Chapter 35: Tianqu
07:30 AM Japan time, Minato City, Tokyo, Shiba Park.
If Tokyo at night was a dazzling vixen flaunting herself under the spotlight of neon lights, then Tokyo in the early morning was like a girl doing laundry by the stream—simple and radiant.
Beautiful, yes—but compared to the former, it lacked that bewitching charm that made one want to stop and stare.
Ji Minghuan stopped at the traffic light ahead. Through the curtain of rain, the red pedestrian light blinked faintly.
He raised an arm to shield himself from the drizzle and glanced down at the message on his phone.
[Anonymous User: Waiting in the third private room of the underground bar in Block 5, Minato City, Tokyo.]
Once again impressed by the system’s twisted sense of humor, Ji Minghuan sighed, shut off his phone, and muttered, “Come on... when will my character memory finish loading? Or do I really look like someone who can read Japanese?”
The next second, a system panel popped up in front of him.
[System Notice: Loading memory of Character No. 2. Countdown of five seconds initiated. Memory of Game Character No. 2—‘Xia Pingzhou’—will be transferred into your mind. Please prepare mentally.]
As the prompt ended, Ji Minghuan’s mind felt like a high-speed slideshow was playing at 100x speed. In just a moment, he had experienced the entirety of Xia Pingzhou’s nineteen years of life.
What left the deepest impression on Ji Minghuan, of course, was the scene from half a year ago: when Xia Pingzhou returned home to find the dismembered remains of his family hanging from the balcony. The distant city lights were glowing warmly, and the breeze that blew in from the city carried the stench of blood to Xia Pingzhou’s nose.
He stood staring blankly at the bodies, slowly backing away until he hit the wall with nowhere else to go, then slid to the ground and screamed silently.
It was much later that Xia Pingzhou learned his family had likely just been chatting on the rooftop.
They happened to glance a couple of times at “Jack the Ripper” walking through the alley downstairs. Just two extra glances—and she casually carved them into pieces and hung them on display like artwork.
And it was precisely to hunt down this evil Exorcist known as “Jack the Ripper” that Xia Pingzhou joined the White Crow Brigade. Though he still didn’t know much about the other members, he was certain—nine out of ten—that Jack the Ripper was hiding among them.
Today was the first time he would meet members of the White Crow Brigade in person.
That message he just received had been sent by one of the Brigade members—the meeting location.
Thanks to Xia Pingzhou having studied Japanese for a while, Ji Minghuan, now equipped with his memory, no longer felt lost when reading the neon signs.
And aside from the horrific memory of his family being butchered and strung up on the balcony, another vivid moment from Xia Pingzhou’s memories was when he first awakened his “Tianqu.”
It happened while he was watching a game of international chess on TV. Suddenly, a black-and-white light burst from within him, surging uncontrollably and wrapping around his body. Moments later, the light solidified into chess pieces, orbiting him like satellites.
Xia Pingzhou had obtained four chess pieces in total: King, Queen, Pawn, and Rook.
After awakening Tianqu, whenever he summoned them with a thought, the pieces would appear enveloped in that black-and-white light, circling him slowly.
He could pluck a piece from the air to summon the corresponding unit into reality. They would obey his commands without question.
Not long after, the Exorcist Association tracked the energy signature from Tianqu’s awakening and found 17-year-old Xia Pingzhou. They invited him to join their ranks.
Living in poverty, Xia Pingzhou had long since dropped out of school, drifting through unfamiliar cities trying to survive. Faced with the Association’s high-paying offer, he gladly accepted.
It was through Xia Pingzhou’s memories that Ji Minghuan finally pieced together what “Tianqu” meant, and what exactly an “Exorcist” was.
............
Two years ago, Xia Pingzhou demonstrated his “Tianqu” to staff from the Chinese branch of the Exorcist Association.
Seeing the unique value of his Tianqu, the branch director personally came to meet him. The two talked at length.
“What exactly is Tianqu?” Xia Pingzhou asked.
