ASFTB 52: He’s Missing Li Lingfeng 2

Since this planet has many plants he recognizes and knows exist, why couldn’t he try to treat his child himself?

Jian Chengxi looked at Li Chen’s somewhat frail body, and softly said, “If it hurts, you must tell Daddy next time. Don’t endure it, okay?”

Li Chen leaned against the bedside and whispered, “It’s okay.”

Jian Chengxi felt even more heartbroken inside. The child was surely pretending to be strong.

Yet unexpectedly—

Li Chen looked at Jian Chengxi’s position and whispered, “It doesn’t hurt when you give me a massage, Daddy.”

Jian Chengxi: “…”

There’s no need to mention this.

The next morning,

This was a rare night since Li Lingfeng returned that he slept alone by himself.

Jian Chengxi felt a bit disoriented after waking up.

He used to sleep alone so he didn’t really feel anything, but this morning, he was suddenly woken up by the cold. He instinctively tried to find a heat source but missing it, he fully woke up.

The general isn’t home.

Jian Chengxi sat up from the bed, looked at the empty space beside him, and felt a bit surprised inside. It turns out, without realizing it, he had already gotten used to Li Lingfeng’s presence.

Even…

He actually missed him a little.

He was worried that something might have happened in the troops.

Is he okay?

Could there be any danger?

The system said:【Aren’t you used to the heater’s presence?】

Jian Chengxi: “…”

You could also just not speak.

He got up early in the morning and went to help the kids get dressed and wash up.

The weather outside today was nice. The kindergarten’s sports event hadn’t finished yet, so he definitely had to accompany them there. When locking the door, he glanced back and let out a soft sigh, hoping the general would finish his work and come back today.

The Imperial Capital Academy was very lively today as well.

Many of the events yesterday were held at the sports field, but today, the rock climbing and mountain survival events were held on real mountains.

This is the academy’s annual tradition.

The goal was to let the children experience nature, and not forget the fundamentals.

The school chose the mountain nearest to Sky City. This mountain was also far from the town of the Underground City, and it had been untouched by human eyes for a long time. To ensure the children would have a good experience while rock climbing and survival training, half a month earlier, someone had placed guiding routes on the mountain, and had released many wild animals into the mountain, as well as planted many edible fruits.

The rock climbing and survival projects would take one day.

In the end, the person who reaches the summit first wins.

This event also included the participation of parents. Jian Chengxi signed up to accompany Li Suisui.

While Li Suisui was changing into her climbing clothes in the dressing room, she heard Pingping saying next to her, “Pingping and Dad have been practicing the climbing event for a long time today. We will definitely win!”

She intentionally said it for Li Suisui to hear.

Li Suisui let out a small snort after hearing this and said, “You didn’t win yesterday.”

Pingping put her hands on her hips and said, “That’s different! Dad said you only won because of luck. This time it’ll definitely be different!”

Li Suisui nodded and said, “Indeed, it’s different.”

Pingping asked in confusion, “Do you believe me?”

Li Suisui turned her face away and looked at her, “Today’s event is different from yesterday’s. Pingping, you’re really dumb.”

Pingping: “…”

She really would thank you.

The mountain climbing event is a very old tradition of the Empire. Only when the group reaches the foot of the mountain can they see how tall the mountain really is.

As long as they follow the designated route, there won’t be any issues. This route was planned by the school staff many days ago—all the parents and students just need to follow the rules and climb the mountain.

Jian Chengxi held Li Suisui’s hand and adjusted her clothes for her, “If you’re too tired later, tell Daddy, okay?”

Li Suisui nodded and said, “Okay!”

This mountain soared into the clouds. In Jian Chengxi’s memory, probably only Huangshan was this high. For kindergarten kids to climb such a mountain is more about endurance than victory, and it’s probably because the children of the empire are physically stronger.

With the referee’s command, the main group set off together.

Meanwhile, the viewers in the live stream were very interested: 

“The annual mountain climbing event.”

“This is my favorite.”

“This year, they are still wearing the suppression bracelets.”

“They can only rely on walking now.”

“Will the one from the Underground City still win?”

“He was just lucky yesterday!”

A group of people ascended the mountain.

At the beginning, all the parents were holding their children’s hands and were walking along the designated route, which was a very tiring process. According to past years’ practices, there should be a rest station every 3,000 meters, supplying nutrient solution.

But this year, they had been walking for a long time, yet hadn’t seen a rest station.

