by <unknown>
"Don't call me Aunt!" The female colleague took off her sunglasses with a smile, revealing a pair of aggressive eyes, and grinned. "You are less than twenty years younger than me. Call me Sister Ding!"
"Sister… Ding."
Guo Xiaohe scratched her head and intuitively felt that this 'Sister Ding' was a great friend-maker and would not be hard to get along with.
However, she did have a feeling that she had seen the stranger somewhere before.
Sister Ding handed over a skewer of chicken wings to her. "Little sister, you don't look very happy. Don't like barbeques? Here, all the first batch of chicken wings is yours. Take it slow. Don't hurt yourself!"
"No! No!" Blushing, Guo Xiaohe quickly shook her head and explained, "I've been meaning to meet everyone from my dad's workplace for a long time so that I can know my dad better… Wow, what are the spices for the chicken wings? It's so delicious!"
For the first time in her life, Guo Xiaohe was about to cry out for the scrumptiousness of the food. After only one bite, she felt that brilliance was beaming out of every pore on her body. Having no time to care about whether the chicken wings were hot or not, she devoured all of them quickly and barely left any bones.
"Hahahaha. Of course it is delicious. The fire is my technique!"
Sister Ding raised her head and laughed hard toward the sky, her arms akimbo. Making delicious chicken wings for a girl seemed to be something that she was very proud of.
Right then, sounds were echoing from Guo Xiaohe's portable crystal processor. The fan meeting appeared to have reached its climax.
"Huh. It's Wu Mayan's voice." Sister Ding observed her face and immediately understood what is going on. "You like Wu Mayan, don't you?"
"Yes." Guo Xiaohe nodded, somewhat in embarrassment. She could not help but enlarge the light beam a little bit.
Her confidantes on the other side of the light beam had basically gone crazy. "Xiaohe, we just hugged Wu Mayan. Hugged him! Hahahahahaha!"
Guo Xiaohe was unbelievably jealous.
"Our Xiaohe loves Wu Mayan," Yao Li, Guo Chunfeng's wife, said with a smile. "Posters of Wu Mayan are all over our home. She is almost a member of his fan club, where a bunch of young girls collect information about Wu Mayan like lunatics."
"Is this brat so charismatic? I really don't know what young people nowadays are thinking." Sister Ding sniffed. "I find him very unattractive, not to mention that he is also a coward. After only several punches, he was already weeping and begging for mercy, a far stretch from Li Yao years ago!
"However, if I had known that Sister Xiaohe likes him, I would've asked him to change the date of his fan meeting so that he could join the barbeque with us.
"But it doesn't matter. I'll call him later and ask him to come here early after the meeting. We'll have dinner together. How does that sound, Sister Xiaohe?"
The weird conversation dumbfounded Guo Xiaohe.
Bulging her eyes, she stared at Sister Ding for a long time. Finally, an image that she was very familiar with, along with a thunderous, sparkling name, popped up in her head!
The name almost struck Guo Xiaohe into a coma like a streak of lightning. As if daydreaming, she stammered, "Ding, Ding, Ding—
"Ding Lingdang?"
Sister Ding smiled and handed over another chicken wing. "You're right. That's me."
Chapter 1158: Not Nonexistent? |
"Wu Mayan! Wu Mayan! Wu Mayan!"
Excited shouts were echoing from the portable crystal processor.
All her confidantes and the boys, including Si Mao, had gone crazy.
However, Guo Xiaohe was no longer attracted by them.
Her head went blank, and she took the chicken wing from Ding Lingdang's hands subconsciously. She looked at the chicken wing and then at Ding Lingdang, wondering whether she should be panicked or thrilled!
Ding Lingdang. It was truly the 'Crimson Queen' Ding Lingdang!
She was a super expert who had been famous in the Heaven's Origin Sector for more than ten years! Compared to her, Wu Mayan—the Eagle of Iron Plateau, who had only been in the Heaven's Origin Sector for one year—was just a rookie. He was definitely no match for her in terms of capability, fame, or influence!
