Chapter 257 - Time To Meet My Daughter-in-law!
Chapter 257: Time To Meet My Daughter-in-law!
This helicopter was the main battlecraft of the local military. When Ying Xu received the emergency signal from Old Ba and his men, he knew right from the get go that whatever was in the desert, it wasn’t something regular humans could take down.
And so, he directly linked up with the military personnel stationed in this area and subsequently borrowed the heaviest weapons they had in their inventory. After that, he and Liu Zi laid out all the maps they had of the desert and examined them closely. From there, they formulated a search and rescue plan. However, before they announced the start of their mission, these people who were supposed to be requesting help marched right up to their camp.
Ying Xu glanced at Gu Xiqiao. His eyes were supposed to scan her from head-to-toe but they stopped at her hands, which were holding Jiang Shuxuan’s. He was visibly stunned for a split second but he quickly recovered his composure. “Miss Gu, this heli belongs to the local military…”
What he wanted to inform her was that this warship was an asset of the North-Western Chinese People’s Liberation Army but a look from Jiang Shuxuan cut him off promptly.
The look in his eyes was vicious. Although silent, his intimidating demeanor forced Ying Xu to swallow his words.
“Let’s go take a look at the chopper.” Jiang Shuxuan tucked the strands of hair that had fallen to the side of her face with his cold fingers, which brushed against her delicate face as he did so.
Gu Xiqiao had a gleam in her eyes when she stared at the helicopter. Liu Zi and the others were taken aback by her reaction. Though, they did not dare to make direct eye contact with her.
With Jiang Shuxuan’s permission, Gu Xiqiao climbed onto the helicopter whilst wearing an ear-to-ear smile.
Jiji, despite holding Dog Feed in its arms, was surprisingly agile. It hopped onboard the aircraft in just the blink of an eye.
Dog Feed: Try to be more gentle will you? God damn, those robotic arms are annoying!
Jiji: One more complaint I hear from you and I’ll burn off your petals!
Dog Feed: Robots these days, how crude and impolite!
Jiji: Do you seriously think I’m your average robot?!
Dog Feed bared its teeth viciously. “Cease your bullcrap or I’ll swallow you whole!”
Jiji was getting increasingly riled up. “Come on! Eat me then! I was just thinking about asking Beauty Qiao to give me a larger, more powerful body!”
Dog Feed: …
‘What the hell is Miss Gu keeping around her? Why are they all so bizarre?!’ it thought to itself.
“Look at her, what on earth is Miss Gu doing?” The hatch of the helicopter had yet to be closed shut. Through the opening, Old Jiu could see Gu Xiqiao sitting within the aircraft. She appeared to be fumbling around the switches, which made their hearts almost jump out of their mouths. This was the most high-tech attack helicopter their nation had ever produced! A flick of a button and missiles would start firing away!
Shi Yi rubbed his chin. “You guys should know what she’s doing just by looking at her eyes. She’s figuring out how to operate the attack helicopter.”
Back then, she had this exact gleam in her eyes when she looked at the man-eating flower. What followed was her…cutting down the monster and turning it into an innocent little bouquet.
“Wait a second,” Liu Zi looked up abruptly. “That’s Miss Gu!”
“You know her?” Shi Yi eyed him skeptically.
“That’s right! She was the one who cured Wu Zi of his disease!” Liu Zi got excited in a matter of seconds. “Ugh, you guys don’t know about her. I guess Ah Da and the others are more familiar with Miss Gu. I can’t believe the day would come when I get to see her up close and personal!
Shi Yi’s eyes widened. “Isn’t she in robotics or something?! Since when can she cure people?”
What a load of bullcrap!
“You don’t know sh*t!” Liu Zi looked back at him contemptuously. “Miss Gu’s a high-achieving med student in A University! Do you know the Medical Research Center in A University? And how there have been countless doctors from multiple countries flooding into said center for the past few days?
Shi Yi and his men nodded mindlessly in response. Liu Zi’s passion had been triggered. He started blabbering away endlessly. “If I were to talk about the ground-breaking cell fusion process or the International Art Exhibition, you’d all definitely start scratching your heads. At the very least, you all should’ve heard of Nine Heavens, right? Yes, you heard me right. It’s THAT Nine Heavens that is working together with the Ministry of National Defense! Remember when Old Ba was tailing that guy from the network department and he got his ass handed to him as a result?!”
The corner of Old Ba’s mouth twitched when he heard that. How could he ever forget that experience?
He passed special forces training with flying colors but got his ass whooped by a goddamn civvy! Even he couldn’t believe that the incident had actually occurred!
