Chapter 358: They're Here!
After Gu Xiqiao had led the team of people to drop the bomb, she returned to Nine Heavens. Feng Jiu was still in the same spot that she had left him.
When he first saw Gu Xiqiao appear on the screen, he had been in a daze. She had been sitting right opposite him just a second ago, how did she appear on screen the next moment?
Especially after hearing her words, and the first time he was seeing the Peace Squad.
Feng Jiu had still yet to collect himself. He opened his mouth when he saw Gu Xiqiao, who had come back god-knows-when, but no words were forthcoming. He could only feel his hands, and even his feet were shaking.
"Mr. Feng Jiu, regarding the matter that I just said, I'll get the great elder to contact you later. Hmm, I heard that you have a good relationship with the second elder, I'll get him to contact you instead then." Gu Xiqiao patted Jiji on its head.
Jiji immediately shoved the computer in its hand back into its storage, standing up to look at Gu Xiqiao. "Are we going back now, Beauty Gu?"
"Wait a bit more, I have to go to the web department first." Gu Xiqiao said, touching her chin thoughtfully.
This sentence made Yu Ning, who had been sitting down quietly, jump up to his feet. "Boss Gu, let's head there without delay then."
"Wait, Miss Gu!" Seeing that Gu Xiqiao was about to leave, Feng Jiu finally snapped out of his dazed state. He stood up, turning to face her. "The plan that you mentioned about bringing the entire nations to arms, how are we supposed to do it?"
Also, how did she know that he was more familiar with the second elder?
Hearing those words, Gu Xiqiao raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue.
"These monsters have appeared in various places recently, N City, S City, even the capital. You're saying those monsters..." Feng Jiu was more concerned about the population's safety right now.
"Ten days. Within ten days, you only need to be concerned about using various methods to improve your physical fitness or strength. For these ten days, you don't have to worry about anything else." Gu Xiqiao shoved her hands in her pocket, flashing him a small smile.
Her tone was calm and unhurried. She always had the ability to soothe people when needed.
That was exactly what Feng Jiu wanted from her. Although her reassurance sounded a little absurd, there was a sense of inexplicable trust towards her, and he thanked her for it.
Seeing that he didn't have any further questions, Gu Xiqiao turned around and left.
After she left, Feng Jiu finally managed to fully gather himself. Taking a deep breath, he noticed that Mu Zong was still in the room, flipping through some documents and seated at the other side of the room. He couldn't help but be astonished. "Mr. Mu, aren't you surprised in the slightest?"
"Surprised?" Mu Zong raised his head, then he thought Feng Jiu was probably referring to the incident that had just happened, and he smiled. "I am indeed very surprised, but I've already recovered from it."
"That quickly?" Feng Jiu's eyes widened drastically. He often dealt with the ancient martial arts world, and even that didn't help him in recovering so quickly, and this ordinary person had managed to recover so quickly?
"This matter," Mu Zong started calmly. "It's very insignificant compared to what happened in the States. It was her decision after that surprised me a little."
Feng Jiu: "..." Just what kind of people were following her at her side?
Mu Zong kept away the documents he had been looking at, and heard Feng Jiu's phone ringing at this time. He couldn't help the smile that spread on his face. "Mr. Feng Jiu, your phone is ringing. If you have any need, you may call on the secretary at any time."
Feng Jiu nodded his head towards him, then picked up his phone to answer the call. It was the second elder.
"So Feng Jiu, how do you feel?" Before Feng Jiu could say anything, the second elder's voice came through.
"I still feel like I'm in some sort of bizarre dream." Feng Jiu replied blankly. He felt as though his head was still in the clouds, like he was drunk and couldn't gather himself properly.
The second elder was joyful when he heard that. "That's right, that's how you should be feeling. I told you a long time ago that her methods were aggressive, now do you believe me?"
Believe? Believe was just too mild a word to describe it?! Feng Jiu wiped the cold sweat that had broken out just now, he was scared to the point that he nearly peed himself, okay? His heart felt a little guilt when he thought about this. "When Miss Gu so easily announced the news to the masses, I was almost scared to death. I didn't know how the public would take it, and I was afraid that the entire nation would be in chaos after that."
It was a live broadcast after all, and all the channels were locked into it. Unlike Jiji, Feng Jiu couldn't observe everybody's reaction to the happenings on it.
"You don't have to worry about that," The second elder was still overly cheerful as he said that. "Our Miss Gu has always had her hands of brainwashing, you can look it up on the internet later. Now there's something else I need to discuss and brainstorm with you, it's regarding the things that Miss Gu has sent me to follow-up. Come on to the ancient martial arts world later and let's discuss it then."
