A snow-white paper dragon ford directly above the loft. Its body spanned ten ters in length, and its scales, folded from sheets of paper, opened and closed in the night breeze, rustling sharply. It folded its wings and crouched its massive body on the roof, looking from afar like a tent constructed entirely of paper pages.
The young girl in an ochre-red kimono stepped onto its head first, glancing sideways at Xia Pingzhou and extending her hand toward him.
"Co here," she called out.
It took a good mont for Ji Minghuan to recover from his shock at the behemoth before him.
Tearing his gaze away from the paper dragon, he slowly reached out and took Ayase Origami's offered right hand. The young girl's pale skin carried the chill of snow. Her entire being felt devoid of warmth, perfectly matching her appearance, which resembled a traditional Japanese doll.
Ayase Origami silently pulled him up, letting him step onto the paper dragon's head.
In the evening breeze, the girl's ochre-red kimono undulated like waves. Her icy face was lowered as she stared at Xia Pingzhou's palm, then lifted her gaze to his face.
"I'll give you a piece of advice," she remarked coolly.
"What is it?"
"You had better not let go of my hand."
"Do you really think I would dare let go?"
Ji Minghuan t her gaze, speaking deadpan, though he felt quite speechless inside. 'Lady, have you looked at how high up we are?'
In the next instant, the paper dragon abruptly beat its wings, shooting straight toward the sky with a sharp crack that tore through the air.
The sweeping air pressure almost made Ji Minghuan want to drop to his knees, but Ayase Origami held his hand tightly, using a curtain of paper to shield him from the buffeting gales. The girl's pale, cold body temperature transmitted through her palm, like holding a block of ice, causing a slight ripple in his heart.
In just a few monts, the paper dragon ascended to an altitude of five hundred ters above Tokyo.
It ceased its climb, reducing the span and force of its wingbeats to maintain a steady trajectory. Like a white cloud, it drifted weightlessly through the pitch-black night sky.
They flew over the brightly lit downtown districts, crossing thousands of intersecting power lines and the towering spires of the city center. In this mont, prosperous Tokyo seed incredibly small, as if one could simply reach out and gather the entire world into the palm of their hand.
Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami stood closely pressed together, remaining completely motionless amidst the imnse wind pressure high above the city, like two weighted roly-poly toys. The fierce wind whipped their black hair, their strands dancing wildly against the backdrop of the night. Looking up, there were patches of fish-scale clouds, with the moon's silhouette flickering faintly between them.
The boy and the girl stood atop the dragon's head, gazing down at the vibrant, multicolored world below.
Myriad lights reflected in their eyes, the overlapping neon signs forming a sea of stars across Tokyo. For this single second, it felt as though the breathtaking view of the entire city belonged solely to them.
Ji Minghuan suddenly understood how Jack from that classic old movie 'Titanic' must have felt when he stood on the open deck with his friend, screaming 'I am the king of the world' at the endless ocean. This unprecedented spectacle truly made one's blood boil, enough to make him forget that the person standing beside him was a ruthless female demon who could kill without batting an eyelid.
Ayase Origami raised a hand to brush aside the dark strands whipping around her eyes. She glanced at Xia Pingzhou's srized expression and stated mildly:
"I should carve a line of text onto the dragon."
"What text?"
"Ayase Origami is currently walking her kitten. Do not disturb."
Ji Minghuan froze for a second, belatedly realizing that the young miss was teasing him again. She was always like this; even when joking, her tone remained completely plain and indistinguishable from her usual deanor, making it incredibly easy to overlook her true aning.
He shrugged, too lazy to bicker with Ayase Origami. Instead, he turned his gaze to the dense throng of figures on the long streets below. From this high up, the crowds looked as tiny as ants crawling on a tree branch.
"Those people look like garbage," he muttered, his face devoid of emotion.
"Then what do we look like in their eyes?" the kimono girl asked softly.
"Flying garbage," Ji Minghuan answered offhandedly.
Ayase Origami let out a soft chuckle. A faint, almost imperceptible smile surfaced on her pale cheeks, and her voice carried a tone that was hard to define as either angry or aloof.
"It is clearly the master taking her kitten for a joyride. What do you an by 'flying garbage'?" she stated calmly. "The kitten has rebelled."
Their soft murmurs were swallowed by the clouds. The paper dragon carried the duo past the dazzling downtown districts, soaring over the brilliantly illuminated Tokyo Bay Rainbow Bridge. It flew straight toward a nearby mountain forest, startling the wild beasts dwelling within.
