Chapter 22: Confession in the Twilight, News

With his backpack slung over his shoulder, Ke Mingqing walked alone along the edge of the coastal highway, heading down toward the base of the mountain against the flow of traffic.

He kept his hands stuffed in his pockets, his head lowered as if lost in thought. At this moment, the entire highway was baking under the blazing summer sun, and even the waves crashing against the sandy beach were dyed a brilliant gold.

Ke Mingqing just kept walking down like this. Countless buses passed him by, and the sky above gradually darkened. Before he knew it, dusk had arrived. He leaned against the railing and glanced over his shoulder. The setting sun was slowly sinking toward the horizon, drawing away the light scattered across the sea and the highway.

By the time he snapped out of his daze, he had finally reached the end of the road.

The evening sea breeze ruffled his hair. He looked up and saw a young girl in a white linen dress sitting quietly on a public wooden bench by the sea, her head drooping as she spaced out.

He sat down on the other side of the bench. Without saying a word, he simply accompanied her in gazing out at the twilight sea.

Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili sat there together on the wooden bench, quietly looking out at the ocean. No one spoke for a long while. The only sounds enveloping them were the crashing of the evening waves and the rumble of buses passing by behind them.

After a while, she suddenly spoke up. "I've actually just been under a lot of pressure lately... Just pretend I never said those things earlier, okay?"

"I know," Ke Mingqing said softly. "You can tell me if something is bothering you."

He paused. "And... it's really not that I don't want to understand you. It's just that you keep shutting yourself away. You haven't even given me a chance to understand you, alright?"

"But what if there are some things that, once said, would completely change how the people around you look at you?" Xia Zili asked in a hushed voice after a long time.

"Then try saying it anyway. I'm your brother."

"I tried. I told you last night."

"Did you?"

"I said..." She took a deep breath and lowered her voice. "Your sister has developed an incurable Spirit illness and is about to turn into a lunatic. Are you satisfied?"

Ke Mingqing suddenly understood. It turned out that Xia Zili's sudden emotional outburst this afternoon wasn't because she had been cyberbullied by the global media for days on end, nor was it because she had been hiding her identity as a Magical Girl from her family and had no one to confide in.

It was because she knew in her heart that she was very likely to turn into a Witch—to become a murderous, frenzied, near-human yet inhuman creature. Yet, she couldn't bring herself to tell the people around her, which was why she felt so depressed and helpless.

But who could she tell?

First, she could rule out her family. Having been a Magical Girl for two years, she had inevitably made quite a few enemies. What if she dragged her family into danger? Moreover, in her eyes, her family members were all ordinary people—who among them could possibly understand how she felt?

If she told other Magical Girls, the situation would be even worse.

Once the people at the Magical Girl Company found out about this, they would put her on a control list. For the rest of her days, she would be locked away in a dark observation room, where the only thing she could do every day was hug her knees and stare blankly at the iron panels on the ceiling.

Thinking of this, Ke Mingqing suddenly shrugged and let out a helpless, dry laugh.

He thought, "Silly sister, what kind of problem is that? What if, half a year from now, I don't have to pretend anymore? What if I tell you that I'm actually not your brother, but just a player from a parallel world, and that if I don't kill you, I'll bite the dust myself? What would you think then?"

After a while, he finally spoke up.

"Didn't I tell you? Even if you have a Spirit illness, you're still my sister. No matter what happens to you, you'll always be my sister."

Ke Mingqing spoke casually as he gently reached out a hand toward her.

He seemed to want to stroke her hair, but after hesitating for a moment and seeing no reaction from Xia Zili, he simply put a gentle arm around her shoulders.

This was already the best family member Ke Mingqing could imagine himself playing. He had never had a family in his previous life, yet he had also yearned for one to be by his side—to put an arm around his shoulders and listen to him pour his heart out.

Xia Zili still didn't say anything. Her eyelids merely fluttered slightly, and she didn't resist his gesture.

After all, their relationship had been much better when they were younger. It hadn't just been putting arms around shoulders; back then, when she was bullied at school, she would come home crying, hugging him as she poured her heart out. But when exactly had they started drifting apart?

Perhaps it was the moment she stubbornly decided to become a Magical Girl, resolving to protect him at all costs?

In the setting sun, Xia Zili's lowered face was bathed in a halo of light.

The two of them sat quietly by the sea for a while, listening to the SWISH of the waves.

Before long, the setting sun completely sank below the horizon. Twilight gradually veiled the coast, and tens of thousands of hectares of maple trees in the distance swayed in the wind, resembling a dim, yellow ocean.

The tide crashed against the black shore, shattering into white sea foam. Amidst the RUSTLE of swaying maple leaves, one of the people on the wooden bench asked, "Ready to go?"

After a long pause, the other person replied softly, "Yeah... let's go home."

At 7:00 PM on July 3rd, Ke Mingqing and Xia Zili boarded a bus and returned to the Old Jingmai District.

The two of them hardly spoke during the ride. They simply watched the city enveloped in twilight before closing their eyes, leaning against the bus windows, and falling asleep. By the time they woke up, the bus had already arrived at their stop.

The night was tranquil. Children were playing and chasing each other through the streets and alleys, and a trace of dark red still lingered in the sky at this hour.

Not long after Ke Mingqing arrived home, Xia Ningzhi also returned from school, carrying her backpack.

Third sister Xia Ningzhi was still wearing her blue-and-white school uniform today. Her hair was tied into a quirky yet pretty bun, just like Nezha from the TV shows.

The moment he laid eyes on Xia Ningzhi, a quest panel suddenly surfaced at the bottom of his vision.

[Main Quest 4 (Phase 1): Use your secondary identity to make contact with the Mythical Carrier—"Honglian Hua," and establish a connection with the target.]

