Chapter 304: Attic, Promise, and the Final Dividing Line (asking for monthly tickets)

August 10th, 3 a.m. Japan time, somewhere in Tokyo.

A giant statue in a gorgeous battle dress was walking through the night, holding a boy in a hoodie in her arms. The next moment, she crushed a corner of the billboard and fell into the street. While the pedestrians were still not able to react, she left the bustling street scene behind, dived into the well, and fell into the sewer.

After landing, the stone statue of the queen stood up.

Looking up and forward, she was now standing on a passage on both sides of the purple-green "river". In her empty eye sockets, the cold blue flames floated like embers.

"Is this the place?" Xia Pingzhou asked. He raised his arm and covered his nose with a frown.

Excrement flows quietly through the river, and the stench is so overwhelming that it makes one's stomach churn.

In fact, Ji Minghuan's mysophobia is very serious. To what extent is it serious? Just looking at the scene in the sewer, he had a suffocating feeling as if he was surrounded by eighteen disaster-level psychics, not to mention the smell.

But fortunately, he could adjust his sense of smell in the system settings and set it to the lowest sensitivity. This way, at least he wouldn't have to worry about being suffocated by the smell of the sewer.

The stone statue of the queen nodded, then put Xia Pingzhou down from its shoulder.

Relying on the Queen's stone statue's sense of smell, finding demons has now become an easy task.

Xia Pingzhou always manages to stay ahead of the Tokyo Exorcist Association and catch all the demons that appear around the city.

Therefore, due to the lack of competitors, it is equivalent to completely monopolizing the nearby demon production chain.

Therefore, in the past few days, his efficiency in hunting demons in Tokyo was even comparable to that in Venice. You know, Venice is known as the city with the "highest frequency of demon appearances."

The Ripper did not have the same sense of smell as the Queen Statue, and she was also unwilling to compete with Xia Pingzhou for prey. So in order to prepare for the war with Lake Hunter a month later, she returned to Venice alone and devoted herself to practicing.

With her talent and ability, a month would probably be enough for her to be reborn and become a leader among the natural disaster level. Even so, Xia Pingzhou was still certain that as long as he could be promoted to the natural disaster level, it would be extremely difficult for the Ripper to defeat him.

However, except for the Ripper who left, Douji Take and Rukawa Chiba stayed.

Chiba Rukawa, the guy nicknamed "Doctor" always gives people a weird feeling. The eyes behind the lenses are like a snake lurking in the jungle. It will make you feel creepy if you stare at him for too long.

For some reason, he was very interested in Xia Pingzhou. He would come to the cafe every day to sit for a while and find one or two topics to chat with Xia Pingzhou.

What Xia Pingzhou was more curious about was whether, as a psychic, Rukawa Chiba could plant a mental imprint in other people's minds like Kong Youling and his mentor.

But Rukawa Chiba clearly stated that he could not do this. He could only see and feel other people's "emotions" and read some subtle fragments of memory from the "emotions".

Xia Pingzhou knew that Rukawa Chiba's abilities were much more than that. According to records on the Internet, Rukawa Chiba was able to manipulate the "emotions" of others and drive them crazy in despair.

In his early years, Chiba Rukawa caused a large-scale suicide incident at Waseda University. It was said that the cause was related to bullying, but Xia Pingzhou did not pursue it.

Since the mental imprint cannot be removed, then the psychic Rukawa Chiba is of no use to him and is instead dangerous.

However, it is worth pondering that Rukawa Chiba once revealed in a casual chat: he could not feel any emotions from Xia Pingzhou, as if he was looking at a puppet.

Xia Pingzhou didn't know if this was true or not. But if it was true, it only meant that his emotions were all in his "real body", and Rukawa Chiba's ability had no effect on him.

If it was fake, Xia Ping Zhou would still be on guard against Rukawa Chiba. He had already warned the Queen statue that once Rukawa Chiba tried to perform mental control on him, the Queen would jump out of the chess room at the first moment and kill Rukawa Chiba.

At this moment, in the sewers of Tokyo.

A man and a stone statue walked side by side. You could hear a pin drop in the dark passage. After turning the corner, Xia Pingzhou suddenly heard a low and powerful roar. It was definitely not a sound made by a human, and there was more than one voice.

This suggests that there are at least two inhuman creatures living in the depths of darkness.

He raised his eyes, raised his eyebrows, and silently looked at the two foreign objects at the end of the passage.