The giant red exclamation mark reflected in Ji Minghuan's eyes drew closer and closer—this ant he was fast approaching the location of the card event.
The paper dragon slowly folded its wings, decelerating like an airplane coming in for a landing, and touched down in front of a shrine at the mountain's peak.
The world before them plunged into sudden darkness. Far from the city lights, the mountain forest was so pitch-black they could not see their hands in front of their faces, accompanied only by the sparse moonlight spilling from the sky.
A black-and-white prompt box popped up in his vision.
[Card Event No. 3 in Tokyo, Japan, has been triggered: 'Yaksha and Shura'.]
"Is this the place?" Ayase Origami asked casually, scanning her surroundings.
"Yes," Ji Minghuan nodded.
The giant red exclamation mark was floating right above their heads, and the glowing dots on the Exorcist internal system indicated the presence of more than one demon here.
Ayase Origami hesitated for a mont before slowly releasing Xia Pingzhou's hand. She stepped down from the dragon's head, passed through a crimson torii gate, and strode into the shrine's interior.
The main hall of the shrine was desolate. The pillars were mottled with rot, and old offerings were piled up in a ssy heap, looking as though they had not been cleaned in many days.
As Ji Minghuan stepped into the shrine, the two rows of torches lining the walkway ignited one after another. Imdiately, the sight of two demons sitting cross-legged on the ground, resting with their eyes closed, ca into view.
[Card Event task triggered: Eliminate the B-Rank Demons within the shrine, the 'Shura Demon' and the 'Yaksha Demon', within five minutes.]
On the left was the Shura Demon, possessing three faces and six arms.
Its front face was human, glaring fiercely with a third vertical pupil split open between its brows. The left and right faces were grotesque oni visages with livid skin and prominent fangs. Its six arms separately gripped a katana, a vajra pestle, a flaming wheel, a chain, a broken arrow, and a skull cup.
On the right was the Yaksha Demon, its body as thin and long as bamboo.
Its skin was a sickly gray-green, completely covered in overlapping snake scales. Its joints bent backward like a wild beast's, and its fingertips ended in eagle-like bone talons. The center of its face featured only a single, horizontally positioned giant eye with a vertical slit pupil, while a massive mouth stretched all the way to its ear roots, lined with spiral rows of jagged teeth. On its back sprouted a pair of wings that rged bat-like mbranes with peacock feathers.
'Just looking at their appearance, these two things feel a whole tier stronger than the Spider Demon,' Ji Minghuan thought. 'The system describes them both as B-Rank Demons, which is equivalent to the strength of a Dragon-tier Esper. It would have been genuinely tough to say if I could subjugate them by myself.'
While he pondered, the Shura Demon and Yaksha Demon slowly pushed themselves up from the ground.
"Just these two?" Ayase Origami asked, expressionless.
"What else did you expect?" Ji Minghuan replied, equally deadpan.
The Yaksha and Shura roared as they charged forward. The torchlight flickered violently, casting erratic shadows that made their forms look as eerie and bizarre as vengeful specters.
Ayase Origami simply waved her right hand. The paper dragon crouching outside the shrine fiercely flared its wings and darted inside, sweeping in like a massive white curtain of clouds.
The ensuing gale forced Ji Minghuan to raise the back of his hand to shield his forehead. A mont later, he opened his eyes, only to find his vision entirely obscured by a swirling blizzard of paper confetti, rendering him unable to see a thing.
When the torrential rain of paper finally cleared, two severed heads were seen spiraling through the air. The bodies of the Shura and Yaksha had abruptly been reduced to headless, blood-drenched corpses.
Much like catching apples falling from a tree, the paper dragon snapped its jaws shut around the two mid-air demon heads. Its paper-crafted fangs instantly crushed them to pieces.
With a vicious crunch, crimson blood splattered from between its ghastly white teeth, much like biting into a ripe tomato, dyeing the pure white dragon's lower jaw red.
"That's it?" Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow slightly.
He thought to himself: 'These are two B-Rank Demons! That's equivalent to two Dragon-tier Espers! To put it in perspective, that's like two Xia Pingzhous, two Sakura Buds, or two Su Zimais. Young miss, could you please not swat two Su Zimais to death so casually? As a brother, my heart would bleed.'
"What else?" Ayase Origami remarked. "They aren't dead yet. I left them with a breath of life."
As she spoke, the paper dragon spat out the two mangled heads just like spitting out waterlon seeds.
