Outside the floor-to-ceiling window of a second-floor room in a residential building on Guyimai Block.
Under the pitch-black night sky, a giant pigeon with a strange gleam in its eyes flapped its wings, hovering in mid-air. The flickering neon lights of an advertising billboard washed over its snow-white feathers. A faint, ethereal line connected the bird's tail to the Magic Gloves on the young girl's hands.
Su Zimai stood on the pigeon's back and cast a sidelong glance at Ji Minghuan, who was sitting blankly on the bed. "Bro, don't tell
you're too scared?"
Ji Minghuan rolled his eyes internally. 'Finally, I don't have to pretend anymore.'
He had just been imagining himself as a minor supporting character in one of those Long Aotian novels, while his sister was the smirking protagonist who had endured in secret for three years. Now, making her grand debut, she revealed her identity as the Dragon King to the family that looked down on her, leaving the minor supporting character utterly shocked for an entire year.
Judging by Su Zimai's expression, even though she looked stoic on the outside, she was definitely reveling in the mont on the inside.
Feigning the look of soone just recovering from profound shock, Ji Minghuan got up, walked to the window, took Su Zimai's hand, and climbed onto the giant pigeon she had conjured with her arcane magic.
The pigeon silently flapped its pristine white wings, carrying the two of them into the pitch-black canopy of the night.
They sat down on the bird's back. Ji Minghuan lowered his eyes, gazing down at the brightly lit Lijing City while the night wind whipped his hair wildly.
He turned to look at Su Zimai's profile. She seed distracted, the brim of her tall hat casting a shadow that obscured her downcast eyes.
Ji Minghuan shifted his gaze away from her face and shouted over the howling headwind:
"Why didn't you tell us sooner?"
"Because it's dangerous. I didn't want you guys to get involved in all this," Su Zimai replied softly.
"Then why are you suddenly telling
now?"
Su Zimai pondered for a mont before burying her face in her drawn-up knees. Her voice was barely a whisper.
"I was afraid that one day I might just disappear, and you guys wouldn't know anything or even be able to find ."
"That was definitely a possibility, considering we didn't know you were an Exorcist," Ji Minghuan noted casually. "Since it's so dangerous, why keep doing it? You could die... If you can't beat those demons, they might just swallow you whole."
"Because if I beco a big figure among the Exorcists, I'll have a chance to et the people from Rainbow Wing. Then, I can finally figure out exactly how Mom died." Su Zimai paused. "And Dad and Big Brother wouldn't fight all the ti anymore!"
She practically shouted that last sentence, but the wind roaring above the city was so strong that by the ti her words reached Ji Minghuan's ears, they sounded like nothing more than a faint murmur.
He turned his head blankly, his eyes landing on a flashing billboard plastered across the side of a skyscraper. It was a laptop advertisent featuring the Transgressor, Blue Arc. Blue Arc stood with his arms crossed next to the laptop, eloquently explaining the machine's superior performance.
'So you two really did start from the exact sa motivation,' Ji Minghuan mused. 'I guess it makes sense for a family to share the exact sa flavor of foolishness...'
'But you're way too naive, little sister. Only people at the level of the Lake Hunt are qualified to cooperate with Rainbow Wing, right? It feels like any other tier of Exorcist would struggle just to catch a glimpse of them.'
While keeping those thoughts to himself, Ji Minghuan asked aloud, "Then why not tell Big Brother or Dad?"
"I'll tell them once I find that person from Rainbow Wing," Su Zimai said. "So, I hope you can keep this a secret for
in the anti."
"Alright, I'll keep it a secret from them."
'Heh, I've actually already spilled the beans,' Ji Minghuan thought, silently averting his gaze.
"Why only tell ?" he asked.
Su Zimai didn't answer.
She tilted her head away, not entirely sure of the reason herself. That day at the Auction, when Black Cocoon rescued her, her intuition had told her that he was Gu Wenyu. Even though logic and all previous evidence scread that this idea was wrong and completely unrealistic, she just couldn't help but feel that way.
Ji Minghuan thought for a mont. "So you were actually being serious the other day? I thought you guys were playing Truth or Dare. You really suspected that I was Blue Arc?"
"That was my teacher acting on her own... No, wait, my Leader," she corrected herself indignantly. "My Leader said you might be an Esper and pointed out that you ca to Japan at such a coincidental ti, aning you could be Blue Arc. It scared the life out of
too."
"Ke Qirui, huh? So she's an Exorcist too?"
"Yeah. She's incredibly strong."
"By the way, that damn Black Cocoon tricked
too."
"Black Cocoon?"
"He told
sothing like, 'Your brother is Blue Arc,' and I completely fell for it. First I was tricked by your Leader, and then I was tricked by that big fluttering moth."
