Family matters

Lan Du's cold smile could be seen by everyone, it was filled with expectations and also a small amount of...bliss?

She clasped her hands together as she stared at the group, they all shuddered when she clasped her hands together. Lan Du took a step forward and grabbed one by the wrist, she saw a black bracelet on his wrist. It wasn't as efficient as her bracelet, but it wasn't bad.

She glanced at the weight, which showed 120 kg, she lifted a brow

"Only 120? From now on, all your weights will increase by another 20 kilos, complain and I'll add another 20 on top of it" Lan Du said coldly

Long He watched as she commanded them, they were so obedient as if she was a true ruler which stood above them all. He grew interested in Lan Du.

"Lad, will you consider joining my army? I will be able to grant you the rank of Lieutenant right away" He said in a tempting manner.

Lan Du shook her head

"If I have so many Lieutenants under me, why would I need that rank?" Lan Du chuckled and turned her head back at the group, Long He nodded, he didn't continue his persuasion, but in his heart, he was dead set on keeping Lan Du in his army.

"When you run, it will be on an uphill of at least 30º, when you rest, you must increase the weight by fifty percent, when you eat, increase it by twenty percent, if you do exercise, increase it by ten percent, as for the official training, I want you all to hunt 10 Ghost Beasts a month"

Ghost beasts were mutant animals that were influenced by the appearance of spiritual strength, they have great ferocity and are very dangerous. So Lan Du's request shocked them.

"B-Boss Du, we have 50 people, ten per person is too much!" Someone complained

Lan Du sneered

"This is the first time someone actually wants to increase my assignment's difficulty, I was talking about 10 in total, but since you are so eager, for you personally, number 47, Shui Qing, you will hunt 5 for yourself"

Shui Qing was shocked, he suddenly regretted speaking up, but even more surprising, Lan Du actually remembered his name and number after all these years! Even he has a hard time keeping track sometimes despite spending every day with them, yet Lan Du could remember perfectly.

He didn't know if he should be happy that Lan Du remembered him or not at this point, he could only bitterly accept her request.

Lan Du then glanced at Long He

"I hope your son will be able to keep up, after all, his foundations are pathetic" Lan Du said with a hint of mockery

But Long He didn't seem to mind, he nodded his head

"You were able to slap him away like a fly, it meant his body foundation is indeed lacking, I hope your men will be able to train him into shape" He agreed with her and spoke.

Lan Du didn't seem surprised by his agreement, she walked down the stage and over to Ba Tan and Feng Yilin.

"Ba Tan, Mr. Feng, I thank you two for speaking up for me, I know how much trouble it could have caused, so if you need anything, tell me, ah, Mr. Feng, your son is also here today, should I pull him out to greet you?" Lan Du remembered that Feng Liu was part of her group.

Feng Yilin smiled

"No need, he contacts us often so he can stay with his friends"

Ba Tan laughed as he patted Lan Du's back

"Lad, you're even crazier than me! Long He isn't someone you can offend easily, but you were able to convince him quite well" He laughed

Lan Du smiled, she then noticed that Xie Lei, Xie Qeng and mother Xie were now behind her with a strange look on their faces.

"Lan Du... the clothes you were wearing should be on Ying'er... since you were wearing it, does that mean you..." They didn't finish the sentence but Lan Du knew what they meant.

She waved her hand and smiled

"No, she is still wearing it, but I had someone rush me a gown that looks the exact same, it wasn't easy to make it, but there are also flaws, don't worry, she is sleeping peacefully in the room" Lan Du said gently, she then yawned lightly.

When the three heard her, they immediately rushed back to the room and found Xie Ying sleeping peacefully on the bed. She had a gentle expression, making her seem defenceless and sweet.

'I must have been too paranoid, I wasn't able to get some proper sleep the last two days' Lan thought to herself and stretched her arm.

But the smell of food washed away her drowsiness as she rushed over to grab some food. She sat down with Feng Yilin and licked the side of her lips.

"The food here aren't bad" She mumbled as she filled the plate in front of her with food.

Long He lifted a brow

'Is he a glutton? No, it makes sense, without recovery items after a fight, food is the next best supplement for a human' He rubbed his chin and wondered how much Lan Du spent on food expenses.

He then watched Lan Du clean an entire table worth of food and was left speechless

'Even if he doesn't use recovery items, isn't this a bit too exaggerated? One table has eight people worth of food!'

Lan Du looked around and suddenly stood up, she wore a sly smile as she wiped her hands and lips before heading inside the building.

In the room Xie Ying stayed, Xie Lei and Xie Qeng were seated beside her, she has woken up and was still a bit dazed. She looked around with a confused look, but the memories of last night struck her. Her pupils shrunk as she grabbed Xie Lei's sleeve.

