The more Lilith looked at the twelve holes and the broken hands of the bronze clock, the more certain she became that somewhere she had seen something similar.
Lilith stared at the clock with such intensity that it didn’t take her long to discover that what she had seen at some point in her life was not an image just like the broken bronze clock but something else; something that definitely had something related to the treasure in Bai Zemin’s hands.
“Lilith, is something wrong?”
She may have been deep in thought for longer than she thought since when her beloved’s voice brought her out of the trance Lilith had fallen into, she found herself met with Bai Zemin’s slightly worried expression as she raised her eyes to look at him.
“It’s nothing,” She shook her head and smiled refreshingly, “I just felt that I had seen something similar to the bronze clock you hold but it’s probably just a confused thought of mine, don’t pay it too much mind.”
Bai Zemin stared at her for several seconds and after realizing that she was being honest and there was nothing wrong happening, he smiled, “I see. In that case, how about we get to work?”
“Let’s do it” Lilith nodded as she tried to push the doubt in her heart to the back of her mind.
She couldn’t even remember what it was that she had seen let alone where anyway, what was the use of being left mindlessly thinking about something that Lilith knew she couldn’t decipher just because she wanted to? Just as Bai Zemin said before, every piece of the puzzle will eventually fall into place if that’s the way it was meant to be.
…
Time was undoubtedly the most mysterious law of all and the most terrifying.
Even those Higher Existences who had somehow managed to find a middle ground where the law of time did not corrode their bodies, souls and minds were not immune.
Countless practically immortal beings had committed suicide and not many made it to the age of 100,000 years as proof that nothing was really eternal and that everything would eventually come to an end.
Be that as it may, time could be terrifying or enjoyable depending on the perspective from which one stood and looked at it.
Living alone for 1 century was certainly scary…. However, it was really scary to live 1 century together with loved ones and doing all sorts of things together?
In the Collector’s Pocket World, three voices could be heard along with constant explosions forming a strangely not at all unpleasant melody in conjunction with the sound of fire burning and metal being reformed.
“Mother, is this tree okay?” Bai Shilin lifted a large tree over 200 meters long with one hand while looking at Lilith with sparkling eyes.
“That one is perfect. Can you take it to your father?” Lilith said as she worked on the land and prepared it to be turned into a future farm.
Thanks to this being a pocket world belonging to Bai Zemin, Lilith was now far less restricted than before compared to Earth, Eventide World, or any lower world.
“Okay.”
Bai Shilin’s eyes flashed with excitement and under Lilith’s wry smile the girl threw the giant tree through the air as if it were a spear as her melodious voice stretched into the distance.
“Father, here is the tree you were looking for!”
Boom!!!
A great cloud of dust rose as the tree buried itself in the ground.
Bai Zemin wiped the dust from his face as he said not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “My dear Shilin, thank you for your help.”
“Hehe, you’re welcome!”
As Lilith worked on the earth, Bai Shilin turned into something similar to a lumberjack as under her powerful hands dozens of giant trees began to fall one after another.
Boom!!! Boom! Boom! Boom!
Although this was not a battlefield, giant shadows were projected on the ground every time Bai Shilin threw a tree into the sky towards Bai Zemin.
As for Bai Zemin…
The first thing he did was to use the trees to shape the house; if one could call what he was building a house.
“Little scoundrel, I thought we were making a shelter?”
“Of course, this will be our shelter.”
“Nonsense, that will become a mansion if you keep this up.”
“Little succubus, who said a shelter couldn’t be big, beautiful, and full of luxuries?”
“Father, Shilin wants a pool!”
“Shilin, stop giving ideas to this little rascal.”
“A swimming pool is in order!”
After building the outer outline of the three-story house, Bai Zemin began sketching in a sketchbook the design of the furniture he would use to adorn the interior. All this took him about 2 hours of time, and when he finished, he started to work on the elaboration of the furniture with the help of Lilith and Bai Shilin.
Bai Zemin cut the wood with a sword and threw the cut pieces to the side where Lilith with the help of Bai Shilin sanded them down.
Because the house would be large, the number of pieces of furniture needed was also large. The number of beds alone amounted to more than 30 so one could only try to imagine how hard this task was; especially since the furniture they were designing was not simply square or rectangular but some of them had exotic shapes or elegant designs that needed to be carefully worked out and therefore required more time to make them ready.
Bai Zemin might be considered moderately good at blacksmithing, but while there was some common ground, woodworking was certainly not the same as hammering metal or cutting leather.
Even after ten hours, the furniture work still wasn’t finished at all and little Bai Shilin couldn’t take it anymore so she directly fell asleep on the treasure bed that Bai Zemin carried in his storage ring everywhere.
About thirty minutes later, Bai Zemin finally stopped his movements, and when he looked to his right he saw something that made him smile warmly.
After entering the Collector’s Pocket World, Lilith had regained her original appearance. At this moment while she was using her delicate hands to hold a small skewer and painting what was the door of one of the cabinets of the house, her beautiful face was covered by a serious expression.
Seeing her clearly focused on her task, Bai Zemin could not stop a small giggle from escaping his mouth and by the time he realized it was already too late.
Attracted by the sound, Lilith looked at him puzzled and asked with genuine confusion, “What are you laughing at?”
A flash of regret shone in Bai Zemin’s eyes…. He really wanted to look at that appearance of hers some more.
Unfortunately, it seemed that for today that was all he would get.
“Lilith, I love you.”
Lilith opened her eyes in surprise and a slight blush slowly rose on her cheeks. After a moment of silence, she asked softly, “… To what is that due?”
