Chapter 118 - 37 (1/2)

The news was reported live, and at that time, it was played throughout the country. Li Jinghua was just returning home when she heard the news being played. Rushing to the living room, she saw the scene of the destroyed mountain on the TV. She stared at the TV with wide eyes, almost not believing what happened.

”Why...? How come?” she murmured softly.

”Hua-jie, what's wrong?” Li Xinwen who was sitting on the sofa of the living room asked.

”I... this mountain isn't supposed to be like this,” Li Jinghua replied.

”En. It was destroyed just recently,” Li Xinwen informed her. 'There was a strong spiritual signature and the direction appears to be at that mountain,' Li Xinwen thought back to Abbot Bingwen and couldn't help but feel that it is related.

Not long after, Li Xinwen's phone gave out a single notification and he took it out only to see a message from Min Xiaoyu.

[Min Xiaoyu: My grandfather want to see you.]

[Min Xiaoyu: He's dying.]

The second message came right after and Li Xinwen frowned. ”Hua-jie, can you help me tell mom that I will go out for a bit? Something happened with Min Xiaoyu,” Li Xinwen said as he sent his reply to Min Xiaoyu.

”Mr Min? What happened?”

”Nothing too serious. Hopefully,” Li Xinwen replied before he left home, leaving Li Jinghua alone in the living room. Not long after, Mother Li came out of the kitchen only to see Li Xinwen is no longer in the living room.

”Ah'Hua, where's Ah'Wen?” Mother Li asked.

”Ah, I asked him to go buy some soy sauce nearby. I forgot to grab it on my way home,” Li Jinghua quickly replied.

”Soy sauce? But we still have it,” Mother Li said. Then her eyes went to the TV which is still playing the news. ”Mt. Shengyan is destroyed? What is happening to our world, ah... is the world ending or something?”

When Li Jinghua heard what her mother said, she quickly turned the TV off. ”No, the world won't end, mom. Come on, I'll help you finish cooking dinner,” Li Jinghua said as she gently pushed her mother back to the kitchen.

Meanwhile, Li Xinwen quickly arrived at Min Family household. When he arrived, he already noticed that Min Shaotian's spiritual signature is weak, almost that of a normal mortal. 'No, its even weaker than mortal. It seems that he really is dying,' Li Xinwen thought as he went into the house. He easily made his way and found Min Xiaoyu. He looked even more haggard than before. The rim of his eyes were red, and he was close to breaking down.

”Are you alright?” Li Xinwen asked.

Min Xiaoyu only shook his head. ”Grandpa... he's waiting for you. Please go on in,” Min Xiaoyu said in a hoarse voice.

Li Xinwen noticed that Min Xiaoyu seemed to be out of it, so he placed a hand on the other's shoulder before he sends a small amount of spiritual energy into him. ”Calm down, restrain your grief,” Li Xinwen said in a soft voice. ”With the way you are now, you're in danger of submitting to your inner demon.”

Hearing what Li Xinwen said, Min Xiaoyu took a deep breath and tried to calm himself. ”Thank you...” he whispered in a soft voice.

Li Xinwen nods his head before he entered the room where Min Shaotian is resting. The person has changed. No longer did he appear healthy and strong, and instead, he look weak. His body has shriveled up and his hair has turned white. His skins sticking to his bones, and Li Xinwen also noticed that the other is having trouble breathing.

”Min Shaotian, I thought I told you to tell me if you plan to approach An Wuya,” Li Xinwen said as he sat down before the now old Min Shaotian.

”...”

There was no reply, so Li Xinwen can only sigh. He reached out to touch Min Shaotian's forehead. ”You called me here to tell me something when you can't even speak anymore. Don't resist,” Li Xinwen said as he injects some of his spiritual energy towards Min Shaotian.

He guides his energy into the brain, and started to replay what happened before. After witnessing what happened, Li Xinwen's sighed heavily. ”That Gu absorbed your spiritual energy and destroyed your cultivation. You are now a cripple and without a strong spiritual energy to keep up with your body... you-”

”Xinwen... Yuyu...” Min Shaotian speaks with a hoarse voice. He sounded extremely weak, and was struggling to even voice out each word.

”I understand. I will help you take care of him. But you should believe on your grandson more, ba! He's not weak,” Li Xinwen shook his head. ”Consider that this is a repayment for what you did to help Ah'Xiao.”

”Thank you...” Min Shaotian sounded relieved and closed his eyes. After that, Min Shaotian's spiritual signture disappeared completely. His body stopped breathing and Li Xinwen closed his eyes.

”May you safely enter the cycle of reincarnation. Who knows, maybe you'll meet your grandson again in your next life,” Li Xinwen said before he stood up and left the room.

Outside, he saw Min Xiaoyu who finally broke down into tears. Although he could not relate to Min Xiaoyu, he understood that the other is drowned in sorrow of losing his elder. ”Once you've calmed down, you should prepare a funeral for your grandfather.”

Min Xiaoyu didn't answer and only continued to cry. Li Xinwen also didn't say anything else and simply let the other be. He took out his phone and sent a message to Li Jinghua as well as Xue Jun.

To Li Jinghua, he informed her that he may need to miss dinner. To Xue Jun, he informed him of the death of Min Shaotian.

It didn't take long for Xue Jun to arrive. He was still wearing his military uniform and behind him, there were several others who wore the same military uniform. Li Xinwen glanced at the people behind him, and noticed that though their strength are low, they are all cultivator.

Li Xinwen understood that they are the students of Min Shaotian, here to send him off for the last time. ”Since you are here, I won't be needed anymore. Xue Jun, go and help Min Xiaoyu. As an outsider, I shouldn't be here,” Li Xinwen told him. ”If there's something wrong with Min Xiaoyu, tell me immediately.”

