Constantine calmly raised his hand, flicked the cigarette ash from his mouth, and the night wind of London carried the gray-white embers far away.
"I've done nothing to provoke anyone. If the Justice League beats me up on the street, it doesn't make sense, does it?"
"You know why we are looking for you." Su Ming tightened his grip on his arm armor, pinning Zha Kang so he couldn't turn back.
"Oh? What for? I don't know." Constantine maintained a calm expression and put the cigarette back in his mouth. "Has the Three Palaces acted up again? Yes, I summoned him, he's a Demon King, but you have to allow someone to visit their own family, right?"
"No, that's not it." The dark power of Barbatos was like a tide submerging the world, claiming that a mage didn't sense it would be fooling ghosts.
"Then, is it about the witch? Even though she lost control and killed many people, and even injured Superman and Wonder Woman, hasn't it already ended? I was at the scene, but I'm really not involved in the whole matter."
"Also not it."
Su Ming turned his head away. This guy looked like he hadn't bathed for ages, smelling like he just crawled out of a garbage heap, carrying a scent of spoiled food.
"Are you referring to the raining corpses in the sky? Let me tell you, you should look for Lady Shangdu. Although, due to our friendship, I provided some magic ceremonies and tools, I didn't use a scrap of magic. It was all her doing. I can take you to capture her, and I'll even help you for free."
"Wrong again."
"Hmm? The zombie chaos in London's Mirror Space?"
"Not that either."
"Then... the vampire rebellion?"
"No."
"The missing Lance of Longinus?"
.............
Barry held his head, listening to one supernatural term after another spilling from Constantine's yellow-toothed mouth. He wasn't surprised at all. Despite Zha Kang's insistence that these matters aren't related to him, anyone with half a brain knows he's involved.
The Justice League's biggest weakness is that none of them have any magic resistance. Diana is slightly better, having some Divine Artifacts for protection, but Superman is practically at zero when it comes to magic resistance. It's not the first or second time magic has countered him in history, and he's never thought to address this flaw...
These magic-related mysterious events are generally handled by several magic teams, like Su Ming previously mentioned the Shadow Contract, the semi-official Shadow Bureau (S.H.A.D.E), there's also Shazam's Family, the Extreme Hero Alliance from the Witch Child, and then there's Zha Kang's own Dark Justice League, among others.
"Stop! Who do you think I am?"
Constantine exhaled a mouthful of smoke, licking his dry lips. "Who else in the Justice League has such a dark voice? Batman, when you torture me later, could you avoid hitting the face? I'm quite familiar with Wonder Woman."
Is he mistaking someone? Su Ming certainly doesn't think so, this guy is trying to be clever...
He released his arm and patted his arm armor, on which some of Zha Kang's skin flakes stuck. This guy probably hasn't washed his neck in ages: "It's not Batman, and we're not looking for you for those trivial matters."
Constantine adjusted his tie, cleared his throat, and turned around, briefly stiffening when he saw Su Ming. Then, with a peculiar expression, he spoke to Barry behind him.
"So it's Deathstroke. I'm very curious, how come you're with them?" He stopped midway, as if realizing something, and slapped his forehead: "Is the Justice League planning to perform a magic ceremony to brainwash him into a superhero or something?"
Barry stared at his shoes quietly, disapproving, as brainwashing someone is too sinister; there's no good thing about it, and no mage could be trusted.
"Say another useless word, and I'll chop your head off." Su Ming walked to Constantine's side, drawing a section of the Fire God Sword, causing Zha Kang to wear a frightened expression. "Don't think about running, my complete armor set is combined with N Metal, as a mage you should know what that means, you have no chance."
Seeing Constantine reach for his lighter, Su Ming instantly recognized his intention to use a blinding technique to escape and immediately discouraged him.
Constantine's face twisted in discomfort, squeezing out an awkward smile: "Why would I run? Didn't you say there's a business deal? I'm in."
Su Ming stared into his eyes: "Barbatos the Dark Dragon..."
"Nothing can be done, can't help, goodbye then." Constantine threw out a chain of refusals, turning his head intending to walk through the door.
But where does he outpace Barry's speed? Su Ming tilted his head, Barry got the hint immediately, and with a lightning move, ushered Su Ming and Constantine through the flashing door.
In just an instant, they appeared in a desolate place; before them stood a dilapidated wooden villa, its paint entirely peeled off, revealing the bare wood.
Countless years of erosion and weathering turned the wood into rot. It's a miracle the house hasn't collapsed.
Roaring winds swept across the wasteland, prompting the house's doors, windows, and even walls to creak and groan. All around were half-yellow withered grasses, as though life had been drained by some energy. At the far horizon where the sky met the earth, black clouds could be seen rolling.
"Sigh... why do you bother, remember, I didn't invite you." Constantine displayed a sly smile.
Su Ming remained unfazed, merely linking his arm around Constantine's neck and casting him a gentle glance: "When you left the door open upon exiting, I knew you had planned this. This is a magic portal, continuously consuming energy; this door was left for us to use, so of course, I chose to play along. Now, if you play any tricks, Barry will club a big bump on your head, making your escape via the Mysterious House impossible because we're all here, trapped in the same cage."
"...Fine, you win. Alright, I admit I indeed need some help, how about we make an exchange?" Constantine lost his smug edge. Though a mage, he had heard of Deathstroke, the legendary tactical master, and realized his cleverness fell short...
He could naturally determine the phone booth they were at beforehand and teleport there upon opening the door. He also knew who made the call. Initially planning to trap them in the Spirit Thin Prison for leverage, as this marvelous space is incomprehensible to non-magic users; he could easily hide with blinding techniques to negotiate terms.
But Su Ming is not this world's Deathstroke, having intelligence far beyond his imagination, directly revealing his schemes, leading to Zha Kang's fear that Deathstroke was prepared, and when Deathstroke is prepared, he is possibly one of Earth's most terrifying individuals.
It wasn't that Deathstroke was wiser than Batman but rather Su Ming knew exactly what kind of person Zha Kang was, having been cautious long before meeting him...
"Let's go. This should be the Mysterious House, located on the cross-section of all time and space, a transit hub to the Spirit Thin Prison." Su Ming dragged Zha Kang toward the dilapidated structure, looked at the bizarre faces carved on the door, and spoke with confidence.
"Oh, you know quite a lot?" Constantine revealed an appreciative look on his stubbled face, seemingly a bit boastful, then explained to the puzzled Barry: "Spirit Thin Prison is the spatial fracture between Heaven and Hell. After people die, if they aren't meritorious enough for Heaven or sinful enough for Hell, their souls dwell in the Spirit Thin Prison."
"Then... are there ghosts here?" Barry's face twisted, as a scientist, he detested scientifically inexplicable things.
Constantine held his cigarette, turned, and spat out a yellowish spit to the side: "Indeed, you see those black clouds on the horizon? They're all ghost souls."
"This..." Barry only felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, as though the black clouds were advancing this way.
At this point, Su Ming mercilessly shattered Zha Kang's lie: "Don't listen to his nonsense. Those are just ordinary clouds. Spirit Thin Prison, apart from being a bit eerie, isn't much different from the outside world."
"Ugh, can't you let me win just once? It's not often I get to find amusement with the Justice League."
Zha Kang rolled his eyes but didn't slow down, pulling out a key to open the villa's door, making a gesture of invitation to Su Ming and Barry.