Chapter 197: Orange Sky Before the Rainstorm

July 7, at Bo Ke’s house.

It was late at night, and a line of moonlight was hidden under the fish-scale clouds. Cicadas were chirping in the old green trees. The wind blew the leaves off, and the clear moonlight fell into the house through the window.

The birthday party was almost over when Yuriko woke up slowly, lay on the carpet, yawned, and licked her cat paws.

Then, when it was thinking about moving to a quieter place to sleep, it was suddenly hugged by Bai Ziling and held in his arms, using it as a pad for its sketchbook.

At the same time, everyone in the living room was planning to end the party with Ke Yinzhi's singing session, but not long after, with a roar from Bai Wenna coming from the rooftop, everyone became obedient and gave up the idea.

"It seems this is God's will."

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi spread his hands, put the microphone back on the table, yawned, and continued to read his book with his eyes downcast.

"You can avoid the first day but not the third. Next month is Xiaoling's and my birthday. Our birthdays are on the same day, big brother, you have to sing a song for us."

Baizini was just tilting her head and yelling when she heard Baiwenna's scolding voice coming from upstairs again.

She smacked her lips, bent over carefully and walked closer to the TV, took out the USB of the wireless microphone from the back of the TV, and then looked back at the living room covered with cream.

Then he put his hands on his hips and said with an expression like "I'm the boss and I'm in charge" "Whoever loses the rock-paper-scissors game will clean up the living room, otherwise mom will wake up with the crazy ape virus tomorrow!"

After hearing the speech from the little bully who had the highest status in the family, the other six brothers and sisters sitting on the sofa immediately reached a consensus, raised their right hands without even looking up, and punched silently.

Then, after using rock-paper-scissors to decide who should clean up the messy living room, except for the unlucky guy who was still cleaning the living room with a dusty face, everyone else sat on the sofa and did their own thing.

Ke Mingye slumped on the sofa in boredom, playing with the clown mask and asking, "So, what is this thing used for?"

Hearing this, Bai Ziling raised his eyes from under his snow-white hair, glanced casually, and then looked away.

She squatted on the sofa barefoot, drawing on a blank notebook, and said, "Sister Xiaoni said that wearing a mask can scare Sister Qiuwu and give her an extra surprise."

"No way, you call this an extra surprise?" Ke Mingye said as he put on his mask. "I think it was a premeditated murder. It's really her idea."

After saying that, he turned his head and looked at Bai Zini with contempt through the mask.

Bai Zini, who was sweeping the cake traces on the floor with a broom, raised her head, puffed up her cheeks, and looked sideways at Ke Mingye, meeting his gaze fiercely.

She said in an unhappy tone: "Pah! I prepared it specially, but in the end I didn't use it. I wanted my brother to wear it, but he refused to wear it, as if he would die if he wore it."

"You're not wearing it." Ke Mingye rolled his eyes at her. "If anyone should wear it, it should be my eldest brother. He's the only one in the family who looks the most like a clown. How can I be convincing in wearing this thing?"

"Are you complimenting me? Thank you for the compliment."

Ke Yinzhi lowered his eyes to read a book and spoke casually.

"Haha, it's the 22nd century and some people still think 'clown' is a compliment. I suggest you surf the Internet more to broaden your horizons."

Ke Mingye spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"It's not that I don't like surfing the Internet, it's just that there are too many idiots on the Internet," Ke Yinzhi replied.

Ke Xiaomo hugged his shoulders and reminded him calmly, "No swearing at home. The first offense will be a warning, and the second offense will be a week of running errands."

"Isn't this just telling the truth? How did it become a dirty word?"

Ke Yinzhi yawned and turned the pages of the book, saying, "They don't even have the basic ability to think independently, but just take in information that they can't control, just like taking drugs. It's like a moth flying into a flame. Over time, with their shallow knowledge and brain capacity, they will either become numb under the high-intensity washing of these news, or become puppets controlled by public opinion, just like... a slightly more advanced zombie."

"Perhaps in the future, as the Internet becomes more popular, this will evolve into a new religion."

