Chapter 36: Chapter Thirty-Five: The Reliance Behind

Luohua, you probably want to know what trouble your older brother has recently run into, right?

Luofeng lay on the ground, wanting to clench his fists, but all his fingers had been broken, and his body simply wouldn't obey his control.

Wanting to speak up to stop it, but speaking at this time would be like inviting trouble, and besides, Luofeng knows Chen Chen's character—speaking up would be useless.

"I don't want to know, because even if I did, I couldn't help." Luodangran isn't stupid either, saying this with a natural expression.

"You and your brother are both sensible kids, so as a reward, if you just listen to what happened to your brother, I can help him get through this crisis. How about that?"

Luohua stared for a moment, then laughed.

"If Chen Chen wants to help, even if I don't agree, he'll help anyway, right?"

"You're pretty smart, but to repay me, my lifesaver, it's not too much to ask for a little cooperation."

Before Luohua could answer, Chen Chen continued speaking.

"The hottest topic lately is the assassin wanted for a hundred‑billion bounty; now virtually every aboveground and underground force worldwide is watching the pennies, and while a hundred billion is far away, it's also right before our eyes."

Luohua first drifted off; a hundred billion—what a huge number. Other kids her age couldn't even grasp the concept fully. Because Luofeng had intentionally cultivated her, her sense of money and numbers was far sharper than ordinary people's, so she knew just how big a trouble this was.

Back in the real world, even if Luohua knew, she was powerless, and could only sigh:

"Even if Chen Chen said it, I couldn't possibly help."

"Of course I can help."

"If you can help your brother break out of his previous narrow mindset, he wouldn't have to endure this beating from me. The help you need to give him is to tell him that the family behind him isn't just a burden—it's also a reliance."

"If you run into a problem you can't figure out, and you can't tell it to someone you can't trust, at least you can tell me so we can think of a solution together."

"Emotional support from family isn't always able to actually help, but just having that feeling is already a tremendous help."

Saying this, Luohua felt a bit guilty; she had clearly noticed her brother was off, but assuming she understood his personality, she didn't ask a single question. She clearly could have done more, but she just watched.

But if her brother truly needed the help Chen Chen described, then she would become the one who leaves him isolated and helpless, clinging to him like a parasitic leech.

As family, the brother doesn't want his relatives to bear risk, so he won't tell himself and his parents about dangerous matters.

And as family, she also can't, out of fear of danger or her own inferiority, allow herself to become a parasitic leech.

"What's more, it's just a disability; with your brother's ability, or by relying on his own earnings, fixing your leg with today's medical tech would be easy—but have you ever thought about it? Have you considered putting in the effort to heal your leg, imagining what life would be like afterward?"

"If you haven't even tried to strive upward, you have no right to resent the world's unfairness."

……

"Brother, sorry." Luohua apologized to Luofeng.

"Never mind, you're still a kid; what he wanted to say was about me."

Luofeng didn't mind; it's hardly the brother's fault, and he said to Chen Chen in an annoyed tone:

"Exactly, of course it's you."

"If a person feels they can't hold on, feels lost, they can also try to rely on the people around them."

"Understood?"

"Got it, so I guess it's time to take me for treatment—I feel like all my bones are broken."

"Don't worry, I already called an ambulance ahead of time; this is also key to helping you get through this trouble. To make up for seriously injuring you, the treatment arrangements will be a bit far."

"Where??"

Luohua and Luofeng asked at the same time.

"The central city of the World Tree, Xin Aili Du."

……

"What!? Luofeng got beaten up? How serious is it?"

Zhuge Tao was originally just contacting some of his connections, paying a little attention to the bounty matter, when he suddenly received news that Luofeng had been badly beaten.

One secretary replied: "He was taken away by people from the World Tree side; they said he has over a hundred fractures and needs emergency treatment."

Zhuge Tao frowned slightly.

"Did he provoke someone from the World Tree?"

If he had killed or seriously injured someone from the World Tree, the Extreme Martial Hall would be in the wrong; no one coming would help.

The secretary shook his head: "It sounds like they were sparring and didn't pull back."

Bang—

Zhuge Tao slammed his hand hard on the table.