Having said that, the second elder hung up the call.
Feng Jiu thought about what he had always been worried about, then searched through the internet after the call had ended. Sure enough, all the hot topics were about what had just transpired. He scrolled through the topics to look at the comments, which were the reactions of the netizens.
Some couldn't believe it, some were positive, some were more enthusiastic than some... there was not a single hint of panic anywhere he looked.
After the last time, Feng Jiu was once again experiencing Gu Xiqiao's magical brainwashing abilities. He really wanted to kneel down in worship to her at this very moment!
He continued walking in a dazed state, and he kept seeing the employees of Nine Heavens, who all maintained their positive attitudes and usual demeanor as he passed them. Looking at the tranquil expression on their faces, he was really tempted to just pull someone aside and ask, Miss Gu has just announced the end of the world, and even broadcasted that bloodied scene just now, didn't you see any of that? How are you all so bloody calm?!
There were also comments online about how they were training hard, and money was nothing worth worrying about now. Why weren't any of you reacting at all?
Feng Jiu dragged his hand down his face, silently pondering all these thoughts in his head.
When Feng Jiu reached the outside of the building, he saw one of the guards outside Nine Heavens, easily moving a car that wasn't parked in the box into one, and his face was just: （⊙o⊙）!
None of the people at Miss Gu's side were ordinary at all!
He really was going out of his mind, Nine Heavens was also something that belonged to Miss Gu, and she could even call the entire nation to arms, how could she have any ordinary person under her?
But, what should he do if he was feeling so extremely jealous about this?
***
Gu Xiqiao naturally didn't know what Feng Jiu was thinking, while Jiji pulled out the computer from its chest, finding Feng Jiu's face in the surveillance camera and snickered. "Beauty Qiao, you should look at Feng Jiu's expression. He looks like there's nothing to live for, and even doubting life as a whole right now."
She didn't say anything in response to that, but the young IT guy next to her spoke up. "Jiji, it's not good to discriminate against people like that."
"Come to think of it, why doesn't it seem like you guys are surprised in the slightest?" Jiji raised its head, looking at the people in the web department. All of them had calm looks on their faces, like nothing unusual had happened.
"What's there to be surprised about? It's Miss Gu!" The young man raised his chin proudly, as though anything Gu Xiqiao did, it was only natural to be of this effect.
Jiji: "..." Why did she have so many braindead, die-hard fans?
"OK!" Gu Xiqiao finished inserting a string of commands, then pressed the 'Enter' key. Rows of numbers appeared on the screen once she did that.
"What's that?" Seeing that she was done, the eyes of everyone around her now focused entirely on her and the screen.
Yu Ning had been watching her work the entire time. None of the others knew the string of commands that she had inserted, as well as the data that she had tampered with, but he did. He had done things of the same manner a lot back in his days too after all. When someone asked that, he casually answered, "Oh, Miss Gu has hacked into the satellite that's monitoring the earth. I'm guessing that the surveillance of everything happening in the entire world is now in our control."
As soon as he said this, everyone fell into an amazed silence.
"If it wasn't for you being too lazy to do this, I wouldn't have to waste my time here either," Gu Xiqiao said, looking at Yu Ning tempted to smash his face with the keyboard.
Yu Ning wasn't fazed at all. "I've done so many similar things before in the past, there's no sense of accomplishment in doing it now. Also, your hacking is way faster than mine. You only needed twenty minutes, I'd need at least an hour. If I had the time, I might as well be studying the Star Network instead."
Those who were recruited into the web department of Nine Heavens were all top hackers or excellent talents in the computer field. But even so, they felt like they had been given a tight slap in their faces and wanted to puke blood by both Yu Ning and Gu Xiqiao with the conversation that they just had in front of them.
That was the global satellite surveillance that they were talking about. Every country's defense forces had incredibly strong firewalls, and the two were just bantering about how not challenging it was, hacking through that. Was that really something to casually throw out like this?
Weren't the two afraid they would be beaten up by the others who were here?
"But why did you do this anyway?" Yu Ning glanced at her. "Do you want to do a live weather forecast?"
Gu Xiqiao turned to the computer screen, then looked at the time at the bottom right of it. "No, I initially wanted to assign people to observe the appearance of those undead monsters, but it's too troublesome to do that. By hacking directly into the global satellite, we can just monitor all the places. When there are any changes, the ancient martial arts world will know, and we'll not be in a passive position at this rate."
"... F*ck." After hearing her reasoning, Yu Ning was only able to utter this single word as his response after a long while.
"Alright, continue researching on the Star Network, I'm heading back to the ancient martial arts world first." Gu Xiqiao stood up, clapping her hands together. "As for the matter of surveillance, just feed it to the supervisory room in the ancient martial arts world later."