He paused. “After all, even if it is a piece of unreliable information, it can become a fuse to incite these people without judgment. The user base of the Internet is there, and there will always be a group of idiots who will fall for it. For example, Qing Ya is a living example... He obviously did nothing wrong, but there are many idiots on the Internet, so his public opinion has to be one-sided.”

However, no one in the living room listened to him. Only Ke Mingye raised his middle finger at him without even looking up, with an expression that said, "What are you pretending for?"

He said: "Haha, if this kind of Internet religion really appears in the future, I will definitely go in and be the leader, spreading false information and inciting them to cyberbully you."

Ke Mingye paused and added, "For example, 'Ke Yin stole a panda', 'Ke Yin abused his brothers and sisters at home, leaving a psychological trauma on his younger brother', these two sound quite explosive."

"Wow, being loved by your own brother must be very stressful. But unfortunately I don't go online, so it doesn't affect me."

Ke Yinzhi shrugged his shoulders. He seemed to remember something, chuckled twice, and said sarcastically, "Well... I hope 'Qing Ya' doesn't go online either."

"How much do you like Qing Ya?" Ke Xiaomo asked casually.

"Really..." Ke Yinzhi pondered and said casually, "It can't be said that I like you, I just want to stand up for justice?"

Ke Mingye was playing with his phone while saying, "Aren't these the three views? Saying that they are Internet trolls and that they can't think independently, isn't it just to whitewash Qing Ya?"

He paused and said disdainfully, "Besides, are you a human? It's too unlucky to mention 'Blue Crow' on someone else's birthday. You didn't even ask my sister's opinion in advance."

Hearing this, Bai Zini, Bai Qiuwu, and Ke Xiaomo all looked at him with disdain. They thought, who on earth worships Qing Ya so much that he made a set of combat uniforms to imitate him? Isn't this just the thief crying "stop thief"?
"I feel it's not as good as my second brother mentioning 'Blue Owl' first on someone else's birthday. That owl is an imitator of the Blue Crow. They are birds of a feather, okay?"

Baizini said as she mopped the floor.

"The case is solved." Ke Mingye said, "If you don't mention 'Blue Owl', you won't mention 'Green Crow'. It's all my second brother's fault."

"I'm really sorry."

Ke Xiaomo apologized decisively. He flipped through a family photo album and said calmly, "These two are indeed unlucky. I won't mention it anymore."

Ke Mingye didn't know why he felt uncomfortable listening to this, as if he had crossed the line and his eyes twitched slightly, as if he was saying 'It's okay for me to make fun of myself, but you're going too far'.

He looked up at Ke Xiaomo and said meaningfully, "I hope you keep your word. If you mention 'Blue Owl' to us again, you are a dog."

Ke Xiaomo was too lazy to pay attention to him and simply did not respond.

"Let's not talk about the Blue Owl for now. I don't think there's anything to dislike about the Blue Crow." Bai Qiuwu said, "Although there are many controversies about him, he has indeed made this city a lot safer, hasn't he?"

"It's hard to say, I feel it's not as good as Magical Girl Ashes." Ke Mingye said.

"I agree." Bai Zini clapped her hands and snorted, "Wow, brother, you can hardly speak like a human being?!"

Hearing this, Ke Yinzhi also interrupted the topic and mentioned it casually.

He said: "Wow, you all praise this 'Magical Girl Ashes' so much? Although she doesn't follow the rules like Blue Crow, I think there are still many differences between the two: if Blue Crow's paranoia and incompatibility are the embodiment of sticking to her beliefs, then this magical girl gives me the feeling of... looking down on others, willful, and arrogant."

He paused and said teasingly, "If you must praise her, then I actually want to say that as a vigilante, this magical girl Ashes is not as good as the diviner."

Ke Xiaomo raised his eyebrows and thought, what are you thinking about? Isn't this obviously telling Qiu Wu that he knows her identity?

So he covered for him and said, "Which theologian?"

"Which one else could there be?"

