In the past, Jiang Longchi would occasionally be triggered by certain things to briefly recall his identity. Now, such moments occurred less and less frequently. He no longer even recognized Azure's military uniforms, nor could he tell what maneuver gear or source energy blocks were.
He merely felt a sense of familiarity.
Taking advantage of the time Zhang Jiexia was away buying wine at the village shop, Han Youshan rummaged through a chest, found Jiang Longchi's own gear, handed it to him, and loaded it with source energy blocks.
...
Shenghai, the old house in Xinbienong.
His head lowered, Little Prince smiled with quiet satisfaction.
Here today, he had done what he ought to do for this team.
And then, Qingzi had stepped up too.
Han Qingyu had finally made his first major decision since waking up with amnesia. Although he said he couldn't make decisions on Major Qing's behalf, in truth, the moment he embraced the vendetta, the decision was made.
*Must be tough on you, Qingzi,* Wen Jifei sighed inwardly, then spoke up, tossing out a perfunctory, "Little Prince is the man."
The growth Qingzi had to undergo from scratch probably began right here today. In the future, there would be many more exceedingly difficult decisions waiting for him to make—such as going to battle, such as killing... and such as walking toward death.
Back during the Zenith War, he had once made the decision to march toward death and fight alone.
Wen Jifei would never allow that kind of situation to happen again.
Yet it was still almost inevitable that one day, Qingzi would have to make a similar decision—to lead the group standing here toward death, to lead the ten thousand men of Stream Vanguard toward death, or even to lead this world's million long blades into a battle that meant near-certain demise.
"Qingzi?" On the scene, Zhe Qiuhong was still making a final attempt.
"For the sake of those three years of friendship and Qingbai's life, I won't hold it against you that you arranged an assassination attempt on me," Han Qingyu replied in a low voice, cutting off any possibility of Zhe Qiuhong continuing.
Was he still in his role-playing state?
No, what he said was actually tinged with sorrow.
Sorrow that all sentiment with this "friend" named Zhe Qiuhong truly ended here.
It was just that apart from his old companions, no one else present could detect the sorrow in his voice.
Zhe Qiuhong, of course, heard it. Thus, she knew with certainty that there was no longer any room to turn things around.
Silence.
The atmosphere couldn't quite be described as dagger-drawn, because the two sides were not even in the same league. If the Voyage personnel present made a move, it would merely mean a few more people accompanying Zhe Shouzhao on the journey to the grave.
"...Run!" A voice suddenly cried out.
Scenes of playing with her younger brother during childhood flashed constantly through her mind, even though such moments had been rare... Zhe Qiuhong spoke abruptly as her body darted forward, throwing herself in front of Wu Xu.
She knew the chance of this working was slim to the point of nonexistent. She also knew doing this was shameless. But this was already the only thing left she could do: sacrifice herself to block the strongest, Wu Xu, granting Zhe Shouzhao one final chance to escape.
*Creak.* The hidden wall was pushed open.
Zhe Qiuhong turned her head and froze. "You!"
Against everyone's expectations, Zhe Shouzhao did not seize the chance to flee.
With the situation having reached this point, he actually took the initiative to trigger the mechanism, sliding open the hidden wall and walking out.
"Long time no see, Major Qing. Oh, I forgot, you're crippled and lost your memory. Allow me to introduce myself: I am Zhe Shouzhao. The very Zhe Shouzhao who once hunted you all down like dogs—the one you swore you'd kill the next time you met."
Holding up a black communicator in his left hand, Zhe Shouzhao walked forward with a confident smile, looking at Little Prince. "Don't be rash. This one hasn't been blocked by you."
"And so?" Little Prince asked flatly in return, puzzled in his mind. What kind of leverage does this bastard have to be so confident, so arrogant?
He racked his brain, but couldn't think of anything.
Wen Jifei couldn't think of anything either.
Zhe Shouzhao didn't bother responding to Little Prince. He turned his gaze back to Han Qingyu and halted his steps.