Yu Ning nodded his head, then turned to Jiji. His eyes lit up when he saw the robot. "Can you lend me Jiji?"
"Ask it, not me." Gu Xiqiao was indifferent either way.
Jiji immediately grabbed the corner of Gu Xiqiao's clothes, a grave expression on its face. "Master Jiang isn't around, Xixi isn't around, I need to protect Beauty Qiao with all my might!"
Yu Ning: "..." What use are you?
Jiji glanced at Yu Ning, then stretched out its hand. "The might of Balala~"
Pop!
A basin of water appeared above Yu Ning's head suddenly.
It was in the middle of a cold winter right now, and though they were indoors, Yu Ning was still soaked to the bones by the water.
Gu Xiqiao chuckled lightly as she watched the entire thing happen.
Jiji followed behind Gu Xiqiao, shooting a triumph look towards Yu Ning. "Hah!" That'll teach you to look down on me!
After Gu Xiqiao and Jiji left, only did everyone else from the web department started laughing, starting with a 'pft' that got the entire room roaring with laughter. Yu Ning wiped his face, taking out his phone stiffly from his pocket. Fortunately, the phone had been saved from getting a shower. He sent a message—[Say, I'll be coming to Peace Manor tomorrow.]
The reply to it came quickly—[To act cute?]
There was no winning anything at all! Yu Ning shoved his phone away.
***
To save time, Gu Xiqiao didn't bother bringing out her little pink car, but had Jiji teleport them to the coordinates in the ancient martial arts world instead.
As soon as they appeared on the edge of the ancient martial arts world, they saw Tengen sitting on a stone nearby.
"Mas... Miss Gu, wait a minute!" Tengen had been waiting here for Gu Xiqiao for some time now. As it wasn't easy to catch her, and seeing that she was about to leave again, he couldn't help but call out to her excitedly. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself, recalling that she didn't like him calling her 'master'.
"Mr. Tengen, is something the matter?" Gu Xiqiao asked as she checked her phone, before turning around to face Tengen.
Tengen nodded his head. "There is something, and it's very important."
Gu Xiqiao twirled the phone in her hand, her face calm. "Tell me then."
"It's regarding Mr. Jiang," Tengen said, fixing his eyes on her face.
Gu Xiqiao's lazy, casual expression changed immediately when the name was uttered. She straightened up, her eyes sharpening. "What happened?"
This was the first time Tengen was seeing Gu Xiqiao like this. He had in fact been watching the live broadcast just now, but she had been calm and relaxed at that time, though she had been facing the entire nation, her composure had not broken once.
He didn't expect her entire person to change the moment he mentioned the name, as though she had turned into a different person altogether.
"Delxun Forest, Mr. Jiang has yet to complete his inheritance. The only way for him to recover from his memory loss is to return and complete the other half of his inheritance." Tengen's expression became serious as he spoke. "He was in the middle of the process, and he shouldn't be able to come out at will. However, it's unsure why he decided to forcefully break out, and this impacted his body directly. If he doesn't go back, I don't know what will happen in the future."
"Inheritance?" Gu Xiqiao narrowed her eyes. "Does this inheritance have a large impact on him? Or, who's inheritance is this?"
"It's not a great impact." Tengen signed. Then, not knowing what he had thought of, his voice tightened when he next spoke, "It's originally a power that he had sealed there in the beginning. But when I tried to talk to him before this, he refused to see me."
Tengen couldn't help but sigh again when he said this.
It was a power that he himself had sealed away? Gu Xiqiao wanted to ask something else, but she suddenly felt her heart beating violently in her chest.
"Alright, I understand." Gu Xiqiao nodded. "Is there anything else?"
"No, that's all." Tengen knew that Gu Xiqiao must be having a lot on her plate right now, and so he didn't disturb her any further, respectfully letting her leave.
Gu Xiqiao headed towards Peace Manor directly after that.
She left, but Jiji didn't, looking at Tengen thoughtfully. "Why do I feel that your aura is so familiar?"
"Of course it is." Tengen smiled when he heard Jiji say that. "Master Jiji, the materials used to make my body was originally found by you in the interstellar."
Jiji: "..." Your brain's not broken, right?
Tengen merely continued to smile, not affected by Jiji's reaction. "Master Jiji, when Mr. Jiang returns to Delxun Forest, you have to go with him. I'll be waiting for the two of you to return."
Jiji glanced at Tengen. "Oh."
Watching Jiji's retreating back, Tengen chuckled. "The day is finally coming..."
