MORIC - Chapter 116
Chapter 116: It's Only Been a Few Days and You're Already Tired of Me?
After a moment of silence, Xi Mingguang asked Xi Zhoumeng seriously, "Did something happen?"
Xi Zhoumeng sat on the sofa to the side, not looking at Xi Mingguang.
She stared at the star chart that covered half the wall and asked Xi Mingguang, "In all your years on expeditions, have you ever discovered a Zerg stronghold?"
Xi Mingguang had always spent little time with her wife and children, and rarely had the chance to sit down and have a proper chat with Xi Zhoumeng.
When the family gathered, she would just sit quietly beside Chu Jing, watching the children roughhouse.
Xi Li and Xi Chun would go from arguing to fighting, and Xi Yang would pretend to mediate but was actually just jumping into the fray.
Only Xi Zhoumeng would sit quietly to the side, perhaps even frowning, thinking this group was too noisy.
Just when Xi Mingguang thought she was about to leave, Xi Zhoumeng would shift her position and, surprisingly, start recording a video.
An expression of interest and confusion would appear on her face.
As if she couldn't understand why people were like this.
Even though Xi Mingguang didn't interact much with Xi Zhoumeng, her impression of this daughter had always been a cold one.
Even when she smiled, the feeling never seemed to reach her eyes.
Chu Jing, however, didn't think so much about it. During their rare communications, Chu Jing would say—
"The other three are all fine, anyway. Zhoumeng won't be disliked."
And indeed, Xi Zhoumeng wasn't disliked. Over the years, she had finally integrated into this family.
Things she never had before.
Her brothers were truly her brothers, and her sister was just her sister.
Both her mothers were wonderful. They never forced her to do anything, nor did they require Xi Zhoumeng to give anything in return for something else.
It seemed that just by being a child of the Xi family, she could receive infinite indulgence.
Xi Mingguang shook her head.
"No."
She asked Xi Zhoumeng, "Why are you suddenly interested in this?"
Xi Zhoumeng said, "I discovered something, but I don't know how to explain it."
Her tone was light as she sealed the recommendation letter with wax and wrote an address on the envelope.
Xi Mingguang: "Is this what you've been busy with lately?"
Xi Zhoumeng nodded. "Did Grandmother ever say how she came back all those years ago?"
She had browsed through all the documents in the Xi family's library, as well as her grandmother's video recordings.
In the footage, the female Alpha had a beautiful face, but her spirit was the complete opposite of her youth.
However, she didn't look as exhausted as a patient with Zerg radiation; even on her deathbed, her gaze remained firm.
But the pheromonal change from Alpha to Omega still caused irreversible damage to her body.
She passed away just a few years later.
That period of her disappearance left no trace.
Xi Mingguang shook her head. "She also wanted very much to remember. It was a state secret back then; she was even interrogated for a long time."
Because of this experience, the Xi family was once expelled from the aristocracy. The Xi family line was already thin, and Xi Mingguang was the only one left. No one expected her to have four children.
However, Xi Mingguang's previous marriage clearly had its own hidden story, but Xi Zhoumeng felt it was irrelevant and never asked.
Xi Mingguang was a woman of few words. The cold austerity from her long military career was etched into the corners of her eyes and brows, the complete opposite of Shen Yu, who killed with a smile.
Yet, she was exceptionally gentle with her family.
"She only said she went to another place, again and again."
Xi Zhoumeng stared at Xi Mingguang, contemplating whether she could tell her about this matter.
The Empire's soldiers were forever loyal to the Queen. Neither she nor Wen Xinghuo were soldiers, and they had their own hidden reasons.
But would Xi Mingguang believe her?
"Even if the Zerg Tide is approaching, if I go with you now, we'll still have to wait a very long time."
Xi Zhoumeng sighed and picked up a quill, doodling on a piece of paper. It surprisingly took the form of a Zerg.
"If turning into an Alpha means I only have a few years to live, then I'd rather just suffer like this."
She then casually sketched a few more lines, outlining the Queen's dress from the palace banquet that day.
The skirt's hem was long, concealing all these Zergs.
Xi Mingguang's brow twitched as she watched.
"What are you trying to say?" Xi Mingguang asked.
Xi Zhoumeng said, "I used to have a dream."
Although it was Xi Mingguang's study, Xi Zhoumeng very naturally ordered a robot to pour her some tea.
Xi Mingguang: "You don't look like someone who has dreams."
Xi Zhoumeng sighed. "World peace counts as a dream, right?"
Xi Mingguang smiled. "Do you usually talk to Xiao Chi like this?"
Xi Zhoumeng didn't answer, but said solemnly to Xi Mingguang, "I like her very much."
Xi Mingguang sighed. When she smiled, the wrinkles at the corners of her eyes were deep, yet they perfectly matched the image of a mother Xi Zhoumeng had fantasized about.