However, he had a deep sense of respect when he heard the name of the company, Nine Heavens. Say, just what sort of people do they have working over there? How could a regular-looking technician possess such great combat skill?
“And just what does this have to do with Miss Gu?” Shi Yi wore a bewildered expression on his face.
“Well, Nine Heavens belongs to Miss Gu.” Liu Zi patted Shi Yi’s shoulder and chuckled quietly.
Old Ba sucked in a lungful of cold air. “W-What your saying… is it true?” He felt his heart crumble into pieces.
Liu Zi sucked up every last drop of the shocked expression on Shi Yi’s face. Out of curiosity, he asked, “How was it, surviving out there in the middle of a desert?” With Miss Gu around, it shouldn’t have been too boring, right?
Old Ba wiped the cold sweat off his face. “God knows what we’ve been through…”
Jiang Shuxuan stuck his right hand into his pocket and fiddled with his phone using the other. Ying Xu, who was standing in front of him, finally got back his bearings. “Admiral, why are you here?”
“I have something to tend to.” Jiang Shuxuan narrowed his eyes and then he raised his right hand.
Ying Xu only managed to catch a glimpse of his white sleeve fluttering in the air when a gust of wind swept over him.
Thud!”
The unshut door of the helicopter was closed up by what seemed like an invisible hand. It blocked the rest of the men from watching Gu Xiqiao. Liu Zi in particular, was stunned by suddenly getting his vision blocked.
‘F*ck! What the hell is going on!’
He glared angrily but all he could see was someone’s snow-white clothes. It was painful to look at under the blistering sun.
“Liu Zi, treasure your life.” Old Jiu pulled him back. “Didn’t you hear what Big Boss called him?”
“What?” Liu Zi was puzzled.
“Admiral! Big Boss called him admiral!” replied Old Ba solemnly.
Liu Zi’s worldview had been broken down completely in a single day. “An admiral? At this age?” Even his big boss was a major general only. This position of his came at the cost of countless pints of blood. So why on earth hadn’t he heard about this admiral before?
Old Jiu turned towards Jiang Shuxuan’s back. “I think he’s the big shot we saw in the International Training Camp…”
“Which area of command does this aircraft belong to?” Jiang Shuxuan asked Ying Xu.
Ying Xu responded by uttering a name.
Jiang Shuxuan, who received his answer, straightaway dialed for that person. He spoke briefly with the man on the other end of the line before hanging up.
He then peered back at Ying Xu with a cold gaze. “You no longer have to be worried about this helicopter.”
“…”
“Admiral…” He still wanted to say something but Jiang Shuxuan had already turned away. The rolling breeze carried his remaining words. “Do not linger around for too long.”
Ying Xu was silent as he watched Jiang Shuxuan hop into the aircraft.
After an initial “rumble” came a gust of howling wind, which indicated that the helicopter engine was revving up.
“Big boss, that person is…” Shi Yi’s jaws almost dropped to the ground as he watched the helicopter. They really learned how to operate a chopper so quickly? If you’re so intelligent, why don’t you just ascend to heaven? Wait, hold on. They have already ascended.
“They’re people from the reclusive world.” Ying Xu replied while holding up an arm to block the wind.
Old Jiu then murmured back. “Of the reclusive world, I only know that the Jiang family reigns supreme, followed by the Murong and the Tang family. About Miss Gu…” Seems like he had never heard of her before?
“The strength of ancient martial arts practitioners are clearly divided in China, with the Trial Tower rating as a benchmark. The top 10 challengers are all recognized as core members of the ancient martial arts world. Anyone of these people wields enough power to destroy an entire city if they wanted to.” Ying Xu watched as the helicopter disappeared into the horizon. That man from before, he is Master Jiang from the International Training Camp. You might not know this but he’s the top challenger in the Trial Tower. His strength is unimaginable.”
“If anyone from the top 10 list can wipe out an entire city, then the strongest one…” Shi Yi’s facial expression was as if he had just seen a monster.
Old Jiu peered up. “Then what about Miss Gu?”
“Miss Gu…” Ying Xu pulled out an ancient-looking book from his pocket. “She, I can’t imagine how strong she is too.” ‘Gus’ was not a surname native to the ancient martial arts world. For such a talented person to rise up, he feared that chaos would once again run through the ancient martial arts world.
***
On the helicopter.
“Jiji, Jiji, how the f*ck do you turn this on? It’s off balance! Off balance!” Gu Xiqiao kept her eyes glued to the windshield. She was afraid that if she did not do so, she and the aircraft would fall right on top of some poor folk’s rooftop.
