Chapter 61 The Boss with Morning Temper

Bai Tian: “What about Liang Tian’er? We offended Kang An because of her. Why don’t we ask her for protection?”

Jiang Dai lowered his eyes. “It’s not impossible, but you have to understand—this era doesn’t value women highly. Look at how desperate Liang Tian’er was for seasoning. From the tone Kang An used, you could clearly hear his contempt toward her.”

“So, I’d wager that little girl’s situation isn’t all that great either.”

Bai Tian: “How do you know so much?”

Why was it that he had sat through the same conversation, yet couldn’t put any of this together?

Jiang Dai: …

“With all these little power plays, how could I not notice? I’ve watched more palace intrigue dramas and crime thrillers than I care to count. Details are everything.”

Bai Tian fell silent, only raising his thumb in approval. “Sister Jiang, thumbs up.”

“You’re from the Jiang family, right? You even know tai chi. Your martial skills must be incredible.”

Eyes alight with anticipation, Bai Tian leaned closer. “How about you teach me some martial arts? And didn’t we just get someone to forge us a knife?”

Jiang Dai, who was considered the weakest chicken in her entire family: …

Seriously? Of all the pots you could bang, you had to bang this one?

Under Bai Tian’s expectant gaze, Jiang Dai finally said, “Don’t think my martial arts can protect the entire family. First of all, this body I’m in is frail. My strength is reduced by at least half right from the start.”

“Second, yes, I come from an ancient martial family, but I’m the youngest. I was never fond of hardship. I half-learned, half-slacked my way through, and then ran off to join the entertainment industry. I even quarreled with my family because of it.”

“So if you pin all your hopes on me, you’re only setting yourself up for disaster. Understand?”

Bai Tian fell quiet, then nodded solemnly. “I understand.”

The two of them sank into a rare silence.

Time ticked by.

Jiang Dai yawned and flopped onto the bed, sprawling casually.

“Sleep, I’m exhausted!”

“Sleep, sleep, sleep!”

Bai Tian too lay down by instinct, ready to doze off, when he suddenly sprang upright.

“Wait! Did we forget something?”

Jiang Dai: “Forget what?”

Bai Tian glanced dazedly toward the door. “Weren’t there three kids outside?”

Jiang Dai: “They’re not idiots. They’ll find their way to bed.”

Bai Tian got up anyway. “I’ll check just in case.”

A short while later, he returned.

“They’re fine. Not idiots. Already tucked themselves in.”

…

In a shabby, isolated little hut, three small children lay on a bed.

Bai Yunqi was sound asleep, snoring in perfect rhythm. Who knew what delicious treat he was dreaming about? His lips smacked noisily.

Bai Yunxing barely reacted. He had grown up in the army camps. That sort of environment was always like this—snoring, teeth-grinding, sleep-talking, random kicking. Business as usual.

Just as Bai Yunxing was drifting off, he sensed movement. Someone sat up beside him.

Turning his head, he saw his twin brother sitting rigidly upright, face blank, eyes gleaming with a shadowy gloom as he stared at him.

“What are you doing?” Bai Yunxing asked uneasily.

Bai Yun’an did not answer right away. He sat there stiffly in silence, looking for all the world like a ghost come to claim a life under the pale wash of moonlight filtering through the window.

Then his voice came, low and eerie. “Can I strangle him?”

Now he looked even more like one.

This was his morning temper, and everyone back at the base knew it: never, ever provoke him when he had just woken up.

Of course, there were always fools who couldn’t resist. When they saw the Zombie King, they’d poke at him, wake him, and promptly get themselves killed. After venting, Bai Yun’an’s temper would vanish.

But now, there was no Zombie King. Only that black temper remained.

And Bai Yun’an had a very real urge to throttle Bai Yunqi.

He was absolutely insufferable!

Just as Bai Yun’an had been drifting off, his damn big brother had kicked him—literally—wide awake.

He very much wanted to murder this snoring beast sprawled with all four limbs akimbo, hogging most of the bed while sleeping blissfully.

System: 【No! You can’t! Hold it in!】

Bai Yunxing: ???

Wait—what the hell was wrong with their third brother?

Bai Yun’an gave a cold laugh, swung his legs off the bed, slipped on his shoes, and strode for the door.

Bai Yunxing quickly grabbed his twin’s sleeve. “It’s the middle of the night. Where are you going?”

“I’m going to sleep with Father and Mother!” Bai Yun’an spat each word out with a suppressed, chilling fury.

Then, with no trace of manners, he slammed the door as he stormed out.

The bang rattled the walls.

On the bed, Bai Yunqi smacked his lips twice, cracked his eyes open in confusion, then rolled over and began snoring again.

Bai Yunxing’s mouth twitched as he glanced between his slumbering big brother and the half-broken door, convinced his indignant little brother had lost his mind.

Driven mad by his sleeping elder brother.

…

Perhaps it was because she had cried too hard the night before.

When Juanjuan opened her eyes the next morning, her lashes felt heavy, her eyelids leaden. She struggled to pry her eyes open.

Through a blur, she saw a face that should not have been there.

Startled, Juanjuan jerked, her hand tingling with numbness. She pulled it free, intending to rub her eyes. Instead, clumsily, she shoved her third brother.

Unaware of the gravity of her action, the child raised her hands and rubbed her eyes again, then blinked them open.

Juanjuan thought in confusion: I must have opened my eyes wrong. Otherwise, why would Third Brother be here?

When Juanjuan opened her eyes again, her terror only deepened.

Because the elder brother who had been sound asleep just moments ago… now had his eyes open. And those eyes blazed with a ruthless, chilling light that made her heart sink.

Juanjuan snapped fully awake, her body trembling uncontrollably as a cold shiver climbed her spine, spreading across her entire body.

Meanwhile, Bai Yun’an—who had barely managed to fall asleep after tossing and turning half the night—was jolted awake by a slap from his younger sister. He stared blankly.

Tru-ly. Not. In. The. Mood!

System: 【Calm down! This is a target of the capture route, please be careful—warning, warning…】

The System immediately began blaring alarms in Bai Yun’an’s mind, projecting the blindingly low single-digit Favorability Points right in front of his eyes.

But soon, the System dared not make another sound.

Because it had just been crushed beneath the suffocating mental pressure unique to a top-tier apocalypse overlord.

Bai Yun’an’s mouth twitched into the shadow of a smile, the strained expression of a man wrestling with himself.

One part of him—the rational side—reminded him firmly: This is the capture target. Don’t move. Do not lift a hand.

The other half—the restless irritation clawing at his chest—roared back: Kill her! Grind her to paste! To hell with this so-called space! If I forcefully break through the seal on my mental power, who’s to say my abilities won’t awaken?

“Th… third brother…”

The little girl’s faint voice trembled as she called to him, her small body edging back despite herself.

Looking at her brother, Juanjuan stammered, her childish, delicate voice shaking no matter how she tried to steady it: “My… my hand went numb. S-sorry… I disturbed your sleep…”

Bai Yun’an drew in a deep breath. His gaze lingered on the trembling child who, at the very least, still knew how to apologize.

In the end, rationality just barely managed to suppress his foul temper at being woken.

【She apologized. And I still need to complete the capture. Forget it.】

With swift decisiveness, Bai Yun’an lay back down, closed his eyes, shifted into a comfortable position, and prepared to go back to sleep.