Inside the private room of the Hunan restaurant, Zhuge Hui and Ke Qirui chatted back and forth, while Zhou Jiuya only occasionally interjected a sentence or two.
Sitting across from the two of them, Ji Minghuan felt bored and used a WeChat mini-program to send Su Zimai an invitation to a ga of Gobang.
Su Zimai typed back a reply saying "You are crazy," but she still accepted the ga invitation.
The brother and sister simply played chess on their phones in the private room, completely ignoring the affairs of the outside world.
Zhou Jiuya let out a yawn and closed his eyes. "I am going to rest for a bit longer. Do not wake
unless it is sothing important."
"Old Crow, you really need to get that narcolepsy of yours treated... You are already half-dead like this normally, would you not sleep like a dead pig on rainy days?" Zhuge Hui remarked. "Actually, my family happens to have an incredibly skilled old traditional dicine doctor. How about I ask him to prescribe a few doses to help regulate your condition?"
"Shut up," Zhou Jiuya muttered.
Ke Qirui reached out and picked up the nu from the table. She opened it, casting a downward glance at the dishes, and casually asked, "Have you ordered yet?"
Zhuge Hui smiled faintly. "There is no need. We are regulars here, so we never have to order. The manager serves us the sa nu every ti."
Zhou Jiuya slumped against the back of the sofa to rest, casually retorting, "Who is a regular with you? This is my first ti eating here."
Ke Qirui lowered her head and drew a breath through her pipe, then slowly asked, "Speaking of which, I heard from the President that Lake Hunt is planning to make a move against the Nian Beast. Is this intelligence accurate?"
'Nian Beast?' Ji Minghuan felt a slight stir in his heart. 'I rember... when I first joined the White Raven Brigade, An Lunsi seed to have briefly ntioned it to .'
As he played Gobang with Su Zimai, he recalled the words An Lunsi had spoken at the ti.
"Do not let White Wolf's appearance fool you, he is actually a very interesting person... Every day, we hear him tell many fascinating stories from the Demon Realm. He said that the leader of the demons in China is a Nian Beast, an incredibly powerful entity, but due to the existence of Lake Hunt, it was forced to live in seclusion deep in the ancient forests. We used to listen to him talk about that Nian Beast every single day... He seed to be a subordinate of that demon, but later he fell in love with a human woman and ran off to the human world."
Snapping back to reality, Ji Minghuan casually placed a black chess piece on his phone's chessboard, intentionally losing the ga to Su Zimai.
Then, ignoring the middle finger she raised under the table and the smug look in her eyes, he lifted his gaze from the phone screen to look at Zhuge Hui.
He thought, 'Looking at it this way... White Wolf knows the Nian Beast they are talking about. He was once a mber of the demon circle in China as well.'
Zhuge Hui waved his folding fan. "Yes, recently those demons who retreated to the mountains and forests have beco increasingly arrogant, even showing faint signs of crossing the boundaries. Because of this, the old farts in the family have grown restless and keep pressuring us. They say things like how the previous generation of Lake Hunt drove that pack of demons into the wilderness, so our generation needs to step up, press the advantage, and catch all those filthy things in one net, especially that Nian Beast."
He let out a helpless laugh. "The four of us were so annoyed that we had no choice but to start formulating a plan. In a few days, we will have to head up the mountain. Even if we just extinguish the arrogance of these demons, it will be good enough to make them behave a little."
Hearing this, Ji Minghuan thought to himself, 'So, is it possible that Exorcists and demons are about to formally go to war, or do they just plan to negotiate?'
Most high-level demons possessed an intellect comparable to humans, much like White Wolf. Since the demons in China had remained dormant for so long, their Nian Beast leader presumably had no intention of starting a war with humanity either.
However, it was not necessarily a lack of intent to wage war; they could be hoarding their strength. Those demons had been biding their ti in the mountains and forests for so long that, once a war broke out, their current numbers would surely cause massive upheaval in human society.
But when that ti ca... could the four mbers of Lake Hunt really slaughter all those demons who had been building their strength for so long?
"Good luck, big brothers of Lake Hunt," Ji Minghuan spoke up.
"What a sweet mouth on this little brother," Zhuge Hui chuckled.
"Could you not speak in that tone of voice? Is it not disgusting?" Su Zimai nudged Ji Minghuan with her calf.
"I will use it if I want to, what is it to you?" Ji Minghuan propped his chin on one hand, speaking without looking back.
Perhaps because they recognized Zhuge Hui, the waiters brought out the food very quickly. Before long, the fruits and teacups on the table were replaced by a full spread of delicacies.
Ji Minghuan put away his mobile phone and ate silently. Not only had he t Zhuge Hui and Zhou Jiuya, but he had also obtained intelligence regarding Qi Yuanliuli and the Nian Beast. This trip was not a waste. Therefore, after enjoying a full al, he and Su Zimai left the Hunan restaurant.
It was already quite late by the ti the siblings returned ho, but there was still no sign of Gu Zhuo'an or Gu Qiye in the house.
Ji Minghuan simply washed up, changed into a clean, loose-fitting set of pajamas, laid down on his bed, and closed his eyes.
anwhile, in another corner of the world, on a stretch of ocean near Tokyo, Japan.
Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami were hiding in the cargo hold of an illegal human trafficking ship. Above them in the hold hung a lightbulb casting a warm orange glow. As the cabin swayed back and forth, the light flickered on and off.
