My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 139 The Nian Beast, War, Traffic Lights (Seeking Monthly Tickets)
Inside the private room of the Hunan restaurant, Zhuge Hui and Ke Qirui chatted back and forth, with Zhou Jiuya only occasionally interjecting a word.

Sitting across from the two, Ji Minghuan was bored, so he sent Su Zimai a game of Gomoku via WeChat mini-program.

Su Zimai typed "You're sick" in response, but still accepted the game invitation.

The brother and sister played chess on their phones in the private room, oblivious to the world around them.

Zhou Jiuya yawned and closed his eyes. "I'm going to rest for a while. Don't call me unless it's absolutely necessary."

“Old Crow, you really need to get your narcolepsy treated… You’re always like this, you must sleep like a log on rainy days!” Zhuge Hui said. “By the way, I happen to have a very skilled traditional Chinese medicine doctor in my family. I’ll have him prescribe a couple of doses of medicine for you to try.”

"Shut up," Zhou Jiuya said.

Ke Qirui reached for the menu on the table, glanced at the dishes, and casually asked, "Have you ordered yet?"

Zhuge Hui smiled slightly: "No need, we are regulars here, we don't need to order anything, the manager always serves us the same menu."

Zhou Jiuya slumped back on the sofa to rest and casually said, "Who's a regular customer of yours? This is my first time eating here."

Ke Qirui lowered his head, took a puff of smoke from his pipe, and then slowly asked, "Speaking of which, I heard from the guild leader that Lake Hunting is planning to take action against the 'Nian Beast.' Is this information true?"

"The Nian Beast?" Ji Minghuan's heart stirred slightly. "I remember... when I first joined the White Raven Brigade, Anlens seemed to have mentioned it to me."

As he played chess with Su Zimai, he recalled what Anlens had said back then.

"Don't let Bai Tanlang's appearance fool you, he's actually quite interesting... We hear a lot of amusing stories from the demon realm from him every day. He says the leader of the Chinese demons is a Nian beast, which is incredibly powerful, but has to live in seclusion deep in the mountains due to the existence of the Lake Hunter. We used to hear him talk about that Nian beast every day... He seems to have been one of that demon's subordinates, but later fell in love with a human woman and came to the human world."

Coming to his senses, Ji Minghuan randomly placed a black piece on the chessboard on his phone, deliberately losing to Su Zimai.

Then, ignoring her middle finger raised from under the table and her smug little look, he looked up from his phone screen at Zhuge Hui.

He thought, "So it seems... White Greed Wolf knows the 'Nian Beast' they're talking about; it was once a member of the Chinese demon circle."

Zhuge Hui waved his folding fan. “Yes, lately those demons who have retreated to the mountains and forests have become more and more arrogant, and even seem to be crossing the border. So the old folks in the family have started to get restless and have been putting pressure on us. They say that the previous generation of Lake Hunters drove those demons into the mountains and forests, and that you Lake Hunters of this generation should stand up for yourselves and take advantage of the victory to wipe out those filthy things, especially that ‘Nian Beast’.”

He was both amused and exasperated: "The four of us were so annoyed that we had no choice but to start making plans. We'll have to go up the mountain in a few days, at least to put out the arrogance of these devils and make them behave themselves."

Upon hearing this, Ji Minghuan thought to himself, "So, is it possible that the exorcists and demons are about to go to war, or are they just planning to negotiate?"

Most high-level demons, like the White Greedy Wolf, possess intelligence comparable to that of humans. Since the demons in China have been dormant for so long, their Nian Beast leader probably has no intention of waging war against humanity.

But it doesn't necessarily mean they're not planning to go to war; rather, they're accumulating strength. Those demons have been lying dormant in the mountains for so long, and once war breaks out, their current numbers will likely cause significant upheaval in human society.

But when the time comes... will the four members of the Lake Hunters be able to slaughter all those demons who have been gathering strength for so long?
"Go for it, big brother from Lake Hunting!" Ji Minghuan said.

"Little brother, you have such a sweet tongue," Zhuge Hui said with a smile.

