Zero casually tossed Guanliang's jade communicator onto the table.
He stood up, looked out the window, and quickly figured out the positions of several snipers.
He tugged at Zandar's sleeve and said, "Don't stay too far from me. Stand next to me."
Only like this would they not act rashly.
Guanliang's heart suddenly sank.
You once devoted yourself to the Xianzhou, you know the Cloud Knights' deployments like the back of your hand…
One day, you would actually use that understanding to help outsiders oppose the Xianzhou?
Guanliang spread his arms and blocked the two of them.
His voice trembled. "Zero, wait a moment. Are you sure you want to leave here with Zandar?"
Zero felt genuine confusion.
He frowned slightly and asked softly, "Otherwise? Should I trust you? You and Hua would just knock me out and erase my memory, right?"
Guanliang had no way to refute that.
Zero's expression was like still water, his tone calm to the point of being unsettling, "Am I just too easy to talk to?"
Guanliang opened his mouth, but nothing came out.
He forced himself to think lightly, 'You guy... your vocabulary really is that limited, huh?'
'Am I just too easy to talk to?'
Thousands of years ago, the first time you got angry, you asked me the same thing.
After all this time, still no improvement.
Zero knew he shouldn't waste any more time.
But an emotion he had never felt before drove him to keep speaking, "Guanliang, you and that Alchemy Commission betrayed me."
"Did I ever hold you accountable for it?"
"I've never interfered with your decisions, and I've never tried to stop you."
Guanliang was left speechless.
He looked at the confusion and loss on Zero's face, something he had never shown in front of others.
Zero continued questioning him, "Before I left, I deliberately left something for you."
"With that thing, you could free yourselves at any time."
"But…"
"Why are you still trying to stop me?"
Guanliang's chin trembled, but his body didn't move at all.
He blocked Zero's path, speaking incoherently, "Calm down, this isn't like you…"
Zero repeated unconsciously, "This isn't like me?"
A soft laugh slipped out of him, almost uncontrollable, as he asked back, "Then… what am I supposed to be like?"
Guanliang's heart went cold.
He had said the wrong thing.
There was a smile in Zero's eyes. When he didn't get an answer from Guanliang, he turned to Zandar instead, "Zandar, what am I supposed to be like?"
Zandar tugged at the corner of his mouth, wanting to smile.
But he couldn't.
He answered in a tone like a sigh.
"You come from a peaceful country, one without war."
"You grew up in love."
"They loved you very much, gave you excellent material conditions, and gave you companionship…"
Zandar thought, 'The most difficult time you ever had was probably when you were the general of Yaoqing?'
'Even traveling with Nanook, you wouldn't have lived this hard.'
Zandar pulled his thoughts back and continued, "Luckily, they didn't spoil you too much… otherwise, well… forgive me, I really can't imagine what you'd be like if you were that pampered…"
Following his own words, Zandar quickly imagined it.
"If I were the one raising you, I could give you the best material conditions. Even if you grew up spoiled and unruly, it wouldn't matter."
"With your personality, you wouldn't do anything too extreme. You'd probably just post online, saying I don't need much money, I just need a lot of love?"
As soon as he finished, Zandar almost laughed.
No matter how much he doted on his student, the other person would never become that kind of person.
Zandar looked back at Zero and raised his hand, gently resting it on the round felt hat on Zero's head.
Using the motion of patting his head, he pressed the brim down slightly, trying to hide the faint tears in those eyes.
Zandar's movements were very light as he wrapped an arm around Zero's shoulders.
He noticed that the person beside him seemed to be trembling.
Zandar paused, then softened his voice, "Back to the point. With your parents' support, you went to a similarly peaceful country for high school."
"From childhood until now… the hardest thing you've endured was probably iced Americano."
"Oh, you're allergic to coffee."
"Before you met me, the greatest grievance you experienced was probably due to your clotting disorder. There were many sports you couldn't try. When the school had ski holidays, you couldn't go skiing with your friends."
Zero asked uncertainly, "Is that so?"
Zandar gave a firm answer, "Yes."
"They love you very much."
"Let's go. Sleep, and you'll be able to go home."
Zero half-closed his eyes, trying hard to suppress the urge to cry.
'Zandar, I don't believe you.'
'I don't believe in 'the creation of the universe' either.'
'But other than you, who else can I trust?'
Zandar and Guanliang both fell silent at the same time.
They waited quietly. When Zero opened his eyes again, Guanliang's body tensed instantly.
Zero said coldly, "Move."
Guanliang clenched his teeth and refused to step back.
Zero completely lost his patience.
A ringing filled his ears, his hearing seemed to be stripped away.
He could only faintly hear himself say to Guanliang, "Get lost."
"I don't want to fight you."
"Don't make me say it a second time."
The shoulder Zandar was holding trembled even more.
He knew this was a somatic reaction.
Next, his student might experience a racing heartbeat, chest tightness, numbness in the limbs.
At its worst, there would be a sense of near death.
Zandar made a decision immediately and shoved Guanliang aside.
At the same time, Hua slowly raised her hand and wiped the tears from her cheek.
Using Guanliang's jade communicator, they had heard part of the conversation.
Hua thought, 'Father doesn't want to see me.'
She steadied herself, looked at the others, and gave a cold order, "Wipe your tears. Except for Daiyang and Chanzhen, everyone else stay on the first floor."
Jingliu's eyes were hot with tears. She bit her lower lip, her chest rising and falling sharply.
She watched the others hurriedly wipe their tears. Just as those two were about to head toward the stairs, she stepped forward quickly and reached out, "Earpieces."
Daiyang and Chanzhen looked dazed. Hearing the reminder, they snapped back to their senses.
Right.
If it was the Marshal… how could she tolerate showing weakness in front of others?
The two quickly took off their earpieces and handed them to Jingliu.
Then they staggered upstairs.
Jingliu gathered the rest, collected all the earpieces, and walked over to the potted plants arranged in the shop.
She applied a bit of force, crushing them into unrecognizable black powder.
After dealing with the earpieces, Jingliu returned again, moving to a blind spot in the shop and standing with the others.
Thanks to their sharp senses, Jingliu and the others could hear the conversation.
First came the sound of knees hitting the ground.
Daiyang and Chanzhen were the first to kneel.
After a while, they heard Zero's voice.
It was very soft, like it could scatter with a gust of wind.
Zero said, "…Get up. You don't need to kneel to me."
The two remained kneeling, sobbing silently.
Daiyang took several deep breaths, steadying her voice before speaking the message he had missed.
"A thousand years apart, I have missed you deeply…"
"I know I have failed your great kindness, I have no face to meet you…"
As she spoke, her voice began to choke, "May you be smooth and safe…"
"May you…"
Daiyang lifted her head, revealing a face full of tears.
Her vision was blurred, she couldn't see the person in front of her clearly.
She tilted her head up, staring intently at that indistinct figure.
"May you…"
She looked for a moment, then slowly moved her knees.
Under the shocked gazes of Chanzhen and Guanliang, Daiyang crawled to the side near the wall.
She made space for Zero and Zandar.
Daiyang bowed her head again. Tears fell uncontrollably as she spoke each word clearly, "May you be smooth and safe…"
She struggled to add the final four words.
"May all your wishes be fulfilled…"