The Mirror World auction house was pitch-black, illuminated only by the raging dragon flas and the glow radiating from the wolf claws.
Yet, just as the two colossal beasts were locked in a stalemate, the figure on the chair... woke up.
The young man, sporting slicked-back hair and wearing a traditional tunic suit, let out a yawn. He moved his right hand away from the side of his head and slowly opened his eyes.
In the darkness, a faint golden light shimred in the depths of his eyes, as if capable of capturing a person's very soul.
"So noisy..." Zhou Jiuya tilted his head.
As his words fell, without any warning, a giant bronze tripod engraved with nine dragon patterns descended from the sky and smashed onto the head of the Wolf of Celestial Day. The sheer size of the giant tripod overshadowed even the twenty-ter-long beast. The Wolf of Celestial Day was firmly suppressed against the floor of the auction house, entirely powerless to break free no matter how it struggled or roared.
Curling mist rose from the top of the Nine Dragon Tripod, sweeping out and blanketing the area. Only after a long while did the scorching vapor emanating from the surface of the tripod finally show signs of subsiding.
"Zhou Jiuya... he woke up after all," Qi Yuanli murmured expressionlessly as he gazed at the Nine Dragon Tripod suppressing the White Wolf.
Lan Duo Duo was organizing playing cards on the ground. Hearing the leader say this, she could not help but arch her eyebrows. "Are you kidding ? We were just about to send off a Red Dragon, and now we have to cross blows with a Calamity-Tier?"
Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami both looked up at the massive Nine Dragon Tripod, then turned their gazes toward Zhou Jiuya in the center of the auction house.
Blood Progenitor sat at the corner of the auction stage, cupping her cheeks with both hands as she muttered, "A Calamity-Tier, huh... The last ti we faced a Calamity-Tier was in France. Back then, if we hadn't been lucky enough to pull off a sneak attack, we probably would have lost at least half our mbers."
"Leader, are we going to fight him?" An Lunsi asked curiously, a slight smirk playing on his lips.
"No... the Lake Hunt are not ordinary Calamity-Tiers. Their individual strength might even be above that of the Rainbow Wing," Qi Yuanli said. "From this point on, we avoid any possibility of fighting Zhou Jiuya and try to negotiate with him. Our primary objective is to rescue the White Wolf."
Robert opened a door connecting the outside to the Mirror World, turning the doorknob and leading Jack the Ripper, whose wounds had been bandaged, inside.
Seeing the figure sitting on the chair, both of their expressions shifted slightly.
"Are we leaving, Leader?" Robert asked.
"The White Wolf is still there," Qi Yuanli replied.
In the distance, Li Qingping glanced at the Wolf of Celestial Day pinned to the ground by the Nine Dragon Tripod, then turned his head to look at Zhou Jiuya.
The phantom of the Red Dragon Wales faded away, turning into a card engraved with orange light patterns that returned to Li Qingping's hand.
Zhou Jiuya rose from his chair, stepped forward, and raised his eyes to look at the group of figures on the auction stage.
"Before you can retreat, I can kill at least half of you. Not to ntion, one of your companions is a demon currently pinned down by
right there. So, I advise you not to act rashly. If even one person tries to run, I will make my move."
He continued, "I will be blunt. I am a reasonable man. All I want are two antiques from the auction items, and... the life of one of you."
A deathly silence enveloped the auction house. Zhou Jiuya paused briefly.
"If you cannot do that, then that is a different story."
Qi Yuanli sat on the edge of the auction stage, his back slightly hunched. Zhou Jiuya's face was reflected in his deep, dark pupils.
He asked calmly, "Which two antiques from the auction items do you want?"
"The Moon-Hiding Thousand-Bird Mirror, and the Wind God and Thunder God Drums," Zhou Jiuya listed the nas of the two antiques one after another.
"Hacker, give them to him," Qi Yuanli commanded without hesitation.
"Oh."
Hacker shrugged, stuffed his hand into his overalls to pull out his mobile phone, and reluctantly released his superhuman ability—"Database."
Imdiately after, a crystalline blue projection screen appeared in mid-air, densely packed with the icons of every auction item. He selected the two antiques, and they instantly materialized onto the real auction stage.
The Moon-Hiding Thousand-Bird Mirror was a bronze mirror about thirty centiters in diater. Its back was carved with a pattern of a thousand birds flying over ocean waves, with a fractured, crescent-shaped piece of white jade inlaid in the center. Its surface had turned a dark cyan due to oxidation.
