Red Lotus, White Jack

The vampire criminal Stro had already been taken away by Rain Crow. Yet Dawn Capital's No. 0 overpass remained under lockdown, with police sirens sounding continuously in the distance.

At this very moment, two figures still remained on the silent overpass.

A figure clad entirely in pale white stood atop the guardrail, while another in a long crimson metallic coat hovered in midair.

The two stared at each other in silence.

The instant she heard the name "Ke Mingwei" from White Jack, Red Lotus froze slightly, hanging blankly in midair before finally coming back to herself after a long while.

Her crimson eyes lowered as she gazed down at White Jack without moving.

The Wind-Fire Wheels beneath her feet threw off sparks, illuminating White Jack's face and slender frame. His features were uncanny, his body thin, and he swayed in the wind like a paper doll, as though he might drift away into the distant night at any moment.

"Nice to meet you. My name is White Jack."

White Jack spoke unhurriedly, shaking his head. "Of course, it wouldn't be a problem if you wanted to call me Dad. I can be the Pagoda-Bearing Heavenly King, or I can be Ke Mingwei. That depends entirely on your mood."

Red Lotus fell silent for a moment. "Why..."

"Why what? Why are you suddenly so quiet? Miss Nezha, are you the sort who's usually carefree and uninhibited, but suddenly goes silent whenever someone hits a sore spot?" As he spoke, White Jack suddenly crouched on the guardrail and turned his head, his hollow eyes looking out over the brightly lit Dawn Capital.

Red Lotus said nothing. The fingers of her right hand tightened slightly around the Flame-Tip Spear, while the Wind-Fire Wheels gave off a sharp scraping sound.

Without looking back, White Jack said, "You wanted to ask, 'Why do you know that name?' Didn't you?"

Red Lotus nodded.

"Listen, Miss Nezha... I know most things in this world." As he said this, White Jack tapped his head with one finger.

He paused. "Which means I also know how many fears... and secrets you keep hidden in your heart."

"Stop changing the subject. I'm asking you... why do you know that name?" Red Lotus asked coldly.

"You mean Ke Mingwei?" White Jack lowered his head, but raised his eyes slightly, his gaze eerie.

Red Lotus did not reply. Her sleek black hair swayed in the night wind, while a light like candles burning before a Buddhist shrine blazed in her eyes.

Unable to endure it any longer, the Red Sash slipped from her arm and flowed through the night like a crimson tide closing in on White Jack.

Strip after strip of red silk wrapped tightly around his limbs, binding him securely before lifting his body into the air.

He held his arms out flat, as though tied to a cross. From beginning to end, he showed no desire to resist and made no real attempt to struggle.

White Jack merely raised his eyes to meet Red Lotus's and said quietly:

"He and I are old acquaintances. Perhaps you can ask him yourself."

"What kind of joke is that?" Red Lotus laughed.

"Your father is more of a closeted romantic than you think, you know? At the police station, his subordinates call him 'that old bastard who relies on seniority and never does any work.' Whenever an incident occurs, he disappears for hours like he's vanished into thin air, only coming back after everything is resolved." White Jack paused, then deliberately left her hanging. "Hey, why do you think that is?"

Red Lotus did not seem to care. She hugged the spear's shaft and watched him quietly.

"Do you think spouting nonsense like this makes you seem more mysterious?" she asked after a while.

"Fine, then let's not talk about your father." White Jack abruptly changed the subject. "Aren't you curious who that magical girl that fled in such a sorry state was... and whether she bears even a slight resemblance to your younger sister?"

"My younger sister?"

Red Lotus tilted her head and played dumb. "Since when did I have a younger sister? There's a limit to playing mysterious. I've heard of you. I heard you especially enjoy lying."

"Oh, Miss Nezha, you really don't have a younger sister?" White Jack scratched his chin. "Then here's the question... who is Xia Zili?"

Red Lotus froze in place, then slowly raised her gaze.

Through her mask, a pair of scarlet eyes stared straight at White Jack's face, like a beast poised to devour its prey.