Now that everything was starting to surface, the forces in the dark could no longer stay hidden. The ancient martial arts world took mission after mission, and basically every team available had been dispatched out. For those higher level, life-threatening missions, they were passed onto the Peace Squad in Peace Manor to handle.
"Miss Gu, the second team of the ancient martial arts world has sent word. The mission in the desert town has changed from a normal level to high risk, and they are requesting aid." The second elder said from the other end of the line, his voice grave.
Desert town? Gu Xiqiao touched her chin thoughtfully, and looked towards the team that had just returned to Peace Manor. She snapped her fingers. "Team One, follow me to the desert town!"
"Yes!" Their eyes all lit up, Miss Gu was going with them?
***
In the mentioned desert town, a group of people were covered in blood and fighting for their lives. At this time, the air around them distorted, and eleven people suddenly appeared.
The leader of the struggling group wiped the blood off his face, brightening when he saw who had appeared. "It's the Peace Squad, they're here! We're saved!"
Chapter 359: Sister-In-Law!
Team two from the ancient martial arts world was quite unlucky to have come across a bunch of undead outside the desert town, but fortunately enough they moved out in a team of ten instead of individually, as per Gu Xiqiao's tradition.
It was true that the power of a team was much more than the individual, and it was because of this that they managed to hold out without any significant losses until Gu Xiqiao and the Peacekeepers came to their aid.
Upon seeing the Peacekeeper's team one come onto the scene, team two immediately retreated to let the stage out for them to fight.
Upon seeing team two struggling to hold their own against the undead, some of the locals were already prepared to jump into the fray and help them, but before they could, they saw them retreat away from the battlefield. "What's happening?"
"We're going to watch them fight." The team leader of team two was a Baili family member, and now all of the members of the team were looking intently at the battlefield, knowing that team one was the strongest team in the ancient martial arts world. They had never had the honor to see them fight in person except for in videos on forums and in group chats, after all.
"Them?" The locals all looked over to see eleven young people that didn't look a day past twenty, especially the girl that was standing at the back of the team that seemed like she was lazy to even walk. Were they really here to fight? "Are you sure we don't need to help?"
"Help?" The leader of team two smiled before patting the shoulder of the dubious local. "It's alright bro, as long as they're here, we'll be alright even if the number of enemies multiplied! You would better off be worried about the mental state of these monsters after this instead of them!"
The local's brows furrowed slightly as he looked at the team leader then at the team members that had already become relaxed, not quite sure whether he should believe them.
The members of team two had already sat down on the ground lazily, and were chatting amongst themselves as if they were about to watch an interesting movie. Some of them even took out their phones and mobile devices to record the battle that was about to come.
Gu Xiqiao looked around and realized why team two had such a hard time with the enemy—The entire desert was practically blanketed with a miasma-like evil aura. Said aura could neither be seen nor detected by normal folk and it would control every living being that it touched, so it was understandable that team two had a hard time dealing with it.
Gu Xiqiao scanned the humans and the animals that had been controlled like the miasma, and upon realizing that they were more akin to zombies instead of just simple mind control, she sighed and gestured towards the members of the team.
With a single glance, the members knew what they were supposed to do, so they immediately scattered and started carrying out their operation.
"Why aren't they fighting and waiting for those monsters to get close? Do they have a death wish?!" One of the locals couldn't watch any further and stepped forward to try and help, but he barely got two steps in before his hand was gripped by the leader of team two. "Why won't you let us help them?!"
The leader didn't reply to this, his attention grabbed completely by the Peace Squad as he muttered, "I've heard those people that took part in the ranking battles say that Miss Gu had three main methods of killing enemies, I think they're going to do a trap-kill!"
"Trap-kill?" The members of team two heard this, and all their eyes brightened in apt interest.
The locals from the desert town wanted to help, but every one of them that tried to move were all pressed down by the members of team two, so they could only watch as the army of monsters surrounded the meager team of eleven members.
The leader of the second team guessed correctly when he said that they were about to use the trap-kill method, since it was the easiest and most suitable way to deal with such a large number of enemies.
Gu Xiqiao stood in the middle with her arms around her chest while the others moved within a circle radius around her, and they all baited and lured the monsters together before scattering apart again.
Yao Jiamu had already pulled out a longsword that had been gifted to him by Gu Xiqiao, and as he swung it in front of him, a blinding sword aura could be seen flying in the direction of the enemies!
The most important part of the trap-kill was to keep the enemies confined in one place, and since none of the members of the team knew how to create an array, Gu Xiqiao threw a few pieces of jade into the sky, making the air ripple and become a semi-spherical barrier that locked all of the monsters inside.