The heads of the Yaksha and Shura tumbled across the shrine floor, both pairs of eyes bulging in fury. Half of their skulls had already been gnawed away by the paper dragon, vanishing into the white sea within its belly and dispersing along with the fluttering scraps of paper.
Ji Minghuan stepped forward in silence. He summoned his Celestial Drive and grabbed the Queen Colossus chess piece.
With a crisp crack, the phantom image of the chess piece shattered, and the Queen materialized on command.
She flashed forward like a streaking arc of light, stopping right in front of the two heads. Leaning in slightly, her blades fell in a swift strike. The Long Dagger and Short Dagger in her hands respectively cleaved the heads of the Yaksha and Shura right open.
The demons' heads were sliced apart like fish on a chopping board, instantly dissolving into plus of scorching steam.
Following this, a dense stream of system prompts crawled across Ji Minghuan's vision.
[Detected that Host Body Two has slain a B-Rank Demon—'Yaksha Demon'. The cultivation progress of the 'Winter of the Wild Hunt' system has been updated: 13/18 kill count.]
[Detected that Host Body Two has slain a B-Rank Demon—'Shura Demon'. The cultivation progress of the 'Winter of the Wild Hunt' system has been updated: 14/18 kill count.]
[The current advancent progress for Character Two's Celestial Drive 'International Chess' is: 80% (Upon reaching 100% progress, your Celestial Drive will automatically evolve into its second-tier form. After advancing, you can form a pact with a brand new demon to comprehensively upgrade your Celestial Drive's abilities).]
'I just need to hack down a few more demons to advance to the second tier,' Ji Minghuan thought.
[Card Event Completed: 'Yaksha and Shura'.]
[Obtained an Event Card as a reward: 'Yaksha and Shura'. The card has been added to your inventory.]
Ji Minghuan called up his system interface, pressed the "Event Card Library" option, and tapped the card sitting in the very first row of his slots.
The card's details interface popped up.
[Event Card Na: Yaksha and Shura]
[Event Card Effect: Consu this card to temporarily transform your physical form into either a 'Yaksha' or 'Shura', but you will only possess fifty percent of the demon's capabilities.]
[Hint: Selling this Event Card will grant a total of '1' Skill Point.]
'They are way too ugly. I have zero desire to experience what it feels like to have my body turn into a demon's. I might as well sell it and learn a 'Demon Hunter' skill to stockpile so disposable demon chess pieces...'
Looking at the card's effect, Ji Minghuan silently mused before swiping his finger.
[Event Card sold in exchange for '1' Skill Point.]
He brought up the [Character Skill Tree] and undoubtedly focused his gaze on the skills under the second branch.
[Branch Two (Courage): Chess Piece Evolution (Requirent: You must spend a total of '3' Skill Points in other branches before you are permitted to learn this skill) (Learning this skill consus '1' Skill Point) → Unknown → Unknown...]
[Note: Learning requirents have been t.]
He raised his hand and long-pressed on "Chess Piece Evolution". Imdiately after, a black-and-white prompt box popped up.
[Consud '1' Skill Point. Successfully learned the skill from the 'Courage' branch—'Chess Piece Evolution' (Comprehensively evolves all your chess pieces to 'Silver Form', granting a boost to attack and defense power).]
[The learning permission for the next skill in the 'Courage' branch has been unlocked.]
At this instant, the Queen Colossus's body underwent a sudden transformation. The elents composing her limbs gradually shifted from black iron to a gorgeous silver. The two daggers in her hands were simultaneously coated in a layer of noble silver.
The Queen Colossus lowered her eyes to examine her hands. Her dark iron battle skirt was now a brilliant silver-white, shimring like a hazy layer of moonlight.
Watching this scene, Ji Minghuan raised his eyebrows slightly and summoned every single chess piece from the black-and-white circular track in one breath.
His gaze swept across them. Be it the Soldier Golems, the Rook Golems, or the King Golems, all of them were now draped in a luxurious, eye-catching silver. Their original ash-black hue was completely overlaid, as if clad in a silver mantle of winter snow.
"The kitten takes after its master," Ayase Origami comnted mildly as she observed the newly evolved silver chess pieces.
Ji Minghuan cast a sideways glance at her, retorting flatly, "Your paper is white, and my chess pieces are silver. How can you say I take after you?"
"...It's hissing."
"Everything I say gets treated as hissing. Be careful not to raise a mute kitten." At this point, Ji Minghuan paused for a mont before earnestly expressing his gratitude. "Thanks... you were a huge help."
"You are not allowed to thank . I already told you."
"Told
what?"
"I raise my own kitten."