Some people had already started to wonder, “What’s going on?”

“We can handle it, but the kids can’t,” said one parent, somewhat dissatisfied. “What’s the school doing?”

The crowd started murmuring in discussion.

However, Pingping’s dad stepped forward and said, “Everyone, don’t panic or rush, this should be the school’s special arrangement. Our mountain climb is to remember the hardships of our ancestors, and to make the children remember the martyrs. This little difficulty can be overcome. I think we should just pick some fruit and eat it ourselves!”

The crowd didn’t want to eat the fruit from the Underground City mountain.

There was no nutrient solution now, so they had no choice but to accept it, thinking it was part of the school’s arrangement.

Yet as they walked further, they were surprised to find that all the fruit trees were completely empty. Not to mention the fruit, there wasn’t even a single leaf!

Is this plan to not give them anything to eat all day? Is this meant to starve them?!

…

On the other side—

The school’s board members also noticed something unusual with the participants.

The chairman immediately found the director and asked, “What’s going on with the mountain? Where are the nutrient solution and fruit you were supposed to have prepared in advance?”

The director was also extremely anxious. “I don’t know! We set everything up a couple of days ago, and there’s always someone overseeing the place. How did everything suddenly disappear?”

The chairman said anxiously, “I told you, this place is close to the Underground City. It must have been those scoundrels who stole it!”

The director cautiously said, “That shouldn’t be the case, we had people watching over it.”

“People from the Underground City are just good at stealing, who else could it be!” The chairman was frantic. “And this is a nationwide live broadcast, are they trying to embarrass the school in front of everyone?”

The director was completely thrown off track, and quickly asked, “Then what should we do? Should we pause the competition for everyone?”

As soon as he finished speaking, on the live stream, Pingping’s dad started delivering an inspiring speech.

He spoke about how enduring hardship makes one a better person and how the ancestors endured great difficulties. He expressed understanding of the school’s good intentions, saying that the school must have wanted to train their perseverance, and so on, convincing everyone in the process.

The chairman took a deep breath and said, “Forget it, let’s go with it. No need to pause the competition.”

The director hesitated and said, “But… But the children can’t handle being hungry. This is a full day of climbing.”

The chairman glared and said, “There’s no fruit at the foot of the mountain, would there be none at the top? It was probably eaten by some wild beast, fool!”

…

On the mountain—

In a hidden cave, the atmosphere was somewhat tense.

The pirate leader kicked his subordinate, “What the hell are you doing? The place you picked, how come so many people suddenly showed up at the foot of the mountain?”

The subordinate let out a wail. “Boss, boss, I’m really wronged, the so-called most dangerous places are the safest. I’ve asked about this mountain, and there’s usually no one here. How was I supposed to know so many people would suddenly show up?”

The pirate leader raised his head. “You’re still arguing!”

The second-in-command quickly stood up and said, “Forget it, forget it, boss. Why argue with him, he didn’t do it on purpose. Besides, we’re hiding here and haven’t the military not noticed us?”

This place had been requisitioned by the school, and the military’s search devices naturally passed over it.

The pirate leader cursed angrily. “Not noticing is useless. With so many people at the foot of the mountain, how could they not notice?”

The second-in-command thought for a moment and said, “We definitely can’t escape now. I heard that those at the foot of the mountain are not civilians from the Underground City, but they’re all children of Sky City nobles. If worse comes to worst, we have weapons, we can grab a few kids and use them as hostages. Those people won’t dare to do anything to us.”

The pirate leader nodded and said, “This is the only way. Damn Li Lingfeng, he hijacked my ship and forced us to flee here. If he has the guts, he better not let me find him!”

The beaten underling leaned in and said, “Boss, isn’t it that we’re the ones afraid of being caught by him now…?”

The pirate leader kicked him. “You talk too damn much!”

“…”

On the mountain—

It was unclear when, but the trail markers started to be off.

The further they went, the more isolated the path became.

The competitive activities at the start seemed to slow down after they ran out of supplies. The kids got tired, so they simply found a place to rest.

The sun gradually set, and by the afternoon, the adults were still fine, but the children were so hungry they couldn’t go on, each of them barely able to walk.

Jian Chengxi was resting with Li Suisui at a spot.

Li Suisui said, “Daddy, Suisui is thirsty.”

Jian Chengxi handed her his water bottle. “Drink.”

Li Suisui gently shook her head and said, “I don’t want to drink Daddy’s. There’s a river over there.”

