Before leaving Zhong De's mother's house, Bai Zemin asked Qin Ming to keep her company in order not to let Lan Xiang feel lonely.
To his surprise, however, Zhong De's mother made a request that Bai Zemin did not expect.
"You'll probably be moving all over the place while fighting zombies and mutant beasts, which means you won't be in this base for a long time. Since that's the case, the need for someone to keep a warm place for you to come back to and rest after a war is of utmost importance. If you don't mind, could I follow Qin Ming and assist her in her labors when it is time for you to move to a new base?"
When Bai Zemin was faced with this question coming from Zhong De's mother, he found himself in a great dilemma as he did not want his friend's mother, someone that literally gave his life fighting for his cause, to work as a maid even if this was a dignified job and nothing to laugh at.
However, what else could he do? Reject her? Bai Zemin didn't have the courage when faced with Lan Xiang's still slightly red eyes, therefore, he finally agreed.
"In that case, see you in three days, Aunt Lan." He nodded.
"Three days? That's sooner than I thought." Lan Xiang was surprised.
After a slight hesitation, Bai Zemin slowly explained, "Because I have been away from home for a long time I would like to spend a few days with my family... Three days later, my plans are to go to the north of China and suppress the opposition."
Lan Xiang stared at him for several seconds before slowly closing her eyes.
"... I understand." She sighed.
How could she not understand that rather than going to crush the opposition Bai Zemin's real goal was to take vengeance into his own hands?
"Don't worry, Aunt Lan." Bai Zemin assured her. "The logistics team will be nowhere near the battlefield. You will not be in any danger, you can rest easy."
Lan Xiang surprisingly smiled with no worries on her face and said with absolute tranquility, "I am sure that even if I were in the middle of the battlefield nothing bad would happen to me... Isn't that right?"
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})Bai Zemin looked at her with a serious expression, and after a couple of seconds, he said in a firm voice, "That's true."
...
Eleanora followed Bai Zemin's footsteps and as she looked at his back she couldn't help but feel that something about the person in front of her had changed. It was hard to pinpoint what it was, but as strange as it may seem Eleanora could say that the anger in his heart had grown and yet now he could control it a little more so that she could read a little more of his thoughts.
The problem was that among Bai Zemin's thoughts, the predominant one that showed itself for Eleanora was one that after surprising her and shocking her to the marrow of her bones eventually made her unable to fight the frown that appeared on her beautiful youthful face.
"You... You have to be kidding don't you?"
Hearing Eleanora's slightly serious voice, Bai Zemin looked over his shoulder at her as he continued his steps and calmly asked, "What are you talking about?"
"You... You really think you will become the most powerful in the universe and bring your dead friend back to life? That's a stupid and arrogant fantasy!" Eleanora exclaimed, but seeing that Bai Zemin's expression didn't change, she added, "That arrogant thought will cause many people close to you to die and even those who have nothing to do with you will suffer due to the recklessness of your actions!"
If Bai Zemin was just another soul evolver of the bunch then Eleanora couldn't care less. In fact, she would surely laugh when she got home and scoff at the other party's naive thoughts.
However, the problem was precisely that Bai Zemin was not a normal soul evolver. He was a powerful soul evolver who with his hands controlled the lives of millions and his every action or word could set countless ones to doom.
"That's a surprise. I didn't expect you to care about the good of others." Bai Zemin slowly looked straight ahead again. His footsteps never stopped, and after a moment of silence he added, "As for whether it is impossible or not, you need not worry.... If you survive until then, in a few years you'll be with your elite team hunting powerful enemies and maybe, just maybe, you'll remember this conversation.... You will get your answer then, but the you of that future and I will not interact like our current selves."
Eleanora looked at his back in a daze and her legs moved in automatic mode. She tried to process what he had just said, but even though the reason said impossible, the firmness and confidence Eleanora felt in the thoughts of the man only a year or two older who walked in front of her made her doubt for a moment about what was logical.
In the end, she could only mutter under her breath, "You're out of your mind."
"Maybe."
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})Bai Zemin replied without looking back, and though Eleanora could not see it, his mouth curved upward slightly as he said indifferently.
"However... isn't the world we live in a world of madmen? We were dragged suddenly into a pot of boiling water... I think the craziest will be the one who will rule the world, and looking at where I am now.... Maybe I'm not so wrong?"
Strange as it seemed, these words somehow made the soul evolver of the United States of America lower her head to stare at the ground as an expression of contemplation began to dawn on her face.
...
Bai Zemin left Eleanora in a nice house slightly away from all the noise within the privileged area of the base. Although it was not a super luxurious villa, the two-story house had all the luxuries of the highest level that a person might require in their daily life and there were even two English-speaking maids at her disposal.
