Bedroom Guest, Farewell Under the Moonlight

At 8:20 p.m., Ke Mingqing came to his senses and slowly opened his eyes from the leather chair. A line of blood-red text was immediately reflected in his pupils.

[Notice: Your "Theater Puppet" has died.]

So this was what it felt like to be burned alive? he thought. I'm starting to sympathize with witches from medieval Europe.

The bedroom was pitch-black. Worried that he would not be able to keep up with his third sister's speed, Ke Mingqing had not had time to turn on the lights. Instead, he had devoted all his attention to controlling the puppet's perspective.

Ke Mingqing took out the tracking sunglasses from his inventory and put them on for a look.

The red dot representing Xia Ningzhi's location on the map had stopped in a corner of Old Jingmai Port. There seemed to be a lighthouse there—a lighthouse that had long since been abandoned.

"Okay, one day I'll go to the lighthouse and steal Third Sister's gear. When she comes back after the college entrance exams and sees it gone, will she feel like her world has collapsed?" Ke Mingqing took off the sunglasses and put them back into his inventory.

A moment later, a series of mission settlement panels appeared in his vision.

[Congratulations. You have successfully completed Main Mission 4 (Phase One): Use your second identity to make contact with the mythological vessel—"Red Lotus"—and establish a connection with her.]

[Mission rewards obtained: 2,000 experience points, 2,000 Superhuman Coins, 1 attribute point, and one chance to use the "Item Roulette."]

The experience reward increased again. Last time it was 1,500, right? The Superhuman Coins are still 2,000, though, Ke Mingqing thought. Now it's confirmed. Every time I complete a main mission, the next mission's rewards increase.

[Notice: Your experience points have reached the limit. Your player level has increased by 1.]

[Current level: Lv.04 (1500/2000 experience points)]

[Main Mission 4 Phase Two has been unlocked: Help the mythological vessel—"Red Lotus"—survive the "Comet Fragment Escort Incident," or personally kill the mythological vessel—"Red Lotus"—during the "Comet Fragment Escort Incident."]

Comet Fragment Escort Incident? What's that? Whatever, I'll probably find out later.

As Ke Mingqing thought this and prepared to turn on the lights, a cool breeze suddenly blew in through the open window and brushed against half his face.

His expression changed under the moonlight. At that moment, he realized something utterly unbelievable: he had clearly not opened the window just now, so why was the floor-to-ceiling window in his room open?

Ke Mingqing shuddered. The night wind made his hairs stand on end, and every pore on his body seemed to open in succession.

That was right. While Ke Mingqing had closed his eyes and focused on controlling the puppet, someone had opened his bedroom window without him knowing!

Was it Mom?

Oh no. Did she notice that I never went downstairs for dinner after using the bathroom, so she hid somewhere in the room and watched me for ages?

At that thought, a cold sweat faintly formed on Ke Mingqing's forehead.

The next second, he slowly turned around and suddenly noticed a girl in a gothic dress sitting in the dim moonlight.

Her back rested against the floor-to-ceiling window, and she was covered in blood. Several tears had been ripped into her dress, exposing the skin on her shoulders and waist. Her snow-white skin had been dyed scarlet with blood.

"Hey, hey, hey, you are..." Ke Mingqing froze for a moment. Sis, did that vampire beat you so badly that you got confused and came home in such a hurry that you climbed through the wrong window?

"Don't make a sound..."

With her head lowered and a dazed expression, Ember spoke while clutching her bleeding shoulder with one hand and raising an umbrella with the other, its black tip aimed at his head.

Ke Mingqing stared at the umbrella tip, pretending to swallow fearfully as he raised both hands in surrender.

"You're badly hurt. How can I help you?"

Ember remained silent.

Damn it, how did I enter the wrong room...? With her head hanging low, she thought miserably, I meant to go back to my own room, but I entered my brother's room instead. What do I do...? How could I be this stupid?

"Are you okay? You're still bleeding!" Ke Mingqing said.

Ember's expression beneath her bangs grew tense.

"Close your eyes," she said softly, her voice weak.

"Mm..."

Ke Mingqing agreed aloud, but he cracked his eyes open slightly and quietly watched Magical Girl Ember.