Ayase Origami let out a yawn, lifting the back of her hand to cover her mouth. Lowering her eyes, she said, "I'm sleepy. I never stay up past midnight."
"Then let's hurry back. It's only eleven-thirty right now; there's still ti." Ji Minghuan thought about it. "But your paper dragon is way too conspicuous. People must have spotted us flying out of downtown Tokyo. If we fly back the exact sa way, we're highly likely to be photographed, which could easily expose the location of the cafe run by Number 4."
"Then how do you propose we go back?"
"Her."
As he spoke, Ji Minghuan raised a finger and pointed at the Queen Colossus.
The Queen Colossus lowered her chin slightly, giving Ayase Origami a respectful nod.
Ayase Origami stared at the Queen Colossus for a mont. After a brief silence, the paper dragon crouching inside the shrine slowly unraveled, disintegrating into a flurry of paper rain. Accompanied by a rustling sound, the paper scattered in every direction, carrying with it splatters of the demons' blood.
Ji Minghuan silently withdrew his Celestial Drive. Aside from the Queen, every other chess piece faded away alongside the black-and-white track.
The Queen Colossus stooped slightly, hoisting Ayase Origami onto her left shoulder while lifting Ji Minghuan onto her right.
The Queen Colossus sheltered the two securely in her arms. Pushing off the ground with her toes, she shot out of the shrine at explosive speed. Cradled in her embrace, the two youths had their faces pressed quite closely together. They resembled two robot heads, both utterly devoid of expression, as if participating in a turnip imitation contest.
Ayase Origami was montarily taken aback. This was the first ti in her life she had ever been this physically close to another person.
Draped in a layer of luxurious silver, the Queen Colossus bounded beneath the moonlight like a graceful white deer.
Carrying the two of them, she swiftly departed the pitch-black mountain forest and wove through the towering skyscrapers. Like a gust of wind, she vaulted over the Tokyo Bay Rainbow Bridge, finally launching herself off a nearby rooftop to land weightlessly in the cafe's loft.
She then slowly parted her arms, setting Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami down. Following that, she returned to Xia Pingzhou's Celestial Drive without a mont's hesitation.
His legs giving way, Ji Minghuan slowly sat down on the edge of the loft's eaves and sighed deeply:
"So exhausting..."
Ayase Origami sat down beside him, remarking calmly, "The kitten is complaining about being tired? Shouldn't the master who took the kitten on a joyride be the tired one?"
Ji Minghuan took a deep breath of the freezing air and silently laid down on the loft's roof. Tokyo's night sky reflected in his eyes, the high-hanging stars twinkling brilliantly against the dark veil.
He suddenly spoke up. "In the past... I also used to sit on a loft roof often, chatting with soone and watching the stars."
"Who?" Ayase Origami asked curiously.
"A friend. A friend from my childhood..." Ji Minghuan replied softly.
Ayase Origami was silent for a mont. "I am different."
"What do you an?"
"This is my..." She paused. "First ti chatting with soone on a loft roof."
The girl in the ochre-red kimono did not lie down like Ji Minghuan. She rely sat quietly by the eaves, looking down at the long streets swept by the night breeze before gazing up at the sky. The stars were exceptionally beautiful tonight, shining even brighter than Tokyo's neon lights.
"That's perfectly normal. What normal person would climb up to a place like this to chat?" Ji Minghuan said.
"No. Even in other places, no one has ever had a normal conversation with . Growing up, because I was the heir to a yakuza family, everyone around
either pandered to
or feared . Later, when I left the family and joined the Brigade, I found that people are all the sa... Whether it's the people I kill or the people trying to kill , they are all equally boring."
"Are you not afraid of killing?"
"Since I was little, I've watched many people die right in front of . They taught
that I cannot allow dead people to evoke my emotions. It would cloud the judgnt of the future head of the family."
"What an extre upbringing... Is this the Japanese yakuza?"
Ji Minghuan pondered for a mont before asking, "So in your eyes, not only am I not boring, but I'm also the very first person to have a proper chat with you? Then I am truly honored."
The kimono girl fell stunned for a brief mont, then whispered, "You're just a lowly kitten... yet you certainly have the nerve to speak so boldly."
"I'll just sleep up here tonight." Ji Minghuan closed his eyes. "Good night."
"Suit yourself..."
With that said, Ayase Origami dropped down to the loft's windowsill and slipped back inside.
The sound of her footsteps echoed from within the loft, growing increasingly distant and faint, until a cool, clear voice finally rang out:
"Good night, kitten."
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