mainly because we hoped Mr. Duanmu could stay at home."

"But even so..."

Duanmu Mo was still thinking that he didn't want to be kept and wanted to go out and continue to earn some money through commissions, but then he thought of something else—this world seemed to belong to him.

To put it bluntly, everyone living here is someone he's supporting, which means...

"I want to earn money in the city where I keep these girls so I won't be kept by them?"

—Duanmu Mo once again cast aside the random thoughts in his mind and shook his head:

"Forget it, let's not talk about making money now. Spending time with you is the priority. At worst, we can still pay the commission fee from Yuzhi's parents."

To ensure that Yu Zhi was doing well, Yu Zhi's parents had Duanmu Mo record her daily whereabouts in a form and submit it to them, with the commission fee paid monthly on a regular basis.

Later, things gradually changed, and Duanmu Mo was no longer required to record Yu Zhi's information in the form. Of course, Duanmu Mo had only been casually dealing with it from the beginning until now. He even submitted a form showing that Yu Zhi was sleeping 24 hours a day for a month, and the money still arrived in his account the next day.

Duanmu Mo didn't care what they thought; as long as he had a fixed monthly expense, that was fine.