He made it clear to her that she could walk freely throughout the base except for the forbidden areas which were easily identifiable from a distance as there were always patrols of armed soldiers or signs with messages in Chinese, English, French, German, and Russian.
"You have been warned. Don't blame me if I'm rude to you for breaking the rules."
Leaving those words behind, Bai Zemin ignored the slightly grumpy expression on Eleanora's face and walked to the outside of the privileged area with leisurely steps.
It was past 5pm, and although the current season of the year should be spring the afternoon temperatures resembled that of a beautiful summer night, which was ironic considering that during the evenings the temperature dropped to the point where people hardly left their homes after sunset.
Speaking of sunset...
Bai Zemin subconsciously closed his eyes and slowly took a deep breath when his favorite scent surrounded him.
"This is a beautiful sunset, don't you think?"
Lilith's soft mellow voice sounded from his right, and before Bai Zemin answered her question he felt his hand being taken by a relatively smaller and much softer one in comparison.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})He looked to his side and his eyes lightened slightly.
"You're right... This might be the most beautiful sunset I've ever seen in my life."
He interleaved his fingers with those of the woman beside him, an action with which she happily cooperated.
"Of course. You're with me after all."
"... Was it necessary to say those words? Miss Arrogant."
"But, I'm beautiful, aren't I? And even if we put that aside, you love me, don't you?"
"... Well, that's true."
"What thing is? That you love me? Or that I'm beautiful?"
"That I love you."
"... Does that mean I'm not beautiful?"
"..."
"Hmph! See if this big sister doesn't instruct you later a thing or two."
Two hooded people with long black cloaks covering their bodies moved through the crowd of survivors. The two held each other's hands while exchanging words that made people laugh and drew many smiles from the merchants and customers who despite not being able to see the appearance of this funny couple could certainly feel the affection they had for each other.
When Bai Zemin and Lilith arrived at the workshop they both took off the cloaks that covered their faces.
Bai Shilin practically threw herself into Lilith's arms in one leap.
"Lilith mama!"
Lilith in her Lili form hugged Bai Shilin and a beautiful smile appeared at the corner of her lips as her eyes flashed with tenderness.
"My precious Shilin. Did you miss your mom Lilith?"
"Mm! Shilin asked father yesterday but he said mom Lilith would visit later so Shilin waited patiently. Has Shilin been a good girl?" Bai Shilin's eyes sparkled with hope as she lifted her little head to look at Lilith in search of praise.
"Of course." Lilith stroked the little girl's long silver hair in her embrace and said in a gentle voice, "My precious daughter is a good girl. You're Daddy's good girl, aren't you?"
"Mm!"
Bai Zemin almost fell to the ground when he heard the interaction between Lilith and Bai Shilin. He pointed at Lilith and said in a loud voice, "Hey, Succubus! Stop putting weird stuff in my daughter's head!"
"My. Could it be that you have been thinking about something perverted and that's why you had such a strong reaction?" Lilith smiled as she stroked the head of Bai Shilin who was looking at him with a confused expression on her small face.
"You..." Bai Zemin gritted his teeth and after a long time finally managed to calm down upon taking several deep breaths, "You just wait. This dadd- This senior will teach you what's good for you soon!"
"Father, mom Lilith has been a bad girl?" Bai Shilin asked as she tilted her head innocently to the side.
"... Shilin, my precious Shilin, don't repeat everything your mama Lilith say, okay?" Bai Zemin rubbed the center of his forehead as he sighed those words.
"Uh? Why?"
"Just... Just don't, please?"
"Little Shilin, your father is being unreasonable don't you think?"
"... Father is being unreasonable."
"That's why. You just listen to me and you will definitely become a good girl when you grow up."
"Lilith, you!"
...
Only a few minutes passed but Bai Zemin somehow felt like an eternity had gone by.
He noticed that even the ever obedient and cute Bai Shilin seemed to be starting to fall for Lilith's engulfing words and after realizing that the battle seemed to be over before it even began he decided to obediently retreat.
Seeing that Kali was still focused on her work and since it was not even 7pm yet, Bai Zemin looked for a seat in a corner.
After sitting down and thinking about it for a moment, he decided it was a good time to catch up on his spoils of war since he now had 1-2 hours in which to wait before taking everyone home where his mother Ye Linger would prepare today's dinner.
The first thing he pulled out was the scroll he recently obtained from the kill of the dragonkin that appeared in the United States.
The skill scroll that Bai Zemin held was slightly different compared to most scrolls. Like the Blood Manipulation and Gravity Manipulation skill scrolls, this scroll was surrounded by runes except that unlike the two aforementioned skill scrolls these runes were silver in color instead of gold.
* * * * * * *
