The past (the main characters barely appear)

Bai Yan looked around but couldn't see Third Cub anywhere. She didn't know that Third Cub had been captured by the mutated monster.

The joy of seeing his mother again faded from Lou Yu's face after so long. He briefly told Bai Yan the whole story, and Bai Yan's expression changed as well.

"I knew it..." Bai Yan murmured.

On the way home, Lou Yu told Bai Yan that the mutated monster was likely after Tao Qiu 'Tao Qiu special abilities and wanted to kill her.

Bai Yan also told Tao Qiu and Lou Yu about how she discovered the special energy in the seeds and then destroyed the experimental evidence.

Lou Quan was driving, and everyone in the car was one of his own people, so there was no need to hide anything.

"I knew back then that if the special energy in the crops were discovered, it would definitely cause you trouble. I never imagined that besides the people at the Central Base, the biggest threat would actually be mutated monsters."

Bai Yan's face was filled with worry.

Tao Qiu, thinking of the unknown fate of the Third Cub, gleamed with a ruthless light in her eyes, "This time, I will definitely... kill it."

Aside from the few years when she was first driven out of her nest and struggled to survive, Tao Qiu hadn't shown such intense killing intent for a long time.

He longed for a happy and stable life, but there were always too many obstacles, leaving him no room for mercy.

The Lou Family system is vast. The ancestral home is the residence of the family head, while other Lou Family are distributed throughout the Lou Family's territory. Lou Qing still lives in the house where his family of three used to live, and that's where they are going now.

Lou Qing meant that it was safer there. Tao Qiu's identity was special, and apart from that mutated monster, the other families were also coveting his abilities. Therefore, it was better for him to stay within the Lou Family's protection area before rescuing the Third Cub.

He also invited Bai Yan over, using the excuse that he was afraid Bai Yan would be kidnapped by bad guys to threaten Lou Yu and Tao Qiu.

To prevent Bai Yan from having second thoughts halfway through, he also brought his Second Cub Eldest Cub with him in his car when he returned from the helipad.

Bai Yan was speechless at his childishness.

Tao Qiu and his group made a big fuss when they returned to the base, and the Lou Family even publicized it, just in case the mutated monster didn't know.

Although they suspected the mutated monster was related to the other three families, they also considered the extremely small possibility that it was truly "wild".

Chapter 118 Past Events (Minor protagonist involvement)

After arriving home, Lou Yu took Tao Qiu to stay in his old house. In the years since he left, the room had been cleaned regularly, and the layout was exactly the same as he remembered.

The two kids, along with Bai Yan and Lou Quan, all stayed in the guest room. Bai Yan even specifically chose a room far from Lou Qing's bedroom.

Lou Qing remained smiling throughout, as if he had no objection to Bai Yan's choice, but that very night he moved in next door to Bai Yan.

Bai Yan glared at him after noticing, but didn't say anything. She knew that the more she ignored Lou Qing, the more excited he became.

Tao Qiu and the others were very worried about the safety of the Third Cub. After ensuring that the news of their arrival at the base spread, Tao Qiu had Lou Yu take him and the children away from the Lou Family's territory the next day, specifically choosing to go to crowded places, so as to give the mutated monster a chance to pass on the message.

Lou Yu led Tao Qiu and the two kids to the busiest shopping malls in the city center, as well as the working-class areas and slums. A week passed, and they all lost several pounds from exhaustion, but the mutated monster still hadn't appeared.

Tao Qiu was so anxious she couldn't sleep. That night, she held a small meeting with her family, frowning as she expressed her opinion, "Starting tomorrow, I'll go out alone. Don't send anyone to secretly follow me, otherwise it won't come out."

This week, whenever Tao Qiu went out, Lou Yu and his two children accompanied him. In the distance, there were also superhumans and soldiers arranged by Lou Qing secretly following them, partly to protect them and partly to help subdue the mutated monster.

But perhaps their purpose was seen through by the mutated monster, which is why they've been avoiding it.

Everyone was a little worried about Tao Qiu, but considering that Third Cub was still in the hands of that mutated monster—it was in the shadows while they were in the open—there was no other way but to let Tao Qiu take the risk.

For the next two days, Tao Qiu went outside alone. The mutated monster was probably still observing and hadn't come looking for her.

While Tao Qiu and the others were busy, Lou Quan had also appeased those old guys, exchanging the crops and laboratory data for the revocation of their crimes and punishments.

Can he still cooperate with the Lou Family in the future? He's still the commander of the Yong'an Base, and thanks to Tao Qiu, his status in the Lou Family will be elevated even further.

After chatting with a few old guys, Lou Quan dropped his fake smile and reverted to his usual expressionless and indifferent demeanor.

He didn't call a driver; instead, he drove himself along the route he knew by heart, heading towards his destination.

While talking to some old men earlier, one of them, a man closely related to him by blood, spoke to him with the air of someone who had been through it all, "Even between father and son, there's no such thing as a grudge that lasts overnight. In the years you've been gone, your father has often talked about you. You nearly killed him, which can be considered as avenging your mother's anger. You are, after all, surnamed Lou, and you are his most beloved child. You've finally come back for a visit; it would be best if you could reconcile and make peace."

