Chapter 104: Running, the Truth of the Fire, and Hesitation

On the afternoon of July 15, 2026, a light, pattering rain fell over Leijing.

Neon shop signs flickered through the rain, and the streets and alleys were completely deserted.

In a corner of the Old Jingmai District, a brother and sister walked shoulder to shoulder through the downpour.

Xia Zili carried a white umbrella. With her head bowed, she absentmindedly tilted the canopy toward Ke Mingqing, letting her own shoulder grow damp in the rain.

"What are you doing?"

Ke Mingqing had been looking down at his phone. Catching sight of her wet shoulder out of the corner of his eye, he reached out, trying to grab the umbrella from her hand to tilt it back over her.

But Xia Zili didn't say a word, nor did she let go of the handle. Ke Mingqing shrugged. "I'm perfectly fine, aren't I? Do you really have to pull a long face?"

Xia Zili turned to look at him quietly, and he met her gaze.

The siblings locked eyes in the rain, staring at each other in silence for a long moment.

"If only you were a magical girl." The nonsensical remark caught Ke Mingqing completely off guard. Then, he rolled his eyes at her.

"What kind of nonsense are you spouting now? How could a guy like me turn into a magical girl?"

"Think about it. If you were a magical girl, you'd be my junior. Then I could keep an eye on you all the time instead of letting you wander around blindly out there. Got it?"

Xia Zili lowered her voice. "And then I wouldn't have to watch my stupid brother get himself covered in injuries."

"Give me a break. Am I your younger sister, or are you mine?"

"I'm very angry right now."

Ke Mingqing sighed. "What exactly are you so mad about?"

Xia Zili remained expressionless, staring down at the rain-soaked asphalt.

After a long silence, she finally spoke. "Anyway, I'm mad at myself, and I'm mad at you. What do you think I should do about that?" Ke Mingqing fell silent.

He stayed quiet for a moment. Glancing at her wet shoulder, he suddenly reached out, snatched the umbrella from her grasp, and snapped it shut.

Without the canopy shielding them, the two were completely exposed to the downpour. Torrential rain battered their heads. Xia Zili froze, the sudden deluge snapping her entirely awake.

While she was still dazed, Ke Mingqing grabbed her slender, pale right hand. Holding it tight, he pulled her into a run through the heavy rain. The boy and girl splashed through puddles, their reflections dancing across the rippling water. After a while, Xia Zili suddenly planted her feet. Looking up at him from beneath her wet bangs, she asked coldly, "Have you completely lost your mind?"

"If we run, you won't be angry anymore." Ke Mingqing turned back to meet her eyes.

"I'm obviously even angrier now!" the girl shouted through the rain.

"It's fine, it's fine! If you're angry, just scream! Everyone already thinks we're idiots anyway!" Ke Mingqing laughed, pointing at the staring pedestrians before giving Xia Zili another forceful tug.

Xia Zili didn't resist, simply playing along with his madness. As they ran, a smile broke across her face, and she yelled, "You really are a massive idiot! I can't stand you!"

Beneath massive cumulonimbus clouds, the streets were empty. The boy and girl sprinted through a world woven with utility poles and power lines.

On a distant overpass, a silver-white iron dragon rumbled past, scattering the fine threads of rain in its wake.

The roar of the rain grew louder and louder, as if trying to drown the entire world.

Not long after, the soaked siblings arrived home.

Ke Mingqing walked up to the second floor and tossed a bath towel to Xia Zili before grabbing another to dry his own hair and body.

Rainwater dripped onto the floor with a rhythmic pat-pat, leaving a wet trail of footprints.

"You shower first." After a moment, Ke Mingqing sat down, leaning his back against the balcony door.

"Mom bundled up all my clothes for the wash yesterday." Xia Zili glanced toward the rooftop. "And with the rain today, none of my things are dry yet."

She paused. "You shower first."

"It's fine. Just wear my T-shirt and shorts for now," Ke Mingqing said. He got up, walked into his bedroom, pulled a T-shirt and a pair of shorts from the wardrobe, and handed them to Xia Zili.

Xia Zili froze for a second. Reaching out, she took the oversized clothes, nodded, and turned to walk into the bedroom.

Looking down at the T-shirt in her hands, she was just about to close the door when she suddenly turned around and marched back to Ke Mingqing with a cold expression.

"What's wrong? Won't fit?"

Xia Zili glared at him. She shoved the magical girl Ember fan T-shirt back into Ke Mingqing's chest and said coldly, "Change it."

"As you command." Ke Mingqing flashed his teeth in a grin. Dropping the prank, he grabbed a normal white T-shirt from the wardrobe and handed it to her.

Watching Xia Zili disappear into the bedroom, he headed downstairs.

The boy collapsed onto the sofa. The house held a uniquely humid and stuffy heat from the rain, so he switched on a fan. Basking in the breeze, he picked up the remote and turned on the TV.

The Leijing News Channel was currently broadcasting a breaking report. The headline read: Rookie Hero Blue Pigeon Ambushed, Ember Mounts Solo Rescue. The anchor read aloud:

"Today at 2:00 PM, the newly debuted hero Blue Pigeon was ambushed in District 5 by a 'Clock Maker imitator' group and abducted to the underground bar Grey Pigeon.

"Magical girl Ember raided the enemy hideout single-handedly; casualties on both sides remain unknown. This incident has once again ignited public skepticism regarding the legendary hero Rain Crow—knowing full well that the Clock Maker and his imitators hunt down Rain Crow copycats, why did he tolerate Blue Pigeon's imitation without providing any substantial protection?"

Ke Mingqing tilted his head, watching the TV screen while recalling the crow he had seen just before passing out.

