"Continue applying medicine to his wounds for two more days, then take good care of him," Su Mo said, grabbing Lu Chen’s hand, ready to leave.
Jian Qing hung his head low beneath the almost imperceptible oppressive aura of Lu Chen, lying back on the bed and sighing in relief only after the two had left.
That man... truly terrifying.
Mr. and Mrs. Su had already been squatting outside this shabby tent for two days, and upon seeing that familiar silhouette again, both were overwhelmed with joy.
"My daughter! My daughter!" Mr. Su pulled Mrs. Su along and blocked Su Mo’s way solidly.
The constant calling out of ’my daughter’ drew quite a crowd of onlookers from the tent area.
Su Mo stopped in her tracks, barely recognizing the couple before her, their once-familiar faces now alien to her, which made her scoff, "Who are you?"
Mrs. Su was immediately displeased, placing hands on her hips as she pointed at Su Mo’s nose and scolded, "Bitch, I carried you for ten months. Have you forgotten your own mother?"
Lu Chen immediately pulled Su Mo behind him, his phoenix eyes cold, "What did you call her?"
Mrs. Su looked up, meeting his imposing gaze, her heart trembled, and she quickly tried to appease him, "Sir, this is my daughter."
Mr. Su yanked Mrs. Su aside, tilted his chin up, and with a somewhat darkened hand, reached out to Lu Chen, his voice haughty, "I am Su Mo’s father, Su Huaguang."
Su Mo’s expression grew increasingly ugly, and she urged Lu Chen, "Let’s go."
Mr. Su’s attempt to reach out fell flat as the couple showed no intention of acknowledging him, immediately triggering laughter from the surrounding crowd.
"Did building walls make you stupid, Su Huaguang? Daring to be the father-in-law of a superpower user? Haha, that’s hilarious!"
"If you ask me, both of these people have always been shameless."
"I’m from his hometown. I know what kind of person he is. Although he has a son and a daughter, everyone back home knows he favors boys over girls. He kicked his daughter out a long time ago."
"Shut up!" Mr. Su’s dark complexion turned bright red as he pulled Mrs. Su and followed behind Su Mo, signaling some young men outside the tent with a nod.
The young men immediately understood and together they blocked the path.
Su Mo had to stop and face her parents again.
"My daughter, don’t you recognize your dad anymore?" Mr. Su said persistently, spittle flying as he spoke.
Mrs. Su was beside him, feigning tears and sobbing loudly, "My life is so hard, it took so long to find my daughter and she doesn’t recognize me."
More and more onlookers gathered around, as if on cue, both Su Mo and Lu Chen found themselves trapped by the crowd, as if they were watching a performance.
Jianxiong, sharp-eyed, spotted the two encircled in the crowd and rolled up his sleeves, turning to Li Qian, "You watch the car; I’ll go see what’s happening."
Zhao Changsheng saw Su Mo among the crowd, her expression sour, and quickly followed Jianxiong.
The air around Lu Chen grew tenser, he looked down at her, "Shall I toss them out?"
Yet Su Mo gripped his hand, shaking her head, "This is my issue, I’ll handle it."
Mr. Su was initially startled when he heard Su Mo speak, then relaxed. He knew his daughter well—she was always more responsive to soft approaches rather than hard.
Mrs. Su walked up to Su Mo, tears and sobs in her voice, "My child, why... are you so heartless?"
She hunched her back, using her filthy sleeve of indiscernible color to wipe at non-existent tears on her face. Su Mo bitterly chuckled, "Where is my brother?"
Mrs. Su was furious the moment she heard her mention her son, she held back her temper, with a mournful tone, "He’s ruined, fell off the wall a couple days ago and broke his leg."
Su Mo chuckled, clapping her hands in front of the couple, then shook her head with pity, "He isn’t dead yet?"
"How dare you speak that way about your brother, you wretch!" Su Huaguang, on hearing her talk about his son, couldn’t bear it and swung a slap toward Su Mo.
Before his hand reached Su Mo, it began to freeze from the fingertips, until finally the entire palm was frozen; he couldn’t bring it down anymore, the pain from the frost made him cry tears of agony:
With a distant look in her eyes, Su Mo, though still a bit upset, had already known, hadn’t she? She turned towards her stunned mother, a thought inexplicably rising in her mind, "I was picked up, right?"
"What?" Mrs. Su snapped back to reality, her eyes flickering as she shook her head and then cried louder, "Heavens, why do you treat me , giving me such an ungrateful daughter."
Catching a glimpse of Su Mo still appearing unmoved and even contemplating, she recklessly thought in her heart: "I might as well die!"
Mrs. Su ran directly towards the wall that separated the Outer Ring from the Second Ring. Su Mo showed no sign of stopping her. Quickly, Mrs. Su gave a signal to a few youths standing nearby; seizing the right moment, they rushed to stop her, all the while shouting:
"Lady, your life is precious, even if your daughter is unfilial, you still need to live well."
"Exactly, living is the most important thing."
"Stop yelling! All of you step aside," Jianxiong pushed one person away, coming in from outside the circle.
His massive stature along with his fierce face made the crowd scatter like birds and beasts.
Su Huaguang, still with his hand frozen, simply rolled his eyes and fainted.
Su Mo walked over and squatted down next to him, staring at his face for a moment, until Lu Chen spoke, "You’re not like him."
The words she had said offhandedly now seemed even truer, those shifty eyes — she wasn’t blind to have not seen them, Su Mo couldn’t help but laugh:
"Jianxiong, take him back."
She stood up, addressing Jianxiong as she did, when the seed of doubt is planted, she must clarify.
Jianxiong nodded, picked up Su Huaguang by the collar, following her like a bodyguard.
Zhao Changsheng looked worriedly at Su Mo, "Are you alright, Momo?"
Su Mo shook her head, just silently squeezing Lu Chen’s hand tighter.
Mrs. Su was still making a scene. Seeing her husband being taken away, she quickly wiped her tears and ran over, excitedly saying,"Daughter, and me too!"
Su Mo stopped, raising an eyebrow and smilingly said, "Are you sure you want to follow? What about your son?"
Mrs. Su was choked up, her eyes darting around, "I’ll come out later."
Su Mo remained noncommittal as Mrs. Su joyfully followed, fantasizing about better days ahead and how to scheme her son into the situation.
"Hold on, how will we settle our payment!" A few youths immediately objected, grabbing Mrs. Su unhappily. They had played along for so long, they couldn’t just go unrewarded.
Mrs. Su glanced at Su Mo and the others who were nearly out of sight, afraid of falling behind she whispered to them, "Leave some food for my son, take the rest."
With this, the youths were satisfied. Before leaving, Mrs. Su even blackmailed them:
"When I come back, if my son isn’t alright, I’ll have my daughter kill you all," she threatened quietly, her spine straightening considerably with a superpower user as her shield.