"That sounds horrible! This Black whatever Cocoon guy... Next ti, I'll curse him out with you."
"Don't do that... He's very dangerous. Even now, I still don't know if he's a good guy or a bad guy. My Leader told
to stay far away from Black Cocoon unless she's around. None of us can figure out what his true motives are; he just buzzes around like a fly, annoying everyone to death."
'Is this how you praise the person who saved your life?' Ji Minghuan was flabbergasted. He told himself he really should have let the Queen golem bring her blade down that day and put an end to this ungrateful little sister.
"Alright then, I won't curse out Black Cocoon," he said.
The massive white pigeon flew over the dazzling comrcial district, ascending along a glass curtain wall until it finally stopped at the rooftop of a towering skyscraper. Su Zimai hopped off its back first, her feet landing lightly on the rooftop railing.
Like a stage magician, she stood firmly on the railing with her hands clasped behind her back. She tilted her head smugly and shot Ji Minghuan a teasing look:
"Bro... Don't tell
you need my help just to get off a pigeon's back?"
"Do you think you're talking to yourself? Always mocking
day in and day out—who are you looking down on?"
Ji Minghuan muttered complaints as he agonizingly slowly stood up on the pigeon's back. He took a few deliberately sluggish steps forward, then intentionally slipped. With an exaggerated scream, he tumbled and slid right off the bird.
Su Zimai froze.
Ji Minghuan plumted straight down from a height of over a hundred ters, his rapidly descending figure reflecting as a blur against the glass exterior of the building. The corners of his lips curled up slightly as he thought, 'You love getting on my nerves, huh? Watch
perform a hundred-ter high-altitude freefall.'
"...No way."
Su Zimai's pupils abruptly shrank. Panic washing over her face, she kicked off the railing and dove into the empty air after him. Her Magic Gloves tugged at the giant arcane pigeon, which imdiately tucked its wings and dove, positioning itself directly beneath her.
Riding on the pigeon's back, she spiraled downward like a white teor, desperately reaching out but failing to grasp Ji Minghuan's body. Without hesitation, she raised her Magic Glove, aiming her palm directly at his falling silhouette.
Every line and pattern on the glove flared with an intense white light as Su Zimai summoned a wardrobe in mid-air. The Magic Wardrobe materialized directly behind Ji Minghuan, matching his falling speed.
By this point, Ji Minghuan was re monts away from smashing into the pavent. A speeding truck was barreling down the road toward him, its headlights tearing through the dark night and illuminating his falling figure.
Just then, the doors of the Magic Wardrobe burst open and swallowed him whole.
A mont later, when Ji Minghuan opened his eyes in the darkness, he pushed the wardrobe doors open and looked around curiously. He found himself right back on the skyscraper's rooftop, as if he had simply stepped through a window labeled "Sky." The cool evening breeze hit his face.
anwhile, Su Zimai was riding the giant pigeon back up from street level. She tore through the night sky at breakneck speed, leaving a blurred white reflection across the glass curtain wall. Upon reaching the rooftop, she dropped off the pigeon's back and rushed toward Ji Minghuan, bringing the trailing evening wind with her.
"Bro, are you okay?" she cried out, her face deathly pale and tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Her lips quivered, and every word that escaped her throat trembled with raw fear. "It's my fault... It's all my fault... I shouldn't have made that joke. I should have just pulled you up... It's all my fault..." As she babbled, her shaking hands grabbed his arm, her eyes darting frantically up and down as she inspected his body for injuries.
Ji Minghuan was montarily stunned. 'Why are you reacting so strongly, little sister?' he thought. 'I barely felt anything falling down there. Swinging around on my Restraining Bands is way more thrilling than this.'
He shook his head. "I'm fine. My hair just got a little ssed up in the wind, that's all."
"Are you... really okay?" Su Zimai asked blankly, staring up at his face.
"I'm fine. I'm standing right here in one piece, aren't I?" Ji Minghuan shrugged.
It took a long while for her to finally believe he was unhurt. Only then did Su Zimai lower her head and let out a long, heavy exhale.
Her eyes were hidden behind her bangs as she opened her mouth, gasping for air in small, shallow breaths like a goldfish breaching the water's surface, as if she were completely out of breath.
Su Zimai stayed silent for a very long ti before slowly lifting her head. Her face was still ashen, and her eyes were red-rimd.
"If you couldn't do it, you should have just said so! I would have helped you up. Why did you have to act tough?" she demanded aggressively.
"Wasn't it because you were looking down on ?!" Ji Minghuan fired back defensively, glaring at her in indignation.
His sister's eyes were filled with resentnt, tears swirling within them. Her nose scrunched up slightly, making her look like a small animal that had suddenly gone feral.
