Chapter 241: Major Event 3 — Night of the Witches (1)

September 24, 2026, 9:30 AM, abandoned railway station.

Ke Mingqing carried Xia Zili on his back as he strolled through the pitch-black railway station tunnel. His footsteps echoed in the darkness, accompanied by the occasional faint sound of dripping water.

At this hour, Xia Zili had already missed her first two classes. Whether she'd done it on purpose or by accident, she had no choice but to take the day off.

Ke Mingqing didn't mind. If his old man had any self-awareness and even a shred of conscience, he would definitely remember to call her homeroom teacher.

"But—" Xia Zili started to say, then stopped.

"What is it?" Ke Mingqing asked casually.

"Even though Little Grey hasn't come out these past two days, sometimes... I feel like I can hear her crying."

"She's crying?"

Xia Zili nodded with a soft "Mm," but said nothing more.

Ke Mingqing froze for a moment. A second later, he slowly came to a halt on the rust-mottled tracks. He turned his head to look at his sister on his back. "Are you sure you didn't mishear? Could it be an auditory hallucination or something?"

After a moment of silence, she said, "There's no way I misheard. And... could you please not give this witch a name like 'Little Grey'?"

"Why?"

"It sounds too intimate."

"Little Li, Little Li, Little Li," Ke Mingqing said, exasperated. "Haven't I called you that, too? You're not going to take me to court over a name, are you?"

"You'd better have actually called me that."

"Oh, well from now on I'll just call you 'Little Pear.'"

"Screw off, that sounds like you're calling a eunuch."

"Isn't that what Mom called you when we were kids?" Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Don't tell me you forgot?"

Xia Zili stared blankly for a moment, then lowered her eyes and said softly, "I really did forget everything before I was ten..."

Ke Mingqing froze, finally realizing he had said something he shouldn't have. Surprisingly, Xia Zili didn't get angry. She just rolled her eyes at him and changed the subject.

She spoke with cool detachment: "Besides, do you think Mom looks like a creature from Earth? Since when can Mom be used as a standard example in our family?"

Ke Mingqing gave a dry laugh, thinking to himself, Your mom really isn't from Earth.

"Fair point. Anyway, jokes aside..." He paused, shifting the conversation. "Sis, when exactly did you hear Little Grey crying?"

Xia Zili thought for a moment before answering, "I think it was the middle of last night..."

Ke Mingqing suddenly went quiet.

The middle of last night?

Why would the witch persona be crying? Could it be because of what happened between my sister and me? But I thought she and Xia Zili didn't share memories? If I remember right, she only has Xia Zili's memories from age one to ten...

Whatever. I'll just take things one step at a time.

Ke Mingqing stared blankly at the rusted tracks beneath his feet. A single ray of sunlight leaked through the ruined roof and cast a glow over his face.

After a moment, he hoisted Xia Zili a little higher on his back. As he started walking forward again, he said, "Anyway, it's a good thing Little Grey hasn't come out these past two days. It'd be even better if she doesn't run around causing trouble for the near future."

He let out a soft sigh. "Though, when that group of witches arrives, we might actually need her help. If she just hides the whole time, it'd be a shame."

"What help could she offer?" Xia Zili asked offhandedly.

"Like killing off the other witches, for example?" Ke Mingqing tilted his head, his tone casual. "A witch should know the weaknesses of other witches best, right? I'd love to watch them pulling each other's hair out in a civil war."

"You're overthinking it. How could she possibly be that powerful?"

"Hey, who knows? By the way, Sis, do you know your true witch name yet?"

"I think I do, but I also don't..."

"What does that mean?"

"When I was dreaming back then, I dreamed about a group of eerie paper dolls..."

"Don't tell me those paper dolls were Nietzsche, Plato, Hegel, Confucius, and Freud?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Just ignore me. I've been corrupted by White Jack; sometimes I just like to spout nonsense."

With that, Ke Mingqing raised his head and looked ahead.

This was the end of the tunnel. The tracks, signs, and even the map on the wall were still relatively intact, though most bore the eroding marks of time, the text blurred beyond recognition.

The other end of the tunnel, however, had been reduced to a horrific wasteland. Anyone who ventured into the tunnel in the future would undoubtedly be shocked by the sight. They might even record videos claiming it was a "haunting incident," or suspect it was the remnants of an experiment by some evil super-human species organization.

What Ke Mingqing worried about more was the Magical Girl Company discovering the traces of magic left behind in the tunnel. If they did, they would make this railway station a prime target for investigation.

In that case, they would quickly find out that the superhero Blue Pigeon frequented this place, and subsequently link Blue Pigeon to that unknown witch.

