Ruan Mei looked at Leon, who appeared completely relaxed along the way, showing not even half a shred of pressure.
To tell the truth, even with her indifferent temperament, she had to admit Leon's strength and felt deeply shaken.
Whether it was killing 'Iron Tomb' across three time points or leaving a scar on the face of 'Nanook', these two feats were known to very few in the galaxy.
Most people's impression of Leon, of this Heavenly General, still halted at the Corporation incident.
At Pier Point, the headquarters of the Corporation, he killed two 'Emanators' in a row and then left swaggering.
This included Ruan Mei as well. It was only from the sudden appearance of another 'Herta' that she realized he was far more complex than she had thought.
Today, her horizons were truly broadened.
Six great 'Swarm Kings', six 'Emanators'.
All killed within one day, with almost seamless transitions between them. The rest time in between couldn't even be called catching one's breath.
Even for an 'Emanator', trying to kill another 'Emanator' is not such a simple matter.
Although they were defeated one by one and not truly one against six, how many people in the galaxy could achieve this?
Even if that Marshal of the Xianzhou Alliance were here, would she have this certainty? Impossible.
Unless all Seven Heavenly Generals were mobilized to fight an all-out war, no one could wipe out six Swarm Kings along with their clans in a single day.
Leon, he is both the chosen one and the unique one.
"What's wrong?"
He adjusted his collar, asking upon seeing Ruan Mei in a slight daze.
"...Nothing." Ruan Mei shook her head. "I just suddenly felt that even if Herta pulls off a massive stunt in the future, she won't have to worry about her own safety."
Leon is a very pure person. Whoever treats him well, he treats them well in return.
He is also a responsible person, willing to risk his life for anyone related to him. Herta used to have to worry about a Polka Kakamond, but now she can walk completely unhindered.
"If they don't die in three punches, it counts as a failed order." Leon expressed that it was guaranteed. "Where to next? What is missing for the thing you want to do?"
"Nothing is missing." Everything that should be there is there; everything is ready, only the east wind is owed.
Ruan Mei pondered slightly, "If you are not in a hurry, then accompany me to one more place."
"What place?" Leon was confused.
"My hometown." Ruan Mei looked into his eyes, and Leon could see from her eyes that she was serious.
"Hometown?" Leon looked at her, his tone involuntarily becoming doubtful.
Hometown? Is Ruan Mei serious?
Precisely because the expression on her face didn't look fake, this was exactly the source of Leon's confusion. Is this the thing she is truly plotting behind the scenes?
Leon knew that 'hometown' was likely Ruan Mei's deepest obsession.
Ruan Mei's hometown could absolutely not still exist. Her hometown ceased to exist long ago; this could be seen from her hermit lifestyle and the various details in her life that were allusions to the past.
So, has she touched upon a taboo and used her own means to disguise the hometown as if it were still there? Or was he wrong from the start?
Leon never internalized conflict; he trusted his intuition incomparably. He didn't feel his intuition would lie, so he undoubtedly leaned towards the former.
"Where is your hometown?" Thoughts surged in Leon's heart as he asked.
Ruan Mei formulated her words: "That is a beautiful land of brocade; the water there is very clear." She continued, "I have lived there with my parents since I was young."
"...Parents?" Leon's expression was a bit strange.
What kind of joke is this? If her parents were really still alive, she wouldn't have grown up so twisted. Ruan Mei's current personality is actually quite distorted.
Obviously, it resulted from a lack of love.
"En, my father was a sculptor, and my mother was of the same heritage as me, passionate about scientific research. After my mother passed away, I complied with her request and preserved a slice of her brain lobe."
The small town, leaning overall towards the style of Jiangnan and added with a hazy filter by the dark sky and damp earth, was the hometown in Ruan Mei's mouth.
The two sat together on a boat moving forward in the river channel, the fluctuations of the water surface occasionally causing the boat to rock.
"Is something the matter?" Ruan Mei held an umbrella, looking back at Leon, who was swiping through his Jade Abacus in a 'Thunderbolt Sitting Posture' at the rear.
Leaning against the boat, hands supporting the boat, legs wide open. One person occupying three seats, sitting in an extremely arrogant posture.
Hearing someone call him, Leon, who was chatting with someone on the Jade Abacus, looked up.
So your plan is to keep playing games until someone falls in love with you? Me right now, sitting beside the computer in a Thunderbolt Sitting Posture.
"Nothing, taking a photo to post on Moments." Regarding Ruan Mei's call, he replied casually.
"Do you want me to take it with you?" Ruan Mei tucked the hair behind her ear, speaking softly to him in a gentle voice.
Leon glanced at her. This woman knows her stuff?