Besides, Wu Mayan had always trained below Ding Lingdang after he came to the Heaven's Origin Sector and considered himself her disciple. Everybody knew it, too!
Guo Xiaohe had missed Wu Mayan's fan meeting, but the legendary 'Crimson Queen' Ding Lingdang showed up miraculously and even roasted two batches of chicken wings for her.
That—that—that was too…
Holding the chicken wings in a daze for a long time, she suddenly shrieked and jumped to her feet, rushing to the brook not far away.
She waved the chicken wings at her father and shouted, "Dad! Dad! You—you—you invited Ding Lingdang to barbeque with us? That—that—that is Ding Lingdang. The Crimson Queen!
"Dad, how did you manage it? That is incredible. Highly incredible of you!"
Guo Chunfeng was washing and dissecting the fish with a male colleague of his. The two of them had prepared a bucket of small fish. Hearing the voice, they turned around at the same time and smiled at her.
Guo Xiaohe's crazily waving arms suddenly halted, as if she was magically frozen. Squinting, she observed her father's male colleague suspiciously.
This guy…
He looked plain and had messy hair. He was wearing slack shorts and a linen T-shirt with a tiny hole on his sleeve.
In general, he seemed to be exactly the same type of person as her father, not able to care less about his appearance.
Guo Xiaohe could not tell how old the guy was.
At first glance, he was a young man slightly older than her, but there was an immeasurable feeling to his plain-looking face.
After she blinked, the feeling was gone, and the guy was another mundane, unattractive person.
However, Guo Xiaohe vaguely felt that, like her father, when the guy squatted near the brook, he was like a rock, a blade of grass, or a tree. They seemed to be part of the mountain, as if they had naturally grown here!
As for the face… the face…
Guo Xiaohe was quick enough to stuff the chicken wing into her mouth and bit it hard in case she shrieked again.
The plain-looking young man extended his hand to her with a smile. "Nice to meet you. I am Li Yao."
Guo Xiaohe took a breath for a long time. She tried to hold it back but failed. In the end, she was shrieking at the top of her voice.
"Ah! Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
Good heavens! Was she in a dream? It could not possibly be not a dream, right? Vulture Li Yao? Vulture Li Yao!
Vulture Li Yao was an Ultra-Level Federal Hero. In the few years at the beginning, it had mainly been for the purpose of propaganda.
However, as his endeavors in the Flying Star Sector and the Blood Demon Sector were publicly known, all the citizens of the federation, from seniors a hundred and eighty years old to little kids, were all impressed by his legendary experiences of fighting the Immortal Cultivators, destroying the Eye of Blood Demon, and disrupting the Patriots Partnership!
If Wu Mayan, the Eagle of Iron Plateau, was a regular idol, and Ding Lingdang, the Crimson Queen, was a super idol, then Vulture Li Yao, as Wu Mayan's master, could not be described as an idol at all.
Calling him an idol would be a great insult to him.
He was the kind of illustrious individual that should only appear in textbooks or exams. For example, 'briefly describe Vulture Li Yao's experiences in the Blood Demon Sector and analyze the procedures of him breaking into the Eye of Blood Demon', which would frustrate and infuriate the test-takers and make them wake up in fear from nightmares!
However, the god who should only appear in textbooks or exams was wearing slack shorts, a T-shirt, and slippers, showing up in front of her face with a smile a bucket of fish.
"Xiaohe, I hugged Wu Mayan one more time. One more time. Hahahaha. I've hugged him for you!"
/>
On the light beam, her confidantes who did not know what was happening on her side were still yelling.
"Xiaohe, I planned to ask my uncle to have dinner with Wu Mayan so that I could bring you together. He agreed at first! But later, he said that he had to have dinner with his master at night and could only meet us another day! Rest assured. I'll definitely make an appointment with him for you another day. It's all on me!" the fat boy said, half to ask for compliment and half in regret.
Guo Xiaohe moved her lips and intended to explain to her friends, but she put down her portable crystal processor when it almost reached her mouth.
How should she explain? Should she tell the guy that it would be unnecessary because Wu Mayan's master was standing right in front of her face and would be having dinner with her and Wu Mayan?