After hearing his words, Lou Quan's smile didn't fade at all, and his tone was quite cheerful. "Visit him? Good idea. Last time we only managed to take half his life, this time let's just take the whole thing. Oh, and my good siblings too, let's kill them all together. That should probably give the Lou Family a lot more peace and quiet."

This time, he was caught red-handed by a few old guys, and in order to minimize the losses, he had no choice but to humble himself in front of them. He never expected them to take advantage of him, deliberately reopen his wounds, and even try to lecture him.

Lou Quan could tolerate anything else, but not this. Therefore, even knowing that saying this would offend a few old guys, he still retorted without hesitation.

Looking at his smiling face, the old men recalled his ruthless act of poisoning the entire family during a family gathering. They regretted bringing up the matter and dared not anger him further. They quickly changed the subject and did not cause him any more trouble.

Lou Quan drove his car to the outside of the cemetery, bought a bouquet of baby's breath, his mother's favorite flower, and slowly walked towards her tombstone.

He walked very slowly, as if he were consciously trying to escape.

After his mother died, every time he came to visit her, it felt like he was being roasted over a fire. Before he saw the tombstone, he could convince himself that his mother was still alive in a place he couldn't see. But when the tombstone with the epitaph and his mother's black and white photo came into view, he could no longer deceive himself.

Lou Quan dared not face his mother's death not only because he couldn't bear to part with her, but also because his mother's death was closely related to him.

Lou Quan's birth was a scandal for the entire Lou Family. Lou Hua was pregnant out of wedlock, and at first she refused to say who the father was. Later, as Lou Quan grew up, he looked more and more like the second son of the Lou Family, and everyone understood. Lou Hua wasn't unwilling to say, but rather, she was too ashamed to say it.

Even though she had no blood relation to her brother and was merely an adopted daughter of the Lou Family, Lou Hua was still subjected to much condemnation for having an affair with him.

Especially since Lou Quan was only three months older than Lou Second's eldest son, it means that while Lou Second was preparing for his wedding with Miss Zheng Family, he also had a relationship with his own sister.

When Lou Hua was newly pregnant, Lou Second had the time and opportunity to cancel the marriage alliance with the Zheng Family, but he still got married. Lou Hua also chose to give birth to the child even though she knew that there would be no future for her brother and her.

When Lou Quan grew up, the truth eventually came out.

The Lou and Zheng families were all engaged in a marriage alliance. Although Miss Zheng Family had no feelings for Lou Second, she was still extremely annoyed by him. Despite having four children with Lou Second, she ultimately chose not to divorce and instead live separately.

After Lou Quan became sensible, Lou Hua cried and apologized to him many times, and also confessed to him what had happened back then.

Lou Qing is quite far in age from Lou Second and Lou Hua, and coupled with his precocious personality, he is like a parent to his two younger siblings. Therefore, Lou Second and Lou Hua have always been the closest to him since childhood.

After entering puberty, the two developed feelings for each other, but dared not make it public.

Until Lou Qing gave up becoming the head of the family for Bai Yan, Lou Second became one of the best candidates. Unaware that the siblings had an affair, Lou Family's parents arranged a marriage for Lou Second, hoping to help him take the position of head of the family.

As the wedding date approached, Lou Hua pressed Lou Second for his choice. Lou Second hesitated, telling Lou Hua that he would be with her and that they had a relationship. However, he was unwilling to give up his right and ended up marrying Miss Zheng Family.

Lou Hua Lou Second filled with rage at that time. Her reason was clouded by anger, and she was determined to give birth to the child as evidence of Lou Second Er's infidelity, to retaliate against him for abandoning her and choosing someone else.

After the child was born, she named him Lou Quan, to satirize Lou Second for being capable of anything for power.

But as the child grew up, time and love for the child gradually diluted the hatred in Lou Hua's heart. She began to regret her previous choices and worried that the truth would harm the Lou Family elders who raised her and the child if it were exposed.

So she left the Lou Family with the child and revealed Lou Quan's true identity.

Lou Quan grew up surrounded by Lou Hua's maternal love. Lou Hua her mistakes and corrected them, so he forgave her for them.

But the mother and son left, while the Lou Family remained at the Central Base. As Lou Quan grew up, his resemblance to Lou Second attracted the attention of many, especially the Zheng Family, who were allied with the Lou Family through marriage.

The Zheng Family managed to obtain hair samples from Lou Quan and Lou Second, and after testing them, the scandal broke out.

Because of this incident, the Zheng Family demanded a lot of compensation from the Lou Family, and the Lou Family conceded a considerable amount of profits. Furthermore, Lou Second lost his position as head of the family.

Lou Quan ignored the rumors and slander from the outside world and continued to live his life with Lou Hua as usual.

The Lou Family originally had many grievances against Lou Hua and Lou Quan, but Lou Quan had excellent grades since childhood and later got into the best military university in the Central Base on his own merits. During his time at the university, he demonstrated outstanding personal abilities.