"Luckily, I still recognize you." Zhe Shouzhao paused briefly, the corner of his mouth curling upward as he said slowly, "Actually, I don't just recognize you—I also recognize your home, and your parents."
"..." The riddle was solved so quickly. Except for the men Zhe Shouzhao had brought back from the outside, nearly everyone in the room froze.
So Zhe Shouzhao's trump card was Fenglong'ao, Qingzi's parents?!
"I know an Azure squad is garrisoned there, including one top-tier fighter, plus some of your Stream Vanguard people. A pity that among the rendezvous points we just reported, one 'just happened' to be in that vicinity... So the two top-tier fighters Stream Vanguard left in the village have just departed."
Zhe Shouzhao continued.
No one knew how he had tracked down Fenglong'ao. In truth, it probably wasn't hard. Even though Azure had blurred Han Qingyu's parents' faces during the interview, in reality, far too many people knew about it.
"Fatty Zhe, you...!" He Tangtang couldn't wrap his head around it for a second. Emotional, his eyes snapped toward Zhe Qiuhong.
"It wasn't her," Wen Jifei said.
If it were Zhe Qiuhong... she wouldn't stoop to laying hands on Qingzi's parents, and how could she possibly allow Zhe Shouzhao to do something so stupid?!
Wen Jifei relaxed. Everyone in the team, including Han Qingyu himself, relaxed completely.
Fenglong'ao was Han Qingyu's home, the place where his parents lived. The reason only one Azure squad guarded it, and the reason the top-tier fighters left by Stream Vanguard dared to leave, was because... there was actually a terrifyingly formidable presence there.
An old monk.
Perhaps Zhe Shouzhao's men hadn't seen him, or perhaps they had seen him but paid no attention, not knowing who he was.
And this old monk wouldn't leave that village at all right now, which was more than enough. Even if he wasn't wearing gear at the first moment, it wouldn't matter. The Azure guard squad was actually more like an "At-the-Ready Return Service Squad for the Super General"—they had plans in place all along. And General Jiang's combat instincts remained intact; Wu Xu had even suspected earlier that he had been growing stronger over the past six months.
Besides all that, the most important point was that Jiang Longchi cared deeply about the Han family. In a world where he had forgotten his entire past life, he regarded them as his only family in this world.
...
On the scene, Zhe Qiuhong had already collapsed inside. She desperately wanted to warn Zhe Shouzhao, desperately wanted to say something to stop him, yet she knew with absolute clarity that whatever she said now would be completely pointless.
Zhe Shouzhao remained oblivious to reality. With his trump card in hand, he continued with cold confidence, "A force of two hundred men, three top-tier fighters, including one at the peak of top-tier—I believe that is more than enough to slaughter that entire village."
During his time on the run after fleeing Azure, Zhe Shouzhao hadn't been slacking off. His combat strength had improved, which wasn't particularly important; what mattered more was his new identity—he was now the second-in-command of Pure White Purgatory.
And today's Pure White Purgatory had long since absorbed the experts from the hidden clans who had fled years ago with his help, expanding its strength tremendously.
Therefore, the lineup he spoke of was no bluff, and they had indeed moved to lie in wait not far from Fenglong'ao.
"I imagine Major Qing must be a very filial son, right?"
"Of course."
"Then, will you respectfully see me off?" Zhe Shouzhao spoke provocatively, glancing at the communicator in his hand.
Zhe Qiuhong: "..." She truly couldn't utter a word, as if her throat were choked tight.
"See you off? How about sending you on your way to the grave instead?" The corners of Han Qingyu's mouth tightened coldly, his tone soft.
This was genuine anger.
This time, he wasn't acting.
"..." Zhe Shouzhao froze, finding it hard to believe. Could this guy have gone stupid along with his amnesia? Zhe Shouzhao felt compelled to explain, emphasizing, "The moment anything happens to me, my men will slaughter their way in."
"Oh. Then go ahead and have something happen to you," Han Qingyu said.
Chapter 753