The evening time passed.
Time could not be considered as something physical but as a unit of measurement that intelligent living beings used in order to give structure to their lives. Therefore, depending on the experiences one was going through at a given moment, time could seem to run faster or slower.
For example, when a person was having a moment of fun or joy, time would most likely pass extremely fast to the point of losing track of it. However, if the same person was going through a moment of boredom, pain, or fear, time was likely to move extremely slowly to the point in which a second could feel like forever.
Therefore, depending on the life and experiences that each survivor within the human establishment under the name Chinese Renaissance had lived during today’s evening, time could have passed fast, normal, or extremely slow.
For the family of Bai Zemin, time flew by so fast that it advanced without them noticing. Before they knew it, it was time for dinner and before they knew it, dinner was over and it was time to go to bed. Each of them enjoyed every second to the fullest, this was to the point that for their first night the family of four threw several mattresses on the floor of the large living room where they would have their own sleepover.
Bai Delan and Ye Linger were all smiles as they watched their two children act like little kids once again.
The ever-mature Meng Qi seemed to get out of character as she picked up a pillow and in a fit of anger threw it at the candy thief Bai Zemin.
But the response from the ever cold and calculating Bai Zemin came in a way that the innocent Meng Qi did not expect. Upon being attacked, his defensive instincts kicked in and he easily threw his sister on top of the oversized bed more than three meters wide where he began to punish her with tickling until she was driven to the brink of despair.
…
-Wu Family Villa.
Unlike the fun the few members of the Bai family were having, the large and luxurious villa was quite quiet at this time. The long corridors and over four floors looked too wide for so few people even though several maids could be seen roaming the nooks and crannies with relative frequency in search of some dirt.
The only place with some human “warmth” was the living room where a group of seven people gathered to chat after dinner in preparation for going to rest.
However, the people who actually talked were two or three, with only the occasional intervention of a fourth. The others simply remained silent with boredom on their faces and only added their two cents to the equation once one of the others asked them a question.
Approximately thirty minutes later, when the clock read 23:15, Zhong De stood up. His movement naturally attracted everyone’s attention but his expression was quite stiff as he calmly said, “Sorry but I’m feeling a bit tired. I’ll call it a day and will retire to my room for the day.”
After some goodnight greetings, Zhong De simply disappeared and under the guidance of a maid returned to his room. But he was not the only one as not long after his departure Cai Jingyi and Nangong Lingxin also excused themselves and retired to their respective rooms.
Sun Ling surveyed the surroundings and a complicated smile automatically formed at the corner of her mouth as she realized that at some point only she, her daughter Wu Yijun, and Wu Yijun’s childhood friends remained.
“… Looks like your friends don’t feel like getting along with me?” Sun Ling looked at the three young men sitting next to or in front of her and pointed out not knowing whether to laugh or cry, “I tried to get along with them all evening as I am really grateful for their helping Yijun and you two to get here, but I can feel that the three of them are keeping some distance politely. The two young beauties hide it quite well but the young man named Zhong De is way too obvious, he only arrived two hours ago but he already went back to his room.”
This was the first time Sun Ling experienced this kind of backlash and most of them were young people who were around her daughter’s age. But she didn’t understand the reason why this was happening.
Had she done something wrong? But Sun Ling considered herself to be quite good at dialogue so she didn’t think that was the real reason…
“No… It’s not that, mom… ” Wu Yijun hesitated before saying with some bitterness in her voice, “Jingyi and them… They are people of few words. That’s why…”
But how could the words filled with lies of her daughter convince a mature woman who had already seen the world? Sun Ling naturally realized that something was weird but couldn’t put her finger on where the heart of the matter lay so she finally shook her head and said in between sighs:
“Forget it. If they prefer to keep a certain polite distance they must have their reasons for doing so.”
Even then, Sun Ling was quite perplexed. Normally, people would try to approach her when the opportunity arose due to her distinguished status in the establishment. However, regardless of whether it was Zhong De, Nangong Lingxin, or Cai Jingyi, they kept that distance clearly with intent.
