Chapter 259: Epilogue (2)

On the afternoon of September 30, Ke Mingwei woke up.

He opened his eyes and stared silently at the unfamiliar ceiling for a moment before slowly pushing himself up and looking around.

It was a textbook hospital room, and he was lying in bed in a blue-and-white striped patient gown.

"What happened?" Ke Mingwei asked, turning his gaze to the figure sitting by his bed.

"We won," Officer Girl said, peeling an apple with a fruit knife. "Blue Pigeon did well. Want me to put in a good word for him?"

For once, the tall, dashing Russian woman was in casual clothes, without her military cap. Her outfit, however, was utterly bizarre: a black track jacket with white stripes on top, a pitch-black midi skirt below, and black leather shoes, with her long blonde hair loose down her back.

Anyone else standing here probably wouldn't have recognized the famous Roundtable Hero right away.

"A'Qing..."

Ke Mingwei held his throbbing head and looked down at the bandages wrapped around his waist, frowning as he carefully pieced together what had happened before he passed out.

"Oh? A'Qing?" Officer Girl raised an eyebrow and looked up at him. "So Blue Pigeon really is your son—and here I thought the rumors out there were just rumors."

Only then did Ke Mingwei realize he had let it slip. He had meant to keep it hidden, but figuring it didn't matter anymore, he shook his head and asked, "How are A'Qing and Little Li now?"

"Don't worry, your son is just fine—and I heard from the others that he even took out a witch during this incident." Officer Girl twirled the fruit knife in her hand.

Ke Mingwei froze, then slowly raised his head and blurted out the horrifying thought that had crossed his mind: "He—killed his own sister?"

The hospital room fell into silence.

Officer Girl blinked for a moment, then lightly covered her face and burst out laughing. "When you put it like that, it's no wonder you aren't popular with your kids, is it?"

Realizing he was being teased, Ke Mingwei breathed a sigh of relief instead. If Ke Mingqing had really killed Xia Zili after her Witchification, Officer Girl wouldn't be speaking to him in such a relaxed tone.

As his groggy mind gradually cleared, he asked, "Who did he kill?"

"The Witch of Despair. In the Roundtable's files, she's a witch of the same Rank as the Witch of Calamity," Officer Girl said slowly. "He really is your kid. Quite a surprise. Even Mizumio Akari of the Magical Girl Three Giants praised his ability—she said that before they had even caught their breath, Blue Pigeon had already taken the Witch of Despair's head."

"A'Qing killed the Witch of Despair..." Ke Mingwei looked up, murmuring in disbelief.

"That's right, and he killed her almost single-handedly while she was amplified by the Terminus Night device," Officer Girl said softly. "Don't you suspect your son is a little strange?"

"What do you mean?"

"From Death Crow, to the Clock Maker, and finally the witch this time, he's improving a little too fast. I still remember when I saw him at that funeral—he looked like a gust of wind could knock him over." Officer Girl paused, brushing a finger across her lips. "Mmm, it made me really want to tease him properly."

Ke Mingwei fell silent.

"Have you ever taken him for a player test?" Officer Girl pressed down slightly, pricking a tiny dent into the surface of the apple with the tip of the blade.

"You don't need to worry about that," Ke Mingwei said coldly. "On my very first day back from the meeting in New York, I put the Brain Imaging Helmet on A'Qing's head. The test results proved he isn't a player."

"Are you sure he didn't pull any tricks?" Officer Girl tilted her head.

"I watched him put the helmet on with my own eyes."

"Oh, then that puts my mind at ease." Officer Girl raised an eyebrow. "All I can say is that he really is your son—his starting point is higher than any of ours. Maybe in the future, he really will take your place and become one of the Roundtable Heroes."

"Never mind A'Qing, how is Little Li?" Ke Mingwei pressed.

"She was rescued and is resting right now. I heard her injuries aren't serious." Officer Girl paused, lowering her gaze to stare straight at the apple in her hand. "However, you have a very troublesome matter right in front of you—"

"What matter?"

"Your daughter—is suspected of having turned into a witch."

As she spoke, Officer Girl raised her clear blue eyes and looked straight into Ke Mingwei's.

Ke Mingwei's pupils shrank abruptly, a faint light flickering in their depths. He froze for a long moment before asking hoarsely, "Are you sure?"

"Sure. She nearly destroyed half the city. Thankfully, someone stopped her in time."

