ASFTB 53: My Legs Went Weak. I Can’t Walk! 1

The supply station is surrounded by a light drizzle, with the sound of thunder rumbling in the distance.

One rabbit was shared among fifteen children. The children’s appetites were quite large, and it was impossible for each child to be fully satisfied. Jian Chengxi himself only ate a little, just enough to avoid dizziness from hunger, and the rest was mostly given to his daughter and the other children.

There were small raindrops falling down.

Just as Jian Chengxi was considering whether to catch another rabbit, there was a disturbance in the forest not far away.

Alice was the first to react. She spoke up, saying, “Someone is coming!”

A figure by the riverbank was getting closer and closer.

Slowly, the figure appeared, and two people came. One was thin, tall, and somewhat refined, while the other was tall, strong, with a dark complexion and a full beard.

They crossed the riverbank and walked over.

Pingping blinked first and said, “It’s not Dad.”

They are strangers.

The sky was drizzling with fine rain, and near the entrance of the supply station, there was a pot set up.

Their eyes met—the two people in coats and mink fur met Jian Chengxi’s gaze. The air seemed to fall into silence with thunder roaring in the distance, and they seemed to be carrying a mist on their bodies.

The children also stared blankly at the strangers.

Jian Chengxi stood up, looked at them, and said, “You…”

The pirates had originally thought that only children were here since the other parents had already been subdued by them. They didn’t bring any knives with them, but to their surprise, there was actually someone here—a beautiful and delicate elf.

They were somewhat nervous.

They were even ready to draw their knives at any moment.

Jian Chengxi froze for a moment, then he asked with confusion, “Are you sent by the school to find us?”

The pirates blinked.

Jian Chengxi’s memory wasn’t very good. He wasn’t sure and asked, “Just the two of you?”

The pirates were taken aback by this question, not expecting the situation to unfold like this. Normally, when others saw them, they would scream in fear.

They were stunned.

The second-in-command smiled and said, “Yes, yes, we are sent by the school. Seeing that it’s raining, we were worried something might happen to you so we came to check.”

They were smiling but were distracted by the aroma coming from the side.

The bearded man, who ate grass every day, had a mouth that smelled faintly of birds. He asked in surprise, “Who cooked this?”

Jian Chengxi said, “I cooked it. The children were hungry, and seeing how hungry they were, I happened to catch a rabbit so I cooked something for them to eat.”

The pirates had traveled far and wide and had eaten many delicious dishes.

But they had never smelled such a flavor before. It was all meat, yet it had a rich and spicy sensation.

Jian Chengxi seemed to breathe a sigh of relief upon seeing the two of them. “I was also thinking about whether I should contact the people down the mountain. You arrived just in time. By the way, did you see any other parents on the road? They went out to look for food and haven’t come back yet.”

The pirates thought to themselves, Of course we saw them.

They’re all tied up in the trees now.

Yet he still said, “I didn’t see them, did they go out?”

Jian Chengxi nodded. “Mm, they haven’t come back yet.”

The space pirates said with some regret, “It’s true we didn’t encounter them, but it’s still raining up there, so they probably found a place to hide by themselves.”

Jian Chengxi responded, “It should be like that. I hope everything is alright.”

The space pirates thought to themselves, It’s definitely fine.

The tree they chose is big and safe!

A group of people walked into the station.

The space pirates had originally thought this would be a chaotic and terrifying process, but to their surprise, it was so peaceful and polite.

Jian Chengxi said to them, bringing the children with him, “Shall we get up now and head down the mountain?”

The bearded man spoke almost without hesitation, “Of course, that’s not possible. We came all the way here and still want to…”

The second-in-command coughed lightly and smiled, saying, “It’s raining outside, taking the children down the mountain would be a bit dangerous. Let’s stay here for the night.”

Jian Chengxi didn’t expect to stay on the mountain tonight.

But what they said was also right. What if the rain gets the children sick?

Thinking of this, Jian Chengxi didn’t insist any further but hesitated a little. “Then I’ll send a message to my husband. After all, we had originally planned for him to pick me and the children up tonight.”

A strange glint passed through the pirate’s eyes, but he still calmly said, “It’s raining now, and there might be no signal on the mountain.”

Jian Chengxi paused for a moment, and opened the communication device—only to find there was really no signal.

