Reunion with Them (Part Two)

The human and the iron armor sat side by side, leaning against the wall. "Hmph!" Back turned to him, the silent iron armor finally let out a soft huff. Muffled by the iron plating, the sound came out dull. *She really is just a young girl,* Han Qingyu thought, trying his best to overcome the unfamiliarity in his heart as he imagined what the girl beneath the metal looked like. Tear streaks probably still lined her face, looking thoroughly wronged and aggrieved? "Your iron armor looks pretty nice, actually. When I went to fight up in the sky, I wore iron armor too, but it wasn't as good-looking as yours," Han Qingyu said, trying hard to find something to talk about. Unfortunately, he had brought up the exact thing he shouldn't have—how could the two suits of armor be compared at all? Rusty Sister fell silent again. "How about I let you hit me back?" Han Qingyu hesitated before asking tentatively. The iron armor seemed a little stirred; with a *clack*, she turned her head to size him up. Han Qingyu subconsciously shrank back, panic flitting through his eyes. *What a cowardly Qingzi.* Rusty Sister nearly laughed out loud, but fought hard to hold it in, turning away again without a word. *I almost died under those iron fists...* Han Qingyu pushed past the awkwardness and said, "Plague Chicken just told me we used to be on great terms. He even said I used to dote on you a lot." "Great terms my foot. We fought all day," Shen Yixiu muttered softly from beneath the armor. "Really?" Han Qingyu was taken aback. If they fought all day, their skill levels were probably about even? He followed up, "Then between you and Wu Xu, who's stronger?" "...For a while, I was stronger." The iron armor looked away from him, saying seriously and sincerely, "For a while, I was the strongest." Meaning she couldn't beat him later on. Han Qingyu understood and didn't call her out, continuing curiously, "Then how about compared to Zhu Jiaming?" "I'm a bit stronger... but the difference probably isn't very big either." The Little Prince's true combat strength had always been an enigma; maybe he really had something tucked away up his sleeve. Thinking this, Rusty Sister decided to be modest. "Oh, so that means you can also snap a steel rod with your bare hands, right?" As Han Qingyu spoke, he fished the half steel rod out of his pocket and laid it flat on his palm. Rusty Sister looked at it, momentarily confused. *I'm stronger than the Little Prince, so why on earth do I have to snap a steel rod?* *Fine, since Qingzi is curious,* she thought, taking the short section of steel rod, setting it upright, and propping it between her thumb and forefinger. Then, without appearing to exert any strength at all, her fingers simply closed together slowly... Under the squeeze, the steel rod shortened at a steady pace, crumbling into powder that drifted down to the ground. "So amazing!" Han Qingyu was stunned. "Hmph." The grunt was very brief. Rusty Sister tried her best to control it so Qingzi wouldn't notice her feeling smug. Even though this didn't seem worth being smug about in the slightest. At this point, the atmosphere finally softened a bit. Han Qingyu scooted a little closer, using his body language to show: *I don't treat you like a monster anymore, and I'm not afraid of you.* Actually, the question Han Qingyu was most curious about was why Shen Yixiu stayed trapped inside the iron armor and couldn't come out. Was she injured? What would it take for her to get out? These were things Wen Jifei hadn't had time to explain, and besides, they were probably things he shouldn't ask. "By the way, you aren't hurt, are you?" he apologized. "I'm not that weak," Rusty Sister said. "That's good... I'll recover very soon," Han Qingyu said after thinking for a moment. "Even if it takes a little longer, when we get to know each other again, we'll definitely be as close as before, right?" "...Mm." "By the way, what kind of things do you like?" Han Qingyu asked suddenly after the conversation trailed off. From the perspective of an ordinary person, this was probably a very normal and natural question. To Rusty Sister, however, it sounded a bit strange. "Does beating you up and swinging you around count?" Rusty Sister thought about it and snapped fiercely, "What's with the interrogation?! It's not like I'm on a blind date with you." "..." Han Qingyu felt completely embarrassed. *Just make sure you don't lose my mirror, and don't you dare give it to some blind date just because you've lost your memory, or I'll beat you to death,* Rusty Sister thought to herself, but hesitated and kept it inside. Because the significance of leaving her mirror with Qingzi—or rather, her purpose when giving it to him back then—was something she felt too shy to talk about now. *The Qingzi right now seems a little cuter than before.* *Probably because the old him was just too detestable.* *Yeah, only when compared to himself...