sovbooks Chapter 394 - 379: Saving Face
Chapter 394 - 379: Saving Face
Liu Bo personally escorted Tang You and Dr. Qi to two special guest rooms deep underground, handling every detail himself.
Once the two were sound asleep with steady breaths, he personally inspected the guest rooms’ defense systems. After confirming everything was in order, he summoned a few guards, gave them some quiet instructions, and only then did he leave to return to the banquet hall.
...A huge problem was waiting for him back there.
After all, the current matriarch of the Liu Family was the Gu Family’s most pampered eldest daughter. She had the air of a high-society lady and was always gentle, generous, and dignified in public, but in truth, she couldn’t tolerate the slightest personal slight.
Of course, his nominal uncle, for reasons known to all, was famously henpecked in the military. How could he possibly let his own wife feel wronged?
’...After all, she *is* the eldest daughter of the Gu Family.’
Liu Bo looked up, rubbing the bridge of his nose in exhaustion.
The drunken nonsense Tang You and Dr. Qi had spouted earlier had already made the Liu Family matriarch’s expression turn quite foul.
Although, this really had nothing to do with him.
But others might not see it that way.
’After all, the two of them only started downing cup after cup after I went over to them.’
If someone were to make an issue of this and say something to the matriarch... Liu Bo took a deep breath, suppressing his annoyance.
Although the Liu Family had only risen to prominence in the last few decades, for various reasons, there were a great many descendants.
He had over twenty cousins in name alone, for instance.
His current influence in the Liu Family was due not only to his own competence but also to the fact that he had no conflicts of interest with the matriarch.
But if tonight’s incident caused the matriarch to misunderstand something and take a disliking to him... Liu Bo had never underestimated the power of pillow talk—it was the deadliest blade in a soft scabbard—and he wouldn’t give anyone the chance to fan the flames and frame him.
He had to go and clear this up immediately. He couldn’t let certain people seize this opportunity to make a big deal out of it.
As Liu Bo hurried back to deal with the aftermath, Dr. Qi, lying on the bed in a drunken slumber, suddenly opened his eyes.
He rolled over and sat up, rubbing his temples, which were throbbing from a slight dizziness. To make the act convincing, he had ended up drinking a few extra glasses tonight. Thankfully, he had taken a sobering medicine beforehand.
Dr. Qi heaved a long sigh. Abruptly, he lifted his gaze toward the window.
In the dead of night, the tightly shut window silently eased open, just a crack. A slender green sprout trembled as it squeezed its way inside.
The power of plants was being exerted to its fullest in the dead of night.
Even the window, crafted from special materials, silently dissolved under this terrifying power.
A breeze swept in through the open window, swirling once in the center of the somewhat spartan room.
It seemed a little cold. Dr. Qi subconsciously tugged at the thin blanket covering him, but he quickly let it go.
He didn’t get out of bed. Instead, he leaned back against the headboard with a relaxed expression, watching the wind swirl in mid-air. He raised a hand to rub his brow, a hint of weariness in his features.
He said softly, "Xiaoxi, could you give me a bottle of sour plum soup? I remember you should have some in your space. I had a few too many drinks tonight..."
His tone was as warm and familiar as ever. Gu Xi was silent for a moment before finding a bottle of pre-apocalypse sour plum soup in a corner of her space and tossing it to him.
’Even she had forgotten she still had that stuff stored in her space, but Dr. Qi remembered.’
So, whether he had brought it up intentionally or not, Gu Xi was struck by a sudden realization: Qi Xiao’s understanding of every single member of their Doomsday Squad was likely far deeper than they had ever imagined.
Gu Xi’s internal guard went up, but she showed no sign of it on her face, merely watching the man opposite her calmly.
"Thank you," Dr. Qi said softly. He twisted the cap off but didn’t drink right away, instead gazing at the bottle with a sentimental look. "I haven’t had this stuff since... well, since what happened to you back then."
With that, he lowered his head and took a sip, a nostalgic expression on his face. "Still tastes the same. It’s good."
He looked up at Gu Xi, a gentle warmth in his weary eyes. "Could you give me a few more bottles? I remember the rest of you didn’t like this stuff. Only Ye Xin..."
At the mention of Ye Xin, he lowered his gaze, his expression a mixture of sorrow and complexity, and he trailed off.
Gu Xi glanced at him and silently passed over two more bottles of sour plum soup.
"Dr. Qi." Gu Xi met his gaze. As much as she wanted to see where he was going after playing the nostalgia card, time was limited. She had other things to do soon, so she had no choice but to interrupt his performance.
Dr. Qi looked up, seemingly pulled back from his reverie.
"Xiaoxi," he sighed and began softly, "I know what you’ve come to ask me, but I truly don’t know where the mutated beasts and mutated humans kept by the Gu and Liu Families are hidden. This is my first time at this place, too..."
But Gu Xi slowly shook her head. "That’s not it."
"It’s not?" Dr. Qi paused, surprised. He picked up a pair of gold-rimmed glasses from the side and placed them on the bridge of his nose before looking at Gu Xi again. "Then why did you come looking for me tonight...?"
Gu Xi stared at him, asking, almost enunciating every word, "I want to know... who gave me my name back then?"
Dr. Qi seemed not to have expected that she would infiltrate Gu Garden at night just to ask this question. He was momentarily stunned.
A dark glint flashed in his eyes, hidden behind his glasses.
"Xiaoxi, why are you asking this?" He leaned back slightly against the headboard, looking at Gu Xi with a composed, leisurely air.
"Have you never considered that the Chen sisters gave you your name? After all, you know that the Abnormal Ability Research Institute was founded with the Gu Family’s funding. In a way, you could say the Chen sisters were working for the Gu Family..."
It was just that the two sisters were too ambitious and not particularly obedient.
But Dr. Qi intentionally glossed over that point, saying only, "So if they knew your origins, giving you the Gu surname... wouldn’t that be a perfectly logical thing to do?"
Gu Xi calmly cut him off. "I know it wasn’t them."
’The Gu Family might have been behind the Chen sisters choosing me for the Abnormal Ability Research Institute back then.’
’But the Chen sisters certainly didn’t know much, and they definitely didn’t know my true origins. Otherwise, they never would have dared to use my blood.’
’From the first day I was brought to the institute, I underwent countless tests. The Gu Family and the Chen sisters all knew my blood was abnormal.’
’But if my blood truly had the effect of a Miracle Medicine with no side effects, why would the Gu Family ever give up such a precious living blood bank?’
’So the Gu Family must have initially sought me out only because of the Superpower Seed.’
’They knew my abnormality was likely related to the Superpower Seed.’
’But because Li Ming was so vigilant and had already taken the small stone from me, the Gu Family found no trace of the Superpower Seed on either of us after they located us.’
’After all, who would suspect a small stone tossed to the side of the road, blending in perfectly with its surroundings?’
’But the Gu Family clearly had no intention of giving up so easily.’
’So they tossed me to the Chen sisters, to be studied and watched over.’
’But the Chen sisters were too ambitious.’
’The Gu Family... couldn’t have trusted them completely.’
’Besides, an old, prestigious clan like the Gu Family, no matter how filthy, cold, and selfish they were on the inside, still had to maintain appearances. They would never tell an outsider that I was one of them...’
’But the Superpower Seed was too important.’
’The Gu Family would have certainly sent someone to keep an eye on me, so they must have placed their own spy next to the Chen sisters.’
’And that person must have been a trusted confidant of the Gu Family’s head. He, or she, must know a great deal.’