Then let the witch offer her loyalty

Zhao Guangzheng was shot dead, which caused her to fall off the rooftop.

As soon as she fell, Chen Moxin appeared beside her and hugged her tightly.

Moreover, Chen Moxin intentionally adjusted her posture so that her back was facing down.

It's no exaggeration to say that if that two-meter-tall hunk hadn't rushed over to cushion her fall, she might not have been seriously injured, but Chen Moxin might have broken her spine on the spot.

Finally, Gu Qiaoqiao stared at her blankly.

It's summer now, and Chen Moxin is wearing short sleeves. His arms and neck are covered in bruises and abrasions, all from protecting her yesterday.

Gu Qiaoqiao gently placed her hand on Chen Moxin's wound, her voice slightly choked with emotion: "Does it still hurt?"

Chen Moxin said jokingly, "It will hurt if you use any more force."

Gu Qiaoqiao was amused and stopped crying. Wiping away the tears from the corners of her eyes, she asked with some grievance, "Why...did you delete me that day...?"

Chen Moxin said quietly, "You actually gave the answer to this question yesterday—our relationship is a bit abnormal; we're not like friends, and we're not like lovers."

"This kind of relationship is a burden for both of them. Sometimes, cutting things off quickly is the best approach."

“That was me!…” Gu Qiaoqiao felt extremely wronged when she heard this.

But in the end, she didn't explain; she just turned away sullenly, saying, "Never mind... I'm not talking to you anymore..."

Chen Moxin smiled knowingly, picked up a stool and sat down in front of her again: "I understand even if you don't say it. You're afraid that our relationship will break down because you've awakened your spiritual power."

"You think you've become a witch, and I'm an agent of the Witch Management Bureau, so we're naturally on opposing sides."

"You don't want us to go from being good classmates and friends for so many years to becoming enemies."

"Rather than becoming enemies later, you'd rather cut off contact now, so at least we can still have the memories of being classmates. Right?"

Chapter 117 Family Incident

(Two updates combined)

Gu Qiaoqiao hugged her knees and didn't say anything, but her expression showed that Chen Moxin had spoken to her heart.

At the time, she was certainly saddened by Chen Moxin's heartless deletion of her as a friend, but such trivial matters were easily forgotten once the anger subsided. Moreover, Chen Moxin had taken the initiative to apologize, so she couldn't keep holding a grudge.

Her biggest fear was that she was a witch, while Chen Moxin was an agent of the Bureau.

If her identity is exposed, Chen Moxin will have to face a choice—whether to let her go out of personal favoritism or to uphold her duty and arrest her old classmate.

Gu Qiaoqiao didn't want Chen Moxin to face this kind of pressure.

Therefore, she preferred to leave on her own initiative.

"Silly girl." Chen Moxin smiled helplessly and pinched Gu Qiaoqiao's cheek. "I've realized that it's not just you; the outside world has a huge misunderstanding of our Bureau."

"Everyone knows that the Bureau specializes in catching witches, but how many people know that taking care of the witches we contain is also our responsibility?"

"Let me guess, do you always see those unscrupulous media reports saying that the Bureau is persecuting witches and violating human rights all day long?"

He pointed around at the room where Gu Qiaoqiao was: "Look at yourself, does this look even slightly like a place where a witch is being persecuted?"

"This apartment, with its own kitchen and bathroom, fully furnished, one bedroom and one living room, and a large balcony, is located in the heart of the Twin Cities. It would cost at least eight or nine thousand a month to rent outside, but now it's all free for you to live in."

"Moreover, the conditions in the general detention area are even better than here. It really has everything, just like a vacation."

Gu Qiaoqiao was still very depressed, her voice a little hoarse: "But I'm still locked up here... I have no freedom... I won't be able to go home to see my parents anymore..."

Chen Moxin joked, "You're making it sound like our university is so great. With that terrible management system at the Second High School Affiliated University, we're often locked up on campus and can't get out."

"As for visiting relatives, don't worry, I'll take care of it for you. You'll get three days of leave to visit relatives every month. If you behave well in the future, you can enjoy even better treatment regarding your personal freedom."

Chen Moxin was not making empty promises.

Given Gu Qiaoqiao's situation, since she neither abused her psychic powers nor caused any damage, the management level wouldn't be very strict; she would definitely be placed under "general containment."

As long as Chen Moxin says a few words to her superiors, it won't be difficult to get approval for three days of family visit leave each month.

Moreover, Gu Qiaoqiao herself has a good personality and is a typical gentle girl. It's hard to imagine that she would have any conflicts with others.