A feeling of unease spread from his heart.

At this moment, he was very grateful that Li Lingfeng was ahead of him, as his training in mental resilience had kept him from becoming flustered and helpless due to excessive panic.

Jian Chengxi slowly lowered his hand and said to the two of them, “Then, it seems we’ll have to stay here for the night, but the supply station doesn’t have any bedding…”

The second-in-command immediately said, “Don’t worry about that. The supply station has emergency supplies, just take them from inside.”

Jian Chengxi breathed a sigh of relief. He walked to the side and took his daughter’s hand, then casually complimented, “As expected from the staff, we couldn’t find it ourselves.”

The second-in-command looked at the beautiful and gentle elf in front of him, and said with a half-smile, “Oh no, it’s our school’s fault for not hosting you properly, making you stay on the mountain tonight.”

The more he acted this way, the more he seemed believable.

A group of people entered the supply station.

The two space pirates went inside to get the emergency supplies from the supply station. Jian Chengxi stood outside while holding his daughter’s hand, but unconsciously tightened his grip. No one knew that a layer of cold sweat was forming on his back.

Li Suisui turned her face away and quietly asked, “Daddy, what’s wrong?”

Jian Chengxi saw that they were all inside, then lowered his head and whispered, “They don’t have the school staff badges on them.”

The Business School, as the top school in the Imperial Capital, requires all school staff to wear work IDs and badges, but these two people were clean and had none on them.

The most important thing is, Jian Chengxi didn’t dare to tell his daughter that these two people had a smell of blood on them.

Li Suisui tightened her grip on her daddy’s hand and softly asked, “Daddy, are they bad people?”

Jian Chengxi tried hard to make himself appear normal, crouched down, and pretended to adjust his daughter’s clothes. He softly said, “In a little while, Daddy will find a chance for you to run, and you just run down the mountain, okay?”

His daughter was only three years old.

That little fair face looked at Jian Chengxi, with her black eyes pure and bright, but she bravely nodded and said, “Okay.”

The other children had just finished eating and were sitting quietly on the chairs in the hall.

The second-in-command and the bearded man walked out from inside.

They said with an apologetic look on their faces, “The tents and the supplies inside seem to be unusable. How about this, we’ll go to the next supply point—it’s very close.”

Jian Chengxi held his child’s hand and hesitated, saying, “It’s still raining outside…”

The bearded man didn’t mind at all. He looked at the rain outside and said, “We’ll take this path. There are trees along the way, so there won’t be much rain. If there are no beds tonight, it’ll be quite cold.”

Jian Chengxi could only nod and say, “Okay then.”

Some of the other children disagreed.

Pingping sat on the chair and said, “I want to wait here for Dad!”

Jian Chengxi glanced back at Pingping and caught a glimpse of the murderous intent that flashed in the eyes of the two pirates.

However, before he could speak,

Li Suisui looked at Pingping, her voice sweet and childlike, “Then let’s leave Pingping here by herself, we’ll all go~”

Pingping looked a bit pitiful.

“Father said there are wolves on the mountain,” Li Suisui said seriously, “When Pingping is here by herself, she might see them.”

Pingping was indeed scared. “Ar–are they really there?”

Li Suisui comforted her, saying, “But if Pingping encounters them, there’s no need to be afraid.”

Pingping asked in confusion, “Why?”

It seemed like there was a hint of a smile in Li Suisui’s eyes. “Because being afraid won’t help!”

Pingping: “…”

Wah!

She cried loudly!!!

Even though she used to be arrogant and bossy, she was still just a little child. After hearing those words, tears started falling from the little girl’s eyes. She quickly jumped off the chair and stopped causing a fuss.

The two pirates stared while stunned.

The pirate leader, the bearded man, smiled and glanced at Li Suisui. He said, “This little girl is quite smart.”

She reminds him a bit of how he was when he was younger.

The second-in-command also curled his lips in a smile, clearly pleased with the group’s sensitivity. Otherwise, they wouldn’t hesitate to kill two children to make a point.

The group began walking into the mountain.

The rain in the sky kept falling heavier with no sign of stopping.

Jian Chengxi was the most worried about the children. He was afraid his daughter would get soaked, so he held his daughter and took off his coat to cover her, while also making sure the other children didn’t get lost.

