Gu Xi led Lu Chenyuan back to her small wooden cabin.
She clearly had sothing she wanted to say to him in private.
The few young people left behind in the courtyard watched the pair’s retreating figures walking side-by-side, feeling an inexplicable sense of lancholy, and... a twinge of jealousy.
The next mont, Qi Xiang and the others exchanged a look and imdiately sward around Lu Shiliu, who had also been left behind.
Lu Shiliu: ’Alright, the son pays for the father’s debts. Whose fault is it that my foster father whisked Miss Gu away the mont he arrived?’
"Alright, what do you want to ask?" Lu Shiliu tossed the chickens and ducks in his hands to Da Hong, who had long been eyeing them covetously, and asked with a deadpan expression.
"Who was that man just now?" Qi Xiang asked, getting her question in first.
’Why does that man look so familiar? Did I see him in one of my adoptive father’s old photographs when I was a child?’
But it had been too long... Qi Xiang wasn’t sure. She touched her chin, lightly bit her red lip, and raised an eyebrow.
’Looking at her, it was obvious she was very interested in his foster father.’
"That’s my foster father." Lu Shiliu’s gaze toward Qi Xiang turned a little strange. ’Humans are all drawn to the strong. Don’t tell this Miss Qi has taken a liking to my foster father?’
’That would be a bit of a problem...’
Nearby, Wei Heng frowned slightly upon hearing this answer. "Your foster father... how old is he?"
Lu Shiliu was taken aback, clearly not expecting Wei Heng’s point of focus to be so peculiar.
He thought for a mont before answering uncertainly, "In his fifties, I think. Why?"
After the apocalypse, the lifespan of high-level ability users had long surpassed 200 years. His foster father was a peak Level 9 powerhouse. At just over fifty, well-maintained and in his pri, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to call him a young man.
So Lu Shiliu was thoroughly confused as to why Wei Heng’s expression had suddenly turned so strange.
Wei Heng: ’In his fifties? He’s that old and he’s still hitting on our Gu Xiaoxi? Isn’t this a case of an old bull grazing on young grass?!’
’I do not approve of this marriage!’
Lu Shiliu had no idea that his one sentence had already caused Wei Heng to imagine a hundred-thousand-word epic in his head!
He shot Wei Heng a strange look, then unstrapped the two buckets of eggs he was carrying and handed them to the three girls before turning to chat with Shen Yue.
"Mr. Shen, thanks for your help last ti. By the way, I have an update on that matter you asked to look into..."
「anwhile.」
Inside the small wooden cabin.
Gu Xi had just finished setting up several Spirit Barriers to prevent anyone from prying when she turned around and was pulled into a tight embrace by Lu Chenyuan.
"Gu Xiaoxi, you’ve finally appeared!"
Gu Xi froze for a second, then looked up at him. "Yes, Lu Chenyuan, I’m back."
Lu Chenyuan was overjoyed.
He knew Gu Xi had been back for a while. He also knew that since her return, she hadn’t sought out her old companions. Even after her accidental encounter with Xv Yiyisan, she had never admitted her identity.
But now, she had admitted it to him!
Admitted it without any reservation.
So... the little girl who loved pogranates, the one he had treasured in his heart for so many years, was truly... back again!
Lu Chenyuan took a deep breath, his eyes turning slightly red at the rims.
He had so much he wanted to say to Gu Xi, but for a mont, he didn’t know where to begin.
On top of that, he had never been a man of many words...
Lu Chenyuan didn’t want to lose face. He didn’t want Gu Xi to see him in such a pathetic state. He tried to look away, but his eyes refused to obey his brain, stubbornly and greedily drinking in the sight of the young woman before him.
Gu Xi patted his back and handed him a handkerchief along with a large, red pogranate.
Lu Chenyuan gave a shy smile, just like in the old days. He quickly conjured a sharp dagger in his hand, split the pogranate in two, and handed one half to Gu Xi, along with the dagger.
After the two of them sat side-by-side at the window, just as they had back then, and finished most of the pogranate, Lu Chenyuan’s fiercely churning emotions finally cald down a little.
"Gu Xiaoxi, where have you been all these years?" he asked in a low voice, holding the remaining small half of the pogranate.
But Gu Xi shook her head, looked out the window, and said softly, "I don’t know either." She briefly recounted what had happened since she woke up.
Lu Chenyuan frowned slightly.
After Gu Xi disappeared back then, he had searched for a long ti, been to many places, and asked many people, but he never found a single clue. Later, Gu Xi’s files were suddenly destroyed...
He had guessed then that the matter wasn’t simple.