Xiao Yun clenched her fists slightly before lashing out and grabbing the tail of a lizard that had been mutated to several times its size, swinging it around her in a circle and sending the monsters that surrounded her flying into the transparent barrier. The moment those monsters dropped to the ground with a thud, Wu Hongwen sent them flying again with his staff before they were all chopped into shreds by Yao Jiamu's blade.
The members of team two all looked on in awe at this scene, and it was definitely a different experience to see such a brutal fight in person.
Even those puppet-like zombies all slowed their movements and curled into themselves as if they were subconsciously afraid of continuing to fight with these people.
"Team leader." One of the member's lips twitched slightly, their eyes wide open in awe. "Now I know why those people keep their mouth shut after they've watched the Peacekeepers at work, I wouldn't be able to describe such a scene either...As expected, we're lightyears away from where they are right now, aren't we?"
The team leader nodded. "These people were trained by Miss Gu herself after all, and are the strongest ones even within the Peacekeepers!"
"Ah, right..." The team leader turned his head to look at the locals that had already been shocked stiff by what they were seeing. "Don't be too surprised, this is the strongest team in all of the ancient martial arts world. If the danger doesn't pass, you'll see them again soon enough...Right, you aren't listening to me. That's understandable."
He could understand their reaction—These were regular people that had just come into contact with the existence of the ancient martial arts world after all, and it had probably been the first time that they've been met with such violence...Would this scene cause trauma for them?
The locals had already gone weak from fright, and if it weren't for the fact that they were being supported by the members of team two, they would have already sat onto the floor in fright.
Not an hour later, the members of Peacekeeper's team one were already done with the fight, and somehow, the locals found it even scarier when those demon-like warriors walked over to them while chatting and laughing?!
"Miss Gu!" The members of the second team all stood up straight and called respectfully.
Gu Xiqiao looked at the team leader for a short moment to recall his name. "Baili Shuo, I'll leave the rest to you okay?"
It was common knowledge by now that the people from Peace Manor (Gu Xiqiao especially) didn't like to deal with the aftermath of their fights, so they all nodded in understanding. "Alright Miss Gu, we'll deal with everything here on out. The town is just nearby, do you want to go take a look?"
After he said so, Gu Xiqiao assessed the surroundings again before nodding. "Have any strange occurrences been happening lately?"
No one knew better of the answer to this question than the locals, after all, so Bail Shuo had one of the locals explain the current situation to her.
As she walked, she used her mental energy to check out the surroundings as she listened to what the locals had to say.
"Say, how does Miss Gu know your name?" Meanwhile, Baili Shuo had already been surrounded by envious and jealous gazes. Didn't this guy say that he didn't know anyone from the Peace Manor? Since when did he get involved with Miss Gu!
Baili Shuo flipped his hair flamboyantly. "Why, it's because of my charms, of course!"
"Huh, would you mind if I record that for Young Master Jiang?" One of the members chuckled evilly.
Baili Shuo immediately admitted defeat upon hearing that name. "You guys all know that Miss Gu has an insanely strong memory, so she probably remembered my name from the times she came to visit the Baili family."
"So that's why." One of the members sighed softly. "Why wasn't I born as a Baili? Why does Miss Gu treat your family so well in the first place?"
"She calls our Young Master big brother!" Baili Shuo boasted with a proud smile.
Upon seeing this, all of the members started beating him up playfully.
As Baili Shuo shouted for mercy, he noticed a large shadow fly through the sky in Gu Xiqiao's direction, and upon seeing that the girl was still in the middle of talking with one of the locals, his expression changed and he shouted, "Miss Gu, watch out!"
Gu Xiqiao raised her head when she heard Baili Shuo call her name, and the shadow speeding in her direction was reflected in her eyes.
They had already made their way to the desert town, and right at the entrance of the town was a bunch of local townspeople gathered together in wait for them, but before they could cheer that the monsters had been slain, they were met with such a terrifying scene.
They were all scared for that beautiful girl!
Gu Xiqiao stood there and watched the shadow speed towards her without a single motion, her hands stuck in her pockets, and if one looked closely enough, you could see the hint of a smile at her lips.
The shadow dove down towards Gu Xiqiao, its talons as sharp as knives barely grazing the top of Gu Xiqiao's head as it seemingly tried to grab her...
Huh?
The shadow tried to move...Why couldn't it move anymore?
It lowered its head in confusion and saw a pair of cold and deep eyes, and the malice in that gaze made it clear that if the shadow dared move again its head would be snapped clean off.
It was only then that it realized that lithe fingers had already wrapped around its neck, and it fluttered its wings flusteredly.
Its eyes immediately looked up to the chiseled face, and when it saw the handsome man in front of it, it begged with a trembling voice, "M-M-Master, I'm just joking-"
Those cold eyes squinted slightly and he pursed his lips slightly, before chucking the black eagle away like a projectile into the distance.