"Then right now, is she—"

"Good news, she's already turned back." Officer Girl spread her hands. "That's what I heard from them. Pretty miraculous, isn't it—your daughter is the first magical girl in the world to turn back to normal after becoming a witch, and your son is a rookie hero who can fight a witch one-on-one not long after awakening his Esper power."

She paused, her tone shifting. "If they were my children, I would definitely keep a close eye on them and teach them how to use their powers."

With that, she flicked the last strip of peel off the apple, dropping the bright red skin into the trash can.

Ke Mingwei frowned tightly; he could hear the mockery in Officer Girl's words.

"Admit it, you need a comrade who can fight shoulder to shoulder with you so you can guide your children onto the right track together, instead of an ordinary person like your wife."

Officer Girl suddenly looked up, staring into his eyes. "Tell me, what can that spacey Chinese girl do for your children?"

Ke Mingwei was silent for a moment. "Trea, this isn't something we should be discussing."

"Is that so..." Officer Girl said casually. "Whatever. It's rare for you to say my name, so that's nice too."

At that, her lips curved into a smile. "Oh right, I have to go to New York in your place next to attend the meeting and report on this incident. So I sent a text message to that Chinese girl and told her to come to the hospital."

"What did you tell her?" Ke Mingwei's heart skipped a beat, worried that Xia Wenna would find out too much.

"I told her that her strong, strapping police officer husband was badly injured while leading a child trapped in the rubble to safety," Officer Girl said. "Well? Isn't that a perfectly reasonable excuse?"

"Thanks for the trouble," Ke Mingwei said politely.

"You're welcome. After everything we've been through, have you fallen for me even a little bit?"

Speaking at an unhurried pace, Officer Girl leaned over, looking quietly at Ke Mingwei as she reached out and slowly pushed the peeled apple into his mouth.

Ke Mingwei raised his hand to take the apple, but Officer Girl used her Esper power to form a military saber and blocked his right hand. "You're still no fun at all," she said.

Frowning, he raised his eyes from the cut across the back of his hand and looked at her without a sound, the apple still in his mouth.

Suddenly, hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor outside the ward. Next, with a bang, a woman still wearing a Winnie-the-Pooh kitchen apron pushed the door open and walked in, her eyes looking as if they were veiled in mist.

Panting heavily, Xia Wenna looked up at the scene inside the room. Right then, Officer Girl was leaning sideways against the edge of the bed, her left hand feeding a peeled apple into Ke Mingwei's mouth.

The two of them were pressed very, very close, looking straight into each other's eyes.

Xia Wenna froze for a long moment, and a dense stream of data suddenly flashed across her pupils.

[Analyzing target individuals' behavior: Subject A is holding an apple in her left hand while concealing a military-grade blade (suspected Esper ability construct) in your blind spot with her right hand; Subject B has a tiny, bleeding cut on his hand and is holding the apple offered by the other party in his mouth.

Although Subject B's physical posture is passive, judging by his expression and micro-movements, he does not appear to be resisting; rather, he is suspected of engaging in dangerous, extreme flirtatious behavior that seeks thrills through acts such as self-harm.]

At that moment, the light bulb on the ceiling of the ward suddenly dimmed for an instant.

"Oh, that spacey Chinese girl is here. I didn't expect her to get here so fast," Officer Girl said as she dispersed the military-grade knife.

Ke Mingwei also froze for a second before turning his head to look at Xia Wenna.

Officer Girl turned her head and sized Xia Wenna up with great interest, her gaze fiercely aggressive.

"What a pity. Here I was hoping to beat her with the super-human species' advantage in looks," she said, shrugging. "They say Espers look like they age slowly, yet twenty years have passed, and she hasn't really aged either."

Xia Wenna walked over slowly, not saying a single word the entire time.

The next moment, she slowly raised her static-filled eyes and stared unblinking into Officer Girl's. Raising her hand, she slapped Officer Girl across the cheek with a sharp smack.

The crisp sound of the slap echoed through the hospital room as the yellow flowers on the windowsill swayed gently in the breeze.

Xia Wenna's movement had been absurdly slow, yet Officer Girl hadn't even tried to block it.

The Russian woman held her half-reddened cheek, stunned for a brief moment. Then, curving her lips, she looked up, leaned in, and kissed Xia Wenna on the lips.

Ke Mingwei froze.

Dead silence filled the ward. He put a hand to his forehead and let out a deep sigh.