Shangguan Bing Xue noticed that Wu Yijun was biting her lip slightly so without anyone noticing she took the moment when she looked in her direction to shake her head softly.
Shangguan Bing Xue, as well as Wu Yijun and Chen He, knew perfectly well the real reason why the other three kept some distance from Sun Ling; the reason was that tomorrow Sun Ling might be an enemy who depending on how things turned out they might have to kill.
Zhong De and Cai Jingyi were only 20 and 18 years old respectively, however, their mentalities had changed immensely after the lives they had been living for the past two and a half months. On the other hand, Nangong Lingxin was 27-28 years old so she was more mature, to begin with, and could see things from a higher perspective.
They all knew well that if the Chinese Renaissance and the Transcendent faction led by Bai Zemin ended up clashing, it was highly probable that Sun Ling would become a target to be eliminated if they failed to reach an agreement. Therefore, Zhong De and the rest did not want to form a friendship with someone they might have to fight sooner or later.
Wu Yijun was naturally aware of this fact, and that’s why she felt bitter. However, she was also confident that things would turn out well.
“By the way, Chen He.” Sun Ling suddenly looked at the silent Chen He with a smile that stunned him for a full two seconds, resulting in her not being able to help but let out a chuckle before continuing, “Would you mind giving me your opinion on what kind of person Bai Zemin is?”
Today, Sun Ling felt for the first time the true meaning of the word frustration. While she received a fairly clear and detailed picture story as she had requested from her daughter and her friends, what she really wanted to know remained unknown even now. Precisely because of this, she had no choice but to be more direct this time.
The place suddenly became completely silent to the point where the footsteps of the maids walking around the villa became audible.
After several seconds of almost deathly silence, Shangguan Bing Xue set her teacup down on the table and looked Sun Ling straight in the eyes as she calmly asked, “Aunt Sun, your objective today was also to learn more about Bai Zemin, wasn’t it?”
“As expected of you, sharp as ever, girl.” Sun Ling smiled slightly and did not deny it. “I am curious, indeed. Three hours ago, I received a report from the guilds you applied to today and I must say I did not expect such results.”
Seeing that Shangguan Bing Xue stayed impassive, Sun Ling continued, “Especially you, Bing Xue. You even defeated the second most powerful person in the entire Blue Dragon Guild. Zeng Jun is a powerful level 50 soul evolver on the verge of evolving to the Second Order but was defeated by you in less than thirty exchanges!”
Shangguan Bing Xue looked at her silently for several seconds before saying indifferently, “And what does that has to do with aunt’s interest in Bai Zemin?”
Shangguan Bing Xue could turn anything Zeng Jun into an ice statue in an instant if she really wanted to, but that was not her goal here and so she held back as much as possible. But little did she expect that one of the most powerful people in this base would be so weak that he didn’t even manage to resist her weakest attacks for two minutes before he was defeated.
Sun Ling was a bit speechless in the face of the indifference of the girl in front of her, but after all, she already knew her from when she was a little girl so Sun Ling ignored it.
“Well, of course, it has to do.” She pointed out with a faint smile on her face. “Bing Xue, aside from your beauty and combat prowess you are an extremely smart and perceptive woman, so much so that even I respect you a lot despite your age. So, I was wondering why aren’t you the leader of the team of seven that arrived here? Even Chen He proved to have the ability to defeat a level 50 soul evolver with relative ease. On the other hand, Bai Zemin could barely resist the attacks of his father for a minute even though Bai Delan didn’t even reach level 50 yet.”
Shangguan Bing Xue did not respond immediately and instead picked up the teacup again. After two or three small sips, she looked at Sun Ling and replied in a calm voice, “Just like Bai Zemin said yesterday morning, a leader doesn’t always have to be the strongest.”
She didn’t wait for Sun Ling’s reply and with unearthly elegance stood up, “If you’ll excuse me, I’m also feeling a bit exhausted. It seems I consumed too much Mana and it will take me a couple more hours to fully recover.”