A symbol.
Not curses and complaints, nor the regret on a twisted face after the final gunshot.
Xi Zhoumeng never regretted killing her parents and slaughtering her entire clan; she only hated that she didn't have an ordinary life.
Night talks by the fire, family trifles, and romantic affairs of the young.
Nor the dim lamplight of a heart-to-heart talk.
Xi Mingguang suddenly reached out and stroked Xi Zhoumeng's head.
"You can trust me."
"I'm your family."
No matter how mature Xi Zhoumeng usually was, when Xi Mingguang looked at her, she still seemed like the little girl who had just recovered from a serious illness, staring at her with tears in her eyes.
Xi Mingguang had only held this child once before that, so she didn't have a deep impression.
That year, Chu Jing was frantic for the first time. The female Omega, who had dedicated her life to research, wasn't much of a mother, but she was terrified her child would die.
Hong Sa was also very anxious. After all, the girl had a persistent high fever and was delirious, and even after waking up, she was still listless.
She was a little surprised when she saw Xi Mingguang enter.
Then tears fell.
Xi Zhoumeng didn't pull her head away. She said very directly, "I won't say anything else for now. During my practical training, it would be best if your Expeditionary Force could patrol that planet."
Xi Mingguang didn't ask why. She just said, "Will it be very dangerous?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "Dangerous enough to make you a lone widow begging for food again."
This was something Chu Jing had told her—that Xi Mingguang had married young, saved by a male Omega whose Alpha had died, leaving him with one child and another on the way.
The Xi family was not in a peaceful state that year. Those guys in the parliament dredged up the old story of Xi Mingguang's mother being taken by the Zerg and returning unscathed, trying to delist the Xi family again.
And Xi Mingguang was not old at that time. Even if someone told her that people wanted the Xi family to fall, she didn't know what to do.
Her student status was registered at Guyun Academy, but she had joined the Expeditionary Force early on. She never expected that to fully inherit her family, she would need a marriage certificate.
It just so happened that she met Lin Yu during a patrol, and so they hastily married, gaining two sons that others didn't know weren't hers.
This led Chu Jing to believe for a long time before they got together that Xi Mingguang was an Alpha who liked male Omegas.
Xi Mingguang was momentarily speechless.
The next second, a knock sounded on the study door. Chi Yueshan was back.
After Xi Mingguang said to come in, Chi Yueshan poked her head in.
"Hello, Auntie."
She then looked at Xi Zhoumeng. "Is my recommendation letter ready?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "You decided to come back?"
She stood up unsteadily, turning the few steps into a mincing walk, clearly trying to drive Chi Yueshan mad with impatience.
Chi Yueshan hadn't wanted to come back so early. She was having a great time wandering around the Upper World with Xuan Ping.
She rambled on about her grand dreams. Xuan Ping said she had recently been accepted into a research lab studying folded space, and all the talk of quantum mechanics went over Chi Yueshan's head, making her think Xuan Ping had watched too many movies.
Chi Yueshan herself just kept repeating the same few phrases. "The number one mecha master in the galaxy" sounded incredibly awesome, but she didn't actually know her own capabilities.
Xi Zhoumeng had even sent a photo to Chi Yueshan.
The stamped recommendation letter, the kind Chi Yueshan had dreamed of.
She had rushed back eagerly, only to find Xi Zhoumeng wasn't even there.
Usually, Chi Yueshan's interactions with Xi Mingguang took place in the Xi family's mecha room. Xi Zhoumeng would be dragged by Xi Mingguang for training, and Chi Yueshan would be on the sidelines, cheering.
It was always, "Commander Xi is so cool."
The more Xi Zhoumeng trained, the more frustrated she became, and that fire would eventually be directed at Chi Yueshan.
Burning their two young bodies like intertwined vines.
Xuan Ping had even asked how many times a day.
Every day felt like too little. It was so troublesome that Chi Yueshan had to wear a patch even when she wasn't in heat.
Xi Mingguang glanced at Chi Yueshan, then at the suddenly animated Xi Zhoumeng, and shooed them away with a smile. "Go on, get out of here."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Weren't we having a heart-to-heart? Now you're kicking me out?"
Xi Mingguang picked up her book. "I'm very busy too. Your mom told me to finish this book and report back to her before I leave."
Xi Zhoumeng: ...
Truly terrifying.
Chi Yueshan was still very curious, craning her neck. "What book is it? Is it about mechas?"
Xi Zhoumeng: "All you think about day in and day out is mechas and machines. If you love machines so much, why don't you like that thing I bought for you?"
She whispered the last sentence into Chi Yueshan's ear, and Chi Yueshan was instantly so angry she looked like she was about to jump.
In front of Xi Mingguang, she was too embarrassed to curse at her, so she could only pinch the other's wrist, signaling her to get lost.
