Chapter 271: Mother's Hands Smell of Steel and Blood

Kamishiro Ruri was dead.

It was a sudden death. Before Ke Mingqing could even react, the culprit behind it all had pushed open the door and stepped inside—an alien visitor wearing a human face, completely expressionless, carrying a shopping bag in her hand.

At this moment, the entryway of the Xia-Ke house was dark and silent. The front door kept the torrential rain at bay, but the wind still howled outside like wailing wild dogs.

Ke Mingqing lowered his head as he and Xia Wenna leaned against the shoe cabinet to rest.

'Always in the way. All this damn alien does is get in the way. It's so fucking annoying. If you hadn't gotten in my way in the last timeline, I would have slaughtered every last one of the super-human species long ago and reached my Happy End—'

'Even now, if not for this alien, would I even have to worry about so many problems?'

He took a deep breath, thinking in silence.

After a moment, Ke Mingqing suddenly looked up and asked, "Mom—what would you think if someone wanted to kill your whole family?"

Xia Wenna looked up from the shopping bag in her hand and tilted her head, asking in confusion, "Does A'Qing have a fever? Why ask such a strange question out of nowhere? You frightened Mom."

Their eyes met.

Drip.

Drip, drop.

Liquid was still dripping from Xia Wenna's shopping bag onto the floor. The entryway was too dark to make out its color in the shadows—perhaps it was blood, or perhaps just ordinary rainwater.

Or perhaps the shopping bag held Kamishiro Ruri's organs.

Ke Mingqing fell silent for a moment. Looking up from the shopping bag to meet her gaze, he let out a breath and said, "There are too many dangerous people and dangerous things out there. I was just wondering—you always act like you live in a vacuum, Mom, but have you ever considered what happens if someone comes after our family?"

"Even if Mom is an airhead, if anyone tried to bully Mom's family, Mom would definitely get angry."

Xia Wenna spoke unhurriedly, puffing out her cheeks slightly as if she were joking. Those mist-shrouded eyes made it impossible to read what she was thinking.

Ke Mingqing suddenly laughed.

"Real airheads don't call themselves airheads," he said, lowering his head. 'Could your acting as an alien be any more half-hearted and clumsy?' he thought. 'Why can't you bring out the version of you from the last timeline that ran rings around my future self?'

In the silence, Xia Wenna reached out and touched his forehead.

Ke Mingqing could almost smell metal and blood on her palm. In that moment, he felt a subtle prickle of fear.

"No fever..." she said softly. "Did A'Qing see something bad on the news?"

Ke Mingqing lowered his eyes in silence. A moment later, he looked up and asked, "If you care so much about your family, can you tell me why you don't seem to care at all that Second Sister is missing, or that Third Sister stopped replying to messages and vanished days ago?"

"That's because Mingwei said he was already looking for them. Mom has been very worried, too." Xia Wenna cradled her right elbow with her left hand, lowering her head as she murmured, "I haven't been able to sleep these past few days, and my skin has gotten so bad... My head feels dizzy. Every time I remember your father and that Russian girl, Mom's heart just breaks."

"Are you really worried? I don't even know what to say."

Ke Mingqing spoke offhandedly, taking Xia Wenna's hand from his forehead and holding the cold palm in his own. He studied the lines etched across it, as if trying to discern where she differed from a human.

"If A'Qing has anything on his mind, you can tell me directly," Xia Wenna said.

Ke Mingqing stared quietly at her palm. After a pause, he sneered, "Isn't my meaning obvious enough? I just think someone like you wouldn't feel a damn thing even if someone said they were going to slaughter your entire family right to your face. You don't care about your family at all. The only person you've ever cared about is yourself, which is why you're completely indifferent to what happened to Second Sister and Third Sister."

Xia Wenna dipped her head slightly, her long bangs falling forward to mask her cheeks, making it impossible to see her expression.

When she looked up again, a bizarre snowy static flickered in her eyes. A metal tentacle rose slowly from behind her back, creeping silently toward Ke Mingqing.

"Mom... do you think I'm still the original Ke Mingqing?" Ke Mingqing asked, keeping his head down.

The metal tentacle suddenly froze in the darkness.

"What are you saying, A'Qing...?" Xia Wenna tilted her head and murmured. "Are you really A'Qing?"

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not. Who knows? Either way, I'm at my wit's end—you're the one who needs to find that answer. In this world, only you can help me find it," Ke Mingqing said nonchalantly.

