"Okay, that's all for now." Bai Zemin waved his hand and dismissed everyone, "You can go take care of your business... In three days, I will head north and finish everything myself."
Everyone exchanged glances and noticed the surprised looks on each other's faces.
Bai Zemin himself would head north? In the eyes of most, it was wiser if he charged into the other areas and conquered most of China instead of focusing on a minor area such as Inner Mongolia.
Only Kang Lan, Shangguan Bing Xue, Wu Yijun, and Evangeline among those present knew that what Bai Zemin wanted was not the north territory; what he sought was vengeance.
Paying back Zhong De's death was something that only doing it with his own hands could make Bai Zemin feel better. Maybe, and just maybe, this could help ease some of the guilt he felt.
...
Leaving the government building, Bai Zemin walked to the privileged area of the base. He covered his body with a cloak that was meant to cover the glow in his eyes and surveyed the surroundings. His steps were slow and calm, but for some reason it seemed to be extremely difficult for him to take the next one.
Eleanora followed closely behind him with a confused expression on her face.
She simply could not understand this man any longer.
A few hours ago, he had killed a Third Order soul evolver who was a great power and possessed the power to turn the tide of a war just because he challenged him a little.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Now, Bai Zemin walked the streets of his base as if he were just another survivor in the crowd; poor, without a vehicle, and without fuel to maintain it.
First he behaves domineering and proud but now he turns into a humble and lonely person.
Eleanora did not know who the real Bai Zemin was.
After several minutes of walking, she finally could not stand the silence even though the surroundings were extremely noisy.
"Where are we going now?"
Perhaps Eleanora herself had not noticed it, but her tone of voice was much tamer and soft compared to when she was talking to Bai Zemin before. As to whether this was out of fear or curiosity towards who the real Bai Zemin was between the two facets she had seen, neither she nor anyone else knew.
"I need to visit a person first. After I leave her house I will show you the place where you will be staying." Bai Zemin replied without looking back or stopping his steps.
Eleanora nodded and no longer asked questions, and since Bai Zemin never took the initiative to talk to her, the two continued walking in silence for about 40 minutes.
Looking at Bai Zemin who had stopped in front of the door of a good-looking two-story house and had not moved even after almost five whole minutes, Eleanora could not help but focus and try to read his mind.
However, what she found were the most chaotic thoughts she had ever encountered, making her frown hard at the uncomfortable feelings that suddenly flooded her.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Finally and after much hesitation, Bai Zemin took a deep breath and stopped his wavering. After reaching out his hand and ringing the bell next to the door, he took a step back and removed his hood while looking straight ahead with a serious expression on his face.
Approximately 20 seconds later, the door opened and a beautiful woman looked at Bai Zemin with a surprised expression on her face.
"My Lord!"
Bai Zemin looked at the beautiful woman in front of him and his lips curved upward slightly in a warm smile, "Qin Ming, it's been a while but you've become more beautiful compared to the last time we have seen eye to eye."
Right. The person in front of Bai Zemin was none other than Qin Ming, his housekeeper and the one who had taken care of practically all his daily needs. Because Bai Zemin had spent most of his time at this base and was staying at his parents' house, Qin Ming was practically free to do whatever she wanted while still receiving her monthly pay. She just had to be available to move to any base depending on Bai Zemin's wishes since without Ye Linger present would mean he would need someone to take care of his meals, housekeeping, etc.
Qin Ming's eyes filled with tears and as she covered her mouth she began to sob, "My Lord.... I... When you disappeared after the nuclear launch..."
Bai Zemin stepped forward and gave a gentle hug to this woman who was practically a second mother to him.
Qin Ming was only 35 years old, and thanks to the high-level mutant beast meat she ate on a daily basis her appearance was no different from that of a 26-27 year-old beauty. However, Bai Zemin and she were close enough to be more than just friends but not touching the level of lovers.
After a minute of silence and while caressing the woman's head in his arms, Bai Zemin asked quietly, "Qin Ming, Zhong De's mother... Is she at home?"
Qin Ming nodded and moved a little back from him as she wiped tears from her eyes.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})"My Lord, Mrs. Lan is in young Zhong De's room. I have been keeping her company all this time. Your mother Mrs. Ye, as well as Miss Shangguan's mother and Miss Wu Yijun's mother occasionally come and keep Mrs. Lan company for one or two hours before leaving."
