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Chapter 210: Chapter 210: Confession
They had delayed another day in the mountains.
As night approached, they finally returned to Baiyun Peak from Goddess Peak, and after another day’s trek, they would be able to descend the mountain.
On foot, the journey was exhausting and slow, and having witnessed nearly two hundred people die right before their eyes weighed heavily on their hearts. Both physically and mentally, they were extremely fatigued and couldn’t help but sigh over the fragility of human life in the apocalyptic world, diminishing even the joy of acquiring a large cache of munitions.
After setting up camp, Yan Xiao, as usual, fiddled with the communicator and, perhaps due to a better location, managed to get a connection.
"Changyuan, can you hear me? ... Changyuan, we’ve finished here, and we’ll be back in a few days. Is there anything happening at the base?"
"Nothing major, just a minor issue..."
Lu Changyuan informed Yan Xiao that after the frequent disappearances of Superpower Users, he had ordered his men not to act on their own. However, Zhang Lei repeatedly sneaked out, joining Anke Wei on missions outside. Recently, both had disappeared.
Their team having members go missing would typically be considered a major issue, but Lu Changyuan referred to it as a minor one, which suggested that Zhang Lei had likely been expelled from the team by Lu Changyuan.
After hearing the gist of the situation, Yan Xiao went to discuss it with Han Yi.
Han Yi listened and simply nodded indifferently, without any additional reaction.
During dinner, a few more people emerged from the woods—they were the soldiers who had been rescued earlier. It seemed they had followed the trail left by Han Yi and others down the mountain.
Han Rui followed behind these men, head hanging, his right hand wrapped in a tattered cloth, looking completely dejected like a beaten rooster.
Having witnessed Han Yi’s anger, these soldiers didn’t dare come too close and chose a spot far away to start a fire and rest around it. Because Han Rui was unfamiliar with the mountain trails, if these soldiers wanted to successfully navigate out of the forest, they had to follow Han Yi’s lead to prevent getting lost and to benefit from Han Yi and others clearing any Mutant Beasts along the way, ensuring a safer passage.
Yan Xiao and Xiao Jian exchanged glances and remained silent. Having these people linger near their camp was somewhat inconvenient, but driving them away would seem too heartless. Live and let live, they hoped these survivors wouldn’t get any unwelcome ideas...
Jiaojiao worried that Cotton Candy, Xiaogua and Xiaodou might attack these survivors, so she had to walk deeper into the forest to personally warn her pets.
Before long, Jiaojiao felt someone following her. Turning around, she saw it was Han Rui.
Han Rui was frail, leaning over with one hand supporting himself against a nearby tree trunk, his complexion exceptionally pale due to blood loss.
Jiaojiao observed him silently.
"You can’t be with Han Yi," Han Rui said hoarsely, lifting his head with a dark glare of hatred in his eyes. "Your dad...was killed by him."
Jiaojiao’s eyes widened, her mind going blank in shock.
A dad? Wasn’t she an orphan? ... Which dad was he talking about? Her biological father? Or was it Han Dad? And why would her brother kill her dad?
Han Rui only uttered those words and couldn’t continue. His throat tightened suddenly, and his face turned from pale to a flushed purple. Slowly, someone walked behind him—it was Han Yi.
"I’ll explain this matter to my sister myself. You don’t need...to worry about it for me," Han Yi said to Han Rui while his gaze fixed steadily on Jiaojiao.
He extended a hand towards Jiaojiao and said gently, "Jiaojiao, come here."
Han Jiaojiao looked at the pale, slender hand and felt a void in her mind, her body moving subconsciously towards Han Yi. Han Jiaojiao reached for that hand, staring blankly at Han Yi—
"Brother, he said... you..." She didn’t know how to ask; how could her brother have killed her father? Wasn’t that absurd?! She didn’t even know she had a father...
"That man was not your father; he was just a fraudster." Han Yi pulled Han Jiaojiao into his embrace, his voice gentle, "Your brother will explain everything to you slowly."
Han Yi appeared calm on the surface, but his heart was pounding violently!
He didn’t know why he felt this way. He had long noticed Han Rui following his sister, and, impulsively, he hadn’t stopped him. Subconsciously, he wanted to see her reaction after hearing Han Rui’s words...
—Would she still trust him after knowing the truth? Would she continue to rely on him?
Han Yi felt that, at that moment, he was like a gambler. Moreover, he was a losing gambler because as soon as Han Rui started speaking, he couldn’t contain himself and stepped forward, wanting to retract his bet.
He dared not continue testing! He feared that her feelings toward him would waver because of this!
How foolish...
Had he lost his mind? Instead of letting Han Rui tell her, it would be better if he told her himself.
He simply couldn’t imagine what he would do if Han Jiaojiao had shown even a hint of resistance just now!
Fortunately, she had come to him...
Han Yi released his spiritual power, causing Han Rui, drained, to kneel on the ground and cough violently, his throat nearly crushed by the spiritual power.
Han Yi, holding Han Jiaojiao, left without paying any attention to him.
Back in the tent, Han Jiaojiao’s expression was still somewhat dazed. She wanted to ask what exactly was going on, opened her mouth but closed it again, unsure of where to begin...
Regarding her origins, Bai Yan had never hidden anything, so she knew from a young age that she was an orphan.
Her hometown was a beautiful town in the south. One year, floods struck her hometown, and her parents died while she was fortunate to be rescued. Bai Yan and other celebrities came to the disaster area to participate in relief performances, learned about her from the rescuing soldiers, and decided to adopt her when she was just over one year old. Then, Bai Yan became her mother.
Her mother wouldn’t lie to her, nor was there any need to. Since her biological parents had unfortunately died in the flood, what did Han Rui’s words mean then?
Seeing Han Jiaojiao sitting quietly and obediently on the mat, Han Yi’s heart softened. He walked over and held her in his arms, gently kissing her forehead and the corners of her eyebrows.
"Brother, didn’t my dad die in the flood?" Han Jiaojiao raised her head and asked Han Yi, looking confused.
Han Yi was silent for a while, then spoke softly, "He was not your dad; he was your stepfather. Your birth mother was a widow who married that man. He didn’t die during the flood but hid because he didn’t want to raise you."
Han Jiaojiao was stunned, and after a long while, she softly said, "Mom never told me..."
Han Yi gently smiled and caressed her cheek, soothing her fine hair, "Aunt Bai didn’t mean to hide it from you; it just wasn’t convenient to tell you. After learning that you had been adopted, that man was relieved of his responsibilities and dared to show up. Later, when he learned from the newspaper that Bai Yan had adopted you, he did everything he could to meet you. By that time, Aunt Bai had already adopted you for more than half a year. She couldn’t bear to send you back, nor could she bear to prevent you from seeing your father, so she occasionally took you to meet him. I don’t know what that man was thinking, but after meeting a few times, he foolishly and greedily desired to pursue Aunt Bai..."
Han Jiaojiao was speechless.