She took a card out of her dress pocket. Ke Mingqing knew what it was. These things were called "magic cards." Magical girls stored magical power inside them, and at critical moments, they could use the cards to achieve unexpected effects.

Magic cards came in several types, one of which was the medical type.

Ember crushed the card, and a warm glow immediately spilled from her fingertips, enveloping her body.

Like countless snow-white fireflies, it flew from the darkness toward her wounds.

The gruesome scars visibly healed one by one, and even color gradually returned to her pale cheeks.

After a while, the wounds on her body disappeared, and magic power was mending the tears in her dress.

Ember slowly stood up and was about to leave through the floor-to-ceiling window when she suddenly stopped beneath the moonlight.

After hesitating for a moment, she said softly, "You can open your eyes now."

Ke Mingqing opened his eyes and met the gothic-dressed girl's gaze.

"What's your name?" she asked.

"Ke Mingqing."

Ember looked at him, then turned her head and glanced at the fan T-shirt hanging in the corner of the room before saying coldly, "Ke Mingqing, from now on... can you stop wearing that?"

"Why? I'm your number one fan." Ke Mingqing played dumb.

Ember frowned and replied without hesitation, "I don't like that stuff. If you're my fan, respect me, okay?"

"Oh, oh."

Ember fell silent for a while, then suddenly turned her clear, cool face to the side.

She said softly, "I'm standing right here. You can look at me as much as you want, but don't wear something so embarrassing."

Sis, you really have no shame, Ke Mingqing thought, but he gave her a thumbs-up and spouted nonsense. "You're definitely a hundred times prettier in person than in photos. Very, very good!"

Ember was stunned.

She turned her face away and did not look at him, as if trying to hold back a laugh. Brother, are you Japanese? Why did you suddenly blurt out 'very, very good'? If it were anyone else, wouldn't they be disgusted to death?

After a long while, she said without turning back, "Thank you."

With that, her figure suddenly vanished from the windowsill, as if disappearing into the moonlight.

Ke Mingqing blinked, as though confirming whether she had really left. Then he clutched his chest and let out a relieved breath. "That scared the hell out of me. As expected of blood relatives—Sis, you have the same potential to be a female ghost as Mom."

As he sighed to himself, he finally noticed the notification box that had been floating before him for quite some time.

[You currently possess one freely allocable attribute point. Would you like to use it immediately?]

"If there's speed, add speed first. I'm so weak right now. Only by catching up with others in speed can I avoid getting instantly killed." Following that train of thought, Ke Mingqing reached out and pressed the plus sign beside the "Agility" attribute.

A red-and-black notification box immediately appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations. Your Agility attribute has officially increased from E++ rank to D rank.]

[Player "Ke Mingqing" currently possesses the following attributes: Strength: E+; Agility: D; Spirit: E.]

After assigning the attribute point, another notification box appeared before Ke Mingqing.

[You currently have one chance to use the "Item Roulette." Would you like to use it immediately?]

"I'll wash my face first. I just got burned to ashes, so this doesn't seem like a lucky time."

With that thought, Ke Mingqing closed all the notifications before him. The world immediately became peaceful, like suddenly removing every mod while playing Minecraft and returning to its original state.

But just then, a somewhat sorrowful voice called out from outside the room.

"Mingqing, didn't you say you'd come downstairs for dinner after using the bathroom? Why did you lock yourself in your room? Is Mom's cooking really that bad?"

Ke Mingqing was startled. Only then did he remember that.

"It's over, it's all over." He hurriedly scrambled down from the leather chair, slipped on his house slippers, and opened the door.

By the time he opened it, Xia Wenna had already turned and gone downstairs. All she left him was a stiff, lonely back, making Ke Mingqing inwardly cry out for compassion toward lonely alien widows.

He smacked his lips and thought he would explain it to her after going downstairs. He would say that his girlfriend had suddenly called, which was why he had locked himself in his room to talk on the phone without even eating dinner.

At the top of the stairs, he turned back to glance at the door to Xia Zili's bedroom next door.

The hallway was silent.

The door was tightly shut, and not a single sound came from inside.

Sis already went back to the room next door, right...? How is she going to explain leaving through the first-floor hall, then suddenly appearing in her second-floor bedroom? Do I need to cover for her?

With that thought, Ke Mingqing shook his head and went downstairs for dinner.