A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

To be honest, ever since receiving his second sister’s WeChat message a few days ago, Ke Mingqing had imagined this exact scenario countless times.

He had imagined that when Ke Linye and Xia Lingxue revealed their identities to him, one of them might be wearing a black trench coat and a pitch-black owl mask, while the other would be clad in a black skinsuit, wearing a human face mask somewhere between a Nordic girl and a young woman.

Then, those two terrifying monsters would walk straight toward him from the far end of the living room.

Just as he tried to resist, his second sister would suddenly use her esper abilities to freeze his hands, pin him against the wall, and tear off her human face mask; his eldest brother would then laugh and pull off his owl mask, giving him a massive jump-scare.

But Ke Mingqing had absolutely never expected Ke Linye to drop the line ”I am Owl Judge, and she is Executive Zero” as casually as talking about eating or drinking.

That was right. His tone was no different from saying, ”I had two pieces of bread today.”

It was the morning of September 8. The living room was pitch black, so dark you could not see your own fingers in front of your face.

On the sofa, the three siblings of the Xia-Ke family sat in silence.

Catching a glimpse out of the corner of his eye, Ke Mingqing finally noticed the pitch-black blackout paint coated over the glass. Just then, the curtains lowered automatically without any breeze, covering the windows entirely.

Ke Linye looked down, playing with a strange beam of black light at his fingertips. Xia Lingxue also kept her head bowed, a thoughtful expression on her cold face.”You two big shots, don’t you think... the sheer amount of information here is just a little bit too much to process?” Ke Mingqing asked after a moment of silence.

”Oh, I suppose so,” Ke Linye said thoughtfully. ”But I figured this would save more time than beating around the bush.”

”But you never considered my ability to accept it!” Ke Mingqing rambled. ”What do you mean the muggle family members I’ve lived with for years are actually part of the super-human species? Am I in Inception right now? This has to be some villain’s ability, right?”

He shifted his gaze into the distance. ”Come out, Dream Buddha, I know you’re still alive.”

”I figured you would react like this,” Xia Lingxue said softly. ”But we can take our time and talk. There’s no rush; we still have a whole day anyway.”

’Looks like playing dumb really works,’ Ke Mingqing thought. ’And Second Sister actually isn’t looking at me with her usual impatience. I can use this chance to play it up a bit more and solidify my persona.’

So he pondered for a moment before asking, ”Uh... first off, I’m actually really curious. What exactly is Owl Judge? Is it the category name for a new type of super-human species, or is it a nickname? It sounds like the name of some random roadside villain who’d accidentally get kicked to death.”

Hearing this, the smile vanished from Ke Linye’s face.

”Wait, no, I think I’ve heard that somewhere before. Let me think about this.” Ke Mingqing suddenly rubbed his chin, putting on a serious expression as he pretended to recall the memory.

The corners of Ke Linye’s mouth curled up slightly once again.

He lowered his head, his deep eyes fixed on his fingertips. The black moonlight condensed into a sphere, shifted into lines of text, and finally transformed into a black heart.

”That bloodthirsty hunter? The one who murders both superheroes and supervillains alike?”

”Uh...” Ke Linye hesitated for a moment before smiling and nodding. ”That’s right, little brother. You could say that.”

”A bloodthirsty hunter,” Xia Lingxue repeated with a cold sneer. ”If they knew that the terrifying Owl Judge who scared them pissless was actually just a feminine-looking kid under the mask, they’d be so mad they’d do a hundred sit-ups in their graves.”

Ke Linye picked up his coffee cup from the table, took a sip, and said lightly, ”First of all, my delicate looks are natural. Secondly, if I’m a kid, then what does that make you, my dear sister?”

He paused. ”If those tormented mythic vessels knew that the butcher they feared most was actually a perpetually cold-faced little girl, they’d die of sheer anger too.”

The brother and sister exchanged a silent look.

Ke Mingqing sat in helpless silence for a long moment before saying, ”Alright, I get Owl Judge now. Damn, Big Bro, you’re actually an esper! Looks like our family is really bound by fate; there’s a reason we all ended up together.”

Ke Linye fell silent.

A moment later, Xia Lingxue corrected him. ”He is a mutant. Not an esper.”

