Baili Bin watched as the battle drew to an eventual end. Faintly, he muttered under his breath, “How pitiable.”
How pitiable, the leader of a great nation who was willing to stoop so low.
After that, he turned around and left the place in his wheelchair.
It was at this point that he realized his strength was far from enough. The ancient martial arts world just wouldn’t be what it was without Jiang Shuxuan.
Murong Feiye was deep in thought as he watched Baili Bin’s figure gradually recede into the distance. In that moment, his eyes were full of confusion.
“Feiye, we were able to hold out for so many days before Shuxuan’s return thanks to you. Your role in this must not be forgotten.”
Murong Feiye did not dare to inflate his ego upon hearing this. “Clan Leader Baili, even if I wasn’t here, the end result would be the same. Ah Bin already knew from the get-go what would happen in the end, what more to say of Uncle Jiang’s return.” Even if he refrained from meddling in the conflict, Uncle Jiang alone could probably save the entire ancient martial arts world in the nick of time.
Baili Qu patted his shoulder. “Young man, such humility will bring you nowhere.”
Murong Feiye bowed his head and let out a bitter laugh. He wasn’t trying to be humble.
The Jiang family.
Madam Jiang was on the brink of a nervous breakdown. She kept pacing around the ground outside the door, whilst peering out from time to time.
“Why hasn’t my Shuxuan come home yet?”
Even their butler was starting to get panicky. Still, seeing Madam Jiang’s condition made him suppress his emotions from surfacing. “Young Master might still be dealing with the aftermath, please stay calm Madam.”
“No! I must go and take a look!” said Madam Jiang whose patience had finally run out.
Although she had already caught wind that her son was alive and well, she still had not seen him in person yet. How could she remain calm like this?
It was at that point that a tall figure emerged from outside the door. Despite being a middle-aged man, his face remained as handsome and as masculine as before. With large, triumphant strides, he marched over to his home.
“Master,” greeted the butler instinctively.
Madam Jiang froze up in shock. As she stared at the man in front of her, a bitter feeling from the depths of her heart rose up immediately. With reddened eyes, she cursed at him, “Asshole! Of all the time, why now?!”
“Come on, don’t cry on me. I have returned have I not?” Jiang Han’s expression changed instantly. Anxiously, he hurried over to his woman’s side. He had never seen the iron lady act like this before, which made his heart ache “Now now, stop crying. It’s all my fault, I know.”
“You’ve come back, what about Ah Li?” Madam Jiang wiped away her tears. Looking behind Jiang Han, she saw no signs of that man.
Jiang Han brought her into their home. “Ah Li’s condition will remain as it is for now. Did you not keep urging me to come home? Well, here I am.” He remembered her complaining to him over the phone that Shuxuan was a disobedient child, that she could no longer control their child…
Madam Jiang gave him an angry glare before tears swelled up in her eyes again. “Did you see Shuxuan on your way here? Is he still alright?”
“… I did bump into him on the way here.” Jiang Han snorted the moment he heard Shuxuan’s name. Didn’t she just say that she had abandoned that child? Now she’s concerned about his well being?! “Relax, he’s stronger than ever.”
Madam Jiang let out a sigh in relief after hearing from her husband that Jiang Shuxuan was alright.
“Remember the thing you told me about Jiang Tong?” Jiang Han suddenly recalled this matter in the middle of their conversation. “I also bumped into Jiang Tong just now. That gal broke into tears immediately upon seeing me.”
“Jiang Tong…” Madam Jiang let out a sigh, but not in relief when she heard Jiang Han mention her name.
Rumors about Jiang Shuxuan spread like wildfire around the ancient martial arts world. Only Jiang Tong remained loyally by her side, protecting her for the past few days. Even if they had been at odds with one another in the past, this event had rekindled their relationship. Madam Jiang had decided to end the ongoing feud with her family.
“Seems like her physique has reached a new peak. To achieve such a breakthrough at such a young age, she’s pretty capable isn’t she?” said Jiang Han with eyes full of satisfaction with the young girl.
“So what if you’re impressed by her?!” responded Madam Jiang with a glare. Her eyes were full of worry. “Your son isn’t satisfied with her. He has disregarded the Jiang family’s ancestral precepts! Ignoring the heavenly rule, he has brought with him a lass from the secular world back here!”
Thereafter, she patiently dissected the sequence of events regarding Jiang Shuxuan to his father.
Jiang Han was stunned. Suddenly, a glow appeared in his eyes. “He really said that?” That boy’s really his son! He’s got balls for sure!
Madam Jiang glanced at the gleeful look in his eyes as she swallowed whatever that she had on her mind.
“…”
“Let’s leave this talk for another time shall we? He’s still our son. No matter what decision he makes, we have to support him.” Jiang Han stood up and sighed. “After all, this year has been an ordeal for him. Alright, there are still some things out there that I have to tend to. I have to go and take a look.”
After that, Jiang Han once again left the Jiang family mansion.
Madam Jiang stood at the door, staring at his back until he disappeared into the distance, as if something was on her mind.
“Madam, Miss Jiang Tong called. She’s requesting to meet you, how about it?” asked the butler who had picked up the phone for her.
Madam Jiang thought about her answer for a while before shaking her head. “Say that I’m in bed.”
The secular world, perhaps it was time for her to pay them a little visit.
People from various families knew about Jiang Han’s return. It appeared that him, Clan Leader Murong as well as the Tang family were running the affairs in the ancient martial arts world.
Noting that the big three families have now gathered around, Yi Bing was sure that the ancient martial arts world was in safe hands and so he laid down his responsibilities near the borders of their domain.
