My avatar is becoming the final boss

Chapter 170 Xia Pingzhou: That's a woman who could become my mother (Seeking monthly votes)
July 24, 7 PM, The Venice Hotel.

"Kitten, wake up." The girl's indifferent voice reached my ears.

Xia Pingzhou woke up with a sound, opened his eyes from the plain white bed, and saw a familiar ceiling. He had been sleeping in this hotel for several days.

"Kitten, move." The girl's tone was as if she were controlling a smart robot.

Xia Pingzhou stared blankly for a while, then sat up straight in bed, leaned against the headboard, and slowly turned his head to look at Ayase Origami sitting on the windowsill.

She wore a simple dress in cool tones, which made her fair skin appear almost transparent.

"Why did you wake me up?" he asked casually, yawning.

“A newcomer,” she said.

As dusk deepened outside the window, the sky's base color shifted between crab-blue and blood-red, and the kite wobbled as it rose into the sky. An evening breeze swept in, causing the cool-colored hem of the dress to flutter in the wind.

"Newbie?"

Xia Pingzhou muttered to himself, took out his phone from beside his pillow, and glanced at the text messages he had received.

[Hacker: The new Number 4 has gone to your side.]

"Tong Zizhu?" Xia Pingzhou thought, "Although I really want to get close to her and ask about her relationship with the mother of Unit One, I have to go to London tomorrow to stake out the place and find out the movement of the traffic lights."

[Hacker: You're probably thinking right now that it's time to get close to her and find another gigolo in the troupe.]

[Hacker: Oh my, is this our pretty boy? All the female members of the group, except for Ripper, are taking good care of you.]

"Then you can guess why there's no Ripper," Xia Pingzhou thought.

If he weren't afraid of feeling guilty if he killed her, he would have already clung to her coattails.

Suddenly, quite naturally, he raised his hand and took the apple that Ayase Origami handed him, which was held in mid-air by a newspaper. The apple's skin had been shaved off with a paper knife, and a ring of apple peel still lay in the newspaper.

He took a bite of the apple, continued typing, and clicked send.

[Xia Pingzhou: That's just a stereotype. I'm an independent 21st-century youth, and I never live off women.]

[Hacker: Anyway, if you flirt with anyone else, I'll tell the young lady.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Then why didn't you tell on me when I went out with the Bloodline?]

[Hacker: Because that one's even more of a heavyweight; her reputation as a long-lived, womanizing old lady isn't just for show. You don't actually think she might be interested in you, do you?]

Xia Pingzhou snapped the apple clean on the side with a "crunch".

[Xia Pingzhou: It's a pity, Miss doesn't use a mobile phone. She's a caveman; she only uses paper money to pay.]

[Hacker: Is it possible that she only uses paper money because it's convenient for her to control her supernatural abilities, and there's no need to reach out and scan a QR code?]

Xia Pingzhou: In short, she doesn't have a cell phone.

[Hacker: It's useless. I can hack into the hotel's TV and play footage of you and your new partner being affectionate.]

[Xia Pingzhou: That is, if I would do that.]

[Hacker: This person is practically screaming "I've behaved, please let me go!" on their face.]

Xia Pingzhou: You little brat.

"Tong Zizhu is a woman who could become my mother," Ji Minghuan rolled her eyes inwardly. "Even if it's just a face change to become my mother, it's terrifying enough for me, okay?"

Thinking of this, he silently put away his phone and turned to look at Origami Ayase.

The girl tilted her head, gazing quietly at the enchanting waterway outside the window, the afterglow of the setting sun chasing after the passing boats and pedestrians. Although she really wanted to wake Xia Pingzhou and have him go shopping with her, he had been sleeping a lot lately, sometimes as if he were dead... making her wonder if he would never open his eyes again if he kept sleeping like this.

Sometimes she would look up from the haiku collection and silently gaze at Xia Pingzhou's profile, thinking that she had told him so much about the past, yet knew nothing about his past.

They didn't even know if the name "Xia Pingzhou" was real or fake.

If he suddenly disappears one day, how can I find him?
She couldn't help but think that way.

"When are we going to London?" Origami Ayase asked softly, her eyes lowered.

“The 25th, which is tomorrow,” Xia Pingzhou said. “I’ll have the hacker arrange a flight for us then. Tonight, I’ll ask the Ripper if he wants to come with us, otherwise, the two of us will go.”

