National Guardian's Gone and We're Done

"What are we going to do, then?

Could this be a new plot, carefully crafted just for our family?"

Zheng Bolan’s brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with anxiety. His voice trembled slightly as he asked the question.

"Don’t worry. When your parents get back, we might be able to unravel some of these mysteries."

Chu He reassured him, his expression calm and his gaze steady.

In truth, a great question swirled in the depths of his mind, a fog that refused to clear.

If he couldn’t get a clear answer to this question,

Chu He wouldn’t be able to determine whether this bizarre land development plan

was secretly connected to his own mission in the White-Red Empire.

「A little over an hour later,」

the roar of a car engine sounded from outside the villa,

like a roaring beast drawing near.

Zheng Bolan and Zheng Xuezhen were instantly on alert. They scrambled to their feet and rushed toward the door.

Sure enough, a gleaming van pulled to a slow stop.

The door opened, and a middle-aged couple stepped out.

"Son, are you alright? Where did all this blood come from? What happened?"

The moment they got out of the car, the couple rushed over to Zheng Bolan, their faces etched with anxiety.

One of them grabbed his arm,

while the other immediately lifted his shirt, their eyes wide with terror and concern.

"Mom, Dad, I’m fine. You don’t have to worry.

None of this blood is mine."

Zheng Bolan stammered out a flimsy, illogical lie in an attempt to bluff his way through.

Watching from the side, Xuezhen muttered resentfully, "I told you. You should have showered and changed the moment you got home."

Zheng Bolan shook his head helplessly, led his parents into the villa, and gently closed the door behind them.

When their eyes fell on Chu He, Xia Chengli, and Yumizakura inside,

the couple was visibly taken aback, their faces showing clear surprise,

as the three were complete strangers to them.

"Are these new friends you’ve made?"

After confirming his son was unharmed, the man’s taut nerves relaxed slightly, and he spoke.

"Sort of."

Zheng Bolan scratched his head, unsure how to explain their complex and delicate relationship.

He decided to be vague and gestured for everyone to sit down.

"Father," he said, "those guys outside are all undercover agents with ulterior motives.

They aren’t really here to protect us.

I did actually go out today, but I was attacked.

Someone stabbed me with a sharp dagger,

but they weren’t trying to kill me. It was a warning,

to tell you to give up the land development plan for that county."

After some thought, he decided to tell the truth. Otherwise, his parents might not grasp the gravity of the situation.

"What? That really happened? Then... how is your wound healed?"

Upon hearing this, the couple, who had just begun to relax, went rigid as if they’d been electrocuted.

They shot up from the sofa.

They had just meticulously inspected the blood-stained part of his body.

The skin there was smooth and unscathed, without any trace of a wound.

It certainly didn’t look like the gruesome aftermath of a dagger wound he described.

After all, being stabbed with a dagger isn’t as simple as a mosquito bite.

Even a mosquito bite leaves a mark, to say nothing of such a serious knife wound.

"And that brings me to the crucial part."

Zheng Bolan straightened up, and his gaze fell on Chu He, who was sitting there calmly,

leisurely sipping his juice. "Mr. Chu, these are my parents who gave me life and raised me: Ms. Xiang Xiufang and Mr. Zheng Qifeng.

Father, Mother, this is Mr. Chu, an extraordinary man from the Great Xia Empire.

I happened to meet him today on the bustling streets of Chiyoda City.

I was curious, so I went up and struck up a conversation.

After just a few words, I could already tell there was something different about him.

If Mr. Chu hadn’t stepped in to help at the critical moment, like one of the Celestial Gods descending from the heavens,

right as that cold, gleaming dagger plunged deep into my body,

I’m afraid I would have been lingering at death’s door. And even if I’d been lucky enough to survive,

I would have faced a long and painful recovery in a hospital room reeking of disinfectant,

confined to a bed and dependent on needles and medicine."

As he said this, a guilty look appeared in Zheng Bolan’s eyes.

After all, he’d actually met Chu He because he’d seen a beautiful woman and was so captivated he couldn’t walk away, so he’d gone over to hit on her.

"The moment I stepped through the door, the expression on the security chief’s face, Saito Sonosuke’s, twisted instantly.

He was utterly shocked, wave after wave of it in his eyes. He must have been wondering

how I could have suffered such a grievous injury and still come strolling back with my head held high, as if nothing had happened.

Father, Mother, when you went to the construction site,

you repeatedly instructed these security personnel,

to keep me confined to this villa as if I were a priceless treasure, without a moment’s negligence.

But when my sister and I went out, we encountered no obstacles. It was suspiciously easy.

At the time, my sister and I were secretly proud of ourselves, thinking we were clever and nimble

for being able to cleverly evade the tight surveillance of the security team.