Xi Zhoumeng was dragged away by Chi Yueshan with a smile.
After she left, Xi Mingguang turned thoughtfully to look at the star chart.
The planet where Xi Zhoumeng was having her practical training this time was not barren, let alone remote. For Omega training, it was a sea of flowers, with AI harvesting so efficient it could supply an entire galaxy's needs.
The resources for Alpha training were also excellent, with plenty of wild animals and an immersive battlefield simulating a Zerg invasion, built by mecha masters and mechanics from the last century.
What's more, the academy had supervisors accompanying the teams. How could there still be danger?
Xi Mingguang picked up the paper Xi Zhoumeng had drawn on.
Only then did she realize it was a scene from the palace banquet that day, with a few diagonal lines representing the lights.
Beneath the magnificent skirt were all ugly Zergs.
Xi Mingguang understood in an instant.
She wasn't particularly shocked, just sighed.
While talking with Xi Mingguang just now, Xi Zhoumeng had also calculated the timeline of the Zerg Tide.
Accurate to the month.
It also corresponded with the time the Queen announced the succession.
Xi Mingguang calculated it over and over. She thought of her mother, and then of the Queen's succession she had attended in her youth.
That was the new Queen after the Zerg Tide.
Her voice was gentle, her eyes sharp.
But the closer the next Zerg Tide approached, the weaker she became.
And she would need to find a new successor.
Xi Mingguang had never thought about it in detail before, or rather, no one dared to think about it in detail.
These seemingly random doodles on the paper were all Xi Zhoumeng's unspoken worries, which were difficult for her to voice.
After Xi Mingguang said, "You can trust me."
And the gesture of stroking her head.
Xi Zhoumeng's trembling.
She felt this child's heavy sadness.
Xi Mingguang sat alone for a while, but ultimately couldn't calm down. She went to look through the diaries her mother had left behind.
Some things were not so easily overturned, involving a succession that spanned nearly a thousand years.
How could it be so simple?
"Have you pinched enough? It hurts."
Being dragged by Chi Yueshan, Xi Zhoumeng felt like her wrist was about to bleed.
Chi Yueshan glared at her fiercely. "Who told you to provoke me again."
Xi Zhoumeng chuckled. "How did I provoke you?"
"I was so obedient. You told me not to pick you up, so I stayed home all day looking for materials without going out."
"You and Xuan Ping were having fun until... hmm, past ten o'clock. If I hadn't sent you that photo, were you planning on not coming home for the night?"
Chi Yueshan had only said one sentence, but Xi Zhoumeng rattled off a whole speech.
Yet, this person's long-windedness was masked by the quality of her voice. That infatuated Xuan Ping had even said something like, "Being scolded by Senior Xi must be a blessing."
Chi Yueshan had retorted at the time: "Being scolded by Senior Mu Lai?"
Xuan Ping had snorted: "She dares?"
Then on what grounds did Xi Zhoumeng dare to scold me?
It's not like she would ever curse and swear; she would always just deliver a sarcastic, biting remark.
"When did I not come home for the night?"
The two of them walked through the long corridor and down the stairs, talking as they went.
"The last time I didn't come home for the night was to go to your hotel."
Xi Zhoumeng said with a faint smile, "If you like it there, we can go stay for a while."
Chi Yueshan stomped her foot. "I'm not going! I want to stay in the dorm, I don't want to live with you anymore!"
Xi Zhoumeng: "Why? It's only been a few days and you're already tired of me?"
"Am I not pretty enough?"
"Is my body not good enough?"
"Am I not good enough at licking?"
Her continuous questions became more and more explicit. Chi Yueshan had just barely escaped Xuan Ping's teasing, only to come home and face Xi Zhoumeng's unreasonable tantrum.
"I don't want to walk with wobbly legs, okay?"
"I have to study! I'm going to become the galaxy's..."
Xi Zhoumeng: "Yes, yes, the number one mecha master in the galaxy."
She sighed, lowered her voice, and pretended to mutter in dissatisfaction, "A thing like me that's neither A nor O can't satisfy you anymore."
"I'm truly sorry."
She was even being polite.
So polite it made Chi Yueshan's hair stand on end.
Xi Zhoumeng continued her output: "My girlfriend stays up all night for someone else's mecha, and I'm just like a tool..."
Chi Yueshan finally couldn't take it anymore. While snatching the recommendation letter tucked under Xi Zhoumeng's other arm, she stood on her tiptoes and physically shut the other's damn mouth.
The person in question even retreated weakly, leaning against the railing of the corner staircase.
Xi Li, who had just returned from outside, was caught off guard by the scene.
"I'm gonna get a sty in my eye, oh my."
He changed direction and lamented loudly, "As expected, young people should be feasting and singing every night."
Comments
Post a Comment