My Avatar Is Becomin Chapter 113: Wishes, Conflicts, and Promises

July 18th, night. Inside an izakaya in front of the Qingbenhua Hotel in Minato City, Tokyo.

That evening, Gu Qiye wore a baseball cap, a thin black jacket, and casual trousers.

He found a seat at the izakaya's bar, pulled out his mobile phone, opened the ssaging app, and sent a text.

[Gu Qiye: Are you sure this is the place?]

[Black Cocoon: Yes, Qingbenhua Hotel. This is where Ke Qirui and Miss Ko Zinan are staying.]

[Black Cocoon: Make sure you don't go to the wrong place. Rumor has it that our Mr. Blue Arc is quite terrible with directions.]

Reading this ssage, Gu Qiye looked up from his mobile phone screen. Through the izakaya window, he glanced at the hotel exit out of the corner of his eye.

He observed quietly for about half an hour, but saw no one.

Gu Qiye seriously suspected he had been played, so he unlocked his phone and sent Black Cocoon another ssage.

[Gu Qiye: You said you followed Ke Qirui to the seaside villa earlier?]

[Black Cocoon: Did you expect

to track Mr. Blue Arc instead? You run too fast, leaving a trail of sparks and lightning. I wouldn't dare follow that, absolutely not.]

Gu Qiye closed his phone and sat up straight at the izakaya bar.

He tilted his head, his clear eyes fixed on the hotel exit from beneath the brim of his baseball cap.

A mont later, he finally spotted the people he was looking for among the coming and going hotel guests: one was Ke Qirui, and the other was... Su Zimai, who was not wearing her disguise mask.

Through the izakaya's window, Gu Qiye stared from afar at the silhouette walking beside Ke Qirui.

He did not act shocked or surprised. He simply lowered his gaze, his eyes dimming for a fleeting mont.

After waiting a short while, he rose from the bar, slid the door open, and walked out.

Gu Qiye followed quietly behind the two without drawing any attention.

Seeing them get into a taxi, he transford into a streak of dark blue lightning and scaled the residential building above. Maintaining a speed that wouldn't trigger a sonic boom, he dashed across the rooftops, his gaze locked onto the taxi weaving through the neon signs.

Under the moonlight, faint blue electrical arcs danced across Gu Qiye's body like a swarm of circling fireflies. His pupils glowed with the condensed light of electricity.

Five minutes later, the taxi stopped right in front of a Japanese barbecue restaurant. Ke Qirui and Su Zimai stepped out and headed inside.

Witnessing this, Gu Qiye descended the high-rise wall like a wall-crawling ninja, sliding down as a bolt of lightning before landing steadily on the ground.

He took off his baseball cap, tossed it casually into a nearby trash pile, and stepped out of the alley, making his way toward the barbecue restaurant.

With a rumbling slide, Gu Qiye opened the door and stepped inside.

He paused at the entrance, hesitated for a mont, and then slowly walked over to the table where Ke Qirui and Su Zimai were seated.

"Xu Sanyan and Lin Zhengquan aren't here yet? Those two are habitual latecors," Su Zimai said, frowning.

"It should be another ten minutes. We can order the food first," Ke Qirui replied.

Catching sight of soone walking straight toward them out of the corner of her eye, Su Zimai instinctively assud it was soone looking for trouble. She looked up, glaring unkindly at Gu Qiye.

Then, she froze. Under the dim yellow lights, her eyes turned slightly glassy.

After a long pause, Su Zimai muttered, "...Brother?"

Hearing this, Ke Qirui paused, set down her pencil, and belatedly looked up from the nu.

Following Su Zimai's gaze, she looked at Gu Qiye, suddenly recalling that she had seen him once before on Roppongi Street.

'Maimai's other brother?' she thought.

Gu Qiye looked at Su Zimai, lowering his eyes before raising them again, a faint smile touching his lips.

"What a coincidence... Little Sister, you ca for barbecue too?" Having said that, he pulled up a chair and sat across from the two of them.

"Why are you here?" Su Zimai asked softly. Her ears were a little red, and she was so embarrassed she practically wanted to bury her head in the dirt.

"Shouldn't I be the one asking you that?" Gu Qiye smiled. "Wenyu and I are traveling in Japan. I really didn't expect to run into you here."

Turning his head to look at Ke Qirui, he kept the smile on his face. "You must be Miss Ke. We spoke on the phone this morning. I believe you ntioned... you were in Hong Kong."

At this point, Gu Qiye paused, his tone dropping slightly.

"Perhaps Hong Kong and Japan are quite close. Just a short walk from Hong Kong and you end up in Japan. Wouldn't you say... Miss Ke?"

Even Ke Qirui was montarily choked up, unsure of how to respond.

She raised a hand with well-defined joints to prop up her chin. Beneath the brim of her hat, her eyes blinked as if formulating a strategy. From ti to ti, she exchanged glances with Su Zimai sitting next to her.

The atmosphere reached peak stiffness. Gu Qiye stared at her unblinkingly, waiting for Ke Qirui to speak.

After a long silence, Ke Qirui lowered her eyes and spoke in an unhurried tone.

"It's my fault... Due to work requirents, I had to take a trip to Japan. Maimai was afraid you would worry, so she asked

and your brother to keep it a secret from you."

She looked up at Gu Qiye. "I apologize. I should have told you in advance. This kind of behavior is indeed irresponsible."

"You are incredibly irresponsible. I never would have imagined eting soone in Japan who is supposed to be in Hong Kong..." Gu Qiye stared directly into Ke Qirui's eyes, speaking with a deadpan expression. "Do you know how dangerous this is? If she were your family, would you allow soone to just bring her to a place like this without saying a word?"

