The Direction of the Future

Seeing his grandson give such a thorough introduction of Ye Yulin, and the eyes of all three children light up as they listened, Jing Hongchen had a thought-it was the perfect chance to see what paths the three little ones wanted to take in the future.

"Since we're talking about Soul Engineers..." Jing Hongchen picked up his teacup and took a leisurely sip. "Let Grandpa ask you: what kind of Soul Engineers do you want to become? What do you want to focus on?"

Xiao Hongchen spoke first, his voice resolute. "I want to be a combat-oriented artillery Soul Engineer."

"Artillery?" Jing Hongchen raised an eyebrow.

"That's right." Xiao Hongchen clenched his fist. "Just like Grandpa, I'll suppress everything with the strongest firepower. Whoever the enemy is, I'll blast them with a cannon. If one shot isn't enough, I'll fire another."

"...Good. You have ambition." Jing Hongchen nodded, his eyes full of gratification. "Your father said the same thing back then.

"Unfortunately, he passed away before he could finish walking that path. I hope you can continue down it for him."

Xiao Hongchen's eyelashes trembled slightly. He said nothing, only nodding heavily.

Jing Hongchen turned to Bao Liang. "Little Bao Liang, what about you?"

"Me?" Bao Liang thought for a moment, then grinned. "I want to be an explosive-assault Soul Engineer."

"Explosive assault?"

"Yeah." Bao Liang gestured as he spoke. "My stats are high, my body's tough, and my bombs don't do friendly fire damage. When the time comes, I'll take a bunch of bombs, charge straight into the crowd, and blow them up along with me. That'll settle it."

Jing Hongchen: "..."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Meng Hongchen: "..."

"What?" Bao Liang looked innocent. "It's such a practical fighting style.

"No matter how many people are on the other side, I can wipe them all out with one bomb, and I won't even have to bother aiming."

"Ahem." Jing Hongchen cleared his throat and forced a smile. "...All right. Practical, very practical."

"You call that practical?" Xiao Hongchen came to his senses, his face turning green. "That's taking them down with you!"

"What do you mean, taking them down with me?" Bao Liang protested. "I already said my bombs don't do friendly fire damage! I'm blowing up the other side; I'll be fine. This is called winning the greatest victory at the smallest cost!"

"...You call charging into a crowd the smallest cost?" The corner of Xiao Hongchen's mouth twitched.

"Of course." Bao Liang spoke with perfect confidence. "My body's tough! It's not like I've never beaten you up before."

Xiao Hongchen: "..."

Damn it, that was such a blunt truth that he really couldn't refute it.

Jing Hongchen rubbed the space between his eyebrows and decided to skip the subject. He turned his gaze to Meng Hongchen. "Meng, what about you?"

Meng Hongchen blinked and lowered her head, a little embarrassed. "I... I haven't decided yet.

"Being a Soul Engineer seems so complicated. I haven't even finished reading the basic books yet."

"No rush, no rush." Bao Liang hurried to comfort her. "Sister Meng, you're only seven. Take your time.

"Look at me. Aren't I still wrestling with the first book too?"

"Right." Xiao Hongchen softened his tone too, a rare occurrence. "You're learning slowly because you've put all your attention into cultivation.

"As for Soul Tools, your brother will teach you."

"Mm!" Meng Hongchen nodded vigorously, then looked a little lost. "But... which direction should I take?"

For a moment, all three fell silent.

Suddenly, Bao Liang's eyes lit up, and he slapped his thigh. "Sister Meng! How about this? Go ask that Grandpa Ye Yulin for some pointers!"

"Huh?" Meng Hongchen was taken aback. "Ask Grandpa Ye?"

"Yeah!" The more Bao Liang thought about it, the more promising it seemed. "Look, Xiao said it too: Grandpa Ye specializes in high-altitude Soul Tools and high-altitude combat.

"If you think about high-altitude combat another way, isn't it just precision strikes and firepower coverage?

"As the saying goes, point an anti-aircraft gun level and you'll land in a military tribunal."