The Wind God and Thunder God Drums were a pair of gold-lacquered taiko drums. The drumheads were covered in white rhinoceros hide, and the bodies depicted a battle between the Wind God and the Thunder God.
Zhou Jiuya swept his gaze over the two antiques on the auction stage and summoned his Celestial Drive. A compass branded with seven-colored patterns appeared in his hand.
An invisible gravitational force pulled the two antiques upward. They instantly flashed above the compass before being absorbed into it, transforming into a jade-white streak and a gold-lacquered streak, respectively, that attached themselves to the compass's surface.
Qi Yuanli stared at the compass in Zhou Jiuya's hand through the eyes of his crows.
The Tonggu Compass. It was the Celestial Drive of Lake Hunt's Zhou Jiuya, capable of storing any "genuine" antique and unleashing the mighty power hidden within them—the rarer the stored antique, the stronger the power it could exert.
"These are indeed the items I wanted," Zhou Jiuya said as he retracted his Celestial Drive and shoved his hands into the pockets of his tunic. "You should be glad you didn't try to fool ."
Qi Yuanli fell silent for a mont. He released the crow perched on his fingertip, raised his eyes to et Zhou Jiuya's gaze, and asked, enunciating every word,
"Then... whose life do you want?"
As that sentence dropped, the air pressure in the entire auction house seed to plumt.
Only Zhou Jiuya maintained a calm expression. He lowered his eyelids in thought before saying, "While I was catching up on sleep, a very annoying bug crawled out from under my chair... Although my impression is vague, let
guess. It should be you."
Saying this, he suddenly raised his head, motioning with his eyes toward one particular person among the brigade mbers.
The ten mbers on the auction stage followed his gaze, simultaneously turning to look at the chosen person:
—It was a figure dressed entirely in pitch-black ninja attire.
Seeing Zhou Jiuya's gaze land on him, Oda Takikage was montarily stunned before slowly lowering his eyes. He remained silent, a faint glimr of emotion rippling in the depths of his gaze.
"Takikage..."
Ayase Origami stared blankly, subconsciously calling out his na.
"Co here," Zhou Jiuya said. His tone was level, yet it carried an unquestionable authority.
Oda Takikage let out a soft sigh and then stepped forward without the slightest hesitation.
Amidst the dead silence, Ayase Origami suddenly jolted, then violently sprang into action, her figure flashing right in front of Oda Takikage. The sleeves of her ochre-red kimono lifted. She crossed her arms, shielding him from the front, her face utterly glacial.
In the next instant, thousands upon thousands of paper butterflies fluttered out from her cuffs like falling snow.
"Hey, Young Miss, you..."
Lan Duo Duo muttered with a conflicted expression as she dropped down from the auction stage. But in the very next second, her voice ca to an abrupt halt.
A solid bronze pillar crashed down from mid-air, crushing her into a mist of blood. Amidst a deafening boom, the crimson mist swept past the cheeks of every brigade mber. The pungent stench of blood assaulted their senses, flooding their nostrils.
It took Xia Pingzhou a long mont to process what had happened. He slowly cast his eyes down at the puddle of blood on the floor.
A single strand of Lan Duo Duo's blue hair was still drifting in the air above it.
"Lan... Lan Duo Duo..." Andrew froze. His expression gradually turned savage and gloomy as he clutched his sniper rifle tightly against his chest.
"I said I only want his life," Zhou Jiuya stated, tilting his head back as he stared blankly at Ayase Origami. "Step aside. Otherwise... it won't be just one mber who dies."
Ayase Origami turned her head in a daze, her hollow eyes staring at the pool of blood that Lan Duo Duo had been reduced to.
Qi Yuanli was silent for a mont. "You killed an extra mber of ours. This is not what we agreed upon beforehand. Can her life serve as a substitute for his?"
"Those are two separate matters. A life for a life... even though the ones you slaughtered were yakuza scum worse than trash, you still have to pay a price."
Having said that, Zhou Jiuya leisurely swept his gaze across the mbers of the brigade, his eyes lingering on Xia Pingzhou and Qi Yuanli for a second each.
He lowered his eyes and said in a lukewarm tone, "Indeed... quite a few of you possess great potential. Perhaps in the future, so of you might be lucky enough to grow into the Calamity-Tier. When that ti cos, you are welco to seek
out for revenge."
