Chapter 242: What Will Happen Between Us Depends Only on Her Feelings
Chapter 242: Chapter 242: What Will Happen Between Us Depends Only on Her Feelings
Su Yuanzhou looked at the two men standing protectively in front of Yun Sheng. He then glanced over at Bai Ye, who remained a short distance away, silent, his gaze never leaving her. After a moment, Su Yuanzhou finally let out a soft sigh.
"Since you insist on staying, I won’t force you," he said, his voice softening slightly. "But remember, if the situation gets out of hand, you must evacuate immediately."
Yun Sheng nodded in agreement.
’My opinion of Su Yuanzhou is neutral at best, but Su Wan has always treated me well. He is Su Wan’s brother, after all. As long as he bears me no ill will, I have no reason to dislike him.’
Su Yuanzhou turned and headed for the hatch. He took a few steps, then stopped abruptly, turning to look pointedly at Bai Ye.
"General Bai, shall we talk?"
Bai Ye’s brow twitched. After a second’s hesitation, he led the way outside.
’So they’re going to talk outside?’
Su Yuanzhou watched his retreating back before following.
Outside the hatch was an open landing pad.
The roars of pollutants echoed faintly from the dense forest in the distance, and the air was thick with the faint smell of scorching.
Su Yuanzhou stopped by the hatch and looked at Bai Ye, getting straight to the point. "Bai Ye, I want you to stay away from Yun Sheng."
Bai Ye’s brows furrowed instantly. He didn’t rush to speak, seemingly waiting for Su Yuanzhou to continue.
"You just broke off your engagement with the Lin Family. It’s highly inappropriate for you to be so close with Yun Sheng right now. Otherwise, how do you think that makes her look to everyone else?"
Su Yuanzhou’s voice was tinged with displeasure, as if he couldn’t stand the thought of Bai Ye and Yun Sheng having any contact at all.
Bai Ye’s expression darkened, his tone turning cold and hard. "This is between Yun Sheng and me. It doesn’t concern you, Admiral Su."
Su Yuanzhou was unfazed by his attitude. "She is my niece," he said coolly. "It is my right and duty to be concerned for her. The entire Capital Star knows you broke off your engagement, and rumors are already spreading that Yun Sheng is the reason. If you continue to get close to her, that gossip will crush her."
Bai Ye’s fists clenched.
He knew Su Yuanzhou was telling the truth.
After he broke off the engagement, Capital Star was indeed rife with gossip. Some said he had found another love, others called him heartless and disloyal. The speculation was endless.
He didn’t care what people said about him, but he cared deeply about what they said about Yun Sheng.
"I will handle it."
"Handle it? How? Can you shut everyone up? Can you stop those who have their eyes on Yun Sheng from using this against her?"
Bai Ye said nothing, his fists clenching tighter at his sides.
Seeing his expression, Su Yuanzhou sighed. "I’m not trying to make things difficult for you. I just hope you’ll think of Yun Sheng. It took so much for her to return to the Lin Family. She worked hard to get through this training and increase her spiritual power. She can’t afford to be the subject of gossip again.
"If you truly care for her, you’ll keep your distance for now. We can talk again after this all blows over."
Bai Ye was silent for so long that Su Yuanzhou thought he wouldn’t answer. Then, he finally spoke, his voice low.
"My engagement to the Lin Family’s daughter was arranged before we were born. If Yun Sheng and Lin Yueyao hadn’t been maliciously switched, Yun Sheng would have been my fiancée all along. I love her. I can’t stay away from her.
"I will handle the rumors, including my broken engagement with Lin Yueyao. I don’t want Yun Sheng to be the target of gossip either!"
Su Yuanzhou’s expression darkened at his words.
"You love Yun Sheng, but does she love you? She just said that man, Lin Mo, is her Sentinel. Judging by the spiritual power he just projected, he has to be S-Class or higher."
He’d had people keeping an eye on Yun Sheng’s every move back on the Capital Star.
That was how he knew about Lin Mo and had looked into his background.
A clean family record, a decent job... The only thing was, the file had listed his spiritual power as A-level. He never expected his true Level was actually S-Class or higher.
"From what I’ve seen, that Lin Mo is also quite fond of Yun Sheng. He even came all the way from the Capital Star just for her. And then there’s Xing Che... Bai Ye, they are both more suitable for Yun Sheng than you are."
Bai Ye’s gaze flickered, as if struck by a sharp blow, but he quickly regained his usual cold composure.
"You’re right. They are more suitable than I am. But I won’t give up. I will handle the broken engagement and make sure Yun Sheng doesn’t suffer any undeserved slander because of me. As for what happens between us... that depends entirely on her."
With that, Bai Ye turned and walked back into the aircraft without another glance at Su Yuanzhou, his steps steady, his back ramrod straight.
Su Yuanzhou watched him go, his face etched with disapproval. He only frowned, however, and didn’t chase after him to say more.
The moment Bai Ye stepped back into the aircraft, Xing Che’s voice drifted over, laced with an indefinable mockery.
"Well, well, the great White War God has finally returned. What did Admiral Su want to talk about for so long? Don’t tell me you were plotting how to trick our dear Shengsheng back to the Capital Star?"
The barb in his words was blatant. Anyone else would have shot back a retort, but Bai Ye acted as if he hadn’t heard a thing, not even deigning to give him a sideways glance.
His gaze was locked on Yun Sheng, his brows slightly knitted and his lips pressed into a tight line. He clearly had something urgent to say, words caught in his throat.
Yun Sheng, however, pretended not to notice.
She didn’t ask what Su Yuanzhou had said to him, nor did she try to decipher the turbulent emotions in his eyes. Instead, she asked calmly, "General Bai, what’s the situation outside? Have you found Brother Guo and the others? Can we go to them now?"
She could see that Bai Ye was hesitating, wanting to say something, but an indescribable, dull ache in her heart made her choose to evade the topic once more.
Bai Ye felt a slight pang in his chest, a fleeting, suffocating ache. His expression, however, remained impassive, betraying no emotion.
He said no more, simply pulling up the comms interface to contact Luo Cheng.
Luo Cheng answered quickly. The background showed a chaotic, dense forest, and the sounds of blades slicing through the air and the roars of pollutants were faintly audible.
"General, we’ve found them. They have some minor injuries, but nothing life-threatening. The pollutants are almost all cleared, but..." He paused. "We’ve run into a group of men in gray. They’re still putting up a fierce resistance, and there are a lot of them."
Hearing that Guo Kai and the others were safe, the tension in Yun Sheng’s shoulders eased. She let out a long sigh of relief, then looked up at Bai Ye, her tone firm. "I want to go see for myself."
Soon, the four of them disembarked from the aircraft and headed for the location Luo Cheng had reported.
Twilight was deepening, and a pale gray mist shrouded the distant horizon. The group followed the coordinates from Luo Cheng, moving quickly.
The closer they got to their destination, the clearer the sounds of pollutants and clashing metal became.
After pushing through a dense thicket of bushes, the sight that greeted them made Yun Sheng’s pupils contract.
It was a partially collapsed clearing, littered with upturned earth and shattered rock.
A dozen or so men in gray were locked in combat with the Sentinels led by Luo Cheng. Their eyes were crimson, and they radiated a violent aura. Their movements were frenzied and tireless, like killing machines running on a set program.
Several bodies of the gray-clad men already lay on the ground, their black blood soaking into the soil. The pungent, scorched smell in the air was even stronger here.
Although Luo Cheng’s men were elites, they were outnumbered by the men in gray, who fought with a suicidal fearlessness. For the moment, the two sides were locked in a stalemate.