”Understood.”

Li Xinwen walked away. On his way out, he came face to face with Lan Minghui and Yan Zhuyi. Since he had went through Min Shaotian's memories, he knew of the others' identity. Nodding his head, he was just about to leave when Lan Minghui stopped him.

”Wait. Are you not going to stay?” Lan Minghui asked.

”I am an outsider. And I have already paid my respect to the dead. There is nothing else for me to do here,” Li Xinwen replied. ”Speaking of which, is An Wuya dead?” he asked while looking straight at Yan Zhuyi. Based on Min Shaotian's memories, they separated while escaping after the explosion in the mountain. He suspected that Yan Zhuyi went back to check.

”Dead. His body turned to ashes,” Yan Zhuyi replied.

”I see. Such a shame. I would like to kill him myself,” Li Xinwen murmured in a soft voice. ”Well, what has happened cannot be changed. Since you helped me settle this grievance, then I guess a word of warning will do. In the next few years, the world will change. It is better to be prepared.”

* * *

Three month passed after the death of Min Shaotian. Li Xinwen accompanied Li Jinghua to the military training ground. There, they met the others who are already waiting. Li Xinwen glanced at the people who sat around the table.

Min Xiaoyu seemed to have recovered. Xue Jun still looks the same while Xue Rui looked stronger than before. 'Looks like he worked hard. And surprisingly, he's here too,' Li Xinwen's eyes landed on Xue Liang who have a bored expression on his face.

”Everyone is here? I'm sorry for calling you all suddenly but there might be a change in the future that I experienced,” Li Jinghua said as she took her seat. Li Xinwen naturally sat down beside her, appearing calm.

”About three months ago, Mt. Shengyan was destroyed. But in my past life, it should be destroyed three years later,” Li Jinghua told the others. ”After the destruction of Mt. Shengyan, I asked Xue Jun to help me if there is a meteor that would come towards earth... and the result, there is.”

According to Li Jinghua, the meteorite is the same one from her memories. After the pieces of the meteorites lands on earth, it will take few months for the zombie virus to appear and ravaged the earth.

”This might be the cause and effect of my rebirth,” Li Jinghua let out a heavy sigh.

Li Xinwen who is the real cause: ...

”Since things appears to have happened earlier than expected, then we need to hasten our plan. How is the preparation going?” Li Jinghua asked.

”Medicines and first aid materials has been stocked according to your request. The development of the water purification tablets have also started. We've hired the exact researchers that you suggested,” Xue Rui replied.

”So fast?” Li Jinghua looked at Xue Rui with disbelief.

”There is nothing that money couldn't solve,” Xue Rui smirked.

”You mean, almost nothing. There are things that no amount of money can buy,” Li Jinghua frowned at Xue Rui. ”In any case, you did well. What about weapons?”

At this, Xue Liang threw a stack of papers onto the table. ”300 assault rifles, 20 grenade launchers, 20 rifles, 200 submachine gun, 500 handguns, several crates of grenades...” at the same time, he listed out the items by types for Li Jinghua. ”There will be more shipment coming from R country in another six months,” he added.

When Li Jinghua checked the list, she was evidently surprised with what she found. 'At most... I was only expecting few rifles and pistols but this...' Li Jinghua inspected the stack of papers which includes informations of each weapons.

Seeing Li Jinghua looking at the papers seriously, Xue Liang couldn't help but lean on the table, propping his chin on his hand. ”Did also do well?” he asked. ”If yes, then shouldn't I get a reward?” as he said this, his eyes went over to Li Xinwen.

Seeing the unmasked desire within Xue Liang's eyes, Li Xinwen only raised an eyebrow in return. ”You want a reward?” he asked, feeling slightly amused.

”Good boys who did their jobs well should get a reward, no? How about you and I go out later after this meet-”

”No!”

”Not allowed!”

Xue Liang's sentence were cut off by Xue Rui and Xue Jun respectively. The two brothers were glaring at Xue Liang. Li Xinwen who witnessed this scene found that it was funny and couldn't help the small chuckle that left his lips.

All eyes landed on him but he paid it no mind. His finger tapped on the table as he thought for a while. 'Speaking of which, I haven't gotten back on him for stealing the cultivation manual. Since he delivers himself to me...'

”Alright. After this meeting, let's talk,” Li Xinwen said to Xue Liang. ”Just the two of us.”

”That's more like it,” Xue Liang said with a big smile on his face while giving his brothers a haughty look.

Meanwhile, Li Jinghua only looked at her brother worriedly. After finding out that Xue Liang is one of the few underworld lord, she felt uneasy to work along with him. It was only with Xue Jun's assurance that he will not let Xue Liang cause trouble did she agree.

When Li Xinwen saw her sister's worried expression, he just smiled and reached out to hold her hand assuringly. ”Don't worry. I won't get bullied. You've seen how strong I've become these past three months, right?”

Li Jinghua just sighed and nods her head. Then, she turned to Xue Jun and Min Xiaoyu. ”The training of the soldiers, how is it?”

”All is doing well. Those who are able to cultivate is only four people and I left them to train with Mr Min,” Xue Jun replied. ”The rest, trains with this idiot brother of mine.”

”Major General said everything goes well but I have one thing to report. One of the four that I trained are unable to comprehend the cultivation method that I taught,” Min Xiaoyu added. ”Her growth is slower than the rest and it seemed that if she were to continue, it would damage her meridians instead.”

Min Xiaoyu glanced over at Li Xinwen, silently asking for guidance on how to solve this problem. Li Xinwen only signalled to him that he will tell him later. Clearing his throat, Min Xiaoyu then added another sentence: ”Since it's like this, I asked her to stop cultivating for a while until I find the solution for the problem.”