He paused. "Isn't that right—alien colonizer, Z12235?"

Silence.

A deathly silence descended over the entryway like a heavy curtain.

Xia Wenna said nothing. She simply stood rooted in place, her static-flickering pupils reflecting his face.

Ke Mingqing slowly raised his head to look directly into her eyes, the pitch-black depths of his gaze cold as a glacial cavern.

Thunder roared outside the window. A fleeting streak of lightning illuminated his face, and in that flash of pale light, bizarre black-and-white static danced in Xia Wenna's pupils like a wild beast waiting to devour its prey.

Under the rumble of thunder, Ke Mingqing paused, then lowered his voice. "Can we stop playing this boring game of house?"

Xia Wenna remained silent.

Ke Mingqing pressed on, "There are only two months left. Is playing dumb really that much fun?"

Xia Wenna still didn't say a word, but the static dancing across her pupils grew denser, like a malfunctioning miniature television screen.

Ke Mingqing looked into her eyes, an edge of exhaustion in his gaze. "I'm serious. If you care even a little bit about your family, then find that answer and tell me before either of us makes a mistake—that's the only way we can avoid repeating past mistakes."

At that, he let out a low, self-deprecating chuckle.

"'Repeating past mistakes' really is an ugly phrase. It makes it sound like I'm the villain, like I actually want to slaughter your entire family. Oh, right—come to think of it, wouldn't I have to kill myself too for it to count as killing your entire family? Assuming you even consider me family, that is."

Just then, a figure walked over from the living room, his shadow stretched long by the living room light across the entryway floor.

Ke Mingqing and Xia Wenna both silently stared at the shadow.

It was Ke Linye. Holding a bottle of oat milk, he leaned against the wall, turning clear, curious eyes toward the mother and son in the entryway.

"A'Qing, Mom, what are you two doing?" he asked. "Why not come into the living room to talk?"

Ke Mingqing fell silent for a moment, then smirked and said without looking back, "I was just about to lay something major on Mom. Bro, could you try not being so clueless for once? You should really spend a couple of years in a Japanese workplace and learn how to 'read the room' like they do."

"What is it?"

"What else could it be? The fact that I'm Blue Pigeon, of course." Ke Mingqing shrugged. "Fuck, honestly, I was debating whether I should expose you and Dad too. Isn't it sad that Mom's the only one in this house kept in the dark?"

"...Blue Pigeon?"

Xia Wenna finally spoke, her lips parting slightly as she asked without expression, "A'Qing, is that true?"

Ke Linye blinked, letting out a dry chuckle to give Ke Mingqing an out. "A'Qing, Mom might be a little spacey, but even she isn't going to buy a joke that wild. Save the boring jokes for April Fools' texts."

Little did he expect Ke Mingqing to ignore the lifeline entirely, carrying on as if nothing had happened: "Of course it's true, Mom. I've been an esper for six months now."

Ke Mingqing reached out, gently pressing his hand over hers, and spoke at an unhurried pace. "Did you really not notice your own kid turned into a superhero? You obviously found the costume sketches in my room before. I'm honestly curious how you managed to miss that fire case file on my bookshelf. If you'd used cleaning as an excuse to take that away, maybe Third Sister wouldn't have run away from home."

As the words left his mouth, blue electricity flared in the darkness. Arcs of lightning, fluid and gentle as water, wrapped around Xia Wenna's hand, bathing the entryway in light.

Before either brother could notice, the metal tentacle hovering in midair silently recoiled behind Xia Wenna's back.

"No way..."

Ke Linye raised an eyebrow, muttering under his breath as his eyes widened slightly.

A moment later, he took a sip of oat milk. 'A'Qing, what's gotten into you?' he thought. 'What's the point of laying your cards on the table with Mom when she's this clueless? Sure enough, with Ah Xue gone, there's no one in this house left to keep this kid in check.'

Thoughts aside, Ke Linye decided to enjoy the spectacle, looking up to watch Xia Wenna's reaction.

He had suddenly remembered a question he had discussed with Xia Lingxue before: was it really just a coincidence that there were so many of the super-human species in this family? If not, who was pulling the strings?

Since Dad was in the dark, wasn't Mom the only person who could have made all this happen?

Right then, Xia Wenna was quietly watching the blue arcs of electricity covering her palm, her face entirely calm. A moment later, as if only just registering what was happening, she leaned forward slightly.