Calm down. I must calm myself down!
Guo Xiaohe rubbed her chest hard for a long time. Still, she could not help but jump to a giant rock nearby in the end and roar to the sky, "How can anybody calm down when they run into something like this? Am I mad, or is it the world?"
…
Two hours later, everybody had enjoyed enough food and drink.
Guo Xiaohe had finally managed to recover from the overwhelming shock and accept the fact that her father was the director of the Secret Sword Bureau as if she had just woken up from a dream.
But the girl was rather carefree. She was playing with Ding Lingdang delightedly immediately after she was back to herself!
Li Yao and Guo Chunfeng went to the depths of Jade Maple Mountain with two empty buckets.
It was said that there was an icy spring at the bottom of a cave inside the mountain. The water from the spring could add quite a unique flavor to tea.
Li Yao stretched out his arms and patted his puffy belly, smiling. "After being busy as bee for more than a year, I almost feel as if I'm not suited to this new lifestyle, having rested for half a month. I feel that my bones are itching, and I have to find something to do!"
"Why don't we swap our jobs?" Guo Chunfeng smiled, too. "That is very easy for you to say, young brother. You've been living your life comfortably this past month, eating, sleeping, and training. How enjoyable it was! But I was ten times busier than before!"
"Those who are capable must be troubled! Who else could find all the members of the Patriots Partnership lurking in the Secret Sword Bureau, the federal army, and other government agencies except for you, Brother Guo?"
Li Yao grinned. "How does it feel, Brother Guo, Director Guo? You are now the absolute leader of the secret frontline of the federation. With the authorization of parliament, you've also received the top confidential intelligence of the federation and the Blood Demon Sector. Even the Jade Crystal Disc that stores Elder Nether Spring's memories is yours to parse. You now have even more power than Lu Zui did in the past. How does it feel?"
"That's all temporary." Guo Chunfeng shook his head and said, "It has to be done in order to uproot the Patriots Partnership. After everything is over, I will report to parliament in person and submit my proposal to restrain the power of the Secret Sword Bureau. At the very least, it should be checked and balanced in a certain way. Only by doing so can we make sure that the ambitions of an individual will not expand infinitely and that the tragedy of the Patriots Partnership will not happen again.
"As for how it feels…
"In short, grueling!
"You know that I have never been a man lustful for power. I am only interested in cracking cases and capturing criminals. If a second person was qualified to be the director of the Secret Sword Bureau, I would be more than happy to give them the post and continue working as the supervisor of the first division as before.
"There's nothing on my mind right now except to solve everything as quickly as possible so that I'll have more time to spend with my wife and my daughter."
Li Yao smiled. "I think you've done a great job as the director, Brother Guo. I've read the case files. You have been very prudent, and you paid attention to the subtle differences between the members of the Patriots Partnership instead of punishing them alike."
"Of course," Guo Chunfeng replied solemnly. "The biggest taboo of such cases is amplification, like how Jin Tuyi struck the 'remnants of Elder Nether Spring' in the Blood Demon Sector or how Lu Zui struck the Children of the Nether World on our side. Such cases were merely means for them to remove their dissidents! If we punish all the members of the Patriots Partnership in the same way, it will shake the foundation of the federation and raise new mistrust!
"It's just like the nonexistent Abyss. If we were determined to find out who Abyss was, how much trouble would we have caused, and how many innocent people could've been wrongly accused?
"Therefore, prudence is the top guideline for me when working on the case. We cannot make things up. We cannot imagine that a random guy is a member of the Patriots Partnership without solid evidence!"
Li Yao nodded and looked at Guo Chunfeng. "You're quite right, Brother Guo. However, speaking of Abyss, I feel that he might not be nonexistent."
Guo Chunfeng was dazed and stopped. "What do you mean? Elder Nether Spring confessed countless times that Abyss does not exist and was just a disguise for the Children of the Nether World before his death under the soul searching technique. Besides, the examination on his memories reported no traces of Abyss at all."
