[Passive skill activated—"Restraint Detection."]
The system notification sounded, followed by a red and black panel appearing, with brown text resembling migrating ants crawling into Ji Minghuan's pupils one after another.
[Target Gender: Female]
[Target Attributes: Strength: B-level; Speed: B++ Level; Spirit: A-level]
[Extraordinary Humankind: Exorcist]
[Rank: Second Tier (Exorcist tiers are divided into three tiers)]
[Celestial Driver: Retro-style Monocle (Rarity in Celestial Drivers is SS Level) (Currently bound demons are: Train Demon, Movie Demon)]
"Although I still don't know what this 'Celestial Driver' thing is, judging from the data, this person should be among the upper-middle combat strength on the Exorcist's side. No wonder Su Zimai calls her teacher, it's a pity... still not as strong as those two natural disaster lords in our family."
Ji Minghuan teased in his heart while subtly withdrawing his right hand, slipping it into the pocket of his school uniform jacket.
Then he said to Ke Qirui, "So I'll leave my sister with you, I need to go home and shower, I'm meeting friends to game tonight."
At this moment, Ke Qirui's right hand hovered mid-air for a second, then she imperceptibly raised her eyebrows.
She lifted her eyes from beneath the brim of her hat and looked at Ji Minghuan with interest. She said, "I'll take good care of her, feel free to let me know if there's anything you need."
"What do you mean I'm left with her?" Su Zimai frowned, looking at Ji Minghuan.
"You're such a fuss."
Ji Minghuan casually scratched Su Zimai's head, saying, "If you hadn't run away from home, I'd be finished with my shower and resting in bed by now, you understand?"
Surprisingly, Su Zimai did not resist but was stunned instead. She hadn't been this close to Gu Wenyu since she was a child.
Ke Qirui, on the other hand, quietly watched Ji Minghuan's right hand, and after a while, she suddenly spoke: "How about we exchange contact information? That way, you can be a bit more at ease."
Ji Minghuan nodded, "Makes sense, otherwise it wouldn't sit well to report back to my older brother. How about we exchange WeChat IDs?"
"Sorry, I only have a phone number."
"Oh. Then a phone number it is."
Ignoring Su Zimai's objection, the two efficiently exchanged phone numbers.
"I'll head off first, you guys chat."
Saying this, Ji Minghuan got up from the swing, patted his pants, and left.
Under the silent gaze of the two, he leisurely walked out of the park, his figure swallowed by the ink-like twilight as he reached the corner.
By the dimly lit street, a car roared past. Ji Minghuan paused and suddenly thought, "Come to think of it, why hasn't Su Zimai's task been completed? Haven't I already found out she's an Exorcist?"
With that thought, Ji Minghuan brought up the task panel to check the progress of the four main tasks.
[Main Task 1 (Third Stage): Successfully complete the first collaboration with the Mutant "Blue Arc" and deepen mutual trust.]
[Main Task 2 (Second Stage): Establish a cooperative relationship with the super-criminal "Ghost Bell," thereby expanding connections among evil superpower users.]
[Main Task 3: Investigate what your "sister" Su Zimai is hiding.]
[Main Task 4: Investigate what your "best friend" Li Qingping is hiding.]
He pondered, "From the looks of it, I completed the first stages of the first two tasks, but couldn't complete the 'Investigate Sister's Identity' task because I immediately knew Gu Qiye was Blue Arc and Gu Zhuo Case was Ghost Bell, yet I don't specifically know my sister's identity in the 'Exorcist' context, hence it's not feasible."
Ji Minghuan closed all panels in his view and shrugged, "Looks like I'll have to find some time to tail her later."
If he turned around to follow the two in the park right now, he would likely find out his sister's status in the Demon Hunter side and thereby complete "Main Task Three" naturally.
But given the current strength of his character, following Ke Qirui would be courting death. Ji Minghuan had enough self-awareness... Similarly, pursuing any family member without learning a skill akin to "Concealing Aura" would be suicidal, particularly with that old man codenamed "Ghost Bell."
