Chapter 365 Liuli's Vision, Zeus's Departure (Two-in-one monthly ticket request)
Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami wandered around Lijing aimlessly for a whole day. They visited all the amusement parks such as the Ferris wheel, cinema, and aquarium.
According to the Internet, these are the legendary "three holy places for dating."
But it is not that sacred. In any family with decent financial conditions, parents will take their children to those places to play a few times during the holidays.
For a child who grew up normally in a big city, this wasn't anything new, it was even commonplace. But the strange thing was that before meeting Xia Pingzhou, Ayase Origami had never been to a single place, not even the most ordinary movie theater.
Only then did Xia Pingzhou realize how monotonous and boring Ayase Origami's previous life was.
She could really sit at home day after day, repeatedly reading the haiku collection left to her by her mother, or drinking tea and watching TV.
At first, he actually didn't understand what was so interesting about the haiku collection. Wouldn't he get bored after reading it for so long?
Later he realized that this was one of the few things her mother left her.
For a little child, her world is so small, so it is natural for her to repeatedly look for her mother's love in those monotonous and boring things, trying hard and clumsily to prove that she is loved.
Xia Pingzhou lowered his eyes. He seemed to be able to imagine her childhood, this doll-like girl wearing a kimono, sitting in a Japanese-style house, with her eyes lowered day after day, flipping through haiku that she had already tired of reading.
No one in the huge mansion would pay attention to her, and her father left her alone there. Every time she opened the paper door, there was only an empty room waiting for her. There was nothing in sight. Over time, her eyes became empty.
She might have been thinking that no one would ever love her as much as her deceased mother, so she would not get tired of it. Every time she lowered her eyes to look at the haiku book, she could forget the world.
Later on, she even developed a superpower related to "paper pages". After all... everyone's superpowers are closely related to their growing environment. Thinking of this, Xia Pingzhou felt a little funny, but also a little sad in his heart.
But for some reason, Ayase Origami had been reading haiku less and less recently. She'd been going out more often, even dragging Xia Ping Zhou around with her, and she seemed to be becoming more like a normal girl.
After leaving the aquarium, Xia Pingzhou and she had a sukiyaki buffet at a nearby food court. Today was a customer's birthday, and the waiters surrounded him, clapping their hands and singing birthday songs.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you~" Cheerful singing filled the store.
Ayase Origami looked at the man, then suddenly turned around and asked, "When is Kitty's birthday?"
Xia Pingzhou was stunned. At this moment, several birthday dates appeared in his mind at the same time, and he couldn't tell which one Ayase Origami wanted.
He lowered his head and hesitated for a moment, wondering whether to tell Ayase Origami Xia Pingzhou's birthday or tell her his real birthday. In the end, he gave the date of "August 15", which was Ji Minghuan's own birthday.
After hearing this, Ayase Origami opened her phone and looked down at the calendar. After a long moment, she looked up from her phone and muttered, "...it's over."
"Yes, it's been three days." Xia Pingzhou took the glass filled with ice from the waiter.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
Ayase Origami tilted her face to Su Bai's and looked at him motionlessly.
Xia Pingzhou picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of Wagyu beef and dipped it in the raw egg mixture in the bowl. He said seriously, "Birthdays are not a big deal. Only children celebrate their birthdays with great enthusiasm, while adults avoid talking about it. Because after a birthday, it means they are one year older."
"You are a cat, not an adult." Ayase Origami lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then said in a low voice.
"As you wish, I'll remind you next time on your birthday." Xia Pingzhou nodded, holding his chopsticks. "Come to think of it, I don't even know your birthday."
Ayase Origami nodded.
"When is your birthday again?" Xia Pingzhou asked as he took the tempura shrimp brought by the waiter.
Ayase Origami was stunned for a moment, then shook her head and remained silent for a moment.
"I don't know," she said.
"I say..." Xia Pingzhou picked up the cup, took a sip of the soda, and then sighed, "You don't even know your own birthday, and you're still blaming me for not telling you?"
"No one told me."
"Where's your father?"
The girl in kimono shook her head silently.
"Where's Uncle Takikage? There's no way he wouldn't tell you your birthday, right?"
"Takikage doesn't have the habit of celebrating birthdays either."
"Then why do you blame me? Am I the only one who's easy to bully?"
"Kitten... panted."
Ayase Origami muttered to herself, her brows furrowed slightly, as if trying to look annoyed. But after a moment, her delicate eyebrows relaxed, as usual. Finally, only a trace of confusion remained on her snow-white brows.
Xia Pingzhou looked up at her twice, lowered his head and thought for a moment, then said helplessly, "Maybe we can try asking the hacker. He might be able to find out your birthday."
