Chapter 1436: Tang Rubei
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
His heart sank even lower when he realized there were some questions not even he was able to answer.
He had studied many of these subjects many long decades ago, but by now, he had forgotten everything. He had no clue on how to come up with the solutions for the more complicated questions.
"This is horrible! How can they allow a kid to trudge through something so hard and brain-melting? This is sure to ruin their childhood! Whoever created this textbook should be executed," Tang Rubei angrily proclaimed.
Bao'er tried to comfort him in his distress, saying, "You are right. You should execute my father. But you still need to do this."
"Why don't we take a break and go get some ice cream? If something occurs, I'll get your back and cover for you." Tang Rubei patted his chest.
Bao'er shook her head and said, "No, we have to do it now. If I don't finish this before he gets back, he'll destroy me with his belt again!"
After that, Bao'er's eyes began to well up with tears.
"What an animal! How can such a young kid be subject to such horrible treatment? I should really go to see Child Services and take him to court." Tang Rubei felt genuinely angry, seeing how frightened and fearful Bao'er was becoming at the thought of her father.
Bao'er looked like a nice and cute child. To think of her getting her hide whipped by a belt would make anyone mad.
When Tang Rubei learned the art of theft, his master often brought out his whip if he failed to conduct his practices with the precision expected. He knew exactly how Bao'er felt, and he could empathize with her.
"Don't worry. I will complete these exercises for you. I won't allow you to get hit anymore." Tang Rubei had no choice but to complete her homework for her. He couldn't leave and let her be subject to that—not now.
Tang Rubei turned on his computer and allowed the PC to complete what he was unable to do. It took the machine an hour to finish it all.
"Good Man Uncle! You are smart. You can do anything!" Bao'er looked at him in profound admiration. He had completed the entire week's worth of homework her parents had given her to do.
Tang Rubei felt cocky and proud of himself, too. And in this arrogance, he said, "Oh, it was nothing. I've dealt with worse. We should go and get that ice cream now, shouldn't we? If we don't get going soon, all the shops will close."
Tang Rubei reached over to Littleflower then, prompting Bao'er to yell, "Good Uncle! Don't touch him."
"Why? What is it?" Tang Rubei was dealt a heart-stopping shock, thinking she might have discovered he was in fact a bad man. But still, he played it cool.
Bao'er came clean, honestly telling him, "Good Uncle, my parents are afraid someone will try and steal my brother. So, they had a machine planted on him. If someone unfamiliar touches my brother, it will trigger an alarm. If my parents and grandparents learn it was me who allowed a stranger to come in and take my brother, I'd be so screwed. They'd kill me for merely letting you in!"
Tang Rubei breathed a sigh of relief, knowing his cover had not been blown. "I knew a super aristocrat and the son-in-law of the president wouldn't really employ such cheap and crappy security. But I've never heard of this before. Was this device placed inside the child?"
If Tang Rubei was unable to steal the baby, how was he going to accomplish his mission?
While he wracked his mind for an idea of what to do, Bao'er ran off into her room. She came back out holding a remote, which she promptly handed over to him. Then, she said, "Good Uncle! I know you are a good man, so you will need to push that button to disable the security and its alarm for a brief period of time."
Tang Rubei accepted the remote and felt rather touched by the help he had been given, and he said, "Bao'er, you are so nice. I will buy you ten... no, twenty ice cream bars!"
"Thanks! And yes, you have to aim it at his face." Bao'er looked very excited.
"The device was injected into his brain?" Tang Rubei used the remote on Littleflower, and a light flashed across his face.
Littleflower was looking at Tang Rubei the entire time, but the light gave him quite the unexpected shock. Littleflower's mouth turned crooked, and tears began to drown his eyes. He was on the precipice of crying up a storm.
"You need to comfort him, quick! If you don't, my parents will beat me." Bao'er hurried Tang Rubei into action.
Tang Rubei was also worried the crying would draw attention to him, so he swiftly picked up Littleflower.
Tang Rubei held Littleflower, but now that he was being hugged by a stranger, that was when the real waterworks turned on.
"Don't cry! Ah!" Just as Tang Rubei was about to comfort the baby, a strange force came out of Littleflower. He was blown away, and the entire room they were standing in was destroyed. He was sent flying outside into the pond.
Fortunately, Tang Rubei was a surpasser. His body was tough enough that the blast did not outright kill him then and there.
Tang Rubei dragged himself out of the pond and walked back into the house dripping wet. He looked at the children with a fire in his eyes.
Bao'er was holding Littleflower who had, by now, stopped crying.
"I'm sorry! I forgot to tell you he has an intruder-explosive device, too. But don't worry, I've turned it off now. Let's go!" Bao'er said, looking at him.
Tang Rubei grew suspicious of Bao'er, then. He stood there soaking wet, his hair black and smoldering. He was seemed to be in a horrible state. He'd look like a dubious individual if he brought the children out onto the streets now.
"Good Uncle! If people see us on the streets, they will tell my parents. And then, they'll hit me again. Use this!" Bao'er pulled out a big suitcase-on-wheels and climbed into it with Littleflower.
Tang Rubei's suspicions died down a little, after that. All he wanted to do next was close the suitcase and get out of there.
But with Bao'er in there, the suitcase wouldn't close. He tried to push her head down, to make her fit.
And then suddenly, Han Sen walked in.
Chapter 1437: Quite Familiar
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
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.
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.