Ten Years Later
To humans with their excessively long lifespans nowadays, ten years was like yesterday. The brutality of that war remained vividly etched in everyone’s memory, and whenever they thought of it, they could not help but shudder all over.
Ten years ago, zombies breached humanity’s final line of defense. Just when humanity had fallen into despair, a sudden torrential rain came down. After those zombies came into contact with the rainwater, most of them actually returned to normal, while the rest were completely dissolved by the rain.
Not only that, but the torrential rain purified Blue Star’s land and air. Even the plants that had once existed only in books could now be cultivated again.
Although the crisis had been resolved, humanity had suffered another devastating blow. A new world began anew.
One person worth mentioning was the eldest grandson of the Xiahou family, Major General Xiahou Shaoxuan.
According to rumors, Major General Xiahou’s wife had died in this catastrophe. Because of this, Major General Xiahou had gone mad.
There were also rumors that Major General Xiahou could not bear his wife’s death, so he had left Blue Star and wandered alone through the stars. No one had ever seen him again.
There was an even more sensational version—that Major General Xiahou had been so devoted to his wife that he had sacrificed himself for love.
There were far too many versions of the rumors, but they all had one thing in common:
Major General Xiahou Shaoxuan’s wife was dead.
(Fallen Star)
A child of about ten years old, dressed in black camouflage, leaned against a tree while expressionlessly flipping through a thick book. His delicate features and pair of deep, beautiful black eyes were enough to make anyone adore him. However, the cold, rigid expression that remained perpetually on his face, along with the icy aura surrounding him, made people instinctively keep their distance.
“Big brother! Big brother!!”
Amid a wave of cheers, a little girl in a white dress happily ran over. She threw herself at the boy and wrapped her arms around his neck.
“Jinghe, get down.” The boy closed his book and scolded her in a low voice.
“Big brother, Uncle Xuanlang bullied me!”
The girl tugged at the boy’s clothes, pouting as she began her thrice-daily complaint.
The boy’s brows knitted slightly, and his dark eyes sank.
Seeing this, Jinghe giggled. Without waiting to see whether her brother agreed, she simply grabbed him and dragged him away.
A group of burly men had already gathered around the training grounds to watch the show. When they saw Jinghe bringing the boy over, an uproar of cheers and laughter immediately broke out.
“Hahaha!! I knew it! Miss Jinghe would definitely be able to drag Young Master Jingchen over! Hahaha!! I won! Hand over the gun!”
“Young Master Jingchen!! Miss Jinghe comes to you three times a day to complain. Can’t you come one time less? I’ve practically lost everything betting on this!”
“Gambling in groups within the military.”
Jingchen’s eyes darkened as he swept a cold gaze over everyone.
“Looks like I need to have a good talk with Father.”
He looked eighty percent like him, but had learned a hundred percent of his imposing manner. The sight sent chills down the backs of all the men, who immediately scattered.
After everyone had dispersed, Xuanlang walked over with a smile and crouched down in front of Jingchen.
Jinghe immediately threw herself at him and hugged him.
“Uncle Xuanlang~~~”
“What? Didn’t you tell your brother that I bullied you?”
“You did bully me!”
Jinghe puffed out her cheeks, looking deeply dissatisfied.
“I want to see Father. Why won’t you take me there? I haven’t seen Father in so long. I miss him so much.”
“Jinghe, be good. Big Boss isn’t convenient these few days. I’ll take you to see him tomorrow, okay?”
“I came looking for you yesterday, and you said the same thing.”
Looking at Jinghe’s aggrieved little face, Xuanlang opened his mouth, but in the end, he could only let out a heavy sigh.
What could he say?
Could he tell this little girl that today was the anniversary of her parents’ deaths?
Inside a dark, completely enclosed room, Xiahou Shaoxuan sat disheveled on the floor in a corner, silently staring at Qianming in his hands, its surface covered in dried blood.
Ten years…
Ten years ago, Xiahou Zhong had practically dispatched an entire regiment, which spent eight days searching for him before finally finding him barely alive.
Lian Qiguang’s death had nearly taken eighty percent of his life with it. He had gone mad, fallen into despair, and tried to kill himself, but Xiahou Zhong had rescued him every time.
Later, Xiahou Zhong became furious and beat him half to death. Then he sent the wailing Jinghe and Jingchen before him.
The next day, he left, traveling alone into the stars.
That wandering lasted three years.
When he returned, he had once again become the ruthless and decisive Major General Xiahou, cold-blooded and merciless.
Only the name Lian Qiguang had become a taboo throughout the entire Xiahou family.
Xiahou Shaoxuan closed his eyes and tightly hugged Qianming against his chest, deceiving himself as he told himself that Lian Qiguang was still alive, that his wife had always been by his side and had never left.
A knock sounded from outside the door.
Xiahou Shaoxuan did not want to pay attention to it, but the person outside seemed determined. If he did not open the door, that person had no intention of leaving.