"My mother?" Bai Zemin was a little surprised as this was the first time he had heard about this.
However, after some thought, he realized that there was nothing to be surprised about. Ye Linger knew that Bai Zemin and Zhong De were students from the same university and had come from the north together all the way here, it was natural for her to see them as friends and not as a leader and a subordinate.
"Thank you for accompanying her, Qin Ming... I appreciate it very much, and I'm sure everyone does."
Bai Zemin bowed slightly, to which Qin Ming responded with a small smile at the same time as she shook her head softly.
He took a deep breath and entered the house before looking at Eleanora and ordering in a serious voice, "You wait here. It won't take long."
Eleanora just nodded and stayed on her feet as she watched Bai Zemin walk up the stairs and disappear after turning the corner.
In the past, Qin Ming was a successful businesswoman before falling into the hands of Lei Su of the Four Big Boss Camp so she had a great grasp on English. It was no problem for her to offer Eleanora a seat.
Although Eleanora could tell that the woman in front of her was just a normal human, she did not dare to be bold after seeing Bai Zemin bowing before her.
On the other hand, Bai Zemin walked through the small hallway of the house and stopped when he reached the fourth open door. From outside, he looked into the spacious room and saw a woman who looked to be 40-45 years old with only a few gray hairs on her head sitting on the edge of a queen-sized bed covered by perfectly white sheets.
Even after a full minute, the woman continued to stare out the window with a serene expression on her face and without noticing Bai Zemin's presence at all.
As if afraid of scaring her, Bai Zemin simply waited silently at the door, ignoring the "it won't take long" he had said to Eleanora two minutes earlier.
5... 10... 15... The minutes passed one after another, and Lan Xiang seemed not to get bored of looking out the window just as Bai Zemin seemed not to get tired of waiting standing; he had even closed his eyes to avoid scaring the woman in front of him.
It was around that time when Lan Xiang finally seemed to notice a different presence near her. When she turned and saw Bai Zemin standing outside the room with his eyes closed, Lan Xiang's eyes flashed with a hint of surprise.
"You are... Bai Zemin, am I right? Zhong De's friend... I remember seeing you at the party six or seven months ago. Come, come in. Don't just stand there. Oh, is something bad with your eyes?"
She really spoke fast, and it was very difficult to notice any hint of sadness in her voice.
Bai Zemin remained silent for a few seconds to clear his thoughts before saying in a soft voice, "Mrs. Lan, I will open my eyes now but please don't panic. Due to a certain skill, the color of my eyes is currently red but there is nothing bad going on with them."
Lan Xiang smiled kindly and pointed out, "Child, I wonder if in this world there is something capable of making me scared."
Bai Zemin stood without opening his eyes for a moment as he pondered Zhong De's mother's words.
She was saying it because of the zombies and mutant beasts she had seen? Was she saying it because she had been starving in the past? Or was she saying it because of the loss of her son...? These were questions that Bai Zemin did not have the courage to ask no matter what and would live with the doubt for a lifetime.
He slowly opened his eyes, and while he noticed a hint of surprise on the face of the woman still sitting on the bed while looking at him, Bai Zemin did not notice a trace of fear in her eyes.
At the same time as Lan Xiang gestured for Bai Zemin to sit beside her, she began to speak in a soft voice, "This is my son's room. Actually, he should have the master bedroom but he insisted on sleeping in this one."
Bai Zemin sat down carefully as he took note of the fact that Lan Xiang spoke in the present tense when referring to the owner of the bedroom.
He clenched his fists lightly, and just as he was about to speak, Zhong De's mother's voice interrupted him.
"You came to say something to me?"
Bai Zemin raised his head with a slightly surprised expression on his face.
Lan Xiang raised her hand and extended her index finger as she gently touched Bai Zemin's frown, "You have several words written here. Sadness, worry, regret, shame, fear, and most of all, anger."
Seeing Bai Zemin stay silent, she continued as she removed her hand and laughed softly, "This old woman is not an evolver... soul evolver is what you call yourselves? Although I am not a soul evolver and only have some passive skills meant for defense that my son Zhong De gave me in the past, I have seen a lot of people in my life. It's not that hard to read a young man my son's age no matter how indifferent your exterior is... Maybe you'll understand a little more when you get this old."