One of them was half human and half bee, covered with yellow fluff and with a pair of thin wings on its back, while the other was completely covered in black and green mud and water, and a human figure could be vaguely seen.

Light-eating bees? Xia Pingzhou wondered, have they actually come all the way to Tokyo?

"What is that?" Xia Pingzhou stared at the light-eating bee and asked knowingly, "Demon?"

The Queen's stone statue shook its head, raised its finger, and used the cold flame to form a line of words:

"That's not a demon."

At this time, Xia Pingzhou's phone suddenly lit up. He lowered his head and looked at the screen. He saw an AI version of the jumpsuit boy suddenly poking his head out and explaining seriously:

"Uh... that thing doesn't seem to be a demon. The leader informed me before that a creature called 'light-eating bee' has appeared in Japan recently."

"Light-eating bee?" Xia Pingzhou murmured.

"Yes, a kind of magical creature." The hacker said, "By the way, the light-eating bees have infiltrated places like this. I originally thought they only operated in the Osaka area. Could they be 'scouts'?"

"That creature looks pretty dangerous. It crushed the swamp demon. This demon must be at least B-level in strength."

Xia Pingzhou raised his head and took a look at the light-eating bee in the sewer.

It bent its knees, and the sharp stinger on its philtrum suddenly split open, transforming into a mouth like a man-eating plant. The light-eating bee screamed, and after being amplified countless times, it formed a deafening buzzing sound.

The swamp demon's body was torn into pieces by the vibrating sound waves, turning into pieces of mud that splashed and hit the walls of the sewer with a clatter.

"Normally, it's none of our business. The Japanese psychics don't have much power. Hongyi will handle this matter, after all, a big shot from the Japanese royal family is involved." The hacker said, "But if they ask Lake Hunter for help, then our plan will change... We can take advantage of the Lake Hunter's process of exterminating the light-eating bees and bring the demon army from the Nian Beast to launch a surprise attack on Lake Hunter together."

"But isn't Hu Lie busy dealing with the Nian Beast?" Xia Pingzhou asked, "Could it be that the light-eating bees are more dangerous than the Nian Beast?"

"At present, it seems that there is indeed no danger from the Nian Beast. However, if we allow the group of light-eating bees to develop for a while longer, it may not be certain. After all, the light-eating bees have a strong evolutionary ability."

At this point, the hacker sighed, "What a pity, they have already revealed their true colors, and they will be wiped out soon... Just like a late-game hero in a MOBA game who hasn't even reached level 16 yet has already been beaten in the early laning phase."

"Is that so?" Xia Pingzhou said nonchalantly, concentrating on watching the brutal behavior of the light-eating bee. It pounced on the ground and swallowed the remains of the swamp demon piece by piece into its stomach.

The hacker said, "I actually hope they can let the people of Hongyi eat turtles, but it's not very realistic."

"Let's not talk about it for now, or my prey will be snatched away by a bee." Xia Pingzhou said, summoning Tianqu and selecting a demon chess piece from the black and white ring.

He stretched out his hand to crush the chess piece, and then a light blue water ball suddenly appeared in the air. A pair of large and bright eyes were caught in the water flow. This was the "Water Demon".

He released the "Bridge of Humans and Demons", and a phantom of a bridge appeared in the air. The head and tail of the bridge were connected to the Queen's stone statue and the "Water Demon" respectively.

The two were pulled towards the bridge by a suction force and merged into one.

After the shadow of the bridge disappeared, the stone statue of the queen reappeared.

She had already changed into a water blue battle dress, with strands of water wrapped around her body, green light rippling in her eyes, and her weapon changed to a long sword formed by a raging torrent of water.

[Hint: After the fusion of the "Queen Stone Statue" and the "Water Demon" through the Human-Devil Bridge, they have become a brand new chess piece - "Lord of the Wild Flow". ]

[The powers of the "Lord of the Wild Current" are: "Whirlpool" (creates a vortex of water with strong suction force within a certain range around the body), "Water Dragon" (raises the long sword, gathers liquid from all directions, and turns it into a dragon shadow that sweeps forward)]

"Whirlpool." Xia Pingzhou ordered.

The stone statue of the queen suddenly raised its head and swung its sword forward. A whirlpool suddenly arose ten meters ahead, sucking in the remains of the light-eating bees and the swamp demon.