Xia Zili was already a person of high interest to the Magical Girl Company. As Blue Pigeon's sister, the suspicion on her would only grow heavier.

Therefore, to prevent this, Ke Mingqing had to erase all the traces as fast as possible, beating them to the clues. Then, he'd need to establish a new secret base right away.

It was a pity he had already cut ties with Kuroki Hitomi. Otherwise, stashing the Blue Pigeon Battle Suit with her, just like old times, wouldn't have been a bad option.

Now, the maintenance for the Blue Pigeon Battle Suit could only be handed over to the Super Hero Company. Although Ke Mingqing didn't exactly trust outsiders, his hands were tied.

"And then?" he asked. "What else did you dream about?"

Xia Zili shook her head. "I can't really explain it, but my intuition tells me that after my Witchification, I might have two titles."

Ke Mingqing blanked.

He lowered his head, thinking, A witch with a single title is already terrifying enough. Just how strong is my sister going to be when her Witchification is complete? Could she actually arm-wrestle with powerhouses on the level of Mom or Zeus?

Seeing him deep in thought, Xia Zili suddenly broke the silence. "By the way, earlier, did I turn into—"

Before she could finish, Ke Mingqing cut her off. "No. Don't overthink it. You've just been under too much psychological stress lately, and on top of that, you fainted from anger at our old man. I'd have done the same if I were in your shoes."

"Oh..."

Xia Zili voiced her agreement, but in her heart, she already knew the answer.

A short while later, the two of them spotted the stairs leading to Platform 7 not too far ahead. Light filtered down from the top of the steps, faintly illuminating a corner of the tunnel.

"What are we doing here?" Xia Zili asked. "Shouldn't we go that way if we want to head back?"

Ke Mingqing spoke mildly, "We're just going to sit here for a bit. This is our secret base, after all."

"Even though you were just here with Kuroki Hitomi before..." Xia Zili frowned as she said this, burying her slightly puffed-out cheek against his shoulder.

"I already told you, we were only worried about our identities as players being exposed, which is why we put on an act in front of you. Even if I wanted to go on a date with her, it wouldn't be in a place like this. Plus, we've broken up now anyway."

Ke Mingqing paused and lightly tilted his head. "Could we not talk about her?"

"I haven't even asked yet. Why exactly did you break up?"

"She's a player."

"So what?"

"I can't accompany her through these three months. I was worried that if I stayed with her, watching her die right in front of me three months from now would tear me apart."

"Oh, so you used a breakup to run away, and then came hiding in your sister's arms..." Xia Zili paused. "Am I just her replacement?"

Carrying her, Ke Mingqing stepped onto the platform and suddenly stopped. "How is that even possible?"

"Then swear it."

"First of all, you're my family. That won't change no matter what happens, which already makes you incredibly important to me." Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Secondly, you're also my girlfriend. Stack those two together, and you're more important than the rest of the family. You're the most unique person in the world to me. Happy now?"

Xia Zili fell silent for a moment. Seeing him deliver those lines with such a straight face felt so uncharacteristic and hilarious that she puffed out her cheeks, unable to hold back, her shoulders trembling with suppressed laughter.

After stifling her giggles for a while, she sighed. "Forget it, I'll let you off the hook..."

"Alright, Sis. I've carried you on my back for so long; can you use your umbrella to give me a ride home?" Ke Mingqing asked.

"Why go home?" Xia Zili said softly. "Let's go have fun. The aquarium, the zoo, the amusement park, anywhere is fine. Just as long as we don't go home. I don't want to see that old crow's face."

"'Old crow' is pretty harsh..." Ke Mingqing clicked his tongue. "I at least call him the Crow Man. Have you gone and stripped the old man of his humanity entirely?"

"Is that a problem?"

"No, no, no problem at all. As long as you're happy."

Ke Mingqing replied softly, reaching out to gently flick the tip of her elegant nose.

Xia Zili opened her mouth, furrowing her brows at him, posing as if she were going to bite his finger. Startled, Ke Mingqing yanked his index finger back, and she instantly broke into a soft giggle.

The next moment, a hazy, cocoon-like light enveloped her body. The girl in the gothic dress quickly broke out of the cocoon. Grabbing Ke Mingqing's hand, she unfurled the pitch-black canopy of her umbrella. She sprinted lightly along the deserted platform, bounding past time-worn station signs and moss-covered pillars, before taking a flying leap down toward the empty tracks.

Before the siblings even hit the ground, mesmerizing ripples of magic bloomed from the umbrella's surface. In a flash, they rocketed into the high blue sky, vanishing without a trace.

Like some kind of miracle, nothing extraordinary happened over the following week.

The other players in Leijing vanished into thin air right alongside Kuroki Hitomi. The foreign players also suspended their manhunt for the Red Name Player "Jin Chengwu" and gradually evacuated from the city one by one.

