Apocalypse Circular-Chapter 479 - 478 Release

Lu Luo looked again at the child; the meaning in Qiao Xing’s eyes was clear—the child was also an Exotic Species.

"So, to prevent them from mutating further, you’ve kept it for two years?"

"Have you just been holding it like this for the past two years?"

Lu Luo could now roughly understand why Qiao Xiao Mi had said that Qiao Xing now only liked his younger brother.

Qiao Xing had held the child without letting go for two whole years; this was unacceptable to anyone.

"Yes, two years," Qiao Xing’s eyes began to look lost.

Lu Luo found it hard to imagine that the once optimistically foul-mouthed man had turned into his current self.

Deals with Angel Envoys were definitely not as simple as ordinary people imagined.

Angel Envoys only exploited them.

"This is actually your fault; you shouldn’t have traded with it or trusted it."

"Yes, it’s my fault. I know I was wrong."

"Since you realize the problem..."

Lu Luo thought for a moment but, in the end, could not bring himself to utter the word ’cleanup.’

For a good father, a good husband, ’cleaning up’ one’s own son and wife was too cruel a thing to do.

He couldn’t say it.

Besides, if Qi Xinzhu and my daughter were to mutate now, I, Lu Luo, would also do everything to take care of them.

Human nature is like that; it’s a vulnerability, but on the other hand, it’s also a strength.

"So what do you plan to do now? Continue to drag this out?"

"I don’t know, but Li Lan and the child are innocent."

Qiao Xing’s words seemed to indicate he had made a choice; he couldn’t give up on his wife and child.

Lu Luo couldn’t blame him in this regard.

However, this meant that his plan to ask for Qiao Xing’s help was probably doomed to fail.

"Although I have no right to say anything to you, Teacher, a teacher for a day is a teacher for a lifetime.

If you need any help, Teacher, you can contact me at any time; just look for Nightmare Demon.

I will be in the Alliance for this entire month.

If I leave, you can also go to the Circular base for some living assistance.

Moreover, if you are unwilling to deal with the current situation, please take good care of Xiao Mi.

In this matter, she is the most innocent person.

If there’s nothing else, then Teacher, I’ll take my leave."

Lu Luo’s voice sounded somewhat indifferent.

Unfortunately, his wish to help Qiao Xiao Mi had fallen through.

I won’t be staying in the Wasteland Alliance for a long time to come. The most I can do is probably have Han Shiyu check on Xiao Mi often.

Just as Lu Luo was about to go downstairs, Qiao Xing stopped him.

"Wait, Lu Luo."

"Teacher, is there something else?"

"Help me!" Qiao Xing’s fingers clenched tight; those two simple words seemed to drain all his strength.

"Help you? How?"

"End it all."

Lu Luo was slightly surprised, but then a sense of understanding dawned on him. Qiao Xing must have already made up his mind when he let me in to see all this. He can’t overcome this psychological barrier himself, so he has no choice but to seek my help.

"Help me, Lu Luo; there aren’t many people I can trust. Help me!"

Seeing Qiao Xing’s struggle made Lu Luo feel uncomfortable; this was his swordsmanship teacher, after all!

But if I were to do this...

"Okay."

Lu Luo was not a cold-hearted person, and Li Lan had also left a deep impression on him.

But after so many experiences, they were no longer children.

Some things indeed required a decision.

It was true for Qiao Xing, and it was the same for him.

"Thanks, Lu Luo."

After Qiao Xing finished speaking, he gave the child a reluctant glance and then looked at Li Lan across from him.

"Lan, I’m sorry."

Li Lan, who had been struggling and howling, suddenly stopped as if she felt something.

She gazed blankly at Qiao Xing; perhaps her reason hadn’t been completely devoured by the Exotic Species’s power.

Or maybe, this was her only remaining obsession.

In any case, at that moment, Li Lan knelt down, her eyes full of confusion.

Suddenly, she spoke:

"Take good care of Xiao Mi."

Seeing his wife like this made Qiao Xing even more reluctant.

"I definitely will."

"If you’re hesitant, you can think it over. With this kind of thing, just make sure you don’t regret it."

Truthfully, this was Qiao Xing’s family affair, and Lu Luo felt somewhat awkward standing there. No matter what he did, it wouldn’t be considered a good deed. Normally, he shouldn’t get involved. But Qiao Xing’s current situation was dire; as his disciple, Lu Luo felt he should do something.

"No need, Lu Luo, thank you," Qiao Xing replied, his tone hard to define.

