Bai Zemin hugged Meng Qi for several minutes and did not hide from himself the fact that his heart felt like it was being stabbed over and over again at the silent disconsolate crying of his sister. However, this was also for the best or the suffering would only grow with the passage of time.
After crying until she practically ran out of tears, Meng Qi wrinkled her little nose and slowly wriggled in his embrace. Taking this as a signal, Bai Zemin slowly loosened his grip on her and placed his hands softly on her shoulders before gently moving his body back to look directly into her eyes.
“My dear little sister, if mom sees you like this she’ll surely give me a beating for thinking I’m bullying you.” He sighed and tried to make a light joke to lighten the atmosphere a bit as he used his fingers to tenderly trace the tears still hanging from her long eyelashes.
Meng Qi wrinkled her nose again and tried to open her mouth to say something but all that came out was a small choked sound.
Realizing that she still couldn’t speak with clarity, Bai Zemin leaned forward and gently kissed her forehead before saying softly, “It’s okay. Actually, things weren’t as bad as you think.”
Seeing that Meng Qi was clearly looking at him without believing a single word, Bai Zemin could only impotently shake his head. While it was true that the number of times his life was at risk was not small and while it was true that his body was often plagued with heavy wounds to the point where it was a miracle that he was still alive, in the eyes of Bai Zemin none of this was a big deal; in fact, if someone were to give him the option to go back in time to change any of his steps taken, Bai Zemin would probably refuse and continue taking the same path he was currently walking.
At the end of the day, it was thanks to all those bad times and pains he had experienced that he was where he wanted to be today. The physical pain and wounds in the soul were not worth mentioning when the reward was to be reunited with his entire family safe and sound.
After about 5 more minutes, Meng Qi finally managed to muster the energy to speak and in a voice as low as a whisper asked Bai Zemin to tell her about his experiences during these two and a half months.
However, Bai Zemin shook his head resolutely and said calmly, “I will tell you about my experiences little by little, but it definitely won’t be today. Girl, look at you… If you keep crying everything will be too obvious by the time we get back to the house. You don’t want to get mom worried, do you? So, be patient. We have plenty of time, I’ll tell you about it gradually over the days.”
Meng Qi bit her lower lip and after several seconds of silence finally gave up and nodded. She knew that the reason Bai Zemin did it this way was for her to be able to adapt day after day without receiving a strong shock right away so while she was sad she also felt relieved since even she didn’t feel confident that she could handle anymore for today.
After staying like this for another five minutes, Bai Zemin and Meng Qi said goodbye to the big white dog and walked back to the house.
* * *
On the other hand, Bai Zemin’s father, Bai Delan, finally stopped the car outside Wu Yijun’s family villa. There were no guards there since all the residents of the privileged area were people who lived luxurious lives and had no real reason to cause trouble among themselves, risking losing the privileges they had.
Besides, the Wu Family was really powerful so no one in their right mind would plan anything bad against them. In fact, once the news broke that the Mayor’s daughter was also a powerful soul evolver of the First Order, the status of the Wu Family would surely grow even more.
After ringing the doorbell, Bai Delan stepped back and waited patiently.
The door soon opened from the inside, revealing the seductive figure of Sun Ling.
“Oh? Major Bai, this is a truly rare visit. Please come in.”
At first, Sun Ling was clearly surprised as she was not anticipating the person on the other side of the door at all. However, she was not a normal woman so in less than a second she regained her composure and smiled politely as she casually stepped aside to let him come in.
“General Sun, sorry to disturb.” Bai Delan greeted politely before silently accepting the invitation.
Sun Ling smiled slightly and after closing the door behind her led Bai Delan to the spacious living room. After inviting him to take a seat, she took a seat on the opposite couch before smiling slightly and saying something that surprised Bai Delan greatly:
“Major Bai, I assume you and your family have already been reunited with your son?”
“How…?” The eyes of Bai Delan opened wide but he quickly calmed down.
