As he spoke, he gestured slightly behind him. The supermarket owner was looking up from behind his reading glasses, shakily observing the three of them, seemingly ready to pick up the phone and call the police at any second.
Ji Minghuan pouted in disappointment, turned the doorknob, and entered.
He took off his shoes at the shoe cabinet, put on indoor slippers, and walked into the living room, turning his head to see Su Zimai sitting on the sofa watching TV.
She was wearing an orange hoodie, as usual, liked to sit on the sofa barefoot while watching TV. It seemed she had just showered; her slightly damp hair was tied in a high ponytail, giving off the scent of orange shampoo.
Ji Minghuan slipped his hands into his coat pockets, silently shifted to the right, moving sideways like a crab, and finally plopped down beside Su Zimai.
He took the lead, playing the role of a bomb disposal expert, draped his arm over the sofa back casually, and said:
"Hey sis, long time no see."
Su Zimai rested her head on her knees, ignoring him, her eyes reflecting the TV screen and shining brightly.
Ji Minghuan glanced at the TV and continued, "I swear I didn’t sell you out, Sis. I just happened to walk into a barbecue restaurant, and happened to bump into you and your teacher. The world is just that small."
Black Cocoon sold you out, not my problem, Ji thought to himself.
Su Zimai replied tersely.
Seeing his enthusiasm met with indifference, Ji Minghuan didn’t bother talking to her anymore. He secretly decided that next time when visiting Su Zimai with Black Cocoon, he must thoughtfully bring her a pack of Queers diapers, otherwise how can he show his brotherly care for his sister?
The sound of a door closing emanated from the entrance, followed by Gu Qiye and Gu Zhuo entering the living room one after the other.
Gu Qiye glanced at Su Zimai’s silhouette, slightly curved his mouth in a smile, stopped behind the sofa, gently patted Su Zimai’s head, and then carried his luggage upstairs.
Gu Zhuo placed his suitcase in the corner of the living room, seemingly unsure of what to do next. So he leaned against the wall, slightly hunched his back, fetched a cigarette from the pack, and brought it to the lighter flame.
Ji Minghuan opened a pack of shrimp chips and suddenly asked, "By the way, can you tell me... what exactly is ’Exorcist’ you mentioned last time?"
While speaking, he rested his head on the sofa, put down his phone, and reclined lazily.
After a moment of silence, Su Zimai softly said, "Do you really want to know? Don’t regret it."
"Otherwise, I thought about it later and felt your reaction was really odd, not like you were joking," Ji Minghuan said. "Then I got a bit worried it might be some sort of cult..."
He glanced at Su Zimai’s profile, "Sis, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to get involved with such things, right?"
Su Zimai said expressionlessly, turning off the TV with the remote, and stood up to walk towards the stairs.
Seeing this, Ji Minghuan also stood up, casually tossed the TV remote to his father behind: "Dad, you’ve been carrying luggage for so long, sit down and watch some TV."
After speaking, he went upstairs without looking back.
Gu Zhuo reached out to catch the remote flying towards his face, silently watched the backs of Gu Wenyu and Su Zimai going upstairs, then took the cigarette from his mouth, extinguished it, and tossed it into the trash bin.
He used the remote to turn on the TV, switching to the news channel.
Li Jing’s news channel was broadcasting sensational international news from yesterday—an attack on an underground auction in Japan. Apart from the external security hired by the organizers, no guest or bodyguard survived. The news anchor immediately identified the perpetrators as the infamous "White Crow Travel Brigade" in international circles.
This auction undoubtedly provided the Mutants Association with more intelligence on the brigade, especially since hidden cameras captured the faces of some members.
Photos of the members were displayed on the TV, a total of seven images, showing "Ayase Origami", "Oda Takashige", "Lan Duoduo", "Jack the Ripper", "Bloodline", "Xia Pingzhou", and "Urushibara Osamu".
Gu Zhuo’s gaze lingered on the leader’s photo. He stared into Urushibara Osamu’s mysterious eyes, recalling that day’s events, and his expression gradually darkened:
"Don’t let me catch you next time..."
Meanwhile, upstairs in the house, Ji Minghuan followed Su Zimai into her room.
Gu Qiye coincidentally needed to put dirty clothes in the washing machine, knocked on the open door as he passed by, glanced at Gu Wenyu sitting on the bed, and reminded him:
"Wenyu, I have to go out later, and I’ve already set the washing machine timer. Once the clothes are done, you help me hang them on the balcony."
"Okay." Ji Minghuan nodded, casually responding, "You can go out."
He didn’t need to think to know that Gu Qiye was going to the Mutants Association to report the auction incident. With the White Crow Travel Brigade causing such a commotion in Tokyo, the association must be paying close attention; Gu Qiye probably wouldn’t be back until two or three in the morning.
At this moment, Gu Qiye appeared slightly surprised, perhaps not expecting Gu Wenyu and Su Zimai to have such a good relationship, so he softly smirked and carried the clothes to the bathroom.
Seeing Gu Qiye leave, Su Zimai glanced at Ji Minghuan, and without raising her head, said, "Close the door."
"What’s going on? Why so secretive..." Ji Minghuan muttered, compliantly closed the door.
Su Zimai sitting on the bed, side-eyeing him: "Didn’t you say you wanted to know what an exorcist is?"
Ji Minghuan thought to himself, you’re really going to tell me, huh? Is this because the auction incident scared your brain silly?