GOR
Qiao Yifeng immediately got up and his hands flew to grip Chen Xiaolian’s collars. However, due to his overanxious state, his legs stumbled and he fell. It almost seemed as though he was kneeling before Chen Xiaolian.
Chen Xiaolian grabbed Qiao Yifeng’s elbow to help him regain his balance. “Mr Qiao, I know why you suddenly became so excited. I also know what you want to ask. However, I am sorry to say that I am uncertain where the remaining survivors of Zero City are. We… … did not leave through the same way.”
“Didn’t… … leave through the same way?” Qiao Yifeng repeated Chen Xiaolian’s words. “But you should at least know how the others from Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild are doing! Bluesea… and Flamey… they are still alive, right?”
“I am very sorry, Mr Qiao.” Chen Xiaolian stared into Qiao Yifeng’s face for a moment before releasing a sigh. “Back then, Thunderflame was not in Zero City. However, Mr Bluesea…”
His words were left unfinished, but it was enough for Qiao Yifeng to understand.
Qiao Yifeng fell into a state of silence. After some time had passed, his hands slowly loosened their grip on Chen Xiaolian’s collar and his body fell backward onto the sofa.
Qiao Qiao gently lowered her head, unable to bring herself to look at the expression that was etched upon Qiao Yifeng’s face.
“About what happened to Zero City, let’s return first before discussing it. Since you were displaying so much vigilance earlier, this place might not be safe.” Chen Xiaolian stood up. “Let’s go.”
“All right… all right… all right…” Qiao Yifeng repeated the words thrice. And yet, he found that, no matter how hard he tried, he was incapable of moving his trembling legs to stand up.
Qiao Qiao gritted her teeth before standing up to move beside Qiao Yifeng. Holding his arm, she helped him up. “Let’s go, Mr Qiao.”
“Thank you.” Qiao Yifeng had to struggle just to utter those two words. He then turned toward Chen Xiaolian and said, “Jiajia is in the opposite bedroom. Go call her.”
“What?” Chen Xiaolian was stunned. “Yu Jiajia? She is with you?”
“Back then, I took her away because I thought it would be safer for her to be with me.” Qiao Yifeng sighed. “It was my mistake. I should not have separated the two of you. Back then, if she had been together with you, with her boyfriend, she would not have to suffer along with me.”
Instantly, Chen Xiaolian felt as though needles were pricking his back, paralyzing him.
He carefully shifted his gaze toward Qiao Qiao only to find Qiao Qiao looking at him with a shocked face.
“Dad, I am hungry…”
It was at that very moment that the door right across from Chen Xiaolian swung open. Rubbing her drowsy eyes, Yu Jiajia, who was still in pajamas, stepped out from the room.
The instant she saw Chen Xiaolian, her face froze. Her mouth, which was in the middle of yawning, remained open. The situation continued for a few seconds.
Next, Yu Jiajia took several steps forward. Before Qiao Qiao could react, Yu Jiajia had already buried herself in Chen Xiaolian’s chest, hugging him tightly.
“Xiaolian! How are you here?”
Large beads of sweat oozed out from Chen Xiaolian’s forehead as he looked at Qiao Qiao with a despairing expression.
Qiao Qiao took a deep breath before closing her eyes.
“Yu Jiajia… … don’t do this now.”
Chen Xiaolian stiffly pushed Yu Jiajia back and wiped off the sweat on his forehead. “Qiao Qiao, I will explain this after we return.”
“… fine.” Qiao Qiao closed her eyes and slowly nodded her head.
“Xiaolian, what is wrong with you?” When Chen Xiaolian pushed her away, Yu Jiajia became keenly aware of the strange atmosphere within the room. Knitting her brows, she turned to look at Qiao Qiao. “Who is she?”
“Hello, I am Chen Xiaolian’s team mate, Qiao Qiao.” Qiao Qiao opened her eyes and smiled at Yu Jiajia. She extended her right hand and continued, “And also… … his girlfriend.”
