A few minutes later, in the hall of the castle that after the fall of the Russian faction became part of Bai Zemin's personal property.

Bai Zemin waited for Zhong De's mother to finish pouring tea for him and the two beauties before speaking.

"Auntie, really thank you for everything. You keep doing this kind of chore even though you don't need to..."

"You have to thank me for something like this? Besides, what do you mean by this kind of chore? This is a very worthy job, little man." She looked at him with eyes much brighter than in the past as she picked up the silver plate with intention of leaving the room, "You're the only reason I'm still alive, and you know it don't you? Seeing you get stronger from up close gives me more motivation and hope to see my son again someday."

Bai Zemin looked into her eyes for a few seconds and nodded slowly but firmly, "Definitely."

Zhong De's mother bowed slightly to the three people in the room and then silently stepped back, closing the door before completely leaving the area to ask the other maids already working here to stay away from the room on Bai Zemin's own orders.

"So..." Bai Zemin finally turned to look at Khristina. His expression was extremely complicated as he sighed softly, "What will I do with you now..."

Khristina's expression was usually taken up by a faint playful smile and sparkling eyes. At this moment, however, her mouth was very slightly open and her eyes were bigger than usual as proof of how surprised she was.

After a long time, she finally mumbled a few words, "You... You really took that man down."

"It was your sister and Feng Tian Wu." Bai Zemin pointed out still feeling a big headache as he didn't know how to get out of the trouble he was in, "Why do you attach so much importance to something so simple?"

"Simple?" Khristina murmured in amazement before smiling sadly, "I wasn't lying when I said that Eduard Valentinovich had never lost in his life; not even in something as simple as a game of chess. It's not only about sheer strength, he also used to be more cunning than foxes which is why he even distrusted his own family not to mention others."

Only Khristina herself knew all the effort she had to make and all she had to sacrifice in order to get where she did with the former Russian Leader. No one but herself knew that she had to give up her happiness, her pride, and every shred of dignity that any woman or human being could have.

"I lost many times in my life. I was also fooled repeatedly." Bai Zemin stared at her before slowly saying, "But since the apocalypse began I never lost in anything to anyone. Only one of all the battles I fought could be considered my defeat as my opponent, unfortunately, could no longer give his all."Bai Zemin did not get to know the former Russian Leader because he never had the need to show himself in person to finish him off. Therefore, he also did not know what kind of an amazing person he was, according to Khristina.

From the very beginning, even before arriving in Russia, Bai Zemin was absolutely certain that Eduard Valentinovich would fall; and this certainty only grew to 300% after learning from Khristina that his enemy had never been defeated before.

Didn't Xuanyuan Wentian experience the same thing before?

"We learn more from defeats than from victories." He said with closed eyes and calm voice: "In contrast to victory, every defeat becomes an experience. Our defeats stare at us daily, poking at us to remind us that they are there and watching, waiting for the moment to devour us or those we care about... I know what it feels like to lose, and I know that if I lose even once now I won't be the only one affected by it."

Unlike the former Russian Leader who fought solely for himself, Bai Zemin had people for whom he cared as much or perhaps more than he cared for himself.

"The power of friendship and love." Bai Zemin chuckled as he remembered how stupid those words sounded to him every time he read a novel in the past, but now he understood that it was not about "friendship" or "love" but about protecting even at the cost of losing teeth and fingernails in the process.

Although Bai Zemin felt his words were very easy to understand, Khristina shook her head silently.action

She had spent most of her life like this, under the foot of someone whom with all her heart she tried with all her might to crush; someone who even knowing it allowed her to stay by his side because he never saw her as a real threat... Given all this, how could she accept Bai Zemin's words regardless of any logic or sentiment behind them?

Shangguan Bing Xue sipped her tea in silence as she watched the reactions of the beautiful black-haired, blue-eyed woman. When she heard Bai Zemin say "your sister and Feng Tian Tu" the hand with which she held the small porcelain cup flinched and a flash of surprise shone in her eyes.

If she was Evangeline's sister... Then now it all suddenly made sense.

Shangguan Bing Xue had been present that night when Evangeline joined them. In fact, only four people including her and Bai Zemin knew about Evangeline's request; Nangong Yi and Nangong Lingxin were the other two.

"So this is why you've been frowning all week." She leaned over to set the cup down on the table as she looked at Khristina with indifference even though her words were directed at Bai Zemin, "What I don't understand is... What's going on here?"

Shangguan Bing Xue knew Bai Zemin's character perfectly well.

He was someone who always kept his word and usually tried to avoid doing anything that would somehow get in the way of keeping his promises. It was precisely for this reason that Shangguan Bing Xue could not believe that he and someone he should capture at all costs were chatting and drinking tea.

Khristina really wanted to ask how it was possible for Shangguan Bing Xue to spot her, and even Bai Zemin was secretly shocked by this since even he did not notice Khristina's existence until the moment she was forced to defend against Shangguan Bing Xue's sword. However, they both knew that in order for things to move forward they would have to temporarily put that aside.

"Actually, it's all a bit simple to explain except for a few points..." Bai Zemin hesitated a bit, and after further thought decided temporarily not to talk to anyone about the existence of other dimensions parallel to the one they were living in.

Khristina naturally caught on this little point, therefore, she didn't say anything about it either. Besides, she no longer had any faction to call home and her situation was not particularly enjoyable regardless of her immense personal strength and ability.

A few minutes passed, and after listening to the last word he said, Shangguan Bing Xue slowly nodded to herself, "I still feel that these confusing points you avoided touching on are very important... But right now, I'm curious about something else."

She looked at Khristina and asked directly, "Why did you save Bai Zemin's life at that time? You used to be the right hand of the former president of Russia didn't you? In that case you should know better than anyone else about the unbreakable feud between the two sides... Particularly after we proved that we meant to continue invading Russia no matter what."

Bai Zemin also watched Khristina silently, waiting for an honest and logical explanation, "I also want to know why you did that. I know Evangeline's past, and I know her name was originally Ludmila Ilyinishna so avoid lies, or don't blame me for not being polite even if you helped me before."

He was tremendously grateful to Khristina for saving his life when he was under the spiritual attack in the illusion that the Throne of Creation had submerged him without him realizing it. Had it not been for her, that female dragon of the Dragon God Realm definitely would have had her way and Bai Zemin would not be standing or existing right now.

However, somewhere in his heart Bai Zemin also felt some frustration as it was that the thing that made him not know what to do at present.

He always thought that if he ever found Evangeline's older sister he would simply capture her and hand her over for Evangeline herself to handle... But once again, fate and life proved that not everything would turn out the way he would have preferred.

In the past, Bai Zemin viewed Khristina as an extremely sinister and manipulative woman; a vicious bitch beyond anything else, capable even of betraying her family.

Now, however, although his opinion of her was still negative, Bai Zemin considered Khristina as a mysterious woman. Therefore, he needed to know more in order to know what to do next.

Besides... every story always has two different sides and points of view.

Khristina slowly closed her eyes and nodded. Then, in a soft, low voice, she responded, "Ok... I'll tell you then. My own version."

* * * * * * *

Thank you all for your words of encouragement and understanding, from the bottom of my heart <3

Probably another chapter before reset