A beauty like Ruan Mei is undoubtedly eye-catching; posting it would indeed save face. However, let it be stated first, if they really took a photo, it would be Ruan Mei leeching off his heat. Not him leeching off Ruan Mei's.
How dare a mere 'Medium Cup' contestant look directly at the Heavenly Emperor's demeanor?
"No need." Leon refused.
Take a photo my ass; Herta is grilling him right now. He had really just asked about Ruan Mei's parents. If he really took a photo, he felt it would become very troublesome.
"En." Seeing him refuse, Ruan Mei didn't have much of a reaction. She turned her head, merely casting her gaze back to the front.
As for Leon, he placed his gaze back on the Jade Abacus, continuing to chat idly with Herta herself.
[Big Herta: ? What exactly did you go to do with Ruan Mei? Why ask about her parents all of a sudden? (Attached sticker: Smash.jpg)]
This poser is quite narcissistic, even having her own sticker pack. Leon thought so as he watched Herta attach a sticker after finishing a sentence.
[Your Male God: Don't worry about so much, just tell me, are her parents dead?] On the internet, one is always free; starting with parents has even become the norm.
[Big Herta: Why do you speak so vulgarly? (Attached sticker: Look in the mirror.jpg)]
[Your Male God: Because I go online to be a father.] I don't care about this or that; no one knows him online anyway.
[Big Herta: The answer is, I don't know.]
[Your Male God: Groundhog popping head.jpg]
[Big Herta: Do I look like the kind of guy who would pay attention to other people's families?]
[Your Male God: I think you are.]
[Big Herta: Regrettably, you misjudged. I am not yet idle to the degree you speak of.]
[Your Male God: My god, why didn't you say so earlier!]
[Big Herta: I have not paid excessive attention to Ruan Mei's past. Maintaining mutual respect is good for everyone. If she doesn't want to say, I won't ask.]
[Big Herta: Of course, if you want to know things about her, perhaps you can ask the Xianzhou Alliance. Maybe there will be new discoveries.]
[Your Male God: Received.]
After sending this, Leon immediately switched out of Herta's chat interface. [Reignbow Heavenly Generals: One Big Loving Family]. He turned to the chat group of the Xianzhou Alliance's high command.
[Your Male God: 111]
[Hua: Here.]
[AAA Divine Weapon Forging Master Huai: Heavenly General Chang, long time no see since we parted at the Luofu Wardance.]
[Real Name Online: It's truly rare for General Chang to take the initiative to send a message.]
[Xuling Tombkeeper: 222]
[Xuanxuan's All: General Chang, have you been well recently?]
[Yueyue's Driver: Hello General Chang, thanks to your blessing, the Yaoqing is prospering all the time now.]
[Opportunity is only left for those who are prepared: @Your Male God, what have you been busy with lately? I missed you to death. When will you come to the Yaoqing again so I can host you in the capacity of General?]
[Yaoyao's Light: One does not visit the temple without a cause. What big thing do you want to do again, my General Chang?]
Sigh, he is still too charming; he actually bombed everyone out at once.
[Your Male God: There's a matter. Have you heard of Genius Society #81, Ruan Mei?]
[Yaoyao's Light: What, do you have a conflict with that Genius?]
[Opportunity is only left for those who are prepared: Who is that? Why does it sound like a woman?]
[Yueyue's Driver: It is indeed a woman.]
[Your Male God: Don't worry about so much, just tell me, did her parents die?]
[What is the meaning of this? x8]
[Yaoyao's Light: Anyway, you want her data, right? Wait a moment.]
After a while, Yaoguang sent the data to him. [Yaoyao's Light: It's from the Corporation's side. The Xianzhou Alliance doesn't have much contact with her.]
Leon sent a 'Received', then clicked open the data to start browsing. He swiped the Jade Abacus, reading ten lines at a glance, and quickly memorized all the content.
Conclusion: Ruan Mei's parents are indeed dead.
On the Corporation's data, Ruan Mei was introduced as such:
Ruan Mei, Genius Society #81.
Her achievements in the field of life sciences resound through the universe.
She keeps a low profile; the Corporation classifies her as a reclusive genius. Few have witnessed her clear and beautiful appearance in person.
As a hermit who lives in seclusion, records of Ruan Mei's appearances are few. Her traces were only glimpsed briefly on the Xianzhou; her past is equally mysterious:
Except for a hometown covered in ice and snow, deceased parents, and that maternal grandmother who had no news after joining the Intelligentsia Guild, everything is a mystery.
It is as if she has abandoned all social relationships.
Aside from this, Ruan Mei is also a very contradictory person. She is good at communicating with people, yet loathes communicating with people. Focused, indifferent, eccentric—her personality is hard to fathom; but at the same time, she has hobbies full of life's refined interests: silk, music and pastries, embroidery and tea leaves. Each must be of top-notch quality, enjoyed alone.