Li Yao continued walking forward, spinning the empty bucket quickly on his fingertip. He said unhurriedly, "Elder Nether Spring was a man at the peak of both worlds. Is it strange to think that he could grit through the interrogation? Besides, one percent of the area inside his brain was completely sealed by himself. Nobody knew what was hidden inside. Now, the information has perished together with his brain cells."
Guo Chunfeng followed him up. "You are suspicious that Abyss is not nonexistent? What proof do you have?"
"Nothing. It's just my intuition." Li Yao smiled and tapped his temple. "However, my intuition has often proved to be correct. I'm not going to let go of the lead. I will certainly pursue further until I dig out the real Abyss!
"Brother Guo, what's up? Let's keep walking!"
"Oh. Okay, okay. Look, that is the Blue Light Cave I told you about!"
Chapter 1159: Abyss in the Cave! |
Hidden among the rocks at the front was a small cave. The two of them walked in the cave, talking and laughing. The seemingly small cave was much more spacious than it appeared to be. It was cold and full of beautiful stalactites whose colors were changing nonstop under the light.
They found the Blue Water Spring at the bottom of the cave. Li Yao picked up a handful of water and tasted it. The water was indeed sweet and refreshing.
"Great water!" Li Yao complimented and was about to fill in the empty buckets.
"Wait." Blinking his eyes, Guo Chunfeng suddenly interjected. "Let's not hurry to fill in the buckets. The Blue Water Spring has another great advantage. There's this Sand Bamboo Worm living at the bottom and in the wall of the spring. It is fresh and succulent. One of the best meats in the world, I would say. This is the best season to eat them. Let's me see if I can find any."
The spring was only half a meter deep. Guo Chunfeng did not care about his demeanor and simply crouched next to the spring, groping for the worms for a long time in the spring. In the end, he stood up in disappointment and shook his head. "Bad luck. I didn't find them."
"Let me have a try!" Li Yao was greatly interested. He crouched next to the spring like Guo Chunfeng and extended his hands into the spring.
"Okay, but don't use your spiritual energy. Such worms are most sensitive to spiritual energy. They must've retreated into the mud because of the tiny bit of spiritual energy that I wielded," Guo Chunfeng reminded him.
"Alright!"
Li Yao concealed his spiritual energy to the minimum. Like a completely ordinary person, he lowered half of his body into the spring and groped with all his attention. Even his head was soaked in the water.
Be
hind him, Guo Chunfeng stood in silence like a tree that was infested by bugs.
He also seemed to be swallowed by an invisible swamp inch by inch, with struggles written all over his face.
His face was now discontented, now angry, now aggressive, now frustrated, and now filled with the intense affection for his wife and his daughter.
The veins on the back of his hand bulged three times but died down again, only to rise thicker, higher, and more twisted!
Li Yao felt none of it. Half of his body was soaked in the spring as he groped for the Sand Bamboo worms carefully.
When his veins bulged for the fourth time, Guo Chunfeng's pupils had been melted into his eyes, which were now pure black. He seemed about to become someone else. But at the last moment, something seemed to occur to him. He grunted, with cold sweat popping up all over his body, and lowered his hands. Stepping backward, he lost all his vigor, and his face was brimming with confusion and desperation.
"Let's go back," Guo Chunfeng said feebly.
"Wait a moment." Li Yao stood straight in the spring and wiped off the cold water from his face. "I'm about to get them. Let me have another try."
"There's no need." Upset, Guo Chunfeng said, "Maybe they have all been dug out by the gourmets. Let's go. Everybody is waiting for us!"
"Alright!"
Li Yao shook the water off his body and filled the two empty buckets with the spring water. He handed a bucket to Guo Chunfeng and eyed him curiously. "Brother Guo, are you not feeling well? Why is there cold sweat all over your forehead?"
"You don't know the answer? Because I've been exhausted recently, of course! I asked you to help me, but you hid in your refining workshop and didn't leave the room for quite a few days. You didn't even have time for a promotional video. Are there any other federal heroes like you?"
Guo Chunfeng glared and picked up a bucket. Turning around, he walked out of the cave. "Let's head back. I'll show you how I make tea!"