"Grandpa... Long Quan, he-" Her voice was trembling as she shuddered, tears were rolling down her face as she spoke, her silver eyes shone.

The door opened before she finished speaking, and a figure in red ran in, she had a red cloth over her face but they could feel her desperation.

"Mother, I-I'll take sister's place, please, hide her and-" She was dazed for a moment before looking around, she paused on Xie Ying's crying figure.

She walked over and hugged her

"No wait, let us-"Xie Lei and the rest wanted to say something but were cut off, Xie Ying grabbed her sister's shoulders and shook her head.

"No, I won't allow this" She cried out

Now, the three didn't know how they should explain, the two were too immersed in the current situation but still didn't know of Lan Du's interference.

The girl shook her head and spoke

"There's no need for you to marry him with me here" She spoke

She then reached out her arms and hugged Xie Ying, Xie Ying cried, she clasped the red cloth and pulled it off so she could see her sister's face.

But the scene suddenly paused, everyone froze as they stared at the one hugging Xie Ying.

"L-Lan Du?!"

Lan Du leaned back

"Eh? Did I get caught already? I thought my voice changer was perfect, hm? Where's my cloth?" Lan Du looked around with a confused expression.

Lan Du stood up and ripped the red gown before giggling to herself.

"Well, I was quick enough to get a free hug, wasn't too bad" Lan Du rubbed her chin and spoke with a casual look on her face.

Xie Ying was now even more confused, she wanted to know why Lan Du was here.

"W-Why are you here? It's too dangerous, mother, please take him and leave, if Long Quan finds out, Lan Du will-"

Lan Du placed a finger on her lips and patted her head.

"Little girl, you're mine, and no one can take you from me" Lan Du turned her head and suddenly shouted

"Jing'er, did you film it? How was my acting?" Lan Du spoke out, which baffled everyone

Suddenly, Xie Jing walked in with a camera in her hand, she nodded her head and smiled mischievously. She watched Lan Du earlier disrupt the ceremony by switching out Xie Ying, she even watched Lan Du call out dozens of people to help.

She was very familiar with this scene, it was the same thing she did six years ago in order to find her.

"S-Sister?" Xie Ying was bewildered, did Lan Du and Xie Jing work together to fool her? But she suddenly remembered the predicament she was in.

"W-What's going on" She questioned, everything was too suspicious

Lan Du smirked

"What else? I pummelled the bastard who wanted to marry you, I told you, even if I'm across the world, I'll come back if anyone tries to approach you" Lan Du chuckled and walked over to Xie Jing.

"Show me the video, I need to see how I did" Lan Du said enthusiastically

Xie Jing nodded her head and passed the camera to her, Lan Du snickered as she watched the video play out. She rubbed her chin with a sly smile.

"Not bad, Ying'er was especially emotional, but don't even cry so much again, I don't want to see that face" Lan Du said gently, she turned o Xie Ying who was rubbing her eyes.

"W-What about the Long family, his father is-"

Lan Du waved her hand

"He's changing this banquet to an apology to those he invited, apparently seeing me pummel his guards made things quite unsightly" Lan Du muttered

Xie Ying was confused even further

"Then his uncle who-"

"Bribed him to stay out" Lan Du replied immediately

She then passed the camera back to Xie Jing and turned to mother Xie and the two elderlies.

Her eyes became watery as she cried

"Elders, only after speaking about it did I remember, I used the fortune I saved up for the past 6 years to bribe that old man, you must raise me from now on" Lan Du said out loud

Her words made Xie Ying flustered

"What! Lan Du, is that true!" She exclaimed in shock, she watched Lan Du's eyes water as she rubbed her eyes.

"Bah, don't believe that kid, he only used half, he should still have quite a lot left over" Xie Lei snorted and said

Xie Ying then turned to Lan Du, she still seemed a bit guilty as half of a person's fortune was not small. Her family was quite well off now that her grandparents decided to take them back in, so she wanted to repay her.

"Lan Du, how much did you use? I will return it" She said with a serious expression

A smile crept to Lan Du's face

"I was waiting for you to say that" She giggled and took out a calculator.

"The purchase of an Origin Fruit, 700 million, transported across other planets, 50 thousand, delievered in less than 1 day service, 200 million, a total of 700 million, 250 thousand federation dollars" Lan Du rubbed her nose as she said

'Though this is actually much less than half my fortune, teasing them will be fun' She thought to herself

Her words left everyone speechless, Xie Lei thought to himself in shock.

'My whole fortune is only about 400 million, where on earth did this brat get 700 million!?'

It wasn't just him, everyone else were also deeply shocked, if that was half her fortune, didn't that mean Lan Du had easily over a billion originally? She was almost as rich as CEO Lin!