It has to be the Corporation's intelligence network. Leon, having received a favor, decided not to attack the Corporation for one minute.
To be honest, he had to admit. He felt comfortable when he saw the words 'parents deceased'.
Then, when he saw the words 'hometown covered in ice and snow' later, he immediately raised his head and looked around at the Jiangnan scenery surrounding him.
Finally, Leon lowered his head again, falling into silence over the words 'hometown covered in ice and snow'.
Where is the ice and snow, may he ask?
Of course, after seeing this data, Leon definitely knew this place was not Ruan Mei's real hometown. After all, she could even conjure up a father out of thin air. In Leon's view, this place was likely mostly fake constructs.
He looked at Ruan Mei's back directly in front of him, thoughts surging in his heart. Is what she truly seeks to reverse time? Or is it...
He thought of the 'mother passed away' she mentioned earlier.
Resurrecting relatives—is this what Ruan Mei is plotting?
Leon made his own speculations.
Ruan Mei feels that high-dimensional existences like 'Aeons' can do things she cannot do. Their form of existence is strongly correlated with 'Paths', which is undoubtedly extremely special.
Does she feel her breakthrough point lies here, so she thinks of deciphering the 'Essence of Life' of 'Aeons' to turn it to her own use?
"We have arrived."
While Leon was still pondering, Ruan Mei, holding the umbrella, suddenly stood up from the boat.
He also came back to his senses, put away the Jade Abacus, and stood up. Following her footsteps forward, he prepared to go ashore together.
"Careful."
Just as Leon prepared to get off the boat onto the shore, Ruan Mei reached out her hand to him. It seemed she wanted to give him a pull.
He glanced at her and chose to hold her hand, going ashore under her lead.
After coming to this place, Ruan Mei's humanity suddenly increased by a lot. He didn't know what was going on.
"Follow me."
Ruan Mei let go of his hand, turning her head to lead the way.
Tap-tap, tap-tap, tap-tap.
Leon didn't say anything, following obediently behind her.
"Speaking of which, isn't it not too good to be empty-handed? Meeting your father, should I take some things?" On the way, he thought of something and spoke.
Ruan Mei's footsteps stopped. She turned her face sideways, looking at him for a while. Not knowing what she was thinking.
"What's wrong?" Leon asked, facing her gaze.
"...No, nothing." Ruan Mei set off again. "It's just been a long time since I've seen someone bring a gift to visit Father."
"But no need. My father is not someone who cares that much about these etiquettes."
Leon nodded, and the two walked side by side for a while longer.
"Here."
At Ruan Mei's greeting, they stopped their steps. It was a very ordinary house, with no difference from the surroundings.
Ruan Mei pushed the door and entered, Leon following closely behind.
"Who is it?" Hearing the sound of the door pushing, fluffy large leather shoes stepped forward.
"...A-Ruan?"
A middle-aged man wearing small round glasses and slightly hunched saw the visitor and was very surprised.
"Is it A-Ruan?"
Seeming to have poor eyesight, the man squinted, asking uncertainly.
"It is me, Father." Ruan Mei nodded.
Leon glanced at the person beside him from the corner of his eye. Although it was very faint, he could indeed see an imperceptible smile on her face.
"Oh my, you haven't been back for a long time." Ruan Hua stepped forward to hold his daughter's hand, gently patting the back of her hand.
"When was the last time you came back? Last year, or the year before?"
"Last year." Ruan Mei gave a hum of affirmation, answering this question. "Once I throw myself into experiments, I always forget time."
"So I decided that only when the research has made progress can I come to see you."
"Treating it as my own 'reward'."
It was the first time Leon saw Ruan Mei feeling so much like a living person.
"You have the same nature as your mother." Ruan Hua sighed. "She was also like this. Once she started researching, it was endless until she came out of seclusion."
Ruan Mei did not deny it.
"Right." After speaking, Ruan Hua noticed the person beside his daughter and asked with confusion.
Such high stats. Whose modeling monster is this, looking so dope?
"This is?"
Leon was about to answer 'friend', but Ruan Mei answered directly on his behalf one step ahead.
"Partner."
"Oh, oh, partner." Hearing this, Ruan Hua immediately breathed a sigh of relief. "I thought it was your that one."
"How old are you anyway? We aren't in a rush to discuss marriage." The father spoke with a heavy tone.
How old is she?
Heh, Leon is just a bit precocious, but he is still a genuine male college student in his youth.
Do you know how hard it is for him to find someone younger than him in this world?
After excluding Rappa, Huohuo, Ginevra, and Li Sushang—types that are illegal at a glance.
Among the women he knows, damn it, they are all older than him.
Truly sinful, a bunch of old cows eating tender grass!