And now even Gu Xi herself was saying she didn’t know?
A cold, ruthless glint flashed through Lu Chenyuan’s narrowed eyes.
At the sa ti, a layer of dark, cold tal actually covered the hand with which he was clutching the half pogranate...
Sunlight slanted in through the window and happened to fall on his hand, reflecting the unique, eerie gleam of so kind of rare tal, which was slightly dazzling.
Gu Xi looked up. Perhaps the cold gleam reflecting off the tal was too intense, because it made the gentle, shy man from her mories seem to have an added air of cold cruelty.
This side of Lu Chenyuan was a sharp, stern version she had never seen before.
Gu Xi raised an eyebrow slightly.
Lu Chenyuan looked at her and gave a shy smile, just like before. The dark, cold tal covering his hand vanished without a sound, and his long, slender fingers returned to their pale complexion.
It was just... a pity about the remaining small half of the pogranate. It was now contaminated by the tal and completely inedible.
"Gu Xiaoxi, there’s a lead on the matter you asked Huang Er to investigate," Lu Chenyuan said suddenly.
He opened his personal terminal and brought up a map. "Over a year ago, soone saw those three people in a safe camp subordinate to Yu City..."
As expected, Gu Xi’s attention was diverted.
Her gaze fell upon the map Lu Chenyuan had opened, and she frowned slightly as she stared at the spot his fingertip indicated.
That camp was located in the heart of the Southwest, very far from City A. But the ssage from Xv Yiyisan said that about a year ago, Li Ming had discovered a mark near City A that was suspected to have been left by her.
Although Gu Xi didn’t rember if she had left the mark herself, the matter was still related to her one way or another.
But in the end, the place where she was found was in South City...
Yu City, City A, South City... On the map, these three locations ford a huge, roundabout path.
Gu Xi’s gaze rested on the map, and she frowned slightly.
Lu Chenyuan looked up at her. "I’ve already sent people to that camp in Yu City to investigate..."
"No." Gu Xi said, "Pull them back imdiately."
Lu Chenyuan looked at her, confused.
Gu Xi looked up, her peripheral vision sweeping over a certain spot on the map, and t his gaze calmly. "This ti, I’m going myself..."
"No." Lu Chenyuan rejected her proposal without a second thought.
He took a deep breath. "It’s too dangerous."
Gu Xi laughed. "How dangerous could it be? Lu Chenyuan, I rember before my last expedition, you weren’t like this..."
It was the autumn of the 28th year of the apocalypse, on the eve of her final, decisive battle with the Zombie Emperor. They had discussed a similar issue back then, and although Lu Chenyuan had been very worried about her, he had never tried to stop her...
"That was different," Lu Chenyuan said in a low voice.
"How is it different?" Gu Xi didn’t understand. Which of her past missions hadn’t been dangerous?
’Because they had lost her once, because they had just gotten her back... he, and all of them, could no longer bear the possibility of losing her again.’
But he couldn’t tell Gu Xi any of this.
It would only add to her burden.
In the past, Gu Xi had already shouldered far too many things she shouldn’t have had to. So now, and in the future, they all hoped she could live a more carefree life, without having to think so much, and just live for herself...
Lu Chenyuan lowered his gaze, hiding the fiercely churning emotions in his eyes.
He thought for a mont and decided to lay out the facts. "Gu Xiaoxi, too many people are watching you right now. It’s almost impossible for you to evade everyone’s notice and investigate this matter in the Southwest privately..."
But Gu Xi just smiled.
"Who said I was going to the Southwest in private?" She raised an eyebrow. "Can’t I go openly?"
Lu Chenyuan frowned. Just as he was about to say more, Gu Xi stood up and patted his shoulder. "Comrade Lu Chenyuan, don’t you worry. I have my ways. Alright, let’s not talk about this anymore. Let’s go eat first!"
"Wei Heng was sharpening his knives last night, clearly eager to show off his skills. You’re in for a treat today..."
Lu Chenyuan silently stood up and followed behind Gu Xi, his mind rapidly pulling up Wei Heng’s file:
Wei Heng, forr deputy captain of the Special Service Team, an Earth Ability user. Twenty years ago, he was also selected for the Abnormal Ability Research Institute’s Project G01, and was the last child to be eliminated...
And the person ultimately chosen for that project, it should have been Ye Junhan.
Although he already knew this man had been the one taking care of Gu Xi recently, still... Lu Chenyuan lowered his gaze and tossed the contaminated half of the pogranate into the trash can by the door.
’Forget it. Regardless, I’ll have to see for myself before I can be at ease.’
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