A Very Complicated Han Qingyu

As Mosorijin spoke, he stepped forward slightly from the battle formation, flanked by a super combat power, yet he still felt hollow inside. After all, there were at least two supers across from him, one of whom was on the Dome Leaderboard. And Butcher Ivan's position was not here. At a gesture from the super combat power, the front-rank officers and soldiers of the Splinter Faction moved with Mosorijin, pushing the entire battle line forward. In doing so, they had essentially enclosed Han Qingyu's group and the crowd of captives within their formation. Naturally, so as not to obstruct sightlines, they cleared a corridor down the middle. Nor did anyone dare touch the blue starlight column sword planted in the ground. When Mosorijin finally spoke, Han Qingyu did not look back. Yet this was no deliberate snub... The plain truth was that he hadn't heard. The captives were in the middle of talking about him, and in such a noisy environment, when someone addressed you in a language you didn't understand, it was only natural to miss it. "And your parents?" Han Qingyu looked around as he asked, reaching out once more to take Milla by the wrist, preparing to lead her away. This was the exact reason he had come down: he was worried Milla might be injured, and that her family might be among the captives, because once a melee broke out, casualties among the prisoners would be inevitable. Major Qing did, in fact, have his thoughtful moments. However— "My parents don't work in this sector." As Milla answered, she shifted slightly to the side. She had dodged again. That made twice. "Oh, that's good then." Han Qingyu nodded, somewhat bewildered. Confusion churned in his mind: *Why won't she let me take her hand? If I hold your wrist... and they suddenly charge, I can carry you and fly!* "What an idiot," Wen Jifei cursed under his breath from behind. Because Han Green Worm had just tried to grab Milla's left wrist with his left hand both times. So Milla shifting aside was probably trying to offer him her right wrist... "Left hand holding left hand—do you want Milla to walk backward behind you later?" he hissed in exasperation. "..." Wait. Left hand? Right hand? Left hand holding left hand, left hand holding right hand, right hand holding... Wu Xu was thoroughly confused. Fortunately, Han Qingyu caught on. He gave an awkward chuckle and said, "Then let's go." He put a bit of extra stress on the words, bending slightly to take Milla's right wrist instead. This time, Milla did not pull away, obediently letting Han Qingyu hold her right wrist as he turned her around. Yelena hopped forward and fell in behind them. The actual reason Han Qingyu emphasized those words was to cue the people close to Milla that they could come along. He couldn't take over a thousand captives away all at once—that would almost certainly trigger an immediate bloodbath—so he could only get Milla out first before considering anything else. *Of course, bringing along a few extra shouldn't hurt.* *Even though they probably don't understand the language, if they have any wits about them, they ought to think to follow, right?* Han Qingyu mused, hearing Yelena's footsteps behind him. *This King looked completely clumsy just a moment ago, but who knew he'd drop hints like that?* Yelena thought, briskly slipping in between Wu Xu and Wen Jifei. In fact, before jumping out, she had deliberately glanced at Aleksei, signaling him to come with them. As a top combat power, Aleksei had been badly injured in the earlier chaos, and his condition was dire. Yet Aleksei chose not to follow. "A man's last scrap of dignity must be upheld, no matter how foolish. I cannot be rescued by him like this," Aleksei had smiled and waved his hand while clutching his wound. And so, only one had followed. *A bit of a pity,* Han Qingyu thought. The Mosorijin over there seemed very practical and remarkably patient; they had been fussing around down here for nearly ten minutes, yet he hadn't stopped them, hadn't even uttered a word. In truth, by this point, Mosorijin had already spoken about eight sentences! He was caught in a dilemma: If he clashed directly with The King, the situation would be exceedingly grim, and he might very well die. The best-case scenario would be to let him take the girl and leave with his people, staying completely out of it. After all, he had severed ties with Azure long ago, hadn't he? Yet Mosorijin couldn't simply allow The King to walk people out of his battle formation without uttering a peep, especially right after a clash had occurred. His soldiers' morale would collapse. Thus, Mosorijin desperately wished Han Qingyu would acknowledge him, allowing him to use clever rhetoric to smooth over the situation and save face. God bless, The King finally turned around. "Does The King intend to take someone away just like this? I believe I need to know in what capacity you are doing so," Mosorijin said in a suppressed voice. Han Qingyu heard him this time. He raised his head and looked at him. The look was entirely benign—because it was utterly blank. He couldn't understand a single word. Patter-patter came the sound of running footsteps as Tu Zi dashed over in excitement. Finally, it was his turn to take the stage—even if Milla could probably have done it just as well. "Brother Qingzi." "Hey, speaking of which, why are you the one here?" "The chief of staff sent me, heh." Tu Zi rubbed his hands together with a grin. "He's asking under what title you're taking Miss Milla away." "Oh. In a personal capacity." Han Qingyu did not hesitate for a second. With that, he stepped forward. Holding Milla's right wrist, with He Tangtang and the others plus Yelena in tow, he strode along the open corridor yielding through the Splinter Faction's formation, his pace even, neither rushed nor slow. Tu Zi caught up. Hesitating for a moment, he stole a glance at Milla, but in the end decided against taking any reckless chances and translated the words faithfully. Mosorijin felt a surge of joy. "So that means The King is indeed no longer a subordinate of the Azure Alliance? And you have not come under orders this time? If that is truly so, then I believe there is certainly no need for us to stop you from taking your girl." Having finally found a way out, Mosorijin delivered his speech in the tone of one important figure addressing another, his eyes filled with anticipation as he waited for a reply. *Dumbass!