The group walked for about a few hundred meters.

The further they walked, the more off-track they went. This was not the supply station, but a large cave. Inside the cave were pirates sitting around with a bonfire burning for warmth. Their clothes were dirty and ragged, some even had scars on their faces.

The children in the back were stunned.

The bearded man stopped pretending once they arrived and sternly shouted, “Get inside!”

His roar was enough to scare the children into a state of shock.

The bearded man’s hand reached for his gun, ready to choose whichever child dared to make a fuss or cry and deal with them. It is to see who dared not behave and be a hostage.

Just as it seemed like a child was about to cry—

Jian Chengxi stepped forward and clapped his hands, “Alright, everyone, let’s go inside quickly.”

The children all turned around and looked at Jian Chengxi.

Jian Chengxi had a faint smile on his face. “This is a camping trip arranged by the school. These uncles are here to take care of us, and any child who behaves well will get a trophy.”

The children were stunned.

Some of the children were about to cry, but upon hearing Jian Chengxi say this, they couldn’t cry anymore. “Really?”

“Of course,” Jian Chengxi smiled and looked back at the bearded man. He said, “If you don’t believe me, ask Uncle, right?”

Two pairs of big watery eyes, one large and one small, were looking at him.

The bearded man: “…”

After doing evil for many years, this was the first time he felt morally trapped.

However, as long as these people don’t resist, it’ll make things easier.

The bearded man reluctantly nodded. “Mm.”

The children were reassured. They were only three years old, just the age to start preschool, having been spoiled and pampered since childhood. They had never seen the chaos of the Underground City, so they had no idea what bad people really looked like.

Pingping was the first to run with joy. “This is fire!”

The flames in the cave were burning very high.

All the things from the supply station were originally brought here. 

Blankets, food, drinks—everything was available.

After the children ran in and saw all of this, they had no more doubts. Everything here was what the supply station should have and there were even plenty of fruits.

Some of the children were already hungry.

Once the children knew it was arranged by the school, they weren’t afraid anymore and they ran to the table to grab food to eat.

The pirate leader was displeased. “You all…”

Before he could stop them, Alice stepped forward and said, “Pingping, A-Qiao, how can you just eat without asking first? The teacher taught us to be polite and well-mannered children.”

The class monitor’s words always carried authority.

The children obediently set the things down and, in their soft, milky voices, said to the pirates, “We’re sorry.”

The pirates: “…”

Ah… well, that wasn’t really necessary.

Jian Chengxi walked over and said, “Everyone, come over and line up. We will take off your wet coats and dry them by the fire before eating, or you’ll catch a cold.”

After all this time, the children now trusted Jian Chengxi completely.

One by one, the little children walked over obediently, allowing Jian Chengxi to take off their coats.

While Jian Chengxi dried the children’s clothes by the fire, he said, “It’s because the staff uncles brought us here, so that everyone can have food and a place to sleep. The uncles have been very kind to us, even making a fire just for us. So how should you all act?”

The children turned to look at the bearded man, and in unison, they said, “Thank you, Uncle!”

The pirate leader: “…”

Ah.

Well, that wasn’t really the reason.

The night had already grown deep.

Down the mountain, the lights shone brightly.

The school made a huge mess of things. The disappearance of fifteen children and their parents on the mountain was no small matter.

At the first moment of the incident, the school considered covering it up, suppressing the news and only explaining to the public that it was due to weather reasons while secretly sending people from the school to search the mountain.

But the rain was too heavy.

The most critical issue was, for some unknown reason, all communication signals on the mountain were cut off and they couldn’t contact anyone.

It was only then that the school leadership started to panic.

Almost when the police station received the school’s emergency call, no one took it seriously. After all, a school event with poor signals due to the rain wasn’t a big deal.

However—

Inside the Underground City.

The deputy general quickly found the general, who was interrogating the pirates’ accomplices. He whispered, “General, the police station received a report from the school, saying that the children from the sports event on the southern mountain went missing, possibly due to the heavy rain. They asked the police station to send people to search for them.”

Li Lingfeng stood up and frowned. He asked, “Which mountain?”

The deputy general thought for a moment. “It should be Qimeng Mountain, it’s still a bit far from here.”