It was not that she was distrustful of Chen Xiaolian.
After she was killed in action, Chen Xiaolian put so much effort to resurrect her, bringing her back from World’s End. He was definitely not a promiscuous person who would go chase after other girls during that period of time.
Before coming here, Chen Xiaolian had already informed her. Due to her identity as an Irregularity, after her death, the system had automatically created a set of experiences, which it inserted into the memories of the ordinary humans related to her. It was for the sake of patching up the emptiness caused by her disappearance.
This girl known as Yu Jiajia came to regard herself as Chen Xiaolian’s girlfriend due to that. Qiao Qiao was no fool. In but a flash, she had understood what happened.
However, no matter what it may be, Qiao Qiao was a girl after all.
For most girls at her age, understanding the truth of the matter had nothing to do with whether or not they will get angry.
Even an ordinary girl would find it hard not to get angry after seeing Yu Jiajia bury herself into her boyfriend’s chest while hugging him tightly.
What more could be expected from Big Miss Qiao?
Additionally, Qiao Qiao was more concerned about the word that Yu Jiajia had uttered when she first stepped out from the room.
Dad?
There were only two men in the room.
Clearly, she was not addressing Chen Xiaolian.
“Girlfriend?” Yu Jiajia’s eyes grew wide and she turned her gaze back and forth between Chen Xiaolian and Qiao Qiao. “Chen Xiaolian, what is going on here?”
“Chen Xiaolian, explain this to me.” Qiao Yifeng’s face had immediately turned livid. “I hope to hear you say this is a joke.”
“It’s not a joke.” Chen Xiaolian released a lengthy sigh. “Qiao Qiao is my girlfriend.”
“Chen Xiaolian!” Qiao Yifeng furiously slammed the coffee table before him. “It has only been a while since I brought Jiajia away! You actually found yourself a new lover? How can you face me after doing this? How can you face Jiajia?!”
After Zero City’s destruction, Qiao Yifeng lost contact with Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild. Relying on the few Awakened ones around him for protection, he had gone into hiding. Finally, as a last resort, he had to ask Chen Xiaolian for help in hiding. For Qiao Yifeng, who had gotten used to being the one in a superior position, he had been in an awkward state, uncertain of how he should act.
At that moment, however, his fury finally made him revert to the imperious Qiao Yifeng.
Chen Xiaolian held his forehead. “Qiao Qiao is not my new lover. She has always been… … my girlfriend.”
“Always been?” Yu Jiajia turned toward Chen Xiaolian with a pale face. She took several steps back, tears gathering within her eyes. “You mean to say… … you have been secretly… … having an affair with her?”
“Having an affair!” Qiao Qiao stared at Yu Jiajia with a sharp, blade-like gaze. “Since when can other people use this righteous tone against me?!”
“I was feeling puzzled earlier. I told you to come alone, so why did you bring this girl along.” Qiao Yifeng looked at Qiao Qiao. There was no more anger on his face. Instead, there was a look of mirth. “It turns out you wanted to show off your power in front of me and Jiajia. You want to show off that, you, Chen Xiaolian, the Guild Leader of Meteor Rock Guild, already have wings. After Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild’s fall, you no longer need to be considerate toward us father and daughter? A girl like this…”
He looked at Qiao Qiao with a sneer. “For a man with sufficient power, having other women is nothing concerning. I can understand that. However, you should have at least found someone prettier than my daughter.”
“You mean to say I am not as good as her?” Qiao Qiao sneered as she pointed at Yujiajia. “Qiao Yifeng, have you gone blind?”
“Enough! Shut up! All of you!”
Chen Xiaolian, who had been quietly listening to the three of them, finally lost his temper and he kicked the coffee table placed before him.
The coffee table flew forward to slam on the wall, breaking into pieces as it did. The ashtray that was on the table was also shattered, causing the cigarette butts left inside the ashtray to scatter about.
