“In any case, this is the Family’s current attitude towards Mingfei joining. However, how to join, and whether to join, still depends on your own thoughts, Mingfei. The Liu Clan will not force you, but Mingfei, you should also pay attention to girls who suddenly appear around you in China later.” Liu Heguang broke the strange atmosphere.
“Thanks for the reminder.” Lu Mingfei smiled and put away the wooden plaque.
“It’s just a small reminder, nothing to worry about. I’m just really looking forward to our future cooperation, Mingfei.” Liu Heguang said, “The Family’s attitude does not represent my attitude. This cooperation, I just want to get to know you, Mingfei, and build some rapport, after all, we will definitely have opportunities to meet again in the future.”
Lu Mingfei was stunned. Liu Heguang’s words were so certain. His hand holding the wooden plaque hesitated for a moment before picking it up again. “I’m a little curious about the exact composition of the Family?”
“Didn’t Mr. Angers tell you?” Liu Heguang thought for a moment and said, “The Secret Party uses schools to cover their tracks, while the Family is hidden in plain sight. Their daily behavior is no different from ordinary people. Even if abnormal incidents occur, there are specialized agencies to handle them. Most hybrids just need to live well and pass on their bloodline.”
“What about the other part?”
“The other part includes direct descendants like me, or hybrids with excellent bloodlines.” Liu Heguang glanced at Liu Tongchen. “We are the ones ‘hidden in the mountains,’ responsible for all hybrid affairs. We never interfere in politics, and our intelligence comes entirely from our blood relatives in the city.”
“Oh, I see. The intelligence from the village aunties is always the fastest and latest.” Lu Mingfei nodded, chiming in.
“That’s true, but the words are a bit rough.” Liu Heguang chuckled.
“But I remember you said you were from the Liu Clan. How many major surnames with preserved legacies do we still have in China?” Lu Mingfei recalled Liu Heguang’s identity as the Family spokesperson. This title encompassed the entire Family, not just a single Liu surname.
“Han, Tang, Song, Ming, and also Western and Eastern Zhou.” Liu Heguang shook his head slightly, “These are all pieces of information you can find out by just asking around a bit in the hybrid society. It seems that Senior Lu Shanyan’s sudden departure was indeed a heavy blow to the Lu clan. In the past, this information was passed down from generation to generation.”
“So our old Lu Family was also part of the other group before?” Lu Mingfei’s eyes lit up. “What did my great-great-grandfather do?”
“I’m not sure. The Family is tight-lipped about the events of that year. Perhaps I’ll only be able to find out once I fully take over the Liu Family.” Liu Heguang shook his head, “You can ask Angers. He has lived for a very long time and is from the same era as Senior Lu Shanyan.”
“Are there no people in the Family who have lived as long as the Headmaster?” Lu Mingfei felt that the Headmaster must know something.
“Of course there are, and quite a few of them. A bunch of old geezers who wish they could forever hold the Family in their hands.” Liu Heguang sneered, “If not for the Liu-Li contention, it probably wouldn’t be I, Liu Heguang, who came to see you today, but the previous ‘Ganwei’s’ ‘Dragon-Slaying Platform.’”
Lu Mingfei was startled, raising his eyes to look around. “Brother Liu, is it really okay for you to speak like that? And what are ‘Dragon-Slaying Platform’ and ‘Ganwei’?”
“They need me. Within the Family, Liu Heguang is already a household name. Even those ungrateful old folks wouldn’t dare to lay a hand on me at this time. Many of the things they do still require my hand. ‘Family spokesperson’ is just the name of their puppet.” Liu Heguang said.
“Liu and Li, Zhao and Zhu, Ji and Zhou. The power of the six surnames is like the six paths of reincarnation, never reaching a day of rest. The Secret Party relies on finance and politics to maintain the European hybrid world, while the Family only needs a little bit of grace from their relatives to make people sacrifice everything.” Liu Heguang’s expression was no longer gentle. When he spoke of the old folks in the Family, a faint hint of hatred always permeated the air.
“Within the Family, there are also hierarchical divisions based on bloodline. ‘Ganwei’ is equivalent to your school’s S-rank, and ‘Dragon-Slaying Platform’ is a weapon passed down for a thousand years. Killing a Next Generation Species is not a problem. As for the noble Firstborns, we haven’t tried it in recent years, so we don’t know if its power has diminished.”
“I think I understand.” Lu Mingfei put away the wooden plaque. “So what do you usually do?”
“Checking intelligence, patrolling cities, the things to do are naturally to prevent problems before they arise.” Liu Heguang’s expression softened. “Generally speaking, it’s drinking tea, chatting, and sleeping, but for something as big as the Kui Men Plan, half of the Family has been mobilized.”
When the Kui Men Plan was mentioned, Lu Mingfei thought of the time issue again. Although he was a child from a coastal city, diving, a technical skill, carried great risks without systematic training, especially with dragon descendants lurking underwater.
“I’ll discuss this with the Headmaster tonight. Originally, the plan was for the academy to send six teams, but now, in a hurry, it’s probably impossible to deploy more people.” Lu Mingfei said.
“It’s okay, don’t be too stressed. It’s a pity that due to my Rune, I can’t accompany you underwater, but the safety on shore is absolutely guaranteed.” Liu Heguang lowered his eyes slightly and glanced at his wristwatch,
“It’s getting late, so I won’t take up any more of your private time. This courtyard has been specially cleared for the two of you. I hope that when we meet again tomorrow, we can finalize the diving time. When one stowaway surfaces, there must be more filth hidden underwater.”
Liu Heguang and Liu Tongchen stood up together. “If you need anything, you can call me. The number engraved on the bottom of the wooden box is it. See you tomorrow.”
After they entered and exited, only the two wooden boxes left for Lu Mingfei remained on the stone table.
Beijing time, 8:07 PM.
Lu Mingfei and Zero sat opposite each other at the stone table.
“I don’t like Liu Heguang.” Zero said faintly.
“I don’t like him either, but I can’t hate him.” Lu Mingfei let out a relieved smile, “I just feel like something’s off. I don’t doubt his identity, I’m just bothered by the change in his emotions. Logically, someone of his status should be someone who doesn’t show their emotions, but after a few exchanges, even I could detect his emotional changes: closeness to me, distance from his subordinates, hatred for the Family.”
He paused, “It’s like he’s deliberately putting on a show for me, it’s too abnormal. Senior Fingel’s acting is even better than his! And they’re from the same period!”
“He did it on purpose.” Zero analyzed, “Three conditions for joining the Family: slaughtering a Dragon King is something you wouldn’t consider. Proposing a marriage into the Family shifts your attention to the topic of a partner, perhaps also with the intention of stimulating your masculinity, but that’s not important.”
“Chinese people always use a big matter to cover up a small matter, using the idea of overturning the roof to hide the purpose of opening a skylight. After the mention of marriage into the Family, you were spurred by new curiosity, causing you to completely forget about the vassalage he mentioned, not even asking who wanted you to be a vassal.”
“You should have reminded me.” Lu Mingfei made a crying face.
“I had no room to interject. Remember that chicken leg? Liu Tongchen’s attention was always on me. As soon as I opened my mouth, he would pick up on what I said.” Zero said.
“Liu Heguang.” Lu Mingfei looked at the phone number at the bottom of the wooden box, murmuring, “Heguang…”