Ke Mingqing's eyes widened as Xia Wenna pulled him into her arms.

Xia Wenna wrapped her arms tightly around his shoulders, whispering into his ear, "Actually, Mom knew you became a superhero a long time ago... I was just waiting for you to tell me yourself. I'm really happy you were willing to share it with Mom."

"...Liar."

After a stunned silence, Ke Mingqing spoke in a hoarse rasp.

"What does A'Qing want to hear? Do you want to know what Mom thinks?" Xia Wenna murmured softly. "Even though it's dangerous, Mom is proud of you."

"You... liar."

Ke Mingqing gritted his teeth. Tears spilled from his eyes, trailing down his cheeks.

Xia Wenna said softly, "Our A'Qing is throwing a tantrum, too. Mom knows you're under so much pressure, but you're not the type to talk—you always just lock yourself in your room."

"Is telling a single word of truth... that hard for you?" Ke Mingqing pressed his face against her shoulder, his voice trembling and barely audible beside her ear. "How can you be so selfish? You know everything, yet you just sit back and watch me struggle alone. Is it fun watching me squirm like a bug right under your eyes? Am I not your child? But if I'm an outsider—if I'm just a stranger to you—then why didn't you stop me? Why didn't you just kill me from the start? It would've been so much better if you killed me, just like you killed Kamishiro Ruri. Then I wouldn't have to wonder whether I'm really part of this family. I wouldn't have to keep struggling, or make any choices..." By the end, his words dissolved into an incoherent mumble, like a choked-back sob.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he rasped, "I'm so tired... I'm just so tired."

Xia Wenna made no sound. She simply patted his back gently, her downcast eyes clouded with faint static as she stared quietly at his cheek.

In that moment of dead silence, a hand thick with the scent of steel and blood brushed quickly through Ke Mingqing's hair, lightly tapping his forehead.

He found it hard to describe what it smelled like.

Perhaps it smelled of rust?

His eyelids suddenly grew heavy. The world before him swayed, flickering with hazy black-and-white static.

Ke Mingqing felt as if he were resting in a cradle. An overpowering wave of drowsiness washed over him, forcing his eyes shut, and within moments, he drifted off.

Standing at the entrance to the living room, Ke Linye watched the scene unfold, momentarily stunned.

He blinked.

In that split second, he seemed to have caught a glimpse of something, yet also felt like he'd seen nothing at all. It had happened far too fast—perhaps even the fastest of the super-human species in the world couldn't have seen what just occurred.

An instant later, Xia Wenna retracted her metal tentacle in a blur too fast to register. Looking up at Ke Linye by the living room doorway, she said softly, "Linye, A'Qing seems tired... He's fallen asleep."

"Fell asleep?" Ke Linye muttered.

"Yes. This child is probably just too exhausted," Xia Wenna murmured.

"Yeah, you can tell he's worn out."

Ke Linye fell silent for a long while. Staring at Ke Mingqing's back, he thought back over everything that had happened: first the Clock Maker, then the witch, and finally Ah Xue and A'zhi going missing. A'Qing must have reached his breaking point long ago...

Xia Wenna said gently, "Linye, take him back to his room to rest."

"Got it."

Ke Linye nodded. He walked over, hoisted Ke Mingqing onto his back, and turned back toward the living room.

"Earlier, A'Qing mentioned your and Mingwei's identities... Are you two keeping secrets from Mom as well?" Xia Wenna asked suddenly, fixing her gaze on his back.

Ke Linye paused in his tracks at the entryway. After a moment, he offered a smile. "Not at all, Mom. But we're all really worried about A'Qing right now. Let's sit down and have a proper talk once he wakes up."

With that, he carried Ke Mingqing through the living room and headed up the stairs.

'Leave it to A'Qing. You casually pulled off what Second Sister and I never dared to do,' Ke Linye thought, a slight smirk playing on his lips. 'Still, looking at it like this... even if Mom really is hiding something bizarre, she's not about to tell us anytime soon. Should I ask Dad...?'

He shook his head. 'No, knowing Dad's personality, if he knew anything, he would have told us long ago.'

At that thought, Ke Linye's eyes glinted faintly in the darkness.

'Regardless... right now, the priority is figuring out how to find A'zhi and Ah Xue. After that, I can deal with Mom.'