Superman's End Manual

"Are you talking about that owl who gets beaten up every day?"

You Minglu asked another question.

"Getting beaten up every day is a bit of an exaggeration..."

As he spoke, An Renchuan chuckled twice and then teased.

"Our comrade Blue Owl is quite capable. He sent the cyborg Lester to prison right after his debut. Everyone calls him the rising star of the Superhero Association, and many of the association's female heroes are his potential suitors. I'm even a little jealous of his popularity. How can he be as bad as you say?"

Upon hearing this, You Minglu rested his chin on his hand and said expressionlessly, "What you're saying seems to be different from what I've heard. When I'm surfing the internet, I see people calling him something like 'the illegitimate son of the Blue Raven' or 'a superhero with connections,' but nobody calls him a rising star."

Bai Zini was puzzled, thinking to herself that these people were really good at lying through their teeth. So she picked up her drink, brought the bottle to her lips, and gulped down a mouthful to relieve her boredom.

Then he said, "Can you stop joking? Does this person even have the slightest bit of what it takes to be a superhero?"

As she spoke, she glanced at Ke Mingye with annoyance before quickly looking away.

“Didn’t you say you’d only met once?” An Renchuan smiled. “Why do you sound like you know him so well?”

"Meeting you once is enough," Bai Zini said, turning her face away as her ponytail swayed slightly.

"I also think he doesn't really look like a superhero. He looks like an ordinary high school student. Senior An Hong's brother really knows how to make us laugh."

You Minglu spoke calmly.

Qiu Xia listened to the three people's conversation and then belatedly realized, "So it was a joke?"

"otherwise……"

Ke Mingye was silent for a moment, and was about to speak when An Renchuan interrupted him.

“No.” An Renchuan shook his head, his tone becoming more serious. “Because An Hong said she was going to bring her friends home to play, and you are all magical girls, I called Blue Owl over as well. We are all superhumans fighting for the city and belong to the same official organization, so I don’t think there’s anything to hide about our identities.”

“You’re invincible…” Ke Mingye said deeply.

"So you really are a Blue Owl?"

Do you think I look like it?

Ke Mingye tried to make a final struggle, but at that moment, An Renchuan took his phone when he wasn't paying attention, opened the photo album, found a photo, and showed it to the four of them.

In the photo, Blue Owl and Magical Girl Maple posed for a picture with their heads close together.

Qiu Xia stared at the photo, then froze on the spot, a flicker of light in her eyes.

She remembered that this photo was taken after they had resolved the mass riot together. At that time, after Blue Owl took the photo with his own phone, he asked her if she had an email address, saying that he wanted to send her the photo.

But before she could give him her email address, An Hong pushed her away from the scene.

She felt regretful for a long time afterward and kept complaining to An Hong about why she was in such a hurry to leave. However, she was so nervous that she could hardly think straight. It was such a simple thing as giving an email address, but she couldn't remember her email address for a while, so she couldn't blame anyone else.

At this moment, silently looking at this photo, Qiu Xia thought that if there was only one person in the world who could possibly own this photo, that person must be the Blue Owl.

Thinking of this, Qiu Xia slowly shifted her gaze from the group photo and secretly observed Ke Mingye's profile.

"Give me back my phone, have you no manners?"

Ke Mingye spoke with a stern face, quickly snatching the phone back from An Renchuan's hand.

An Renchuan curled the corners of his mouth and shrugged slightly as he explained, "This group photo is what he just mentioned to me. He said that back then, you guys resolved a parasite riot incident, and Qiu Xia asked him for a group photo. But he didn't have time to give it to her, so this photo has been in his phone's photo album ever since."

An Hong opened her eyes wide and covered her slightly open mouth with her hand, thinking that this was basically irrefutable evidence. It turned out that her brother had not lied and the person next to him really was the Blue Owl.

“So it really was you…” Qiu Xia murmured.

"No. This group photo was given to me by Blue Owl."

Ke Mingye sighed deeply, avoiding her gaze, while still making excuses.

“No, Blue Owl couldn’t possibly be that kind of person,” Qiu Xia shook her head and asserted.

"Hehe, people say you're not that kind of person."