Ke Xiaomo hesitated for a moment and said, "Oh, that 'Black Wukong'?"

"Yes."

Ke Xiaomo nodded: "From the perspective of strength, he seems to be much stronger than that magical girl."

Baizini originally wanted to play dumb, sweep her own floor quietly, and be a patient and strong magical girl.

When she heard this, she became so angry that her eyes trembled and her face immediately fell.

She stood up, hugged the broom handle with both arms, turned her head to look at Ke Yinzhi, and said coldly: "It's okay to dislike Ashes, and it's also acceptable to praise one and trample on the other. But that black monkey is the most annoying, you are not allowed to praise her no matter who you praise!"

"Oh my god, you must be the low-smart internet troll that Big Brother was talking about. Who did Black Wukong offend?"

Ke Mingye lowered his head, took a sip of Coke, and stood up for Black Wukong who was celebrating his birthday.

Listening to the conversation between the three people, Bai Qiuwu was stunned for two seconds, holding the edge of the cup with his lips, and secretly raised his eyes to look at Ke Yinzhi.

She thought to herself, why did brother suddenly mention me? Could it be that he already knows my identity?
"Okay, let's not talk about this."

As he spoke, Ke Yinzhi smiled slightly and changed the subject casually: "So who is that blue owl, and why is it so popular recently?"

Ke Xiaomo was silent for two seconds. "It's nothing special. He's just a bit rude, and among all the superheroes, he seems a bit curious, so he's been discussed a lot."

"I see." Ke Yinzhi replied casually.

Ke Mingye said: "I think it's better to like blue owls than blue crows."

Ke Yinzhi said: "It's a bit tactless of Mingye-san to use a character like this who relies on novelty to attract people's attention to challenge Qing Ya."

Ke Xiaomo sighed: "Brother, please stop bragging about Qing Ya. If the top beam is not straight, the bottom beam will be crooked."

Bai Zini shook her head and said seriously, "It's okay. No matter how straight you are, Third Brother is not straight. The bottom beam is already crooked."

"Have you forgotten about me, your sister?" Bai Qiuwu changed the subject and made things difficult for Bai Zini, "Or am I not even a 'senior'?"

"No, what I mean is that no matter how straight you are, you can't compare to this super crooked crooked headed ghost like Third Brother."

Bai Zini explained aggrievedly.

"That's it." Bai Ziling said as he was drawing, "Tilt, head, ghost."

"What does 'tilted head ghost' mean? You can call me names, but can you please not make up some weird words?"

Ke Mingye complained nonchalantly.

"You guys are so mean. I was scared to death. If you had put on the mask at the beginning, you wouldn't have been able to have the birthday party. You might have sung funeral songs for me in the hospital."

Bai Qiuwu picked up the cup, took a sip of lemonade, glanced at the clown mask on Ke Mingye's face, and spoke unhappily.

She paused and said, "Speaking of which, where did you buy this?"

"Ask the elementary school students." said Ke Mingye.

"A toy store." Ke Yongzhu answered casually, "When I was buying fireworks for you, someone asked me to buy them as well."

"Someone has a lot of ideas."

Ke Mingye put on a clown mask as he spoke.

Then, he lowered his voice and said faintly, "Hello, I am a super villain elementary school student. I appear in the Fifth Primary School around Beijing, and my main character is a bully of elementary school students." "Retarded."

Ke Yongzhu didn't even look at him.

"Childish." said Baizini.

Bai Ziling covered her mouth with her hands and laughed barely audible.

Bai Qiuwu, who was watching TV, was suddenly stunned. She turned her head and looked at Ke Mingye's profile.

For some reason, she felt that the tone of Ke Mingye's voice when he put on the mask and acted weird just now reminded her of someone:

——Strange thing.

"how come……"

Bai Qiuwu shook his head, thinking in his heart, and moved his eyes away from Ke Mingye's masked right face.

Soon, as Bai Zini finished cleaning up the living room, tonight's party was over. Everyone went upstairs one by one at their mother's call, and lined up to wash up and go to bed.