This human establishment was basically the Wu Family’s playground so anything that happened there would surely reach their ears. Therefore, after thinking about it for a moment, Bai Delan realized that it was not too surprising that the news had already reached this place.
However, Sun Ling’s next words shocked him even more.
She smiled faintly and said in a charming voice, “Your son, Bai Zemin, was here since yesterday.”
“What?” Bai Delan looked at her in shock. His son was here? For what reason? How did it happen? His mind was in chaos at this point.
“In fact, your son is one of my daughter Yijun’s friends, and judging from our short interaction I dare say they might even be a bit very close.” Sun Ling covered her mouth and let out a playful chuckle before continuing, “Yesterday, a team of seven soul evolvers arrived at the north gate of the base and shortly after that my husband, Keqian, received an urgent report that our daughter Yijun had appeared. As parents, we dropped everything we were doing to go and confirm whether this news was true or not, and to our pleasant surprise, it was.”
“So… Young miss Wu Yijun is part of the party that my son led from Yanqing District to this place?” Bai Delan was dumbfounded.
All the top leaders at the base knew Wu Yijun because Sun Ling and Wu Keqian had shown pictures of her in order that any sighting of her would be reported immediately. But little did Bai Delan expect that his son was actually the leader of the team that returned the daughter of the highest leader of the entire Chinese Renaissance safe and sound!
Sun Ling smiled slightly at Bai Delan’s question before pointing out in a mysterious voice, “Major Bai, I think my daughter won’t accept being called ‘young miss’ by you… How about if you’d better simply call her ‘Yijun’ just like me?”
“Excuse me?” Bai Delan blinked dumbfounded once again.
However, Sun Ling said no more and simply shook her head. She had noticed how her daughter was secretly looking at that young man named Bai Zemin… As a mother and as a woman, Sun Ling understood perfectly well what those secret glances meant.
Even though it seemed to be something unilateral, she did not believe that her daughter was unworthy of anyone. Just like any parent in the world, in the eyes of Sun Ling, there were only those unworthy of her daughter but there were no men of whom her daughter was unworthy. Therefore, Sun Ling believed that sooner or later Bai Zemin would reciprocate the feelings of her daughter; in the meantime, Sun Ling would use that time to observe the kind of person the young man was.
So far, everything seemed excellent. Regardless of whether it was appearance, aura, attitude; Bai Zemin seemed to be a really good man for her daughter. Sun Ling would have to see how strong and capable he was but judging that everyone listened to him and took his words seriously despite his level, he possibly possessed skills that allowed him to jump several levels to fight more powerful beings.
“Actually, the first thing your son did as soon as he arrived at the base was to ask us to look for some people, among these people naturally was his family… But since fate already gathered you together, then there is no need to talk about this matter… So, Major Bai. I wonder what is the reason for your visit today?” Sun Ling leaned back slightly and crossed a leg over the other gracefully as she said, “I doubt that you came just to drink tea, isn’t it?”
Bai Delan was still too shocked by what he had heard, but he was also not a normal person after all the things he had experienced these past two and a half plus months. Besides, the fact that the Wu Family already knew his son and that they seemed to have a pretty good relationship since Wu Yijun and Bai Zemin were friends, Bai Delan could take advantage of this to make what he would say next easier to explain.
“Indeed. General Sun, I would like young master Sun Jie to stay away from my daughter Meng Qi.”
“Eh?” The beautiful eyes of Sun Ling clearly widened in surprise. She frowned slightly but maintained a calm expression as she quietly remarked, “Major Bai, there must be some misunderstanding? If I recall correctly, my nephew Sun Jie has not been seen harassing your daughter Meng Qi since she asked Keqian to keep him away from her.”
The reason why the Wu Family owed and no longer owed Meng Qi a favor was precisely because after she had helped in activating the Unbreakable Field treasure in Wu Keqian’s possession, she had used it on the spot to request that they keep Sun Jie out of her sight within the margin of possibility. After all, seeing each other’s faces was inevitable considering that although the privileged area was very large it was still not endless.