Logically speaking, this kind of thing should just be handled by the police station.

Li Lingfeng almost instantly lifted his eyelids and said, “It’s the mountain where Jian Chengxi and the others are.”

The pirate accomplices who had collapsed on the ground were bleeding profusely. Li Lingfeng kicked them aside with a blank expression and the man’s body reeked of blood. The entire black market was in chaos. He took a step forward and said, “Order all nearby personnel to assemble and stand by at Qimeng Mountain. Deploy all warships in combat readiness from the third squadron to block the airspace above Qimeng Mountain.”

The deputy general was stunned for a moment, and a bad feeling stirred in his heart. “Do you mean, Monka could be at Qimeng Mountain?”

This group of space pirates was actually a gang of smugglers.

The reason their pirate ship ended up in Li Lingfeng’s hands this time was because they openly robbed the Imperial Capital’s warships to plunder resources.

In the earlier years, when Ike was the military commander, the Imperial Capital even had to pay protection fees.

Now Monka sent people to use the same old tactics, but didn’t expect to bite off more than they could chew, and almost had their entire force wiped out by Li Lingfeng’s troops.

Few people know that Monka actually comes from the Underground City.

Li Lingfeng stood under the dim light. His face was cold and stern. “Monka hijacked and looted warships that were merchant ships transporting imperial grain. Keeping him alive still serves a purpose—his crime wasn’t enough to warrant death.”

The room was filled with the smell of blood.

The deputy general opened his mouth and said, “General, do you mean…”

After all, Monka is a notorious space pirate, famous for being treacherous and cruel.

Yet the treasure and wealth in his hands were indeed quite substantial.

Originally, capturing him would indeed take some effort, but they didn’t expect Monka to be at Qimeng Mountain.

The silver blade in Li Lingfeng’s hand was still dripping with blood, and the cold blade glistened with light. Li Lingfeng’s gaze darkened with a gloomy expression. “If he dares to touch him.”

The cold blade was sheathed.

It carried a chilling tone that sent shivers down one’s spine.

Li Lingfeng stepped on the broken ground, his gaze fixed on a distant mountain peak. With a blank expression, he said, “Then he must die.”

…

The cave in the deep of night was bathed in the warm glow of light.

Jian Chengxi had the children eat some fruit. It was late by now and also the time when the children usually went to sleep.

Li Suisui curled up in his arms. “Daddy, I can’t sleep.”

Jian Chengxi patted her back. “Then, I’ll tell you a story.”

Li Suisui nodded.

The other children were also sleeping on the ground mats. The three-year-olds, away from home and sleeping in an unfamiliar place with thunder rumbling outside, feel very insecure. Some children were still crying.

Jian Chengxi patted his daughter’s back, his voice gentle and patient, “This story is called ‘The Giant’s Garden.’ About a long, long time ago, there was a giant who had a very beautiful garden with many beautiful trees and flowers. The giant loved his garden and trees very much. One time, when the giant returned from his travels, he found that many little children were playing in the trees in his garden. The giant was very angry and shouted loudly, ‘Who told you to play in my garden? Go away!'”

As he spoke, the other children who couldn’t sleep secretly perked up their ears.

Li Suisui asked, “What happened next?”

Jian Chengxi said, “Then the children were startled and quickly ran away. When the giant returned to his room, he found the garden had become very cold and desolate. Even though it was spring, the garden felt so lonely, and he curiously wondered, ‘Why hasn’t spring come yet?'”

“Until one day, the giant heard the children’s laughter again. He once again scolded the children loudly, scaring the children away, but he discovered that where the children had been, beautiful branches had blossomed on the trees.” Jian Chengxi said, “Then the giant hugged the children and happily said, ‘The reason spring hadn’t come yet was because of my own cold heart. I’m sorry, I almost drove spring away again, thank you!'”

Inside the warm cave, Jian Chengxi’s voice was gentle and slow.

Alice was always a perceptive girl. She was lying next to Li Suisui, and she softly said, “The giant has learned to share with others, that’s so nice.”

Jian Chengxi broke into a comforting smile.

But little did he know—

Li Suisui, in his arms, let out a soft hum and said, “The giant was clearly very pitiful. It was his garden alone, but those people had to come, and they even took spring away.”

