Shangguan Bing Xue had her head slightly tilted down and her body was sideways; this coupled with her surprise made her unable to notice the kind of expression Bai Zemin had on his face at that precise moment nor did it let her realize the effect her careless words as a result of her shock had on him.
"W- What is it?" Bai Zemin asked in a trembling voice.
He, who was not afraid to face creatures the size of buildings, did not dare to turn around completely for fear of what he would find there.
That Bai Zemin who fought bravely even when his enemies were more powerful than him and finally achieving victory thanks to countless carefully developed strategies in the course of the battle was now like a mindless fool who could neither see nor think things through clearly.
Or otherwise, he would definitely have realized that if what Shangguan Bing Xue had found was someone's corpse she would definitely not have chosen to use such careless words out of respect for him and the possibility that the said corpse belonged to one of his loved ones.
Be that as it may, the trembling voice, as well as the fear contained in Bai Zemin's question, awakened Shangguan Bing Xue from her state of shock. She raised her face and turned her head to look in his direction, finding Bai Zemin standing stiffly and motionless as he gritted his teeth hard in an attempt to stand firm.
The blue eyes of Shangguan Bing Xue flashed with a hint of guilt as she realized her mistake and not wanting him to suffer any more she quickly turned and raised her right hand in the air before saying loudly, "Look, I found a note in this room!"
Bai Zemin froze in place and the slight uncontrollable trembling that struck his body stopped as he heard Shangguan Bing Xue's words. He blinked in confusion as he stared forward in puzzlement as a consequence of experiencing traveling to hell only to be held tightly and pulled to the heaven by a large hand before his body fell into the pit of eternal fire.
A note? When these words finally clicked in Bai Zemin's brain, his body moved on its own and in an instant he appeared before Shangguan Bing Xue as if he was a ghost, scaring her a bit.
Bai Zemin looked at her left hand and saw that indeed, being grasped by her hand, was a small white paper torn and stained with pink probably a consequence of the dried paint chips belonging to the collapsed wall but peeled off during the collapse.
He reached forward tremblingly and slowly as he stared at the dirty paper as if it were the most precious treasure in the world. In fact, Bai Zemin did not dare to snatch it from Shangguan Bing Xue for fear that his carelessness would destroy that little white paper despite the rush of his heart urging him to do it once and for all.
Shangguan Bing Xue, understanding how he felt, extended her hand forward while holding the tip of the paper between her fingers to allow Bai Zemin to take it with ease as she carefully explained, "Judging from the pale pink color of the walls, as well as the surrounding high school books, I took the freedom to assume that this room formerly belonged to your younger sister."
Once Bai Zemin grabbed the paper with trembling hands, he shook it very carefully in a meaningless attempt to get the dirt off of it.
"That piece of paper was flattened by a big rock next to the desk." Shangguan Bing Xue finished explaining everything before falling silent to let Bai Zemin read the note however briefly.
Before reading the contents written on the piece of paper, Bai Zemin looked at it in detail, and for the first time, he realized the reason why Shangguan Bing Xue often managed to notice things that most overlooked.
Meng Qi was a very careful and detail-oriented young woman. Everything she did was always flawless as one of her life mottos was "do it right or don't do it at all".
From cooking dinner to helping her mother clean the house, when Meng Qi engaged in a task the result was destined to be brilliant; that was the kind of woman she was and aspired to be.
Of course, when it came to school, the amount of effort she put in was always 200% of her usual; after all, she was fully aware of the sacrifice Bai Zemin was making for her and what Meng Qi least wanted was to waste the kindness he showed her.
Bai Zemin could still remember the beautiful calligraphy of Meng Qi and even clearly recalled the numerous amount of praise she received for it; many even joked that perhaps she could become a great master in this field.
So, one could imagine the rush a person with this kind of character had to be in to tear off a piece of paper carelessly and to write as haphazardly as Meng Qi had done on the paper Bai Zemin was holding right now.
Despite the colossal difference, Bai Zemin could not possibly mistake the fineness of each trace; it had definitely been Meng Qi.
"South. Army." Bai Zemin muttered and suddenly felt his legs tremble.
The face of Shangguan Bing Xue changed slightly and hurriedly stepped forward to support him.
In fact, Bai Zemin was so weak at this point that he could not even control his body. Had it not been for Shangguan Bing Xue, he would definitely have fallen to his knees at this stage.
Shangguan Bing Xue did not say anything. To begin with, she was a woman who usually didn't talk much and even less in this kind of circumstance. What she did was to help Bai Zemin sit on a large piece of rubble and after making sure he was okay she sat down next to him.
The tense nerves of Bai Zemin finally released completely but this also caused all the strength in his body to leave him. Even he, who was capable of fighting for days and nights against an army of millions, lost more than a few hundred Stamina points as a result of the tension that shook his soul to its core.
The eyes of Shangguan Bing Xue flashed with a hint of pain as she saw his sweat-soaked face. She knew he loved his family tremendously, but she hadn't expected him to be enduring so much.
