Chapter 87: Confession
"Tonight, I’ll make all of Japan remember me."
With that thought, Ji Minghuan sat up from the bed and stepped down onto the floor.
He slipped on the slippers by his bedside, walking toward the floor-to-ceiling window as he extended his right arm.
Lowering his eyes, he watched as the black Binding restraints surged from his sleeve, spilling onto the floor like a rushing tide. The restraints quickly assembled into a pitch-black humanoid figure.
The eerie figure retrieved a casual tracksuit from the suitcase, slipped it on, and then pulled on a pair of pants in just a few movements.
Ji Minghuan focused briefly and instantly adjusted the clone’s appearance to match Gu Wenyu’s exactly.
Then he controlled it to pick up the room key and phone.
The moment the key was pulled out, the lights in the hotel room went dark, plunging it into silence.
The clone left the room and headed toward the Kawasaki Ramen Shop.
“I’ll just send the Binding Restraint Clone to meet Su Zimai. Back at the underground bar, even Dad didn’t notice anything off, let alone Su Zimai or Ke Qirui.” With that in mind, Ji Minghuan wrapped his main body—Unit One—in Binding restraints and slipped out through the window.
An awkward, over-the-top ad jingle echoed over the city as he soared like a transparent bird, wings outstretched past glass walls, leaving only a fleeting shadow behind, dissolving into the night breeze.
…
…
At the same time, in Roppongi, Minato Ward, Tokyo—
The Binding Restraint Clone, now in the form of Gu Wenyu, followed the address Su Zimai had sent.
Looking up, he saw a wooden ramen cart parked outside the shop. Two stools sat under the awning, with customers slurping noodles and the chef cooking from inside the cart.
These carts were designed to hawk ramen in alleyways, but for a well-established ramen shop like this, the cart was mostly for ambiance and helped with marketing.
He glanced at the people on the stools and couldn’t picture someone like Ke Qirui, who had money, sitting on a tiny stool on the street. So he headed inside.
He lifted the warm curtain at the entrance, and a burst of noise and warmth hit him, along with the rich aroma of pork bone broth.
He deliberately made the clone sniff the air and then looked deeper into the shop.
He immediately spotted Su Zimai.
Today, she was wearing a light green tracksuit. Her hair was down instead of tied in a ponytail, and her expression was as indifferent as ever.
As if sensing his gaze, Su Zimai looked up from her phone and met his eyes. She froze slightly, lips pressed together, saying nothing.
She still found it hard to believe... that the sickly-looking older brother in front of her was the flamboyant Blue Arc from the TV.
But no matter what, today she’d find out if it was true.
The two of them stared at each other from across half the ramen shop.
She opened her mouth slightly, lowered her gaze for a moment, then finally muttered a distracted greeting:
"Oh… you’re here."
"Yeah, came for the free food."
Ji Minghuan, controlling the Binding Restraint Clone, walked over and said it as casually as if he were clocking into work.
Then he pulled out a chair and sat down, turning his head to glance at the person beside Su Zimai.
She was still sitting with Ke Qirui, who still wore her trench coat and newsboy cap. But now there was someone new beside them—a man with dreadlocks, dressed in a black high-neck trench coat. His face had sharp, metallic features, and his eyes gave off a detached weariness.
"Ms. Ke, who’s this?" Ji Minghuan asked.
"Xu Sanyan, a friend of mine," Ke Qirui replied as she removed her cap—an unusual gesture from her. Her hair was glossy black, like powdered ink, falling softly over her shoulders.
Ji Minghuan sighed dramatically, "Ms. Ke, you really went all out to prove you’re not into girls, huh?"
Ke Qirui rested her defined knuckles under her chin and smiled at him. "Classic you, dropping verbal bombs from the first line."
She paused and teased, "But let’s not talk about me—wasn’t it someone else who confessed to being into guys via text? Who could it be? Surely not our little Gu Wenyu?"
Ji Minghuan ignored her and turned to the man with dreadlocks. "Hi, Gu Wenyu."
"Xu Sanyan," he replied, a cigarette dangling from his lips, then added pointedly, "Straight, by the way."
Hearing that, Ji Minghuan rolled his eyes and shot a glare at Ke Qirui, who was smirking. He wished he could tie her up with Binding restraints and hang her from Tokyo Tower for ten days straight.
"Bro… can I ask you something?" Su Zimai suddenly spoke.
"What is it?"
"Are you Blue Arc?" she asked.
Ji Minghuan froze.
She stared unblinkingly into his eyes, as if searching for a flicker of panic or hesitation.
But sitting next to her wasn’t a real person—it was a human-shaped figure made of Binding restraints. There was no way it could slip up. Not to mention, Ji Minghuan himself had nothing to feel guilty about.
Please, Master, I beg you, stop chanting... Ji Minghuan felt like he was Sun Wukong under the Tang Monk’s spell, itching to knock his sister out and flee on his cloud.
"Huh?" he said. "What kind of truth-or-dare game are you playing?"
"I’m serious," Su Zimai replied.
"If I were Blue Arc, would I be diligently studying and aiming to be a model student?" Ji Minghuan said, doing a quick calculation. "First I’d drop out of school, then quit the Association, open a livestream at home, wear a mask while playing games, and the fans would line up to throw money at me. I’d be set for life!"
Su Zimai said slowly and clearly, "I’m being serious, so please answer me seriously… okay?"
"You running a fever?"
Ji Minghuan tilted his head and stared at her for a moment, then raised his hand to touch her forehead.
Su Zimai stayed silent.
She let his hand rest on her forehead. Suddenly, she recalled a time when she had a fever as a kid. Gu Qiye and their parents weren’t home. It was Gu Wenyu—only a year older—who couldn’t find any neighbor to help and pedaled a tricycle to take her to a nearby clinic.
She remembered leaning on his shoulder, his stubborn little back, and the warmth from his back.
She knew that after Mom died, Gu Wenyu was the one who took it the hardest. He locked himself in his room, refused to speak to anyone, and completely shut down.
But lately, it felt like her considerate brother was coming back.
He chased her down at the park to comfort her, cracked jokes to cheer her up, and patted her head like he used to. He was hurting too, but maybe he was finally moving on from Mom’s death. Maybe everything was going back to how it used to be...
So maybe she should change too?
After a moment of silence, Su Zimai looked up and met Ji Minghuan’s gaze. She opened her mouth and said:
"Bro, I’m… an Exorcist."
The words dropped, and a silence fell over the group of four.
The ramen shop owner’s friendly shout still echoed, mingling with the relaxed chatter of off-duty customers.
Ke Qirui and Xu Sanyan, sitting beside them, visibly froze and turned to look at Su Zimai in shock. This clearly wasn’t part of their plan.
Ji Minghuan was also taken aback. He even forgot to make the clone react—thankfully, his emotions weren’t linked to it, so nothing showed. The clone just looked at her, exasperated.
"Did you really have to go that direct... Are you trying to blow this up right now?"
Still stunned by his sister’s move, Ji Minghuan slowly gathered his thoughts and had the clone react.
He pulled his hand back from her forehead. The warmth on his palm faded, but her burning gaze never wavered, making him feel like he was in a steaming cage.
"I mean, you don’t feel hot..." he said. "What even is an Exorcist? Some kind of game class?"
Su Zimai paused. "We’re the same… doing dangerous things. That’s why I don’t want to keep secrets from family."
She lowered her head, voice soft. "So don’t hide it from me. I already know everything… everything. This is the last time I’ll ask you..."
She looked up again, eyes locked on Ji Minghuan, and said each word with deliberate care:
"Bro, you’re Blue Arc, aren’t you?"