Everyone looked at that figure and that familiar visage, and it was Jiang Shuxuan!
"Young Master Jiang!" Everyone in team two greeted in fear and respect.
Baili Shuo did the same, but he was also fearing for his life and praying that Jiang Shuxuan hadn't heard what he said earlier.
Xiao Yun and the others were more comfortable with Jiang Shuxuan's presence at this point, and after greeting him they all started chatting, with Wu Hongwen commenting, "I knew Er Qiao wouldn't be so hardworking as to come to the middle of nowhere without any reason, it was because he was here!"
Xiao Yun glanced over to the black eagle that Jiang Shuxuan chucked into the distance. "Xixi's going to have a fun toy to play with!"
"It does seem quite strong." Yao Jiamu nodded. "Xixi might not be a match for it."
Gu Xiqiao looked at Jiang Shuxuan dazedly for a short moment before smiling. "Didn't you say that you would only be able to come out by tomorrow?" She was already prepared to stay a night in the desert town.
Jiang Shuxuan nodded. That was supposed to be the case, but he couldn't help but come out when he felt her presence.
His gaze was focused and earnest as if he had something that he wanted to say.
"Brother Jiang, what's wrong?" Gu Xiqiao sighed and asked with a small smile.
Jiang Shuxuan didn't reply and only looked up and around, his fingers gripping into his palms as they trembled slightly, and upon seeing such a reaction, Gu Xiqiao looked in the same direction as Jiang Shuxuan did in confusion. What was going on?
It was at that moment that nine helicopters flew in from the distance as nine teams of well-trained soldiers jumped down from the air in a single fluid motion that had the local girls scream!
Every one of these men held a bouquet of fresh flowers in their hand, and one could still see droplets of water on their petals.
Everyone was shocked silent by this scene!
Yi Bing solemnly handed Jiang Shuxuan the biggest bouquet as well as a small box.
Jiang Shuxuan finally managed to smooth out his nerves as he took over what Yi Bing gave him and looked back at Gu Xiqiao with a warm and earnest gaze, his low voice rumbling as he gave her the bouquet of flowers, "Marry me!"
After he said so, he glanced back at the Mahjong Corps behind him.
All of them kneeled down at the same time and raised the bouquets in their hands in Gu Xiqiao's direction, before shouting, "Sister-In-Law!"
Chapter 360: Let's Get Married!
All anyone could hear for a long moment was just the whirring of helicopters from a couple of hundred meters in the sky as everyone looked at this sudden proposal in surprise, and it was as if the entire desert was frozen in time. Everyone was taken off guard by this event that came out of nowhere, and all they could do was look at Jiang Shuxuan who was still in the exact position he was in when he said those two words.
His head was lowered slightly because of the height difference but it didn't stop anyone from being able to see his expression. The desert sun reflected off the sands and dyed his usually cold expression a warm and gentle hue.
It wasn't that cold as it was around the time when spring stepped into summer, so all he wore was a white button-up shirt as well as a black suit jacket, for formalities, Gu Xiqiao guessed, and it did look quite fitting on him if she said so herself.
But really, Jiang Shuxuan was the one that had planned all of this?
Gu Xiqiao looked up at him in a daze, caught in a rare moment of unpreparedness.
Team one and team two couldn't react to the sudden turn of events either and after Jiang Shuxuan said those words, they froze in place, as if they had seen a ghost.
Who was Jiang Shuxuan? The man that was regarded as the closest to a deity in the ancient martial arts world before Gu Xiqiao came into the picture! Even if she was in the spotlight now, his presence and influence in the ancient martial arts world was still undeniable.
The only difference between the two was that Gu Xiqiao was easy to get close to while Jiang Shuxuan was much more cold and aloof, and it was hard to even know where he was at most times. Back in the day, even the Jiang family members didn't see him around much, and he had become the very symbol of mystery.
It was only after Gu Xiqiao took over that he started appearing more in the public eye, and it was only after Gu Xiqiao appeared that he started to frequent the Elders' Pavilion more, as well as make more efforts to earn power and respect.
That being said, the image that most people still had on him was that he was cold and hard to talk to, especially the people that were originally from the ancient martial arts world. Since the year he became 15 he was treated like treasure by the higher-ups of the ancient martial arts world, and ever since he started showing his prowess on the global stage, the ancient martial world itself started to gain an edge over the communities in other countries.
Even though one could say that this was already not necessarily true, he was still regarded as being out of reach by a majority of the ancient martial arts world, and because of his distinctive aura, most people just lowered their heads and retreated when they came across him.
And that person was the one that did all this?!
