Chapter 142: Growing Suspicion

It was nearly noon when Bai Tian called his second son to head home.

As they passed by Zhenxiu Restaurant, they noticed it was closed.

Bai Tian clicked his tongue, his voice full of smug satisfaction. “Did we scare them off? Looks like Zhenxiu Restaurant couldn’t handle the heat after all!”

Bai Yunxing glanced at the shuttered doors, but a figure flashed through his mind.

Just yesterday, he’d seen someone who looked like a Northern Barbarian strategist enter Zhenxiu Restaurant. And now, today, the place was shut?

What a coincidence.

Too much of a coincidence to ignore.

They hadn’t even reached their doorstep when Bai Yunxing spotted a crowd gathering near the local “intelligence network¹.”

Before he could react, his father yanked him over.

Bai Tian believed: even a moment’s hesitation was a disrespect to gossip.

An old man with failing eyesight at sixty was animatedly spitting as he spoke to Bai Tian.

“A black dog dragged over a severed hand, and they say the hand was still moving, like it belonged to a monster!”

“Black dogs ward off evil. If it brought us that hand, it must be some kind of omen. Let me tell you young folks…”

Bai Tian filtered the info automatically: black dog, severed hand. Everything after “they say” could be ignored.

Having gotten the gist, Bai Tian thanked the old man and dragged his son home in haste.

He was sure Jiang Dai would know even more.

“Jiang Dai! We’re home!”

The moment he stepped through the door, Bai Tian bellowed at the top of his lungs.

Jiang Dai, who had been reading a storybook, was startled into a cold sweat. Juanjuan, who had been writing, smeared ink across her chest in surprise.

Bai Yun’an glanced at his startled mother and sister, then cast a look of deep disdain at his father, who was now charging into the room.

【Seriously, what did this man do before? He’s so flighty. Even Juanjuan is more composed than him!】

Juanjuan looked down at the ink on her chest and silently agreed with her third brother.

Exactly. Even she didn’t get that jumpy.

“Jiang Dai! Jiang Dai!”

Bai Tian burst in, eyes gleaming with curiosity and excitement, radiating a rare energy for someone his age.

“What’s this about a black dog and a severed hand? What happened today?”

Jiang Dai curled her lips into a cold smile and gave Bai Tian a once-over, exuding an air of quiet authority.

The kids: ?

What’s Mom up to? She looks like she’s about to say something epic.

The next second—

“Come here, come here, let me tell you…”

Jiang Dai and Bai Tian huddled together, whispering animatedly.

Bai Yunqi quietly squeezed in and successfully joined the parental gossip circle.

Bai Yunxing stood nearby, listening in silence, extracting useful information from the chatter.

Bai Yun’an: 【What was I even expecting just now?!】

Juanjuan blinked, then got up to wash clothes. That ink stain needed to be rinsed before it dried, or it’d be hard to clean.

After finishing the laundry, Juanjuan peeked back into the house.

Her parents and eldest brother were still deep in conversation and didn’t look hungry.

But she was.

Her gaze fell on the lunchbox her father had brought back. She patted his hand, trying to get his attention.

“Daddy, is this food?”

“Mm-hmm.”

“Then when are we eating?”

Juanjuan asked as she glanced at her mother, who had earlier claimed to be hungry.

Jiang Dai: …

“Let’s eat, let’s eat!”

【Got so caught up in gossip that I forgot about lunch. Look at this mess!】

Juanjuan: It’s okay! She’d always remind them!

Meal times were always the busiest for Juanjuan.

But today, the one who usually kept quiet—second brother—was the most talkative.

Northern Barbarians, strategists, the Third Prince…

Juanjuan hadn’t heard of any of these before, but judging by her brother’s tone, none of them were good news.

After lunch, the four kids were forcibly powered down and sent to nap.

Bai Tian and Jiang Dai hadn’t planned to sleep, but they’d clearly overestimated themselves.

With the warm weather, the quiet afternoon, and their carb-induced drowsiness, not napping would’ve been against the laws of nature.

Juanjuan, who was supposed to be napping, sat up instead.

She looked at her sleeping parents, then at herself, wide awake despite lying down for a while.

She didn’t understand why her parents loved sleeping so much.

They couldn’t get up in the morning, and after a nap, they couldn’t get up again.

Juanjuan got up, picked up a roughly made book, and tiptoed outside to sit at the doorway.

This wasn’t just any book—it was a special beginner’s storybook her parents had made just for her.

There were even little drawings! So pretty!

Even if she didn’t understand all the words, the pictures helped her figure things out. Juanjuan truly believed her parents were amazing.

Mom wrote the stories, and Dad drew the pictures.

