Su Liumeng didn’t say anything more, just gently comforted the girl in her arms.
She had her own resolutions and goals.
She was never one to depend on others.
After a while, I gripped Su Liumeng’s hand tightly and said seriously, “You must survive. I don’t care about rankings or titles.”
“You—how did you become such a lovesick girl?” Su Liumeng pinched my cheek dotingly.
“If you won’t think for yourself, at least think for your future baby, right? Anyone who can’t give you a proper reason to stay by your side isn’t your true love—even if it’s me, you must let go.”
“Don’t say that!” I exploded on the spot, biting her arm and leaving two neat rows of tiny teeth marks.
“Say it again and I’ll bite you again.”
“Alright, I won’t say it.” Su Liumeng surrendered, raising her hand, and only then did I stop, still fuming.
I put my hands on my hips, my voice fierce, “You’re the one who started this. If you dare to abandon me, I’ll…”
“I’ll…” I struggled for a long time, but still couldn’t say anything harsh.
I could only turn away angrily, not wanting to talk to this person for the time being.
How can someone claim to be doing things for your own good, but end up making everyone else unhappy?
The terror of the Su Family—I know it well.
Even Gui Ying would struggle against the Su Family’s full retaliation. Could she really withstand it?
Even if she could fend off wave after wave of powerful enemies, I—just a mortal—certainly couldn’t.
Blades are blind. In a chaotic fight, there’s always a chance she can’t protect me.
Just a light stab at my abdomen, and not to mention Gui Ying’s future Dao Fruit, even I would die on the spot.
My heart suddenly clenched, as a thought occurred to me.
Could the Su Family be even more powerful than I imagined? If Su Liumeng is only among the top tier of the younger generation, all near the sixth realm, then what about the older monsters who have lived even longer? After generations of accumulation, could they be at a truly staggering level?
A ninth-realm expert can live two hundred years.
I refuse to believe that such a vast Su Family has no True Self realm experts.
Calculating from Su Liumeng’s generation, if each generation is thirty years, then there would be at least six generations above her still alive.
How terrifying is that number?
No wonder people say that dynasties last a hundred years, but only thousand-year-old clans stand unshaken.
From the main bloodline to the branches, their intricate network can involve nearly a hundred thousand people.
Two hundred years ago, the Su Family only had ten or twenty thousand.
Because of modern society, there’s no more “Ten Clans Annihilation.” Everyone is desperately trying to have more children, so the clan just keeps growing.
I pursed my lips and sighed, “How did the Su Family get so powerful? If only Huang Chao had killed off some of them back then, we wouldn’t be so helpless now.”
Su Liumeng is only eighteen.
I’m the same age as her, so I can understand her compromises.
Facing the Su Family, she has no one to rely on. So I can’t put any more pressure on her.
Su Liumeng’s gaze suddenly flickered, and she asked a question I didn’t expect, “Xinxin, do you hate the Su Family?”
“Yes.” I answered without hesitation.
“No one doesn’t hate them.” Su Liumeng’s voice was cold. “I hate them too.”
“Don’t worry, I’m not the only one who hates the Su Family.”
“Under great pressure, there will always be resistance. When the pressure builds to a certain point, that’s when it all collapses.”
“Before that, all I need to do is climb higher and seize greater power.”
“Huh?” I blinked my big eyes.
Why does Su Liumeng sound different from what I expected? Isn’t she the Su Family’s biological daughter?
I always thought she at least didn’t hate the Su Family, but from what she just said, it sounds almost like she’s an undercover agent.
“You… are you trying to say I’m a mole?” Su Liumeng suddenly burst out laughing.
“Yes.”
“Well, you’re not wrong. I hate the Su Family so much. They made me and the one I love resent each other. Heh—now I’m actually looking forward to making it to the center of power alive. When that day comes, anyone who’s crossed me, I’ll settle accounts with them one by one.”
My face froze in a cute daze. Why does this scene feel just like one of those undercover agents who end up as the boss after years of infiltration?