Ke Mingqing froze, then slapped his thigh hard to cut through the awkwardness. He let out two dry, hollow laughs. ”My bad! Oh, that makes sense. A mutant, huh? Amazing, absolutely amazing!”

He sighed and quickly pivoted the conversation. ”But you can’t really blame me for that, right? I’ve barely ever heard the name Owl Judge. How was I supposed to know what the hell you were, Bro?”

”It’s fine.” Ke Linye rubbed his forehead and said absentmindedly, ”It’s my fault for not giving you the chance to learn about me.”

Ke Mingqing nodded. ”Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. ’Is one not an exemplary person if one remains unresentful even when unrecognized by others?’ As the great sage who led the ancient esper hermits into isolation thousands of years ago used to say.”

”How pathetic,” Xia Lingxue suddenly said.

”What are you referring to?” Ke Linye asked with a shrug.

”A certain someone confidently announcing their nickname, only for no one to recognize it.”

”Alright, that does sound pretty pathetic.”

Ke Linye paused before shooting back, ”And how are you any better, dear sister? If you hadn’t coincidentally bumped into him at the company twice, I bet A’Qing wouldn’t know your alias either.”

”Is that so? It doesn’t matter,” Xia Lingxue said with a cold harrumph. ”I’m a government official handling covert operations. It’s basically secret agent work. People aren’t supposed to know my alias anyway.”

Ke Mingqing stuck his head between the two of them and made a ”time out” gesture with his hands. Taking the hint, the siblings finally stopped bickering.

”Now for my second question... Executive Zero, right? I feel like that nickname would be a huge hit in Chengdu. It could even be the title of some gay action blockbuster.”

Xia Lingxue’s face instantly darkened.

At that moment, the temperature in the living room seemed to plummet. Even the summer breeze blowing in through the blinds lost its warmth, carrying tiny specks of frost instead.

”Fuck, why did it get so cold all of a sudden? Big Bro, you got any idea?” Ke Mingqing stammered in shock, turning to Ke Linye for help.

”Maybe the AC is set too low?” Ke Linye said, shaking his head as he fought back a laugh.

”Oh, oh, that’s possible. You’re a genius, Bro.” Ke Mingqing blanked for a second before nodding. He reached under his butt, pulled out the remote, and silently bumped the temperature up a few degrees.

The air conditioner let out a couple of beeps, the sound echoing loudly in the dead-silent living room.

”See?” Ke Linye tilted his head with a smile.

”Shut up,” Xia Lingxue snapped coldly.

”Hey, wait a minute, I actually have heard the name Executive Zero before!” Ke Mingqing’s eyes suddenly lit up. ”Isn’t that the European girl who blocked my way outside the company and harassed me with that Brain Imaging Helmet?”

”Yeah, didn’t I already tell you that?” Ke Linye nodded.

”There was too much information to process. It just hit me,” Ke Mingqing said blankly, staring at his second sister with his mouth wide open.

”What European girl? That was just my human face mask,” Xia Lingxue said calmly. ”Wearing a real mask is a hassle, and it messes with my dynamic vision. So I usually just wear a human face mask to keep things simple and convenient.”

”Nice. Very practical. Sounds way better than guys like Owl Judge who just want to look cool,” Ke Mingqing said, giving her a thumbs-up.

Ke Linye clutched his chest and tilted his head, his pitch-black earrings swaying slightly. ”A’Qing, you’ve really wounded your brother’s pride.”

Ke Mingqing suddenly fell silent. He lowered his head, his expression as grave as if he were badly constipated. He looked like he was either reminiscing about the past or mentally tallying up a long list of old grudges.

Xia Lingxue stayed quiet for a moment before saying, ”So, leaving aside your brother—this unheard-of roadside trash—is there really nothing you want to say to your sister?”

”There is.”

”Speak.”

Ke Mingqing covered his face, looking as though he were about to burst into tears. ”Damn it, Sis, how could you suspect your own brother? After all the trust I put in you, you shoved that helmet on my head the second we met! Do I, with my thick eyebrows and big honest eyes, really look like a player to you? How can a person be so evil?”

Xia Lingxue froze.