She had no way of understanding the effect the skill Stone Heart had on Bai Zemin despite knowing how the skill worked. For two and a half months now, every step Bai Zemin took felt tremendously heavy. His heart was never at ease and even during the night, he found it difficult to fall asleep wondering if his loved ones had gone to bed with an empty stomach or if they were cold in the freezing temperatures that embraced the world during the night.
There were more than a few times when his mind almost went into disarray after merely imagining the possibility of them not surviving.
No one but Bai Zemin himself knew how much stress he had been living under all this time. Therefore, now that he finally got a clear clue and positive signs, all that tension hit him without warning almost knocking him out on the spot.
If any other person who knew him saw the current Bai Zemin, they would probably doubt that the brave and always steadfast warrior had anything to do with the current him. Many would definitely see him as pathetic and weak for falling into such a miserable condition even though he had not fought a real battle.
However, in the eyes of Shangguan Bing Xue, the battle that Bai Zemin had just fought was far more dangerous than any other. It had been a battle that could have brought him down forever, and worst of all, in that battle he was a mere spectator.
Moreover, to Shangguan Bing Xue, the fact that Bai Zemin allowed himself to fall like this in front of her also meant that he trusted her enough to show weakness. Otherwise, she was 100% sure that a proud and cautious man as him would definitely not allow himself to fall down like that in front of anyone.
Seconds passed and those seconds turned into minutes as they clustered amongst themselves.
About 10 minutes later, Shangguan Bing Xue noticed that Bai Zemin's breathing had stabilized for which she asked faintly, "Are you okay?"
Bai Zemin did not respond immediately and instead took several deep breaths before finally nodding.
He nodded a second time and said in a louder tone than necessary, "I'm fine…. I'm fine."
The second "I'm fine" represented the real "I'm fine"; the first was clearly him trying to convince himself.
Shangguan Bing Xue smiled slightly and said in a more cheerful tone of voice, "Congratulations. You are now closer to meet your loved ones as you have always wanted."
Bai Zemin's eyes lit up upon hearing these words. He looked at her with a big smile on his face and nodded vigorously, "Em!"
This was the first time since the apocalypse began that Bai Zemin smiled not only from the bottom of his heart but also with complete freedom from worry. At the same time, it was the first time Shangguan Bing Xue was stunned by a man's smile; the first time she experienced in person what many men experienced when they saw her for the first time.
Having no idea what Shangguan Bing Xue was feeling, Bai Zemin jumped to his feet and stretched both arms skyward with clenched fists, still clutching that small paper note as if it were his most valuable treasure.
The bones in his body thundered noisily and his shoulders became firmer than ever as if a great weight had been lifted from them, easing the burdens he carried at all times on his back.
Although he did not know how long had this note written by Meng Qi, the only thing that mattered was that at least the hopes that they were all well were higher now. At the very least, there was no bad news and now Bai Zemin even had a clearer target than ever in his head.
"By the way. Your younger sister sure is impressive." Shangguan Bing Xue stood up and approached him. Once she got his attention, she said with impossible to hide astonishment, "To think that in the midst of all the chaos she still managed to leave you a short but clear message. Even more amazing though is her faith that you would definitely be fine and get here."
One had to know that Bai Zemin was an entire district away from Meng Qi and his parents, not to mention the fact that to get here as quickly as possible he would have to find a way to clear out countless zombies that would surely occupy the large cities and villages located to the south and north of the eastern sea.
But even then, Meng Qi risked losing several seconds that could have cost her a lot just to leave a note as if she was sure her big brother would see it. This was something that not only shocked Shangguan Bing Xue but also filled her with admiration and curiosity for this young girl as Shangguan Bing Xue herself wondered if she would ever be able to do such a thing.
Bai Zemin chuckled and seemed very satisfied with Shangguan Bing Xue's praise for his younger sister. If Shangguan Bing Xue praised someone else then he would be surprised as she was a very proud woman and practically no one was worthy of her praise, however, when she praised Meng Qi he took it as a natural thing to do.
Even so, he did not comment on it and instead looked up at the now clear blue sky with a happy smile. It would be difficult for Shangguan Bing Xue to understand the kind of person Meng Qi was unless she met her in person. Therefore, he simply said the following:
"Bing Xue, I bet you will get along well with my younger sister when you meet her. She will definitely be able to occupy an important position in the noble government along with you, Wu Yijun, and the rest."
Bai Zemin's smile was like that of a child free of impurities and evil thoughts, no one could ever associate this Bai Zemin with the Bai Zemin who had slaughtered nearly a billion asuras directly or indirectly among whom there was no lack of children and the elderly.
At the same time, in his eyes, the sky had never been as beautiful as it was at this moment.
"I look forward to it then." Shangguan Bing Xue chuckled and felt really happy for him. Bai Zemin really deserved this brief moment of freedom and joy as he had been by far the hardest working of them all.
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Really thank you very much to all those who send gifts to the novel and support with valuable Golden Tickets. I hope we can all keep it up <3