The next moment, the long sword in the Queen's stone statue's hand suddenly turned into a huge water column! The torrent rushed up into the sky and twisted into a lifelike dragon in an instant.

She raised the sword high, and a water dragon rose up. The feces, urine and sewage in the sewer suddenly rolled back and surged into the water dragon's body, just like a river flowing into the sea.

Soon, the huge water dragon had turned into a purple and black creature that emitted a strong stench, like a giant beast that had not taken a bath for hundreds of years.

Fortunately, Xia Pingzhong couldn't hear it and quietly retreated more than a hundred meters.

"No! I'm eating, don't come over here!" Seeing this scene, even the hacker behind the screen couldn't help but wail.

"Who told you to spy on me while I was eating?" Xia Pingzhou said calmly.

At this moment, the light-eating bees and swamp demons have not yet escaped from the vortex formed by the queen statue.

In a flash, the queen statue swung down the sword, and a giant dragon made of shit and urine roared forward, drowning the light-eating bees and swamp demons in it.

Ten minutes later, near the Rainbow Bridge over Tokyo Bay, there was an empty cafe.

Xia Pingzhou unlocked the door, pushed it open to the sound of wind chimes, and sat down in the dim cafe.

He now had time to review his recent gains and looked up at a series of suspended panels.

[Due to the influence of the passive skill "Demon Hunter", a one-time chess type - "Swamp Demon" has been obtained. 】

[The passive skill "Soul Eater" has been triggered (when your chess type kills a demon, there is a chance that it will absorb the demon's attributes, making the chess type itself stronger). ]

[The "Queen Statue" absorbed the soul of the swamp demon, and her speed attribute was improved to a certain extent. ]

[Detected that a C-level or higher demon was killed. The cumulative kill count of the "Wild Hunt Winter" system has been updated: 70/70, which has met the requirements of training task 5. 】

[The current progress of the second character's Sky Drive "Chess" is: 52%/100%]

Xia Pingzhou thought, there is not much progress left. If I maintain this speed, I can be promoted to the third level before September and officially step into the threshold of natural disaster level.

He called up the interface of the training system "Wild Hunt Winter" and received the mission reward.

[Completed training mission 5 - Kill any 70 "Demons" above level C, or 70 "Superhumans" above level C.]

[The reward for the training task has been obtained: 1 attribute point. ]

[Training Mission 6 has been refreshed, the number of kills has been increased to 120 (current progress: 70/120)]

Xia Pingzhou called up the character panel and quickly allocated attribute points.

[The "Spirit" attribute of your second unit "Chess Player" changes from A++ level to S level (the power of your "Chess Species" will also increase accordingly)]

[The current attributes of the machine are as follows: Strength: D-level; Speed: A++-level; Spirit: S-level]

He closed the small panel, then poured a glass of cold boiled water in the kitchen, took a sip, put down the cup and went upstairs.

Although he walked lightly, the old wooden steps still creaked, so he had to try to walk slower.

After going up to the attic, Xia Pingzhou was stunned for a moment. He looked up from his mobile phone and saw a girl in an ochre-red kimono leaning on the windowsill, with her eyes lowered, quietly flipping through a book.

Ayase Origami didn't speak, nor did she want to speak. The moonlight covered her fair cheeks.

"Are you having a nightmare?" Xia Pingzhou walked over and asked curiously. Generally speaking, if Ayase Origami is still awake at this time, she must be having a nightmare.

She said that she often dreamed about her childhood, and dreamed about the interrogation room where her father yelled at her, saying that she was the one who killed her mother, and then the corpse hanging on the wall was suddenly replaced by her mother's face in the photo.

Xia Pingzhou thought about it and said, then you can imagine that I am by your side in your dream, so you won’t be afraid.

At that time she shook her head and said, "No need, every time I wake up from a dream, you are by my side."

Xia Pingzhou was stunned for a moment and said, "That's fine. Anyway, you can see me when you wake up from the shock."

But this time when she was awakened by the nightmare, Xia Pingzhou was not by her side. Ayase Origami seemed a little unhappy, with a look of indifference on her pale face.

Xia Pingzhou walked over silently and sat down on the windowsill.

"Where have you been?" Ayase Origami was silent for a long time before she looked up at him.

"Fighting demons." Xia Pingzhou said frankly, "I want to become stronger before we run into Hu Lie... Isn't it to avenge Uncle Takikage?"