Listening to her brother’s hitched, sobbing breaths, she rubbed her temples. Only after a long while did she finally speak. ”I... A’Qing, I didn’t know it was you back then.”

This got Ke Linye fired up.

He threw an arm around Ke Mingqing’s shoulders and smiled. ”Then I’m going to have to tattle on her. Even if she had known it was you, she still would have done it.”

Xia Lingxue tried to seal Ke Linye’s mouth shut with a layer of frost, but he had seen it coming. With a flicker of pitch-black moonlight, he silently obliterated the ice.

She simply turned her head and stared motionlessly at Ke Linye with ice-cold eyes. He didn’t care in the slightest, his expression practically screaming that he was ready to fight her to the bitter end today.

”Tattle on what?” Ke Mingqing sniffled for a long time before raising his head. Keeping his hands over his eyes, he peeked at Ke Linye through the gaps between his fingers.

Ke Linye spread his hands. ”I was just going to say...”

”Then why aren’t you saying it?”

”Because your sister looks ready to murder me. You have to convince her not to hurt me before I can safely tattle.”

”Sis, if you don’t have a guilty conscience, why are you trying to stop him?” Ke Mingqing turned his head and stared straight at her.

Xia Lingxue’s face darkened and she stayed silent. After a long moment, she took a deep breath and shot Ke Linye a sidelong glance. ”If you exaggerate even a single detail, I will kill you.”

With that, she closed her eyes and leaned back against the sofa.

”It goes like this. Remember when your sister asked you out to the movies?”

”Yeah, and then?”

”Did you happen to fall asleep, only to wake up and realize you couldn’t remember anything that happened?”

”I think so. I actually thought the movie was just so bad I blacked it out.”

”Well, what actually happened was that your sister made me dress up as a theater employee and slap a Brain Imaging Helmet onto your head.” Ke Linye sighed. ”Your poor brother had no choice but to follow her orders.”

Ke Mingqing sat in silence for a moment. ”If I ever go to the movies with you two again, I’m a dog.”

”A’Qing,” Xia Lingxue started, but before she could finish, he cut her off.

”You guys actually suspected I was a player? And you tested me twice?!”

”The first time, I didn’t know you were Blue Pigeon.”

”That’s still no excuse to use it on your own family,” Ke Mingqing said in a low voice. ”Even taking a huge step back, if I really had become a player, do you honestly think I would have had the heart to kill you guys just to save my own life?”

”That’s different,” Xia Lingxue said, shaking her head. ”Players are souls from another world. If you had been chosen, you wouldn’t have been yourself anymore.”

She paused. ”At that point, you wouldn’t have been our family anymore. So how could there be any question of whether or not you’d have the heart to kill us?”

Ke Mingqing suddenly froze.

His pupils shrank slightly. After a long moment, he suddenly lowered his head, his pitch-black bangs falling to cover his eyes. He stayed quiet for a long while before finally murmuring, ”And lastly... did you just say I was Blue Pigeon?”

”What else would you be, a grey pigeon?” Ke Linye draped his arm over the back of the sofa and tilted his head. ”Come on, little bro... We’ve all laid our cards on the table. Are you seriously going to keep pretending at a time like this?”

Ke Mingqing shrugged. He suddenly raised his head and asked in a conversational tone, ”What I meant was, how did you two know I was Blue Pigeon?”

Xia Lingxue answered, ”During the battle with Clock Maker on St. Honghu Commercial Street, you took off your mask. You were carrying... you were carrying someone as you walked down the street. I saw you and figured out your identity then.”

”Then why didn’t you say anything earlier?” Ke Mingqing asked.

”I didn’t know how to bring it up...” Xia Lingxue said softly. ”Your brother didn’t either. We both hesitated for a long time before finally deciding to tell you all this.”

Ke Mingqing thought about it for a moment, then let out a cold scoff.

”So the reason you hypocritically asked me all those questions at the beginning was because you were thinking, ’If we can talk A’Qing out of being a superhero without exposing our own identities, then we won’t have to’?”

Xia Lingxue fell silent, while Ke Linye merely tilted his head, completely unfazed.

”Yes.”

A moment later, they both answered in unison, their tones practically identical.