Lu Luo opened his mouth, but ultimately decided not to persuade him further.

Having been tortured by something like this for two years, who am I to say anything?

However, seeing Qiao Xing in this state reminded him of Ludie, who had once been in despair. Ludie must have been desperate too, right? But that guy was really optimistic. Despite everything he went through, he managed to pull through.

"Teacher..."

"I’m stepping out. I’ll leave this place to you." 𝕗𝕣𝐞𝐞𝘄𝐞𝚋𝚗𝗼𝘃𝗲𝗹.𝚌𝕠𝚖

Qiao Xing touched his child with his hand, and the child immediately bit his finger.

Qiao Xing’s energy was enough to block such a bite, but the heartache it caused couldn’t be blocked by energy.

Eventually, he left the child on the ground and walked out.

Lu Luo didn’t hesitate for long before approaching the child.

Before he could get close, the usually docile child suddenly shot out a long leg.

That leg, like a hooked claw, aimed straight at Lu Luo.

But attacks of such caliber had long been ineffective against Lu Luo.

DING!

The hook rang out with a metallic clang upon contact with Lu Luo. The child seemed to sense the danger and immediately tried to turn and flee.

But how could its speed compare to Lu Luo’s?

Lu Luo gently lifted his hand, and a tendril had already wrapped around it.

Netherflame began to burn at Lu Luo’s feet, its black-purple flames gradually engulfing the room.

He had no intention of reuniting mother and child, because Qiao Xing had already said as much.

He had a feeling that if the two consumed each other, an even more powerful mutation would arise.

If that happened, Qiao Xing would only suffer more.

Lu Luo wasn’t about to indulge in such pointless cruelty, so...

The Netherflame began to destroy everything here. Qiao Xing’s memories, his past, everything vanished in the searing flames.

「...」

Downstairs, Qiao Xing arrived at Qiao Xiao Mi’s room with an unreadable expression.

Qiao Xiao Mi didn’t speak. Upon seeing her father at the door, she softly called out.

"Daddy?"

Qiao Xing wasn’t holding her little brother, which made Qiao Xiao Mi slightly joyful, but she was more worried about Qiao Xing’s current state.

"Xiao Mi, I’m sorry for these past two years."

Qiao Xing slowly hugged his daughter, and Qiao Xiao Mi seemed to feel her father’s pain.

She carefully patted Qiao Xing’s back.

"Daddy, Mom and little brother..."

"It’s okay. Everything will get better."

Qiao Xiao Mi was already thirteen years old, an age where one is no longer a little child. Two years is by no means a short time, and even though Qiao Xing did his best to protect her, these two years had allowed Qiao Xiao Mi to understand some things.

There seemed to be some problems with her mother and younger brother.

She once tried to secretly go see her mother, but what she got in return was a scolding and a beating from her father.

The Qiao Xing of the past would never have hit her.

Since then, an invisible crack had appeared between father and daughter.

Perhaps today was the time to mend that crack.

"Dad, if something happened at home, you can actually talk to me about it. I’m a big kid now.

I can understand and accept many things.

Like Mom and my little brother..."

Qiao Xing let go of his daughter and nodded vigorously.

"I know..."

"Dad, it seems like upstairs..."

"Let’s go outside. It’s all over now."

「...」

Late at night, Qiao Xing and Qiao Xiao Mi stared blankly at their crumbling house.

This place held too many memories, but now, everything was destroyed.

Lu Luo had already walked out of the house.

As the executor, he even closed the door, somewhat unnecessarily.

But soon, the Netherflame consumed the door.

Lu Luo’s mood was also far from calm as he glanced at Qiao Xing.

"Got a cigarette?"

"Yes."

And so, the two men began to smoke in front of the crumbling house.

Qiao Xiao Mi was well-behaved; she didn’t interrupt them, knowing her father and Lu Luo must have much to discuss.

"Feeling any better?"

"A bit better," Qiao Xing nodded.

Though he said so, Lu Luo couldn’t see even a trace of relief on him.

The previous despair was still vivid in Lu Luo’s memory.

The fact that Qiao Xing could converse so nonchalantly with him now was probably only because of his promise to Li Lan and his love for Qiao Xiao Mi.

"If everything’s fine, then I’ll be leaving."

"You came today because you had something on your mind, right? Aren’t you going to say it?"

Lu Luo shook his head.

"Looking at you now, even if I said it, there would be no point."