“Every Exorcist possesses their own ‘Destiny Weapon.’ Another name for it is ‘Tianqu.’ Anyone qualified to be an Exorcist will develop a Tianqu seed within them as they grow,” the director said. “Tianqu can take the form of guns, blades, bows—or even strange objects like glasses, brooms, or razors. Its form is shaped by the Exorcist’s inner world.”
“Are there ranks among Exorcists?” Xia Pingzhou asked.
“There are three levels. Every time an Exorcist ascends a rank, they can form a contract with one demon. That demon will fuse into their Tianqu as a component of the weapon.”
“So what do Exorcists actually do?”
“Just what the name says: exorcise demons.”
“And what are demons?”
The director chuckled. “Different cultures have different terms. In ancient China, Exorcists were called Daoists, and demons were known as ghosts or monsters. In Japan, they’re called yokai. Americans call them demons.”
He paused for a moment. “Eventually, Exorcists from different nations began communicating. They realized their terminology didn’t match, so they agreed on a global standard—anyone who hunts demons is an ‘Exorcist,’ and all evil spirits are simply ‘demons.’ Saved everyone a lot of trouble.”
“Why did you come to me?”
“Because when your Tianqu awakened, the power reading hit ‘Double S-rank.’ That’s incredibly rare, even globally.”
At that, the director’s tone grew serious. “We need you… If you stay on this path, you’re destined to become a legend—maybe even the future leader of the entire Association.”
Not long after, Xia Pingzhou’s team met with disaster. Exhausted in body and spirit, he refused repeated offers to return and opted for a normal life.
But that peace didn’t last. His family encountered Jack the Ripper.
To get revenge, Xia Pingzhou once again picked up his pursuit of power and began investigating the White Crow Brigade.
Unfortunately, just before he could get his revenge—right as he was flying to Tokyo to meet the Brigade—Ji Minghuan’s consciousness loaded into the game character’s body.
From then on, he took over all of Xia Pingzhou’s actions.
..........
“Compared to the last character, was it really necessary for this guy’s backstory to be this dark? That memory marathon almost gave me depression,” Ji Minghuan scratched his head, muttering to himself.
Of course, no matter how elaborate a character’s background was, it all served the “Main Quest.” It didn’t actually affect him emotionally.
What Ji Minghuan cared about was the character’s potential and how valuable their Skill Tree System could be. After all, Black Cocoon’s skill set leaned toward “Recon” and “Support”—clearly not suited for being a main combatant.
If this second character’s build was fit for combat, then it would perfectly cover his weaknesses.
Thinking this, Ji Minghuan opened Xia Pingzhou’s Skill Tree System.
The next moment, the outline of a giant tree popped into view, with three main branches extending upward.
He glanced at it and saw that the general layout was the same as Black Cocoon’s—only the color scheme differed slightly: Xia Pingzhou’s skill tree had black-and-white branches and background, while Black Cocoon’s tree was red-and-black.
Ji Minghuan looked up at the skill tree details.
[Branch 1 (Troop): Recruit Soldiers (Costs 1 Skill Point) → Unknown → Unknown...]
[Recruit Soldiers: Gain two “Pawn” chess pieces.]
[Branch 2 (Valor): Chess Evolution (Condition: Must spend a total of 3 Skill Points in other branches before unlocking) (Costs 1 Skill Point) → Unknown → Unknown...]
[Chess Evolution: Evolves all of your chess pieces. They will ascend from “Iron Body” to “Silver Body,” and their base stats will increase overall.]
[Branch 3 (Soul): Demon Hunter (Costs 1 Skill Point) → Unknown → Unknown...]
[Demon Hunter: After your chess pieces participate in killing a demon, you have a chance to gain a unique chess piece related to that demon. (This piece can only be “materialized” once, and will not respawn if destroyed like normal pieces.)]
As someone who’d mastered countless RPGs, Ji Minghuan immediately understood this character’s role.
“A summoner build, huh...”