Bai Zemin stood up and stretched his body somewhat stiffly as he calmly said, “Nothing special. I just wanted to express my feelings to you in words so I said it.”
He looked at her and said with a raised eyebrow, “Problem?”
Lilith shook her head. She sometimes really couldn’t understand what the young man in front of her was thinking.
Actually, Bai Zemin felt a bit nostalgic and warm when he saw Lilith working hard for the sake of their home. Bai Zemin’s memories of seeing his mother and father working as a perfect team to improve even the slightest possible quality of life for their family and the place they lived in hit him hard.
There was a time when Bai Zemin thought he would be alone for life. Not only was he wary of women because of his past but he was unwilling to settle for less than he thought he deserved even if it meant living his life in solitude.
He did not ask for beauty or wealth, all Bai Zemin wanted was a woman who would stand by his side and with whom he could form a team where they would both walk in lockstep just like his mother and father.
Now that he had finally found a woman who despite being so far ahead was willing to wait for him so that they would both walk at the same pace and rhythm, what more could Bai Zemin ask for as a man? Bai Zemin did not know who was the most beautiful woman in the universe, but it was hard for him to imagine anyone more beautiful than Lilith.
She was talented, powerful, beautiful, with a great status in the universe… And yet, she was willing to sit on the ground and paint wood without putting on any airs at all. In this kind of era, finding such a woman was harder than throwing a stone into the sky and hitting the gods.
“Let’s call it a day. It’s time to stop Kali. That girl doesn’t even pay attention to anyone when she’s working.”
“… Are you the one to say that?”
“… Anyway, we’re having dinner at my place today.”
…
Bai Shilin used her left hand to rub her eyes with a sleepy expression while with her small right hand she took the hand of Lilith in her Lili form.
Bai Zemin touched Kali’s shoulder but said nothing as he knew she wouldn’t understand anyway.
The girl jumped slightly in fright before quickly calming down after remembering what was going on. However, when she turned to look at Bai Zemin her expression wasn’t very good and she even said some words that he naturally didn’t understand at all.
Having no response, Kali snorted and picked up the small unadorned earring before casually pricking her right ear.
“Bai Zemin, since you don’t understand the language of Eventide World let me tell you using words you will surely understand.”
Bai Zemin’s eyes widened slightly and a flash of surprise shone in his pupils as he looked at the girl sitting in the wheelchair.
“I don’t like to be interrupted when I’m working.”
Bai Zemin turned a deaf ear to the complaint of the little porcelain doll in front of him and instead asked in surprise, “…. Kali, you… Is that Chinese…?”
“Hmph. If it is not Chinese then what else?” Kali snorted, still in a bad mood.
Considering that she was usually indifferent to the whole world, the fact that she started to show so many emotional reactions when she was with Bai Zemin was a big breakthrough even if those emotions were not positive as in this case.
“But… Didn’t you say it would take you two or three days to finish it?” Bai Zemin asked puzzled.
“I said it would take that long to finish inscribing all the runes, I never said it would take me two or three days to draw runes to understand your language.” Kali grumbled before making a shooing gesture with her hand as she slowly said, “You can go on with your business while I go on with mine.”
Bai Zemin’s expression changed when he heard this, and before Kali could take the chisel back to work he directly lifted her out of her wheelchair.
“You… What are you doing?” Kali asked in a serious voice as Bai Zemin placed her on his back, forcing her to wrap her arms around his neck in order not to fall.
“Powder, it is dinner time.” Bai Zemin said as he stored Kali’s wheelchair in his space storage ring.
Kali felt him begin to move, and realizing she had no say in the matter Kali gave up as she sighed, “…. In that case, after dinner-“
“After dinner it will be sleep time.”
“…” At a loss for words, Kali relaxed onto his back and let herself be carried as she said softly, “Shameless.”
Lilith chuckled as she followed Bai Zemin closely when she suddenly heard the small whisper of Bai Shilin walking hand in hand with her.
“How envious…”
Lilith blinked in surprise before looking at the little girl who was looking at Kali’s back grimly.
“My little Shilin wants to be carried too?”
“Eh?” Bai Shilin suddenly looked at Lilith in surprise and blushed slightly as she shook her head hurriedly, “N- No! Shilin is a big girl after all!”
“Pfft!” Lilith almost burst out laughing at the sight of Bai Shilin getting anxious.
The girl cried out in surprise as she suddenly found herself being lifted by Lilith, and before she could protest Bai Shilin was being carried just like Kali.
” L- Lilith mommy, put me down! Shilin is a big girl now!” Bai Shilin began to squirm with a face as red as an apple.
If it wasn’t because Lilith was not an ordinary person as everyone thought she would have been crushed by Bai Shilin who was unknowingly using too much Strength.
“Nope~” Lilith giggled softly in response.
Bai Shilin’s struggles gradually became weaker, and a minute or two later the girl finally seemed to have surrendered to her fate. Just like Kali, she wrapped her arms gently around Lilith’s neck and let her head rest on her shoulder.
Bai Zemin looked over his shoulder and chuckled when he saw Lilith winking at him. He shook his head and looked forward again with a much lighter mood than before.
‘Really… If only I could live the rest of my life this way I’d have no complaints.’ Bai Zemin sighed in his heart.
Bai Zemin knew that it was not enough to be the strongest in China or on Earth. Who could assure him that tomorrow someone far more powerful would not appear and destroy all the peace and happiness he cherished?
It was ironic that in order to live in peace and be happy in life people were forced to fight and be in constant conflict… But only the strongest could truly live in peace.
Only the strongest could afford to sleep without worrying about tomorrow.
Therefore, he had to continue fighting.
Until the day when he gets to that point.
* * * * * * *
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