"But forget about it for now. Crushing an ant brings
no joy. I hope you have enough self-awareness to realize that the gap between a Near-Calamity Tier and a Calamity-Tier isn't just a single word... Oh, by the way, even within the Calamity-Tier, there are differing levels of strength. If you were facing a weaker Calamity-Tier... you might actually have a slight chance to fight back. Like so of those incompetent minnows making up the numbers in Rainbow Wing."
Zhou Jiuya paused. "Unfortunately, the person standing here is . So I advise you frogs in the well to stop wasting my ti. Lose one more mber, or lose half of your group—make your choice."
Qi Yuanli lowered his deep, dark eyes, maintaining his silence.
"Since you won't answer, I'll assu you have accepted my rules." Zhou Jiuya looked up once again, fixing his gaze on Ayase Origami. "Then I will say it one more ti... step away from the front of that ninja."
He pronounced each word deliberately, "My patience has its limits."
Xia Pingzhou observed Zhou Jiuya from afar, thinking to himself, 'So this is the strength of a Calamity-Tier... a monster standing at the very pinnacle of the entire world, towering above all others. What ordinary people consider strong is not even worth ntioning in the face of a Calamity-Tier.'
'If he fought seriously, Zhou Jiuya could probably destroy an entire city.'
'And within the Lake Hunt, there were three other Exorcists with the exact sa level of strength as Zhou Jiuya.'
'As for the Rainbow Wing, they had a full twelve powerhouses at the Calamity-Tier.'
'Gu Qiye and Gu Zhuo'an, that father and son duo... they intended to seek revenge against these out-and-out monsters.'
The mbers of the White Raven Brigade remained silent, their expressions varying. They all understood that Ayase Origami's actions were irrational, but not a single person moved to stop her. If Zhou Jiuya attacked those two, everyone would likely explode into action simultaneously.
Just then, Oda Takikage slowly peeled off his ninja mask. He turned his head and gave the Young Miss a look of perfect normalcy.
His gaze was completely ordinary.
So ordinary that it was just like a certain sumr afternoon in that cafe. As he wiped a cup with a towel, he would peer over his reading glasses, giving her this exact sa brief glance, accompanied by a gentle smile. Suddenly, Oda Takikage reached out and patted the top of Ayase Origami's head.
When she was very young, back when Oda Takikage first arrived at the Ayase family, he had patted her head exactly like this.
On that day, the cherry blossoms in the courtyard had blood beautifully, one or two petals drifting down onto the head of the little girl in the kimono. She had looked up, her gaze bewildered as she studied the man wearing a butler's uniform and reading glasses.
"Young Miss, please rember to take good care of yourself," Oda Takikage said softly.
Feeling the warmth radiating from the top of her head, Ayase Origami widened her hollow eyes slightly, frozen in a daze for a very, very long ti. Paper butterflies fluttered violently through the sky of the auction house, like a torrential, pristine white rainstorm flowing in reverse. The rustling sound grew louder and louder, as if attempting to drown out the entire world.
The mbers on the auction stage rose to their feet.
Jack the Ripper tightened his grip on his dark red short blade. An Lunsi summoned a slot machine. Qi Yuanli remained expressionless, balancing playing cards on his fingertips. Hacker shoved both hands into his pockets, chaotic data streams flashing in his eyes. Levitating blood trickled from the tips of Blood Progenitor's fingers. Dropping his usual flippant grin, Andrew adopted a solemn expression as he popped open the chamber of his sniper rifle and loaded a special red bullet.
Xia Pingzhou remained silent, observing this scene out of the corner of his eye. He thought to himself, 'These lunatics from the brigade seem genuinely prepared for a last stand... but if my Host Body Two becos a target of Zhou Jiuya's wrath and dies here, it would be an absolutely fatal blow to my plans.'
"A pack of bandits who treat human life like worthless grass... yet you place such value on your comrades. What a contradiction. A truly laughable contradiction."
Zhou Jiuya spoke dismissively, fishing a mobile phone out of his tunic pocket.
Right at that mont, Oda Takikage suddenly lowered his right hand. He turned his head to look at Xia Pingzhou and gave him a serene nod, the corners of his eyes crinkling.
"Mr. Xia Pingzhou, I leave the Young Miss in your care."
