Chapter 97: Chapter 97

That was the downside of having been teleported straight to the school on the first day—if your sense of direction wasn’t great, you might not even find your way home.

It took them over an hour to fly to the woods near Mu Ying’s house, and then they spent ages wandering around before finally finding the cabin.

Of course, that was because the house’s concealment magic was still active. Unless you were a specific person, you’d only see an empty clearing and unconsciously walk around it.

“This concealment spell on your house is amazing. Too bad it’s advanced magic—even adult witches can’t always master it,” Senior Renee said in wonder as Mu Ying led her inside and the cabin suddenly appeared.

Senior Lucia looked around. “It’s impressive that the concealment spell has lasted so long. I remember Mu Ying’s mother passed away a long time ago, but it hasn’t faded due to lack of magic!”

“True,” Rosie said, pulling Mu Ying over. “So, how do you feel about your house?”

Mu Ying coughed, feeling a little guilty as she looked at the cabin, now overtaken by weeds and vines. “I’m really going to need everyone’s help tidying up. These plants have gotten out of control—it wasn’t this bad before I left for school.”

“Exactly! A house with such good concealment magic deserves to be well cared for,” Rosie said, rolling up her sleeves. “Margarita, could you take Lilian to gather some wood? The cabin needs some serious repairs, but the main structure is still sound. Once we have the wood, we can use repair magic.”

“No problem!” Margarita was used to going into the back woods and was pretty good at cutting magic, so getting some wood would be easy.

“Then Lucia, Windsor, and I will handle the dusting,” said Renee.

Mu Ying joined Rosie in clearing out the weeds and tending to the vegetable and herb gardens.

Watching everyone working so energetically, Mu Ying couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear.

“Just look at you, grinning like that,” Rosie said, tapping her on the forehead.

“Hehe, thank you, Senior. You’ve all helped me so much,” Mu Ying said, knowing Rosie had rallied everyone to come partly to lend her a hand."

"With magic at their disposal, witches are exceptionally handy. In just half a day, her rundown little house was looking presentable.

The slightly rotted planks on the house were all replaced with new ones, the weeds were eradicated, and the accumulated dust inside was swept away completely. There were even a few extra tables and chairs now.

“Thank you all so much for today. Let me whip up something tasty as a reward,” Mu Ying said as she slipped into the kitchen.

She wanted to make a feast, but all the ingredients in the house came from the vegetable patch that had only recently been overrun by weeds. Supplies were meager, so she could only do her best.

Luckily, none of the witches were the pampered type. They knew how to enjoy life but could also endure hardship. Otherwise, there wouldn’t be so many witches who refused to study culinary magic any further than learning how to bake bread with it.

That night, with limited beds, they made do with sleeping on the floor, all huddled together for the first time, leaving the two beds untouched.

The next morning, Mu Ying stiffly looked at Windsor, who was clinging to her like a koala and snoring softly, and gave up on getting up for now.

She tried to turn her neck to check on everyone else’s sleeping positions.

Lilian was lying perfectly straight, hands folded on her chest, the wrinkles on her blanket almost unchanged from the night before—enough to make someone want to check if she was still breathing.

On the other side, Lucia, being used as a body pillow by Margarita, stared blankly at the ceiling.

Nearby, Renee was snoring thunderously, while Rosie had curled herself up like a silkworm cocoon.

You really don’t know until you sleep together—everyone’s sleeping habits are so weird! Tonight, she’d definitely try to sleep next to Lucia; at least she seemed a bit more normal.

After a simple breakfast, Mu Ying and the others used hair-dyeing potions to turn their hair the most ordinary shade of brown, braided it into the village’s popular style, changed into the commoner girl outfits they’d bought at the last gathering, and slung bamboo baskets over their arms. Their disguises were basically complete.

“Remember, we’re seven sisters who just moved into the nearby forest, and we’re bringing some wild goods to sell,” Mu Ying said, giving them a backstory full of holes.

After all, in a village where everyone sees each other every day, any stranger would attract attention—let alone a group of young girls like them. Anything could happen.

Fortunately, Mu Ying’s goal in visiting the village was just to get a feel for the human world and observe people’s lives firsthand. She didn’t need to go about it slowly or subtly; if things didn’t work out, they could just try another village next time.

The forest was huge, and there was more than one village bordering it. The others were just a broom ride away.

What Mu Ying didn’t mention was that a group of young girls living alone in the woods could, at best, attract curiosity, and at worst, become targets for robbery or worse.

Baskets in hand, they walked out of the forest, picking wild fruits, flowers, and mushrooms along the way to fill out their cover story.

After leaving the witches’ forest and entering human territory, they soon found a small path winding through the woods.

“If we follow this, we should find the village,” Mu Ying said excitedly.

“From now on, we need to watch our words and actions and keep up the disguise,” Lucia reminded them.

The older girls became extra cautious. The human world was like a rose with thorns—beautiful but dangerous. Many witches had met their end outside the forest.

Lilian and Windsor, on the other hand, were much more carefree. They hadn’t been traumatized by the library’s books about the human world and didn’t know much about witches’ bad reputation among humans. Their heads were full of curiosity.

“La la la~”

A cheerful girl’s voice drifted down the path. At the end of the road, a beautiful girl in a red velvet cloak appeared, skipping along with a basket and a bunch of wildflowers in her hand.

Lilian looked at the girl, then at themselves. “Are we running into a fellow traveler?”

She wasn’t the only one with that thought; the others felt the same. Aside from that bright red cloak, their outfits were almost identical.

As they hesitated, the girl on the other side muttered, “The forest sure is lively today!”

She was clearly a cheerful soul. “Sisters, are you all going to visit your grandmother too?”

“?”

“Grandmother?”

“Ahem, why do you ask?” Lucia stepped forward, seeing everyone else looking puzzled and unwilling to speak.

“My grandmother’s sick. My mother asked me to bring her some things. She lives in the forest. I thought you were all going to visit your grandmothers too. The old folks in the village all like living alone in the woods. I even met a big brother just now—he’s visiting his grandmother too. He suggested I pick some wildflowers,” the little girl said proudly, waving her bouquet.

“We just moved into the forest and are planning to sell some things in the village,” Lucia replied.

Mu Ying nodded and introduced their group. “What’s your name?”

“Heidi. But you can call me Little Red Riding Hood. I love this red cloak the most!” The girl stroked her cloak fondly.

Just as expected—Little Red Riding Hood, grandmother… All that was missing was a wolf, and it would be the classic fairy tale.

“Little Red Riding Hood? What a cute nickname. We sisters just moved here and haven’t been to the village yet. Could we go visit your grandmother with you, and then go to the village together? We’re a bit worried the villagers might not like us,” Mu Ying said anxiously.

The others didn’t know why Mu Ying suddenly wanted to follow this little girl, but they all played along, putting on matching worried faces.

“Sure! My grandmother will be so happy to have so many visitors,” Little Red Riding Hood said cheerfully.

Mu Ying wanted to say, Girl, you really need to be more cautious. How can you just bring strangers home? Sigh, maybe she was overthinking it.

Knock, knock, knock. In front of a small cottage in the woods, Little Red Riding Hood knocked, then pushed the door open herself. “Grandma, grandma, are you feeling better? I’m here to see you!”

Doesn’t anyone lock their doors living out here alone? Mu Ying shot a look at Margarita, who was the strongest in combat.

“Oh, Grandma was just thinking about you!”