At the agreed meeting place, Gu Su didn’t mind even the smallest gain. After scraping up all the assistant’s accumulated negative emotions, she swept away the Huiwu too, discarding the assistant without hesitation, like “killing the donkey once the millstone is off.”
She’d deliberately led the assistant to betray her employer, but she herself had never participated in the assistant’s embezzlement. So, even if the assistant ended up in jail, it would never implicate her.
She had the bodyguard push the dazed assistant—still not clear-headed after the Huiwu was removed—out of the car, then told the driver to take her home. She wanted to discuss things with Lu Zhentong before making any decisions.
One thing couldn’t be denied: She was never willing to give up on Lu Jiuxiao. At first this was for Lu family shares and wealth, but now she simply could not abandon the vast amount of negative emotions Lu Jiuxiao had accumulated… She had a hunch that whether she could advance to the next level depended on this wellspring of negative emotion!
Today, she put herself at risk and directly faced two Gu martial masters, Cheng Jingzhou and Lin Baiming. She concluded: she could not hide her Huiwu manipulation from a Gu martial master, but those masters also weren’t clear on the full extent of her abilities.
She needed to deal with them while Cheng Jingzhou and Lin Baiming still didn’t take her truly seriously.
She hadn’t forgotten her first meeting with Cheng Jingzhou, or her “bold words” in her heart back then: she would make Cheng Jingzhou willingly kneel and beg for a glance from her… After everything that had happened since, she deeply believed that a dead Cheng Jingzhou was the best Cheng Jingzhou!
So Gu Su rushed home, didn’t bother to change her clothes or comfort her son, and went straight to her soundproof study to call Lu Zhentong. She got straight to the point, “Lu Jiuxiao insists on divorcing me. I just met with him. His face is more or less the same as before—I think his face really is mostly healed, probably thanks to his father hiring some expert to create a skin so realistic it’s almost fake. It was just a divorce discussion, but his father and Lin Baiming were with him the whole time…”
Lu Zhentong, though tired, sounded as calm as ever. “I know.”
One Cheng Jingzhou could do nothing to him, and adding Lin Baiming would only cause a bit more trouble. Two or three Gu martial masters shaking a hundred-billion fortune—that was a joke. But if Cheng Jingzhou continued to grow… He didn’t believe the man wouldn’t seek revenge for his son. By then, even if he produced ironclad proof that he wasn’t the primary culprit, and that the old master’s tacit approval and instigation were the reason, if Cheng Jingzhou wanted his life, what could he do?!
Waiting to be slaughtered wasn’t his style. He needed to make his move first—and fast. Lu Liu alone no longer sufficed. Even if it risked exposure, he had to personally recruit some Extraordinaries.
Ending his call with Gu Su, he immediately told his confidant to post a message on the darknet: all he wanted was Cheng Jingzhou’s hand—fifty million dollars reward.
Once Lu Zhentong offered a bounty, news reached Qin Jingzhou’s side immediately.
Li Assistant still had two “subsidized” assistants from the Association, and with moneyed Qin Er and Xu Chen—one handling finance, one HR—the two brothers each funded a team of at least ten for their kids.
These small teams had people dedicated to gathering all kinds of intelligence. Monitoring the darknet in real-time was no big deal.
Qin Jingzhou was in the car on his way home, reading the message on his phone and smiling to Lin Baiming, “Lu Zhentong’s response is pretty quick.”
Lin Baiming, on the other hand, couldn’t laugh. “You shouldn’t take it lightly. Domestic martial artists have all heard of your skills, so they don’t want to make you a deadly enemy. But foreign Extraordinaries... No way, I need to find more masters to protect you.”
“I think you’re best suited to protect me, being close by,” Qin Jingzhou answered, completely unconcerned. “When we get back, I’ll treat your hand first. If you say your daughter with Xiao Lu isn’t dead, then she’ll definitely come looking for you.”
Lin Baiming was genuinely worried. “I know you can take care of yourself, but enough ants can kill an elephant! When I said my daughter might be alive and might come find me, I was letting you know that I could be facing a lot of trouble soon!”
Qin Jingzhou flicked Lin Baiming between the eyes. “Old Lin, your mind’s in chaos.” In his view, Lin Baiming was not only still injured but was facing his own heart tribulation. If you just tapped him on the right nerve a few times, you could defeat him without a fight.
Lin Baiming was dazed for a moment before realizing what had happened. He opened his eyes wide and grabbed Qin Jingzhou’s shoulder with his injured hand. “You can alleviate heart tribulations!”
Qin Jingzhou just smiled.
This world’s ceiling was Foundation Establishment Stage. Lin Baiming, seemingly only just thirty, was really over sixty, currently equivalent to qi refining ninth layer. Practicing martial arts was also cultivation. Whatever cultivation you chose, you couldn’t avoid facing your own heart. Once you did, heart tribulations followed you everywhere.
Lin Baiming took a deep breath, his injured hand still dangling on Qin Jingzhou’s shoulder. “Damn! You’re really something! All right, since you’re confident, I’ll join you—let’s reel in that fat fish early!”
Dealing with smart people was just less of a hassle.
The young driver stopped the car downstairs. Qin Jingzhou got out, scooped his silly son into his arms—still asleep—and rode the elevator up with Lin Baiming. Incidentally, ever since Qin Jingzhou had said he wasn’t moving, everyone in Building 8, including his own, had been replaced by new owners in less than a month.
Back home, Qin Jingzhou placed his silly son in the guest room to let him keep sleeping, then changed into casual clothes to treat Lin Baiming’s hand.