If she behaves well and cooperates with management during her confinement period, she may voluntarily enter into a contract with the witch hunter and share her psychic powers. It's not just a matter of a family visit leave; it's very possible that she could be converted into "free confinement."

The person in charge of the shelter had actually said these things to Gu Qiaoqiao earlier.

But that's how conversations are; the same words spoken by different people can have different effects.

Gu Qiaoqiao naturally has a psychological barrier to listening to strangers.

But when facing Chen Moxin, her classmate of seven years, she felt almost no resistance.

After thinking for a while, Gu Qiaoqiao finally picked up the containment document.

Before signing her name, she cautiously looked at Chen Moxin and asked with some worry, "Xiao Chen, will I be bullied inside...?"

Chen Moxin patted her head and laughed heartily, "With me here, what are you afraid of?"

Gu Qiaoqiao's last bit of hesitation finally dissipated. She looked at Chen Moxin gratefully and signed her name on the detention and custody documents.

[Current task: Obtain Gu Qiaoqiao's cooperation in completing all containment procedures (Completed)]

[Reward Obtained: Gu Qiaoqiao obtains "Mind Interference - Beginning"]

[Exclusive Mission Update]

The witch has cooperated in completing all the formalities and is about to officially begin the containment process.

However, it seems something unexpected happened at her home.

To ensure a smooth containment process, all destabilizing factors that could potentially affect the witch should be eliminated.

[Next mission: Investigate the changes in Gu Qiaoqiao's family]

[Task Reward 1: Gu Qiaoqiao obtains "Mental Interference - Chaos"]

[Task Reward 2: Absorb Gu Qiaoqiao's extraordinary factors and obtain the spiritual energy "Refraction"]

Looking at the reward information displayed on the system panel, a subtle smile appeared on Chen Moxin's face.

Here it is, this is exactly what I wanted.

What kind of clown is a clown who can't turn invisible?

Once you have the ability to "refractive," you can enjoy tricking people even more.

but...

Chen Moxin looked at the task at this stage.

Investigating the changes in Gu Qiaoqiao's family.

An unexpected turn of events? What does that refer to?

Pretending to be casual, Chen Moxin asked, "Qiaoqiao, how are Uncle Gu and Aunt Fan doing lately?"

Gu Qiaoqiao blinked: "Everything's fine, why are you suddenly asking this?"

"Oh, it's nothing, just asking..." Chen Mo thought to himself, it seems that Gu Qiaoqiao herself doesn't know the situation described in the mission.

Then he'll have to find out the situation himself.

Chen Moxin took the signed documents and said, "According to regulations, we will notify your family about your situation. Would you like to notify Uncle Gu and Aunt Fan now, or later?"

Gu Qiaoqiao quickly replied, "Now, I really want to see my mom and dad right now..."

Soon, information about Gu Qiaoqiao's condition was relayed to her family by relevant personnel.

Her parents were naturally shocked when they received the news and immediately took leave from work to come over.

Chen Moxin and Gu Qiaoqiao's parents know each other. After all, they have been classmates for many years and often see each other's parents at high school parent-teacher conferences or when going to and from school.

When Uncle Gu and Aunt Fan arrived at the Administration Bureau in a daze, Chen Moxin was already waiting at the reception desk.

Aunt Fan rushed up in a panic: "Xiao Chen, what happened?! What's wrong with our Qiaoqiao?!"

"Uncle Gu, Aunt Fan." Chen Moxin greeted the two parents briefly and led them into the management bureau. "It's not convenient here, let's talk over here."

Chen Moxin led the two parents to the family visitation room, where Gu Qiaoqiao was already waiting.

"Dad! Mom!" Gu Qiaoqiao was a gentle girl to begin with, and after experiencing so much these past two days, she was already feeling overwhelmed.

Upon seeing her parents, she finally relaxed and burst into tears, throwing herself into their arms and sobbing uncontrollably.

"Qiaoqiao! What happened?"

"I...hiss...I...woo..."

Seeing that Gu Qiaoqiao was crying so hard she could barely speak, Chen Moxin explained the situation to Uncle Gu and Aunt Fan on her behalf, informing them that Gu Qiaoqiao had awakened her spiritual powers and become a witch, and that she would soon be formally taken in by the Management Bureau. She also conveyed a series of management-related regulations.

When Aunt Fan heard that her daughter had done this, she also cried. She held Chen Moxin's hand and pleaded, choking back tears, "Little Chen...you are Qiaoqiao's classmate...you know that our Qiaoqiao is usually very obedient and would never use that ability to do anything bad!"

"Auntie, please, please go and plead with the leaders at the bureau. Don't lock Qiaoqiao up here, okay? Auntie, please..."

