Role Playing the Dark Horse Character

Chapter 103: Big Brother Becomes Big Sister?

The sun set, and the faint orange-red light filtering through the leaves spilled onto the grass like clear water.

The brown-haired youth had grown taller, his face slightly thinner than when they last parted.

In the summer, he wore short sleeves, his exposed arms showing some muscle definition.

He’d become leaner, more mature, with a resolute look in his eyes.

Yiming looked up, following the direction of the sunset to find his bearings.

He’d gotten separated from the others, but he knew their destination.

As long as he got there, he’d reunite with them.

But as he raised his head, through the clusters of reddened leaves, he saw in the distance a blurry, familiar profile.

A cold profile.

The firmness on the brown-haired youth’s face melted, replaced by a cautious, hopeful expression.

“Brother?” Yiming murmured.

If he had a tail, it’d probably be wagging like a fan.

He hurriedly took a few steps forward, his gaze locked on that face, dashing quickly through the bushes.

He saw the person standing in the sunset, quietly gazing into the distance, as if looking far away.

That was Dawn City’s location.

Hearing his footsteps, the person turned their head and looked over.

In the orange-red sunlight, the person in his eyes slightly tilted their face, the red wing-like mark at the corner of their eye mostly hidden by black short hair.

The obstruction of branches and leaves was gradually left behind as Yiming approached, and finally, he saw the person’s full appearance.

“!?” Yiming abruptly stopped.

It was a girl wearing high heels.

Seeing him approach, her coldness faded, and her eyes curved into a smile.

A kind smile, yet one that couldn’t hide a killing intent.

“Oh my, an outsider?” she said.

Her face was very similar to Li’s, but her aura was worlds apart when she smiled.

The black high-slit long dress swayed slightly with her movements, like ripples spreading across water.

Yiming froze in place.

This brown-haired youth, bad at managing expressions, had disbelief written all over his face, his blue eyes practically screaming two words:

Who? Are You?

His wild big brother had suddenly turned into a big sister, and Little Corgi’s brain CPU overloaded, white smoke practically rising from his head.

His voice stalled, his steps halted, and he stood there, staring at Li Li, unable to utter a word for ages.

“You… I…” Yiming struggled to say something, like who are you, who am I, is this a dream, or are my eyes broken?

But Li Li decisively cut him off.

One hand on her hip, she stepped forward, smiling faintly. “This mountain is mine, this tree is mine. If you want to pass, leave your toll.”

“Wh-what does that mean?” the stunned Yiming asked instinctively.

Li Li smiled. “It means I’m gonna beat you up.”

Yiming: “???”

He couldn’t process it!

Before he could react, that smiling face suddenly loomed large before him.

Black hair fanned out, fully revealing the red wing-like mark at the corner of her eye.

Her curved eyelashes seemed to carry a smile, a cold smile.

The next moment, she braced one hand on the ground, her long boots whipping up a sharp gust as she struck from Yiming’s right.

His Metal Heart ability activated, and Yiming instinctively raised his elbow, his metallized forearm blocking the attack.

“Clang!”

But the sound was metal clashing against metal.

Li Li’s supposedly soft limbs, under the effect of Illusory Reality, were coated with a layer of metal, just like Yiming’s ability!

Before Yiming could process this, Li Li’s lips curved, her body spinning.

Her long dress bloomed like a broken black flower, and she kicked from Yiming’s undefended left side.

Yiming was still dazed, not yet recovered from the shock.

“Wait, I’m not—”

The kick landed on his waist, and Yiming staggered several steps to the right.

The merciless strike snapped him awake, but before he could say anything, Li Li’s attacks came one after another.

“Don’t get distracted,” Li Li whispered in his ear.

Her movements were ghostly, always appearing in his blind spots.

Her ability was bizarre, seemingly identical to Yiming’s, able to metallize any part of her body.

An overwhelmingly powerful opponent.

In the final glow of dusk, the twilight dyed the earth red, and the sound of metal clashing echoed through the forest.

Two figures moved swiftly through the trees, leaving only afterimages.

Yiming had gained plenty of combat experience in the Zhusheng Arc.

After the initial shock of “big brother turning into big sister,” he quickly reacted, steadying himself, clearing his mind of distractions, and seriously facing Li Li, an opponent he couldn’t possibly defeat.

Compared to the emotionally driven state in the Four-Way Arc, he was far better now.

He was genuinely growing.

“You’ve grown,” she said, her words drowned out by the clash of metal.

Yiming didn’t hear clearly.

The last of the glow vanished below the horizon, and night fell.

“I’m a new member of Tide!” Yiming finally shouted what he wanted to say.

The long boot stopped a centimeter from Yiming, the sharp gust slicing off a few strands of brown hair, which drifted down slowly.

Li Li retracted her leg, looking somewhat unsatisfied. “Oh.”

Perhaps unsure of Li Li’s identity, Yiming, for once, seemed a bit aggrieved. “Are you still gonna keep beating me up?”

He even felt that if he hadn’t spoken up, he’d have taken a few more hits.

If Li Li knew what Yiming was thinking, she’d probably nod in agreement and tell him: Yes, the adult world is just that ruthless.

But she didn’t know, and it didn’t stop her from showing through her actions that she had neither conscience nor morals.

She turned around, ignoring Yiming, and made as if to walk away.

“Wait!” As expected, Yiming chased after her.

He stared intently at Li Li’s face and said, “You look like my brother. Do you know Li?”

A topic handed to her on a platter—she’d be a fool not to use it.

Li Li pointed at her face, teasing, “Do I look like a man?”

Her squinting eyes seemed to hide a knife in her smile, and Yiming sensed a hint of danger.