Xiao Yun and the others looked at the fresh bouquet of roses in Gu Xiqiao's hands, and because they were too shocked, they didn't even know how to react.
Meanwhile, Jiji pointed at the ground calmly. "Master Jiang, I think you forgot a step."
Jiang Shuxuan blinked before he suddenly remembered that he forgot something crucial in the heat of the moment, and so he knelt down on one knee and opened the small box in his hands, his snow-like gaze warm as he raised his head and asked, "Will you marry me?"
Gu Xiqiao still hadn't reacted, still in shock from everything that had happened.
Didn't Jiji say that Jiang Shuxuan was still working and that he could only come out tomorrow? It was one thing that she met him now, but what in the world was this?!
He... He proposed to her in public like this?! Without any warning?!
The infamous cool and collected Miss Gu couldn't keep her calm demeanor any longer, and it was the first time most of the people there saw an expression of shock and disbelief on her face.
The delicately crafted diamond ring that Jiang Shuxuan held in his hands refracted the unforgiving rays of the sun, and from where she stood, Gu Xiqiao could make out the words 'Love for Venus' written on the bottom of the box.
Gu Xiqiao's grip around the bouquet in her hands tightened slightly as she lowered her head before she could finally think of something to say, "Brother Jiang, who gave you this idea?"
She felt as if Jiang Shuxuan wasn't the type to do something flashy like this.
Jiang Shuxuan's lips pursed slightly, before he repeated those words again, "Will... Will you marry me?"
His usually cold tone was now tinged with warmth and a slight hint of pleading.
Gu Xiqiao thought that she wasn't the type to get shy after being in the spotlight for such a long time, but perhaps it was the desert heat, and perhaps it was the gazes of everyone on her, or perhaps it was Jiang Shuxuan's earnest expression, but a blush made its way onto her face uncontrollably.
Her heart started beating faster as she felt the butterflies in her stomach, and she had to admit to herself that she really was nervous!
Really, would anyone not be nervous in a situation like this?
After a short moment, she nodded with a soft murmur, "Yes, I will."
Perhaps it was because of the embarrassment, so all she could do was murmur, but even when her voice was covered by the whirring of helicopters above, Jiang Shuxuan heard it.
He looked up at her happily, his expression finally melting into a full-blown smile as he looked at her with all the tenderness of a summer breeze.
"Give me your left hand?" He stared at her for a moment, before asking with a soft smile.
Gu Xiqiao dazedly stretched her left hand in his direction, and under the bright sun, her hand almost seemed like porcelain.
Artist's hands, Jiang Shuxuan would always call them.
He held her hand, and gently slipped the diamond ring onto her ring finger.
At the edge of a desert, at the entrance of an old town.
The metallic smell of blood wafted in the air from the battlefield nearby, and the sunshine was almost blinding as everyone looked at the two figures standing there, one looking down while another looked up with one of his knees on the ground, with a bunch of flower bouquets, and at that moment, everyone all thought that this moment should be immortalized in time.
The ring had been slipped onto her hand, but Jiang Shuxuan didn't let it go but instead stood up slowly, his gaze not leaving hers, and his smile unfading.
He stood to her left and held her hand, his fingers stroking the ring on her hand while his other arm held her in a warm embrace.
All of the Mahjong Corps all stood up and cheered in celebration!
"Boss Jiang! Miss Gu!" Yi Tong was so excited that his face went red.
After he shouted this, all of the Mahjong Corps started shouting in excitement too.
All nine teams of the Mahjong Corps were present, and there were eighty-one of them in total, so when they all started cheering and shouting it was so loud it shook all of the others out of their stupor!
And so, Xiao Yun and the others flew into a frenzy too!
Did they really see Jiang Shuxuan propose?!
Goodness, how did he think of proposing when everyone was getting anxious over the calamity that was about to befall this Earth?
And from the looks of it, they were about to get married soon?!
Not only the ancient martial arts world, but every supernatural community across the world were trying their best to prepare for the upcoming calamity, and even Gu Xiqiao herself was quite worried about it herself.
But now, when things were in such a dire state, these two people that stood on the top of the world were about to get married?
Everyone looked at Gu Xiqiao, then at Jiang Shuxuan. Perhaps only these two were the only ones that would make such a detour during these times, huh?
For a moment, no one really knew what to say.
Jiang Shuxuan smiled contently for a moment before gesturing for one of the helicopters to fly down, and then he entered one of them together with Gu Xiqiao.
Then, the nine helicopters flew away.
Everyone took some time to process this, and they blinked a few times before their expressions all morphed into ones of disbelief.
This proposal came too quickly and without any warning, so no one even had the chance to take a video of it happening.
