Just now Lian Yucheng sent a message saying he had already arrived. After checking the time, it was about right. Lian Qiguang shut down his optical brain, stood up and straightened his clothes a little, then put both hands in his pockets and left the spot with a blank expression.
Under the tree, the blond-haired youth was weakly kneeling and sitting on the ground, staring blankly as he watched Lian Qiguang’s figure gradually disappear into the darkness. His face carried deep shock and fear.
Just a moment ago, when he was about to kick this person, he suddenly raised his head and looked at him. What kind of eyes were those—dark, deep black pupils with no visible end, numb, cold, without a single trace of human emotion. It was as if the person in front of him was not a human at all, but a puppet from ancient legends, except the strings controlling him had already been cut, leaving only an empty shell. The instant he was looked at, it felt like a thick stench of blood rushed toward him. Cold corpses lay everywhere beneath his feet, burying him within them—and he himself had become one of them.
This person… is so terrifying…………
Scene divider
“Second brother!” Inside the reception room, Lian Xiaozhu called out when she saw Lian Qiguang walking over. From her cheerful voice, it was not hard to hear her happiness, which made Lian Qiguang glance sideways slightly.
“It’s already this time, why haven’t you changed clothes yet?” Seeing that Lian Qiguang was still wearing his previous outfit, Lian Yucheng frowned. Then as if thinking of something, his expression immediately turned somewhat ugly. “Were you bullied?” It wasn’t strange that Lian Yucheng would think this. In today’s strictly hierarchical world, what lies between each district is not just a barrier, but heaven and earth apart. People from the Third District, in the eyes of those from the First District, are nothing more than insignificant ants—lowly commoners.
Tilting his head as he thought about it, he shook his head seriously. “No, they don’t dare.”
“Hmph! You make it sound like you’re so amazing.” Lian Yucheng snorted lightly, but after hearing that Lian Qiguang hadn’t been bullied, he also secretly let out a breath of relief.
“They really don’t dare, I’m very strong.” Seeing that Lian Yucheng didn’t seem to believe him, Lian Qiguang tried to prove himself by stretching out both arms and flexing hard. But after seeing his still thin arms, he fell silent for a moment.
Seeing that Lian Qiguang seemed a bit “disappointed,” and also realizing he had spoken too harshly earlier, Lian Yucheng was just about to comfort him when Lian Qiguang raised his head and looked at him very seriously and solemnly.
“Don’t look at me like I don’t have muscles, but I’m very strong. Fighting three of them at once is like playing.”
“…………………” Lian Yucheng
“………………….” Lian Xiaozhu
“I have a knife.” Seeing that Lian Yucheng still looked doubtful and wanting to prove himself, Lian Qiguang thought for a moment, then with a “shua!” sound, took out a blade and slammed it heavily onto the table.
“If they bully me, I’ll kill them! I’m especially good at chopping heads—one strike, one hit, never missing.” In his previous apocalypse life of forty-plus years, as the zombies evolved, most of them gained some intelligence. Later, due to his reputation, they became familiar with him, and when they saw him, their first reaction was always to clutch their heads and run away.
“Second brother is mighty!” Lian Xiaozhu stared with sparkling eyes, looking at Lian Qiguang with admiration and envy.
“Don’t join in the nonsense.” Lian Yucheng glared. “And you! Put that knife away quickly.”
Expressionless, he curled his lips slightly and put the blade back into his spatial device.
“Wasn’t your spatial device lost? Where did this come from?” Lian Yucheng gestured toward the brooch-shaped spatial device pinned on Lian Qiguang’s sleeve.
“The butler gave it to me.” Lian Qiguang, now sunk into suspicion-induced gloom, stared blankly at the floor.
“Take this.” Lian Yucheng took out a brocade box from his spatial device and handed it to Lian Qiguang.
“I just ate, I’m not hungry.” He refused blankly.
“Who said it’s for you to eat!!” Lian Yucheng snapped. Seeing Lian Qiguang still expressionless, he felt like the world had never been this cruel to him before. Rubbing his brow, he said, “Today is Marshal Xiahou’s birthday. I heard he likes ancient culture. Tonight, you take this and give it to him.”
Lian Qiguang took the box and opened it expressionlessly.
Immediately, a tattered book appeared before his eyes. On it were two faint stick figures, worn down by time, and beneath them were five extremely clear words: “Three Hundred Tang Poems.”
Lian Qiguang’s always stiff face twitched slightly.
“You… are sure you want to give this?”
“Don’t talk nonsense if you don’t understand.” Lian Yucheng snapped coldly. “I spent countless people and nearly ten million star coins to get this. I know you’re lazy—asking you to prepare a gift is better than expecting you to have a child, so I got this for you.”
Looking at the book in his hand, then looking up at Lian Yucheng again, although he didn’t know how much “ten million star coins” was, judging from how agitated Lian Yucheng was, it must be a lot. It should be able to buy a lot of seeds, right?
Lian Qiguang tilted his head slightly, recalling the rows of seeds he saw at the seed store that day and the long line of zeros underneath them. He looked up seriously at Lian Yucheng.
“You got scammed. Take it back and refund it.”
“……………………” Lian Yucheng
“Lian Qiguang!!! Be serious!!”
………………………………………………
On the other side, Xuan Lang and Zhong Mu were almost dying from laughter. Watching the projection of Lian Qiguang facing Lian Yucheng’s rage without moving an inch, even Xiahou Shaoxuan, as stoic as he was, had a faint trace of an almost imperceptible smile in his eyes.
“Boss, you’ve been observing for so long. What do you think of the sister-in-law?” Zhong Mu poked his head out and asked with a grin.
“Oh? Now you’re calling her sister-in-law so affectionately.” Xuan Lang teased.
“Honestly, I think she’s pretty good. A bit useless, but she’s beautiful and fun. If she marries the boss, life in Sha Xue Lang won’t be so boring anymore.”
“By your evaluation, if the boss doesn’t like her and still wants to break the engagement, are you planning to chase her instead?” Xuan Lang said.
The moment these words came out, the temperature in the room dropped sharply. Xuan Lang and Zhong Mu instantly felt like they were swallowed by ice shards.
Xiahou Shaoxuan glanced at them coldly.
“Training doubled when we get back. And accompany me for a fight.”
“Boss!! No!!!” Fighting the boss was pure one-sided slaughter!
“Rejected.”
“BOSS!!!!”
………………………………………………
Scene divider
Night had fallen deep, and the banquet had already begun. This banquet was held on the fifth floor of the villa. The brightly lit villa, with its luxurious and exquisite design, had nobles arriving in groups of three or five, whispering to each other, occasionally laughing softly.
Robots moved through the banquet, serving drinks or tidying up plates and food on the tables.
Lian Qiguang had already changed clothes. He held a glass of crimson fruit wine, leaning against a dim, inconspicuous corner, head slightly lowered. The shadow cast over his face made it impossible to see his expression.
Lian Xiaozhu sat beside Lian Qiguang, happily eating cake. “Second brother, do you want some?” She lifted a palm-sized face and offered him a piece of cake.
Lian Qiguang looked at the cake in her hand expressionlessly, then at her face smeared with it, and decisively looked away.
The rejected Lian Xiaozhu didn’t mind at all, as if already used to it, and continued focusing on her cake.
“It’s you?” A voice mixed with surprise came.
Lian Qiguang slowly raised his head, and saw a blond-haired youth staring at him in shock.
Do I… know him?
Lian Qiguang tilted his head slightly, his expression blank with a hint of confusion.
He felt somewhat familiar.
Who… is he?