“In fact, young master Sun Jie hasn’t bothered Meng Qi lately.” Bai Delan nodded before saying in a serious voice, “But we have seen him around our home and even seen some of his friends in the area.”
“… I’m afraid that if it’s just that, there’s not much I can do about it.” Sun Ling sighed and shook her head, “As you may well know, my elder brother is a powerful Second Order warrior and in terms of power or influence he is only below my husband Keqian. It was really hard for Keqian to make my elder brother force his son not to bother miss Meng Qi again since the kid seems completely crazy for her.”
Sun Ling’s elder brother was named Sun Yun and Sun Yun’s only son was precisely Sun Jie. Sun Yun was a powerful warrior and one of the key pillars of the entire base. His importance was comparable to that of an entire battalion and even Wu Keqian had to listen to his opinion many times; of course, the problems were never big since the Wu Family and the Sun Family were families united by marriage so things always worked out well.
The problem was Sun Jie.
Unlike the courage of his father, Sun Jie was a coward who had barely managed to evolve to level 10 after killing thousands of creatures that had basically already been killed by others before letting him strike the final blow. In fact, after reaching level 10 he had done nothing but have fun visiting pubs and areas where young people often gathered to pass the time.
About three weeks ago, when Sun Jie first saw Meng Qi, he was completely captivated and was determined to have her. Unfortunately for him, she wasn’t interested at all in a person who had no future unless it was under his father’s wing. In fact, were it not for the fact that Bai Delan’s status and power were considerably high in the base and if Meng Qi was just the daughter of a normal family her fate would have been miserable by now.
Unfortunately, even Bai Delan could do nothing against Sun Jie so as long as Meng Qi did not suffer real injustice and to avoid serious problems he had let it go. It was to the point where Meng Qi had to solve the problem by herself, but even then it was only a partial solution and not a real one.
Wu Keqian would really fight with his wife’s family, a powerful family and one that he needed in his plans, just for the sake of keeping his word to a 17 years old girl? Bai Delan did not believe in such fantasy tales.
Hearing these words from Sun Ling, Bai Delan’s expression sank.
“… Considering that your son and my daughter are that close, I’ll see what I can do.” Sun Ling said with a sigh as she saw Bai Delan’s expression. “However, I can’t promise anything. Major Bai, you also know that this world is no longer a world with real rules as it was in the past… Strength is what really matters, and unfortunately, none of us is omniscient.”
“… In that case, I thank you on behalf of my family.” Bai Delan stood up with the intention of leaving but just as he was taking the first step he stopped.
Sun Ling was also about to stand up to accompany him to the door but Bai Delan’s sudden stalling caused her to also stop to listen to what he would say next. Although she really wanted to help, her level was barely 39 so she was far from matching her older brother’s influence and power, so in this case, she had little voice as it was a very sensitive matter.
“General Sun, I hope your family takes this matter to heart.” Bai Delan said in a deep voice with some concern, “I could be patient and rational… But I’m afraid my son, Zemin, will not necessarily tolerate your nephew’s behavior against his sister.”
Bai Delan knew that his son, in a fit of anger and out of revenge, had broken the limbs of who was then his best friend because of a girl. Now, considering how close Bai Zemin and Meng Qi were, Bai Delan didn’t even want to think about what he might do. This was especially true in this new world and after he had fought so hard to see his family safe and well again.
Bai Delan for some reason felt that the strength of his son was far, far more than anyone could ever think of; call it a father’s instinct or whatever. Therefore, he really hoped that things would not escalate too much if possible since when Bai Delan looked at the current Bai Zemin, he somehow got the impression that he was looking at a prehistoric creature instead of the child he raised all his life.
After saying those words, Bai Delan left the dazed Sun Ling behind and walked away without another word.
He had already done what he could. Now fate would be the judge.
