Chapter 60: Gap
Late at night, at the entrance of Roppongi EX Theater.
Keeping a short distance between them, Ji Minghuan and Ke Qirui locked eyes. The Queen Colossus stood silently by Ji Minghuan’s side, the cold blue flames in her slender eye sockets burning fiercely.
"Ke Qirui," Ji Minghuan stared straight into her eyes, expressionless, "I remember your name."
"Oh? I thought you would've forgotten me. So... do you have time for a little chat? Right here is fine—after all, you've already taken care of the surveillance."
As Ke Qirui spoke, she took another drag from her cigarette, smoke swirling around her fingertips.
"If I said I didn’t have time, would you let me go?"
"True... if that really happened, I might try to make you have time." Ke Qirui returned her pipe to her pocket, not denying it. "But I'm a polite person, so I figured I’d ask first."
Ji Minghuan stayed silent, his face blank. Keeping up Xia Pingzhou’s cold persona was tiring. If he were playing as “Black Cocoon” instead, he probably would’ve already snapped back at her.
The Queen Colossus stepped forward with her twin daggers, the blue flames in her sockets blazing intensely.
"My companion is nearby." Ke Qirui took off her monocle and gently wiped it with a cloth from her pocket. "You're indeed a highly gifted exorcist. I watched the whole fight earlier—despite having been out of practice for over a year, your strength still exceeds my expectations. But I don’t think you can handle a fight outnumbered." She paused: "And... personally, I don’t want to fight you either."
Hearing this, Ji Minghuan couldn’t help but picture Su Zimai’s face—and silently backed down.
He didn’t know the others, but his own sister’s personality and temper? Of course he knew.
Su Zimai was the type who, growing up, would always win fights with her two older brothers by literally pinning them down. She didn’t hold back, and once she got worked up, she stopped thinking entirely.
If a chase broke out and Su Zimai suddenly pulled some deadly move and wiped out his second character, he wouldn’t even be surprised.
He asked, "So... in the middle of the night, you guys followed me all the way here?"
Ke Qirui shook her head. "No, we didn’t follow you. And we weren’t looking for you specifically. It’s just... fate between us."
"How fated, you ask..." she chuckled, "Every time I detect a demon in the harbor district and bring my people to check it out... I run into you."
"Maybe we should stop calling it fate."
"We met once two years ago. Since you still remember my name, you must remember what happened back then too."
"So? What are you trying to say?"
As he spoke, Ji Minghuan glanced at the crow tattoo on the back of his hand. Word was the leader’s ability involved manipulating crows, so Ji Minghuan wasn’t sure if this tattoo had some sort of surveillance function... If it did, he had to choose his words very carefully.
Every sentence from here on out could be a matter of life and death.
Ke Qirui was silent for a moment, then slowly took a file from her trench coat pocket. "I spent some time today looking into what happened six months ago. I truly regret that incident..."
She thought for a second: "Right now, I’m the only one in the entire Association who knows what you’re doing. Everyone else thinks you’ve disappeared. For your safety, I used my access privileges to delete your file. That way, no one can trace your background. Not even... them."
The "them" she referred to was obviously the Brigade. She knew full well—if the White Crow Brigade hacked into the Exorcist Association’s system and discovered Xia Pingzhou’s background, the consequences would be dire.
The file had some photos attached. In the photos was a rooftop. Bloody organs and flesh hung from a clothesline. Even a human face had been peeled off whole and now hung quietly beside the rest of the organs.
Ji Minghuan rolled his eyes internally. Are we role-playing now? I’m playing Blue Arc, you’re playing Black Cocoon under a streetlamp... The tables really have turned.
"You’ve got the wrong person."
He said this as he began walking toward the exit hallway.
"Call it off... this is dangerous." Ke Qirui looked away. "But even so, my gut tells me... you won’t compromise."
"You’ve already made up your mind that I’m someone else, so what’s the point in defending myself?"
Ignoring his words, Ke Qirui said expressionlessly, "It’s not too late to leave them. Even if the Brigade sees you as a traitor and hunts you down, the Exorcist Association can guarantee your safety... It’s better to come back to us than stay with that group of lunatics. You might not even survive a month with them."
"I said you’ve got the wrong person," Ji Minghuan replied, thinking, what, I’m just gonna ditch my main quest now?
"Yeah... I figured you'd say that," Ke Qirui said. "We can exchange contact info. If you ever come to your senses, you can reach out to me."
"I refuse." Ji Minghuan’s face was expressionless. "Don’t try to stop me... How do you know the rest of my teammates aren’t nearby? Or do you think your people have a chance against us?"
With that, he silently brushed past Ke Qirui and stepped into the entrance hallway.
He hoped Ke Qirui would understand—their conversation was likely being overheard by the Brigade. With those monsters, nothing was too bizarre. Continuing this conversation would only increase the risk.
Fortunately, Ke Qirui never explicitly said anything, like Xia Pingzhou joined the Brigade for revenge. Otherwise, Ji Minghuan might’ve had to fight her just to prove himself.
The whole Roppongi Theater was so quiet that only footsteps could be heard. Even those, though, were fading away.
Ke Qirui didn’t stop him. "I sympathize with what you went through, but you don’t have to do this. The dead can’t come back... Throwing your life away is just stupid. I’m sure those 'dead people' wouldn’t want to see this."
After a while, Ji Minghuan’s voice came from the hallway behind her.
"How do you know I really 'lost my way' the way you think, and not that I want to follow them?" he said. "We met once two years ago, and that’s enough for you to assume I’m a good person?"
He paused: "What if I actually enjoy being among them? You’ve never seen Jack the Ripper’s work in person. Those faces and organs, swaying in the wind and sunlight—I thought they looked beautiful... Beautiful enough to make me wonder just how captivating the person who did it must be."
Ji Minghuan knew Jack the Ripper probably didn’t even remember killing that family in the alley six months ago. To him, it was just after-dinner entertainment—not worth a second thought.
As long as he didn’t outright say that the victims were Xia Pingzhou’s family, even if Brigade members were eavesdropping with some strange ability, these words wouldn’t raise suspicion.
Hearing this, Ke Qirui fell silent for a long time. She lowered her hat brim, her face hidden in shadow.
Over the years, she’d seen too many lunatics, so she wasn’t shocked or angry at his words—just felt regret...
If Xia Pingzhou really was this far gone, she wouldn’t hesitate to make a move on him right now. Before the auction even started, she’d take out one member of the White Crow Brigade.
But just then, the Queen Colossus suddenly stepped in front of her, raised her hand, and blue flames burst from her fingertips.
The Queen silently traced her finger through the air, and flames formed a line of words:
"I won’t work with you, but someone else might."
Ke Qirui stared at the words, stunned for a second, then whispered,
"Who?"
The Queen continued tracing in midair, flames forming new words:
"A black mummy."
In the next moment, the flame-formed words faded into embers and vanished into the air.
The Queen’s figure began to turn transparent. She walked toward the theater wall, her body blending into it, and gradually disappeared.