"Message... You didn't reply to me." The girl in kimono said softly, "I sent a lot of messages."

"Oh, I was just busy rushing back." Xia Pingzhou said, glanced at his phone and opened Line.

Her message popped up on Line's interface.

【（02:30）KamiNeko：Where are you? 】

【（02:45）KamiNeko: Kitty, don’t sneak out at night. 】

【（02:50）KamiNeko: Idiot. 】

[(02:55) KamiNeko: Come back. 】

【（03:05）KamiNeko: Don’t come back. 】

[(03:10) KamiNeko: Come back. 】

Xia Pingzhou was stunned for a moment, then he touched his nose with his hand and explained:

"It's all the hacker's fault. He blocked my notification sound."

As soon as he finished speaking, his phone started to buzz with notifications. He looked down and saw that the screen was filled with question marks from hackers. He muted his phone but it didn't work, so he simply turned it off and threw it aside.

He thought about it and looked up, only to see that Ayase Origami ignored him and just lowered her eyes, staring blankly for a long time.

She suddenly turned a page. The sound of her fingers rubbing against the page was like the rustling of wind.

Ji Minghuan suddenly remembered that one night when he first came to Tokyo, he also slept in the attic of a cafe. He was unable to sleep because of the heavy rain outside the window, just as if he was locked in a closet by his parents when he was a child. The wind and rain were so strong that the windows rattled, and the world seemed like a devil with bared fangs and claws.

So at that time, he raised his head and stared at Ayase Origami's sleeping face for a while, as if he wanted to see if she would wake up.

She actually woke up and opened her eyes, and they looked at each other for a while. She sealed the window with paper to block out the sound of the storm.

Ji Minghuan slept very soundly that night.

But it didn't seem fair that he wasn't there for the girl while she was having a nightmare.

In fact, Ji Minghuan didn’t know how long this kind of time would last.

From the bottom of his heart, he quite liked this cafe and the quiet attic. It was beautiful at night when the moonlight and neon lights shone in together. When he couldn't sleep, he could hear the girl's gentle breathing, and when he opened his eyes he could see her sleeping face.

Since when did Ayase Origami stop drawing a dividing line between the two of them with paper?

But such days will soon be over. He will soon kill the Ripper, become a disgusting traitor, and then take the Long-lived Old Lady and White Wolf to the Salvation Society and rush to a war where the outcome is unknown whether it will be good or bad.

If she could have survived then, if Ayase Origami hadn't hated him so thoroughly at that time, if she felt sad because of Xia Pingzhu's departure...

Then Ji Minghuan should return to this cafe in his original form on a sunny afternoon, stand upright in front of her, look at the kimono girl who is daydreaming in the sun, and say to her:

"Don't be sad. In fact, Xia Pingzhou never existed from the beginning. This is me... I have lied to you many times and betrayed you. Will you forgive me?"

Ji Minghuan was silent for a long time with his eyes lowered, and his thoughts were suddenly interrupted by a low voice.

"Will you leave me?" Ayase Origami suddenly asked, her voice was very soft. She waited for a long time, wanting him to explain why he didn't keep his promise. He clearly said he wouldn't leave when she fell asleep, but he didn't.

Xia Pingzhou raised his head and looked at her quietly. Outside the window was Tokyo, full of lights. The neon lights shone through the windowsill onto the dim floor.

He was silent for a moment, "If I really leave one day, will you go with me?"

The kimono girl thought for a moment, raised her dark eyes from the book, stared at him motionlessly, and then asked:

"Where...are we going?"

Hearing that she used "we" instead of "you", Xia Pingzhou lowered his head.

"I don't know..." He shook his head, "At least not yet."

Ayase Origami stared at his confused face and pondered for a long time, then put down the book, leaned towards him, and rested her head on his shoulder.

"Don't sneak away." She whispered in his ear.

The world was silent, the neon lights outside the window were still bright, and she slowly closed her eyes.

Xia Pingzhou couldn't figure out whether she was telling him not to sneak away while she was asleep, otherwise she would be scared when she had a nightmare, or whether she had already guessed that he would leave the White Crow Brigade.

He just lowered his head, resting it against her fair forehead, and closed his eyes tiredly, and they both fell asleep leaning on the windowsill.

The pages of the book in the girl's sleeves were blown up by the wind, and like snow, they floated over the brightly lit city, as if they would fly to the end of the world.

Ask for monthly ticket orz

(End of this chapter)