Chapter 264: Half-Witch Form, Lighthouse, Parting

The living room sat in absolute silence. From the kitchen came the sizzle of vegetables hitting hot oil in a wok, followed by a spicy, mouth-watering aroma.

'Does Mom know about Second Sister's plan?' Ke Mingqing thought. 'If she does, why didn't she stop it? Can she really stand by and watch her two daughters devour each other?'

He sat on the sofa, thinking quietly, his dark eyes fixed unblinkingly on Zeus on the TV screen.

After a moment, he suddenly turned his head to glance at Xia Wenna.

The middle-aged woman wore a Winnie the Pooh apron and was stir-frying the last dish. A layer of mist clouded her eyes, and her profile looked as focused as a fried-rice robot.

Ke Mingqing silently withdrew his gaze and let out an imperceptible sigh.

There was no way he was going to provoke Xia Wenna right now. He knew exactly how miserably she had played him in the previous timeline; it was no exaggeration to say that his future self had been single-handedly crushed by her.

'I'll let White Jack go find Third Sister first,' he decided. 'She's probably doing what she always does—hiding in the lighthouse by the sea whenever something happens. She sees White Jack as the best sounding board in the world. If anyone can talk sense into her, it's him.'

Ke Mingqing lowered his eyes in thought. Not long after he released the Theater Puppet, Ke Mingwei walked downstairs with a dark expression.

The middle-aged man furrowed his brows, his deep eyes filled with gloom.

Ke Mingqing looked up at him, then tilted his head back against the sofa and sighed with a hint of disdain.

He stared blankly at the ceiling. 'If I remember correctly, from the moment I said Xia Zili was awake to Dad going upstairs to find her, and then coming back down... it hasn't even been three minutes, has it?'

Clearly, Ke Mingwei had been kicked out by Xia Zili. Their total communication time hadn't even reached sixty seconds.

The conversation between father and daughter probably went something like this:

Click. A cautious sound. Crow Man opened the door. He stroked his beard and chose his words carefully.

"Xiao Li, I—"

Xia Zili lay on the bed and said without looking back, "Get out. I want to be alone."

Crow Man frowned in silence for a moment.

"Alright, be alone then."

Bang. A very heavy, very perplexed slam of the door. Crow Man left.

End scene.

The Crow Man Family Mini-Theater bows out.

Clap, clap, clap. Cue applause from the Officer Girl.

Ke Mingqing rolled his eyes. 'Haha—so this is Crow Man's status in the family. Mom and Second Sister are probably the only ones in this house who can keep Xiao Li in check, huh?' he thought.

At that moment, Ke Mingwei sat down on the sofa with a cigarette dangling from his lips.

"So, how is she doing?" Ke Mingqing asked casually, looking down at his phone.

"She told me she wants to be left alone," Ke Mingwei said in a low voice.

"Oh, then let's just leave her be for now." Ke Mingqing turned off his phone and looked up. "She seems lucid anyway. She doesn't look like she's at risk of losing control anytime soon."

Ke Mingwei nodded. "Yeah, we'll deal with it when Xiao Li actually loses control. If we work together, we should be able to tie her down."

"Uh... the two of us? Sure, we'd totally win."

Ke Mingqing clicked his tongue. 'Dad, you really have no idea what the concept of a dual crown name witch means, do you? Even if your Shadow of Saturn can foresee the future, all you'd see is nine hundred and ninety timelines of getting absolutely crushed by her.'

'But it's fine, it's fine. A dad and an older brother teaching a bratty little sister a lesson should be a piece of cake. If we can't beat her with raw power, we'll just suppress her with familial hierarchy. No matter how arrogant she is, it's not like she'd actually kill her whole family, right?'

Ke Mingwei fell silent for a moment.

"Right, I made a promise to the Magical Girl Three Giants yesterday," he said.

"What promise?"

"Once Xiao Li woke up, I agreed to take her to the company for a checkup. That was their condition for letting me keep her at home."

"Are you kidding? You're a Roundtable hero. Since when do you need their permission to keep your own daughter at home?"

Saying that, Ke Mingqing shrugged.

"Compared to the Superhero Roundtable Council, the Magical Girl Company is nothing but a bunch of nobodies, and the Three Giants is just a title for stray dogs."

'Can two A++ Ranks even be called the Three Giants?' he added inwardly. 'The Roundtable has a whole row of S Ranks standing there. Zeus might even be at SS Rank by now.'

"They are higher-ups in the Magical Girl Company, after all," Ke Mingwei said slowly. "Although the status of magical girls has never measured up to that of superheroes historically, it's necessary to show them due respect."

"Fine, fine. Then set up a time with them," Ke Mingqing said in annoyance. "But even if Xi Ziyue and the others decide that Xiao Li is too dangerous and unfit to stay, they won't say it to your face."

