"This is quite a funny story," Bai Tianci said with a wry smile. "I was saved by my wife six years ago. Back then, I fell from the sky and landed right inside a temple. Something seemed to have eaten a piece of my brain, so I can't recall much of my memories."
"Six years ago? The timing matches!" Qu Zhaoqian exclaimed excitedly.
"What timing matches?" Bai Tianci quickly asked.
Qu Zhaoqian replied, "Of course, your identity matches! I tell you, you must be my cousin."
Bai Tianci immediately said, "Young man, you must be thinking too much. How could I be your cousin?"
Qu Zhaoqian said earnestly, "I wouldn't speak carelessly about this. You are a very strong esper. If you can use your abilities now, everything will be clear. When you disappeared back then, it was six years ago. My master once said you might be alive or dead, and that a woman who loved you deeply has been searching for you."
Upon hearing this, Bai Tianci couldn't help but smile bitterly. "You must have mistaken me for someone else. I'm just a slightly stronger evolver with strong physical fitness, not an esper."
Qu Zhaoqian frowned, thinking, "What's going on here? Master didn't tell me all the details. He only said my cousin might still be alive, but I'm not sure about the specifics right now."
Qu Zhaoqian said helplessly, "Then I might have remembered incorrectly. I'll continue watching the news. Don't worry, I'll find a way to contact someone to rescue me. When they arrive, they will surely compensate you adequately."
"That's great. My brothers brought you back from the front lines because they saw you were no ordinary person. Indeed, you are a golden phoenix; it wasn't in vain that we saved you," Bai Tianci said, feeling pleased that their rescue efforts were worthwhile.
Qu Zhaoqian continued to watch the news and discovered that Taiyuan had announced that Qin Kewei and other espers would be executed on the city walls in a week. The statement also condemned He Qiuan, accusing him of expanding his territory and creating hundreds of thousands of refugees. It claimed that angry refugees had stormed the military camp a couple of days prior, thus achieving revenge.
After reading this news, Qu Zhaoqian angrily declared, "These scoundrels are twisting the truth! It's these vultures who are looting and creating hundreds of thousands of refugees. We were the ones who saved them by providing food, and now they're slandering us!"
Qu Zhaoqian now understood the saying "the winner is king." As long as one achieved victory, they could twist the truth and frame others, even if they were in the wrong.
However, Qu Zhaoqian was also helpless and decided to contact Lu Kaiyang, asking the instructor to send someone to pick him up. He specifically instructed them to bring sufficient gifts, whether gold, silver, or food.
Lu Kaiyang had been worried for the past few days. Ten people had been brought out of Yuzhou, and now one was missing. Only Wang Xiqiang had returned, and he was also injured in multiple places. If Qu Zhaoqian were captured, the situation would be dire. Such a powerful esper falling into enemy hands would undoubtedly strengthen their forces.
Fortunately, that day he received contact from Qu Zhaoqian. Lu Kaiyang then learned that he had been rescued and had been unconscious for a day and a night, only waking up that day. He then said to Luo Hui, "Qu Zhaoqian is seriously injured and immobile. You take your men to Guanyin Mountain Village and bring the ransom. Without money, they might not be willing to release him."
Luo Hui immediately set off with a group of soldiers, bringing two carts of grain and ten kilograms of gold. This was a considerable sum and suitable as ransom.
By the time Luo Hui found Guanyin Mountain Village, it was already evening. He wanted to enter the city immediately, but the soldiers on the city walls refused to open the gates. Luo Hui was so angry that he wanted to attack the city at that moment, but he remembered that they had saved Qu Zhaoqian and could only shake his head helplessly, muttering, "It's only for Qu Zhaoqian's sake. Otherwise, I would have stormed in today."
The next day, Luo Hui entered Guanyin Mountain Village and found Qu Zhaoqian, who was covered in bandages. He wanted to leave with him, and Bai Tianci personally came to see them off.
"Cousin... no, Brother Bai, I have an impolite request. Can you give me a few strands of your hair?" Qu Zhaoqian suddenly made his request.
Bai Tianci was about to pull out a few strands when a woman suddenly walked over from a distance. She was beautiful and graceful, but her face showed no smile. She directly refused, "No, you're not allowed to pull out any hair! Who knows what these people will do with your hair? What if they use your hair for curses?"
Qu Zhaoqian then looked at the six-year-old Li Bing beside him and asked, "Who is this?"
"This is our creditor's wife. Her name is simple, she's surnamed Bai, and her name is Bai Fengying," Li Bing explained softly.
Qu Zhaoqian was surprised by this introduction. If the man in front of him was indeed his cousin, even if he was married, his spouse was a stranger and didn't seem to be an esper.