Qiao Xing wanted to argue, but Lu Luo didn’t give him the chance.

"Forget it. It’s been two years; spend some good time with Xiao Mi.

Before I came here, I saw her practicing swordsmanship at the Thrusting Sword Stone.

Make it up to her; fulfill your duty as a father."

Qiao Xing looked over at Qiao Xiao Mi, then finally nodded.

Lu Luo left, realizing he had hardly exchanged more than a few words with Qiao Xing that night.

Yet, it seemed as though many issues had been communicated between them.

Perhaps this was just how men communicated; when things truly mattered, extensive verbal interaction wasn’t necessary.

Sometimes a look, an attitude, was enough.

After Lu Luo left, Qiao Xiao Mi took Qiao Xing’s hand.

"Dad."

"Hmm, about your mom and little brother..."

"Dad, there’s no need to explain. I understand everything."

"Dad will be with you from now on." Qiao Xing felt somewhat ashamed, and his expression was also somewhat unreadable.

"But doesn’t Dad need to go find Brother Lu Luo? He came today because he had something for you, right?

He might need your help; after all, Dad is the strongest swordsman in the Fourth Ring."

Qiao Xiao Mi’s analysis wasn’t wrong, and Qiao Xing also knew Lu Luo’s probable reason for coming, but unfortunately...

"The dad I am now is no longer worthy of wielding a sword."

"No, Dad, in my heart, you’ll always be the mightiest swordsman, even stronger than Brother Lu Luo."

"Really?" A new light seemed to enter Qiao Xing’s eyes.

"Of course it’s true. So Dad, if you want to, go find Brother Lu Luo.

I’ll go find Lu Xiaotian myself, or I’ll go find Aunt Han Shiyu.

I’ll be fine."

Qiao Xing looked in the direction where Lu Luo had left and finally nodded.

"Okay!"

「...」

In the following days, Lu Luo had Hunters gather intelligence on the Inner Ring, piece by piece.

Every night, Lu Luo wandered near the Third High Wall like a ghost.

However, the guard strength here was indeed astonishing.

Lu Luo even wondered, Has the Inner Ring Council invested most of their strength into the Wall Guardian system? Are they that afraid of a Nightmare Demon attack?

Lu Luo’s shadow-like presence still caught the attention of some, such as Lu Yang, the Wall Guardian on duty tonight.

"Yang, what’s wrong?"

"Nothing much, I just keep feeling like someone flew over."

"That can’t be. Relax, we’ve got the Wall Protectors’ early warnings set up above.

Any Transcendent that can fly must be at least Seventh Tier.

But even if they are Seventh Tier, they can’t escape the surveillance here. Trust me, Yang, this is an early warning system set up by more than a dozen experts. There’s absolutely no problem with it."

"I hope so."

Lu Yang knew the barrier here was very advanced and had never had any problems.

But today, he had an unexplainable feeling.

It was as if something was about to happen.

Years ago, Lu Yang had also lost all his strength when the Holy Radiance dissipated.

But he didn’t get discouraged or give up on himself.

He wanted to achieve something, so he quickly left the Church and joined the Inner Ring Wall Guardians.

The Wall Guardians here had access to the Inner Ring Council’s Cultivation Techniques, which were unaffected by the Holy Radiance.

After several years, Lu Yang had made great progress and had reached the position of a mid-level squad leader.

For someone who had been in the Church, this was an exceptional achievement.

Personnel from the Council system usually bore some prejudice and hostility towards those from the Church system.

But Lu Yang was a good man and meticulous in his duties, so his performance earned the respect of most people.

That’s how he got to where he was today.

Having become a mid-level squad leader, Lu Yang was walking on thin ice, extremely cautious.

He took his work seriously every day.

Though I know that if the Fourth Ring really launches an attack on the Inner Ring, I might very well be the first to die. But I have no other choice. Staying in the Inner Ring is my wish; there’s nothing more to say about it.

With mixed feelings, Lu Yang stood his night watch steadily until 5 a.m., when it was time for the shift change. Only then did he sigh with relief.

"Yang, how about going out for some breakfast?"

"No thanks, I’m heading back."

"I heard you’ve been seeing someone, Yang. How’s it going, any progress?"

"It’s going okay. You guys just wait for my good news."

Facing his colleagues’ jokes, Lu Yang spoke lightly and with ease.

But just as he changed out of his Wall Guardian uniform and was about to leave the Third High Wall, a familiar voice suddenly reached his ear:

"Big Brother, are you doing okay?"