Through the guest room wall, Lu Jiuxiao slowly opened his eyes. The whites of his right eye were full of blood. Though his left eye had been removed, he could still feel it, fierce burning pain and stabbing agony entwined so tightly that he couldn’t breathe.
He instinctively raised a hand and viciously scratched his newly healed face. Real and phantom pain overlapped, far from enough to let him vent.
He kept screaming, breath ragged. “Why? Why?!”
Qin Jingzhou pushed the door open and lifted his silly son by the collar, cradling him in his arms.
Earlier, after Gu Su used Huiwu to stir up his son’s painful memories, he’d known this was coming—years of pent-up suspicion and resentment couldn’t be solved by painkillers or sleep.
Lu Jiuxiao kept scratching his face, but with less force. Choking back tears, his voice was hoarse. “Why! Why did they do this to me?!”
At least his silly son had never tried to rebel, and Qin Jingzhou felt somewhat comforted by that. He patiently answered, “There are people in this world who’d risk their lives for a few thousand bucks, let alone a hundred billion.”
Lu Jiuxiao seemed a little more lucid.
Qin Jingzhou pressed the advantage. “You didn’t do anything wrong. You’re not as ruthless as Lu Zhentong, not as heartless as the old man. I think that’s a good thing.”
Out in the living room, Qin Er and the others, busy sorting herbal medicine, glanced at each other. Was the boss really not provoking his own son?
Lin Baiming, with his left hand jabbed full of needles, leaned against the guest room doorframe and chimed in, “Your mother was the same. That’s why she died young. In the Lu family, being kind-hearted leads to an early grave… Your mother wasn’t killed by anyone, not really. She couldn’t figure things out. She fought with herself. You’re a lot like her.”
Matters of the heart could only be healed by oneself. Thinking of his early-deceased girlfriend and suddenly appearing daughter, Lin Baiming felt a fresh ache inside.
When Lu Jiuxiao heard the reason for his mother’s death, tears immediately streamed down his face in sorrow and anger. He grabbed his father’s shoulder. “Then why… why didn’t you show up back then!”
Qin Jingzhou answered, “Your grandfather kept me beat down for twenty years. By the time I went to find you, I’d just finished cultivating my martial technique.”
Lu Jiuxiao froze for a few moments, and when he spoke again, seemed a bit calmer. “Makes sense, I guess. When you showed up before, it was all for nothing… I was useless too…” He tilted his head up, fingernail scratches on his face oozing blood that mingled with his tears. “After the burns, I was probably more insane… But it really hurt, so much I wanted to die, but I wanted revenge. If I couldn’t get Lu Zhentong, tormenting Gu Su would do… Back then I didn’t know she’d inherited something shady…”
Qin Jingzhou pressed a hand to his son’s face, instantly stopping the bleeding. “I endured and played dumb too, when I hadn’t mastered my cultivation technique yet.”
The System spoke up right then. “Lu Jiuxiao, with his face bloodied like this and on the verge of madness, actually has an unusual sort of beauty.”
Qin Jingzhou smiled. “Gu Su has a good eye.”
Lu Jiuxiao, hearing that, was a bit dazed, then carefully rested his chin on his father’s shoulder. His voice was still hoarse but with a note of relief. “Thank you.”
Qin Jingzhou patted his silly son on the back again. “I’m your dad.”
Lu Jiuxiao didn’t say anything more, just gave a soft “Mm.”
Lin Baiming chimed in again, “Jiuxiao, you have good parents.”
Lu Jiuxiao closed his eyes. “…I do.”
Qin Jingzhou said, “So you won’t brood anymore, I’ll give you something to do.”
Half an hour later, with a few adhesive bandages on his face, Lu Jiuxiao sat on the sofa with a tablet propped up. He was dutifully processing herbal medicine step by step as instructed by the device.
Once Qin Er saw his mood had stabilized, he came over to ask, “How do you feel?”
Lu Jiuxiao didn’t even lift his eyelids. “He’s fine, I’m not swapping with you.”
Qin Er: …Guess he’s not all better yet.
Xu Chen nearly burst out laughing, gloating, “You must’ve offended the little boss.”
Lu Jiuxiao might seem a little crazy, but Qin Er and Xu Chen’s assessment of their little boss was actually favorable. As the boss said, Lu Jiuxiao was neither ruthless nor cold, and most of the time he held himself back, refusing to throw tantrums. Once little boss recovered under the boss’s care, he could definitely be labeled a “model boss.”
Forget about “model boss”—after venting and with his father’s comfort, Lu Jiuxiao stayed quietly content for the rest of the day. This wasn’t forced silence, but genuine peace of mind.
After dinner, Qin Jingzhou kept him at his side, and together they… played games on the laptop. They leveled up, did tasks, and ran team dungeons after logging in.
If Qin Er and Xu Chen didn’t have other plans in the evening, they’d log on too. Tonight, hearing the boss was taking care of the little boss, the brothers hurried to rally a support crew the moment they got online, afraid anyone would disrupt the tender father-son moment.
Qin Jingzhou took his son around the newbie village before saying, “If you’re feeling troubled, play some games. This one’s kind of fun. Also, I’m going to the pharmaceutical factory tomorrow. You come with me.”
Lu Jiuxiao poked himself. “I’m still half-crazy and you want me stepping out with you… really?”
Qin Jingzhou replied, “Crazy or not, it doesn’t affect your work. Besides, going out is me baiting for trouble on purpose. If I don’t bring you, I won’t feel at ease.”
Lu Jiuxiao forcibly held back a smile. “Okay.”
At this moment, he still didn’t know what he was about to experience tomorrow.