Bai Zemin stood up as Lan Xiang looked at him, and under her gentle eyes, he directly bowed ninety degrees as he closed his eyes in sorrow.
"I apologize and deeply regret what happened to Zhong De. This is all my fault, his death, the suffering you went through and still go through.... This is all my fault. For that, I am sorry... I am sorry for my incompetence, but do not ask for your forgiveness."
Bai Zemin's actions were more than enough to blow everyone's mind.
Who was he? He was the man with the greatest chance of becoming the absolute King of the new China. A powerful soul evolver who despite being only level 50 could crush Third Order existences practically at will. The highest leader of millions and the hope of countless humans.
Who was Lan Xiang? To most of the people, she was nobody. A weak human unworthy of mention who alone could do nothing but starve herself to death.
However, she had another identity.
She was Zhong De's mother, and this alone was more than enough for Bai Zemin to not feel at all uncomfortable or out of place while bowing as she was doing.
After several seconds, Zhong De's mother's voice entered his ears as she calmly said, "You won't ask me to forgive you?"
"I don't dare to." Bai Zemin shook his head and maintained his posture as he said in a hoarse voice, "I don't deserve to be forgiven. Zhong De followed me loyally, fought for me... But because of my past choices, I was unable to be by his side when those... Dogs...!"
Bai Zemin's emotions got out of control, and as Lan Xiang looked down at his tightly clenched fists and listened to how the surrounding air exploded she noticed that space itself seemed to weaken around his hands.
Even the most naive person of all would have no trouble noticing the terrifying amount of anger he was holding back as the word "dogs" came out from between his teeth.
Bai Zemin felt Lan Xiang stand up, but he kept his posture low until he felt two small hands on his shoulders.
"You know, my son saw you as his icon. That kid usually doesn't talk much, but when it came to you his eyes would sparkle as he mentioned your feats and bravery."
Bai Zemin slowly straightened his posture as he felt Zhong De's mother's weak hands push him up, and when he looked into her eyes he noticed that despite the tears hanging from her eyelashes she had a genuinely happy smile on her face.
"A few days before he left for the battlefield he told me that his greatest wish was to one day be able to become one of your greatest generals."
Bai Zemin listened to her words in silence as he gritted his teeth so hard that his gums split and began to bleed. The bitter taste of iron that flooded his mouth was nothing compared to how bitter his heart felt at this moment.
"That kid told me that one day you would become the most powerful of all, not just in all of China or Earth. My Zhong De was sure that one day you would stand above everyone and become a true God that everyone would venerate. He wanted to be one of the generals of the future God."
Seeing how Bai Zemin trembled as he clenched his fists and looked at her with a serious expression, Lan Xiang closed her eyes and the two tears she was holding back finally slid down her cheeks.
"Back then I couldn't help but find it humorous.... But right now my greatest wish is that my son's words will come true and one day you will become an almighty God."
Lan Xiang smiled bitterly and said in a low voice, "That's the only way I can hope to see my child once again. Only an almighty God can perhaps bring the dead to life once more."
Zhong De's mother knew that her thoughts were childish and if she said them out loud in front of anyone else she would definitely be ridiculed. However, what choice did she have? With nothing in this world, the only reason she continued to exist was because of the words of hope her son had left behind before he fell in battle.... Even if those words sounded like a fantasy out of a fairy tale.
Just at that moment, the most serious, firm, and confident voice Lan Xiang had ever heard in all her life rushed into her ears.
"I will."
She opened her eyes in surprise, and as she looked up slightly, she met Bai Zemin's eyes. Those red eyes that glowed like a demon's were terrifying and to anyone looking into them would represent despair, however, Lan Xiang couldn't help but feel that those eyes were filled with hope for her.
Bai Zemin opened his mouth and said in a hoarse voice, "I know it sounds like a crazy thing but I will... I will definitely become the mightiest under the heavens. Even stronger than any legendary God or Demon... and I will definitely bring Zhong De back. I will make sure of it. He is, was, and will be one of my generals."
Zhong De's mother's mouth opened slightly and for a few seconds that seemed like forever, she stood silently staring into Bai Zemin's eyes as if to find a trace of falsehood in them.
Finally, her lips curved slightly and her gentle voice rang out in the room.
"In that case, I'll live on and will wait until that moment... Let me see with my eyes the kind of person the Bai Zemin my proud son came to admire so passionately is."
* * * * * * *
