Chapter 68: A Night Visitor to the Bai Family, and a Big Shot Makes a Move

“That won’t be necessary.”

Jiang Dai wore a gentle smile as she raised her hand and ruffled Bai Yun’an’s hair.

Then, she looked at her three sons before her and said softly yet firmly, “As long as we don’t kill or set fires.”

Kill or set fires—Bai Yunqi, Bai Yunxing, Bai Yun’an: First strike.

“And don’t burn, kill, or loot.”

Burn, kill, or loot—Bai Yunqi, Bai Yun’an: Second strike.

“And don’t lie or talk nonsense.”

Lie or talk nonsense—Bai Yun’an: Third strike.

Jiang Dai said with great satisfaction, “Then you’re all good children!”

The three big shots were inwardly numb, but on the surface, they all unanimously put on what they believed to be their “well-behaved” expressions.

“Alright, it’s getting late today. Wash up, rinse your mouths, and everyone get to bed early!”

Jiang Dai stood up and glanced toward the gate of the small courtyard, murmuring under her breath, “Our household might be lively for a few more days.”

…

Night fell, and the villagers of Niantao Village had all gone to bed.

Silence blanketed the surroundings. A bird startled by a wild cat flapped its wings and took off, while withered leaves rustled down from the trees.

A shadowy figure crept quietly along the village path and finally stopped at the gate of the Bai Family.

“Tch…”

The man circled the Bai Family’s small courtyard once, then let out a disdainful click of his tongue.

“What kind of treasure could a dump like this possibly have?”

He was small and nimble. With a few quick moves, he easily scaled the low wall and slipped into the courtyard.

Inside, he glanced at the scrawny hens clucking in the corner and twitched his lips in disgust.

Then, with a clear goal in mind, he headed straight for the small, smoke-blackened kitchen.

He lit a candle and began rummaging through the stove area by its dim light.

The employer had said it was something that looked like powder, smelled fragrant, and was clearly no ordinary item at first glance.

The man searched quietly and efficiently, completely unafraid of being discovered.

At this hour, no one would be awake. Everyone would be deep in sleep.

Besides, this household didn’t even have a dog. The only male was a young, skinny guy. The rest were women and four little brats.

If something still went wrong, Wang Maquan might as well eat shit straight from the latrine.

In the side room across from the kitchen, Bai Yun’an, who should have been asleep, opened his eyes without a sound. He removed the noise-canceling earplugs from his ears and tossed them into his spatial storage.

He knew it—spreading his spiritual sense around the courtyard wasn’t a waste of time, no matter how much effort it took to argue with the System about it.

Sure enough, someone had come.

His brother’s snores echoed in his ears, but this time, Bai Yun’an didn’t pay them any mind. Instead, he looked with interest toward the tightly shut door.

Interesting.

Even this poor little house could attract a thief?

Let him guess.

Zhenxiu Restaurant? Shiwei Restaurant? Or maybe that so-called grandmother’s family who came stirring up trouble earlier today?

Bai Yun’an lay in bed for a while, letting the man rummage around. But when the intruder started heading toward his parents’ room—

He rolled out of bed and slipped on his shoes.

He didn’t bother being stealthy. His movements were calm and natural as he walked to the door, opened it boldly, and stepped outside.

Bai Yunxing stirred groggily and glanced over, assuming his little brother had gone out to relieve himself. He didn’t think much of it, rolled over, and went right back to sleep.

If Bai Yun’an had been sneaky just now, Bai Yunxing would’ve snapped awake instantly.

But unfortunately, Bai Yunxing went right back to sleep.

So…

At this moment, no one knew that two figures—one big, one small—were standing in the courtyard.

When Wang Maquan saw Bai Yun’an, he was genuinely startled.

In the dead of night, a little boy had appeared out of nowhere, smiling at him with gleaming white teeth—like one of those creepy paper dolls used in funerals.

It was eerie.

A chill ran down his spine.

Bai Yun’an wore his signature apocalypse-era “stab-you-with-a-smile” expression as he looked up at the thin man who stood half a head taller than him, completely unafraid.

He quietly pulled out… a bumpy, bright green bitter melon.

Wang Maquan: ?

Was this kid stupid?

What kind of weirdo doesn’t scream or run, but instead pulls out some weird green thing?

Still, to avoid the boy making noise and causing unnecessary trouble, Wang Maquan took a few quick steps forward, a rag in hand. His movements were smooth and practiced, aiming to cover Bai Yun’an’s mouth.

Bai Yun’an sighed in exasperation.

Why do people keep making such poor life choices?