Chen Xiaolian panted and looked at all three with a gaze that could kill.
“Whatever it is, we will slowly discuss them after we return. I will give all three of you a satisfactory explanation. Now, shut up!”
“Return? Return where?” Qiao Yifeng cast a cold gaze at Chen Xiaolian, seemingly unfazed by the atmosphere that Chen Xiaolian had emanated out. “I am sorry, Mr Chen Xiaolian. I have changed my mind. Now, please leave my room.”
Chen Xiaolian narrowed his eyes at Qiao Yifeng and said, “Just now, you were cautiously looking around in fear, fearful that you will be captured by those guilds. Now, you are telling me that you have changed your mind?”
“I can be killed, but not humiliated! As a member of Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild, no matter how far down we fall, we will never allow ourselves to be degraded for the sake of living on.” Qiao Yifeng sneered. “Mr Chen Xiaolian, surely there is no need for me to send you out?”
Qiao Qiao clenched her fists tightly as she stared at Qiao Yifeng. The expression on her face alternated between anger and sadness.
“Just knock them out.” Chen Xiaolian sighed and spoke to Qiao Qiao through their guild channel. “No matter what, he is still your father. After we return, we will slowly explain matters to him.”
Qiao Qiao took a deep breath and nodded her head. Suddenly, her eyes flickered and she charged toward Qiao Yifeng. At the same time, her body transformed into a clump of black mist.
“Qiao Qiao?”
Chen Xiaolian was utterly shocked.
Both Qiao Yifeng and Yu Jiajia were ordinary humans. A mere palm strike was enough to knock them out. Qiao Qiao’s Anti-materialization skill, on the other hand, was a skill that would directly devour her targets.
Qiao Qiao had only just activated her skill when Chen Xiaolian heard an air-piercing sound. Jerking his head back, he watched as the window glass broke into pieces amidst the sounds of it cracking.
A series of bullets few toward Qiao Yifeng, but fell upon Qiao Qiao’s black mist form instead.
Not a single one of the bullets could shoot through the black mist as all of them disintegrated into ashes in the middle of the air.
Qiao Qiao, who had been facing the window earlier, had seen the flash of light coming from the Ferris wheel before Chen Xiaolian could notice anything.
“Get down!”
Chen Xiaolian did not hesitate. Leaping forward, he pressed both Qiao Yifeng and Yu Jiajia down the floor.
At the same time, though, the door to their room was abruptly broken down and two fellows in black-coloured skin-tight attire and masked faces charged inside. Both of them held onto submachineguns, which they fired upon Chen Xiaolian.
A short but muscular figure dashed in from behind the two fellows. His objective was Qiao Yifeng, who was on the floor.
“Fast.” Chen Xiaolian sneered, a chilling light glinting off his eyes as he jumped to his feet. He charged at the three men, who were still at the doorway. By then, he had already retrieved a sword from his Storage Watch.
Damn it! Zhao Yun said that she would bring the Sword in the Stone back. I forgot to ask her about it!
When he was retrieving the sword, Chen Xiaolian remembered his usual weapon.
However, the level of strength of the three attackers were as Chen Xiaolian had speculated, ordinary to the extreme. The sword flashed and the two fellows with submachineguns were hacked into four pieces.
“Protect the two of them!” Chen Xiaolian shouted at Qiao Qiao as he confronted the short man.
Seeing his two companions end up as corpses on the floor so quickly, the short man revealed a trace of hesitation. However, he was in no position to think too much. His right fist shot toward Chen Xiaolian in a straight line as he shouted, “Purplebolt Karate!”
A purple-coloured bolt of electricity swiftly fired out from his fist before spiralling toward Chen Xiaolian.
“You’re crazy.” Chen Xiaolian sneered. Surprisingly, he chose to neither dodge nor hide in face of the attack. Instead, he held onto his sword with both hands and swung it at the purple bolt.