He thought, "Interacting with one family member a day? I'm really busy enough as it is."

"Staring blankly at me again? Did you get heatstroke?" Xia Ningzhi immediately delivered a sharp knock to his head, pressing her knuckles into his skull and drilling them in circles, just like how Da Xiong's mother scolded Da Xiong in "Doraemon".

"So annoying! I just think the way you tied your hair looks stupid," Ke Mingqing said, swatting her hands away.

Xia Ningzhi curled her lips into a smile, completely unbothered. "My classmates and teachers all praise me for looking good. They say I'm the modern-day Nezha."

"Are the college entrance exams over?" Ke Mingwei, dressed in a police uniform, asked as he took off his leather shoes and walked over from the entryway with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"There's still one day left," Xia Ningzhi replied casually.

Ke Mingwei sat down on the sofa, using the remote control to turn on the TV as he said, "Why are the college entrance exams so late this year? I remember they're usually in June."

Xia Ningzhi tossed her backpack onto the sofa and plopped down. Leaning against the backrest, she stretched lazily and explained, "They were delayed because of the Clock Guest Imitator Attack Incident, Dad. Your memory is really terrible."

Upon hearing the name "Clock Guest," Ke Mingwei suddenly fell silent for a moment, a cold glint swirling in his eyes.

With a CLICK, he lit his cigarette with a lighter and asked in a low voice, "So, how did you do on the exams?"

Xia Ningzhi blinked at him. "I feel pretty good about it. Maybe I can go to the same university as Second Sister."

"Why not Eldest Brother?" Ke Mingqing chimed in.

"Eldest Brother's personality is too weird. We don't get along," Xia Ningzhi muttered softly.

Ke Mingwei sighed gently. "Your eldest brother just has a slightly eccentric personality. He actually cares about you all more than anyone else."

"I know! Good daddy," Xia Ningzhi smiled faintly.

A while later, Xia Zili finished her shower, changed into a nightgown, and sat down in front of the TV as well.

Catching sight of Ke Mingqing still wearing that fanboy T-shirt, she couldn't help but frown.

At that moment, Xia Zili suddenly had a stroke of inspiration and spoke up.

"Dad, what do you think of his T-shirt?" she asked, gesturing with her eyes toward the Magic Girl Embers fanboy T-shirt Ke Mingqing was wearing.

Ke Mingwei had been watching TV while smoking. Hearing his daughter say this, he finally noticed the fanboy T-shirt on Ke Mingqing.

He took one look and frowned. "What is that nonsense? Change out of it immediately, or you'll get laughed at by the other students when you go to school."

Xia Zili kept a straight face, but inwardly pumped her fist in triumph. She thought, "Good job, Dad. That's exactly the imposing attitude we need."

Ke Mingqing heaved a long sigh. He turned his head to meet his old father's eyes and said, "Dad, you really micromanage everything. Could we not act like a cop on patrol 24/7 inside our own home?"

Resting the cap of her pen against her chin, Xia Ningzhi looked down at her vocabulary notebook and chuckled softly.

She said mildly, "Exactly. What's wrong with our Qing having his own hobbies? I just hope the girlfriend he brings home in the future will be as cute as this Magical Girl."

Listening from the side, Xia Zili's small face flushed red, suddenly finding it a bit unbearable.

She thought, "Third Sister, you're just aiding and abetting him! I wanted Dad to discipline this stinky fourth brother and make him seal this T-shirt away forever."

Ke Mingwei furrowed his brow and took another look at the face of the Gothic Dress Girl on Ke Mingqing's T-shirt. Finally, he sighed, retracted his gaze, and stubbed out his cigarette butt in the ashtray.

The four of them sat in front of the sofa, each minding their own business. Xia Ningzhi was reviewing a physics workbook; Ke Mingqing was drinking a beverage and playing Tetris; Ke Mingwei was watching current affairs news on the TV; and Xia Zili was memorizing English vocabulary words.

Meanwhile, their mother, Xia Wenna, wearing an apron, was quietly preparing dinner in the kitchen while listening to "Second Love", an old Showa-era Japanese song sung by Nakamori Akina.

The cicadas chirped faintly, and the twilight deepened outside. It was quite a tranquil and cozy evening.

However, a short while later, the news anchor on the TV suddenly put on a serious expression.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you two urgent updates. Today at 19:40, the wanted criminal, the robotic Modified People Gast, attacked the headquarters of the Li Jing Fifth Bank, resulting in at least three deaths and twelve injuries. Separately, at 19:43, the fugitive Vampire criminal 'Stro' carried out a series of attacks on the Zero Number Elevated Bridge in Li Jing. Nine citizens have been confirmed severely injured from blood drain, and traffic on the bridge is completely paralyzed."

The next moment, the three people sitting on the sofa stood up almost in unison and spoke at the exact same time.

"I'm going out to buy a pack of cigarettes," Ke Mingwei said.

"Oh right, I just remembered I have to go out for dinner with a classmate tonight," Xia Zili said.

"Crap, I forgot my workbook at school. Tomorrow is the second day of the college entrance exams, so I have to go get it back to review," Xia Ningzhi said.

As soon as their voices fell, the three of them exchanged surprised glances.

Only the sole person remaining seated on the sofa kept a calm expression. Ke Mingqing took a sip of icy cola and thought, "It's good to be busy. It's great that everyone is a little busy..."

At the same time, taking advantage of the others' inattention, he fished the D-Class item "Tracking Sunglasses" out of his pants pocket. Pressing the button on the frame, he locked onto his third sister Xia Ningzhi's location.

[Prompt: The "Tracking Sunglasses" have locked onto a Superhuman Species—"Mythical Carrier: Honglian Hua." For the next two hours, the target's location will be continuously marked on the sunglasses' map.]