Chapter 55: Airport
July 12, 7 p.m., Lijing Capital International Airport.
A yellow taxi stopped at the T3 arrivals level. The car door opened, and Gu Qiye, Gu Zhuo’an, and Ji Minghuan stepped out one after another.
To be honest, the family walking together was pretty eye-catching. Gu Zhuo’an’s genes were strong—Gu Qiye and Gu Wenyu, the two brothers, were both good-looking with slim, tall builds.
Gu Zhuo’an popped open the trunk, pulled out a suitcase, and handed it to Gu Qiye.
Moments later, the three of them headed into the terminal.
Gu Qiye dragged two suitcases, one in each hand; Gu Zhuo’an pulled one with his left hand and had a backpack slung over his shoulder; only Ji Minghuan had nothing to do, trailing behind them while playing with his phone.
“You two Calamity-level big shots, hauling an extra couple suitcases shouldn’t be a problem, right? It’s not like you’ll die from it,” he said, completely guilt-free.
The three passed through security and strolled into the T3 terminal. Moonlight streamed through the terminal’s famous “dragon-scale skylight,” casting soft beams. The roof was densely striped, fading from red to orange.
Travelers flowed back and forth like a school of fish, and many foreign faces were among them.
A piano piece rippled through the airport like the tide—it was Chopin’s “Raindrop Prelude.” The T3 terminal played it on loop around the clock. At this moment, a group of Reality-altering Espers from the Lijing branch was stationed at the terminal exit. Dressed in eccentric attire, they smiled and occasionally signed autographs for passing fans.
Strangely enough, Silver Swallow was among them.
According to online rumors, some bigwig from another country was set to arrive at this airport tonight and leave through T3. To show hospitality, the Lijing branch had deployed a lineup of its more well-known Espers.
Lijing’s star Esper, Blue Arc, happened to be on assignment in Japan. Other Espers of the same rank were either on vacation or out of town on missions, leaving only poor Silver Swallow stuck with the duty.
Only Gu Qiye knew that tonight, a member of the UN Esper organization Rainbow Wing would be arriving in Lijing.
He’d be working with specialists from the Association to lie in wait in Lijing for several days, with the goal of capturing the long-rampant S-rank criminal—Ghost Bell.
According to higher-ups, this mission had to succeed. Even if Ghost Bell died in the process, it didn’t matter. With Rainbow Wing involved, they needed a result—dead or alive.
Gu Qiye understood what the higher-ups were worried about: every time Ghost Bell appeared, his power had clearly increased. That alone spoke volumes about how terrifying his growth potential was.
If they didn’t act soon to restrain Ghost Bell, it wouldn’t be long before he evolved into a Calamity-level Esper—or even worse… something beyond that.
Just then, Gu Zhuo’an reached into his pocket and touched his cigarette pack.
Gu Qiye caught the motion and immediately said, “No smoking in the terminal.”
“I was just feeling for it. I remember you can only take two cigarettes onto a plane,” Gu Zhuo’an replied.
A nearby scream drew Ji Minghuan’s attention. He looked up from his phone, eyes following the sound to where Silver Swallow was being mobbed by fans.
His eyes lit up slightly. Suddenly, he turned to Gu Qiye and asked, “Can I go over there for a sec?”
“What for?” Gu Qiye asked.
“To get Silver Swallow’s autograph! I’m a fan, been following him for ten years! I’m even wearing his rare fan T-shirt right now!”
Ji Minghuan faked an excited tone, lifted his drooping eyelids, and tugged on his T-shirt in front of Gu Qiye, deliberately showing off the print. He looked exactly like a little fan meeting his idol—just missing the head-bobbing waddle of a penguin.
Gu Qiye glanced at the shirt. On it was a silver hamster munching on a chunk of metal. The hamster’s expression was cold and menacing, practically shouting “Don’t mess with me.”
Gu Qiye froze for a second, then couldn’t help but laugh.
He remembered that a year ago, Silver Swallow had ranted about this very T-shirt design. Late one night, he’d spent twenty minutes complaining over the phone about how the company completely ruined his image.
Silver Swallow had said his persona was supposed to be tall and imposing, but because of this merch, fans kept calling him “cute” and “baby hamster Silver Swallow.” It drove him nuts. He’d wanted to storm into the design company and tear the place down.
At the time, Gu Qiye was still in high school. He’d been at home memorizing English lines while listening to this grown man vent, wondering how Silver Swallow would react if he knew that the famous Blue Arc was just a high school student.
He reached out and patted Ji Minghuan on the head, deciding to let his little brother go harass Silver Swallow.
“Go ahead, just don’t take too long.”
“Oh, oh.”
Ji Minghuan slapped his hand away and slowly strolled toward Silver Swallow.
Moments later, Ji Minghuan emerged from the noisy crowd. Now his T-shirt had a brand-new autograph scribbled on it. The handwriting was crooked and ugly, as if it oozed resentment.
Click. He struck a peace-sign pose and snapped a selfie, making sure to capture Silver Swallow in the background, still swarmed by fangirls.
Gu Qiye glanced up at the densely packed flight information screens above.
The large screen on the top left displayed flight numbers and departure times. The right screen looped through photos of wanted criminals, alerting airport staff and security to stay vigilant.
If they’d arrived half a day earlier, “Da Zhonghou” and “Flying Ant” would still be on that list. But now, Gu Qiye had already thrown them into the Esper prison. Their photos had been removed from the board.
“What now?” Ji Minghuan asked, stashing his phone and glancing around.
“Check in for the flight,” Gu Qiye replied.
“Oh.” Ji Minghuan looked like he half-understood. “But I’ve never been on a plane. What do I do?”
“I’ll teach you how to check in.”
“I’ll take you to the counter.”
Gu Qiye and Gu Zhuo’an spoke at the same time, then locked eyes.
“You go.”
“No, you go.”
They locked eyes again.
“What’s wrong with both of you? Can’t we just line up together?” Ji Minghuan asked.
He glanced at the number on the screen and headed toward Gate 13.
The two big men silently followed behind him.
After checking in, the three of them found a restaurant in the airport and ate a little to fill up. During the meal, Gu Qiye’s attention stayed fixed on the terminal exit. He was deeply curious which Rainbow Wing member the UN had sent to capture Ghost Bell.
Not long after, a figure emerged from the terminal. He wore a pure white, front-clasped traditional Tang suit. Nearby people gasped and whispered as soon as they saw him.
With long, jet-black hair flowing down his back, sunglasses on, and a lean frame, the man made Gu Qiye pause in surprise.
Across from him, Gu Zhuo’an also caught sight of the figure out of the corner of his eye—and froze.
His pupils shrank sharply, and his right hand, resting on the table, began to tremble uncontrollably.
Like a mad dog spotting its prey, Gu Zhuo’an locked his gaze on the man’s side profile.
In that moment, his expression turned ashen. He was suddenly filled with overwhelming regret—regret for promising the two kids just two days ago that he’d go with them to Japan… No, regret wasn’t enough. He wanted to go back two days and tear his former self in half for saying yes!
Because the man now walking into view was none other than the only publicly identified member of Rainbow Wing—Fan Dongqing, the “Vessel of Wrath”!
The legendary hero who, years ago, single-handedly stopped a falling meteor from destroying Lijing.
And also the one person Gu Zhuo’an had longed to meet for years—with no success.