"Can you please stop talking like that? It's disgusting!" Su Zimai nudged Ji Minghuan with her leg.

"I'll use it, it's none of your business," Ji Minghuan said without turning her head, resting her chin on her hand.

Perhaps because they knew Zhuge Hui, the waiters served the dishes very quickly, and soon the fruit and teacups on the table were replaced by a table full of delicacies.

Ji Minghuan put away his phone and ate quietly. He not only met Zhuge Hui and Zhou Jiuya, but also obtained information about "Qiyuan Liuli" and "Nian Beast". This trip was not in vain. After a hearty meal, he and Su Zimai left the Hunan restaurant.

It was quite late when the brother and sister got home, but Gu Zhuoan and Gu Qiye were still nowhere to be seen.

Ji Minghuan quickly washed up, changed into a clean and loose set of pajamas, lay down on the bed, and closed her eyes.

Meanwhile, in another corner of the world, in a sea area near Tokyo, Japan.

Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami were hiding in the cargo hold of the human smuggling ship. Above them, a light bulb emitted a warm, orange glow. The ship swayed, and the light flickered on and off.

He turned his head and glanced at the kimono-clad girl who was looking down quietly at the haiku collection.

Then he looked away from her face and turned to stare blankly at the sea outside the window.

The white cargo ship was drifting slowly on the sea, its black hull parting the waves as it headed towards a small country near Japan.

Once the smuggling boat arrives in a nearby small country, they will board a plane at the local airport, following the flight arranged by the hackers, and head to Venice to meet up with the rest of the group.

Moreover, according to the hackers, there seems to be a new member waiting for them in Venice.

This mysterious member seemed to have wanted to join the Phantom Troupe for a while, but since the Troupe was already full, he was unwilling to challenge other members to take his place, so he could only wait quietly for an opportunity.

After the auction incident, with members number 4 and 5 of the troupe dying at the auction, this prospective member found his opportunity:
He took over the position of the deceased Lan Duoduo and became the next No. 5 of the White Raven Brigade.

Ji Minghuan was quite curious. What kind of monster could be the new member chosen by the group leader? But there was no use being impatient. After boarding the plane tomorrow, they would arrive in Venice around the afternoon and meet the new member then.

So he leaned against the cargo hold wall, closed his eyes, and soon fell asleep amidst the slight swaying.

"Restricted-level ability user, number 1002—'Ji Minghuan,' get up quickly and prepare yourself. Your mentor has something to say." The sudden voice woke Ji Minghuan from the darkness.

He blinked.

What comes into view is the unchanging silver-white ceiling and the unchanging surveillance cameras. And... the broadcasting equipment, which has changed slightly.

Ji Minghuan raised his eyebrows and took a closer look before realizing that the broadcasting equipment had been modified into the shape of a "little blue penguin." He hadn't expected that the Salvation Society's staff would actually modify the broadcasting equipment according to his request, just because he casually mentioned it last time.

Not only that, he turned his head and saw that a television set had been added to one corner of the cell.

A retro CD player was plugged into the TV, and a stack of CDs was placed on the silver-white floor. A quick glance revealed a wide variety of CDs, including cartoons, movies, and TV series, though most of them were from the last century.

“You guys are really thoughtful.” He sat up in bed and yawned. “Indeed… I’m much less grumpy when I wake up.”

The only response he received was a rumbling sound. Following the source of the sound, he saw the layers of metal doors at the entrance slowly opening.

The instructor, with his hands behind his back and the hem of his white coat trailing behind him, walked into the cell through the white-lit corridor and pulled up a chair to sit down at the table.

Ji Minghuan jumped out of bed, first picked up a bottle of milk from the plate on the table, and then walked towards the TV while unscrewing the cap.

He ignored his tutor behind him, sat down in front of the TV, turned it on with the remote, and put the disc of the animated film "The Girl Who Leapt Through Time" into the CD player.

The CD player made two "click" sounds, indicating it had swallowed the movie disc.