He took two bites of tempura shrimp. "But the underworld might have destroyed all your information. After all, for them, your being born into the underworld is a huge shame. They'll definitely try to distance themselves from you."
Ayase Origami nodded silently, then took out a pair of gloves from her sleeve and handed them to him.
"A birthday present," she said.
"When did you buy it?" Xia Pingzhou raised his eyebrows and looked at the pair of black plush gloves.
"When I was hanging out with Jack."
"Why gloves?"
"She said that your insignia tattoo is on the back of your hand and it's easily visible, so she'd buy you a pair of gloves," Ayase Origami said. "Don't you like it?"
"Although your birthday has passed, I'll still accept it reluctantly. Thank you." Xia Pingzhou said, taking the gloves and putting them in his coat pocket.
After finishing their midnight snack, they hailed a taxi outside the Sukiyaki restaurant. After a while, the yellow taxi stopped on the quiet long street and the driver unlocked the door.
They got out of the car and walked into the alley in the moonlight. Then they pushed open a door and turned into a secluded corridor. After walking for a while, they saw red and blue lights. This was the underground bar called "Grey Crow".
The leader said that this was his friend's bar, and some members said that this was a bar that was previously run by the leader's sister and later handed over to someone else. Xia Pingzhou didn't know whose statement was true, or it was possible that both statements were true.
It was already late at night, and the underground bar was empty. At the entrance, on the bar's iconic electronic sign, a gray crow was hiding in the shadows, its blood-red eyes still shining, and the crow's shadow flickered on and off.
Ayase Origami was already feeling sleepy. She wasn't a night owl to begin with, and she avoided staying up late, so she quickly found a private room and fell asleep soon after.
In the end, only Xia Pingzhou, Bloodline and Ripper were left in the empty bar. The old woman was still wearing her iconic red dress, and the Ripper was still wearing the same unchanging Japanese black and white school uniform.
They sat side by side at the bar, sipping their drinks quietly while looking up at the TV hanging on the wall.
At this moment, a video was playing on an old antique TV. It was the "battle style of the four Lake Hunters" collected by hackers from various intelligence chains. Most of them were taken by passers-by who were lucky enough to watch when the Lake Hunters were fighting against the demons.
As for the purpose of watching these videos... naturally it's not to see them show off, but to study their weaknesses so that we can defeat these monsters one by one when the war starts.
It is said that the four people from Lake Hunter are also not good at teamwork and mostly fight alone. It is better to say that there has never been an enemy that requires them to work as a team.
This was good news. The Lake Hunters had to deal with both the Nian Beast and the Seven Deadly Sins, and the four of them were bound to be separated. That was the moment the White Crow Brigade would take action.
"Where are the doctor and Tong Zizhu?" Xia Pingzhou took a sip of orange juice with ice.
"Haifan City." The Blood Descendant held his chin and said calmly, "They are not like you and the young lady who are busy dating every day."
"Then what are they busy with?" Xia Pingzhou asked.
"So, you don't deny that you are on a date?" The vampire girl curled her lips and showed a playful smile. She was not wearing heavy makeup today, but looked elegant, with clear and flying eyes.
"Can you please stop changing the subject?"
"Tong Zizhu is busy looking for his mother, the woman named 'Su Ying', every day. As for the doctor... he is looking for interesting human samples for experiments. He seems to enjoy removing other people's brain tissue. I joined the group relatively late, so I am not very familiar with him." At this point, the blood descendant shrugged.
"Human sample...this term is really weird." Xia Pingzhou said casually.
He had a mediocre impression of Rukawa Chiba, mainly because Rukawa Chiba could sense other people's emotions, so he knew that Xia Pingzhou was just a puppet and did not have any emotional signals.
Just like the light-eating bee's queen "Joe", Joe also saw that the black pupa was a puppet without emotions. As long as Xia Pingzhou and the black pupa appeared in the same place, it would be easy for Rukawa Chiba to see any clues.
"'For many psychics, humans are no longer human to them. You're not a psychic, so you don't understand this feeling.'" The Bloodline spread his hands. "That's what the doctor told me. If you have any questions, you can go to him."
"Is it because they understand people too well?" Xia Pingzhou speculated, "Psychics have too much insight into people's hearts, so naturally it's hard for them to get along with others like ordinary people."
The Blood Descendant tilted his head and looked at Xia Pingzhou with his crimson eyes. "Maybe... no matter what it is, it will become unrecognizable once it gets too close."
She paused and teased seriously, "It's like you turned into a cat in front of the young lady."
"What kind of inexplicable logic does that last sentence have?" Xia Pingzhou said expressionlessly. He turned to glance at the silent girl in a black and white school uniform sipping her cocktail beside him. "What are you daydreaming about?"
"The captain said that he has found his sister's puppet." Yan Molin was silent for a while and then spoke.
