A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

"Why so quiet all of a sudden, Ke Mingqing?" Bai asked, a hint of teasing in her tone.

Ke Mingqing looked up, staring at Bai in silence.

For a long time, nothing stirred in the absolute silence of the building, save for the steady patter of dripping water.

They watched each other in silence. After a moment, Bai suddenly said, "Oh, you don't like this name? Then I'll change it."

She paused. Tilting her head up from the stone slab, she looked into the clear, moonlit sky and said,

"White Jack. How about that name?"

Ke Mingqing's pupils contracted. His heart pounded fiercely, as if a hammer had slammed into his chest.

In the absolute silence, his racing heartbeat sounded like a thousand little people tap-dancing.

He was exposed. Giovanni, White Jack, his true self—all of his identities were laid bare.

The monsters of Death Crow would likely come knocking, heading straight to the Old Jingmai District to find his true body.

On the bright side, his alien mother and second sister could probably handle them. But the real problem was his main quest: breaking someone out of prison alongside Death Crow.

With his identities laid bare, how could they possibly still trust him?

After a long silence, he looked up and asked expressionlessly, "How did you find out?"

The platinum-blonde woman merely smiled. Cradling her cheeks, she spoke with the soft familiarity of an old friend. "Don't be so distant. You sound so terribly fierce."

She thought for a moment. "Right, can you bring Mio out? She's an old friend of mine, too. She'll definitely be happy to see me, assuming she still remembers."

Hearing the name 'Mio' from her lips, Ke Mingqing froze, his thoughts spiraling into chaos.

Bai continued, "Don't you usually like running around outside with our little ragdoll? I think it's quite cute, considering she used to be mute."

Ke Mingqing took a deep breath. Meeting her eyes, he asked in a low voice, "Tell me, how much do you actually know?"

He paused and rephrased the question.

"No... just who are you?" he asked hoarsely.

"Yes, who am I really?" Bai lowered her head, resting a hand on the stone slab. "You know, today is actually my last day in this timeline. I'll be leaving soon."

She stared at the patterns on the stone, murmuring softly, "Even I don't know where I'll go after this. Maybe I'll get lost in some unknown era. Or maybe I'll get eaten by a dinosaur... Roar!" She suddenly turned her head, pinching the fingers of her right hand together. She shot Ke Mingqing a fierce glare, her stitched mouth curving up.

Ke Mingqing just watched her quietly, his gaze icy.

"Alright, this old woman's attempt at acting cute gave you the chills."

Bai curled her lip and looked away. "But I'm satisfied, really," she said casually. "At the very least, I've finally figured out who 'Giovanni' is and where he comes from."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Giovanni said expressionlessly. "Maybe you should go to a hospital and get your head checked."

"Maybe I should. What normal person would obsess over something for so many years? Looking back, I realize I haven't lived a single day for myself; I spent it all on the road, searching for you."

Bai spoke softly, then gave a self-deprecating chuckle.

"I always used to wonder what you were thinking. But I was just a child back then, and I didn't understand anything. You always kept a poker face, acting so cold to everyone else, but you were uniquely gentle with me."

She paused.

"Then one day, you locked me in a box, and I waited for many, many years."

Bai's smile vanished. She tugged at the corner of her mouth, forcing it into a stiff, doll-like grin.

"So, by the time I finally figured out who you were and what you were struggling with, my feelings were a bit complicated. I thought to myself... you were facing such a massive dilemma back then, why couldn't you have just told me?"

She mused for a moment before looking up again. Her red eyes quietly fixed on Ke Mingqing's as she slowly asked, "I asked you a question. Why aren't you saying anything? You knew perfectly well how precious my heart was, so why didn't you take it?"

"Your... heart?"

Ke Mingqing murmured, suddenly freezing in place.

At that moment, a terrifying, absurd thought surfaced in his mind.

Bai, however, gave him no time to catch his breath or sort out his thoughts, pressing on.

"That's right. The countdown was about to end, yet you didn't take my heart. Instead, you found a safe place and locked me away. Did you really care about me?"

"What on earth are you talking about?" Ke Mingqing asked blankly.

"Back then, you took me away and hid me. You crouched down, looked into my eyes, and told me that I was your family. You said everyone else was fake and only I was real, because you had picked me up—that we only met after you came to this world..."