Lowering his eyes, he guessed, "The old man must have been watching inside the bar the whole time. Good thing I didn't let him see my real face. So ruthless, though... Was he really planning to use me as bait to fish out the Clock Maker?"

A moment later, his phone chimed.

Ke Mingqing picked it up. It was a message from Xia Ningzhi.

[Xia Ningzhi: Are you home? I didn't bring an umbrella. Could you come pick me up from the station?]

[Ke Mingqing: Not going. Just wait for the rain to stop.]

[Xia Ningzhi: Then I'll have to walk back in the rain. Do you really have the heart to make your sister go through that?]

[Ke Mingqing: I'll have our little sister pick you up then.]

[Xia Ningzhi: Are you and Xia Zili both home? Were you home just now, too?]

Ke Mingqing stared at the text on the screen and raised an eyebrow. Looks like Third Sister already knows my identity. Is she worried about me after seeing the news?

"But when did she figure it out..." he muttered. "And since she already knows, why hasn't she confessed that she's Nezha? I figured she would've tried to talk me out of being a superhero by now."

Thinking this, he tapped the screen and replied to Xia Ningzhi's message.

[Ke Mingqing: Yeah, we're both home.]

Xia Ningzhi didn't reply again.

Ke Mingqing lifted his gaze from the phone, turning his attention to the option floating in the top right corner of his vision: [Item Wheel].

He reached up and tapped it with a finger. Immediately, a roulette interface popped up in front of him.

[You currently possess one chance to use the Item Wheel. (PS: Every 5,000 superhuman coins spent grants an additional spin.)]

Ke Mingqing looked over the six sections on the wheel. The prizes were 1,000 superhuman coins, Lucky Gloves, Dice of Calamity, One-time Skill Card - "Big, Big, Big!", Qiankun Cauldron, and One-time Skill Card - "Galloping Grass Mud Horse."

"Give me a useful item, alright? Not some one-time skill card that's gone after a single use."

Muttering softly, Ke Mingqing extended his index finger and tapped the center of the wheel.

The next moment, the blood-red needle snapped to life. It spun furiously across the wheel, blurring into a phantom ring. Before long, it gradually ticked to a halt.

It pointed at the prize in the third section.

[Congratulations! You have successfully drawn the D Rank item Dice of Calamity. (Roll the die; different numbers will trigger different events. Events tied to specific numbers are fixed events. Players may explore and discover the patterns themselves.)]

[Note: After a single roll, the Dice of Calamity will enter a 24-hour cooldown and automatically return to the inventory.]

"What kind of garbage is this? I have to figure out the rules myself? What if I roll a bad number and blow myself up?" Ke Mingqing raised an eyebrow, deciding to let White Jack be the guinea pig in the future.

He was just a puppet anyway; there was no loss if he died. But Ke Mingqing himself would definitely steer clear.

The living room fell quiet. Outside the window, the rain was still coming down.

Suddenly, the front door opened, sending a gust of wind and rain blowing into the entryway.

A dripping-wet figure, not even bothering to take off her shoes, walked straight in and slowly approached the back of the sofa.

The girl stopped behind the couch. Eyes lowered, she stood in silence for a moment before gently leaning over and wrapping her arms around Ke Mingqing's shoulders.

Ke Mingqing started, turning his head to look at her. "No way. Did you seriously walk all the way back in the rain?"

Xia Ningzhi's hair was soaked, her bright eyes slightly obscured by her wet bangs.

Seeing the faint scratch on Ke Mingqing's face, her expression turned complicated, a mixture of heartache and frustration.

This can't go on. I have to stop him... she thought.

"A'Qing, do you remember last time, when I said I had something to tell you?" Xia Ningzhi broke the silence after a moment.

"Yeah." Ke Mingqing nodded.

"A'Qing, I'm actually..."

Reaching this point, Xia Ningzhi suddenly faltered.

In that moment, another memory surfaced, a matter that left her tossing and turning at night.

Ten years ago, on the day she awakened, she really had forgotten many things. She didn't even know how she had gotten home that day.

All she remembered was seeing a massive fire. She was lost... walking for a very, very long time through a sea of flames, unable to find her way back. When she investigated what had happened on that date later, a fire truly had broken out in Leijing's Anhe District, but it was incredibly far from the Old Jingmai District.

Even so, Xia Ningzhi couldn't help but connect that fire to herself.

Because that day, that very fire, was the culprit that had killed her brother Ke Mingqing's biological parents.

If it weren't for that fire, her younger brother wouldn't be her younger brother. He wouldn't have even ended up in an orphanage. Ke Mingqing would still be living happily with his real parents right now.

Xia Ningzhi lost her voice.

She desperately wanted to tell him, I'm actually Red Lotus. Leave all these dangerous things to me from now on. Stop putting your life on the line. But she couldn't squeeze out a single word. She just lowered her gaze, her eyes shifting.

Until she uncovered the truth of that incident, what right did she have to say those words to him?

But she didn't know what to do if the truth of the fire really was what she suspected...

How could she ever face her brother again?

"What's wrong, sis?" Ke Mingqing asked. "You're scaring me. Can you go dry your hair first?"

Xia Ningzhi shook her head gently, fixing her usual fake smile onto her face.

"It's nothing. I just got a bit dizzy all of a sudden. Maybe I caught a fever?" she said.

Just then, Xia Zili came downstairs wearing Ke Mingqing's T-shirt and shorts. The shirt was so long it completely covered her thighs and the shorts beneath, making it look as though she were only wearing a top.

"What are you two doing? How unseemly."

Sipping a glass of orange juice, she turned to look at the siblings on the couch, a slight frown creasing her brow.