Staying with the Qin Family

The next day.

By the sea.

Ye Yun stood by the shore, letting the sea breeze wash over him as he watched the tide ebb and flow. His eyes were distant, and his sharply defined, cool face was bruised and swollen.

"Vroom, vroom, vroom!"

An engine roared closer.

Then came the piercing screech of tires against the ground.

The blue sports car's doors opened, and Feiran and Qiya hurried out. They rushed to Ye Yun's side and looked him over. "Phew, you little brat. I—I thought you were done for. You're one lucky guy."

"Are you all right? Your face..." Feiran asked with concern, looking at his injuries.

"It's nothing serious. I just couldn't avenge Old Hu, and nearly died at that guy's hands instead. It's a little embarrassing!"

Ye Yun turned to look at his two older sisters and shrugged.

"There's nothing embarrassing about it. There's really nothing to be embarrassed about. Father made the strongest Intelligent Being using our fantasies of God. Surviving a fight with him is already a miracle."

Qiya smiled as she comforted her "same-age" little brother.

"What are you babbling about?"

Feiran shot Qiya an unhappy look. "Dad's planning to cremate him tomorrow and bury him in the valley over there."

"Yeah, that's a nice place. The scenery's good."

He nodded slightly. He had no objections about where Old Hu was buried.

"After tomorrow, come home with me."

Feiran looked at him intently and patted his shoulder.

Ye Yun nodded, then followed the two of them into the car. It shot forward like an arrow, its tires scraping against the ground with a deafening roar.

Inside the car.

"Last night, we heard that Senior Brother Ye Zhen and Senior Sister Jian Jie's child was also killed by Jie Xing. Senior Brother Ye Zhen's fate is unknown, too."

Silence filled the car.

At last,

Feiran spoke.

"Intelligent Beings couldn't have broken through the independent logic seal Father and the others set up on their own. Someone must have exploited a loophole in the Source Code firewall, giving all the Intelligent Beings independent logic."

After she finished, Qiya continued, "Only a handful of scientists could have done something like that."

Seeing that he hadn't spoken, Feiran said, "And last night at Green Valley Dock, the only one capable of doing it was Professor Ye Zhen, whose fate is unknown."

"We have reason to suspect that Ye Zhen activated those rogue Intelligent Beings through the firewall vulnerability," Qiya said.

It seemed

the two of them had come prepared.

"I'm no expert. You two are."

Ye Yun closed his eyes, trying to calm his muddled thoughts.

"Let's not talk about this right now. We'll go get something to eat first. I bet you're hungry." Feiran folded her arms and watched him quietly. "Qiya's been barred from accessing Linji Island, so tomorrow it'll just be you and me going back."

Ye Yun opened his eyes and looked at her, as if waiting for an answer.

"Father told us not to tell you about this. I'm sorry, little brother."

Seeing the confusion in his eyes, Qiya exchanged a glance with Feiran, then shrugged. "There are things we can't tell you for the good of all of us. Even I don't know exactly why."

"I understand."

Ye Yun nodded slightly, closed his eyes again, and paid no more attention to the two of them.

Soon,

the car pulled up in front of a luxurious villa.

The three of them got out.

Ye Yun looked curiously at the villa, then turned to Feiran with a questioning look, as if asking what place this was.

"Jie Xing destroyed our home on Intelligent Island, so we're staying with Senior Brother Qin Hui for now," Feiran explained, noticing Ye Yun looking at her.

"Ding-dong."

After explaining things to Ye Yun, Qiya went to ring the doorbell at her older sister's gesture.

"Who is it?"

A young girl's voice came from inside the villa. The door opened, and a head with a silver, short student-style haircut poked out. The little girl looked young and mischievous, her lively eyes darting back and forth as she examined the group at the door.

"We're here to see Qin Hui, Professor Qin," Qiya said, looking at the mischievous little girl.

"You're here to see Dad? He's still at work. Come back this afternoon."

The little girl, wearing a black leather jacket, a red skirt, and black leather pants, refused to let them in.

The three of them didn't look like bad people, but did bad people have "I'm a bad person" written on their faces?

Especially that man. He was handsome, though not as handsome as Brother Yang, but he looked like he'd just been beaten up.

Then there was the short-haired girl beside him, who looked like a delinquent and made a terrible first impression.

As for the women, the one who'd knocked didn't look good at all. She looked like a street punk. The silver-haired girl with the elegant ponytail made her a little jealous, too. Her clothes were rather revealing, which she didn't like.

"You!"

Anger flashed in Qiya's eyes at the little girl's words, but when she saw how young the girl was, she thought, Fine, I won't hold it against you.

"Sis?"

She turned to look at her sister, as if asking what they should do next.

"Wait a moment."

Feiran tapped her Smart Watch, and Qin Hui's number appeared on the screen.

"Beep, beep, beep."

The phone rang, and someone answered soon after.

Qin Yan watched the group curiously.

It seemed they really were calling her dad.

"Hello, Feiran. What can I do for you?"

Qin Yan heard her father's familiar voice through the phone and couldn't help smiling awkwardly.

"Professor Qin Hui, my younger brother, younger sister, and I were hoping to stay at your place for a night. Would that be convenient? We were originally going to stay with Professor Jian, but considering what happened to her two daughters..."

Feiran explained what she needed, trailing off when she mentioned Professor Jian Jie.

After all,

Professor Jian Jie had already lost her daughter. It would be very inappropriate to ask to stay at her house.

"Of course. I'll call Xiao Yan right now. Feiran, I'm sorry about what happened to your teacher. I—I couldn't do anything. None of us expected things to turn out that way. I'm truly sorry."

Professor Qin Hui's voice came through the call, full of remorse. "I'll take leave and come home right away."

"No, no. None of us expected the Intelligent Beings to mutate. We never thought Jie Xing would go so crazy."

Hearing that Professor Qin Hui was planning to take leave and come home to settle them in, Feiran was touched.

He really was one of the three disciples Father valued most.

After ending the call with Professor Qin Hui, Feiran said, "Sorry for putting you out."

"It's no trouble, no trouble."

She had heard her father's voice, and embarrassment showed on her face. "Come on in. I'll ask someone to get rooms ready for you."