Though CEO Lin has less influence that the Long family, he was actually richer than them as he rana. business whilst the Long family had a higher prestige when it comes to military purposes. Her fortune was maybe even on par with the Long family at the very least!

"B-Brat, s-stop fooling around, tell me the truth" Xie Lei was so shaken up he wanted to reject reality, but deep down, he knew the cost of the Origin Fruit.

Lan Du chuckled

"It isn't a joke, the Long family won't accept anything cheap after all, I had to spend an entire night bargaining for that fruit, I wasn't even able to sleep properly" Lan Du smiled, but her phone started to ring.

The five in the room remained silent, they were speechless, aghast and appalled by the price that Lan Du had spent for Xie Ying. They were in too deep of a thought, but they were woken up by Lan Du's furious shout.

"You better stay away from them or you can forget about seeing me again! Even if I have to give up visiting mother, I will make sure you never find me!" Lan Du roared

The room became silent

[Who are they? Your friends?]

Lan Du clicked her tongue

"Yes, now leave the house before I report you for breaking in, I don't care if you used to love there, as a man who left it for so many years, you have no right to call it home" Lan Du growled

The five listened attentively, they couldn't hear what the other side was talking about, but they knew Lan Du was talking to a family member.

[I just wanted to make sure, also, your threats won't work on me, I will find you one day]

Lan Du scoffed

"Find me? Sure, I'd like to see if you find me before you fine your son's dead corpse hanging on the street" Lan Du said ruthlessly

Her words shocked not only Yuan Min who she was talking to over the phone, but also the five in the room. They could roughly guess their relationship but after hearing Lan Du's words, they began doubting if they were father and son.

[What? Y-You know of Cai'er?]

Lan Du laughed, her voice was cold and so was her eyes.

"Your son is as useless in combat as you are as a father, mother was blind to have picked you" Lan Du said coldly

[Don't say this, I love your mother, I'm doing all I can to save her! And Cai'er is still your brother, you can't harm him] Yuan Min seemed a bit more desperate this moment.

Lan Du's cold smile grew

"Love her? That's funny, it's even funner that you think I won't kill your son, so what if I'm related to him by blood? I reject your blood, since your blood is all we have in common, he is but a stranger to me, but what a pity, I wasn't able to see you kneeling in front of you sweet lover's" Lan Du's words grew vicious and cruel as she went on.

[Stop talking nonsense! You're my child, and so is Cai'er, you cannot harm him, nor can you bad mouth his mother!]

Lan Du's hands tightened

"Badmouth her? When have I badmouthed the woman who'm you slept with the moment you left my mother? You should be glad I didn't try to find and dig out her grave, after all, she is but part of the reason my half-brother exists, you, as the father is the biggest problem"

"I haven't even cursed you enough for cheating on mother the moment you left her, so you better prepare a funeral soon, because the brat is about to meet his mother" Lan Du said coldly and hung up the phone.

Yuan Min who was on the other side was dazed, he has never spoken so much with his daughter before, yet now that she voiced out everything, a deep guilt rose in his heart, Lan Du's words struck where it hurst the most for him.

He sighed and looked back at the house he was now leaving, his eyes filled with longing and grief.

Lan Du took in a deep breath at this moment, she was relatively angry at the moment due to her conversation with Yuan Min.

"Lan Du, that person was-"

Lan Du shook her head

"My father, we don't have a good relationship so I spend most my time hiding from him, after all, if I get caught by him, I'll never be able to run, I am only glad that I know where my half-brother is so I can use him as a hostage when I need to" Lan Du replied as she placed a hand on her forehead.

They stared at Lan Du with a complicated look, though they learnt more about Lan Du's personal life now, they felt tha it only made her more distant to them.

"Who is your father? You're already so strong, how come you're afraid of him?" Xie Jing asked with a concerned expression.

But Lan Du laughed

"Fear him? No, I fear that he'll take away the day I take revenge on him, beng caught by him will limit my growth, I will forever be a mere shadow of what I'm able to become" Lan Du said coldly, she licked the side of her lips and a cold smile appeared on her face.

The twins shook, they knew Lan Du would get emotional at times, but this was the most intense they have seen yet.

"Then your brother?"

Lan Du shook her head

"Cheh, that brat doesn't even know who I am, even if I kill him, it'll be a mere stranger killing another stranger, but I won't, after all... that'll be too easy for him" Lan Du's eyes were dead serious, the twins couldn't help but bit teh bottom of their lips.

They struggled before raising one hand and slapping Lan Du's face, shocking their grandparent and mother. But Lan Du didn't retaliate, she smiled and touched both cheeks which they smacked.

"You two must be angry, I'm willing to kill my own brother for my own desires despite his innocence, but there are things out there that I have experienced, and I never want my mother to experience it" Lan Du said bitterly, her smile was full of sorrow and helplessness.