He turned his head to the side and glanced at the kimono-clad girl, who had lowered her eyes and was quietly reading a haiku collection.
He then looked away from her face, turning his head to stare blankly at the sea outside the window.
The white cargo ship drifted lazily on the ocean, its black hull parting the tide as it carried the vessel toward a small country near Japan.
Once this smuggling vessel arrived at the neighboring small country, they would follow the flight itinerary arranged for them by Hacker, board a plane at the local airport, and head to Venice to rendezvous with the other mbers of the Brigade.
Furthermore, according to Hacker, there seed to be a new mber waiting for them in Venice.
This mysterious mber apparently had the desire to join the Brigade for a long ti, but since the group's roster was already full and he was unwilling to challenge an existing mber to take their place, he could only quietly wait for an opportunity.
After the auction incident passed, the Brigade's Number 4 and Number 5 died at the auction house, so this reserve mber finally found his chance:
— He took the place of the deceased Lan Duo Duo, becoming the White Raven Brigade's next Number 5.
Ji Minghuan was actually quite curious in his heart: what kind of monster or freak was this new mber to catch the Leader's eye? However, there was no point in being impatient. Once they boarded the plane tomorrow, they would arrive in Venice by the afternoon, and he would be able to et this new mber then.
Thus, he leaned against the wall of the cargo hold, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep amidst the gentle rocking of the ship.
"Restricted-tier Esper, ID Number 1002 — 'Ji Minghuan', quickly get out of bed and prepare yourself. The Tutor has a ssage for you." The sudden voice awakened Ji Minghuan from the darkness.
He blinked.
Entering his vision was the unchanging silver-white ceiling and the unchanging surveillance monitor. And... a broadcasting device that had undergone so slight modifications.
Ji Minghuan raised his eyebrows. Upon closer inspection, he realized that the broadcasting device had been transford into the shape of a "little blue penguin." He had not expected that the Salvation Society's staff would actually modify the equipnt according to his casual request from last ti.
Not only that, but as he turned his head, he noticed that a television had been added to a corner of the confinent room.
Plugged into the television was a retro CD player, and a stack of CDs rested on the silver-white floor. A cursory glance revealed quite a rich variety—animated series, films, and TV series were all available, though most of them were works from the last century.
"You guys are really thoughtful," he said, sitting up from the bed and letting out a yawn. "Indeed... my morning crankiness is much better."
The only response he received was a rumbling noise. Looking toward the source of the sound, he saw the overlapping tal doors at the entrance slowly opening.
With his hands clasped behind his back, the Tutor walked into the confinent room from the corridor bathed in white light, the hem of his white lab coat trailing behind him. He then pulled up a chair in front of the table and sat down.
Ji Minghuan jumped out of bed, first picking up a bottle of milk from the plate on the table, and then walked toward the television while twisting off the cap.
He could not be bothered to pay attention to the Tutor behind him. Sitting down in front of the television, he used the remote to turn it on, then inserted the disc for the animated film "The Girl Who Leapt Through Ti" into the CD player.
The CD player made a "Click-clack" sound as it swallowed the movie disc.
Imdiately, the television screen flickered slightly and began showing the opening scene of the film: two boys and a girl playing baseball on an empty field in the middle of sumr, accompanied by the endless chirping of cicadas.
"Do you still rember the last ti I told you that we needed you to go out and execute a mission?"
Ji Minghuan drank from his can of pure milk while watching the television, the scenes of the film reflecting in his pupils.
After a long while, he replied languidly, "I rember."
That had been before the auction began. At the ti, Ji Minghuan thought the mission the Tutor wanted them to execute was related to the underground auction in Tokyo, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Even after the auction ended, Ji Minghuan had not seen the Tutor visit.
The Tutor spoke slowly, "The objective for your first external mission is to apprehend a mad Exorcist."
"A mad Exorcist?" Ji Minghuan asked without looking back.
The Tutor laced his fingers together on the table and turned his head to look at Ji Minghuan's back.
He said, "That is right. That Exorcist's codena is 'Red Traffic Light', and his real na is 'Shi Yimin'."
"Red Traffic Light?"
Ji Minghuan raised his eyebrows, thinking to himself, 'Red Traffic Light... in other words, the suddenly maddened forr teammate that Host Body Two, Xia Pingzhou, has been looking for as his main quest?'
Red Traffic Light was the evil Exorcist who, after every cri, would leave behind a line of Latin text aning "Salvation Society" at the scene. Not only that, but he would also leave the Salvation Society's signature symbol—a hexagram enclosed in a circle.
'Just as I expected... Red Traffic Light is directly connected to the Salvation Society, which is why the Tutor wants us to find him.'
'The Salvation Society is going to dispatch the children imprisoned here together to arrest the frenzied Red Traffic Light. My true self and Kong Youling are definitely included in this.'
'So... if I can find Red Traffic Light one step ahead of the Salvation Society, I will have the chance to set an ambush around him. I can play the oriole stalking the mantis that stalks the cicada, and find a way to rescue my true self and Kong Youling at the sa ti.'
'But right now, the only people I can call on are the young miss, Big Brother, and the others. If we ambush them there in advance, do we really have a chance of defeating the people from the Salvation Society?'
At this thought, Ji Minghuan opened the CD player's tray, swapped in the disc for "Kan Rider Geats
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