Dad even said she could take it out and see if other kids liked it, but Juanjuan couldn’t bear to.

Her dad had drawn it by hand. What if another kid got it dirty or tore it?

A soft creak of a door opening caught her attention.

Juanjuan looked up and locked eyes with her eldest brother.

Bai Yunqi, who had been sneaking out to play: ???

【Wait, why is this little one not asleep either? And sitting right at the door?】

【And she’s not dumb—far from it. She’s even smart enough to stretch out her little legs to sunbathe.】

Juanjuan swung her little feet back and forth.

She took it as a compliment from her big brother.

“Big Brother’s not sleeping either? Want to read a book?”

The little one pointed to the book in her arms, inviting him.

“I’m going out to play for a bit. Wanna come?”

Bai Yunqi smiled as he invited her, fully expecting her to say no.

But Juanjuan nodded. “Okay!”

She carefully put away her book and stood up, ready to go with him.

She’d been curious for a while about how her big brother always managed to find cool stuff when he went out.

Her big brother wasn’t like other kids—he didn’t just go out to play. He went out to find…

Treasures! Yes, treasures!

Bai Yunqi: Huh???

【Wait a minute, this isn’t how it was supposed to go!】

【Wasn’t Juanjuan the most obedient, the one who never ran around, the one we could always count on?】

“You really want to come with me? What if you get hurt…”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when his little sister looked up at him with admiration and said, “Big Brother is amazing. You can protect me, right?”

Bai Yunqi: …

【Well, since she put it that way, I guess it’s fine to bring her along!】

What could he say? He was a sucker for soft words, not tough ones.

Especially this…

Being admired while secretly hiding his true strength—it felt pretty great.

Bai Yunqi: “Alright then—”

“Big Brother! We’re coming too!!”

A bright voice rang out from the cracked door behind him.

Bai Yunqi spun around and saw the door half open, with his twin brothers standing there—one calm, one grinning.

Naturally, the one who spoke was the grinning third brother!

Bai Yun’an: 【Looks like Big Brother really is a softie.】

So Bai Yun’an decided to test his theory, no hesitation, just went for it.

“Big Brother, you’re the best! No one would dare mess with us if we’re with you!”

Bai Yunqi’s lips twitched upward, though he quickly suppressed the smile.

【Now that’s just… the honest truth!】

“Alright, but you have to listen to me. No running off! Or I’ll tell Mom and Dad right now.”

As he spoke, Bai Yunqi patted his siblings on the shoulders.

Spiritual power surged subtly, leaving behind a faint trace of energy.

Come on, who didn’t know what these little rascals were like?

【They say they’ll behave, but once they’re out, who knows where they’ll end up? Better to use a bit of spiritual power just in case. If they wander too far, I can track them down.】

Juanjuan: So what Big Brother means is, no matter where they go, he can find them? That’s amazing!

Bai Yun’an glanced at his shoulder without a word.

【Such a faint ripple. If my spiritual sense weren’t strong, I wouldn’t have noticed it at all.】

This big brother…

【I definitely need to dig deeper sometime, just in case he causes trouble for me in the future.】

“You guys go ahead and have fun. I’ll sit this one out,” Bai Yunxing said hesitantly, trying to reason with his younger siblings.

He had something weighing on his mind and honestly wasn’t in the mood to go out and play with the little ones.

【If that really is a Northern Barbarian strategist at Zhenxiu Restaurant, taking the kids there would be far too dangerous.】

Juanjuan looked at her second brother. So he was planning to go to Zhenxiu Restaurant.

But it sounded dangerous.

Bai Yunqi: ?

【Not going? Then should I pull back that trace of Spiritual Power? Even a mosquito’s meat is still meat²!】

Juanjuan: ?

No way, absolutely not!

Big Brother was about to take back the treasure he’d left on Second Brother to track him.

Second Brother wasn’t as strong as Big Brother. If someone bullied him, Big Brother could still swoop in and rescue him.

Just like how he’d saved her last time!

“Come on, Big Brother, let’s go! Second Brother, you stay home and rest! If Mom and Dad wake up, tell them we went out to play!” Juanjuan rattled off a string of words, then grabbed her big brother’s hand and took off running.

Before Bai Yunqi could retract his Spiritual Power, he was yanked away by his little sister.

Bai Yunqi: 【Wait, what? How is this little thing so strong?!】

“You’re really not coming?” Bai Yun’an asked his twin brother.

Bai Yunxing shook his head.

“Alright then, we’re heading out!” Bai Yun’an gave a helpless smile, but the moment he turned around, the smile vanished.

【I’ll circle back later and find out exactly what Second Brother is up to!】

Translator’s Notes