"How unreasonable—beating someone on our turf and then trying to just take them away…"

Since he was in the right, Zhuge Tao wasn't one to shy away; he said he'd go out, had just stood up and taken two steps when his smartwatch communicator rang…

"Mm-hmm, yes."

"Yes, that's right, I just found out too."

"Oh, okay, okay, I got it."

……

After hanging up, Zhuge Tao slunk back from the doorway to his chair.

"What about the World Tree side?" the secretary asked carefully.

"No need to worry about it."

As the secretary was about to withdraw, he heard Zhuge Tao order: "Give me the information on that person who injured… and who sparred with Luofeng and then took him away."

"Also, arrange the villa next to Luofeng's house and register it under that person's name."

"But he isn't…"

"Give him special procedures, counting him as a temporary member."

"Yes."

After saying that, he additionally gave a special reminder.

No need to specially investigate; just look up the externally reported information.

Okay, Zhuge Supervisor.

After the secretary left, Zhuge Tao sat down shakily, pulled up the message the secretary had just sent, and the projection displayed the name "Chén Chén" along with some simple information.

Who exactly is this person… that requires the Chief of the Main Hall to personally call and give instructions?

Zhuge Tao slowly exhaled, fortunate that he walked slowly.

Chu Chen and Luofeng are here.

"Speaking of which, your World Tree's medical technology is so powerful; healing Luo Hua's leg shouldn't be too hard, right?"

"Your brother's leg nerves and muscles have been dead for many years; healing it is extremely difficult."

"How much would it cost roughly?"

Luofeng also made a small profit this time; he originally planned to return and ask Chu Chen how much the World Tree's treatment fee would be, but on the way he met Li Wei, then immediately there was a bounty matter, and Luofeng didn't dare reveal that sum for a while, so he hasn't had a chance to ask about it yet.

"One hundred."

"One hundred billion?"

My gains this time already include two hundred billions; that means the money for Xiao Hua's leg treatment is already enough; I'll arrange it when I return.

"Originally it might have been one hundred billion, but my influence here is enough; charging you one hundred dollars is sufficient."

"Your influence is that great?" Luofeng said somewhat surprised.

"About the same."

"Fine." Since we can save a hundred billion, we might as well keep it to buy the Secret Manual of the Ninefold Thunder Blade.

"How can you be so impolite?"

"It's not because you, old person, gave me a lesson today, is it?"

Fine, you're growing quickly; please keep it up— not taking advantage of a bargain is being a bastard.

Chu Chen originally also planned to chat more with Luofeng, to let Luofeng get more emotional nourishment.

"Um, could you avoid a bit? I need to take a call."

Alright, the emotional nourishment has arrived.

……

Back to Luo Hua's side.

Luo Hua originally wanted to go along, but the home still needed stability, so he stayed home first.

Moreover, although his brother told him not to worry, Luo Hua still immediately called to report to the Martial Hall just in case.

Unexpectedly, the Martial Hall already knew; the Manager Zhuge of the Jiangnan Region personally let him relax, and the World Tree had already liaised with the Martial Hall, so Luo Hua finally put his mind at ease.

His parents also received the news of his older brother's injury and hurried back from the Leisure Center.

"Don't worry, the older brother is fine."

"No way, I heard he was carried out on a stretcher— how could he be fine!"

Luo Hua went to great lengths to tell his parents clearly: actually, the older brother is going to train in secret; the older brother's best friend who came also especially urged the parents that after the older brother, he must participate in a very important competition, and the truth about the older brother's departure must not be told to anyone.

Of course, this information is also half-true, half-false; even if it were leaked, it wouldn't matter.

As for the bounty matter, the parents are also old; it's better not to mention such things.

After arranging the household affairs, Luo Hua finally had free time to see his personal messages; it seems the parents of the girlfriend he's recently dating want to meet him.

"Xiao Nan" is the girl Luo Hua met in the Martial Artist District; she is also the first young woman who looked at him without contempt or pity, and she is his true love for life.

Although saying this at his current age is a bit premature, Luo Hua can be certain that this is right; he wants to accompany himself for life… and also be willing to devote his whole life to protecting this girl.

If it were in the past, he might not have had the courage to say such things, but after today's brother's incident, Luo Hua suddenly feels that perhaps he should be more confident, as Chu Chen brother said.