Then the television screen flickered slightly and began showing the opening scene of the movie: two boys and a girl playing baseball on an empty playground in the middle of summer, with cicadas chirping incessantly.

"Do you remember the last time I told you that I wanted you to go out and carry out a mission?"

Ji Minghuan drank canned milk while watching TV, the movie scenes reflected in her pupils.

After a long pause, he slowly replied, "I still remember."

That happened before the auction started. At the time, Ji Minghuan thought the mission their mentor had given them was related to this underground auction in Tokyo, but it turned out to be a false alarm. Ji Minghuan didn't see his mentor visit until the auction ended.

The mentor slowly said, "Your first mission is to capture a crazed exorcist."

"A crazed exorcist?" Ji Minghuan asked without turning his head.

The mentor clasped his hands together on the table, turned his head to look at Ji Minghuan's back.

He said, "That's right, the exorcist's code name is 'Red Light,' and his real name is 'Kiichi Min.'"

"Red light?"

Ji Minghuan raised an eyebrow, thinking to himself: Red Light, which is... the former teammate that Xia Pingzhou, the second unit, is looking for in his main quest, who suddenly went crazy?
Red Light, that is, the evil exorcist who leaves behind a line of Latin words meaning "Salvation" at the scene after each crime. Not only that, he also leaves behind the Salvation's symbolic pattern - a six-pointed star enclosed in a circle.

As expected... the traffic lights and the Salvation Society are directly related, which is why our mentor wants us to find him.

"The Salvation Society will send the children imprisoned here to arrest the crazed Red Light, and my original self and Kong Youling will definitely be included."

"So... if I can find the red light before the Salvation Society, then I'll have the opportunity to set up an ambush around the red light, like a mantis stalking a cicada unaware of an oriole behind, and find a way to rescue my main body and Kong Youling together."

"But the only people I can call right now are the young lady and my older brother. If we ambush them there beforehand, do we really have a chance to defeat the Salvation Society?"

Thinking of this, Ji Minghuan opened the CD player, changed the disc to "Kamen Rider Fox", and said, "Why don't you just call him 'Traffic Light'? It sounds much better than 'Red Street Light'."

He paused for a moment: "So why are we catching this traffic light? What did it do wrong?"

“He is indiscriminately slaughtering innocent exorcists in the name of our Salvation Society,” the mentor replied. “This will have a negative impact on us, because the Salvation Society is a hidden organization that will never make our existence public.”

"So you want us to kill them to cover our tracks?"

"No, the first goal is to bring Red Light back. First, we need to find out why Red Light knows about us. Second... if we really can't do that, then it doesn't matter if we kill him. After all, he's a madman and villain who does all sorts of evil."

Ji Minghuan remained silent for a moment. He began to suspect that the red light was a bait deliberately set up outside by the Salvation Society to lure their targets into taking the bait—for example, Ji Minghuan's three game machines.

He said casually, "Alright, anyway, I'm just a Muggle doing odd jobs. When it comes to fighting, leave it to the other big brothers here. Kong Youling and I will just play around."

"It's good that you're willing to cooperate." The instructor smiled. "Don't worry, we will ensure your safety, because this is not only an operation, but also a test of your stability."

"When shall we begin? I can't wait to get out of this wretched place."

The mentor shook his head: "Our people are still tracking the traffic lights, and we should be able to find him soon."

"Tch, I thought you guys had already found him." Ji Minghuan said dismissively, finishing the milk in the glass jar in one gulp.

"Moreover, the child I mentioned last time will be coming to see you soon." The tutor paused. "I hope you two become good friends."

Ji Minghuan was taken aback: "The child you told me about last time... that mythical 'Great Sage Equaling Heaven'?"

"You've already forgotten? His name is 'Sun Changkong'." The mentor smiled slightly. "Anyway, get ready, I'll be leaving now."

After saying that, the mentor got up from his chair and walked towards the exit of the cell without looking back, leaving Ji Minghuan alone sitting on the floor of the cell, staring blankly at the screen on the television.

　Please give me a monthly ticket. Please give me a monthly ticket.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)