”Then the two of you should just give up. I’m going to keep being a superhero no matter what,” Ke Mingqing said in a deep voice.

Xia Lingxue thought for a moment. ”If you’re doing this for Rain Crow, then there’s no need anymore. Clock Maker is dead, and Rain Crow will be retiring soon.”

”I’m not doing it for Rain Crow; I’m doing it for myself. When you start something, you can’t just give up halfway. Isn’t that what you taught me, Sis?”

Ke Mingqing said expressionlessly.

He paused and lowered his voice. ”It wouldn’t matter even if fucking Zeus himself came down here. Don’t try to talk me out of it.”

After a long silence, Ke Linye suddenly laughed. He propped his chin on his fist, tilted his head, and looked at the grim-faced Xia Lingxue.

”I told you A’Qing would say exactly that, but you just had to try,” he said.

Xia Lingxue crossed her arms, silently lowering her gaze.

Ke Mingqing didn’t speak either. He simply turned his head and quietly watched a seagull resting on a telephone pole outside the window.

”Alright, let’s talk about something else for now,” Ke Linye said softly. ”It seems this topic is a bit too heavy for my dear sister and brother.”

”What else do you want to talk about?”

Xia Lingxue remained silent. Ke Linye, however, cleared his throat lightly. A smirk touched his lips as he deliberately built up the suspense.

”A’Qing, did you know that there’s another member of the super-human species in our family?”

”I know.”

”It’s Xiao Li, right?” Ke Linye asked.

”Right. But let’s leave our little sister out of this for now. What are you guys planning to do about the other person?”

Hearing this, both Ke Linye and Xia Lingxue suddenly froze.

”The other person?”

”Yeah. Wait, did you guys seriously not know there’s another member of the super-human species in the family?” Ke Mingqing looked at them in confusion.

”Mom?”

”Ningzhi?”

For once, Ke Linye and Xia Lingxue had actually arrived at completely different conclusions. The two of them exchanged a surprised look, their eyes both seemingly conveying the same message: ’If your brain doesn’t work, stay out of this.’

”No way, are you guys being serious?” Ke Mingqing gave them a bizarre look.

Ke Linye pulled his gaze away from his sister. He sighed, spreading his hands as he asked, ”Spit it out, A’Qing. Which one of us guessed right?”

Xia Lingxue remained silent, her head slightly lowered as she crossed her arms and stared intently at Ke Mingqing. Her eyes practically screamed, ’A’Qing, you had better not be messing with us.’

”I swear, I don’t know how you could even guess Mom,” Ke Mingqing sighed. ”Mom is a completely harmless airhead. We’ll be lucky if someone doesn’t kidnap her to use as leverage against us.”

”So... it really is A’zhi?” Ke Linye froze.

In truth, the thought had already crossed his mind. During the last Comet Fragments incident, Xia Ningzhi had somehow gotten swept up in Death Crow’s attack. She had injured her forehead and been unconscious for an entire night.

At the time, Xia Lingxue had claimed that she and Xia Ningzhi had just been taking a walk by the harbor and had accidentally gotten caught up in the crossfire. Ke Linye hadn’t pressed the issue back then, but thinking back on it now, her story was full of holes.

He turned his head and stared at the side of Xia Lingxue’s face.

Xia Lingxue suddenly lowered her head, her expression a mix of relief and hesitation. She had long anticipated what would happen when Ke Linye eventually found out about Xia Ningzhi’s secret identity.

But she had never expected this day to arrive quite so soon...

In the very next second, however, something entirely outside the siblings’ expectations happened. Ke Mingqing shook his head and said, ”No, you’re both wrong. I was talking about Old Dad.”

”Old... Dad?” Ke Linye raised an eyebrow.

Even Xia Lingxue froze in rare surprise, apparently thrown completely off guard by her brother’s words. After a moment of thought, she slowly raised her head, her cold eyes locking onto Ke Mingqing’s.

”Yeah, Old Dad is Rain Crow.”

Ke Mingqing paused, looking at them with a suspicious expression. ”No way, I thought you guys were joking. Did you seriously not know?”

A long, dead silence settled over the living room as his words faded. None of the three spoke for a long time, leaving only the deafening hum of cicadas outside to fill the quiet.