With Gu Zhuo Case's combat reflexes developed over the past two years, encountering someone tailing him outside could very easily result in a fatal response before identifying the stalker, much like how Ji Minghuan was grabbed by the wrist earlier for using the restraint belt in the kitchen.
"I'll need to cooperate with the masked father later, let's hope he's as easygoing as my older brother."
Ji Minghuan muttered to himself softly, rubbing his temple and yawning, "Better turn in early tonight, can't wait to find out what kind of supernatural being my next game character is."
Meanwhile, in the park on the other side.
Ke Qirui looked down, expressionless, at the palm of her right hand, slightly preoccupied by the subtle strange feeling from earlier when shaking hands with Ji Minghuan.
Su Zimai picked up her backpack from the sand and asked her, "What's up, leader?"
Ke Qirui rested her hand on her chin, absentmindedly murmuring, "Your brother... seems a bit unusual."
"Him?" Su Zimai was taken aback, "In what way?"
Ke Qirui paused for half a second, organizing the events in her mind:
"Was he testing me out of concern for his sister's safety earlier...? From his performance, it seems like that instantaneous ability should only be usable by superpower users. Both Anecdote Envoys and Exorcists require certain prerequisites to release their powers, but I didn't observe him making any prerequisite actions."
"Judging from Xiaomai's reaction... she doesn't seem to know her brother is a superpower user. Maybe she's been secretly protected by her brother for a long time now?"
"It seems he doesn't want Xiaomai to know his identity, so there's no need for me to meddle."
Thinking this, Ke Qirui glanced at Su Zimai, casually brushing it off, "What can I say, his bearing, his looks... or maybe the impression he left on me?"
Saying so, she suddenly shook her head, "Forget it, it's nothing really, pretend I never brought it up."
"Huh? Leader, you're being so mean, leaving me hanging," Su Zimai frowned, "Are you implying... my brother has potential to become an Exorcist?"
"No, I don't sense a Celestial Driver budding from him, let's drop it."
"So you're... not interested in my brother, are you? You've been staring at him the whole time," Su Zimai raised her eyebrows playfully.
Ke Qirui lifted her sleek eyes, a hint of curiosity in her voice, "Oh? What makes you think that?"
"You were so weirdly interested in him, at first, I thought you wanted to recruit him for the team, but then you said he lacks the potential to be an Exorcist, so what else could it be?"
"Just a minor misunderstanding."
"Yeah, that makes sense... it always seemed like you have a thing for girls, leader."
"Objectively speaking, I've only ever had a crush on Sherlock Holmes in novels since I was a kid."
As she spoke, Ke Qirui withdrew her right hand into her coat pocket, raised her other hand to ruffle Su Zimai's hair, and smiled at her, "Get things ready, if you don't want to go home, then don't. Spend the summer at my place."
"Why are you patting my head too?"
"Just suddenly wanted to," Ke Qirui pulled out a cigarette holder from her pocket, held it in her mouth, and then asked, "Your brother can pat your head, but the leader can't?"
"No, it's just him acting crazy all of a sudden, I didn't react in time."
"Speaking of which, it's my first time meeting your family, why didn't you introduce them to me before?"
Su Zimai said expressionlessly, "Forget it. They're all Muggles, we belong to different worlds."
She paused, "Especially my older brother, juggling school and taking care of us is tiring enough. I don't want them getting involved in these dangerous matters."
"Really? What a pity." Ke Qirui remained indifferent, took a puff from her cigarette holder, and then said, "Let's get going then."
Saying this, she was the first to head toward the park's exit, with Su Zimai following.
"You old smoker, dropping the charade as soon as my brother leaves?" Su Zimai grumbled.
"Can't let anyone know a little sister will be spending her summer with an old smoker, huh?" Ke Qirui teased.
"I don't care about them. By the way, shouldn't we let the Train Demon take us to Tokyo tonight?"
"Yes, there's some stuff to negotiate with the Exorcist Association from Japan tomorrow."
"Then I want tempura shrimp, I haven't had dinner yet, and they were arguing."
"Sure, sure, Maimai, whatever you want to eat, it's on me."