* The moment he heard Tu Zi's translation, Han Qingyu cursed inwardly, because the question was... so damn despicable. He still needed to go hack Alphonse to pieces! And even less did he want to say he was still part of the Azure Alliance. "No," Han Qingyu said. Hearing his answer, Tu Zi stared at him blankly. *Is he truly not anymore? Qingzi is actually going to declare in front of so many Huaxia comrades-in-arms and Legion Commander Chen Buer that he's no longer Azure!* *Could it be that he really only came to take Miss Milla and doesn't care about anything else?!* *They were just threatening the legion commander a moment ago!* "I..." Tu Zi didn't translate right away, trying to say something first. Then his mind pivoted: *Wait, Brother Qingzi isn't someone who cares about saving face...* *No, saying that about Brother Qingzi seems a bit harsh! Could it be that Brother Qingzi isn't someone who keeps his word?* *Brother Qingzi isn't a good person?* *Fine, let's just go with it for now. Let Brother Qingzi take Miss Milla out first.* "No!" Tu Zi translated. The King had stated in his own words that he was no longer a man of Azure! Because there was still some distance between them, Tu Zi translated quite loudly. At that moment, Milla turned her head, looking at Han Qingyu and the others with aching eyes, but remained silent. Although she didn't know the full details, she could understand what they had been through. Mosorijin was so thrilled he could practically weep. Across the way, the ten-thousand-man Huaxia battle formation fell into a collective silence. Some felt grief and outrage; others understood the reasons, yet couldn't fathom why it had to be here and now, when only moments ago they had cheered his arrival... Even more eyes turned toward the legion commander. "Hah! When saluting the girl earlier, didn't you call yourself Azure and shout your unit designation?" Chen Buer mocked angrily, sounding like a disembodied voiceover. When saying this, he didn't look toward them at all, speaking instead to the empty air at his flank. It felt just like two people in a cold war, where one hears something, can't resist chiming in, yet stubbornly puts on an air of *I'm definitely not talking to you*. ...The scene and atmosphere grew rather bizarre. *Isn't this... a bit inappropriate? We're in the middle of a battle!* The soldiers felt thoroughly bewildered. In truth, beyond looking up to them, hearing stories, and marveling at the legends, they didn't really know these two figures at the pinnacle of the dome. Come to think of it, from the moment they arrived until now, the legion commander and Major Qing didn't seem to have exchanged a single word. Major Qing turned around. "When did I ever mention Azure?!" Their first exchange after more than two years apart: the legion commander being sarcastic, and Major Qing snapping straight back... It was actually like this! "Sole Witness Legion, Ninth Army, Regiment 425, Squad 1777..." the old man recited. "That was just to cheer Miss Milla up. And who might you be, old man?" Han Qingyu retorted gloomily. Milla: "..." The soldiers: "???" Chen Buer: "..." If he didn't have urgent matters at hand, he would have charged over right then and beaten the kid until he cried for grandpa. *Truth be told, I'd really love to see for myself just how much they've grown!* the old man thought, saying nothing more. Wen Jifei, He Tangtang, and the others lowered their heads, chuckling quietly... In their memory, every time Qingzi and the old commander crossed paths, they ended up trading blows like this. Only Mosorijin remained thrilled. Of course he had an interpreter beside him as well, but the interpreter conveyed only the words, lacking context and emotion, so he truly felt like crying tears of joy. He prepared to offer this convenient favor and take the way out. "I believe this is the best possible news. A rotten Azure should have been abandoned long ago. Since that is the case, I have no desire to make an enemy of Major Qing..." Mosorijin began with a smile, but trailed off halfway through. The interpreter on his side hadn't even spoken yet, but The King turned back and cast a glance at him. This look was entirely different from before. In this gaze, there was impatience, fury, warning... and even a bone-chilling sensation, like staring death in the face. It seemed to say: *The fuck are you smiling at?!* Mosorijin clamped his mouth shut. In the end, he was merely a crafty politician, not an iron-blooded warrior; otherwise, battle would have broken out long ago. The scene fell briefly silent. "The old man has withered a lot over these two years," Wen Jifei said softly, standing behind Han Qingyu. Calling him withered felt disrespectful, but he couldn't find a more fitting, precise word. "...Yeah." Han Qingyu murmured a quiet assent and gave a slight nod.