Chapter 178: The Two at the Station, the Sister's Question |
On July 26, at 1:30 AM, in the quiet Guyimai Block, the night was still.
Black Cocoon hung upside down below a building, a transparent restraining band supporting him from above, as he played Minesweeper on his phone and silently observed ahead with his restraining band senses.
Before long, he saw a girl in a suit, wearing a red cloak and a magician's top hat, appear under the moonlight. The magic glove on her right hand let out a crystal-like thread, connected at the end to a giant pigeon with glowing red eyes.
Su Zimai rode the giant pigeon, flying under the moonlight, high above the brightly lit street, her ponytail swaying slowly in the wind.
'So slow.'
Black Cocoon grumbled, lifting his eyes from the phone to look at the white tail shadow.
Then, using a restraining band to grab the base of a nearby air conditioning unit, he pulled on the band and swung diagonally upward, silently following behind the snow-white giant pigeon towards the edge of Guyimai Block.
Soon, the person, the pigeon, and the 'insect' arrived at the forbidden, deserted area.
The reason this area existed could be traced back to the Rainbow Wing incident years ago, when Su Zimai's family still lived in this corner, until Rainbow Wing members fought a superhuman criminal, inadvertently turning it into ruins.
The deeper they went, the fewer human figures and signs of life they saw.
Su Zimai looked down at the earth from the pigeon's back, casting a complex glance at the site of her former home.
At that moment, she suddenly glanced at her phone, then looked up, surveying the area with an unpleasant expression.
"Did Ke Qirui tell her that I'm following her?" Black Cocoon said, seeing her reaction, shrugged.
The next moment, Su Zimai, as if whipping a horse's back, pulled hard on the magic thread, and the pigeon's speed suddenly increased.
Black Cocoon whistled soundlessly, always close behind her, never leaving her side.
He grabbed a restraining band and flew over a dilapidated billboard, like a seabird riding the waves. The howling wind lifted his hem, and finally he stepped through the moonlight, standing on the roof of an abandoned train station.
Looking down, he saw that Su Zimai had already dismounted from the pigeon, standing on the empty Platform 7.
And the platform was naturally a desolate scene; it seemed this train station had been abandoned for some time.
All around was pitch dark, illuminated only by a patch of moonlight. Weeds grew haphazardly on the rusted tracks, and dark green moss twisted over the platform columns, stretching wildly towards the sky like ghostly claws.
The pigeon rapidly shrank, turning into a small pigeon that landed on Su Zimai's hand, pecking gently at her left hand with its beak.
She lowered her eyes, gently teasing the pigeon with her fingers.
Drip drip...
The rainwater left from last night's light shower fell from the platform's eaves to the tracks, forming a beautiful, clear parabola. The continuous sound of falling water broke the silence of the platform.
"Come out," Su Zimai suddenly said, "I know you're following me."
Hearing this, Black Cocoon peeled away the restraining bands around him, took out a manga book "Sayonara, Erica" from within, then used a restraining band to hang upside down below the eaves, slowly removing the transparent bands covering his body.
He raised his hand to the side of his ear and pressed a button on his mask, activating the voice changer, then spoke, breaking the silence.
"Miss Su Zimai, thank you for guiding me here. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to arrive at this train station on time." Black Cocoon licked his fingertips and turned a page. "It would be terrible if I were late, after all, I need to appear in teenagers' textbooks in the future. An untrustworthy person cannot set an example."
"Do you enjoy being a pervert so much?" Su Zimai frowned. "Every day you're either stalking someone or stalking another."
"Actually, we're just going along the same path," Black Cocoon shook his head. "You know, as a feminist and an awakened woman, I would never do anything to violate women's personal rights."
Su Zimai was silent for a moment: "Did my brother ask you to protect me?"
"Hmm... it seems, Miss Su, you already know your brother's true identity?"
Saying this, Black Cocoon looked up from the page and glanced at Su Zimai.
"Otherwise?" Su Zimai said calmly. "He already told me, he is Blue Arc."
"Which brother?"
"Which brother do you think?"
"I see, it's our dear Mr. Gu Qiye." Black Cocoon said. "I knew once he learned your identity, he would eventually be unable to hold back. It seems the development of events still hasn't deviated from my predicted course."
"Stop talking nonsense. You're quite good at misleading people. Earlier, you told me 'your brother is Blue Arc'."
"Isn't that right?" Black Cocoon shrugged.
"Why didn't you just say it's Big Brother?" Su Zimai asked coldly.
"Is Big Brother not a brother?" Black Cocoon retorted.
Su Zimai was suddenly stunned. She felt this sentence was somewhat familiar, as if she had heard it from someone before, but couldn't recall for a moment.
She shook her head, dismissing her messy thoughts: "Anyway, did my brother ask you to protect me, so that's why you're participating in this Red Traffic Light operation?"
"No." Black Cocoon said while flipping through the manga. "Strictly speaking, Mr. Blue Arc did not commission me to protect you. The reason I'm participating in this 'Red Traffic Light apprehension' operation is clearly from my other collaborator—Mr. 'Chess Player'. Don't be so self-absorbed, Miss Magician."
"Chess Player, Xia Pingzhou?" Su Zimai asked in a low voice.
"That's right, the one at the auction who scared you so much you..."
Seeing Su Zimai's eyes turn cold instantly, like an angry penguin about to peck at you, Black Cocoon shook his head and didn't continue.
"Although you're quite tasteless... annoying, deserving of a punch, as bothersome as a fly, I haven't properly said 'thank you' to you yet..." Su Zimai paused. "Thank you for saving me at the auction that day."
