1437: Quite Familiar

Quite Familiar

Han Sen saw a big hole in the side of his house, and an old man anxiously pushing Bao'er's head into a suitcase.1

Bao'er herself was holding onto Littleflower, whose face was flushed the color red as if he'd been bleeding.

"What... are... you... doing?" Han Sen looked at the man with such anger, he hissed the words through clenched teeth. He swiftly looked like a demon that had emerged from the fiery pits of hell.

Tang Rubei stayed where he was, but turned to look at Han Sen. He jumped up and said, "Please, don't! Let me explain. This isn't how it looks!"

"Dad, he is a thief! He wants to take Littleflower away," Bao'er proclaimed loudly.

"You can explain in hell!" Han Sen's power erupted like a volcano, as he leaped forward to deliver the man a flurry of punches.

Katcha! Katcha! Argh!

Tang Rubei was suspended in mid-air, as a geyser of punches sprayed him from above and below like heavy rain.

Tang Rubei's bones were all broken, and his face had been deformed beyond recognition. When Han Sen delivered his next punch to send him flying, he spiraled through the air with a twisted body. He'd have been killed within a second if Han Sen hadn't wanted to keep him alive.

Tang Rubei's bones were all dislocated. He wished he could commit suicide rather than endure that pain, and he couldn't even speak. All he could emit were a few painful tears from his eyes.

Han Sen picked up Bao'er and Littleflower and realized it wasn't blood that was on his son's face; it was crudely smudged lipstick.

Han Sen didn't think the thief would be able to shove Bao'er into the suitcase, so he asked, "What's going on?"

Bao'er looked at her father with innocence and said, "I wanted to make my brother look pretty, but I have no makeup of my own."

Han Sen did not want to punish Bao'er, so he stroked her head and said, "Are you hurt?"

"Neither of us are hurt. I have been protecting him!" Bao'er spoke with a streak of pride.

Han Sen patted Bao'er on the head and called Ji Yanran and his father-in-law. Ji Ruozhen was furious beyond measure, and he sent for someone to come and arrest their would-be kidnapper.

Han Sen was unable to interrogate the man himself, but Ji Ruozhen had people who could do it for them.

Two days later, Tang Rubei's background had all been dug up.

Unfortunately, Tang Rubei did not know who the client was himself. The bargain was negotiated and struck through an interstellar pirate organization. The pirates were situated in an area that existed between the shura's bubble of space and the human's bubble of space.

Whenever they were chased by humans, they could escape by fleeing to the shura-governed territories. Whenever they were chased by the shura, they could escape by fleeing to the human-governed territories.

Tang Rubei and the client had made their deal by using the pirate organization as the middle-man. They hadn't interacted with each other directly.

Ji Ruozhen was so angry, he made a deal with the shura to send an enclave of ships to shake out the pirates' base of operations. The pirates were caught, but not even they knew who the client was.

"Who would want to kidnap my son? They obviously want to take him for their own ends and not kill him. But why? Maybe it's not that they want Littleflower, but by holding him hostage, they could use him to threaten me. If they only wanted Littleflower, then the likeliest candidates for such a conspiracy would be Luo Haitang and perhaps Blood Legion. But truthfully, I have many enemies. The list of people who might want to threaten me is far too long." Han Sen was in deep thought.

Whatever the case may be, he wight reminded that he had a son who needed much protection.

No one could kidnap Littleflower in the Alliance; otherwise, they wouldn't have asked Tang Rubei. The best way to ensure his safety was to keep Bao'er with him at all times. With Bao'er there, not even a demi-god could kidnap Littleflower.

But there would come a time when Han Sen would need to bring Bao'er to the sanctuary. For those times, he'd call on Zero to look after Littleflower in her stead.

Zero hadn't left the Third God's Sanctuary yet, though. If she did, she'd end up spawning in the Fourth God's Sanctuary alongside Han Sen next time she returned.

With Luo Lan gone for the time being, though, Han Sen had to ask for Zero to come back.

When Ji Yanran finally returned, she complimented and praised Bao'er, and made sure to buy her many gifts.

"I need another thief. That one earned me a lot of ice cream, and he even did my homework for me. And now I'm getting showered in praise and snacks," Bao'er thought to herself, as she scoffed down the food she was given.

Han Sen then brought Bao'er with him back to the sanctuary. He convinced Ling Mei'er to escort Bao'er to see the vine.

"Bao'er, let's see if you have a connection to this thing." Han Sen pointed at the vines they had come to.

Bao'er looked to be in shock when she saw it. She looked at the Holy Vine intensely, and she reached out to touch it.

"Don't touch it! It's dangerous," Ling Mei'er screeched, looking shocked.

But it was too late; Bao'er's hands had already touched the vine. But after she did, nothing extra transpired.

Han Sen felt safe, despite Ling Mei'er's continued expression of surprise. "How is this happening? Only those of us in the Underworld should be able to touch it. If others do, it can dry up and wither their bodies."

"Maybe she's special," Han Sen said.

Bao'er jumped back and returned to Han Sen, and then she turned to stare in the direction of Dark Spirit Shelter.

"Dad, I want to take a look over there. It looks quite familiar, and it may be related to who I am," Bao'er said with seriousness.

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