"Magical Girl Ember. That is her identity." White Jack met her eyes. "Don't look at me like that. You ought to pay closer attention to the people around you, Miss Red Lotus."

"Magical Girl... Ember?" Red Lotus murmured. There was no way she did not know this person; recently, the internet had been full of discussion about Ember.

"That's right. Magical girls who have killed someone fall into corruption and become witches. Your sister knows this very well, which is why she has been so depressed lately."

White Jack hung his head and sighed softly.

"What a pitiful girl. She only turned sixteen this year. The world should be vast before her, and her life should only just be beginning... Yet she has such a heavy secret hidden in her heart, like a terminally ill patient who knows exactly what is wrong with them but has to pretend to be normal in front of others."

"Impossible... impossible." Red Lotus shook her head, muttering to herself.

The sparks of the Wind-Fire Wheels flickered, and so did her pupils, like dying candles in the wind.

"Don't worry about others. Worry about yourself first, Miss Nezha." White Jack grinned. "Once mythical vessels advance to a certain stage, they inevitably lose control... It's the same principle as magical girls becoming witches. Except magical girls may not become witches, while mythical vessels will inevitably head toward self-destruction."

As he spoke, he lowered his face slightly and looked down at Dawn Capital's bustling CBD district. "In that sense, you sisters really are afflicted by the same disease."

He paused. "Mm, maybe when you two lunatics, one big and one small, kick the bucket, you can reunite in a psychiatric hospital in heaven. Miss Ember can have Room One, and you can have Room Two. You'll be family and fellow patients—double the closeness, double the joy."

Riding the Wind-Fire Wheels, Red Lotus slowly approached the pale puppet suspended in midair.

The two were very close, silently gazing at each other.

"I'm very angry," she said.

"Being angry is good, but don't let it hurt your health. You still have your college entrance exam tomorrow, after all." White Jack thought for a moment and looked up. "Do you need me to disguise myself as an invigilator and pass you some cheat notes?"

He paused. "That way, you might just 'perform beyond your usual level' and get into a university far better than you expected."

"If you do that, I'll burn you," Red Lotus said calmly.

"That's exactly what I want." White Jack smiled.

"I mean... I'm going to burn you right now." As she spoke, Red Lotus raised the Flame-Tip Spear and touched its tiny burning tip to White Jack's chest.

In an instant, fire spread from his chest like a wildfire, engulfing his entire body.

"Oh, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot, hot—! It's fucking hot!" White Jack suddenly howled. The next second, however, he returned to his usual tone and said indifferently, "Did you think I'd say that?"

"No. I read Ember's news. I know you're only a puppet, and maybe you can come back even if you die," Red Lotus said. "So it doesn't matter if I kill you to vent my anger, right?"

The Theater Puppet's body gradually burned away in the flames, turning bit by bit into pale white smoke that rose into the night sky.

He looked at the mask inches from his face and met her eyes.

"I allow you to vent your anger on me. But I suggest you remain rational even in your anger, and show just the tiniest bit of awe and respect for the advice and secrets I have given you."

"Of course I will," Red Lotus said. "But if, after I verify it, I find that you were lying, I'll only be angrier."

"You know? When you're angry, you look like a kitten acting cute. I can't sense any aggression at all." White Jack suddenly said, "Honestly... from an outsider's perspective, it probably looks like we're playing some strange bondage game."

Red Lotus stopped speaking.

In an instant, she swung the dark-gold Flame-Tip Spear. The puppet's body was torn apart in a flash, and the raging flames consumed every fragment of his remains with overwhelming force.

Before long, the lingering smoke was swept away by the heat waves, and the overpass fell completely silent.

Red Lotus hovered in midair atop the Wind-Fire Wheels.

"Xiao Li..."

She pondered for a moment, remaining silent for a long time as countless thoughts churned in her heart. I'll find a time to confirm whether what he said is true. The girl murmured soundlessly. After a while, the Wind-Fire Wheels spun at high speed, scraping through the air and scattering savage sparks.

Then her figure, too, shot into the night sky amid a wave of heat, disappearing without a trace moments later.