He paused.

"Because you're Rain Crow," he said.

"I know."

"Just don't get played by them. If they secretly make a move against her one day, I won't forgive you," Ke Mingqing said blankly.

Ke Mingwei furrowed his brows, his eyes shifting.

"I know what I'm doing. I won't let anything happen to Xiao Li."

"Good, good. You didn't disappoint me, Dad. I thought you'd be the type to go, 'My daughter might actually be a witch, so as a Roundtable hero, I must place righteousness above family today and prove to the world how just I am!' This puts my mind at ease," Ke Mingqing said sarcastically, looking up at the Roundtable Heroes documentary playing on the TV.

Ke Mingwei simply raised a hand and ruffled his hair vigorously.

The moment the documentary cut to the Officer Girl, Ke Mingwei's right hand suddenly paused, and the palm pressing on Ke Mingqing's head pushed down even harder.

However, at that moment, Ke Mingqing's mind was completely off the living room TV and his conversation with his father.

'This is bad. If Second Sister really goes crazy, things are going to get messy,' he thought. 'Even among S Ranks, the destructive power and regeneration speed of a mythic vessel aren't something ordinary super-humans of the same tier can match.'

At this thought, Ke Mingqing sighed and picked up the remote to change the channel. 'Not to mention Third Sister. If she loses control too, we'd be facing two completely rampaging S Rank mythic vessels. Could we really stop them?'

'Forget it. Right now, the biggest priority is finding Third Sister. Second Sister's goal is to have Third Sister eat her, so as long as we tie Third Sister up tightly at home, Second Sister will have no choice but to deliver herself to our doorstep.'

His thoughts settling, Ke Mingqing took a deep breath. 'I have to hurry up and get stronger,' he thought. 'The enemies looming ahead are all S Rank monsters at minimum. It's nothing like the petty squabbles from before.'

"It's time to eat. Stop sighing over here," Ke Mingwei said blankly, crossing his arms. "I'll take Xiao Li to Xi Ziyue for the checkup with you. If push comes to shove and the two of us have to fight the Three Giants, it's not like we don't have a chance of winning."

"Let's not make this about 'the two of us.' If it really comes to blows, Xiao Li alone could probably take them all out."

Ke Mingqing paused.

"Assuming she still retains the power of Witchification, of course," he added.

He looked up, his mind suddenly recalling the Superhuman Panel that had flashed before his eyes when he walked into Xia Zili's room earlier.

[Super-Human Species Codename: Ember (Half-Witch Form)]

[Type: Half-Witch (Half magical girl power, half witch power)]

[Danger Rating: S Rank]

[Description: Ember, the first magical girl in the world to completely purge a witch's persona, thereby obtaining the power of a witch atop her own foundation. However, a witch's strength stems from inner laceration.

Therefore, she cannot fully control the witch's power and can only maintain the Half-Witch Form.]

Ke Mingqing hung his head and muttered helplessly.

"This is bad. Once Third Sister also enters the final stage of being a mythic vessel, is there going to be anyone in this house who isn't an S Rank besides me?"

Just then, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced at the lit screen.

[Ke Linye: I contacted A'zhi's counselor. She said A'zhi hasn't returned to campus and actually asked for a leave of absence ten minutes ago. In the message, A'zhi said she won't be returning to the university for a while.]

Ke Mingqing rested his chin lightly on his hand and chuckled.

"Oh, never mind. It turns out I still have my unlucky eldest brother to share my misery."

Meanwhile, at Old Jingmai Port.

Blazing sunlight spread from the horizon, blanketing the clouds, the ocean, and the seagulls circling in midair. Waves crashed against the sandy beach one after another with a rushing sound.

Near the seaside cliffs stood a deep blue lighthouse. In the sunlight, it appeared pitch-black, its outer walls old and cracked, resembling an emaciated giant.

A moment later, a ghastly white figure suddenly pierced through the clouds and descended from the sky, landing outside the observation deck at the very top of the lighthouse. Its white top hat slowly stopped spinning.

White Jack lowered its hat brim, crouching silently on the window frame like a white cat. It slowly raised its deep, hollow eyes, gazing at the beautiful figure who was currently packing her luggage.

"Don't step on my window with your filthy feet," Xia Ningzhi said in a low voice.

"Don't be so heartless, alright?" White Jack said softly. "Miss Nezha—oh, wait, Miss Ningzhi. I'm not here to fight with you. I was hoping I could..."

Just as it finished speaking, strips of red silk suddenly shot over from a distance. Sun and moon patterns were woven into the fabric, and it moved as fast as a red python that had been hunting in the desert for a long time.