Ghostly white butterflies rged into a swirling tornado in mid-air, paper scraps fluttering everywhere. Just as Ayase Origami was on the verge of losing control, Xia Pingzhou summoned his Celestial Drive and pinched one of the chess shadows between his fingers.
Amidst the crisp sound of a shattering chess piece, the Queen Stone Statue materialized on command and delivered a precise chop to the back of Ayase Origami's neck.
Caught entirely off guard, Ayase Origami pitched forward. She slowly closed her eyelids, her vision going completely black as she fainted. The figures standing on the auction stage did not even flinch.
Xia Pingzhou stepped forward, catching the unconscious Ayase Origami in his arms. The young woman's body temperature was chilly. Above them, the swarm of paper butterflies cascaded down like falling snow.
"Thank you," Oda Takikage nodded at Xia Pingzhou. Then, turning his head, he gave a slight bow to Qi Yuanli. "Leader... thank you for looking after
all these years."
Qi Yuanli lowered his eyes, his fingers pausing in their shuffling of the playing cards. He glanced at Oda Takikage, then silently shifted his gaze away, putting away the cards held at his fingertips.
Zhou Jiuya looked down, fiddling with his mobile phone. Without even lifting his head, he said, "A wise choice."
Oda Takikage turned around and began walking forward. His footsteps echoed through the dead silence of the auction house. No one watched his retreating back—or rather, no one was willing to look.
In the next instant, another massive bronze pillar plumted from the sky, embedding itself deeply into the floor of the Mirror World.
A bloom of bloody mist burst forth in the darkness. Oda Takikage's body was instantly obliterated, leaving not even a fragnt behind.
Xia Pingzhou watched this scene quietly. He felt that everything happened so naturally, so incredibly fast that people didn't even have ti to process the sheer cruelty of it. It was exactly like soone walking down the street and accidentally stepping on an ant... This was the might of a Calamity-Tier. Perhaps, years ago, Gu Wenyu's mother had died at the hands of Rainbow Wing in this very sa manner.
"I have the antiques. And I've killed the person. You may leave."
With that said, Zhou Jiuya retracted the Nine Dragon Tripod suppressing the Wolf of Celestial Day. The giant wolf slowly morphed back into its human form, collapsing motionless onto the floor.
A crow flew off from Qi Yuanli's fingertip, landing on the White Wolf's body. With a flash of crow feathers, Qi Yuanli brought him back up onto the auction stage.
After half a mont of silence, Qi Yuanli suddenly spoke. "You said just now... that we are welco to seek you out for revenge at any ti. Is that correct?"
"Correct. Co if you aren't afraid of death," Zhou Jiuya said, shutting off his mobile phone and looking up at him. "A dual identity as an Esper and an Exorcist, huh? You do have trendous potential. After all, the room for growth with two different systems is vast. If you wanted to run, you would likely be one of the very few here with a chance of escaping. I hope my judgnt proves correct... I pray that in the future, you will actually be qualified to beco my opponent."
"Where do you rank in the Lake Hunt?" Qi Yuanli asked suddenly, his tone just as tranquil as before.
"Third."
"I see..."
"So, do you understand just how much of a frog in a well you are now?" Zhou Jiuya cast a disapproving glance at Qi Yuanli. "I am a man of my word. While I haven't changed my mind yet, or before your subordinates lose whatever rationality they have left, disappear from my sight."
As soon as those words fell, a flock of pitch-black crows flooded over the auction stage with a loud flutter of wings. A few seconds later, the auction stage was completely empty. Only stray crow feathers drifted down from mid-air, landing gently onto the two pools of blood on the floor.
Deathly silence enveloped the auction house once again, though the do above was continuously letting out loud cracking noises. The Mirror World was on the verge of collapsing.
Zhou Jiuya recalled the Nine Dragon Tripod and the bronze pillar back into his Tonggu Compass. He stretched his back, then turned his head to look at Li Qingping, before casting a glance at the Second Prince who had fainted on the floor.
"Red Dragon, right? I've heard your na," he said, scanning his surroundings. "Did everyone else die?"
Li Qingping nodded, mocking him with an expressionless face. "Do all of you in Lake Hunt sleep this heavily? Everyone is dead, and you only wake up now. I was being ganged up on by multiple people."
