Chapter 61: Meet-Up
"Black... mummy?"
Ke Qirui rested her hand on her chin, silently thinking for a moment. For some reason, a figure suddenly popped into her mind.
When she first arrived in Tokyo, back in the Train Demon’s carriage, she and Su Zimai had discussed that Esper who’d recently appeared in Lijing—“Black Cocoon.”
They had looked at a newspaper then, and in the photo was a figure hanging upside down beneath a billboard, his whole body wrapped in bands, looking just like... a black mummy. That image had stuck with Ke Qirui so strongly that she even dreamed about it that night: a rainy evening, Black Cocoon hanging upside down beneath a streetlight, waving at her with a binding restraint.
"Could he be talking about..."
She muttered as she turned to look back.
In the entrance corridor, Xia Pingzhou's silhouette was already out of sight.
..........
..........
At the same time, on the other side of Roppongi’s new district. The Queen Colossus cradled Ji Minghuan in her arms, bounding between the tall buildings. Though her body was forged from black iron, she moved as lightly as a sheet of paper beneath the night sky, reflecting the sharp moonlight.
Every time she leapt, she would crouch down in advance to protect Ji Minghuan tightly.
Ji Minghuan’s hair was blown high by the Tokyo wind, exposing his forehead.
His primary character, “Gu Wenyu,” had already arrived in Japan. After getting off the plane, he was currently looking for the hotel with Gu Zhuo’an and Gu Qiye.
Fortunately, his dad spoke Japanese, and his older brother knew a bit too—probably around an N4 level—so they hadn’t run into any issues on the way. At the very least, asking for directions wasn’t a problem.
"So multitasking isn't as hard as I imagined." Ji Minghuan stared dazedly at the brightly lit Tokyo Tower in the distance, his mind wandering. "In just one more week, the Brigade’s heist at the auction will officially begin."
This operation would involve a lot of complex relationships, and most of those were people connected to his primary character. The key problem was that even pulling a random one of them would be enough to instantly wipe out Xia Pingzhou. Thinking of that, Ji Minghuan sighed softly.
Sensing his mood, the Queen Colossus lowered her head to glance at him, then continued striding through the moonlight.
"If I want my second character to not look completely useless in front of the Brigade, I’d better act like he’s actually capable. Looks like... the only way is to find a decent opponent during the auction and beat the s**t out of him."
After mentally scanning through all the heavy hitters, Ji Minghuan really couldn’t think of anyone his second character could beat at the auction—maybe he could clean up some small fry at best.
Well, except for one person: Su Zimai.
Since the auction was being held by the Japanese Exorcist Association in collaboration with several major Yakuza families, Ke Qirui’s reason for coming to Tokyo was clear: she was likely one of the auction’s security detail.
As a member of the Ghost Train Brigade, Su Zimai would no doubt be by her side.
"As her big brother, giving a little discipline to a runaway sister doesn’t sound too out of line..." Ji Minghuan gave a quiet “hmm,” nodded silently, and readied himself to enforce justice even if it meant turning on his own kin. "My foolish little sis, get ready to meet your end. I’m targeting you and only you at the auction."
Right at that moment, also in Tokyo, Su Zimai sneezed.
"Aa—choo!"
"Got a cold?"
Ke Qirui turned her head while puffing from her pipe.
"In the middle of summer? No way I’ve got a cold." Su Zimai frowned, rubbing her red nose while fiddling with her phone. "Someone’s probably badmouthing me behind my back."
"I thought it was someone thinking about you that made you sneeze? Our little Mai really is popular."
"Shut it."
Under the neon signs of the Tokyo streets, the two strolled forward chatting and laughing. As they passed a red-and-yellow paper lantern hanging outside an izakaya, Ke Qirui looked ahead and casually brought something up: "Hey, aren’t those your family?"
"You..." Su Zimai was about to say, Captain, you seriously think that’s gonna fool me?
But then she suddenly remembered Gu Wenyu had messaged her, saying they were coming to Japan for a trip. She froze slightly, looked up from her phone—and spotted three very familiar figures approaching from the corner.
Su Zimai stared in shock, jaw nearly hitting the ground. She couldn’t help but exclaim softly:
"No way. Dad? ...My brother’s here too?"
Gu Qiye, Gu Zhuo’an, and Gu Wenyu were walking down the street toward them. One was looking down at the GPS and leading the way, one was smoking and staring off at Tokyo’s nightscape, and the last was fiddling with some crappy mobile game on his phone.
Crap... totally screwed. Her eyelid twitched. How could things line up this perfectly?
"I still have your brother’s contact saved in my phone. Can’t really pretend we don’t know each other," Ke Qirui said as she spotted Gu Wenyu and smiled. "Want to go say hi?"
"Captain, are you nuts?! If they find out I’m in Japan, I’m dead meat! My big brother will nag me all summer. If you want to go, go by yourself!"
Su Zimai lowered her voice in a rush and, like a little hamster, scurried behind Ke Qirui, clutching the hem of her coat and peeking cautiously at the others.
The moment she saw an opening, she darted into a nearby phone booth.
With her back to the trio, she pulled out her phone and opened WeChat to send a message to Gu Wenyu.
"Mai Mai, looks like we’ve already been spotted... though only I’ve been spotted," Ke Qirui put away her pipe. Turning her head, she realized the kid had already ducked into the phone booth. She gave a helpless chuckle.
Not far off, Ji Minghuan, controlling Gu Wenyu’s body, looked up at Ke Qirui. "Ah... isn’t that..."
"Someone you know?" Gu Qiye asked, glancing at his younger brother.
"Yeah, someone I know. Didn’t expect to run into them in Japan too... What a coincidence."
Right after speaking, Ji Minghuan saw a WeChat message pop up on his phone.
[Su Zimai: What are you doing here?]
[Gu Wenyu: Didn’t I tell you? Big bro’s taking us on a trip to Japan.]
[Su Zimai: Must’ve missed it.]
[Gu Wenyu: Don’t lie. You even replied ‘shut up’ at the time. I remember it clearly.]
[Su Zimai: Help me out. Distract Dad and big bro—get them away from here!]
[Gu Wenyu: Not my problem.]
[Su Zimai: Hurry up!!]
Ji Minghuan rolled his eyes, turned, and shoved his backpack into Gu Qiye’s arms. "Bro, you and Dad head back to the hotel first and drop off our stuff. I’m starving. I’ll grab something to eat nearby with my friend and call you later."
Gu Qiye said, "But you don’t have any yen on you, and I haven’t helped you set up PayPal yet."
"My friend’s buying." Ji Minghuan didn’t even look back as he pointed at Ke Qirui.
Following his finger, Gu Qiye glanced over at Ke Qirui from afar. The mixed-race girl gave a calm, elegant smile and waved gently at Gu Wenyu.
Ke Qirui’s attire and aura came off as refined and sharp. She didn’t look like someone dangerous.
Gu Qiye hesitated for half a second, then slung Ji Minghuan’s backpack over his shoulder and reminded him, "After you eat, go back to the hotel early. It’s already late—don’t wander off anywhere else, got it?"
"Yeah, yeah," Ji Minghuan replied impatiently and shut off his phone.
Gu Zhuo’an said nothing, quietly smoking and zoning out at the Tokyo nightscape.
Ji Minghuan walked over toward Ke Qirui.
Behind him, Gu Qiye and Gu Zhuo’an stood still for a moment, watching his back, then picked up their suitcase and turned to head toward their reserved hotel.
Before leaving, Gu Qiye gave Ke Qirui’s profile a quick sideways glance.
But he still didn’t notice Su Zimai hiding in the phone booth, back turned to them the entire time.