Ju Zi's Decision

Not far away, a young girl in a pure white dress stood quietly. Her orange hair fell freely, soft and smooth against her shoulders.

Ju Zi's gaze was fixed firmly on Lu Jingming in the distance.

Lu Jingming wore a broad smile as he teased the two lively, adorable little girls, every gesture carrying an unusual gentleness.

Ju Zi watched the scene with a complicated expression. Three days had passed in the blink of an eye.

Over those brief three days, Ju Zi had come to understand Haiyuan City. At the same time, she had heard much about Lu Jingming's past.

It turned out that Lu Jingming had lost both parents from the moment he was born, becoming a pitiful orphan.

A ripple stirred in Ju Zi's heart. Compared to him, she felt she had been luckier. At least she had once enjoyed a warm, happy childhood. Those days spent with her parents were the most precious memories in her heart.

When she thought of Lu Jingming having to shoulder such heavy burdens alone from such a young age, enduring the pain of losing his closest family while protecting Haiyuan City under immense pressure, a powerful sense of empathy rose within Ju Zi.

That empathy unknowingly lent her gaze toward Lu Jingming a faint trace of pity.

Once, because her father had died at the hands of Star Luo Empire soldiers, Ju Zi had harbored deep hostility toward every person from the Star Luo Empire. Yet now, that hostility was gradually melting away like thin ice in warmth.

Ji Yingying found the way Ju Zi looked at Lu Jingming rather strange and hard to understand. In her usual cool voice, she asked, "Have you made up your mind?"

Ju Zi drew a deep breath, then nodded firmly. "I've decided. I'm willing to join the Wuchang Division!"

During these three days, although Lu Jingming had never taken the initiative to seek Ju Zi out, Chang Li had spoken with her.

Under Chang Li's patient guidance, Ju Zi finally came to understand many things.

She gradually realized how irrational and unreasonable it was to blindly shift the blood-deep hatred from her parents' deaths onto every person of the Star Luo Empire.

Her father had been an honest civilian chef, yet he had been ruthlessly swept into the war and forced onto the battlefield. The root of it all was the incompetence of the Sun Moon Empire's upper ranks and the brutal small-scale war provoked by the White Tiger Duke.

In the end, this was the bitter consequence of conflicting interests between two empires. In such a conflict, there was no absolute right or wrong.

And Ju Zi's desire to avenge her parents was equally understandable.

Even after coming to understand all this, Ju Zi's determination to take revenge had not weakened in the slightest. The flames of vengeance still burned in her eyes, aimed directly at the White Tiger Duke.

At the same time, however, she had become completely disappointed in the Sun Moon Empire's upper ranks. In her eyes, those people in high positions were nothing but useless parasites, utterly unworthy of sitting where they controlled the fate of the nation.

Thus, Ju Zi decided to join the Wuchang Division and become a White Impermanence.

With her utterly pathetic strength, becoming an assassin was far too difficult for her. But Chang Li had told her that her future mission would be extremely important, important enough to affect the final course of the entire Douluo Continent. That placed tremendous pressure on Ju Zi.

On one side was Ji Yingying's lifesaving grace; on the other was her obsession with revenge. Driven by these two forces, Ju Zi had no other choice. She could only cling tightly to the Wuchang Division as a lifeline and stand resolutely at Lu Jingming's side.

"Very well. From this day onward, you are a White Impermanence of the Wuchang Division. Your codename is White Seven," Ji Yingying said softly. Her voice remained cold, yet a rare, barely perceptible ripple flickered in her eyes.

Because her own codename had once been White Seven as well!

"My daughters have caused you trouble, City Lord. They're still young, so please forgive them if they have been discourteous." With an apologetic expression, Lan Yu approached Lu Jingming and bowed slightly, a smile on his face.

Lu Jingming was walking slowly toward them, holding one little girl in each hand.

The two little ones, Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, laughed and chatted all the way. Clearly, they had gotten along very well with Lu Jingming.

The corners of Lu Jingming's lips lifted into a gentle smile. He waved a hand lightly and said, "It's fine. They're adorable. I like them very much."

"Big brother, so you're the City Lord? That's amazing!" Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo tilted up their innocent little faces, their eyes sparkling with admiration. Their pure expressions were enough to make anyone's heart soften.

The girls' adorable appearance made the corners of Lu Jingming's mouth curl up slightly, and his mood became especially pleasant.

However, Lan Yu's gaze suddenly sharpened. Like a fierce beast guarding its young, he instantly became vigilant.

Without another word, he grabbed one girl in each hand and lifted the two little girls as though they were chicks. Forcing out a smile uglier than crying, he said, "City Lord, it's getting late. We should take our leave as well, so we won't disturb you any longer."

After saying that, he hurriedly nodded to Chang Li in greeting, then took off like the wind with his two daughters, swiftly vanishing from Lu Jingming's sight. He moved as though some ferocious beast were chasing him from behind.

"(⊙o⊙)...! Chang Li, did I say something wrong?" Lu Jingming stood there in bewilderment, completely unable to grasp what had happened.

He scratched his head and looked at Chang Li with a puzzled expression, hoping to get an answer from him.

Chang Li only smiled without speaking. But Keqing, standing nearby, could not hold it in any longer. Rolling her eyes, she said irritably, "Those two girls are still little. If it were me, I'd be wary of you too!"

Only then did Lu Jingming come to a sudden realization, and the corners of his mouth twitched uncontrollably.

He groaned inwardly. Heaven knew that he had no improper thoughts toward those two little girls. He simply thought twin little girls were cute and well-behaved. The kind of liking he meant was purely an appreciation for cute things, just like his fondness for the Pink-Haired Fox!

Of course, that was assuming the Pink-Haired Fox had not taken human form!

The more Lu Jingming thought about it, the more depressed he became. He really was not a lolicon. Compared to little girls, he preferred mature, intelligent women like Chang Li, as well as youthful, lively girls like Keqing.

Lan Yu's misunderstanding left Lu Jingming rather depressed, and he also worried that Lan Yu might secretly run away with his two daughters that very night.

The thought of two talents who had practically delivered themselves to his doorstep slipping away for nothing gave Lu Jingming a headache. If that really happened, he would truly cry.

Fortunately, the thing Lu Jingming feared did not happen.

Early the next morning, when the first rays of sunlight fell upon Haiyuan City's walls, the mother of Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo, Wei Qianqian, came to apologize with Lan Yu and their two daughters.

Lu Jingming immediately noticed Lan Yu's reddened ears and secretly found it amusing. He instantly understood that Lan Yu was afraid of his wife.

At the same time, he keenly realized who truly called the shots in this family.