Jiang Shuxuan sat behind her, smiling at how frantic she was while operating the aircraft. Despite Jiji’s guidance, there were still issues with maintaining smooth control over the helicopter.
Gu Xiqiao noticed that they were rapidly approaching a tall mountain. Having the premonition that they were about to crash and burn, she yelled out, “Jiji, hurry up and take the flying stick!”
She felt a warmth approach her back right after she said that.
Jiang Shuxuan leaned forwards and held onto her hands from behind. With a slight grin on his face, he reassured her, “If you’ve no clue, let me teach you.”
While gripping her hand, he taught her how to properly maneuver a helicopter. A few seconds later, the aircraft achieved stability.
The two of their bodies had seemingly merged into one. Their faces were less than an inch away from each other; they were so close that they could hear each other’s breaths.
“Brother Jiang, why do you know how to operate this thing?” Gu Xiqiao slowly mastered the art of balancing her aircraft in the air.
Jiang Shuxuan then reached his left hand out in front of her to control the multiple switches. While maneuvering the aircraft forwards, he replied, “I was in a military zone before, so I figured I might as well learn a skill or two.”
“Military zone?” A gleam appeared in Gu Xiqiao’s eyes. “You were in the military?”
“Most people from the ancient martial arts world have been in the military, especially the international training camp. Tempers our minds, you know?”
At this point, Jiang Shuxuan started pondering. “Would you like to go and play?”
“No, not for now.” Gu Xiqiao put down her hands and rested against his chest. She then picked up her phone to reply to some messages. She had been having too much fun in the desert for the past few days that she neglected to respond to her contacts. Her phone was plastered with unread messages and the likes. While texting back, she talked with Jiang Shuxuan. “I heard the selection for the ancient martial arts world’s ranking tournament has started? Are you going to join?”
Of course! There’s gonna be much more fun in the ancient martial arts world than the military zone!
“No, I don’t need to go through the selection process.” Jiang Shuxuan felt slightly regretful though. If it were a few years earlier…
The phone in his pocket suddenly rang twice. As Jiang Shuxuan was busy operating the aircraft, he asked Gu Xiqiao for a favor. “Help grab my phone will you?”
Gu Xiqiao did as told. However, when she pulled the phone out, she noticed an odd name on the caller ID–Little Psycho?
WTF? What’s this?
“Brother Jiang, uh, Little Psycho’s calling…” Gu Xiqiao peered up but from her angle, she could only see the bottom of his jaw.
Jiang Shuxuan’s fingers visibly froze up when he heard the name. He looked down at her and asked, “Do you know how to operate this thing now?”
“More or less.” Gu Xiqiao nodded.
“Alright,” Jiang Shuxuan contemplated for a moment before placing his hand, which initially held Gu Xiqiao’s on the control switch. “I’ll be back in a moment.”
Gu Xiqiao nodded in response. She secretly turned around to look at him. Just who was that Little Psycho? And why wasn’t he dodging her phone call?
Jiang Shuxuan walked to the back of the aircraft and dialed for the number who called him earlier on. His call was answered in less than two seconds.
“Mom, why have you called me?”
“…”
Gu Xiqiao overheard the first word that he uttered.
‘You win this time, Brother Jiang.’
***
Shu Chen, who was far away in the ancient martial arts world, was packing up her belongings. “Shuxuan, didn’t you tell me that you were coming home today? Where are you now? Do you need me to pick you up?”
“No need for that, we…we’re on the way home.” Jiang Shuxuan paused for a second mid-sentence.
Shu Chen did not doubt the truth of his words. “Good, I’m packing up my clothes. We’ll meet in the little residential area, alright dear?”
Shu Chen began counting her items after the phone call ended. Her decision to move into that residential area has been solidified. There were so many people from the ancient martial arts world living there anyways! She wanted to join in on the fun!
“Madam, Miss Jiang Tong has arrived.” Into her room walked the butler.
Shu Chen furrowed her brows. Ever since the turmoil from before, Jiang Tong had never set foot on the Jiang family’s soil. So what was she doing here today?”
“I don’t want to see her.” Shu Chen gave her reply bluntly.
The butler acknowledged her answer. “Madam, Miss Jiang Tong has now reached level 62 in the Trial Tower. I’m afraid this may not be the best response we can give.” Even though he too, disliked Jiang Tong.
“Fine, let her in.” Shu Chen massaged her temples as she plopped down on the sofa.
Jiang Tong noticed the baggage next to Shu Chen the moment she stepped into the room. It took her a while to register what was going on. “Madam Jiang, this is…”
“I’m going to meet my daughter-in-law.” Shu Chen flashed her a smile. “My Shuxuan’s bringing her home today.”