“Mom, I don't know when I will be back. But, I can a.s.sure you this, no matter who tells you that I've died, or disappeared, don't believe any of them. I will definitely come back alive. I will take revenge for father one step at a time.” Ling Lan's gaze hardened and a killing intent poured out for a moment.

“Yes, yes, I'll believe you. I promise you that I will only trust your words. Even if your father comes back from the dead and tells me that you have died, I won't believe him.” Lan Luofeng nodded with tears flowing out of her eyes. The tears that had originally stopped began trickling down her face. She hugged Ling Lan even tighter. She knew that once she let go, her little Lan'er would leave her side and leave the Federation. She would go on an unknown journey in the stars filled with dangers and hards.h.i.+ps. However, Ling Lan needed to go on that journey. Lan'er needed to take revenge for her father. To achieve that, she needed to have s.p.a.ce to freely develop herself and grow stronger but the Federation wouldn't give her that s.p.a.ce. What awaited her in the Federation were only traps and plots against her until she died from one of them.

This temporary separation was only for a better future. Lan Luofeng knew that, but knowing she actually had to separate with her daughter made her feel reluctant. She almost succ.u.mbed to the urge of asking Ling Lan to take her with her.

Slowly, Lan Luofeng let go of Ling Lan and backed away. She couldn't let herself be a burden to her daughter. In the end, she was just an average person. She couldn't protect herself in the face of danger. She couldn't endanger her daughter's life just for her sake. Lan Luofeng couldn't leave. Ling Lan was already considered to be missing from action, no one knew where she was and no one could find her. However, taking Lan Luofeng with her would make things different. Once they leave Planet General, the Federation would be able to predict the paths they could take to escape and easily set out ambushes to take them out both together.

The most important factor in her decision was that she couldn't let the 23rd Division which Ling Xiao had poured his heart and soul into become some political leverage of others. She needed to protect what Ling Xiao had left behind. Just like how she protected the military merits Ling Xiao had for Ling Lan back then.

She was a selfish woman. She never had any patriotics thoughts. She was just a normal family-woman in the end. No one should even think about taking anything away from her family. She was stubborn like that.

“Lan'er, don't say goodbye. When I turn around, you should go what you need to do,” said Lan Luofeng as she gritted her teeth. She was afraid that if Ling Lan said goodbye to her, she wouldn't be able to control her emotions. She might just lose control of herself, holding onto her daughter and crying while telling her to take her along with her.

Ling Lan stood there like a statue. Her mouth moved but in the end, no sound came out. She knew that just like her, she wouldn't have been able to turn around and leave if it wasn't for Lan Luofeng's approval.

Lan Luofeng turned around quickly as tears dripped down like a waterfall. She hated the Federation. She hated the three marshals. She hated the military headquarters. She lost her husband because of them. And now, she must endure the separation between her and her daughter. Lan Luofeng had been full of optimism towards the world in the past. No matter what happened, she would always look on the positive side of things. However now, she had completely lost that optimistic point of view.

When Lan Luofeng turned around, Ling Lan sent a pleading glance towards Mu Shui-qing. After Mu Shui-qing gave her a determined nod, her body slowly evaporated before slowly turning nothing but air.

After a few seconds, Lan Luofeng heard Mu Shui-qing's sigh. “She's gone.”

Lan Luofeng quickly turned around. When she saw the area where Ling Lan knelt down empty, she covered her mouth with her hand and sobbed softly.

“The mother of the strong must endure pain that normal mothers can't endure…” Mu Shui-qing slowly closed his eyes as he comforted Lan Luofeng. No matter if it was the wife of the strong or the mother of one, they were both difficult to be. But, Lan Luofeng played both roles. It was destined that her life would be full of difficulties.

Lan Luofeng slowly stopped sobbing. She silently stared at the ground for a few seconds. When she raised her head again, her aura slowly changed into something similar to Ling Xiao and Ling Lan's aura.

She slowly raised her right hand and gently pushed the strands of her hair behind her ear. “That's right. My own battle is about to begin. I can't bring shame to the two of them.”

She looked towards Mu Shui-qing and said softly, “Master, I'm leaving.”

Mu Shui-qing nodded. Lan Luofeng bowed towards him and then slowly walked out of the garden.

Lan Luofeng's footsteps were calm. Each step wasn't hurried. She slowly walked forward until she disappeared from sight.

Mu Shui-qing opened his eyes and looked towards the path leading to the garden. He then sighed. “Ling Xiao… what have you done to deserve such a good wife by your side.”

With such a good daughter-in-law like her, he couldn't let anything happen to her. Otherwise, he would bring shame to the request Ling Xiao had asked of him before going into war and the Ling Lan's plea with her eyes before she left.

After leaving the general's manor, Ling Lan quickly moved towards the commercial street. Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang were there drawing the attention of the people following them. She hoped that when she returned, they hadn't been exposed yet.

Many of the other general's manors were around there so this area was considered a high-ranking official district. Other than patrol teams that patrolled the area from time to time, there were also only a few relatives coming in and out of the place. But, rarely, would there be outsiders coming in and out of this area.

The entire district's streets and roads were very quiet with not a single soul in sight.

When Ling Lan was about to leave this district just with a few dashes and arrive at the commercial street, she stopped. She stood there and turned to look at the tree on her left.

“I expected no less out of General Ling Xiao's son.” A black-cloaked man suddenly appeared on top of a tree with a mask covering half of his face.

“You're flattering me,” Ling Lan said calmly. She raised her head and turned towards another direction as she continued, “If you're here, then why are you still hiding?”

After she finished speaking, another black-cloaked man appeared on a tree branch on her right. He was sitting on the branch languidly while swinging his legs on the tree.

“What? Do I need to point you out one by one?” Ling Lan laughed coldly after only seeing one of them appear.

“Alright, we can't fool you.” The black-cloaked man sitting on the branch clapped his hands and smiled. “Since we are found out, everyone come out and meet Lieutenant General Ling.”

After he finished talking, another two black cloaked men appeared on the two trees. One was leaning on it while the other was laying down on the tree branch.

“How did you know I'm here?” Ling Lan didn't believe that they had been here waiting for her.

The men who came here didn't plan on hiding anything. The man sitting on the branch opened his hand and a pendulum like item suddenly dropped out of his hand. He shook the pendulum and smiled. “This is the newest toy the military headquarters' research facility has invented. It can track a domain realm master's domain concept energy… It's just so we managed to track your energy.”

Ling Lan's eyes narrowed instantly. She was now very worried about Li Lanfeng and Luo Lang. She was worried whether they had been discovered by the military headquarters.