"What puppet?" Xia Pingzhou asked knowingly.
In fact, he was also very interested in the things between Urushihara Ruri and Urushihara Rin. He was very curious about how Urushihara Ruri fell into the hands of the Salvation Society and why he later became one of the puppets of the Puppet Father.
But at that time in Osaka, Japan, when he questioned the other party under the identity of Black Pupa, Urushihara Ruri did not answer at all, but just said that her experience had nothing to do with what he was looking for, so Ji Minghuan had to give up.
But now, he seemed to have the opportunity to learn the story of the two through the brigade.
The Blood Descendant also cast a curious look at the two of them at this moment. She had been drinking all night before Xia Pingzhou came. She was a little drunk at this time, and her face was a warm pink.
"The captain's sister is called Urushihara Ruri. She disappeared a few years ago, as if she had vanished into thin air." Yanma Lin said, "No matter what, the captain couldn't find any trace of her."
"Urushihara Ruri..." Xia Pingzhou raised his head and whispered the name softly.
"Urushihara Ruri is a psychic, but her powers had just awakened at that time, and the specific effects were still unknown. She disappeared during those few days."
"Is someone eyeing her ability?" Xia Pingzhou asked subconsciously.
"That's possible." Yan Molin thought for a moment, "At that time, the captain asked a former member whom he trusted very much to use his divination ability to determine whether Urushihara Ruri was alive or dead."
"What's the result?" The blood descendant picked up the red wine glass, shook it, and asked casually while holding his chin.
"The result is that she is dead," Yan Molin said, "and the captain has no doubts about this result. After all, that member has been with the brigade for a long time."
"Dead?" Xia Pingzhou raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, she died." Yan Molin nodded, "But after that, someone resurrected her and turned her into a puppet."
"It has become a puppet..." The Blood Descendant raised an eyebrow. "It's really exaggerated that someone with the ability to do this is so amazing."
"That organization seems to be the Salvation Society, the organization behind those kids we met in London before. The leader only found out about this after exchanging information with Black Pupa."
Xia Pingzhou was silent for a moment, "The Salvation Society..."
"The Salvation Society, what a creepy name," the Bloodline muttered. "That means... 1001 is currently inside the Salvation Society. Then I really should look for where the Salvation Society is."
At this time, her eyes became more and more blurred, the liquor she drank flowed in her veins like fire, and the jazz music in the bar gradually became psychedelic.
"If someone can help you find the Salvation Society, will you follow him?" Xia Pingzhou asked.
"Of course, I joined the brigade to find 1001. If I can already find him, what's the point of me staying here?" The Bloody said without hesitation.
"Then you are at risk of being recruited by Black Pupa. I must tell the hackers to keep an eye on you." Xia Pingzhou said lightly.
"Bad thing..." The blood descendant lay on his folded arms, closed his eyelids, and said in a vague voice.
"You guys are amazing. You got sidetracked while chatting." Yan Molin said lightly.
"Back to the topic, how did the captain know that his sister had become a puppet of the Salvation Society?" Xia Pingzhou continued to ask.
"His sister contacted him," Yan Molin said, "with a letter.
"What did she say in the letter?" Xia Pingzhou asked.
"She wrote, 'Let's play hide-and-seek, just like we did when we were kids,'" Enma Rin deadpanned. "She also said she'd become a puppet and was no longer the same person she once was."
Xueyi and Xia Pingzhou were silent for a while. They looked at each other and felt some emotion in their hearts.
Xia Pingzhou thought, yes, Qiyuan Liuli knew her brother so well, how could she not know? If Qiyuan knew that she was made into a puppet, he would end her "life" as soon as he found her.
This is a game of hide-and-seek with a doomed outcome: someone has to hide, yet wants to be found by the other person.
"Did Hei Pupa tell the captain the location of Urushihara Ruri?" Xia Pingzhou asked.
Yan Molin lowered his eyes and wiped the demon sword while saying, "Yes, the leader of the Black Pupa Gang found Urushihara Ruri's puppet."
"This black pupa has been very active recently. Who is he?" the blood descendant asked in a low voice.
"I don't know, but he is a clue about the Salvation Society. The captain is very interested in the Salvation Society now." Yan Molin said.
"It's quite difficult to catch him. He's so elusive." Xia Pingzhou boasted.
The Blood Descendant slowly raised her head. Her metabolism was so rapid that the effects of the alcohol were almost gone. She looked up at the TV, her face in her hands. "By the way those four Lake Hunters fought was quite amusing, don't you think?"
"I think you want to be hit by the bronze pillar." Xia Pingzhou said indifferently.
"Boring." Yan Molin said.
"I heard that this guy is the weakest among the Lake Hunters." The Bloodline continued.