Bai lowered her head, a hint of sorrow in her tone.

Ke Mingqing simply lowered his eyes, staring blankly at Bai Ziling in his arms.

The white-haired girl slept peacefully, breathing softly in his embrace as her chest gently rose and fell. A sliver of moonlight fell on her long eyelashes, like snow resting on a willow branch.

Bai also glanced at Bai Ziling before continuing.

"For so many years, I kept wondering what those words meant, what exactly you were going through back then, and who those 'fake family members' you mentioned actually were.

"But it wasn't until now that I finally understood what you meant... Occupying someone else's body, surrounded by relationships that weren't your own, looking at those fake family members, connecting with people who didn't belong to you, receiving love and tolerance that you were never meant to have... You are a very lonely person. You must have felt terrible inside, which is why you had those thoughts and told me that I was special to you."

After a moment, Bai curled her lip behind her veil and asked softly, "Right, Ke Mingqing?"

Following a long, long silence, Ke Mingqing slowly looked up, staring deeply into her quiet red eyes.

"You... came back from the future?"

"What else?" Bai said without lifting her head. "Did you know, in the end... you failed to carry out the Extinction of superhumans."

Ke Mingqing shook his head, his voice dropping low.

"What kind of joke is this?" he said. "If I don't complete this task, I die. How could I possibly fail? Even if I have to slaughter everyone around me, I'll get it done."

He paused. "That's right. I'm that kind of person."

Bai froze. Her veil trembled slightly, the gaze behind it flickering.

"But... but that's exactly what happened! You disappeared!" she said, suddenly drawing out her words. "You vanished without a trace. You didn't tell me anything. If you didn't tell me, how was I supposed to find you...? By the time I came out of the box, years had passed, and the outside world had changed so, so much!"

"Yet my appearance didn't change at all. I was still a child." A hint of a sob crept into her voice, sounding just like a child pouring her heart out to a trusted adult.

After a long silence, she continued, "Do you know? I asked so, so many people... But everyone told me, 'Giovanni is already dead.' Some even said, 'There is no such person as Giovanni in this world.'"

"They said I was just dreaming."

Bai paused. Switching to a lighter tone, she curled her lips and said, "But I didn't believe them. I kept looking for you, always looking for you... I searched for so many years, only to finally confirm that you were truly gone."

"Then, I found a way to return to the past. I sacrificed my immortal heart and came back. The price was that I could only live for half a year."

Bai gave a self-deprecating chuckle. "Yes, exactly half a year. Just like you back then."

She tilted her head. "I didn't know until now that you hadn't just disappeared; you had actually died... You only lived for half a year, yet you've lived in my heart for so long. How could you be so selfish?"

Ke Mingqing's pupils shrank slightly.

He looked up almost reflexively, staring at the face behind the veil, but he couldn't speak a single word.

"I have so, so many thoughts right now, my head is buzzing," Bai said, shaking her head. "Let me think, where would be the best place to start?"

"Bai..."

"Mm, I'm here."

"...Just who are you?" Ke Mingqing asked, almost as if deceiving himself.

"I've already said this much. Can you really not guess?" Bai lowered her eyes, adding softly, "The you in my memories was never this dense."

Ke Mingqing fell silent. That answer surfaced in his mind once again.

"Impossible," he blurted out.

"Why is it impossible?" Bai sighed. "You're still just like before. You only say half of what you mean, and you love lying to yourself. You're so stubborn..."

Ke Mingqing's Adam's apple bobbed. He stayed silent for a long while before finally opening his mouth. "Are you..." he asked, his voice trembling, "Bai Ziling?"

As his words fell, a dead silence filled the abandoned building. Through her veil, the platinum-blonde woman stared motionlessly at the sky outside, making it impossible to read her expression.

After a moment, she tilted her head and looked at him expressionlessly, though a hint of sorrow lingered in her eyes.

"You guessed right."

With that, she gently lifted a finger, pulling at the threads. The silk threads stitching the corners of her eyes and lips tore away, as if she had suddenly put on an entirely different face.

Bai slowly took off her veil, revealing a face that Ke Mingqing found somewhat familiar. It was a white-haired, red-eyed girl, the corners of her eyes slightly flushed.

"How about it, Giovanni? Does my grown-up appearance surprise you a little?" she asked softly.

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