Chapter 128  : Li Zheng’s Past

Yao Si was suddenly reminded of something. After Li Zheng had confirmed her identity, the first thing he had told her was: you’re dead!

Death was required for a conversion! She seemed to have skipped that step, so when she got killed...

So this was just her trying to correct the sequence?

“This document shows the difference in the DNA before and after you were converted,” Mu Xuan said. “Even though both show that you’re a fifth-generation bloodling, there’s an increase in our blood compatibility. You were a pure earthling previously, slightly different from the clones’ data, so no one could detect the issue.”

“Wait a minute!” Yao Si was slightly confused. “You mean I was still a human. Then why... why did I have an ability and why was I stronger?” If not, it wouldn’t have remained a secret for such a long time, right?

“It’s probably because of me...” Mu Xuan caressed her head. “Before, even if you had my blood, it couldn’t have stayed in you for such a long time. But because I awakened the ancestral bloodline, my blood within you started to act differently.”

“...”

Yao Si was... speechless!

It explained why she couldn’t sense her ability back when she was still on earth. It was all because she hadn’t become a full-fledged bloodling. In truth, for the last few years, she had been just posing as a fifth-generation bloodling?

“From what you’ve said, that I just became a real bloodling right now, does that mean my ability will change?” Yao Si asked with agitation, having remembered the foreign force she had felt when trying to stop Li Zheng.

“It’s possible.” Mu Xuan nodded.

“I’ll try right now!”

Yao Si bolted up in joy and placed the drink on the table. With a deep breath, she took a moment to look for her power. As expected, there was an additional foreign strength within her. She tried to recall the feeling from when she’d used it, but did not dare to use all of it. She just gently probed the energy, focusing on the cup...

After a minute...

After ten minutes...

After thirty minutes...

The cup remained the same and her energy was still the same, as weak... as before!

“...”

Nothing seemed to have changed! This is not logical!

She clearly remembered that both Mu Xuan and Li Zheng hadn’t been able to defend against her attack. She had even swept away all the fragments in space. So why wasn’t it working?

Perhaps... it has an expiration date?

○|￣|_

“Mu Xuan...” Yao Si cried out. She had thought that by converting fully she would be able to change her fate and become powerful but... it didn’t do a thing!

“No worries.” Mu Xuan caressed his cub’s head comfortingly before assuring her in a serious voice. “You just managed to convert successfully. Even if there is a change to your ability, it’s normal for it to be slightly unstable. It can’t be tested in such a short time. Maybe it’ll work out the next time you try it.”

“Really?” You must not try to trick me just because I’m ignorant!

“Of course!” he said sincerely with a comforting expression as he continued to caress her hair. “Strictly speaking, it’s been less than a weak since you converted. You’re still a baby!”

“...” Please take that last sentence back.

(ﾉ｀□´)ﾉ︵╩▂╩

After going another round, she was back to being a baby!

“Oh, Bro... Li-Li Zheng, how is he?” Yao Si asked.

Mu Xuan’s face paled, and his grip tightened around her waist. After a short while, he said in a low voice, “He hasn’t woken up.”

After the fight with Mu Xuan, Li Zheng had been left with one last breath which wasn’t bad enough to enter eternal hibernation. When Yao Si had woken up, Mu Xuan had told her what had happened. Li Zheng was being kept safe by the Elder Council, in an area that Mu Xuan personally guarded with his mental strength. After the battle, even though Li Zheng’s injuries had healed, he was still asleep.

Even though Euphoria had been almost completely dissolved, there were still a few things that only Li Zheng knew.

Yao Si’s heart sank. She had mixed feelings toward Li Zheng. She was thankful for his help in the beginning, when he had educated her about being a bloodling and convinced her to accept her new identity. She had been an orphan since young, so when she suddenly noticed a change in herself, she had been at a loss. Li Zheng’s presence had provided her a tremendous amount of help. At the time, she treated him as a friend, maybe even a family.

“Can you tell me about him?” Yao Si was curious about what exactly had happened for him to change so much. “Were you two close?”

Mu Xuan’s face fell. After taking a glance at her, he explained, “He was once my best friend...” He sighed, pulling her back to the seat before sighing once more. “We got to know each other during the doomsday period. I once told you that during that time I had been in hibernation. While many of the earthlings were trying to escape, the person who found and woke me up was Li Zheng.”

Yao Si stilled, listening to how they had met each other. “What happened then?”

“Together, we headed over to the last research base in Blue Planet. At that time, the virus had spread through the whole planet. We were both fourth-generation bloodlings while most of the bloodlings who had died were either second or third generation. It was almost considered a sure death to be at the research base. On the journey there, we faced multiple perils, and one of them led to me awakening my ancestral bloodline.”

It meant that they had been close friends.

“Then why...” How did it all come to the events that day? What had caused Li Zheng to seek revenge against the society, not thinking twice about using Mu Xuan? It was totally unlike what close friends would do. It seemed like his hatred was... as deep as their bond had once been.

“Why?” Mu Xuan stilled, as though in deep thought, and his brows furrowed. After a long while, he sighed. “I killed his cub.”

“What?” Yao Si froze, her eyes widening in shock.

“At that time, his cub got infected with the virus, but she didn’t tell anyone about it,” he explained. “It was a time before my ancestral bloodline had awakened and there still wasn’t a cure. It was only when his cub turned into a zombie did we find out what had happened. Since we had close ties, she came for me first.”

“...” Mu Xuan had killed Li Zheng’s cub for self-preservation.

Yao Si suddenly realized why Li Zheng, who had been so kind to her, had started to target her. It was to take revenge against Mu Xuan.

It wasn’t a matter where someone’s fault could be easily decided. Maybe Li Zheng hadn’t hated Mu Xuan that much, since his cub had turned into a zombie and was technically no longer considered a bloodling.

But Mu Xuan had awakened the ancestral bloodline and found a cure for the doomsday virus. He saved all of the other bloodlings but had killed his cub. Regardless of the depth of their friendship, how could he not keep asking himself why his cub? Why didn’t Mu Xuan awaken earlier? Besides, Li Zheng had been alive for such a long time. After many years of stewing in such thoughts, his mind had turned extreme.

And Yao Si’s appearance had to have been the trigger.

Mu Xuan had been lonely for millions of years. He was destined to be lonely for the rest of his life, just like Li Zheng. But he suddenly found a cub. This caused an imbalance for Li Zheng, pushing him into concocting a maniacal plan to kill her so Mu Xuan would feel the same pain he had felt.

Eh...