In the car on the return journey, Liu Qing and the others sat together with the Jin family siblings who were wearing large, black hoodies. Since they decided to follow Gong Lixin, the nerves controlling their expression have completely broken down due to various magical events and they have come to have the so-called facial paralysis. Of course, their tolerance had also risen sharply. They believed that if they kept on following them, they'll learn to '
to keep their expression unfazed even as the Tai mountain explodes in your face
'.
Liu Qing, who was seated next to Jin Shanghui, was the stiffest of them all, stiff like a stone sculpture. He almost didn't dare blink, but the voice inside him was going crazy and was rolling with tears and lamenting:
Oh f**k, here he comes again! Again! Oh G.o.d, save me!
"Brother, don't smell him. You can't eat him!" Perhaps feeling Liu Qing's anxious mood, Jin Shangyu pulled Jin Shanghui who sniffed the other's neck and whispered, admonis.h.i.+ng in a low voice.
That's right! My meat is sour and taste like earth since I'm a earth-ability user!
Liu Qing opened his mouth to say such a sentence, but couldn't speak them at all. However, in the eyes of the others, he seemed to be smiling. His manners were first-rate, which made Xiao Shui admire him endlessly.
For the first time, Jin Shanghui was trapped in such a cramped s.p.a.ce thus his mood was unstable. Jin Shangyu couldn't bear to bless him and hurt him. She couldn't curse him either and make him more energetic and increase his appet.i.te. She had to bless the others in the car to avoid Jin Shanghui's sudden outbreak. But even so, Jin Shanghui was still very interested in the people beside him and always went to sniff them.
When a three-year-old first gained his thinking ability, they were inevitably curious about everything, which was hard for Jin Shangyu and Liu Qing and the others.
Jin Shanghui, who was repeatedly refused and lectured by Jin Shangyu, felt depressed. Suddenly, he turned his head and snarled at Liu Qing, extended his claws and, with a speed like lightning, cut the other's cheek. Liu Qing's eyes rolled over, but he sat quietly in place, letting his cheek ooze out blood slowly as he silently thought to himself:
This is the twenty-ninth time!
Jin Shangyu took back Jin Shanghui's hand and smiled sweetly at Liu Qing. "Brother Liu, I'm sorry!" She said as she covered Liu Qing's cheek with her hand. A while light flashed and Liu Qing wound healed to what it was before. If it wasn't for her blessings, Jin Shanghui wouldn't simply scratch them, but directly slice their head off.
"No apologies needed." Liu Qing shook his head even as the words stiffly leapt out of his mouth.
"Brother Liu, you have to keep my healing ability a secret for me. Otherwise, I won't help you even if you are injured in the future!" Jin Shangyu added with a smile.
This was a straight-out threat, a threat and a bribe at the same time. If he said anything, he could only wait for death in the future. Not to mention, such a universal doctor would be hard to find in the future, thus they were the equivalent of having several lives. Liu Qing and the others nodded uniformly, "I understand!"
Satisfied, Jin Shangyu avoided her brother's sharp nails and carefully pressed down the back of his impetuous hand and said to the teenager sitting in the front row, "Gong Lixin, my brother may be hungry."
"Brother Song, stop here. I'll take Xiaohui to hunt for food." Gong Lixin stopped immediately and pointed towards a small town under the expressway bridge.
The Hummer stopped by the roadside and Jin Shanghui, who had been frantic this whole time, calmed down immediately. His golden eyes stared with a scorching gaze towards Gong Lixin. His regular sitting posture and his expectant expression were like that of children waiting for the teacher's permission.
"Xiaohui, come down. Let's go find food." Gong Lixin got out of the car and waved at Jin Shanghui, who was sitting in the back row, with a smile. With a loud roar, Jin Shanghui immediately flashed out of the car and followed Gong Lixin. The two of them jumped over the high guardrail after lightly touching it with their toes. Gong Lixin's posture blurred as he volleyed towards the town under the highway bridge. Their figure disappeared one after another.
"Your brother sure is being
raised
well by Xiaoxin and has been taught well." Lin Wenbo leaned over the door, holding a homemade cigarette in his mouth as he exhaled a puff of white smoke.
"It's teaching, not raising!" Jin Shangyu's forehead's tendon jumped in irritation.
Song Haoran jumped out off the driver's seat and watched the shrinking back of the two men and his words were sharp, "Fight him when he does something wrong, fight him until he's afraid and sorry, feed him a crystal nucleus when he's being good, amused when he is happy. Are you use he's not raising a pet?"
"Don't say any more! Or else, I'll regret having my brother follow Gong Lixin." Jin Shangyu mourned, thinking about how her brother was beaten by Gong Lixin for a second and almost died. He was then teased into a good mood with only a few crystal nuclei the next second. That scene made her feel powerless.
"This was how our special forced were raised; with one big stick and a sweet, sweet carrot. Lixin's approach is not wrong. You shouldn't regret it, but should be thankful instead. Haven't you noticed it yet? Your brother learned to cooperate with people during battle and learned to listen to simple conversations. He even learned to exchange for gold nuclei with us for other nuclei. He's growing, and fast." Song Haoran glanced at Jin Shangyu and thought that she was still young and couldn't see the fruit of Lixin's hard work.
This remark drew Jin Shangyu out of her confusion and she couldn't stop thinking about it. After a short while, she looked towards Song Haoran with grat.i.tude and said with relief, "You are right, following Gong Lixin is my brother's luck. I need to accept that."