Back when they were in the Underground City, they would go out to pick fruit, and when they were thirsty, they often drank from the river. The water was clean and harmless.

Jian Chengxi nodded and said, “Let’s go, Daddy will take you.”

He held his daughter’s hand and went to the river to fill the water bottle. Due to the exhaustion of the journey, he also used the cool river water to wash his child’s face and redid her little braid.

The other children saw it and some of them were tempted.

Pingping pulled her dad’s hand and said, “Dad, I’m thirsty too.”

Their water had already been finished.

Pingping’s dad, a tiger man, frowned and said, “That water is too dirty, you can’t drink it. Pingping, don’t learn from those people!”

The other children were also already thirsty.

Some of the parents who were with the children had run out of water as well. They really wanted to drink the river water, but they were so used to the comforts of Sky City that they couldn’t bring themselves to drink from the river.

Just at this moment—

Pingping took out some energy potion she had made from her storage space, and said, “Dad can drink this.”

This is an energy potion made by the Angel Clan, which can temporarily replenish the nutrients the body needs.

The tiger man’s eyes lit up and he took it. He drank it in one go, then he proudly rubbed his daughter’s head and said, “Pingping, you’re amazing!”

There were several more bottles of the potion they brought.

They generously shared it with others.

Everyone thanked them one after another:

“Thank you, Pingping.”

“Pingping is really kind.”

“Thank you…”

The continuous praise made both Pingping and the tiger man feel very proud.

The tiger man glanced at Jian Chengxi not far away, cleared his throat, and said, “You’re welcome, it’s only right to help everyone. After all, a good potion is one that can relieve everyone’s troubles!”

The crowd all responded in agreement.

Their voices were neither too loud nor too soft, just loud enough to reach the ears on the riverbank.

Li Suisui looked at Pingping, who was surrounded by admiration not far away, feeling a little envious. She pressed her lips together and didn’t speak.

After Jian Chengxi tied his daughter’s hair, he noticed that his daughter’s condition seemed a bit off and gently asked, “What’s wrong?”

“Daddy…” Li Suisui said softly, “Is Suisui’s potion not a good potion?”

Jian Chengxi was startled for a moment and quickly rubbed his daughter’s head and said, “Of course not. Didn’t I tell you before, every potion has its own purpose? You just haven’t used it yet.”

Li Suisui said, “But, does the poisonous rabbit count as useful?”

“…”

It’s hard for me to respond to that.

Jian Chengxi thought for a moment and said, “I suppose so…”

After all, they can still eat the rabbit, can’t they?

His thoughts wandered a little further, and wondered if the child’s confidence might be affected?

Jian Chengxi looked at his daughter’s face and tried to comfort her. “Suisui, don’t be sad. No matter what kind of potion you make, it will never be a useless potion. Daddy believes in you.”

He wanted to comfort her calmly, but unexpectedly—

Li Suisui lifted her little face and softly said, “Suisui isn’t sad.”

Jian Chengxi was confused, “Then you…”

Li Suisui looked at the crowd not far away, filled with ambition. “Suisui was just thinking, making a potion for the poisonous rabbit is really not a good potion. It’s better to make one for people to drink!”

Jian Chengxi: “…”

This…

It wasn’t that urgent.

Jian Chengxi sat with his daughter by the riverbank, gently chatting with her.

Li Suisui sat on a rock, pointed to the path across, and said, “Daddy, there are flowers over there.”

Jian Chengxi glanced over, but didn’t see the flowers. However, he was attracted by a plant with a reddish color. He looked more closely, and a smile appeared on his face. “Chili peppers!”

Li Suisui was stunned, not understanding why her daddy was so happy.

Jian Chengxi ran over, and saw that there were a lot of chili peppers growing in this area. He quickly and excitedly picked some and put them into his pocket. “Suisui, quick, take some. These are all good stuff.”

Li Suisui was puzzled but still followed and put some in her pocket.

Their actions were looked down upon by others and were met with disdain:

“People from the Underground City are just uncultured.”

“I don’t know if they’re clean or not.”

“So disgusting.”

They chatted softly. Though they were disgusted, no one’s gaze left them.

Jian Chengxi returned after picking the chili peppers with his daughter, and saw that everyone was staring at his water bottle. He was puzzled for a moment and asked, “Do you want some water?”

He just asked casually.

But who would’ve known—

Pingping’s dad reacted the most emotionally, “We won’t drink it, it’s not clean at all!”

