A Guide to Humanity’s Extinction

”Since there’s no school the day after tomorrow, why don’t you invite your girlfriend over for dinner?”

”No.”

”Why not?”

”Because I said no.”

Xia Ningzhi threw her arms around Ke Mingqing’s shoulders from behind the sofa, chattering away. ”Oh, come on! Would it kill you to let your big sister see what she looks like? Xiao Li told me she’s some rich Japanese heiress. I’m dying of curiosity!”

”Wow, a rich Japanese heiress. Our Ah Qing is really moving up in the world.”

Ke Linye smiled as he spoke, his eyes still on his book.

”Exactly.” Xia Zili unscrewed the cap of her chilled water chestnut drink and took a sip. ”He’s really moving up. Just a few days ago, he was having a manly one-on-one showdown with a super-human criminal on the school bus. It was so badass that his exploits are the talk of the whole school.”

”The school bus? When did this happen?” Ke Linye raised an eyebrow.

Xia Ningzhi looked over at her eldest brother, though she didn’t let up on Ke Mingqing. ”Huh, didn’t Dad tell you?”

Ke Linye fell silent for a moment, then shook his head. ”No. It seems you guys really are leaving me out.”

”Here, I even saved the video. Our Ah Qing is an internet celebrity now.”

Xia Ningzhi teased as she pulled her phone from her denim jacket. She opened the saved video and eagerly handed it to Ke Linye.

Ke Linye took the phone. Adding another playing card to the pyramid on the table, he quietly watched the footage of the boy on the school bus armed with a flashlight and a box cutter.

”Seriously, are you guys ever going to drop it?” Ke Mingqing finally snapped, shoving off Xia Ningzhi, who was clinging to him like a vengeful spirit.

”Why are you getting so mad?” Xia Ningzhi asked. ”We just care about you.”

Ke Mingqing fired off his words like a machine gun. ”You nag me about that stupid school bus incident, you nag me about my girlfriend. Should I just sit at home and never go out again?!”

”Sure. Don’t ever leave the house again for the rest of your life,” Xia Zili mocked.

Ke Mingqing turned to shoot her a vicious glare.

”Are you going to support me, then?”

Xia Zili looked away and muttered under her breath, ”...I guess I could.”

She lifted her water chestnut drink and took a slow sip.

Right then, the pyramid of playing cards on the table collapsed. The cards fluttered down, scattering across the surface.

The clatter echoed through the living room.

Ke Mingqing, Xia Zili, and Xia Ningzhi all looked over.

Ke Linye said nothing. He kept watching the school bus video on Xia Ningzhi’s phone with one hand while gathering the scattered cards with the other.

Did he notice something off about how I acted on the bus?

Ke Mingqing’s heart skipped a beat.

”Looks like someone’s in trouble. Big brother is definitely going to lecture you now,” Xia Ningzhi gloated, leaning close to Ke Mingqing’s ear. ”Brace yourself.”

”It’s fine. Some people just need a good lecture,” Xia Zili said dryly.

Ke Mingqing ignored them. He bent down to pick up a card that had drifted to his feet, silently watching his brother’s expression from the corner of his eye.

”This thing is called a Termite Monster, right?” Ke Linye finally spoke. His face was devoid of emotion; it was rare to see him look as placid as a doll.

Ke Mingqing nodded. ”Yeah. Looks pretty disgusting, too.”

”Hmm... At least it’s memorable. My memory isn’t great, but if I ever see him again, I’ll definitely remember him.”

Ke Linye curved his lips in a casual smile, but a deep, unreadable light flickered in his clear eyes.

Ke Mingqing realized that his brother hadn’t noticed his odd behavior at all—he was fixated on something else entirely.

He’s not planning to break into the prison and chop that Termite Monster into pieces, is he?

Ke Linye was about to watch the video a second time, but reconsidered and handed the phone back to Xia Ningzhi.

”By the way,” he mentioned out of nowhere, ”speaking of Rain Crow, your second sister and I were actually saved by him once.”

Xia Ningzhi froze, then turned to him in surprise. ”You and Second Sister? When? How come we never knew?”

Ke Mingqing took a sip of his drink, muttering around the can in his mouth. ”Looks like our whole family has a strong connection to that creepy crow guy. He really is the workaholic of the superhero world. Is he going to end up saving our kids one day, too?”

Xia Zili quietly turned her head, listening intently.

”Your second sister and I were still in elementary school. It was during the sports festival. She came to my classroom to find me, and we were the only ones left in the room. A group of armed thugs rushed into the building. They put guns to Ah Xue’s and my heads, holding us hostage to force the police to clear a path.”

Ke Linye spoke at a leisurely pace as he packed the cards back into their box.

”Wow, is everyone in our family cursed with terrible luck?”

Xia Ningzhi shook her head with a sigh, shooting a meaningful glance at Ke Mingqing. He promptly flipped her the bird.

”Can you two shut up and let him finish?” Xia Zili sighed.

”The police and the thugs were in a standoff for a long time. All the other students were evacuated to the sports field, leaving only your second sister and me in the entire academic building.” Ke Linye slipped the deck of cards into his trench coat pocket.

”And then?” Xia Ningzhi held her breath, entirely hooked. ”That sounds so dangerous. How did you guys make it out alive?”

Ke Linye grabbed a bottled cocktail from the fridge and twisted the cap off with a sharp crack.

”And then Rain Crow arrived,” he said slowly. ”He descended from the sky like a demon. A massive flock of crows rained down, whipping up a black tornado. The world instantly went dark. The thugs were swept up in the wind, and Ah Xue and I couldn’t see a thing. We just heard gunshots and screams echoing inside the storm. But the crows shielded us in the center. They cawed hoarsely, their red eyes staring straight at us.

”Because of that, your second sister and I are still fans of Rain Crow, even though his reputation has tanked in recent years and people accuse him of police brutality. But we don’t think he did anything wrong. He’s just getting older and starting to lose his edge. He has to use even more extreme, violent methods than before to prove to those villains that he isn’t old yet, that he can still protect this city.”

Ke Linye took a sip of his cocktail, a faint smile in his eyes.

Xia Ningzhi was completely dumbfounded. She exchanged a look with Xia Zili.

Both sisters wondered how a story like this had never come up. It made sense for their scatterbrained, forgetful mother to omit it, but why hadn’t their dad ever mentioned it once?

Ke Mingqing was the only one who remained entirely unimpressed. ”That’s great. That’s fantastic,” he said sarcastically. ”So touching. Brings tears to my eyes.”

Under their watchful gazes, he walked over to the corner of the living room, retrieved the two Rain Crow fan T-shirts he’d hidden away the night before, and silently handed them to Ke Linye.

Meeting Ke Linye’s bewildered gaze, Ke Mingqing patted him meaningfully on the shoulder.

”Come on, bro. It’s time for the Crow Fan T-shirts Dad bought last night to see the light of day. This is the hot-blooded bond between a father and son.”