White Jack sighed. Suddenly, a small paper doll jumped out of its palm and shouted.

"Superman Philosophy!"

Immediately, a layer of golden light enveloped its body, blocking the Huntian Ling on the outside.

"I told you, I don't want to fight with you." It raised its arms in a gesture of surrender. "Can we just talk things out? I can get hurt too, Miss Nezha."

At that, the Huntian Ling came to a halt, coiling around White Jack's feet like dead snakes. However, the sun and moon patterns on the surface of the silk still glowed with a faint light.

"Don't you get it?" Xia Ningzhi said softly. "I'm no longer in the mood to talk to you."

"Alright, then I'll just tell you the truth." White Jack threw its hands up. "The 'Anhe District Fire' file I gave to the Blue Pigeon kid was actually fake. I had someone photoshop the pictures inside—hey, don't make such a sad face, okay? That carefree look suits you much better."

Xia Ningzhi lowered her eyes to her luggage and didn't say a word. The corners of her eyes were still slightly red.

"I admit I have a bit of a sick sense of humor, but I've turned over a new leaf now," White Jack said.

White Jack paused.

"Look, didn't I use Blue Pigeon's faked death to provoke your Crow Man daddy before? For someone as awful as me, isn't this completely normal behavior?"

After a moment, Xia Ningzhi suddenly spoke.

"Then why aren't you continuing to lie to me this time?" she asked.

"Because you got too emotionally invested. I thought it was just a joke, but you actually cried. It made my heart ache for you—though of course, saying something like that makes me sound completely insincere, so forget it."

As White Jack spoke, it clutched its hollow, ghastly white chest and slowly bowed its head.

"Consider this me begging you. Don't go—I'll be very lonely if you leave."

Xia Ningzhi fell silent for a moment.

"You're lying."

White Jack froze, then shook its head.

"I'm telling the complete truth."

"No, I know what you sound like when you lie," Xia Ningzhi said softly. "Maybe you're too much of an idiot to notice it yourself, but you're actually a bit like my little brother."

White Jack fell silent.

Xia Ningzhi took a deep breath and tied a knot in her luggage.

"It's so funny. I knew you would come. I was waiting for you, waiting for you to tell me that it was all a joke and that you didn't actually kill your little brother's biological parents—yet when you finally said it, I instantly knew you were lying."

"So what?" White Jack dropped down from the window. "Are you going to abandon the family that worries about you and just walk away? If you do that, your brother will spend the rest of his life living in guilt."

In the next instant, a golden-glowing Universe Ring smashed over from the darkness, slamming White Jack into the wall. Its body was embedded deeply into it, and cracks bloomed across the wall of the observation deck.

"Holy shit, shit, shit—" White Jack barely managed to lift its head from the crater, staring at Xia Ningzhi. "Are you not planning to live here anymore?"

"I really don't plan on living here anymore. Might as well just burn it down," Xia Ningzhi said blankly. The Wind and Fire Wheels streaked over from the distant sky, scraping out dazzling sparks. She stepped onto the Wind and Fire Wheels, grabbed her luggage, and shot out the window.

However, in the next second, a sudden layer of golden light enveloped her body.

Xia Ningzhi froze slightly. By the time she came to her senses, she was back inside the observation deck, and when she looked up, she was face-to-face with White Jack.

[Eternal Recurrence (from the Philosophical Paper Doll — Nietzsche) (Returns you or a nearby target to the position held 1.5 seconds prior)]

"You're not allowed to leave." White Jack stared at her. "Don't force my hand, Miss Nezha. Otherwise, even if I have to break your legs, I'll..."

Before it could finish speaking, a Fire-Tipped Spear suddenly thrust over and jammed straight into its mouth.

The spear tip instantly pierced through its throat, the roaring Blazing Fire burning its teeth and tongue to ash.

Then, its entire body was ignited by the Samadhi True Fire. The flames burned fiercely, yet White Jack didn't even bother to try blowing them out, simply letting the raging fire incinerate its body.

Through the scorching curtain of flames, it quietly looked into Xia Ningzhi's eyes, its gaze seeming to silently beg her.

But the depths of the bun-haired girl's eyes flashed scarlet, so cold it made one's heart palpitate.

The two stared at each other in silence. In the next second, a trail of tears slid from the corners of the girl's eyes.

"Goodbye, White Jack."

Saying that, she slowly withdrew the blood-drenched long spear, gripped it backhanded, and looked away from White Jack's face.

"I used to think you were my friend, the only friend I could speak my true feelings to... but someone like me is better off being alone."

Xia Ningzhi stepped onto the windowsill and leaped out once more. Landing on the Wind and Fire Wheels in midair, she streaked violently toward the horizon. In a short while, she vanished beyond the clouds.