After washing up, Ke Mingye walked back to his room, locked the door, leaned sideways on the soft bed that had just been changed, took a deep breath, and rested his right arm behind his head.

Nowadays, when he has nothing to do, he will release an extra puppet, and let that puppet stand by in a corner of the city with a spare mobile phone to be responsible for communication.

Then, when her existence time was about to reach six hours, she transformed into a magical girl, closed her phone into a magic book, and found a corner where no one was paying attention to her and exploded.

Otherwise, because my second brother is around, it would be easy for something to go wrong if I kept the spare phone in my hand all the time: even if I was chatting on the spare phone at home, there was a possibility that my second brother would observe me.

However, there are many occasions where contact is needed, so in order to be prepared for emergencies, a doll has to be placed outside.

"It seems that there is no one to contact today. The information of the eldest brother and the second brother is shared. They know everything they need to know. The eldest sister also knows, so the only one missing is the younger sister."

Ke Mingye was thinking casually when suddenly, he heard a "ding" sound in his ears.

He raised his eyebrows, and soon realized that the voice did not come from his ears, but from the ears of the puppet wandering in the city.

Quickly changing the perspective, I saw that at this moment, a QQ message was received on the spare phone in the puppet's hand.

Ke Mingye controlled the puppet and lowered his eyes.

It was truly touching... After nearly 10 days, the user "Not Ashes" with a "Gothic Skirt Penguin" avatar finally replied to her QQ message.

[Not Ashes: Please, can you stop spamming? ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: Please, senior, can you not use cold violence against me? ]

[Not Ashes: I haven't logged into QQ for a few days, how come you sent so many messages? ]

[Little Red Riding Hood Selling Matches: I thought you were dead, and I was planning to use your QQ as a tree hole. Please compensate me with a tree hole.]

【Not Ashes: Why am I dying? 】

[Little Red Riding Hood: Suicide for love. Forbidden love that is not understood, being spurned by the world and dying to prove one's loyalty, I often see this kind of plot in comic novels.]

[Not Ashes: I can’t stand it anymore. Can you read less girls’ comics? ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: I finally have enough to eat, so of course I have to expand my hobbies. So that's how it is. In the eyes of my seniors, a little girl who picks up trash can only pick up trash for the rest of her life... This is the ugly face of the capitalist class, and they will oppress us poor little girls who live just to take a breath and read girls' comics.]

[It's not Ashes: At least look normal! ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: What is normal? Will the overbearing president fall in love with me? ]

[Not Ashes: Forget it, chatting with you online is just torturing myself. ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: You won’t be tortured offline, is it because I’m too charming? 】

[Not Ashes: No, I can beat you up right away when I see your real person, but you can only sulk online. ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: Senior is so heartless. I was planning to break into his house to check if he was dead or alive, but I never did.]

[Not Ashes: Fortunately you didn't do that, otherwise I would be angry. ]

[Little Red Riding Hood: By the way, let’s meet at that elementary school tomorrow morning. I have something to tell my senior.]

[Not Ashes: What’s the matter? Can’t you talk about it on the phone? ]

【Little Red Riding Hood: Related to strange things.】

After sending this message, Ke Mingye ordered the puppet to hide the phone in the magic book, and then retrieved the puppet with a series of standard operations.

Then he closed his eyes and another night of silence passed.

The next morning.

[Good morning, Mr. Player, today is July 2028, 07. There are 21 days left until the deadline for the ultimate mission "Exterminate Superhumans". ]

[The current number of players surviving worldwide is: 94. ]

Ke Mingye opened his eyes with a slight tremor, quickly scanned the panel, and then skillfully clicked the cross.

He yawned and got out of bed, went to the bathroom to wash up, went downstairs, put on his sneakers, ran, and did sit-ups. Soon, he completed his daily tasks.

[Daily Task 3000: Run meters (one chance to use the reward wheel) (completed)]

[Daily Task 2: Do sit-ups ( freely assignable attribute points) (Completed)]

[Received the reward for daily task 2 "One Hundred Sit-ups", and obtained 2 attribute points that can be freely allocated. ]

Ke Mingye walked out of the convenience store opposite his home, tore open the package of butter bread, raised his left index finger, and allocated the two attribute points he had just obtained to "Spiritual Power".

