"Who is he?" Li Shuangjin asked, her eyes blazing.
"Young master, please don't misunderstand. I am already married. As for this young master," the speaker paused, then continued, "he bears a certain resemblance to Young Master Chongyan. Miss Zhuo Jin, is this what you meant by 'Wan Wan Lei Qing'?"
Li Shuangjin didn't understand the term "Wan Wan Lei Qing," but he caught the implication that he looked like someone else.
That someone else was "Chongyan," whom he had heard Zhuo Jin mention before.
Zhuo Jin rolled her eyes internally. "No one would think you're mute if you just stayed silent."
Dong Ling fell silent for a moment, realizing his words had been called out as superfluous. He quickly shut his mouth.
"Who is he?"
"A friend. I'll explain later when we get back."
"Then who is Chongyan?"
"We'll talk about it later." After saying this, Zhuo Jin turned to Dong Ling. "You said she was repairing loopholes in alternate timelines. What about the other places? Even now—"
"Click."
Li Shuangjin's eyes blazed with anger as he loaded a bullet into his pistol and aimed it at Dong Ling Sui.
Dong Ling's expression shifted, and he instinctively prepared to retaliate.
"I asked you who he is? Who is Chongyan?"
Zhuo Jin froze for a moment, then grabbed his hand and made him holster the pistol.
Dong Ling Sui's face also showed some hostility as he stood up with a stern expression. "Miss Zhuo Jin."
"Never mind. You should go first. I will find her."
"My wife also asked me to ask you a question."
"What?"
Dong Ling shifted his posture. "She asked me to ask you, what exactly is 'Ren Jian Gong Ye'?"
This was a long story that couldn't be explained in a few words. "I'll tell you when I go to find her. You should leave now."
"...Alright."
The private room in the teahouse was empty. Dong Ling glanced at the only stranger present, Li Shuangjin, and without any further concern, vanished on the spot.
This stunned Li Shuangjin, calming him down somewhat.
Silence descended for a while. Wu Xiang had left at some point, leaving only the two of them standing face-to-face.
After a few minutes, Zhuo Jin asked, "Are you calmer now?"
Li Shuangjin holstered his pistol. "I still want to know."
His tone had calmed, but his dissatisfaction was evident.
"Come back early tonight, and I'll tell you everything."
Li Shuangjin pursed his lips. Unable to press the issue, he descended the stairs with a sense of dejection.
Zhuo Jin stood on the upper floor, watching his retreating back. After a moment, she chuckled. This person, she hadn't even managed to get him to fully embrace his role-play yet, and she didn't want him to remember everything just yet. Su Dan Novel Network.
So, that evening, Li Shuangjin canceled all his appointments and returned early, only to see their new home.
Red silk, red candles, and several witnesses had been invited.
Li Shuangjin inexplicably went through the wedding ceremony and entered the bridal chamber. Though bewildered, his long-held desires made the bridal chamber and wedding night far more important.
Zhuo Jin had initially intended to let him regain his memory after the role-play ended. However, this body was too weak. The vast difference in physical constitution between the Tian Gan and Di Kun made it difficult for her to keep up even with her spiritual power. Moreover, Chongyan's soul was now almost complete. After the night's events, she could only lie in bed the next day.
Li Shuangjin was busy with official duties and was called away by the police early in the morning. He didn't return until night.
She initially thought it was an accident. It wasn't until Li Shuangjin didn't return for several consecutive days that she sensed something was wrong and went to look for him herself.
This world had more than one temporal loophole. When they were in the West, the West had already experienced incidents. This place was also not peaceful. In the past hundred years, China had declined, and various powers were eyeing it greedily, waiting for it to fall into complete chaos before pouncing like jackals to carve up the land. It was a time of both internal and external crises.
The loophole in the imperial mausoleum had been temporarily sealed by Wu Xiang with a barrier. However, in recent days, Hai City alone had seen two or three temporal loopholes. Monster attacks had also been reported in other parts of China.
The war had already caused immense suffering to the people of this land. Now, with the addition of monsters, the world was on the brink of chaos. Some people, unaware of the crisis temporal loopholes could bring, sought wealth amidst the disorder, thinking that heroes would emerge in tumultuous times and seizing the opportunity to cause trouble.
Li Shuangjin and Li Xiao Xian were the first to see this clearly. Thus, they took the time to find Commander Li and explain everything that might happen.
Commander Li was over fifty. His years of fighting on the front lines had given him a deadly aura. Having experienced much, he initially dismissed the reports of monster attacks as minor incidents.
Upon hearing his thoughts, Li Xiao Xian became anxious.
"Father, this is not like the usual wars where you fight and I fight. If we don't stop them, those things will emerge endlessly, and they might be more troublesome than those wretched Japanese bandits."
"Minor wars?" Commander Li's eyes blazed. "You know nothing! You've never truly been to the battlefield. You haven't seen mountains of corpses and seas of blood. You haven't seen a city where not a single man, woman, or child was left alive, and the stench of death spread for dozens of miles!"
"Brother," Li Shuangjin interrupted, seeing the two about to quarrel. "I don't deny that human wars are terrifying, but if we don't handle the matter of these foreign entities properly, the entire human world will be doomed. When I went to the West, monsters had already appeared there upon my return. This is a global disaster. If those small island nations like Japan also encounter monsters, let alone attacking us, they'll be struggling to protect themselves. I believe the immediate priority is to notify the North and have them prepare, and also to make the public aware of how to protect themselves."
Commander Li fell silent for a moment. "If we release the news now, everyone might panic. If Japan attacks us then, we'll be in a dire situation."
"Father, didn't Sixth Uncle say that there are loopholes all over the world? Japan will definitely have them too. When that time comes, they'll have enough trouble protecting themselves, let alone bothering with us."
"You, shut up."
Li Xiao Xian wisely fell silent.
Commander Li pondered for another moment. "I'll think about this. You two go and attend to your own affairs."
"...Yes." Li Xiao Xian was somewhat displeased.
As the two stood up to leave, Commander Li called out to Li Shuangjin, "Old Sixth, I heard you have a woman by your side."
It was clear he had known for some time.
Li Shuangjin nodded.
"Bring her home to see your mother and me. They've been hoping for you to get married and have children. It doesn't matter who she is, as long as you like her."
He used to be picky, but after more than ten years, he now only hoped that others wouldn't reject him for being too old.
Li Shuangjin smiled, as if thinking of something. "If I have time, I'll bring her back."
"Mm."
He walked out with Li Xiao Xian. Li Xiao Xian was still complaining about his father being too conservative. Li Shuangjin said, "His concerns are not without reason. Besides, the Japanese are inherently despicable. If they are cornered and decide to attack, it will be a big problem."
Li Xiao Xian ran his hand through his hair in agitation. "That's true. What wouldn't those beasts do?"
A few steps out of the Commander's mansion, a car horn honked from the side of the road. They looked over and saw Li Shuangjin's car.
"Who is it?"
They walked over. Li Shuangjin saw Zhuo Jin sitting in the driver's seat through the car window and got into the passenger seat.
"Why are you here?"
Li Xiao Xian also wanted to get into the car. As he opened the rear door, he heard Li Shuangjin say, "Xiao Xian, we have something to discuss. You should go back on your own."
Li Xiao Xian: "..."
Ultimately, he had been mistaken.