Alice choked up. “Suisui, it’s not like that…”

Li Suisui raised his face and said, “If it were me, even if spring doesn’t come, I wouldn’t let anyone steal the garden.”

Alice was stunned. The kind-hearted little girl had never heard such logic before.

She thought for a moment, and cautiously said, “B–but the garden is so beautiful. Don’t you want to share it with others?”

Li Suisui replied without hesitation, “No!”

A trace of sadness appeared on Alice’s face, as she had been taught from a young age to be generous and kind. For a moment, she couldn’t fully adapt to Li Suisui’s domineering logic.

Yet little did she know—

Li Suisui glanced at her and said, “But Suisui can let Alice come and play.”

Alice’s eyes instantly lit up. “Really? Why?”

Is she really different for Suisui?

She…

She is special.

Alice’s heart couldn’t help but feel as if she had drunk honey. The little girl’s face turned a little red.

Li Suisui said decisively, “Because Alice will bring books for Suisui to read. The other children won’t pay like that, and Suisui doesn’t like it!”

Alice: “…”

She really wanted to thank her.

Jian Chengxi, listening from the side, couldn’t help but laugh and cry at the same time. He didn’t know who his little money-obsessed daughter took after.

At this moment, Pingping poked her head out. “Where is the Giant’s Garden?”

Jian Chengxi thought for a moment. He didn’t say it didn’t exist, but instead gave a compromise answer, “It’s a very mysterious place.”

The other children sat up and said, “It must be on an island in Sky City.”

Jian Chengxi said curiously, “Why?”

The child shook his head and said, “Because the Underground City doesn’t have such a beautiful place.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded man sitting by the table slammed his knife down and shouted loudly, “Bullshit, this is simply absurd!”

Everyone looked at him in surprise.

The bearded man snorted coldly and said, “What Sky City? Every island you live on now was once part of the Underground City, and every floating island now was once land of the Underground City! As for Sky City, if we have to say it, all of you are people of the Underground City!”

The cave fell into silence.

The children had never seen such a scene, especially Pingping. She sniffed and then, the little girl was so scared she cried out, “Wah!”

When one child cries, it affects the others. As soon as she cried, the other children followed suit and cried too.

The bearded man felt annoyed hearing this. He muttered a curse under his breath, and shouted, “Stop crying! If you keep crying, I’ll throw you out to feed the wolves!”

It seemed like he was about to use violence to suppress them.

After hearing these words, Pingping cried even harder.

Jian Chengxi hurriedly patted Pingping’s back and sighed inwardly. He then gently said, “Stop crying, would you like me to tell you another story?”

Pingping was still crying. The small little girl was crying so hard she could barely catch her breath.

Jian Chengxi took a deep breath and said, “Would you like me to cook you some meat?”

Pingping’s crying stopped abruptly. She sniffed, and blinked expectantly.

“…”

After a day of rough travel, everyone was hungry and tired. The food in the cave was obviously insufficient, and the portions given to the children were small. Since they were at the age of growing, how could they not be hungry?

Jian Chengxi hesitated and said, “It’s too late now, there are no more rabbits.”

As soon as he finished speaking, the bearded man looked as if he had been craving for half his life. He slapped the table. “Number Two, send someone to catch a few!”

The second-in-command, who was at the communicator, was a bit speechless. “I’ve told you not to call me that.”

The bearded man smiled and said, “Little Two, go quickly.”

“…”

Sooner or later, I’ll get you.

The pirates moved quickly.

The rabbit Jian Chengxi received was already prepared. He cleaned it outside the cave, then prepared the seasoning. There was a pot here so he simply used it directly.

He will remove the gamey smell from the rabbit meat using chili to extract oil and bring out the fragrance, slowly simmering the meat.

The other pirates were originally tired, but upon smelling the fragrance, they lost their drowsiness and kept looking over this way.

They had spent years drifting in outer space, drinking nutrient solutions and eating roasted meat. They had never seen such a novel way of cooking—fragrant and tempting.

The bearded man, feeling bored, walked over and said, “Your cooking skills aren’t bad, where did you learn this?”

Jian Chengxi replied in a low voice, “I figured it out myself.”

The bearded man smiled and said, “Heh, you really are a talented person, cooking so deliciously. People in Sky City really know how to enjoy life, marrying such a good wife.”