Doesn’t the Su Family worry about this?
With countless advisers, someone must have thought of it, but as long as you’re within the Su Family, no one worries about it.
Power.
Those two words are intoxicating.
No matter if you’re a hot-blooded youth with big ideals or a reformer who hates oppression, once you’re in that position, once you stand at the center of power, it’s so easy to forget your original intention.
After all, you’re already the boss—who are you going to rebel against now?
If you overthrow the Su Family now, aren’t you just toppling your own power?
No one would go against themselves.
That’s the Su Family’s way of raising venomous insects.
The youth who slays dragons ultimately becomes the evil dragon.
Looking at the fire in Su Liumeng’s eyes, I swallowed my words.
Others might…
But she probably won’t.
*****
October 30.
It was afternoon, and I was napping on Su Liumeng’s lap when my cute little nose suddenly wrinkled.
“Su Liumeng, do you smell something?”
“It’s just… a little metallic.”
I wrinkled my nose again, sniffing around her lap, as if trying to trace the source.
Su Liumeng’s expression stiffened, and she pressed my wandering head down, a subtle look on her beautiful face. “Don’t sniff around. Nothing’s wrong with me—I just got my period.”
“Oh.” My expression went blank, and my next question was even dumber, “Did you use a pad in advance?”
Su Liumeng’s ears turned a little red as she pressed my head down again, her tone helpless, “Of course I did. How could I not know my own cycle? I put one on as soon as I felt it this morning.”
I gave another “Oh,” and obediently lay down again.
“Don’t drink cold water, okay?”
Almost forgot.
Su Liumeng’s been a girl her whole life, she knows way more about this than me—she doesn’t need me to worry.
*****
October 31.
It was a drizzly, gloomy day, and I could feel the chill of autumn in the wind.
By the deserted lakeside, Su Liumeng and I stood side by side.
Water striders skittered across the surface, sending ripples everywhere.
The sky was a clear blue, but helicopters circled above, the roar of rotors whipping up fierce winds.
Su Liumeng took off her coat and draped it gently over my shoulders. “Go home, it’s cold out. I’ve already asked the driver to pick you up. His name is Wang Shu, his contact is in your phone now—he’ll be your personal driver from now on. The auntie who’ll take care of you is surnamed Lin, fifty-two this year, an expert at taking care of new moms, and she’s one of my own people, so you don’t have to worry about safety.”
At this moment of parting, Su Liumeng was a bit naggy, as if there were endless things she wanted to tell me.
I clung to the hem of her clothes, unwilling to let go.
“Baby, let go now, I really have to go. They’re already urging me.” Su Liumeng stroked my head gently.
I sniffed hard, forcing back my tears.
“Su Liumeng, don’t think about me, or you’ll get distracted.”
“Remember, if anyone hits you, hit them back. I can’t stand seeing you bullied.”
“Okay, I remember.” Su Liumeng tucked my stray hair behind my ear.
I let go of her clothes and forced a smile, “Go on.”
Su Liumeng nodded, “Take care of yourself.”
The helicopter descended lower and lower, then let down a long soft ladder.
Su Liumeng leapt up, grabbing the lowest rung.
As she rose higher with the helicopter, I suddenly ran forward a couple of steps, cupping my hands around my mouth, and shouted up at the sky.
“Su Liumeng!”
“Don’t forget what you promised!”
“I know I can’t change your mind, so I won’t ask you to just survive. Since that’s the case, then get a good ranking and slap that old witch in the face for me!”
“I—”
“I’ll be waiting for you at Beiqing when you come back.” I ran forward two more steps, hands on my knees, panting for breath.
The helicopter rose higher and higher, until I couldn’t see it anymore, but in the air, it felt like Su Liumeng’s shout, using all her strength, still echoed.
“I will! Wait for me to come back!”
I smiled and smiled, and suddenly started crying, tears streaming uncontrollably down my cheeks.
I wasn’t sad.
I was so happy to hear her words, I cried.