"Mr. Yao, did you know that this would happen?" Baili Shuo rubbed his face in disbelief before turning around and looking at the Peacekeepers questioningly.
Yao Jiamu only fixed him with an expressionless stare. "Do we look like we knew this was about to happen?"
Well, of course not!
Baili Shuo inhaled deeply. "Not a lot of people know about their relationship, do they?"
"They're quite lowkey with their relationship, so I would imagine not." Xiao Yun shook her head slightly.
Was that so? Baili Shuo sighed softly. "Well I think everyone's going to go crazy over this, and everyone still hasn't recovered from what she said a few days ago..."
He didn't even need to think much to know the impact of what this marriage would cause!
Now that the two strongest humans in the world were about to join in marriage, the other supernatural communities in the world were probably going to go crazy.
One of the locals finally reacted to the two names that were being brought up by the people from the ancient martial arts world... Miss Gu? Young Master Jiang?
Wasn't Miss Gu the one that was on the news a few days ago?!
Was she the person that turned their country upside down?
"Mr. Baili, is she the one from Nine Heavens Group?" One of the locals asked.
Baili Shuo turned over to them and smiled before patting their shoulder. "Yes, it's her!"
He didn't know that these words were akin to throwing a bomb into the hearts of these locals!
That video of Gu Xiqiao's had been spread like wildfire on the internet, and everyone knew that such a woman existed, even in this desert town out in the middle of nowhere, and everyone knew that it was because of her that their casualties decreased drastically!
The laboratory under Nine Heavens' name had created elixirs and medicine that had saved countless victims!
Ever since the training methods had been given to them, even the very sky became clearer.
Gu Xiqiao was the one that gave them hope!
She was their belief, and Gu Xiqiao got another bunch of fanboys and fangirls that idolized her!
After knowing that the one that they questioned earlier was Miss Gu from Nine Heavens, everyone bowed down in the direction in which the helicopters left.
"I... I didn't believe her?" One of the locals punched the sandy ground in regret.
Yao Jiamu patted his shoulder reassuringly. "It's alright, you'll have a chance to meet her in the future. Let's go deal with what's been happening in your town quick so that we can return to the ancient martial arts world, yes?"
All of them wanted to return to the ancient martial arts world as soon as possible, because they wanted to see how everyone reacted to this news!
But now, they could only wait until they completely dealt with what has been plaguing this town...
***
Meanwhile, on the border of the ancient martial arts world.
Gu Xiqiao and Jiang Shuxuan got off the helicopters, and since no one knew that they were coming back this soon, no one was waiting there for them except for Tengen.
Upon seeing Tengen, Gu Xiqiao raised her eyebrows slightly. Had he been standing here in wait for all this time?
Before she could think further on it, Tengen stepped forward and bowed respectfully. "Ma-Miss Gu, Mr. Jiang."
Jiang Shuxuan glanced at him, his good mood making it so that he didn't have any of his coldness as he did usually, and he even greeted him amiably, "Mr. Tengen, do you need our help with anything?"
Tengen was quite taken aback by how civil Jiang Shuxuan was being, but after a short pause in disbelief, he said, "Miss Gu, regarding what I said earlier..."
Gu Xiqiao smiled and replied, "I understand, but I'm not going to go there just yet."
Not just yet? Tengen was quite surprised by this. "When are you going to do it then? You can't procrastinate on this!"
"I have more important things to attend to, you see." Gu Xiqiao replied.
Tengen blinked in confusion. "What could be more important than this?"
Gu Xiqiao raised her left hand, the diamond ring on it glittering prettily in the light of the sun as she smiled dazzlingly. "My wedding, of course!"
After she said so, she left together with Jiang Shuxuan.
Tengen stood there for a very long moment, processing what he had just heard.
What.
What?!
His master was about to get MARRIED?!
What the f*ck?!
Tengen suddenly felt as if his internal processor had gone haywire...His master was about to get married? At a time like this?!
Not even a day had passed when the news that Jiang Shuxuan and Gu Xiqiao were about to get married spread all across the ancient martial arts world, then to all the supernatural communities, then to the secular world!
Yes, that mysterious Miss Gu was about to get married!
And to a Jiang family member, no less!
The Jiang family had been the pinnacle of the ancient martial arts world for centuries, and no one knew how many mysteries the family had, but no one could deny that they were the strongest out there.
Meanwhile, Gu Xiqiao was known far and wide by everyone in the world!
From the Peace Manor to Nine Heavens, all of these organizations were respected and feared by everyone!
And today, the woman behind all of this was about to get married?
Everyone marveled over this news, and it seemed that the ancient martial arts world was going to become livelier than ever.