What angered Gu Qiye even more was that Ke Qirui had taken it upon herself to let Su Zimai join the operation, knowing full well that the White Raven Brigade would appear at the Auction...

How could she not know how dangerous this was? They were about to face a pack of monsters.

The re thought of it made an uncontrollable fire surge in Gu Qiye's heart. "I don't have family, so I probably don't fully understand your feelings," Ke Qirui said, taking off her beret. "I was wrong this ti... I apologize to you again."

She raised her eyes sincerely, eting Gu Qiye's gaze.

Gu Qiye's tone remained completely cold. "You're right. Because you don't have family... you don't know the anxiety and pain of worrying about them."

Su Zimai imdiately couldn't sit still any longer. Frowning, she spoke up.

"Didn't she just say it was my idea to have them hide it from you? Why are you being so fierce with my teacher?"

Gu Qiye cast a sidelong glance at Su Zimai. After a mont of silence, he said, "Xiaomai, I actually guessed it when Wenyu told . When I called you, I just wanted to know... if you were willing to admit it."

"Yes... I lied to you. What are you going to say about it?" Su Zimai asked calmly.

"Nothing... Are you having fun in Japan?"

"I am."

"Then... if you've had enough fun, do you want to head ho with your brother? Since we're all in Japan, we can ask Wenyu to join us... If you want, I can also call the Old Man, even though he and I don't get along."

"No."

"Why not?"

"I feel very tired."

"Tired?" Gu Qiye laughed self-deprecatingly. "Do you know that I have..."

"I know."

Su Zimai suddenly interrupted him.

She kept her head down, refusing to let Gu Qiye continue. "Seeing you shoulder all the family responsibilities and burdens alone makes

feel exhausted. You're always like that, and it honestly makes

want to hide from you. It makes it feel like... like we're just burdens to you."

"You're my sister. How could you be a burden?"

"Who likes seeing you act like that every single day?" Su Zimai laughed bitterly. "You think you're being so noble, taking on everything at ho, but you never bothered to ask what Second Brother and I think."

She paused. "Did you think we didn't know how much you've sacrificed?"

Pale-faced, Gu Qiye tried to explain. "I never thought of it like that. I'm the eldest brother. Mom is gone, and the Old Man left too... I was the only one who could take care of you. In all these years, I've never once considered you a burden."

"Yes, but we do," Su Zimai said. "I just wanted to give you a chance to breathe. I don't want to be constantly looked after by you, which is why I didn't want to stay at ho."

"But... I worry about you."

"Then stop worrying." Su Zimai looked at him earnestly. "I'm much stronger than you think."

"But you're only sixteen. You're just a high school student."

"And what were you doing when you were in high school?" Su Zimai asked softly. "Going out to work alone late at night—did you think I didn't know? Every day after school, you'd co ho to cook, head out for the night shift, and only co back at two or three in the morning. Then you'd turn on the light and catch up on your howork all by yourself in your room."

She paused and looked right into Gu Qiye's eyes. "Did you honestly believe... that Second Brother and I had no idea?"

Gu Qiye was stunned. It was true... He had always thought he'd done a perfect job of hiding it, that he had never exposed his secret... But as it turned out, his sister had always known about his late-night outings and early-morning returns. The only difference was that she thought he was working a regular night job, completely unaware that he was actually a Transgressor.

She was right. Living under the sa roof for so long, how could he possibly have kept it completely hidden from his younger siblings?

Gu Qiye remained silent for a long, long ti. He had so much he wanted to say, yet no words left his mouth.

"I'm not going back with you... You need to think about yourself more. Stop worrying about us every single day," Su Zimai said. "I have the Ability to manage my own life. I don't need you constantly watching over ."

"But you don't know how dangerous this..." At this point, Gu Qiye lifted his eyes to look at Su Zimai.

eting his sister's stubborn gaze, he faltered slightly. No one knew Su Zimai better than he did. She had been like this since she was a little girl—once her mind was made up, nothing could change it.

"I'll co ho when sumr vacation ends. Since you're already out traveling, stop obsessing over ... Have so fun. Second Brother also doesn't like it when your head is entirely filled with our business. You're only in your teens yourself. You should have a life of your own... We hate seeing you sacrifice yourself for us. It makes us feel incredibly guilty, like we just want to run away."

Su Zimai paused. "Mom passing away... it wasn't your fault."

Leaving those final words hanging in the air, she stood up and walked out of the barbecue restaurant without looking back.

Gu Qiye didn't try to stop her. He just sat there, frozen in place for a mont. Ke Qirui was in no rush to leave either, sitting quietly across from him.

A mont later, he looked up at Ke Qirui. "Miss Ke, I don't bla you for what happened this ti, but please, you must take good care of her."

Ke Qirui nodded, put on her beret, and headed out of the restaurant, leaving Gu Qiye alone at the table, lost in a daze.

He hung his head low, his bangs covering his eyes and obscuring his expression...

After an unknown amount of ti, Gu Qiye parted his lips and drew in a breath, like a goldfish surfacing for air.

He then took his mobile phone out of his pocket. He had initially intended to make a call, but ultimately decided to open his ssages instead.

[Black Cocoon: How did the chat go, Mr. Blue Arc?]

[Gu Qiye: Do

a favor. It will be impossible for

to watch over everyone at the Auction. Keep an eye on my sister. If there is any danger, get her out imdiately.]

[Black Cocoon: Of course. I've just been waiting for you to say the word.]

[Gu Qiye: If anything happens to her, our cooperation ends imdiately.]

[Black Cocoon: Please have faith in my Abilities. I promise you... your sister will survive this Auction completely unscathed.]