Song Haoran waved his hand without speaking. Lin Wenbo tapped off the excess of ash from his cigarette and warmly comforted her, "You just care about your brother so much that you can't bear to see him hurt. It's normal. But the best way to grow up is to let go and let him go through the storm. In fact, it's also lucky for Xiaoxin to be accompanied by your brother. I have never seen such a lively Xiaoxin before."
Thinking of his cute behavior as the young man teases Jin Shanghui, Lin Wenbo and Song Haoran both chuckled. The youth of the past was also very cute, but was kind of submissive and thoughtful, but still cute. Whatever they said, the youth would obey as if he didn't know how to refuse. Although this att.i.tude was pleasant for the most part, it also showed his restraint and his attempt to flatter them. Many times, they clearly felt that the youth had a world hidden in his heart that they couldn't understand and couldn't enter.
They don't want to dig out the young man's secret, but hoped that one day, they could fully enter the youth's heart and look into it. Right now, because of Jin Shanghui's company, the youth had unknowingly revealed his true nature, letting them know that he could be so lively, showy and domineering.
Instead of feeling jealous, they felt relieved. They can accompany the teenager as a lover, but they couldn't completely replace the position of friends. Jin Shanghui was powerful and of pure mind, like an uncut jade. They had to admit that, among all the people that followed the teenager, Jin Shanghui was the one that fit the teenager the best. It was precisely because of Jin Shanghui's appearance that the teenager's smiles had become vivid and that deeply touched their hearts. As long as the teenager felt happy, why not keep a zombie around? They believed no one dared to say otherwise on Long Snake Island.
Among the varying thoughts of several people, Gong Lixin returned with a full load along with Jin Shanghui. The two jumped over the guardrail around the bridge and walked towards the three standing by the car door. There was red and white paste on the corner of Jin Shanghui's mouth, probably brain matter. Gong Lixin's face had a bright smile. His rows of snow-white teeth sparkled in the sun.
"Very happy?" Lin Wenbo stretched his hands around the teenager's shoulder, pinching his cheek as he asked softly.
"Hn, Xiaohui's martial arts has improved again. He cooperates very well with me." Gong Lixin nodded and took out a handkerchief as he left Lin Wenbo's arm to help Jin Shanghui wipe the crumbs around his mouth.
Jin Shanghui proactively leaned forward to make the other's task easier and his usually blinking beastly eyes were crystal clear and gentle. From time to time, Gong Lixin had to teach him a lesson and he showed him no mercy. Gong Lixin would beat him until he couldn't move anymore. Because of that, he was frightened for a long time. In the face of Gong Lixin's strength, he could only surrender and not resist.
Maybe it was because of the one person wasn't that bad of a person, so showing a little goodwill earned them deep grat.i.tude. This was the so-called Stockholm syndrome, commonly known as an extreme M. Now, Jin Shanghui had obviously a severe case of Stockholm syndrome. He clung to Gong Lixin and had left Jin Shangyu behind. Whenever Gong Lixin was gentle to him, he screamed in excitement. If he had a tail, it would have flown to heaven with the amount of wind it generated.
Looking at her brother next to the teenager, her eyes narrowed into slits and revealed an expression of unhapiness. Jin Shangyu sighed before climbing into the car and heavily shutting the door. Jin Shanghui didn't realize his younger sister's feeling of resentment at all. He simply looked towards Song Haoran, spread out his palms and showed several colorful crystal nuclei to him.
Knowing what he meant, Song Haoran chuckled. He took out a third-level low-grade metal crystal nucleus from his pocket and took away a second-level high-grade fire crystal nucleus. There was no crystal nucleus of the same level that could have been exchanged, but he wouldn't compare with Jin Shanghui about fairness. The other party only had the mentally of a three-year-old child after all. It was already clever enough to learn to exchange things in these two days.
Jin Shanghui showed his fangs, as if thanking him. In a good mood, he past Lin Wenbo and stretched out his hand into the car, waiting for Liu Qing and the others to exchange with him. Not only did Lin Wenbo not exchange with him last time, he even took away one of his gold crystal nucleus. He immediately became angry and started to fight against Lin Wenbo. But he was beaten very badly by Gong Lixin afterwards. This matter was imprinted in his heart and he couldn't simply forget it in such a short time.
The four people of Liu Qing's group hurriedly took out their gold-coloured crystal nuclei to exchange with him. Those who didn't have a nucleus waved him off, in exchange for his dissatisfied roar and fierce glare.
"He's very revengeful." Looking at what Jin Shanghui did, Lin Wenbo hugged Gong Lixin's shoulders and chuckled.
"I'm also very revengeful." Gong Lixin replied with seriousness.
"Well, you two have similar personalities. You two are straightforward and don't know much about the world, it's no surprise that you two can get along." Lin Wenbo's smile deepened before he kissed Gong Lixin's forehead and half-dragged him into the car.
Gong Lixin reached out to beckon Jin Shanghui over. Jin Shanghui sat beside him, spreading his palms and revealing a look of grievance and longing. He had two more crystal nuclei that he didn't need.
Gong Lixin smiled slightly and replaced the two three-level low-grade wind nuclei with three-level high-grade metal nuclei. Jin Shanghui's eyes curved up as a bright stream of light entered his eyes. He carefully touched the teenager's white cheeks with his sharp nails as the corner of his mouth curved up on both side, indicating his inner joy.
"Brother smiled!" Jin Shangyu, who was sitting next to Lin Wenbo, murmured in disbelief and the sourness in her heart was replaced with joy. Right then, she faintly realized that following Gong Lixin may be the most correct decision in her entire life.