The sword in his hand was clearly just an ordinary alloy sword. However, when the purple bolt was struck by the sword, it was sent flying back.
The short man was struck by his own electric attack on the chest. Electrical current flowed through his whole body, causing his body to convulse as a result. Before he could recover, Chen Xiaolian’s sword had already stabbed its way into his chest.
“Shouting out the name when you are using a move? Did you think you were a Holy Fighter [1]? You’ve been reading too much manga, mate.” Chen Xiaolian gave a harrumph as he pulled the sword out. Turning his head, he saw that both Qiao Yifeng and Yu Jiajia had already positioned themselves behind the sofa. Yu Jiajia’s eyes were looking at the corpses on the floor with a pale face. However, she did her best to hold back and not scream out.
Likewise, Qiao Yifeng’s face was ugly to behold. After exchanging glances with Chen Xiaolian, he turned his gaze away.
Gunfire continued to sporadically shoot into the room through the window, but all the bullets were stopped by Qiao Qiao’s mist form.
“Like Hell a sofa can block anything!” Chen Xiaolian grunted as he charged toward the back part of the sofa. After hesitating for a moment, he grabbed Yu Jiajia’s collar to pull her up. “Qiao Qiao, bring your old man!”
“These are tranquilizing shots. They are not planning to kill him.” Qiao Qiao quickly transformed back from the black mist into human form. Crouching down, she lifted Qiao Yifeng up and followed Chen Xiaolian as he rushed out of the room.
Among the three fellows who invaded their room earlier, only the short man had worn a protective suit. However, it had only afforded a slight obstruction against Chen Xiaolian’s stab before giving way.
The Purplebolt Karate seemed like quite the powerful move. However, the power behind the move was most ordinary.
This was a pre-planned ambush. And yet, after their careful preparations, they could only bring forth this level of power. Looking at this, it was obvious that the guilds’ level of strength was very ordinary.
Chen Xiaolian kept the sword back into the storage space and retrieved two face masks. He tossed one over to Qiao Qiao while wearing the other one himself. He swore inwardly.
Not only was this guild weak, they weren’t too bright either. To be doing something like this at a hotel with a high occupancy rate when they weren’t in an instance dungeon… were they afraid that others wouldn’t find out?
Thankfully, it was before noon and most of the hotel guests were at the amusement park. There were not much people in the corridors. Chen Xiaolian dashed through an empty corridor. He did not use the elevator, but instead opted to run down the stairwell.
Fortunately, the other side had seemingly found out that Qiao Yifeng was no longer protected by Blade Mountain Flame Sea Guild and had only sent in those three fellows to attack the room. Carrying Yu Jiajia, Chen Xiaolian covered half a storey with each stride. It did not take long for them to reach the first floor. They had not encountered any reinforcements from the other side.
“How do we get out?” asked Qiao Qiao, who was behind him.
“Get into the car. Drive to a remote place with no one around and have Roddy use the Todal Fighter to pick us up.” Chen Xiaolian gritted his teeth. “Dash through the lobby quickly and don’t stop for anything.”
“All right.” Qiao Qiao nodded her head and the two of them exchanged a glance. Next, Chen Xiaolian smashed the stairwell door open before rushing out of the lobby.
There were a small number of guests in the lobby who were in the process of checking in. Hearing the sound of the door getting smashed open, they turned their heads only to see two black silhouettes flitting through the lobby. The two silhouettes then shattered down the glass door before disappearing from sight.
Reaching their car, Chen Xiaolian hastily opened the door and tossed Yu Jiajia into the backseat. As for him, he jumped into the driver’s seat and started up the car. When both Qiao Qiao and Qiao Yifeng had gotten into the car, he instantly stepped on the throttle. Next, the car smashed its way through the parking lot’s barrier and dashed into the road.
1 Saints or Holy Fighters. The author is referring to the mystical warriors from the manga and anime Saint Seiya.↩