Just as he finished speaking, his phone suddenly chimed. He took a bite of his apple and looked at the new message.

[Hacker: I want money.]

[Xia Pingzhou: You haven't paid me a portion of the auction fees yet, right? Just deduct it from there.]

[Hacker: You're right.]

"I need to change my clothes," Origami Ayase suddenly said.

"You change." Xia Pingzhou was eating an apple while playing Snake on his phone when a piece of paper flew over and covered his face, blocking his eyes.

He sighed, thinking to himself that he was a corrupted elementary school student, not a perverted one, and then turned to face the wall. A moment later, the paper curtain behind him disappeared.

Looking back, I saw that Origami Ayase had changed into an ochre-red kimono. The simple dress she had worn earlier was lying on the ground, carried by fluttering pieces of paper to the clothes rack in the room, where it was hung.

In fact, Xia Pingzhou didn't quite understand the young lady's way of thinking.

Even though Ayase Origami bought so many clothes with him at the clothing store a few days ago, she only likes to wear them in her hotel room. When it's time to go out, she always wears the same old ochre-red kimono.

All he knew was that when he was in the orphanage, the girls were happy to have one or two dresses of their own; especially Kong Youling, who wore her white dress for a long time, patching and mending it.

Xia Pingzhou threw the apple into the trash can, glanced down at the clothes on the hanger, and asked curiously, "You bought so many clothes, why did you only try them on in the hotel? Don't you want to try them on once?"

Origami Ayase did not answer.

A moment later, she brushed past him and whispered, "There's no point in going outside."

Origami Ayase is such an enigmatic person.

Xia Pingzhou lowered his head nonchalantly and continued typing on his phone before sending the message.

[Xia Pingzhou: By the way, what are the newlyweds' names?]

[Hacker: Oh, speaking of which, I just found out that Su Ying is a pseudonym; her real name is actually Tong Zizhu.]

[Xia Pingzhou: Is it bamboo?]

[Hacker: Let me tell you, I also saw something really weird yesterday in the bank. That black cocoon called her "Mom."]

[Xia Pingzhou: This is so strange. I'll go and find out what her relationship with the black chrysanthemum is later.]

After sending the message, Xia Pingzhou and Ayase Origami left the hotel together. A short walk later, they arrived at a nearby bar and went straight to their assigned private room. Pushing open the door, they found the same group of people inside, except for Bai Tanlang and Bernardo. Xia Pingzhou didn't see the newcomer; they guessed she had just arrived from her flight.

“I have some breaking news,” the Bloodline said mysteriously, taking a sip of his drink. “One of our exorcists advanced to the third rank last night. Guess who it is?”

"The Ripper?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"Who else could it be?" Ripper said as she pushed open the door and walked in. She was still wearing her black and white school uniform today, with the collar tied crookedly and her long, straight black hair hanging down her back.

She casually closed the door behind her, then summoned the Sky Chaser, whose dark red dagger suddenly transformed into a giant scythe.

"Want to give it a try with me?" she said, glancing up at Xia Pingzhou.

"Forget it now, there will be other opportunities in the future." Xia Pingzhou looked at the sickle.

"Oh."

The Ripper put his scythe away.

Her Sky Chaser first transformed into a katana while she was severely injured, and now, after advancing, it has become a scythe? Xia Pingzhou wondered.

"What is your current strength?" Xia Pingzhou asked.

"Actually, I'm quite curious about my current strength..." Ripper said casually.

"What do you think your strength is?" The Bloodline asked, cupping his face in his hands and smiling at him.

"If I encounter that Ghost Bell again, I should be able to cut him in half," the Ripper thought to himself.

Bloodline said, "It's hard to say... He's a noble time-manipulation ability user. Even if he killed a Calamity-level ability user, I wouldn't be surprised." She paused, "Although our Ripper sister isn't weak either."

Everyone sitting here knows perfectly well that if the guild leader hadn't had Oda Takikage set up an ambush beforehand and taken Blue Arc hostage to threaten Ghost Bell, the outcome of that battle in the auction house would have been uncertain.

Of course, they will win in the end, but it's impossible for them to escape unscathed.

The Ripper scoffed: "Didn't the commander say that the Ghost Bell can only use its 'time-pause' ability when the clock tower's hands are pointing to 12 o'clock, and that probability is only one in twelve?"

She paused for a moment: "In other words, I am 11 out of 12 confident that I can beat him."