Jian Chengxi: “…”

Fine, go ahead and die of thirst.

After a brief rest, the group started on their way again.

Today’s climb seemed especially tough. Many of the children were too exhausted and had to be carried by the adults. Jian Chengxi carried Li Suisui for a while.

Suddenly—

When they reached halfway up the mountain, the sky darkened, and it looked like it was going to rain.

The group could only briefly take shelter from the rain at an empty supply station. There was no food inside either.

Some parents immediately said, “This competition can’t continue like this, there’s not even a supply station. At this rate, when are we going to reach the top of the mountain?”

It’s just too slow.

With the bracelets on, they can’t use their racial abilities and they’re exhausted.

They’ve been climbing all day, and the sun is about to set.

Pingping’s dad thought for a moment and suggested, “I think it’s possible that the route we’re following has ended, but the school wouldn’t completely leave us without supplies. This mountain is so big, so there must be food somewhere. The kids are starving—I suggest the adults go find some food, and the kids can rest here!”

This proposal was immediately agreed upon.

Jian Chengxi also wanted to go along.

Pingping’s dad gave him a glance with some contempt, and said, “Mr. Jian, you’re not like us. Your health isn’t very good so stay here, and you can still take care of the kids.”

His words were full of disdain for him, thinking he was even worse off than the kids.

Jian Chengxi was more than happy not to exert himself, and quickly nodded in agreement. “Alright, go and come back quickly.”

There were approximately 15 kids participating in the competition this time.

After the parents left, the supply station became very empty and the weather turned bad with distant thunder heard.

Li Suisui leaned toward Jian Chengxi and said, “Daddy…”

Jian Chengxi immediately held his child’s hand and said, “It’s okay.”

In fact, he had felt all day that something was off about this mountain but couldn’t pinpoint what was wrong. The fruit on the trees was frighteningly sparse. It didn’t look like it had been eaten by beasts, but more like it had been picked by humans. He couldn’t confirm if it was arranged by the school, so he didn’t say anything.

Time passed, second by second.

The parents who had gone out hadn’t come back.

Even the viewers in the live stream started to panic:

“What’s going on?”

“Is the school playing such a big game?”

“Are they crazy…?”

“Wait, why is the signal cut off!!”

The children were usually quite lively, but at this moment with their parents not around, they subconsciously gathered around Jian Chengxi and sat in a circle.

Li Suisui’s stomach growled loudly, and she glanced at Jian Chengxi.

Jian Chengxi stood up. “Daddy will see if we can find something to eat.”

The supply station was terrifyingly empty.

He searched through everything, and surprisingly, all he found was a pot.

…

Jian Chengxi had no choice. He was about to return when Li Suisui, who was with him, suddenly pointed outside the window and said, “Daddy, there’s a rabbit!”

It really was a rabbit.

The rabbit might have been scared by the thunder and unexpectedly crashed into a tree, knocking itself out.

Jian Chengxi jumped out of the window and picked up the rabbit, saying with excitement, “It really is a rabbit.”

Li Suisui was excited and happy. “We can eat the rabbit now!”

Jian Chengxi hesitated. “But rabbit meat is tough.”

He was troubled. It didn’t matter if he ate it himself, but if the kids ate it and the meat wasn’t tasty, wouldn’t that be a problem?

The system prompted:【Host, don’t you have chili peppers?】

Jian Chengxi’s eyes lit up. “That’s right!”

He was thinking to himself when he noticed the rabbit in his hand seemed to be showing signs of waking up and was about to break free and run away. Li Suisui jogged over and fed the rabbit a bottle of potion. The struggling rabbit instantly fainted.

Li Suisui’s little face was smiling, and she looked at her father with some pride. “Daddy, did Suisui’s potion work?”

Jian Chengxi: “…”

It was truly a practical application of knowledge.

Thunder rumbled loudly.

Jian Chengxi told Li Suisui to go back and take care of the other students, and he started processing the rabbit next to the supply station.

He found a knife in the supply station, and there was a small river nearby. He efficiently processed the rabbit, filled a pot with water, and once it boiled, he used it to remove the fur. Then he cut the rabbit meat into pieces and put them in the pot to cook.

The chili peppers were the most important.

First, use hot water to remove the smell from both sides of the rabbit meat, then render oil from the fattiest part of the rabbit. Once the pot is heated, add the rabbit meat and stir-fry it with the chopped chili peppers.

In no time, the fragrance began to fill the air.