Though Li Li’s eyes were closed, Yiming felt as if a chilling pair of eyes were staring at him.

“Kill you, got it?”

He could practically read that phrase on her smiling face.

Under immense pressure, Yiming said, “Not at all, totally not.”

“Hm?” Li Li tilted her head, her finger joints cracking with a click.

Yiming felt that her seemingly delicate wrist could swivel at any moment and land another punch.

Judging by this person, it’d probably be a cheerful punch to snap him awake.

Not understanding why he was getting beat up or what he’d said wrong, Yiming, in a flash of wit, blurted out before Li Li could raise her hand, “You’re the prettiest girl I’ve ever seen!”

Li Li sighed with a hint of regret.

Yiming’s lips trembled, and his inner thoughts slipped out. “You just wanted an excuse to beat me up, didn’t you!”

Li Li gave him an approving look. “What do you think?”

She actually admitted it! Yiming’s pupils shook.

This world was too complicated for Little Corgi.

He couldn’t understand!

Their earlier skirmish hadn’t caused any damage.

In the darkness, Li Li walked ahead, with Yiming closely following.

It felt like a return to innocent times, his face full of conflict, unsure how to ask Li Li about Li.

He’d asked earlier, only to be shut down by Li Li, but he really wanted to know what connection this person had with Li.

It couldn’t be Li himself.

The moment Yiming thought of the black-haired girl’s cheerful demand to be called pretty, he felt it was impossible for her to be his cold-faced, soft-hearted brother.

The gap was too big; his little heart couldn’t take it.

No, definitely not the same person!

Yiming shook his head vigorously, as if trying to shake out the waterlogged ideas in his brain.

“Are you the Prophet’s foster son?” Li Li spoke first.

She turned her face slightly, her black short hair swaying as she walked, sometimes covering her eyes, sometimes revealing the red mark at the corner.

Yiming was stunned.

That information shouldn’t have spread yet, but coming from this person, it didn’t feel surprising.

“Yes, Buyan raised me for a while,” he said.

“Tell me about it,” Li Li said, turning her back to him. “You and him—I’m curious.”

Yiming looked up at Li Li’s back.

The forest seemed endless, moonlight casting dappled spots through the leaves, slowly moving across her body.

“Buyan…” Yiming couldn’t refuse the request, perhaps because it was too quiet here, the summer insect chirps barely audible. “He wasn’t like the Prophet Tide spoke of, burdened with responsibility.”

If they didn’t say something, there’d be a stifling silence that made him uncomfortable.

“They all said Buyan was their spiritual leader, every move filled with deeper meaning,” Yiming said, following Li Li step by step. “But the Buyan I knew loved cracking jokes, cursing without swears. No airs at all, even getting scratched by a stray cat on the roadside.”

“He really wanted to keep that black cat. While eating, he told me he’d already picked out a name,” Yiming said, scratching his head. “But the next day when we went out, the cat was gone. It disappeared, and Buyan was down for a long time.”

Li Li listened as the insect chirps grew louder, mingling with their footsteps echoing through the forest.

The person ahead didn’t respond, but Yiming glanced at her back and continued, “Actually, Buyan was only home two or three days a week. He was busy. I didn’t know what he was doing back then, but now I know—he was handling Former Ability Guild matters.”

“Honestly, when they said Buyan was a high-ranking member of the Former Ability Guild, I was pretty shocked,” Yiming said. “But then again, not that shocked… ugh, that’s redundant.”

“It’s just… I felt he was very alone,” Yiming said, his lips tugging slightly. “Tide said Buyan also took in a lot of experimental subjects rescued from research institutes. But I had no idea. If he wanted to hide something from me, I’d know nothing.”

“I knew nothing,” he repeated.

Perhaps he was thinking of six years ago when Shuang Buyan vanished, and he’d thought Buyan had just left him.

Because he didn’t know, he hadn’t even seen his foster father’s death.

When Qu Yan displayed that head, he didn’t even know who it belonged to.

“Not knowing is the best,” Li Li suddenly said.

She stopped walking, the city lights now before them.

They’d reached the city, the site of the former Dawn City.

“Maybe,” Yiming paused, acknowledging his own weakness. “Even if I knew, I couldn’t have done anything.”

“But…” He looked at the figure ahead, at Li Li, who turned her face in the flickering lights, quietly watching him. “I think, even if I couldn’t do anything, just standing there could bring a bit of courage.”

“I’ll always support you, or something,” Yiming said, taking a deep breath before adding, “Forget it, pretend I didn’t say anything.”

Li Li didn’t confirm or deny.

Just then, footsteps approached from the distance.

“Yiming! You’re finally here!”

It was Tang.

Behind her was Hua Yizhi, both of their faces tinged with anxiety.

“An Huyu was taken away by that imperial princess!” she said, panting, her voice hoarse.

Yiming froze. “Was he possessed by Yu Xiao or something?”

What rotten luck.

Tang shook her head, and then Hua Yizhi asked, “Yiming, who were you just talking to?”

Yiming turned his head. “Someone I just met, uh?”

Where his gaze landed, there were only flickering neon lights, an empty space, and no sign of that person.

…

“This afternoon, Huyu and the others arrived in Ranmu City, and I saw the princess take Huyu away!” On the other end of the phone, An Heyu’s voice carried a rare trace of urgency. “Heige, I want—I want to go bring him back.”

He remembered to ask for Li Li’s opinion, worried about accidentally disrupting her plans.

Li Li, walking down the street, tilted her head to look at the moon, smiling cheerfully. “Of course you can.”

“But,” her tone shifted, “remember to wear your skirt properly.”

Keep that identity tight, Miss Red Crane.