"Sister Meng can learn high-altitude combat from Grandpa Ye, and then we'll make a few high-altitude Soul Tools that can hold Vermilion Clear Ice Toad poison..." Bao Liang grew more excited as he spoke. "When the time comes, we'll hit the enemy from the air with an area-of-effect explosion and poison damage! They can choose whether to be blown to death or poisoned to death!"

"Death won't come easy, and staying alive will be even worse!"

"And!" He raised a finger. "This fighting style will be twice as effective in rain or snow! After all, Sister Meng's poison is cold poison. Rain, snow, and ice can all be perfect carriers for spreading it.

"When it rains, there'll be poison rain for several li around, and the enemy won't have anywhere to hide!"

Jing Hongchen opened his mouth, intending to say something, but swallowed it back.

"If all else fails..." Bao Liang lowered his voice and spoke mysteriously. "We can make artificial rain, then have Sister Meng hide in the clouds and secretly poison the enemy.

"Without gods or ghosts knowing, by the time they find out, the poison will already have taken effect in all of them!"

When Bao Liang finished, he added, "And it's such a gentle tactic. She won't have to show herself at all, and the enemy won't even know how they died. How dignified."

Having spoken his mind, Bao Liang wore a smug look as he waited for the three of them to praise him.

But when he looked up, he froze.

Jing Hongchen, Xiao Hongchen, and Meng Hongchen were all looking at him with expressions that were hard to put into words-

Xiao Hongchen's was "I can't believe this."

Meng Hongchen's was "Someone led my Little Baozi astray."

And Jing Hongchen's was "This is outrageous!"

"...What's wrong with me?" Bao Liang was baffled. "Was there something wrong with what I said?"

"Nothing wrong," Jing Hongchen said expressionlessly. "Just talk less and go out less from now on."

"Huh?"

"Don't come near me." Xiao Hongchen silently took two steps back, putting plenty of distance between them. "What on earth is in that head of yours?!"

"No, wait-"

"Little Baozi!" Meng Hongchen suddenly lunged forward and pulled Bao Liang into her arms. She gently patted his back as though holding a small child, her voice tender and worried. "Little Baozi isn't a bad child. Someone must have led you astray.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Big Sister is here."

"Huh???" Bao Liang was utterly bewildered by Meng Hongchen's embrace and the maternal love that washed over him.

"Meng." Jing Hongchen sighed. "Read Little Bao Liang some more fairy tales later, to cleanse his soul."

"Okay!" Meng Hongchen nodded seriously.

"Xiao." Jing Hongchen turned to Xiao Hongchen. "Hurry to Little Bao Liang's room and confiscate all those dangerous things and books! Don't leave a single one!"

"Mission guaranteed!" Xiao Hongchen snapped to attention, then turned and ran.

"Wait, what?" Bao Liang grew anxious. "Isn't this perfectly normal? Is all this necessary?"

"Xiao! Go, quickly!" Jing Hongchen shouted. "Any later and it'll be too late!"

"Roger!" Xiao Hongchen ran even faster.

"Don't be afraid, don't be afraid." Meng Hongchen hugged Bao Liang a little tighter and coaxed him gently. "Grandpa chased all the bad people away. Little Baozi, be good."

"What is wrong with you people?!" Bao Liang wanted to cry but had no tears. "I really was making suggestions, hey!"

Unfortunately, no one listened to his explanation.

That night, Meng Hongchen kept Bao Liang in her room and made him listen to fairy tales all night.

Meng Hongchen read earnestly, while Bao Liang listened in despair.

He was the dignified owner of an Explosion Martial Soul, a man who would one day charge into a crowd and blow up everyone there, yet he was being held on the bed and made to listen to her precious "Cinderella"?!

Meanwhile, Xiao Hongchen made three trips back and forth from his room, confiscating a whole box of "dangerous items"-including several pages of explosion tactics notes he had written in secret, a copy of "Seventy-Two Uses for Bombs," and half a "Illustrated Guide to Poisons" that had been dug up from who knew where.

"Heavens above! Leave the kid one book! Without them, watashi really can't go on!"