* Rusty Sister thought secretly to herself. This conversation ended up lasting nearly an hour. Even in the past, the two of them had never talked so peacefully for so long; back then, they were always bickering or bashing each other at the slightest provocation. When Han Qingyu left, his mood had lightened considerably. However, the moment he stepped out the front doors of the new building— *Swish!* Out on the open clearing, every Stream Vanguard soldier present snapped a salute in unison, their eyes fixed on him. Plague Chicken was nowhere in sight. Wu Xu was there, but looked completely impassive. As for Zhu Jiaming... forget about him. In a tense, uncertain environment, people instinctively search for familiar faces or things. Han Qingyu was actually feeling rather insecure right now, because in his current state, he had neither the confidence nor the psychological readiness to lead such a force. Soon, however, the part of his nature that refused to show weakness and gritted his teeth through everything surged up... He halted, stood upright, his gaze unflinching as it swept across the ranks. Then he nodded and strode past them... *Some things are probably innate. Or once experienced, can never be erased,* Xu Shiliang thought silently from the ranks as he watched Han Qingyu's back, his mind put at ease. For a second just now, he had almost suspected that Major Qing's amnesia was a facade. Many of the Stream Vanguard soldiers present felt the same way. ............ "Held it together, after all." When Han Qingyu stepped through the front door, his parents happened to be coming out. They had probably been waiting all this time. Bandages wrapped around her head, his mom glared at him first and asked, "Did you coax her?" "Yeah." Han Qingyu nodded hurriedly. "Let's go have a look," Han Youshan said from the side. During that past hour, Wen Jifei and He Tangtang had already told them everything about Rusty Sister's situation, including the years they had lived through together. A young girl whose parents had both died, left with only an elderly grandfather for company. Mortally wounded, she had been sealed inside iron armor, relying continuously on source energy to sustain her life—for seven or eight years already. As ordinary people, Han's father and mother found it harder than those in the source energy world to fathom such agony and despair, and thus ached for her all the more. Furthermore, this wasn't the first time the young girl had kept watch over their son like this. During the three years they had drifted across the world, whenever Han Qingyu was injured, she had always done the same. The Han family had no daughter, but now, it felt as though they suddenly had one—a little daughter who tugged at their hearts. Han Youshan and Zhang Jiexia wished they could rush out right away and make the prettiest new clothes for her, wished they could cook a feast of her favorite dishes every day, but they knew she couldn't wear them, nor could she eat. They wanted to try giving her the simplest warmth and care, like family. His parents headed toward the new building. Compared to Han Qingyu, they were far more familiar with the soldiers now. Of course, they had had a nervous phase too, but that had long since passed. In the Han family's main hall, Wen Jifei stood up. He had just seen Qingzi's performance in front of the soldiers. He was very happy and felt much more at ease, but he didn't mention it to Qingzi. Because he had to account for a possibility: if Qingzi's recovery was very slow... he would have to grow up all over again, and as quickly as possible. "You two didn't start brawling, did you?" Wen Jifei asked with a smile. "...No." Han Qingyu offered a wry smile, wondering how he could have fought with her all the time in the past. Such a pitiful girl... Those habits naturally formed from years together were incomprehensible to his present self as well. "That's good." Saying this, Wen Jifei pulled out a piece of paper and smoothed it open. "So what's the plan now? Stay here and keep doing blind dates, or do we take a trip out?" "Go out?" Han Qingyu's tone turned a little flustered. "Yeah. There's a ceremony for the official launch of Azure's full-scale conscription. Azure Headquarters and the various Fronts sent a joint letter hoping you can attend," Wen Jifei said. "Including the old man. He said he misses seeing you a bit. 'A bit' means a lot. He's not the type who would ever admit to missing someone terribly." "Who's the old man?" Han Qingyu asked, puzzled, guessing it had to be someone he used to know. "His name is Chen Buer. Commander of the Sole Witness Legion, Azure Huaxia Front." Sounds like a very high-ranking officer. Han Qingyu thought for a moment. "Oh, then he..." "The man invincible in the mortal world. For forty years." Invincible in the mortal world? Han Qingyu stared blankly, then grumbled in frustration, "Then why didn't he go chop down that Daie?" "He went. But you beat him to it," Wen Jifei said with a laugh.