Just as the rag was about to cover his mouth, Wang Maquan suddenly convulsed like he’d been electrocuted and collapsed to the ground.

Bai Yun’an blinked and kindly reached out to catch him, preventing the man from crashing down and waking the others.

System: 【I can only lend you your old ability this once.】

Bai Yun’an gave a harmless little chuckle and replied obediently, 【Okay!】

System: …

Wait a minute! Why does it feel like I’ve been tricked again?

There’s definitely something fishy going on!

Wang Maquan also felt that something was very, very wrong.

He stared at the boy in horror.

He never imagined he’d be taken down by a child.

And what the hell had this kid done to him? His entire body was numb and twitching uncontrollably.

Bai Yun’an grabbed one of the man’s legs, gave a hard tug, and dragged him to a corner of the courtyard.

“Who sent you?”

“Zhenxiu Restaurant?” Bai Yun’an was the first to speak, watching Wang Maquan carefully for any reaction.

Then Bai Yun’an smiled.

He’d guessed right after all.

“You’re here for that barbecue seasoning powder, aren’t you?”

Wang Maquan didn’t nod, didn’t shake his head—he simply said nothing, offering no response at all.

But Bai Yun’an understood. This man was sent by Zhenxiu Restaurant.

Now that he was sure, it was time to play.

He squatted down in front of Wang Maquan, a twisted smile spreading across his young face as he pulled out a long, green gourd.

“This is the good stuff…”

“Come on! Eat up!”

Wang Maquan would never forget this day, this night, this strange little boy—and that gourd.

In the pitch-black night, the boy wore a gentle yet eerie smile, holding that bitter green gourd in his hand as he squeezed juice into Wang Maquan’s mouth, forcing him to chew, to swallow.

Then, Wang Maquan passed out.

Bai Yun’an stood up, staring coldly at the unconscious man before him. In his hand was a kitchen knife.

In the apocalypse, the first rule is: leave no loose ends.

“Third Brother…”

A soft, childish voice called out, still hoarse from sleep.

It made the knife in Bai Yun’an’s hand pause mid-air.

In the dim night, within the Bai family’s shabby little courtyard, a four-year-old girl stood at the doorway. She rubbed her eyes with a tiny hand, her round eyes barely open, still heavy with sleep.

She blinked drowsily at her third brother not far away.

Bai Yun’an silently tossed the knife aside, then tipped over a nearby bamboo basket and covered Wang Maquan’s head with it.

After that, he slowly walked toward his little sister, his voice gentle as he asked the groggy girl, “Juanjuan, what’s wrong?”

In his mind, he was thinking: 【She still looks half-asleep. Shouldn’t be too hard to fool her.】

Juanjuan curiously glanced toward the spot where Bai Yun’an had just been.

He kept his smile, subtly shifting his body to block her view.

“Third Brother, what were you doing…”

Her voice was still thick with sleep, the words slurred and soft.

Bai Yun’an replied, “Feeding a kitten some water.”

Cats liked to climb walls at night. That guy had climbed a wall at night too.

And water… well, bitter melon juice was technically water. No problem there!

Juanjuan perked up. A cat? Then she wanted to see it.

She lifted her foot and started walking toward where Bai Yun’an had just been.

Bai Yun’an: ?!

He quickly reached out and scooped her back into his arms. “It ran off! The kitten ran off!”

“Huh?” Juanjuan yawned. “Really?”

“Really really! It ran off!”

Bai Yun’an brushed it off and quickly changed the subject. “Juanjuan, what are you doing out here? It’s so cold.”

Juanjuan: ?

Her mind was still foggy. She stared blankly at her third brother, her whole body radiating confusion.

Right! What was she doing out here this late?

Bai Yun’an: ?

【Why are you looking at me like that? I don’t know why you came out either!】

【Are all little kids this random?】

She’d been sleeping, and then some noise had insisted on dragging her awake. It was annoying, and the next thing she knew, she was outside.

Bai Yun’an’s mouth twitched. He quickly coaxed her back inside. “Come on, back to bed. It’s cold out here. You’ll catch a chill.”

Even though summer was near, the nights were still chilly.

Juanjuan, still half-asleep, was led back to bed by her third brother.

When Bai Yun’an came back out to clean up the mess, he saw a figure standing at the door of the side room.

That figure had the exact same face as the one he was wearing now.

Bai Yun’an: !

He still wasn’t used to the fact that this body came with a twin.

Bai Yunxing stood at the doorway, staring at his clearly startled twin brother.

“What were you doing?” he asked.

