Guarding China is not just a saying, and it doesn’t have much to do with one’s status.
Every man has a duty to his country. If you don’t have that sense of responsibility, no matter how high your position, you might still fear death and betray your country when it matters most. But if a person has a strong sense of responsibility and honor, even an ordinary, insignificant citizen can face death with courage.
Whether Jiang Fei is the leader or helmsman of the Seven Kills Group isn’t really what matters.
What matters is that Jiang Fei doesn’t back down in times of crisis. When he encounters someone like Miyamoto Ichi, who bulldozes his way through Chinese martial artists, Jiang Fei will step up and resist. When challenged by Yanagi Munenori, he stands up without fear and accepts the challenge, not losing face for his country—
That’s enough!
That’s why Tiger King Pan Yi said, this is enough.
The Lion King thought for a moment, then laughed heartily and patted Jiang Fei on the shoulder again, saying, “That’s true. I was being too rigid. No matter what, as long as you have that intention, that’s enough. Like in a little while, you’re willing to go abroad with me to destroy that ‘Skynet’ organization. Even if you’re not the successor of the Seven Kills Group, or even if you never joined at all, so what?”
Jiang Fei didn’t object to this point.
Not because he has the lofty qualities and integrity of worrying about his country and its people, putting the world’s worries first and enjoying its pleasures later. It’s just that he is already the sect leader of the ‘Heavenly Mechanism Sect’, already possesses a divine artifact like the Tui Bei Tu (Prophecy Map), and has accepted the system’s main quest about guarding China. He considers it his bounden duty.
In this respect, he is somewhat similar to the former ‘Four Kings of China’ and the Seven Kills Group.
If he encounters someone else like Miyamoto Ichi, brazenly coming to the Chinese martial arts world to cause havoc and rampaging through martial artists, Jiang Fei certainly won’t stand by and do nothing.
If he encounters a foreigner like Yanagi Munenori who comes to provoke and challenge their dignity, he certainly won’t beg for peace out of fear of death. He will definitely draw his sword and accept the challenge.
So, since their goals are the same, why should Jiang Fei keep making excuses and refusing?
They drank quite a bit of wine.
The Lion King drank. Tiger King Pan Yi, the brewer, also drank. Jiang Fei drank too.
Over the past year, Jiang Fei had brewed quite a bit of wine in Rice Village, but it was only limited to wine and rice wine. The process of brewing liquor (baijiu) is the most troublesome, requiring many specialized and complex instruments, so he hadn’t tried it yet.
Now, tasting such fine liquor for the first time, Jiang Fei couldn’t resist the temptation and drank quite a lot.
This liquor truly amazed Jiang Fei. He decided that when he returned to Rice Village in Jincheng, he would definitely get all the necessary equipment and start brewing liquor too.
Jiang Fei’s alcohol tolerance wasn’t good before; he could only handle about three or four taels of liquor. But after practicing the Northern Dark Divine Art and gaining internal energy, everything changed completely.
Although he couldn’t do like Duan Yu, using the Six Meridian Godly Sword to force the wine he drank back out through his fingertips, his tolerance had increased dramatically. He could drink many times his previous amount without getting drunk, using his internal energy to temporarily suppress the aftereffects of the alcohol.
The reason Jiang Fei had been invited here this time was entirely because of the Lion King and Tiger King. Besides the Lion King wanting to tell him some news about ‘Skynet’, it was because for many years in a row, their gatherings had been lonely, with no one else to find.
This time, they met a young expert whose strength allowed him to sit and discuss the Way with them, to sit down and drink with them. He happened to be in the capital, so the two invited him over, hoping to change the lonely atmosphere of their gatherings over the years.
They drank until they were about to get thoroughly drunk and pass out before stopping.
Jiang Fei was personally sent off by the small-eyed, handsome guy who had driven the BMW earlier. This guy really was someone special, with genuine top experts backing him, allowing him to reach a level comparable to Liu Yunduo, Little Drunkard, and Bai Kedi at his age.
Because this guy’s master was precisely a registered disciple of Tiger King Pan Yi, one of the ‘Four Kings of China’.