"You're welcome." Black Cocoon said. "But I can answer you: at the auction, it was indeed Mr. Blue Arc who asked me to protect you."
"As expected..."
"Then, while the operation hasn't started yet, I want to advise you one last time, Miss Su Zimai, this 'Red Traffic Light' operation is not as simple as you imagine."
"Just a Tier 2 Exorcist, could there be other variables?" Su Zimai didn't understand.
"Of course, but I can't tell you what this variable is yet, because it would put you in a dangerous situation... considering the friendship between me and your brother, I wanted to try to persuade you."
Black Cocoon thought, if Su Zimai were a tight-lipped person, it wouldn't matter to tell her about the "Salvation Society", but he was worried that this thick-headed sister might blurt out about the "Salvation Society" to others, which would be problematic.
You see, Red Traffic Light was targeted by the Salvation Society precisely because he was promoting the "Salvation Society" symbol everywhere, drawing widespread attention.
If Su Zimai learned about the "Salvation Society", there was a certain probability she would meet the same fate.
Su Zimai lowered her eyes and thought for a moment: "I've come this far, no matter how dangerous, I won't run away. Don't try to persuade me."
"As expected..." Black Cocoon had anticipated. "Your whole family is the same, all stubborn as bulls."
"I suddenly have something I want to ask you."
"What is it?"
"Is my second brother really just an ordinary person?" Su Zimai thought for a moment, then looked up at him.
"Why would you ask that?"
"Because my leader once said he might be a superhuman..." Su Zimai said softly. "I've always prevented myself from thinking about it, but I feel that one day I'll have to face it. I don't want to be completely unprepared when that happens."
She paused: "Especially after knowing Big Brother is Blue Arc, this possibility suddenly grew. These past few days, every night when I sleep, I can't help but think of second brother's face, always wondering... if he might be hiding something from me, just like Big Brother."
Black Cocoon gazed at her quietly for a moment, then withdrew his gaze and replied unhurriedly:
"Let's put it this way, your second brother is an out-and-out muggle. You don't need to worry about that."
Su Zimai was stunned for a good while, then slowly exhaled in relief. Black Cocoon might use vague, ambiguous language to mislead her, but he had never lied to her.
Thinking of this, she immediately felt at ease, the corners of her mouth lifting slightly, her voice barely audible as she said:
"Thank you."
Black Cocoon didn't respond. After a moment, he suddenly spoke, breaking the silence hanging between them.
"He loves you very much."
Su Zimai was stunned, her face flushed red instantly, and then her ears turned so red they seemed to bleed.
She suddenly looked up and glared at Black Cocoon, saying embarrassed and annoyed: "Everyone knows that! Why do you have to say it? It's so mushy, I'm getting goosebumps!"
"How come I feel you don't know that?" Black Cocoon said. "You and your big brother are equally arrogant, never valuing your own lives, always making those around you sad and worried, yet thinking you're doing the right thing... as if some self-destructive psychology in your genes is at play."
He scratched his jaw. "I seriously suspect this self-destructive mentality is inherited from your father, but his manifests in alcoholism and self-abandonment, while you are even more hopeless, hypnotizing yourselves like ascetics... even when you're already covered in wounds, you don't notice, just rush forward, waiting for death to release you."
"That's my stupid brother. I won't be that stupid." The image of Blue Arc flashed through Su Zimai's mind.
"Who knows."
"You say I make those around me sad... is second brother very sad?" Su Zimai was silent for a while, then suddenly asked.
She wasn't clear what she was thinking, actually wanting to learn about her family from an outsider's mouth... even though she hated this big fluttering moth who teased her daily, every time she saw him, she felt an inexplicable sense of closeness, unconsciously relaxing her guard.
"Of course... Gu Wenyu is a child who is not good with words, ashamed to express himself. He's accustomed to hiding his feelings under a layer of superficial cheerfulness, never easily revealing his inner thoughts to others. Probably only when wearing his mask can he be a bit more honest, right?"
Black Cocoon paused, lowering his voice: "But such a child got angry in front of you, asked if you ever cared about his feelings, and you ignored it, making it seem like he was being unreasonable."
Su Zimai fell silent, her complex expression bathed in moonlight.
Black Cocoon flipped through the pages, the rustling sound of his fingers on paper overlapping with the sound of dripping water.
In the silence, he spoke:
"Maybe you can try putting yourself in his shoes. Why has Gu Wenyu never spoken to you in that tone before? He, like your big brother, doesn't want to see you get involved in danger, but is powerless because he's just an ordinary person."
"And actually, the truth about their mother isn't that important to him... We can't let the whole family be on the brink of death just because one father can't move on, right?"
Su Zimai's nose twitched slightly, suddenly feeling a pang of sympathy for Gu Wenyu, who was left at home.
'Yes, for someone as awkward as him to speak his mind, this time he must be really worried about me to seem so emotional...'
She was about to speak when Black Cocoon suddenly raised a finger and said calmly: "By the way, it was actually him who commissioned me to give you diapers, with the purpose of reminding you to back down in time and not overestimate yourself."
"Get lost!"
Su Zimai coldly shouted, about to say "You never lie, why are you making such a joke?" when a sudden engine roar drowned out her thoughts.
She and Black Cocoon turned their heads together, seeing a beam of searchlight rushing towards them from the train tunnel exit, splitting the night sky, illuminating the mottled tracks and empty platform.
Immediately, a massive, dark-red behemoth roared out of the tunnel, the rumbling sound almost drowning the whole world.