Xiahou Shaoxuan raised his head, his brows tightly furrowed, a frighteningly sinister look surging through his eyes.
“Who!”
“B-Big Boss!”
Chong Mu swallowed nervously and unconsciously took two steps back.
“It’s me.”
“What is it?”
Everyone who had followed him and survived that catastrophe knew what day it was. Unless something particularly important had happened, they would never disturb him.
“Um, Big Boss, a spaceship from Blue Star landed this morning, and we discovered a little stowaway.”
Just this?
The coldness around Xiahou Shaoxuan intensified.
Sensing the chill emanating from him, Chong Mu hurriedly added, “I originally planned to stuff the kid back onto the ship, but that little brat insisted on seeing Big Boss. He said, he said…”
“What did he say!!”
“He said he had something to return to Big Boss. It’s… Sister-in-law’s intention…”
“Bang!”
The metal door was violently flung open.
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes were sharp and his aura intimidating as he stared at Chong Mu.
“Where is he!”
“I locked him in the interrogation room!”
Unable to withstand Xiahou Shaoxuan’s pressure, Chong Mu retreated several steps before turning and rushing away.
“I’ll take you there!”
Following Chong Mu out of the room and toward the interrogation room, Xiahou Shaoxuan appeared calm and composed on the surface, but inside, his thoughts had long since descended into chaos.
His wife’s things…
When they arrived at the interrogation room, An Yi, Yuan Ling, and a group of brothers who had survived that ordeal together were all there. Their expressions varied, but every one of them glared unfavorably at the little brat surrounded in the center, who had apparently been “scamming food and drink.”
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s arrival caused everyone to clear a path. They stood straight and gave him a military salute.
Xiahou Shaoxuan stepped forward and coldly regarded the boy lounging lazily in the chair.
The boy looked about thirteen or fourteen years old. His clothes were filthy, and his black hair was somewhat long, yet it had been neatly combed. His handsome, delicate face featured a pair of bright, pitch-black catlike eyes that were particularly striking.
At that moment, the little boy was staring at him expressionlessly.
Looking into those eyes, Xiahou Shaoxuan’s heart suddenly trembled for some inexplicable reason, as though something had stung him.
Before Xiahou Shaoxuan could speak, the boy glanced at An Yi and the others and said woodenly,
“You all, get out.”
“You…”
Yuan Ling was furious.
This brat had quite the temper.
Xiahou Shaoxuan waved his hand, signaling the others to leave.
Yuan Ling had no choice but to be dragged out of the interrogation room by An Yi, unwilling and resentful.
As the interrogation-room door closed, the enormous room fell silent.
Silence lingered between the two.
“Where is it?”
Seeing that the boy was merely staring at him, and feeling somewhat unsettled by that gaze, Xiahou Shaoxuan was the first to break the silence.
Apparently dissatisfied with Xiahou Shaoxuan’s cold attitude, the boy frowned slightly.
“I already gave it to you, but you didn’t want it.”
Xiahou Shaoxuan froze for a moment. Then the chill around him intensified, and a vicious glint flashed through his eyes.
“If you can’t hand over the thing you’re talking about today, I’ll kill you myself.”
Today was the day he was supposed to spend with his wife. Damn it, he had actually come running over like an idiot just because he heard one sentence!!
Seeing the murderous intent in Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes, the boy lowered his gaze. His drooping little head made him look pitiful.
Xiahou Shaoxuan became somewhat dazed.
For a moment, it seemed as though he could see that little rascal from the past again, the way he used to act spoiled whenever he had gotten himself into trouble.
Bastard!!
Xiahou Shaoxuan came back to his senses and fiercely bit the tip of his tongue, filled with regret.
He had actually compared his precious wife with the little brat in front of him.
With that thought, his gaze toward the boy became even more unfriendly, and the murderous intent in his eyes grew stronger.
“Don’t you want me anymore?”
Just as Xiahou Shaoxuan was preparing to turn and leave, the boy suddenly spoke.
A pair of large eyes stared directly at him. Although there was no expression on that face, Xiahou Shaoxuan somehow saw a sense of grievance in them.
Xiahou Shaoxuan froze, staring blankly at those familiar eyes, his mind becoming a mess.
“Don’t you want me anymore, Shaoxuan?”
Seeing that Xiahou Shaoxuan did not answer, the boy asked again, stubbornly.
“…”
Xiahou Shaoxuan.
After a long silence, the boy’s eyes gradually dimmed.
He pressed his lips together, silently jumped down from the chair, and stood up to leave.
“For the sake of the two little dumplings, if you can, help me buy a ticket back to Blue Star.”
Those words made Xiahou Shaoxuan’s mind explode with a bang, leaving him completely dumbfounded.
Seeing that the boy was about to reach the door, Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes darkened. He flashed forward and tightly held the boy against himself.
“Who are you?”
Perhaps even Xiahou Shaoxuan himself had not realized how much his voice was trembling.
