45. Return of Destiny
Someone knocked on the door outside the conference room. Toyokawa Sadaharu extinguished his cigar and went to open it.
To his surprise, standing outside was a girl dressed in a black suit paired with slim-fit trousers. She wore her hair in a high ponytail and sported non-prescription glasses. At first glance, she looked like an efficient female white-collar worker from some corporate office, whose primary business should be securing investments.
Had she not known she was inside the Niijima Heavy Industries building, Shoko might have truly thought so.
She never expected to see such an entirely unremarkable female character among the yakuza.
"Ogawa, your eyes can handle bright light now." An indifferent voice came from outside, and a figure pushed the door open.
A sudden wave of panic washed over her inside. *What is this? I've slipped up again.* She cast a look of SOS toward Fan Ao.
Fano smiled. In the past, she had been terrified of talking to men because she never knew what to say, but once she grew familiar with them, she discovered the beauty of communication. Fano had never been like this—never just walking away on a whim. Qiong Ling had effortlessly guided her past everyone's sight, landing them on the roof of a tall building.
Clearly, he knew far more than anyone present. If there was any way to contend for this Sage's inheritance, Jin Shisan was the only one who understood it best.
Old Xu only possessed the cultivation of the Body Tempering stage and might fall short when it came to teaching, but having persevered in running the Anzhi Orphanage for over twenty years, he was quite confident in managing routine affairs.
Even Popovic and Borrego joined in the discussion, though the most talked about subject throughout the entire room was Leonard's smile—considering he usually kept a completely expressionless face.
Drop by drop, blood fell into the dark red jade bowl, making its color even more lustrous and translucent. Though it was merely a bowl, it radiated a bewitching allure.
Seeing Yun Hua's expression, Qingyue knew that she was aware of the inner story. Thus, she did not press further, waiting for her aunt to speak of her own accord.
This time, seeing that her Ruan instrument was broken—though he understood nothing about Ruan instruments at all—he forced out the words: "I can fix it."
Did she know that once she appeared in this place, under the watchful eyes of the public, tainted by the shadows of the Dark Sect, the immaculate reputation of the aloof and reclusive Flower Shadow Swordsman would be ruined?
The internet was still buzzing with news about Jingchen. Major official accounts had also begun pushing stories about the Yu family's grandson, even digging into the family history of the Yu family.
This was a desolate and uninhabited wilderness of great mountains, frequented by various wild beasts all year round. Yet no one knew that right on the edge of a sloping valley on the hillside lay an inconspicuous plot of land.
Under her encouragement, Aunt Li's emotions remained quite stable, and on the surface, she pretended nothing was amiss, working together with her to prepare a table of delicious food for the family.
Seeing such a swarm of townspeople appear, Xia Jiujiang's already angry face grew even gloomier.
Deathly silence hung over the unfinished building, broken only by occasional shouts that seemed exceptionally abrupt in the quiet structure.
When Tian Tian walked back, she was carrying things in both hands. Truly, she came with her hands full and returned with them just as full. When she arrived, she carried pastries, drinks, and various odds and ends. Now, as she prepared to leave, one of her hands held ice cubes and some melons, while the other held a rabbit and half a duck. She had originally wanted to refuse.
Zhang Xueqing wore a troubled frown. The moment she thought of the oppressive aura Sanyue Yu gave her that day, she didn't dare face her.
Dongfang Yinbei clearly believed he had been tricked by the old-fashioned methods of Elder Wenren. The technique was his own tactile skill, yet he had deliberately handed it over to Wenren Xin.
The water spirit stones swallowed by Li Jiangye these past few days were merely the tip of the iceberg of this entire water spirit stone mine.
"That's how it is. I want to take it step by step, picking up some slightly more lucrative roles, but the most important thing is to accompany Tutu." Such an adorable child.
We are all your students, and we even knew each other much earlier—has the differential treatment really reached this extent?
That was the accessory most familiar to him, precisely the official support merchandise released for him by SIS—a transparent crystal charm.
Recent experiments, the problems encountered, how some material miraculously reacted with another completely unrelated material, a certain senior sister's recent wedding, and so on and so forth.