“Where are you heading?” the small-eyed guy asked after getting in the car.
Jiang Fei’s head was a bit fuzzy, but his mind was still clear – after all, his mental strength was far beyond ordinary people. He gave the guy the address of Bai Ruoxi’s bachelor apartment.
He had been intercepted halfway and brought out to this remote wilderness for a drinking session. By now, it was already dark, so Bai Ruoxi had naturally finished work long ago.
There was no point going to Bai Ruoxi’s company now; he had to go directly to her apartment.
The small-eyed guy nodded, set the navigation, and drove the tipsy Jiang Fei towards Bai Ruoxi’s apartment…
——-
Jiang Fei had told Bai Ruoxi before coming to the capital, so when he rang the doorbell of her apartment and she saw him through the peephole, she wasn’t surprised.
But when she opened the door and smelled the strong odor of alcohol on him, that surprised her.
“Why have you been drinking, and so much!” Bai Ruoxi said, pulling him inside after opening the door. In her memory, Jiang Fei didn’t have a good tolerance for alcohol, but he had a lot of self-control. In all the years they had known and loved each other, she had never seen him drunk.
Later, after he returned to the country this time, she noticed he had changed a lot, including his tolerance for alcohol. She learned that when she was in Jincheng, during the few days they stayed in Rice Village and drank the wine Jiang Fei had brewed.
“Phew, finally here…” Jiang Fei relaxed and sighed. Smiling, he immediately leaned toward Bai Ruoxi like a real drunkard.
Before entering, Jiang Fei had used his internal energy to forcibly suppress the effects of the alcohol. Although he was feeling tipsy, he remained alert, constantly watching for any unknown danger, ensuring he could fight back if something happened.
Granted, he had been driven back by Tiger King Pan Yi’s disciple, the small-eyed guy, and that guy wouldn’t try to ambush him. But given Jiang Fei’s current position, he had encountered too many extraordinary experts and made many enemies. These people would stop at nothing to kill him.
Caution is the parent of safety. Being a little more careful was never wrong for Jiang Fei.
But here at Bai Ruoxi’s place, in this small space, he naturally didn’t need to be on guard anymore. He finally stopped suppressing the surging alcohol effect, letting it run wild inside him. Immediately, his head spun, his mind grew fuzzy, and his consciousness blurred.
Of course, if any real danger had arisen, Jiang Fei wouldn’t have been so drunk as to be completely defenseless. His Northern Dark Divine Art was close to succeeding in the first level, and his internal energy was nothing to scoff at. Plus, he could exchange a pill from the Pill Shop system to calm his mind, clear his head, and sober him up—
Combined, even this strong alcohol effect would probably be cleared away in an instant.
But today, Jiang Fei really wanted to enjoy the feeling of being drunk. Even if it wasn’t a pleasant sensation, he wanted to try it.
Since acquiring the system, Jiang Fei’s life had changed dramatically. It would be impossible to say he himself hadn’t changed at all. This change wasn’t just physical; his mindset had changed too.
Now, Jiang Fei’s martial power wasn’t yet invincible or at its peak. But it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say he was above the common crowd, detached from ordinary people.
When you spend a long time in this state, you start to miss the life of an ordinary person. You occasionally think about what it would be like if you were still just a regular person, with no special abilities or uniqueness.
Getting drunk after drinking. Feeling lousy when drunk. Having your girlfriend take care of you.
Today, he wanted Bai Ruoxi to take care of him.
Jiang Fei put his arm around her neck, his hundred-plus-pound body suddenly leaning on her. Bai Ruoxi stumbled, almost falling.
She steadied herself, both amused and annoyed, closed the door, and turned her head to look at Jiang Fei, who was resting his head against her neck, half-squinting and smiling like a child. She used all her strength to drag his limp body to the sofa beside them.
“Honestly, who did you go drinking with?” Bai Ruoxi couldn’t help pinching her own nose. It wasn’t that she was disgusted by Jiang Fei, but the smell of alcohol on him was just too pungent. She had always had a very low tolerance; unless absolutely necessary, she never touched a drop, so she wasn’t used to the smell.
