LGHTNOVELBOOK Chapter 95 - Liu Meng's reason
After about ten minutes had passed:
“YouYu, come in. There’s something… I need to talk to you about.”
From inside the room, Liu Meng opened the door slightly and poked her head out, speaking softly.
“Alright.”
Nodding, YouYu straightened up from where he had been leaning against the wall and walked toward the room.
Upon entering, the room looked no different from before—except for one thing. Liu Meng’s previously cheerful expression was gone, replaced by one filled with bitterness.
Noticing the change in her demeanor, YouYu furrowed his brows and asked, “What happened, Liu Meng?”
“You don’t look so good.”
Liu Meng sighed deeply at his words, turning to meet his gaze. “You have seen the words on the bed earlier, right?”
“The words on the bed? I think I caught a glimpse of them,” YouYu replied after a moment of thought.
“I see… then there’s no point in hiding it anymore,” Liu Meng said, shaking her head.
“So, what’s going on, Liu Meng?”
“Those words are tied to my wish… and my powers.”
“I didn’t plan to reveal this, but it’s clear I can’t keep it a secret any longer. Those words came from my heart’s desire, and I can’t erase them.”
“Your wish? Is it about your sister?”
“…Yes,” Liu Meng admitted, glancing at the bed before returning her gaze to YouYu. “Let’s talk somewhere else. I don’t want to stay here any longer.”
“Once we’re there, I’ll tell you everything about my past.” “
“I don’t want you to worry.”
…
“click.”
Liu Meng locked the door securely before pouring two glasses of water. She set them down at the table where she and YouYu sat.
Taking a sip of her water and collecting her thoughts, she finally spoke.
“Do you remember what I told you about the events that happen before someone transforms into a magical girl?”
“Um… let me think. According to what you’ve said before, before they transform into magical girls, they all go through an incident involving an attack by a Negative Beast.”
“So, Liu Meng, the reason you became a magical girl is connected to the incident where a Negative Beast attacked your sister, right?”
After a moment of thought, YouYu asked.
“Yes, that’s correct.”
Nodding, Liu Meng replied in a calm tone:
“The reason I became a magical girl, and the wish I made when I transformed, are both tied to my sister.”
Pausing briefly, she continued:
“…Honestly, even now, I don’t like recalling what happened back then. So there might be parts I can’t explain clearly. I hope you understand, YouYu.”
“No problem.” YouYu nodded.
“Then I’ll continue.”
“Two years ago, one evening, my family and I went out for dinner. On our way back, we encountered a centipede-shaped Negative Beast.”
“At the time, there were no magical girls around. My family and I were ordinary people with no abilities. Faced with such a monster, our only option was to run.”
“While fleeing, my sister tripped and fell. The centipede Beast injured her legs, leaving her unable to stand…”
“I saw her fall and tried to carry her on my back to escape, but the Beast was faster. It quickly blocked our path.”
“My parents saw this and rushed to help us, but the Beast’s massive size meant it only needed to move slightly to knock them unconscious.”
“It was at that moment… that voice appeared. It recognized the wish in my heart and granted me the power of a magical girl.”
“With that power, I was able to protect my sister, my parents… all of them.”
“Your wish was to protect your family, then?”
“Yes. My wish back then was to protect my family and others, to prevent similar tragedies from happening again.”
Liu Meng nodded and continued:
“After the battle, we took my sister to the hospital. The doctors found an unknown toxin in her legs. If not handled properly, paralysis would be the least of her worries; it could even threaten her life.”
“Thankfully, I still had the power of a magical girl, so I could use my mana to suppress the toxin in her body. Though I wanted to eliminate it entirely, I didn’t have that ability.”
“Since my parents and sister were unconscious when I transformed, I had to reveal my identity as a magical girl while treating her.”
“To this day… I can still remember her shocked yet happy expression when she found out.”
A faint smile briefly appeared on Liu Meng’s lips but quickly faded, replaced by her usual calm demeanor.
“After I revealed my identity, my sister became very concerned about my well-being. She would always remind me not to act recklessly or rush into danger and to share any issues with her or our parents.”
“I agreed verbally, but I didn’t actually do so.”
“One reason was that I didn’t want them to worry. Another… was that I didn’t yet understand just how powerful the enemies were.”
“In the battles that followed, I managed at first, but over time, the Negative Beasts grew stronger. Eventually, even the Evil Cadres began intervening directly.”
“…After a prolonged fight, I defeated one of them but sustained horrific injuries. I collapsed right after the battle.”
“When I woke up the next day, I was in the hospital, surrounded by my worried and tearful parents, and my sister, who insisted visting despite her limited mobility.”
“My sister had told my parents everything about me. They said a lot to me… but ultimately, their message was clear: I shouldn’t bear everything alone. I should rely on them and face challenges together.”
“In short, they wanted me to depend on them more.”
“I had no choice. I knew they meant well, so I accepted their request.”
“After that… things did get better.”
“…”
“You should drink some water first, Liu Meng.”
Seeing her reddened eyes despite her unchanged expression, YouYu pushed aside the cold glass of water in front of her and replaced it with a warm one.
“Thank you.”
After taking a sip, Liu Meng took a deep breath. Looking at YouYu, whose expression was complex, she spoke in a bitter tone:
“After my family learned about my identity as a magical girl, I thought life from then on would be filled with a mix of pain and beauty.”
“But then something else happened… proving just how naive I was.”
“…”
After a moment of silence, she continued:
“One day, when my parents and I were visiting my sister in the hospital… that centipede Negative Beast appeared again, this time accompanied by an Evil Cadres.”
“That Cadres used my sister’s and parents’ lives as hostages, offering me a so-called ‘deal’ under the guise of ensuring their safety—to kill me.”
“I refused their condition because I knew they wouldn’t honor it. Instead, I chose to fight, giving it my all to save my family.”
“But… in the end, I failed to ‘protect’. My sister’s injuries worsened during that attack.”
“I was panicked, desperate… I wanted to use all my mana to heal her, but the more I tried, the worse her condition became.”
“Eventually, I realized that the power of a magical girl is tied directly to one’s emotions. My self-blame for failing to protect her caused my power to weaken, making it harder to suppress the toxin in her body.”
“With my weakened strength, Negative Beasts continued to appear. I kept fighting, but with each battle, I failed more and more, and my resolve… gradually crumbled.”
“In the end, my sister’s condition worsened beyond control.”
“At that time, I wanted to apologize to her, to do something for her… but I didn’t know how. I only knew she often complained about the uncomfortable hospital bed, so without thinking much, I tried to use magic to replace it, even though it was impossible.”
“But when I arrived at her side… she had already fallen unconscious, teetering on the brink of death.”
“Her life force was faint, barely hanging on.”
“…”
“Watching my parents cry and my sister lying there unconscious, I was torn inside, unsure of what to do.”
“It wasn’t until I witnessed the Evil Cadres turning people into Negative Beasts that I made my decision.”
Taking a deep breath, Liu Meng continue,
“…I chose to stop fighting, to quit being a magical girl.”
“After all… I’m not someone selfless.”
“If I kept fighting, I would fail one day.”
“And if I failed, my sister wouldn’t survive.”
“After making that decision, I used half of my remaining mana to create a stone golem to protect them.”
“Then I left them behind and came here.”
“Because I couldn’t keep dragging them into this.”
“From then on, I had only myself to rely on.”
“…”
“I see…”
After listening to Liu Meng’s explanation, YouYu looked at her trembling form as she turned away, nodding thoughtfully.
“Unlike WuYue and Bai Yu…”
“You’re a magical girl who stopped fighting because of fear, huh?”