As everyone stood stunned looking at her, Shangguan Bing Xue stopped her footsteps when she reached the door and looked at Wu Yijun over her shoulder. A flash of hesitation shone in her eyes and she remained silent for several seconds as if considering something.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of silence, she said weakly, “Aunt Sun, may I give you a word of advice?”
“Eh?”
Sun Ling was truly confused and dumbfounded. Everything that was happening since yesterday was too incomprehensible to her. Even Shangguan Bing Xue and her daughter’s personality seemed to have changed; the first to be more gentle and thoughtful while the second to be more sly than ever.
“I don’t know why you are so painstaking to know about Bai Zemin but I will assume the worst and will think something bad happened.” Shangguan Bing Xue sighed before turning her face and continuing on her way as she culminated in a low and even too soft voice for her usual indifference, “Precisely because of that, if you really love Yijun, I ask you to please try to find a peaceful solution… Otherwise, it will be really hard for everyone.”
Once Shangguan Bing Xue disappeared, the silence in the room became even more powerful than before and the atmosphere definitely became heavier.
Sun Ling looked at Wu Yijun sitting next to her and taking Shangguan Bing Xue’s words she asked with a slight frown, “… Girl, do you really like that Bai Zemin guy?”
However, Wu Yijun shook her head upon hearing her mother’s question. Her face flushed slightly but her eyes were firm as she said without hesitation, “No, I don’t like him. I love him, mother.”
“… Oho?” Sun Ling couldn’t help but raise both eyebrows at the sincerity she saw in her daughter’s gaze. However, she couldn’t help but point out, “In less than three months you fell in love with someone you had never seen in your life? Even when in the past you might have walked past him a thousand times but didn’t even notice him even one time?”
But little did Sun Ling expect that her words actually touched a sensitive thorn in Wu Yijun’s heart. Her face turned pale as if she had seen a ghost and her lips lost all color in a matter of seconds as if a powerful sickness had assaulted her without warning.
“I… I’m going to rest too!”
Wu Yijun didn’t even wait for anyone’s response after saying those words and in a second she disappeared from everyone’s line of sight, bursting out with Agility that left Sun Ling breathless.
But Sun Ling had no time to worry about that as her expression froze and her eyes widened in shock as she realized that she unknowingly seemed to have hurt her daughter. It was just that she still didn’t understand what part of her question was wrong… At the end of the day, what Sun Ling had brought up was something completely normal and rational.
“Aunt Sun, what you just said has always been something about which Wu Yijun has been reprimanding herself all this time.”
The voice of Chen He attracted the attention of the stupefied Sun Ling and when she looked at him she saw him look at her somewhat awkwardly as he continued in a low voice:
“Bai Zemin, he… He was not popular or well-known in the past. But when the world changed, his leadership ability and decisiveness made him a leader whom many people came to appreciate at the time.” Chen He explained while avoiding exposing things that should not be exposed. “He became strong very fast and saved the lives of a lot of people. His popularity grew like crazy in a short time and it was around that time when Yijun began to figure out her feelings for Bai Zemin. The problem is that by the time she brought up those feelings and exposed them, many people criticized her and she herself even pondered many times what you just stated to her.”
“I… How can I be such a stupid woman!” Sun Ling practically jumped to her feet when she finally understood what she had just done.
This was the first time her daughter had experienced such strong emotions so her heart was surely a turmoil of chaos. Not only was it too obvious that her crush was a one-sided thing but all the people were questioning her feelings silently hurting her.
Wu Yijun naturally expected to be supported by her mother but in the end, she ended up being hurt. Even if this was not Sun Ling’s intention at all and Wu Yijun knew it perfectly well, what had been said could not be taken back. Now, the only thing Sun Ling could do was to apologize and explain that it was never her intention to hurt the heart of her little princess.
Sun Ling suddenly turned into a cloud of smoke that literally disappeared from her position, leaving Chen He alone in the living room.
However, Chen He’s eyes widened in shock and his face turned white as he did not perceive any movement at all. He trusted his strength very much at this moment, even a normal Second Order existence would not be able to defeat him easily, however, Wu Yijun’s mother had disappeared without him seeing how!