Leon wasn't joking. Among the women he knows, only three have a very low probability of being younger than him.
Asta, Robin, and March 7th.
The former two might be younger than him, but being younger than him is also a bit unlikely.
And March 7th, strictly speaking, she could count. But her problem is, she is reincarnated and re-cultivating; who knows how long she lived before.
Oh, and that poser Sparkle. But she just has the body shape of a little girl; she belongs to the level of sitting at the same table as Cyrene.
Sigh, these women; once past fourteen, they are old.
But Leon actually hadn't met a single fourteen-year-old. How emotional.
"En." Ruan Mei didn't have much of a reaction, merely agreeing lightly.
"A-Ruan, how long are you staying this time?" Ruan Hua asked reluctantly.
"Leaving immediately. I only came to see you this time." Ruan Mei gave her answer. "My research doesn't have any substantive progress."
"By rights, I shouldn't have come to see you, but before doing this thing, I always felt I should come and see you."
This was a truth from the bottom of Ruan Mei's heart.
"Our A-Ruan is the best." Ruan Hua smiled, raising his hand to pat her head.
Why does this father have an attitude of treating Ruan Mei like a child? Leon didn't understand, scanning the room covertly.
The Corporation's data said Ruan Mei's maternal grandmother had no news after joining the 'Intelligentsia Guild'. He originally thought this grandmother would be together with the father Ruan Mei spoke of. But looking at it now, it seems he thought too much.
"Oh right, I wrapped your favorite Qing Tuan for you." Ruan Hua slapped his head, thinking of something and said, "Take them with you."
"En, okay." Ruan Mei agreed and did not refuse. "Can I trouble Mister to help carry them?" Ruan Hua looked at Leon. "I wrapped a bit too many; it's a bit inconvenient for A-Ruan to carry."
"Okay." Leon nodded.
"Thank you for your kindness, Mister." Ruan Hua expressed his gratitude to him, then turned and walked towards the inner room.
Leon followed closely behind, marching towards the kitchen.
"How should I address you, Mister?" During the walk together, Ruan Hua took the initiative to chat with him.
"Surname Chang, single given name Geng."
No using a sockpuppet to bluff people this time; be a bit serious.
"Mr. Chang, A-Ruan receives much of your care usually."
"It's alright."
Actually, Leon wanted to say 'no such thing, your daughter and I aren't that close'. But saying that seemed bad.
In this father's tone, he truly hoped he could take care of Ruan Mei a bit more.
The two stopped, arriving in front of a plain and unadorned refrigerator. With a click, Ruan Hua opened the refrigerator door.
Groups of six, countless plastic rectangular boxes containing Qing Tuan immediately fell out.
"..."
Seeing this, Ruan Hua immediately spread his arms in a flurry. reacting in time to stuff all these boxes containing Qing Tuan back into the refrigerator.
"Don't tell me all of these are to be taken away?"
What the hell? Leon might as well move the refrigerator away directly.
Not just inconvenient for Ruan Mei to carry; tell him, who would find this convenient to carry?
"No, no." Ruan Hua scratched the back of his head somewhat awkwardly. "Just a small portion. I'll look for them."
Saying this, Ruan Hua held onto the refrigerator door, bent down, and immediately scanned from top to bottom.
"I remember the ones wrapped recently are just around here." He muttered to himself, followed by a burst of rummaging.
"Ah, found them." Ruan Hua found the two boxes he wanted from among the hundreds.
"These few, the latest date." He took out two boxes, then closed the refrigerator door.
"Wrapped not long ago this week."
Two plastic boxes were handed to Leon.
"What do you mean by wrapped not long ago?" Leon accepted them, asking with confusion.
No, brother, what is the meaning of taking only two boxes out of hundreds?
"A-Ruan loves eating this." Ruan Hua laughed, speaking openly. "This Qing Tuan, ah, has to be eaten while fresh to be delicious."
"If kept too long, it loses its soul a bit." He spoke generously, "Even if frozen, there is a certain best-before period."
"Because I don't know when A-Ruan will come back, I wrap a few boxes again every week. In this way, when she comes back, she can eat fresh ones."
There was even some small pride in his tone.
"Her mother used to love making this, but since she left, no one made them personally for A-Ruan anymore."
"I usually watched my wife make them and thought it was quite simple." Ruan Hua smiled, with nostalgia in his tone, "I just thought, could I also make something for her?"
"Holding this idea, I started learning and practicing."
Ruan Hua sighed, "But it's a pity."
"Although I practiced again and again, trial and error, and improved for a long time, no matter what, I just can't produce the taste of her mother."
"Hope it can enter A-Ruan's mouth, which has already been fed to be picky by her mother."
His gaze fell on the Qing Tuan, his eyes holding expectation.