After a moment, Officer Girl parted from Xia Wenna. Wiping the corner of her mouth with her hand, she turned to blow Ke Mingwei a kiss, then turned and walked away.

"Goodbye, darling."

Like a robot missing a part, Xia Wenna stood there in a daze for a while before turning her head to look at Ke Mingwei.

Stiff-faced, Ke Mingwei sat motionless on the bed as the apple in his mouth slowly slipped out and fell onto his thigh.

Right at that moment, the phone by his pillow suddenly chimed.

He slowly reached out and picked up the phone to check the message, giving himself a brief escape from the suffocating vortex.

[Officer Girl: Are you sure your wife is a normal person? There aren't many people in this world who can make my face hurt with a single slap.]

On the same day, at five in the afternoon, the twilight glow of the setting sun shone into Solomon Cafe.

In an employee break room in the back of the cafe, a girl in pajamas with her hair down lay resting quietly on a bed, while a black-and-red metal trench coat was stuffed into a storage bin beside it.

An old man wearing reading glasses, a cafe uniform, and his white hair tied in a ponytail leaned against the wall, quietly flipping through a palm-sized novel in the dim daylight.

"Zorro, how's my sister?" the Owl Judge asked as he walked in through the door.

Folding his arms, Zorro said slowly, "The medical treatment worked very fast. The self-healing ability of a mythic vessel is no joke. Even with burns that severe, there wasn't a trace left before long—"

"Is that so? Then I can rest easy."

Letting out a breath of relief, the Owl Judge pulled over a chair and slowly sat down beside the bed.

"What are you wearing that ragged mask for?" Zorro glanced up at him. "Afraid you weren't eye-catching enough walking into my shop?"

"Obviously, it's so I can take the mask off in front of my sister and give her a surprise," the Owl Judge said mildly. "You really have no sense of fun at all, old man."

Zorro snorted coldly and lowered his head to keep reading.

Before long, the girl on the bed slowly woke up.

"You're—the Owl Judge?" Xia Ningzhi frowned as her blurry vision gradually focused. "Where is this?"

Turning her head on the pillow, she looked around. What met her eyes was an utterly unfamiliar yet luxurious room, furnished almost entirely in mahogany.

Clasping his hands together, the Owl Judge curved his lips, gently guiding her: "This is the cafe your eldest brother often visits, remember? It's called 'Solomon.'"

Xia Ningzhi said nothing.

Once she had sorted out her thoughts, she bolted upright in bed, clutching the quilt with wide eyes as she asked anxiously, "How is A'Qing, and my sister?!"

"Aren't you going to ask why I know your eldest brother first?" The Owl Judge was taken aback.

Xia Ningzhi raised her eyes and stared at his mask. "Answer me!"

"Don't worry, they're both fine—" The Owl Judge shook his head. "No need to be so tense. Your brother is keeping your sister company right now. If there's any news, they'll let me know."

"Really?"

"I have no reason to lie to you. You did save my life from those three puppets—" The Owl Judge paused, stroking his chin. "Oh, no, I can only say you helped me out once. Calling it saving my life is too much of an exaggeration."

Xia Ningzhi turned her head, looking at him suspiciously. "Wait, you said you know A'Qing?"

"What else?" As he spoke, Ke Linye slowly took off the owl mask on his face. Curving his lips, he said slowly, "Dear sister, you sure kept this from us for a long time. Aside from A'Qing, no one else in the family knows your identity, right?"

"You're—you're—" Staring at her eldest brother's face, Xia Ningzhi froze completely, her lips trembling.

Ke Linye raised his clear eyes and smiled faintly, quietly watching her just like that.

Just then, Xia Ningzhi suddenly looked away from his face and lowered her head, murmuring in confusion, "Wait, if you put it that way—A'Qing already knew I was Red Lotus a long time ago?"

Ke Linye froze, the light draining from eyes that had curved almost into crescents.

Zorro let out a disdainful snort.

Ke Linye fell silent. He looked down at the black owl mask in his hand, then after a long moment raised his eyes again to look curiously at Xia Ningzhi.

"Uh—dear sister, shouldn't you be surprised that I'm the Owl Judge first before asking about anything else?" he asked.

Xia Ningzhi didn't react. She just frowned and looked down, staring suspiciously at the quilt covering her thighs as if trying to figure out when on earth her identity had been exposed.

"I get it, it must have been White Jack!" A moment later, Xia Ningzhi snapped her head up, completely furious. "He must be the one who told A'Qing my identity!"