Luo Hua replied on the tablet:

"My nanny will be back this afternoon; I can go out tonight."

In the evening, after dinner, having the nanny push the wheelchair to the park, watching the children playing back and forth, he no longer felt down as before; instead, he became increasingly hopeful.

"You must be Luo Hua, right? We are Xiao Nan's parents; we have some things we want to say to you alone."

Luo Hua had previously seen Xiao Nan's parents once or twice by chance, and had seen many photos of them and recognized them, but after repeatedly looking around the two, he still didn't see Xiao Nan's presence.

Luo Hua had an uneasy premonition, but still told the nanny to wait aside.

"Do you think letting our Xiao Nan follow you will lead to a good outcome?"

"You sit in this wheelchair, expecting Xiao Nan to stay by your disabled side for ten, twenty, thirty years?"

"Think about how others will view Xiao Nan in the future…"

"Don't say your brother is a martial artist; even if your whole family were martial artists, here you're still a disabled person— to the family, to a first love, you're forever a burden."

"Do you really want Xiao Nan, when she goes out in the future, to have people point and say that her husband is a disabled person?"

"So you have some self-awareness; your family will tolerate your disability endlessly, but don't think everyone must accommodate you."

The old couple went back and forth with these sentences, saying "disabled" over and over for nearly half an hour.

"Uncle and aunt, have you finished? Looking at Xiao Nan's face, should I call you uncle and aunt? I also know you mean well for Xiao Nan."

"However, uncle and aunt, you can be too backward; nowadays medical technology can cure many things as long as you have money."

"No need for thirty, twenty, or ten years; only three years are needed—I can definitely gather the money for leg treatment, and then properly marry Xiao Nan as my wife."

"As for how Xiao Nan can be happy, I think it's not greatly related to your face; at least you should have asked her opinion before coming."

Luo Hua said while taking out the tablet, which showed Xiao Nan's just‑received message, indicating that he basically didn't know his parents were coming to find Luo Hua.

"You little brat!" Xiao Nan's mother angrily wanted to attack.

"Hey hey hey, what do you want to do?!"

The one who ran over from the side to stop them was precisely the nanny whom Luo Hua had secretly notified via pager.

"Uncle and aunt, I might be able to put you off for now, then secretly continue with Xiao Nan; but since you are Xiao Nan's parents, I also hope to gain your support, because only then can my feelings for Xiao Nan be fulfilled."

I also hope you can give me a chance; right now I and Xiao Nan are still young, give me three years, by then you will definitely not regret today's decision.

I don't know why, after going through my brother's matter, Luohua felt his mind much clearer, perhaps saying he became much more confident.

I thought this kind of courage, this kind of heroism, this kind of decisive temperament would only show up when trading stocks, but after gaining confidence, everything in this world seems to be waiting for me to conquer.

Xiao Nan's mother seemed to still want to say something, but was then pulled back by Xiao Nan's father.

Kid, I don't know whether to say your tone is big or that you have confidence; we two have indeed seen a lot, and we also don't know what technique. But since you dare say that, since you dare to have such bearing, as long as you cure your leg, the matter between you and Xiao Nan, we old couple will not say another word.

But if you only speak big talk, I hope you can go ahead and do it.

After Xiao Nan's father finished speaking, he pulled Xiao Nan's mother and said a few words, roughly meaning that if Luohua could cure his leg, then he would certainly not be ordinary; if not, then various things.

Xiao Nan's mother finally left with a meaningful glance, being pulled away by Xiao Nan's father.

Aunt Wu, go back.

Aunt Wu was a bit dazed; how could it feel like I only left for a morning, and Xiao Hua seems to have become a different person.

————

Chén Chén, you're back, just in time for dinner.

Hmm.

By the way, what did you go out to do today?

Went to find Luofeng.

Oh oh, I got it, Chén Chén, you must have gone to evade tax, right? Tell me in detail, I'll learn too.

Hehe, so speaking, if there's any matter, just tell the family this notion to fool Luofeng, absolutely cannot take it seriously.

Chén Chén let out a faint sigh in his heart.

The reason I specially went to set a foreshadowing for Luofeng is, of course, because as this plan unfolds, Chén Chén can no longer restore Luofeng's entire experience on Earth.