"I... I was scared to death," Su Zimai murmured softly, finally letting go of his arm. Her voice still carried a slight tremor.
"Shouldn't I be the one scared to death? I'm the one who fell, not you," Ji Minghuan grumbled.
"Are you trying to piss
off to death?! Tell , are you trying to piss
off?!"
"Alright, alright, I already told you I'm fine." Ji Minghuan raised his hand and patted the top of her head. 'Younger sisters really are a type of Magical Creature,' he thought. 'They might mock you relentlessly on a normal day, but the mont you bully them a little, they instantly show their true colors.'
Honestly, even if Su Zimai hadn't swooped in to save him, he would have just released his Restraining Band Avatar in mid-air and had "Black Cocoon" catch him. That way, Black Cocoon could have even done Su Zimai a favor.
Su Zimai stood utterly still, glaring at him for a few monts, before viciously wiping the tears from her eyes with the back of her hand. She spun around, stomped angrily over to the rooftop railing, and sat down on it.
Taking off the Magic Top Hat, she lowered her head and tugged at the connection to the giant pigeon. The bird rapidly shrank back to its normal size, fluttering its wings as it dove back into the black hat.
A mont later, she slowly withdrew her Celestial Drive back into her body. The Magic Top Hat and the Magic Gloves on her right hand vanished without a trace.
Lowering her eyes, she quietly gazed out at the nightti cityscape.
Ji Minghuan walked over and sat down silently beside her. From a hundred ters up, the two of them looked out over the brilliantly lit roads. Cars flowed back and forth like a river of fireflies, and the evening breeze brushed against their silhouettes.
"Still angry?" he asked after a brief silence.
"No."
"You definitely are."
"I'm just mad at myself. If you had really fallen... I wouldn't want to live either."
"Are you an elentary schooler?"
"I'm in high school..." Su Zimai protested, a faint hint of a sob still lingering in her voice.
"Oh, well then, I'm the elentary schooler."
"Elentary schoolers aren't allowed to speak."
"I'm sorry, big sister," Ji Minghuan said, pressing his palms together in apology. "This elentary schooler was wrong. This elentary schooler shouldn't have made you angry."
Su Zimai's eye twitched slightly. She held it in for a second, her cheeks puffing out, but eventually, she couldn't help but burst into laughter. This was exactly how Ji Minghuan had managed to make her laugh at the park last ti.
After a mont, she muttered, "Bro, how can you be so shaless? You act just like a real elentary schooler. Where's your pride as a high school guy?"
Ji Minghuan shot her a flat look. 'I literally am an elentary schooler,' he thought. 'Just wait until you see my True Self and realize your 'older brother' is actually twelve years old. How shocked are you going to be?'
'Wait... When that ti cos, she won't start treating a Restricted-tier Esper like
as her little brother, will she?'
'Wouldn't that be incredibly embarrassing for a Restricted-tier threat?'
'Knowing Su Zimai's personality, she'd definitely insist on treating Kong Youling as her little sister too. Wouldn't that an we're back to being a family of five? Great, Mom, your spirit can rest in peace now. This house has five people in it again.'
'Of course... that's assuming Gu Zhuo'an and Gu Qiye manage to live that long.'
"Let's... go ho," Su Zimai suddenly said after a long silence. "Sneaking out of the window like this... it'll be bad if Dad and Big Brother find out."
"Then summon your pigeon."
"Alright."
But just as she agreed, Su Zimai suddenly froze as if rembering sothing. She hastily pulled her Mobile Phone out of her hoodie pocket, checked the screen, and muttered, "Oh no... I forgot I had plans tonight!"
"What plans?"
"My Leader said she was going to take
out to dinner with so really powerful people, and I'm already ten minutes late."
"Really powerful people?" Ji Minghuan echoed with piqued interest. 'Are the people Ke Qirui ntioned mbers of the Lake Hunt?' he wondered.
After all, considering the recent events at the Auction, it was clear that Ke Qirui and Zhou Jiuya knew each other.
"Never mind that, you go ho first!"
"You're not planning to just ditch
on the roof, are you? This is a hundred-ter-tall building. If I go down by myself, the security guards might arrest
as a suspicious person."
"Then, then, then... then you can co with
first," Su Zimai said with a frown, hurriedly releasing the pigeon from her Magic Top Hat and enlarging it.
"Alright." Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow. "But isn't it a bit awkward for a Muggle like
to crash a gathering of Exorcists?"
"Who said you were coming inside? You'll wait for
outside the restaurant! Find sowhere to hang out, or just catch a cab ho!"
"Okay."
Ji Minghuan nodded expressionlessly. 'That's fine,' he thought. 'I won't be joining you for dinner, but Black Cocoon will be there in just a mont. He really wants to et the people from the Lake Hunt.'
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