"Madam, I only want a few strands of hair for a paternity test, not to cast any curses. You're overthinking it. If we can successfully confirm Brother Bai's identity, wouldn't that be a good thing?" Qu Zhaoqian said patiently, not wanting to cause conflict.
Bai Fengying still refused, saying, "Who knows if you people are telling the truth? You outsiders are as cunning as a honeycomb. If you use it for bad deeds, how would we know you wouldn't do bad things?"
Seeing that the situation was not good, Luo Hui quickly said, "It's okay, we're leaving now, we're leaving now! We won't disturb you!"
Qu Zhaoqian was helpless. He was on someone else's territory, and they refused his request. He couldn't force them to comply. It seemed he could only leave Guanyin Mountain Village now.
Luo Hui quickly said, "Oh, right. I've heard that City Lord Bai is always incredibly strong. Today, I'd like to test my arm strength against yours. How about an arm-wrestling match?"
Bai Tianci did not shy away and smiled, "No problem. Since you want to test your strength, I won't hold back. Young man, if you want to compete, let's try it!"
Soon, tables and chairs were brought over. Qu Zhaoqian watched the two men compete in strength helplessly. He hadn't expected this to happen even as he was about to leave.
Bai Tianci and Luo Hui sat opposite each other, each gripping one side of the table with their left hands and placing their right hands on the table, elbows resting on it, their hands clasped. They were about to test their strength.
People who had come to watch gathered around, observing the two men's strength contest and discussing it. They said, "Get ready to place your bets and see who wins!"
"Does such a small matter require betting? I'm sure the City Lord will win!" someone finally answered definitively.
"I'm not so sure. Although this young man is very young, he's an esper, so his physical strength shouldn't be too bad," someone else favored Luo Hui.
Everyone started placing bets. Most people chose to bet on the City Lord winning, while a small portion believed in Luo Hui, thinking he would definitely win. In any case, if this risky venture succeeded, there would be significant rewards, and the odds were very high.
The two sat on opposite sides of the table and began to test their strength. Their hands were tightly clasped, veins bulging on their arms, indicating they were exerting great force.
Logically, Luo Hui, being an esper, should have far superior strength to ordinary humans, and even evolvers might not match his strength. However, at this moment, Luo Hui's strength was being suppressed. The opponent's strength was too formidable. Even as an esper, he couldn't match it.
"Young man, you're still too arrogant. Although I'm not an esper, my strength is much greater than that of ordinary espers," Bai Tianci said with a smile.
Luo Hui gritted his teeth and held on. Both men were incredibly strong, but judging by their expressions, Luo Hui had given his all, while Bai Tianci was clearly at ease. It was evident at a glance who was stronger.
As they were testing their strength, an unexpected situation occurred. The table they were using was made of wood, and their immense strength was continuously pressing down on it. Eventually, the table instantly cracked.
"Crack..." The table broke instantly, and wood splinters flew everywhere.
The onlookers noticed this anomaly and were shocked, exclaiming, "These two are so strong that even the table couldn't withstand their might, so it broke."
The broken wooden table produced many splinters. One of them pierced Bai Tianci's arm. Seeing this, Bai Fengying quickly stepped forward, pulled out the splinter, and stopped her husband's bleeding. Luo Hui's hand was also covered in blood. The strength contest ended like this.
"City Lord's strength is truly formidable. I concede defeat. You are stronger than me!" Luo Hui then admitted defeat.
Luo Hui's admission of defeat pleased the people who had bet on the City Lord the most. They had made money. Unfortunately, there were too few people betting on the other side, so the amount of money earned wasn't much.
"Your strength is also very great, young man. You are still very young. In a few more years, when you grow up, your strength will surely catch up," Bai Tianci said, happy despite his injury, as he had won. His injuries would heal in a few days anyway.
Luo Hui took Qu Zhaoqian away. Sitting in the car, Qu Zhaoqian complained, "If you weren't confident, you shouldn't have gone out to compete. Now look, you lost in front of so many people. Isn't this a disgrace to Yuzhou?"
Luo Hui smiled and said, "Don't you want the opponent's cells for a paternity test? I'm helping you. Don't believe me? Look here!"
As Luo Hui spoke, he took out a glass bottle from his person. Inside the bottle was a bright red liquid, clearly blood. It turned out that everything that had happened was planned by Luo Hui. Taking advantage of the moment the table broke, he used his abilities to create wounds on Bai Tianci and collect his blood.
"You... you had this plan!" Qu Zhaoqian said, his feelings complex upon seeing the glass bottle. He hadn't expected Luo Hui to be considering him.
"Nonsense. If it weren't for helping you find your cousin, I wouldn't have bothered helping you. Speaking of which, that guy's strength is indeed quite considerable," Luo Hui shrugged.
Qu Zhaoqian snatched the bottle and said, "Good brother, thank you for helping me this time. I will repay you in the future!"