***
In a random room at a small residential district nearby A University.
The figure that laid on the bed moved. Her long, curving eyelashes twitched before her eyelids sprung open, revealing a pair of icy cold, glowing eyes underneath.
[Ding! Congratulations to the host, who has unlocked a perfect circulatory system. The system awards you 1000 points!]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing a chain mission, the system rewards you 10,000 points!]
A robotic voice echoed in her mind abruptly. Focus finally returned to Gu Xiqiao’s eyes as she regained her composure. “Little system, are you still sound asleep?”
The system floated out of the virtual space and blinked a couple of times. “Beauty Qiao, I’ve been asleep for a week now. I think that’s plenty of sleep already. Think we woke up at the same time too.”
Gu Xiqiao nodded silently. She then looked over at Haha who was sprawled out on the bed. It looked back at her with a pair of dark, watery eyes. It let out a weak whimper when it sensed her gaze. It’s dark beady eyes rolled around, as if tears were really about to flow out.
Gu Xiqiao’s heart softened when she saw Haha like this. She instantaneously picked it up and embraced the little mutt.
Almost simultaneously, a crisp-sounding “hmph!” came from atop her head.
Looking up, Gu Xiqiao caught sight of the colorful Xixi. Rubbing her nose, she greeted the bird.
“Xixi.”
Xixi glared down at Gu Xiqiao coldly. “…I will never let you off so easily!” Also! Haha you damned slut! How dare you take advantage of Beauty Qiao’s coma and climb onto her bed!
“I’m sorry?” Gu Xiqiao’s head was tilted and she wore a puzzled expression when she apologized.
Xixi: “…”
‘Why do you sound as if you’re unsure about your apology?’
It flew down and stood at the end of her bed. Using its beady eyes, it looked up seriously at Gu Xiqiao. “Beauty Qiao, from now on, no matter what happens, never abandon me! I…I’m a very useful bird!”
Gu Xiqiao was taken aback for a moment. Then, she broke out in laughter. She produced a brown pill between her fingertips as a warm expression emerged on her face. “Yep, I’ll never do that again. It’s my fault this time.”
Xixi stared at the pill between her fingers whilst thinking to itself. ‘Do you think I’m the sort of bird who would get tempted by such materialistic things?’
Yup!
Yes it was!
***
In the opposite building, Baili Bin had already returned. Having recovered from the initial shock, he returned to his room.
It’s been seven days and his computer screen was lit. He remembered that he had shut the device off before he left. Looking at the screen, it seems like the document from before had been opened.
“Young Master, Master says that Lord Jiang Han has returned. There will be a celebratory banquet tonight. Would you like to attend said event?” asked Uncle Tai from outside the door.
Baili Bin snapped out of his reverie and gave a blunt reply, “I won’t be going.”
It sounded like Uncle Tai was on the phone. Though, Baili Bin paid him no heed and instead, directed his focus over to the document.
The document was meticulously organized by Tang Qingqiu. It’s recordings date back to when Gu Xiqiao was only a child and each stage of her life was divided into various files.
The first document contained information about Gu Xiqiao’s biological mother.
She was born twenty years ago, as the child of a celebrity—Wen Xi.
Baili Bin recognized instantly that this person was his aunt.
Having found his answer, Baili Bin no longer wondered why his aunt, who was supposed to be a movie star was treated as if she was a lowly porn star back in N City. So she had given birth to Gu Xiqiao. Skipping over this document, he immediately opened up the file containing detailed information about Gu Xiqiao herself.
There were records of Yu Man picking her up from the village and her subsequent life there. It also contained records of her return to the Gu family.
——Because she was picked up on a bridge near a river[1], and because her surname was Gu, she was blessed with the name, Gu Xiqiao.
What a simple and casually-picked name. Baili Bin felt a pain in his heart when he realized the history behind her name.
If not for these documents, he would not have known that there were still a large group of humans struggling in the dark in this world.
It was then that he recalled a phrase on the internet that described Gu Xiqiao’s existence.
“A speck of starlight amidst total darkness.”
The document was incredibly long. The more he read through it, the harder it was to maintain his composure. He could not imagine how painful it was when her adoptive mother died. What sort of emotions did she experience? What expectations did she have when she returned to the Gu family? How painful it must’ve been for her at the end.
Not only were there writings in this document, there were also a couple of footage too.
He looked at her stick-like figure as she stood alone in front of the camera. Baili Bin couldn’t help but raise his hands over his eyes to block the terrible scene that was playing out. He struggled to stop his tears from flowing out.
By then, he was incredibly thankful for Jiang Shuxuan. If it wasn’t for him, he couldn’t even imagine what Gu Xiqiao looked like now.
Uncle Tai knocked on the door twice. Instead of coming out, Baili Bin remained in his room.
He, who never smoked, had already consumed half a pack of cigarettes. Every corner of the room was filled with smoke. The end of his lit cigarette glowed every time he inhaled a puff of smoke. He sat there, watching the lights outside listlessly.
He thought about his aunt’s daughter, the pretty young lady. As the only baby girl in his clan, she was spoiled to the core by his family members. Whatever she wanted, they would give.
It was heaven and earth in comparison to Gu Xiqiao, who never even received a single gift during Chinese New Year.
Picking up his phone, he dialed an overseas number. It rang for a while before the person on the other end of the line picked up his call. Without waiting for her to speak, he asked, “Aunt, do you know that you have another daughter?”
Halfway across the globe in England, the smile of the young woman who unintentionally picked up the phone suddenly froze up.
[1] T/N: River in mandarin=Xi, Bridge in mandarin=Qiao, hence Gu Xiqiao