Xia Pingzhou also raised his head and looked at the TV screen hanging on the wall.
In the high-definition restored video, a figure in a long robe and a mandarin jacket waved a folding fan, and then a massive Bagua formation appeared in the sky. The celestial phenomena shifted dramatically. From the center of the Bagua formation, a rain of fire fell, showering the forest.
An entire forest of demons was instantly reduced to ashes, leaving no trace.
Xia Pingzhou turned his eyes away from the TV and poured himself a glass of iced orange juice.
He said, "Come to think of it, is the leader such a vindictive person? I thought he had no feelings for the members and that we were just pawns to achieve his goals."
"I don't think the captain would be so resentful. To him, Lan Duoduo and Oda Takikage should just be replaceable members." Yan Molin said.
"Then why did he attack Hu Lie?" Xia Pingzhou asked.
"Because the captain wants the antiques stored in Zhou Jiuya's Tonggu Compass." Yan Molin said almost word by word, "That's what bandits are like. We are allowed to rob others, but we will never allow others to rob us. Otherwise, we will pay them back a hundredfold."
"Oh, I understand now." Xia Pingzhou said expressionlessly, "Actually, I'm quite curious too. If we kill Zhou Jiuya, how valuable would the antiques in his compass be? Maybe it's enough for each of us to live for twenty lifetimes."
"I suggest correcting this. It's enough for you, but not for me..." The Blood Descendant curled his lips. "My lifetime is hundreds of thousands of years, not just fifty years at most like yours."
"It's rare to find someone who would take the initiative to say that he is an old freak." Xia Pingzhou said sarcastically.
The Blood Descendant yawned, "Anyway, that Zhou Jiuya is really annoying. This time, he has to be humiliated no matter what."
"It's okay. If you haven't fought well, 1001 will come to rescue you." Xia Pingzhou said, "If he is really as powerful as you say, he might be able to kill Hu Lie with just a wave of his hand."
"You're really just asking for trouble." The Blood Descendant was silent for a moment, then raised the corner of her mouth in self-mockery. "But... I hope he still cares about me." With that, she left the bar and headed towards one of the sleeper compartments. "I'm going to rest first. You guys chat."
Xia Pingzhou turned his eyes aside and watched the blood descendants leave quietly. He thought that when he rebelled, it was likely that the blood descendants would follow him. After all, he had so many clues about 1001 in his hands.
At this moment, the Ripper suddenly spoke, interrupting his thoughts, "Speaking of which demon have you decided to contract after reaching level three?"
"I'm very interested in the Seven Deadly Sins of Northern Europe, especially the wrathful demon. The hacker showed me their information," Xia Pingzhou said. "It's a perfect fit as my contracted demon."
"I see... Then when we get to Mount Kaifan, you can ask the captain for his opinion," Yan Molin said. "But normally, he wouldn't allow you to do something like that. I'm hoping he'll let you have some fun. My sword is itching to kill two demons of the Seven Deadly Sins, so I'll just relieve myself."
"Okay, then we can go together." After saying that, Xia Pingzhou left the bar first. "I'm going to bed first. See you tomorrow."
After he returned to the private room, he closed the door, turned on the light, and looked up at the ticking clock. The time on the wall was already 1 a.m. on August 19th.
He was also tired, so he found a pillow and lay down on the bed. He took out the gloves that Ayase Origami gave him from his pocket, put them under the bedside lamp, looked at them, and then fell asleep.
After falling asleep, Xia Pingzhou first entered the Spiritual Library. While leaning against the bookshelf to rest, he chatted with the red dragon Wales for a while to prevent the giant dragon from suffering from depression.
After that, he slowly fell asleep amid the heavy breathing of the dragon.
Not long after, a cold voice broke the silence and woke him up from the darkness.
"Restricted-level psychic, number 1002—Ji Minghuan, your mentor is visiting. Get up quickly and prepare for the meeting."
Ji Minghuan's eyelids trembled slightly. When he opened his eyes, he saw the solemn face of his mentor.
The instructor walked in from behind the open door and sat down in front of the empty long table.
"What's wrong?" Ji Minghuan sat up and asked with his legs crossed, "Why do you look constipated again?"
"Just a few hours ago, we... dispatched Zeus." The instructor was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Ji Minghuan, do you want to know what happened?"
After saying that, he raised his head and looked at Ji Minghuan's face from behind the lenses.
"You sent out Zeus?" Ji Minghuan was slightly stunned, recalling the boy who had a mental breakdown. At the same time, the figure of an ancient Greek giant god vaguely appeared in his mind.
He thought to himself, that's a mythical anecdote. Who in the world right now is worthy enough to make the Salvation Society deploy Zeus? Could it be the White Crow Brigade... or perhaps the Nian Beast?
(End of this chapter)
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