“But others will also improve,” Xia Pingzhou said. “Maybe Ghost Bell has already advanced to the level of a natural disaster, and if you go to find it, you’ll just get beaten up again.”

"When will our little kitten make some progress?" The Ripper was silent for a moment, then asked coldly, turning his eyes, as black as the polar night, to look at Xia Pingzhou.

"Soon, I'll come and challenge you to a one-on-one duel in a month," Xia Pingzhou said calmly.

“Since you dare to provoke me, you better not run away later,” the Ripper said.

Andrew downed a whole bottle of wine in one gulp, then slammed down his glass with a "ha!", wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, and casually joked:

"Alright, I suggest recording a video and uploading it to the cat abuse section for new members to enjoy!"

"I support it." The bloodline member raised his hand in agreement while drinking.

Suddenly, sheets of paper floated into the air from the private room, and the air grew cold.

"I forgot, you have to consider the owner before you hit a cat." Bloodline turned his head and looked at the expressionless Ayase Origami with a smile.

As the group was chatting, someone suddenly knocked on the door of the private room.

The Ripper stood up, walked over and opened the door. What came into view was a girl with a ponytail, wearing a baseball cap, a white casual jacket, and jeans.

The private room was shrouded in silence as everyone curiously observed the newlyweds.

Looking at the girl in the baseball cap, one of the people in the private room broke the silence by speaking first.

“Mom,” Xia Pingzhou suddenly said.

The room fell silent for a moment, then they turned their gazes to Xia Pingzhou, their hair standing on end, and gasped in horror.

After a pause, Xia Pingzhou added expressionlessly, "I heard from the hackers that Black Chrysalis calls you 'Mom'."

Upon hearing this, the surprised expressions on their faces slowly faded, but a hint of disbelief still lingered in their eyes.

"Haha, our Xia Xiaoge's performance is still so consistent!" Andrew slapped the table and laughed.

“The kitten is breathing.” Origami Ayase said.

“I’m warning you, you can die if you only say half of what you mean,” said the Ripper.

"I thought you now had another quirk besides recognizing your owner: recognizing your mother..."

The bloodline laughed so hard they were doubled over, their bodies shaking with laughter.

Obviously, the one who was most shocked was Tong Zizhu. It was like when you were looking for a job and went to the company for the first time, and your colleague came up to you and called you "Mom". Who could resist that?

She stood at the door for a long time, too afraid to step inside, before finally coming to her senses.

"Come on... you're the second person to call me 'Mom' right off the bat. You scared me half to death." Tong Zizhu said, rubbing her heart as she slowly walked in.

"I speak rather slowly, I apologize." Xia Pingzhou nodded in apology.

Tong Zizhu crossed his arms in an annoyed tone: "Let me introduce myself. I am the new number four, my name is 'Su Ying', an exorcist, currently at level two, and I am quite good at infiltration."

Xia Pingzhou said, "I heard from a hacker that your real name is 'Tong Zizhu'."

Tong Zizhu's eye twitched slightly, and he tilted his head and sighed, "That kid really exposed me completely. Are all the people in your troupe this perverted?"

"You seem to be getting along well with hackers lately?" Bloodline asked Xia Pingzhou with a smirk.

“Cats like children,” Origami Ayase said, flipping through a collection of haiku. “That’s normal.”

"So... what's your relationship with Black Chrysalis?" Xia Pingzhou looked up at Tong Zizhu.

“His identity is still uncertain, but his mother may be my adoptive mother, or more accurately, my savior,” Tong Zizhu said. “That savior’s name is ‘Su Ying’. I’m currently looking for her, which is why I used that name to join the group.”

“Looks like we’ve sent another person.” Bloodline said with a smile, cupping his face in his hands. “If White Wolf were here too, we’d be all together.”

Xia Pingzhou thought to himself, "Can I say that all the people you three found are related to me?"

　The double reward event has only two hours left, please give me some monthly tickets! (orz)
　　
　　
　　I also recommend a very interesting and beautifully written new book: *Rewind: Starting with Saving a Missing Girl*.

　　Deep mountains, a large lake, a temple, underwater shadows, a serial murder case from eight years ago, and a girl's gradually cooling body;
　　This is a heartwarming, thrilling, and romantic coming-of-age story set on a small island in winter, among a group of young men and women.

　　
　　(Romance + Time Travel + Campus + Suspense)

　　
　
(End of this chapter)