The boy shot him a sideways glance and expressionlessly slapped his face away.
“Are you asking for my current name, my previous life’s name, or the name from the life before that?”
“…All of them.”
“My name now is Fang Ziyu. In my previous life, I was Lian Qiguang. In the life before that, I was An Guang. My codename was Deadwood!”
Lian Qiguang.
An Guang…
Wife…
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes widened as he stared blankly at the boy in his arms. His hands trembled as he held him, his mouth opening and closing, unable to say anything.
“I gave you the lake water, gave you crystal cores, gave you the ring, gave you the jade bed, gave you Qianming, and even gave birth to the dumplings for you, yet you don’t want me anymore! You ungrateful bastard! All that kindness I showed you was wasted!!”
The boy shoved Xiahou Shaoxuan away and unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks on him. His eyes reddened, looking misty with tears and incredibly endearing.
“After I woke up seriously injured, the first person I thought of was you. All these years, I worked hard to heal myself and cultivate, all so I could see you sooner. I nearly lost half my life just to secretly get onto that spaceship, yet you actually don’t want me anymore! You even had those guys stop me from seeing you! And after we finally met, you actually wanted to kill me!!”
“No, I didn’t…”
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s mind had completely short-circuited. He opened his mouth, but could not say a single useful word.
Seeing the boy crying so sadly, he became completely flustered, not knowing how to comfort him.
The lake water.
The crystal cores.
The ring.
The jade bed…
Only he and his wife knew about these things.
Could the person standing before him really be…
For a moment, Xiahou Shaoxuan felt as though a gigantic pie had fallen from the heavens and landed squarely on his head, leaving him dizzy and bewildered.
“Get away!”
The boy flung Xiahou Shaoxuan’s hand away and kicked him in the calf.
“I want a divorce from you!!!”
After saying that, the boy turned and walked toward the door. Having held in a stomach full of anger, he forcefully flung open the interrogation-room door.
Immediately, a whole pile of men tumbled inside like a swarm.
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes sharpened. He quickly wrapped an arm around the boy’s waist and pulled him firmly into his embrace.
“Haha… We, uh, we just lost our footing…”
Caught red-handed eavesdropping, the group of men scratched their heads and desperately put on a clumsy act.
The boy desperately pried at the hand around his waist, but with his small stature and little body, how could he possibly be a match for Xiahou Shaoxuan?
He exhausted himself until he was panting heavily, yet Xiahou Shaoxuan did not even furrow his brow.
“Let go of me. I’ve already divorced you.”
The boy tilted his head up and expressionlessly glared at Xiahou Shaoxuan’s profile.
“Proposal rejected!”
“You!!”
“Y-You’re really… Sister-in-law?”
Yuan Ling stared wide-eyed at the boy, his jaw practically dropping to the floor.
The boy glanced at Yuan Ling and expressionlessly snorted.
“No, but wasn’t Sister-in-law already…”
“You were very happy that I died.”
The boy spoke woodenly.
“No, I didn’t mean that. I just…”
Yuan Ling frantically tried to explain, waving his hands about, but the more anxious he became, the worse it sounded. In the end, he could only stare at the boy with his eyes rolling around.
“This lord hasn’t even found matches for you two juniors yet. Naturally, I have to stay alive properly.”
The boy crossed his arms and cast an old-fashioned, superior glance at Yuan Ling and An Yi, whose smile could no longer be maintained.
“Sister-in-law, you… why did you shrink?”
Chong Mu scratched his head, acting foolish again.
“You were already small before, but now you look just like a little kid.”
The boy frowned, ignoring Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyes that were fixed firmly on him, and swept one hand across the entire group.
“Shaoxuan, these are the people who stopped me from seeing you. They bullied me and even said they were going to throw me out to feed the monsters!!”
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s face darkened.
His eyes finally moved away from the boy’s face. He steadied his breathing and finally managed to speak again.
“Everyone. Objective: training grounds. One thousand laps!!!”
“One thousand!!!”
“Boss!! People will die!!!”
“Boss! Being this vicious will bring divine retribution!!”
……
For a moment, the interrogation room was filled with wails of misery.
Lian Qiguang rubbed his nose and looked up at Xiahou Shaoxuan.
“I want to borrow your troops!”
“Hm?”
Xiahou Shaoxuan froze.
He still looked somewhat dazed, as though he had not yet recovered from the shock and excitement.
“Borrow troops? What for?”
“I’ve been bullied plenty of times in the Fifth District these past ten years. Several times, I almost got killed and couldn’t come to see you! I want to bring troops and tie them all up so I can bully them as much as I want!!”
Xiahou Shaoxuan’s face darkened.
The group of boisterous men became furious.
They dared to bully our wife!!
They dared to lay a hand on our sister-in-law!!
Wipe them out!!
“Men!! Immediately assemble three thousand Sha Blood Wolves!! We’re going to put on a show of strength for my wife!!!”
“Yes, sir!!!”