Thunder rumbled, but the rain never came.

In no time, the smell of the meat reached the supply station, and many of the children, upon smelling it, ran out.

They were all children from noble families, and the meat they usually ate was roasted at home, some of it sweet and tender. They had never smelled the fragrance of chili peppers, nor had they tasted meat that had been processed this way.

“It smells so good.”

“It looks so delicious.”

“I’m hungry.”

Three-year-old children were not used to this kind of hunger, and now, with the smell of meat, each child was struggling to resist.

Only Pingping still wanted to hold on a little. “This is the mountain of the Underground City. The meat here is all bitter!”

After this was said, some of the children became more aware.

Jian Chengxi didn’t insist. He felt that the meat was almost cooked, so he took a piece of meat, blowed on it, and said to his daughter, “Suisui, come and try it.”

Li Suisui walked over without hesitation, and took a bite of the meat.

The spicy rabbit meat was tender and cooked well without any bitterness. The little girl’s eyes lit up. “It’s delicious.”

Jian Chengxi smiled.

Some of the children started eating, and the other children couldn’t control themselves either.

Jian Chengxi glanced at Alice and asked, “Alice, would you like to eat?”

Alice originally wanted to resist hunger, as she had always adhered to etiquette, but seeing that Li Suisui was eating, she hesitated for a moment and nodded. “Okay.”

Jian Chengxi picked a piece of meat for her. “Be careful, it’s hot.”

Alice had a sweet smile on her face, “Thank you.”

The class monitor had already eaten, and the other children were practically staring at her, eager to eat.

Finally, a child couldn’t hold back anymore. “I want to eat too.”

“I–I’m hungry too.”

“Can I have some?”

“I want some too…”

These noble children had been climbing all day, and they were all covered in dirt, looking pitiful.

Jian Chengxi originally didn’t want to get involved, but after all, they were only three-year-old children and he couldn’t bear to turn them away. He nodded and said, “Take clean leaves, and come one by one. Don’t crowd.”

The children were especially obedient.

Human nature is not born with evil or prejudice, it all depends on how parents guide them.

Without their parents around, the children could still line up politely and sensibly.

Jian Chengxi gave each child a piece.

Finally, it was Pingping. Jian Chengxi took a glance, thinking that Pingping wouldn’t eat, but the pervasive smell of meat was constantly tempting, and Pingping’s stomach growled loudly. Her face turned red.

Jian Chengxi smiled helplessly and waved at her. “Come here.”

Pingping was usually quite proud, but at this moment, she was just too hungry so she stopped holding back and went forward to take the meat.

The rabbit meat was cooked very tender. It was incredibly spicy and delicious.

Normally, the children wouldn’t play with Li Suisui. The privileged children felt that someone like Li Suisui, who was always involved in fights and killing, and that Li Suisui, who ate cute rabbits, wasn’t a good person. Yet now, they had let go of their prejudices and gathered together.

Pingping was eating happily as well. Since she was enjoying her food, she casually asked, “What kind of meat is this? It’s so delicious! Pingping wants to eat more!”

The other children also said:

“I want Mom to make it when we get home.”

“It’s so delicious.”

“It’s even better than the imported meat I’ve eaten.”

The three-year-old child’s gaze was clean and pure.

Jian Chengxi paused for a moment, and said with a helpless laugh, “This is rabbit meat.”

Pingping’s movements froze. She seemed unable to accept it, her hands were trembling as she held the piece. She hesitantly asked, “Then what’s in Pingping’s hand…?”

Jian Chengxi blinked, and calmly replied, “Spicy rabbit head.”

“…”

The air fell into a terrifying silence.

Then—

It was unclear which child started it, but suddenly the sound of crying and wailing began. The bunny is so cute, how can they eat the bunny!

Only bad people would eat it!

Jian Chengxi: ???

The cry spread quickly, one after another. The children who had just been eating happily were now crying and wailing. They usually used rabbits for potion experiments, and the rabbit was their good friend.

Jian Chengxi stood up. “What happened?”

Pingping took a step back, crying.

Wuwuwu.

Suisui’s daddy is a devil!

Jian Chengxi felt somewhat helpless. He looked at the crying children, sat back down in front of the pot, and stared at the rabbit meat in the pot. He said, “There are a few pieces left, does anyone else want some? If you don’t, it’ll be gone.”

The crying stopped abruptly.

Finally—

In the silence—

One child wiped their face while crying, and said while crying, “One more… just one more.”

“…”