"Stop talking!" Before Chen Moxin could speak, Uncle Gu said in a low voice, "Rules are rules. Aren't you making things difficult for little Chen by crying like this?"

"Psychic regulation is a fundamental national policy of our country, and all citizens have an obligation to cooperate, without exception! Our daughter is no exception either!"

"Xiao Chen, we understand this and won't say much. Just do what your bureau's regulations say."

Uncle Gu is a teacher at a key middle school and belongs to the category of highly educated intellectuals.

Compared to Aunt Fan's emotional outbursts, this teacher was much calmer and more rational.

Of course, as a father, his eyes were red at this moment, and his voice was trembling with sobs.

Seeing her mother crying so sadly and her father also feeling distressed, Gu Qiaoqiao revealed her gentle yet strong side.

She wiped away her tears and comforted him gently, "Dad, Mom, it's okay. This isn't like going to jail. I'm just moving to a different place."

“I have three days of leave to visit my family every month. If I do well in the future, I will be able to visit you more often. Besides, Xiao Chen also works here. We can look after each other if anything happens. You really don’t have anything to worry about.”

Aunt Fan calmed down a bit after sobbing for a while. She took Chen Moxin's hand and squeezed it tightly, saying in a hoarse voice, "Little Chen, I'm entrusting this to you. Please take good care of Qiaoqiao and don't let her suffer any injustice."

Chen Moxin nodded: "Don't worry, with me here, no one will bully Qiaoqiao."

Just as Aunt Fan and Gu Qiaoqiao were having a tender conversation, Uncle Gu suddenly tugged at Chen Moxin's sleeve and then glanced outside.

Chen Moxin understood and made an excuse to take Uncle Gu to handle family registration procedures, and they went out together.

Chen Moxin led him to a secluded corner and asked, "Uncle Gu, what's wrong?"

Uncle Gu took off his black-rimmed glasses, rubbed his wet eyes, and then put them back on.

He asked worriedly, "Xiao Chen, do you know that Qiao Qiao is seeing a man named Zhao Guangzheng?"

After thinking for a moment, Chen Mo said, "Uncle Gu, I didn't want to frighten Aunt Fan earlier, so I didn't say anything. Now that it's just the two of us, I think I should tell you—Zhao Guangzheng is dead."

Even someone as composed as Uncle Gu was shocked upon hearing this: "He's dead? How did he die?"

Chen Moxin had just thought about it carefully. Gu Qiaoqiao was a person involved in the beachcombing operation, and it would be difficult to keep some things a secret forever.

In addition, Uncle Gu is a very rational person who can see things clearly, so it wouldn't hurt to tell him the truth.

So Chen Moxin recounted the whole story of the operation, including how Zhao Guangzheng kidnapped Gu Qiaoqiao and was eventually killed.

After listening, Uncle Gu was furious: "That Zhao guy is a real scoundrel! Once I invited him out to dinner to see what kind of person he was, and I immediately felt that he was all talk and no action, not a decent person at all! Sigh, Qiaoqiao really made a bad choice in her friends!"

Chen Moxin asked, "Uncle Gu, why are you specifically asking about Zhao Guangzheng?"

Uncle Gu leaned against the wall, his head hanging low, looking somewhat powerless, with a worried expression on his face.

"Did Qiaoqiao tell you that Zhao Guangzheng is a businessman, and that she borrowed a lot of money from that bastard?"

"I heard from her best friend that not only did she borrow money, but Qiaoqiao also helped him sign a guarantee agreement or something like that."

Uncle Gu sighed heavily: "Sigh...you know, that girl Qiaoqiao...she didn't even discuss such a big matter with us beforehand. Someone even broke into our house in the middle of the night last night!"

Chen Moxin's heart stirred upon hearing this.

Could the changes in Gu Qiaoqiao's family refer to this?

"Uncle Gu, could you explain in more detail?"

Uncle Gu shook his head and said, "That group of people came to collect a debt. The man surnamed Zhao borrowed money from them but didn't pay it back on time, and they can't contact him, so they came looking for Qiaoqiao."

“Last night they broke into our house and said that Qiaoqiao was the guarantor and demanded that she pay back the money... Your Aunt Fan and I had no idea what was going on. We tried to contact our daughter to ask, but we couldn’t get through on the phone.”

"Later, that group started smashing furniture and stealing a lot of valuables, saying they'd hold onto them as collateral and that if they didn't return them within two days, they'd come back again. Sigh..."

Chen Moxin was speechless after hearing this.

He initially thought that Gu Qiaoqiao had signed a formal bank guarantee agreement.