Great Martial Master, Uncle Ye

Time slowly passed...

Before they knew it, two hours had gone by.

It was already past five in the evening.

"Why isn't she back yet?"

The longer Qin Heng waited, the more worried he became, and the more it gnawed at him.

In his heart, he had long regarded Fang Lingxue as his lifelong partner. If anything happened to her, or if someone bullied her, he did not dare imagine what he would do!

He waited and waited, but there was still no sign of her. Unable to suppress his anxiety any longer, Qin Heng paced back and forth through the narrow alley, constantly looking toward the road outside.

Finally...

At 5:33, a black extended tactical off-road vehicle appeared at the end of the road.

Grandpa Li said, "That's the one, that's the one! It was the one that took Xiao Xue away this morning!"

Qin Heng stared without blinking, completely unaware that he had clenched his fists and gritted his teeth.

Under his watchful gaze, the black vehicle slowly arrived at the mouth of the alley and came to a stop.

The door opened, and a young girl jumped out. With light steps, she headed toward the alley.

"Ling Xue!"

Unable to hold himself back, Qin Heng called out and hurried over.

"Qin Heng?"

Only then did Fang Lingxue notice him there. Surprised, she asked, "Didn't you go take the Quasi-Martial Warrior assessment today? When did you get back?"

Qin Heng did not have the mind to answer. Grabbing her wrist, he urgently asked, "Where did you go today? Whose car is this?"

This was also a Wilderness Battle Vehicle, but it was clearly not the same model as the one her boss had driven yesterday.

"This..."

Fang Lingxue glanced back at the black battle vehicle and explained, "The car belongs to a childhood friend of my parents. He hadn't seen them for many years and specifically came looking for them. He didn't expect that they were already gone, so he found me instead and took me into the city to have fun for the day."

"That's all?"

Qin Heng frowned deeply, feeling that she was not telling the truth.

"Of course. What else did you think it was?"

"But..."

Qin Heng hesitated, wanting to voice the worries in his heart but afraid that saying so would upset Fang Lingxue.

"Oh~ I get it. You must have gotten the wrong idea!"

Seeing the look in his eyes, Fang Lingxue seemed to understand something. A teasing glint flashed across her face as she huffed coquettishly, "You bad guy, did you think I was abducted by bad people and taken away to be bullied?"

Qin Heng: ...

She was really clever.

Qin Heng muttered, "Who told you to disappear for the whole day without a word... I just had a conflict with Wang Peng recently. When you vanished, I thought he'd sent someone to take you away."

Seeing his aggrieved expression, Fang Lingxue could not help but laugh softly. "Alright, alright, I wrongly blamed you. Come on, let's go upstairs. I'll tell you what happened today so you don't have a knot in your heart."

"Mm, okay." Only then did Qin Heng feel a little better.

However...

There was still something odd about that vehicle.

He turned to look. The black battle vehicle struggled to turn around at the alley entrance, then drove away directly after facing the other direction. Its windows had never been lowered, and no one had greeted Fang Lingxue from beginning to end.

Qin Heng and Fang Lingxue went upstairs together.

Fang Lingxue tossed her keys onto the table. As she took off her shoes, she muttered, "After shopping all day, my feet are sore to death. If I'd known, I wouldn't have been so awkward about it. I should've just asked Uncle Ye for money."

Qin Heng asked in confusion, "What do you mean?"

Fang Lingxue said, "Uncle Ye saw that I wasn't living very well and said he wanted to take me to live at his home. I said it wasn't appropriate, so he said he wanted to give me money instead... I don't know him that well, so naturally I was too embarrassed to take it. I told him it would be enough if he treated me to a meal. But then he slapped his forehead and said the New Era Hotel in the New City District had the best food. Without giving me any choice, he took me into the city. Lunch alone cost over four thousand yuan today. Afterward, he took me shopping too. He wanted to buy me everything he saw, but I was too embarrassed to accept anything from him, so I kept refusing. By the end, he was even getting a little angry."

"I see... Then this Uncle Ye is quite a generous elder. But why did he leave without saying a word downstairs just now?" Qin Heng asked.

Fang Lingxue smiled. "The one driving just now wasn't Uncle Ye. It was one of his subordinates. Uncle Ye is very powerful, something like... a Great Martial Master. While we were in the city, he got a call saying there was something urgent, so he left and had his subordinate drive me back."

"I see."

A Great Martial Master...

He really was very powerful.

The strongest Martial Warriors in Nansha Base City were Grandmasters, followed by Masters, and beneath them came Great Martial Masters.

Grandmasters and Masters were few in number. They were all upper-echelon figures in major organizations, either stationed at Martial Halls or guarding the borderlands. The strongest people one could usually encounter were only at the level of Great Martial Masters.

"I never expected your parents to have such a powerful friend. Does that mean we have an invisible backer now?" Qin Heng smiled faintly, the worries in his heart finally easing.

The corners of Fang Lingxue's lips lifted. "That's right. Uncle Ye said my parents had treated him very well in the past, and he wanted to repay their kindness. He told me to call him if I ever needed anything. Oh, right, he gave me this. I originally wanted to keep refusing, but he wouldn't hear of it and forcibly stuffed it into my hand."

As she spoke, she took out something the size of her palm.

"This is... a phone?" Qin Heng was extremely surprised.

This was a rare thing!

The chaotic years several decades ago had caused humanity to lose most of its territory, dealing devastating blows to many technological achievements that had once been highly advanced.

Communication technology had been among the hardest-hit fields. The internet and communications networks had nearly crumbled to pieces.

After rebuilding their homes, the governments of the various Base Cities restored part of the communications network, but it was mainly allocated to the military and Martial Warriors. Ordinary people could only rely on public telephones in their communities, and few could afford to use mobile phones.

Qin Heng had once heard people discussing in private that the Base Cities' current technological capabilities could actually support universal access to mobile phones. At the very least, one per household would not be a problem.

But for the sake of social stability, the technology had been "sealed away."

He had thought he might only have the chance to come into contact with something like a phone after becoming a true Martial Warrior. He had not expected to see one today, much less in Fang Lingxue's hands!

"Yes. Isn't it pretty?"

Fang Lingxue happily showed off the new treasure she had just acquired.

She opened the camera function and said, "It has so many features. Come on, let's take a photo together and use it as the wallpaper!"

Qin Heng cooperated, pressing his head close to hers as they took several pictures in a row.

Unfortunately, the evening light indoors was a little dim, and the results were not very good.

After taking the pictures, Fang Lingxue was somewhat dissatisfied. "Let's take them again during the day. It's so dark that we can't see anything clearly."

"Mm. Let's go to my place and have dinner together first. I'll take you back later."

Seeing that she was fine, Qin Heng felt relieved. Thinking of his parents still waiting at home, he made the suggestion.

Fang Lingxue readily agreed. "Sure. It's been quite a while since I last visited Uncle and Auntie too."

"Then let's go."

Qin Heng took her hand, and they went downstairs together.