"It couldn't be helped, it wasn't what I wanted either. My sleep quality takes a dive whenever it rains, so I had to catch up on so rest." Saying this, Zhou Jiuya casually scratched his ear. Suddenly, as if rembering sothing, he hesitated before asking,
"Right... do you know soone nad 'Ke Qirui'? She was apparently one of the bodyguards for this auction. Hmm... is she dead?"
"Never heard of her," Li Qingping replied flatly. "I'm leaving now. Goodbye."
With that, he hoisted the unconscious Second Prince onto his back and walked toward the exit of the Mirror World. That massive full-body mirror had been restored to its original state. One could still use it to return to the real world, but if he didn't leave right now, it would be too late.
Zhou Jiuya nonchalantly straightened the lapels of his tunic suit. Just then, he received a text ssage.
He picked up his mobile phone and checked it.
[Ke Qirui: Are you awake yet?]
[Zhou Jiuya: I'm awake.]
[Ke Qirui: Then can I start cursing at you now?]
[Zhou Jiuya: It's not like I can control the weather.]
[Ke Qirui: If you had woken up earlier, so many people wouldn't have died.]
[Zhou Jiuya: I'm just a guest, not a bodyguard. Stop whining to , sister.]
[Zhou Jiuya: Besides, the Japanese yakuza aren't exactly saints. Dead is dead... If these people were causing trouble back in China, my attitude would certainly be different.]
[Ke Qirui: Save the hindsight. Are you coming out for a al or not?]
[Zhou Jiuya: Nah, the family has so business. I booked a flight, so I have to head out as soon as the auction ends.]
Zhou Jiuya hesitated for a mont. He kept one hand tucked into his tunic pocket while continuing to type with the other.
[Zhou Jiuya: By the way, how about I introduce you to Lin Xingshi and Zhuge Hui soday? Zhong Wujiu is too much of a stoic bore, so never mind him.]
[Ke Qirui: Yeah, yeah, sure. Now that you've beco a big figure in Lake Hunt, you constantly bring them up in every sentence?]
[Zhou Jiuya: I was actually quite worried that you might have died. Good thing you didn't.]
[Ke Qirui: Who do you think I am?]
[Zhou Jiuya: I just checked the airport notices. It seems flights are delayed because of the heavy rain. How about you give
a lift with your Train Demon?]
[Ke Qirui: Sure, we need to head back to China anyway.]
[Zhou Jiuya: See you soon then.]
Zhou Jiuya switched off his mobile phone. After mulling it over for a second, he casually pulled a playing card out of his top tunic pocket.
He recalled that this playing card was handed to him by the inspection staff from the bodyguard team when he entered. At the ti, he assud it was just a souvenir, so he casually stuffed it into his pocket. Of course, looking at it now, this thing was no souvenir, but a defused bomb.
Zhou Jiuya flipped the playing card over, indifferently glancing at the crow depicted on the face.
Right at that mont, a line of blood-red text slowly surfaced above the crow:
—"Pass a ssage to the other three in Lake Hunt for : the next ti we et, all four of you will die."
"This is the first ti I've seen anyone daring enough to provoke us. Will I regret not killing that kid...? Oh well, it doesn't matter."
Zhou Jiuya shook his head, carelessly tossing the playing card onto the floor. He then proceeded to stroll forward through the vacant auction house.
anwhile, inside a certain abandoned building in Tokyo.
The torrential rain had poured continuously for a full day and night, and it was finally showing signs of letting up. Within the abandoned floor, one figure was hanging leisurely upside down in mid-air, while another figure stood rooted to the spot like iron. Outside the window was a curtain of pattering rain.
The two figures locked eyes, and finally, one side broke the prolonged silence.
"I have already handed Blue Arc over to the people from the Exorcist Association. They will take care of his treatnt," Black Cocoon said. "Mr. Ghost Bell... after witnessing this auction, isn't it ti for you to reconsider the value of partnering with ?"
"Who... exactly are you?" Ghost Bell asked slowly.
"Does it matter who I am?" Black Cocoon replied in a ghostly tone. "What matters is what I can bring you. As long as you cooperate with , I can guarantee that you and Blue Arc will survive together, and... I can help you both stand at the pinnacle of this world to exact your revenge on this damned world."
He paused for a mont. Still hanging upside down in mid-air, he read his book while extending a hand toward Ghost Bell:
"This is your final chance. You can choose to take my hand, or... you can beco my enemy."
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