As for the Xia-Ke household, things remained business as usual. Xia Lingxue had taken a flight to Egypt, busy completing a mission for the Execution Bureau as she battled "Anubis," an incredibly difficult mythic vessel to subdue.

Xia Ningzhi was tied up with university exams, occasionally sending a WeChat message to check in on the family. Ke Linye was thriving at his workplace internship, even bagging a "Best Intern" trophy.

Their alien mother cooked meals every day, watched historical dramas and Animal Planet, and as soon as night fell, she slapped a face mask on and collapsed into bed, dead to the world. She seemed completely oblivious to the fact that Terminus Tower had painted a target on her daughter's back.

In fact, Ke Mingqing seriously suspected that his alien mother wanted a front-row seat to personally observe her daughter's complete descent into a witch.

But he had no way to prove it. At this stage, he lacked both the energy and the ability to negotiate with this alien. He had no choice but to treat Xia Wenna like thin air for now, leaving that insurmountable mountain to be dealt with on another day.

It was worth noting that the heavily criticized Crow Man had actually played a crucial role—Ke Mingwei had really listened to Ke Mingqing and called the No. 5 Roundtable Hero, the Officer Girl, all the way over from New York.

These days, Ke Mingqing frequently came across videos online shot by passersby, featuring the Officer Girl sitting in various cafes. In the footage, this woman—who invariably showed her face wearing a Russian military greatcoat and a military cap—would prop her long legs up on the table as if no one else was around, lazily smoking cigarettes and drinking alcohol. The cafes were always dead silent; save for a few naive students, no one dared approach to speak with her.

A queen is a queen no matter where she goes... Ke Mingqing would sigh internally whenever he scrolled past one of those videos.

He thought to himself, My old man is an S Rank, the Officer Girl is an S Rank, Xi Ziyue is an S Rank. Add to that the other two of the Magical Girl Three Giants, plus those foreign magical girl reinforcements... With a lineup this luxurious, bring on the witches. Let's see exactly what they're made of.

At this thought, Ke Mingqing suddenly realized a grim problem. Wait, what if the Witch of Despair drops one massive ultimate attack and our whole side just commits collective suicide?

He sighed. "I just hope everyone pumped enough Attribute Points into their spirit stats and didn't become unbalanced glass cannons. Otherwise, we're really going to suffer when the time comes."

Judging solely from the personnel rosters of both sides—even without counting Ke Linye and Xia Ningzhi—Ke Mingqing was confident they could completely steamroll those three witches from the Witch Cult.

However, there were two unpredictable variables. The first was the "Night of Terminus"—a legendary "stage device" that could only be activated by a witch. It was a banquet belonging solely to witches.

According to historical records, no one knew exactly what would happen when the "Night of Terminus" appeared. This was largely because everyone who had ever witnessed this device in action was already dead.

The second variable was "Magical Girl Ember." No one knew if Ember would undergo complete Witchification during this war, or what she would do if it actually happened.

Of course, what Ke Mingqing found most peculiar during this period was that for an entire week, even when he tried calling out to the Little Grey inside Xia Zili, Little Grey never once answered him.

It felt as though the persona within Xia Zili had suddenly evaporated completely.

Initially, Ke Mingqing had thought this was a good thing. It meant Xia Zili was much more stable, which would reduce the number of variables on the battlefield by the time the three witches from Terminus Tower attacked.

But he soon realized he was wrong.

Dead wrong.

That realization came a week later. As another new day dawned, Ke Mingqing opened his eyes in bed, only for his vision to be instantly flooded with rows of system notification boxes.

[Good morning, you damn executioner, you nauseating Red Name Player, "Ke Mingqing".]

[The current time is September 29, 07:00 AM, Sunday morning. The time limit for the "Exterminate Superhumans" task is—90 days, 17 hours, and 0 minutes remaining.]

[Weekly quests have refreshed: 1. Kill a super-human species of any Rank (Reward: 1 freely allocatable Attribute Point); 2. Use any item or skill to perform one medical heal on another player (Reward: Player Rank instantly increases by 2).]

Ke Mingqing let out a yawn. "The system's got just as sweet a mouth as ever today..."

He smacked his lips as he crawled out of bed, bathing in the warm morning sun.

Ke Mingqing thought this would be an ordinary, unremarkable morning just like any other—until he pulled his phone out from under his pillow.

He glanced at the incoming text messages.

[Chali Jiushi: Brooo, I've, r-ran away from home. (Sent: 03:05)]

[Chali Jiushi: Let's play hide and seek. (Sent: 04:30)]

[Chali Jiushi: This is the last time. (Sent: 05:20)]