Bai Yun’an: …

Seriously? Why was everyone up in the middle of the night?

“I came out to pee! What, you think I came out to eat children?”

Bai Yun’an rolled his eyes and strode back into the house.

Off came the shoes, up onto the kang bed, blanket pulled over his head, earplugs from his spatial storage stuffed in, and finally, he gave their snoring eldest brother a good kick before settling in to sleep.

The kicked Bai Yunqi immediately stopped snoring, smacked his lips, rolled over, and went right back to sleep.

Completely unfazed.

Maybe it was a side effect of being halfway through his Marrow Cleansing and Meridian Washing—Bai Yunqi slept like the dead at night, but woke up full of energy the next day.

Outside, Bai Yunxing frowned slightly, but after glancing around and seeing nothing out of the ordinary, he turned and went back inside. He reached out and poked his brother, who was curled up like a little ball.

“Are you sure there wasn’t anything strange outside?”

And then…

No response.

It seemed his brother had already fallen asleep. Bai Yunxing didn’t press further and quietly went to sleep himself.

Meanwhile, Bai Yun’an, ignoring his twin brother, was thinking to himself.

He hadn’t used much voltage, so the guy should wake up soon and climb back over the wall.

Good thing he hadn’t gone through with gouging out the man’s eyes.

Otherwise, the smell of blood would’ve been a real problem.

But…

That person had seen his true nature—raw and unfiltered. If he went back and reported it to the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, it might alert them and prompt a change in tactics to target his family in a different way.

All of it was just more trouble.

Bai Yun’an summoned his System: 【Lend me some of my abilities right now, or I’ll take my whole family and die together. Let’s see how your mission survives that!】

But after going through all the trouble to contact Juanjuan and wake the child in time to stop Bai Yun’an, the System had already entered temporary hibernation.

It was all for nothing.

…

The weather was clear, not a cloud in sight.

Juanjuan hadn’t slept well. She kept feeling like someone was calling her, so she simply got up before dawn.

“Juanjuan, sleep a little longer, will you…”

Jiang Dai rolled over and wrapped her arms around the little one, burying her face in Juanjuan’s small shoulder and mumbling, “Kids need more sleep, or they won’t grow properly…”

“I can’t sleep anymore. I’ll sleep more tomorrow, okay?”

Juanjuan coaxed her mother softly.

It seemed… just a year ago, she too loved to sleep in, always wanting to stay in bed. But if she didn’t get up, she’d get scolded.

After a year of being forced to rise early, it had become a habit. Changing it now wasn’t so easy.

Juanjuan carefully got dressed, trying not to wake her parents, then crawled out from between them and slipped on her shoes with practiced ease.

She glanced at her father, who had once again kicked off the corner of the blanket.

The little girl reached out with both hands, lifted the blanket, stood on tiptoe to tuck the corner back onto the bed, and even pressed it down firmly to make sure it stayed.

Only then did she open the door and step outside.

Standing at the doorway, Juanjuan felt the cool morning breeze brush against her face. She took a deep breath, trying to clear her sleepy little head.

And then she saw her second brother coming out of the side room.

“Second Brother.”

The child greeted Bai Yunxing politely.

Bai Yunxing looked at her. “Up this early today?”

The past few days, she usually didn’t wake until after he’d already run ten laps around the courtyard.

But today, before the sky had even fully brightened, she was already up.

“Mm, couldn’t sleep… so I gave up.”

As she spoke, Juanjuan let out a yawn. Her usually crisp voice was now soft and drowsy.

Bai Yunxing chuckled, unable to stop himself from thinking of his cousin who always clung to the bed in the mornings.

【Forget it, no need to mention Xiao Shisan. I remember I used to love sleeping in too when I was little.】

Juanjuan, surprised to learn her second brother also used to be a late sleeper: !

“Second Brother, are you going to practice your forms?”

She asked out of habit.

Juanjuan was still willing to be close to her second brother.

Maybe…

Maybe it was because Bai Yunxing was a general.

A child might not understand what cultivation was, or what an apocalypse or the modern world meant—but she knew what a Great General was!

A Great General was someone amazing. It was what Dachui Brother wanted to become when he grew up.

And these past few days, the first thing she did every morning after waking up was practice martial forms with her brother.

Then they’d cook together. Honestly, with Second Brother helping, cooking went so much faster.

Bai Yunxing shook his head. “Second Brother’s going for a run first. Juanjuan—”

“I can do it!”

He hadn’t even finished speaking when Juanjuan cut in, as if she already knew what he was about to say.

Afraid he might leave her behind!