[Your "Spiritual Power" attribute changes: 38 → 40 points (↑2 points)]

[Received the reward for daily task 1 "Run 3000 meters" and got a chance to win a lucky draw. ]

As the prompt box disappeared, the reward wheel slowly unfolded in front of him, and the text of six areas came into view.

[3000. 2000 mall coins; . C-level equipment card; . Get a limited-time professional role-playing task; . Dungeon refresh coupon; . Travel coupon; . experience points. ]

Ke Mingye didn't look at it any more and just pressed the start button of the turntable. Then the pointer began to rotate at high speed and finally slowly stopped above area ①.

[Congratulations, you have received the reward for area ①: 3000 mall coins. ]

[Current total amount of mall coins: 12100. ]

After completing his daily tasks as usual, Ke Mingye took a rest on the bench and then went home for breakfast.

Not long after, seeing Bai Zini walking out of the house without saying goodbye, Ke Mingye slowly returned to his room.

He released the puppet from the windowsill and ordered it to rush towards the Tobacco Street.

Not long after, in Tobacco Street, on the rooftop of an abandoned primary school.

The girl in a Christmas dress landed on the ground, looked up at the beautiful figure leaning against the iron net, and whispered, "Senior Huijin, you are finally willing to see me?"

She paused and said, "Is the fact that your brother is a superhero such a big blow to you?"

The girl in the Gothic skirt turned around, glanced at her indifferently, and said with her shoulders crossed.

"Don't mention him today, or I'll go home."

"Well... I still have a lot to ask you."

"Don't ask. And..."

Little Red Riding Hood seemed to have seen through her thoughts and said first: "Although I missed you very much during this period, I didn't contact you through WeChat."

"Oh... so why are you looking for me?"

"Can you take me to get the cards first?" Little Red Riding Hood whispered, "Since Senior is not here, I haven't even received the supply cards that I can get once a week."

She thought to herself, if you hadn't urged me, what would I do if I accidentally swiped my card into the Blue Owl ID card when I swiped it at the Tongmenghui building? Being too lax is not a good thing.

"Can't you go get it yourself? It's not like you don't have an ID card."

As they were talking, the magical girl Ashes saw Little Red Riding Hood lowering her head in silence for a long time, looking aggrieved and about to cry, so she was stunned for a moment and sighed softly.

She said, "Okay...can you stop feeling aggrieved? I'll take you there." As she spoke, she held Little Red Riding Hood's hand and opened the magic umbrella Cinderella in the air.

Soon, the two arrived at the Magical Girls League building.

Huijin raised his hand and swiped his ID card, then took Little Red Riding Hood to the elevator and came to the library-like card storage on the 15th floor. Then he stood at the entrance and waited quietly for Little Red Riding Hood to finish selecting the supply cards.

With previous experience, it didn't take Little Red Riding Hood too long.

She moved quickly and took out seven cards from the open storage cabinet, namely - 3 [Random Flash], 3 [Fireball], and 1 [Magic Supply].

Then, she summoned the empty red magic book, placed the seven cards into the card slots on the first page of the magic book, closed the book, and made it disappear.

After receiving the cards, the two stood in the corner with the brown coconut wallpaper. The chandelier above their heads cast a warm light, covering the two good-looking faces.

"So, what do you want from me?" asked the girl in the Gothic skirt.

Little Red Riding Hood was silent for a moment, then whispered, "I encountered a strange thing last night. It told me to stay away from the Old Jingmai District, saying that someone was targeting a white-haired girl."

"Girl with white hair?" Ashes frowned slightly. "What else did it say?"

"I didn't say anything, but I thought it was strange, so I thought of telling my senior."

Hearing this, the magical girl Ashes lowered her eyes and thought for a while, then breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay, I understand. I have something to go back for, so you should go home first."

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(End of this chapter)