As he spoke, An Renchuan nudged Ke Mingye's shoulder with his own and said in a lighthearted, teasing tone, "If the evidence is conclusive, stop being so stubborn. You still won't admit it. Just how heartbroken are you going to make your little fans?"

"You're really annoying. Looks like I'll have to ask Commander Che for a transfer when I get back."

"Is it really necessary?" An Renchuan shrugged.

"Can I have that group photo?" Qiu Xia asked.

"for you."

"I've been wanting to see this photo for a long time. Thank you, Mr. Blue Owl."

"Can you please not call me that?"

"Blue Owl?"

"Ke Mingye."

"Oh, is that your name?"

"if not?"

"I always thought Blue Owl was at least an older man, I didn't expect him to be so young."

"What exactly did I do to cause this misunderstanding?"

As the group talked, one person remained silent.

Bai Zini listened to their conversation like an outsider. They were talking about her brother, the person she knew best and was closest to, but she couldn't join in at all and could only sit awkwardly on the sofa.

It's as if... I know nothing about this person.

She lowered her head, stunned for a long, long time, before slowly raising her eyes. She glanced at An Renchuan, then at Qiu Xia, and finally fixed her gaze on the pale-faced Ke Mingye.

She stared at Ke Mingye without moving for a long time.

After a long pause, he opened his mouth slightly and asked slowly, "Is what he said true... or false?"

The girl's voice was calm, as if she were asking a perfectly normal question, but her tone was as soft as a cicada's chirp.

Ke Mingye met Bai Zini's gaze, seemingly wanting to say something, but only sighed softly.

"From when?" she continued.

Ke Mingye still didn't reply, but simply avoided her direct gaze.

"I'm asking you...when did it start?"

Ke Mingye opened his mouth.

"Why don't you speak?"

Ke Mingye turned his face away.

"Is it fun...?"

Ke Mingye lowered his eyes.

"It's been like this since I was a child."

"I don't want to see you get hurt at all."

"Why don't you say a word?"

"You obviously know that."

Bai Zini paused for a moment before continuing.

"No one cares about you more than I do..."

"nobody."

In the end, Bai Zini bit her lip, slowly lowered her head, and her bangs covered her angry eyes, which were slightly brimming with tears.

A brief silence fell over the living room. No one knew what was going on or why Bai Zini had suddenly reacted so strongly. They just stared at them blankly.

A moment later, seeing that Ke Mingye was still silent, Bai Zini stood up from the sofa, turned around, and walked to the entrance without looking back. She didn't even change her shoes, but just held her sandals in her hands. Then she turned the doorknob, walked out of the house barefoot, and closed the door with a "snap".

Qiu Xia and An Hong were both shocked. They looked at Ke Mingye again, wondering if there was anyone in the world who could make Ash Senior react like this. Just who was he?

"Hey Blue Owl, what exactly happened between you and that girl?"

An Renchuan was also a bit confused and couldn't help but give Ke Mingye a surprised look.

“How annoying…”

With that, Ke Mingye took a deep breath and slowly said, "I'm going back first. You guys continue having fun, don't worry about us." After saying that, he got up and walked out of the house.

On a sweltering summer day, a gust of wind carrying heat swept across his face, making him feel as if he were melting into a pile of roasted meat.

"Where did you go?"

Ke Mingye raised his arm to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight and walked along the Yandai Commercial Street for a while before arriving at a riverside path nearby.

He remembers this place.

When they were little, he and Bai Zini would often run here after school, sit by the river and chat until the sun dipped below the horizon, then walk home along this path. Along the way, they watched cyclists come and go in the twilight, and children chase and play by the river.

Under the crimson sunset, amidst the swirling grass clippings, the girl stood with her hands behind her back, turned to look at him, and backed away step by step, her smiling face still faintly visible in his memory.

As Ke Mingye walked forward, lost in thought, he looked up and saw a girl sitting on the grass by the riverbank, hugging her knees and gazing at the shimmering lake. Under the bright sun, the lakebed resembled a transparent display case in an aquarium, with turtles and fish swimming slowly beneath it all clearly visible.

Ke Mingye remained silent for a while, then moved to her side, patted the weeds, and sat down.

"What are you doing... you're going to get sunburned like a pig's head," he said.