Granted, Bai Ruoxi was a bit of a clean freak. She would keep her distance from people who smoked or drank, let alone take care of a man reeking of alcohol. Only Jiang Fei would make her do this willingly.
Jiang Fei, bleary-eyed and mumbling, chuckled and said, “An old lion and a tigress. I was drinking with them.”
“Talking nonsense!” Bai Ruoxi naturally had no idea about the Lion King and Tiger King, or the Four Kings of China. She thought Jiang Fei was completely drunk out of his mind and starting to ramble.
She shook her head helplessly. She had no experience taking care of a drunk person, so she followed the basics: she got a towel, wet it with cold water, and placed it on Jiang Fei’s forehead. Then she quickly took out her phone, searched online for how to make a hangover soup, and prepared to brew some for him to sober him up.
Bai Ruoxi had never been drunk herself, but she had heard many people say that the idea of forgetting all your sorrows and floating on air after drinking was all fake. If you’re truly drunk, not faking it, the only feeling is misery!
And that whole ‘things happen when you’re drunk’ excuse? That’s just pretending to be drunk, an excuse men make.
Bai Ruoxi didn’t cook much either. She was the type of refined lady who rarely touched onions, and her talent in the kitchen, like most women nowadays, was below average. The meals she could make were limited to egg fried rice, noodles, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and the like…
Luckily, making hangover soup wasn’t too troublesome. It’s mostly sour-sweet or sour-spicy, with many variations and methods. Bai Ruoxi chose the ‘Tangerine Peel Hangover Soup’ because she had most of the ingredients in her fridge.
It took her half an hour – this famous goddess in the news and television journalism world, known as the nation’s top female reporter – to emerge from the kitchen, sweaty and a bit disheveled, but with a satisfied look on her face, carrying a bowl of light reddish soup.
By then, Jiang Fei was already sleeping soundly.
She walked to the sofa, placed the bowl on the tea table, and squatted down. Resting her chin on her hands, she quietly watched Jiang Fei sleeping soundly without speaking. There was an expression on her face that she had never worn before.
This was completely different from her former persona as a ‘wind-chasing girl,’ a strong woman solely focused on chasing her dreams. She no longer seemed so forceful, so filled with dreams…
No, perhaps it was more accurate to say she seemed like a completely different person right now. She still had dreams, but it felt like her dream was no longer chasing her career, but had shifted towards becoming a gentle, traditional woman – a good wife and loving mother!
The light and aura radiating from her had changed completely.
Bai Ruoxi’s eyes shimmered as she gazed at Jiang Fei with immense tenderness. Her inner softness reached its peak at that moment. Without saying a word, she just watched him quietly.
Every woman has a store of tenderness inside her; the question is whether she meets the man who can bring it out.
“Maybe I should change a little. I shouldn’t be as willful and immature as before,” Bai Ruoxi murmured to herself after a few minutes.
At the same time, she reached out with a slender, jade-like hand, placed it on Jiang Fei’s cheek, and gently caressed him. Her fingertips traced across his forehead, eyes, nose, hairline, lips, chin…
She was filled with tenderness, filled with deep affection, as if she had become the gentlest woman in the world. The emotion in her eyes was so thick it couldn’t be diluted.
At the same time, the determination in her eyes grew firmer, more obvious, as if she had completely made up her mind.
“It’s time to change my way of life. We shouldn’t be apart all year round. Why do women need to chase so many dreams…”
Just as Bai Ruoxi was murmuring to herself, having made an important decision, Jiang Fei, who had been sleeping fitfully, stirred as if she had woken him. He opened his mouth and mumbled, “Water… water…”
Bai Ruoxi snapped out of her thoughts. She withdrew her hand, brushed a strand of hanging hair behind her ear, and picked up the bowl of hangover soup from the tea table.
She sat halfway on the sofa, slowly lifted Jiang Fei’s head, and rested it against her. She said softly, “Here’s the water. Drink some hangover soup. You’ll feel better after.”
Jiang Fei, sleeping soundly, couldn’t really sense what was happening around him. Hearing Bai Ruoxi’s words, he didn’t care if the soup tasted good or not. He just perceived it as water, drank it down in one go, and then drifted back to sleep…
