The next day, when the sun was already high in the sky at around 7:30 in the morning, both Meng Qi and Bai Zemin came out of their house and began to walk around the privileged area.
Looking sideways at the person next to her who was looking at every single thing he saw in detail, Meng Qi pointed out, "Big brother, is this the first time you paid attention to the privileged area?"
"Em." Bai Zemin nodded calmly. "When I first came here my main goal was to find you and our parents so I wasn't in the mood for anything else. Once we finally got together, you already know the rest."
"Yup. I know, without a doubt." Meng Qi giggled softly and said in a playful tone, "You turned into a big sloth who refused to leave the house no matter what."
Meng Qi's smile was truly beautiful and as warm as the sun's rays that with its power drove away the cold that still lingered from the previous night. Although the privileged area was extremely small compared to the entire base, it was still quite large overall. Even so, the number of survivors who left their homes so early were generally those who had important jobs in the army or government so most were still sleeping in their warm beds.
However, there were a lucky few who got to see Meng Qi's beautiful smile. They all seemed to know her as they greeted her with big smiles; from an elegantly dressed middle-aged couple to a maid who was cleaning the front windows of a luxurious house near the Bai family home.
"You're quite popular, eh?" Bai Zemin smiled slightly and said out of nowhere, "I wonder how these people would react if they knew that despite being so big you still wanted to share a room with your big brother."
"You... You're not allowed to talk about that!" Meng Qi immediately rushed over to cover his mouth with an apple-red face.
"Hahaha!"
Bai Zemin burst out laughing when he saw the usually calm Meng Qi behaving like this.
The two walked for more than twenty minutes and chatted happily about all sorts of things. A handsome man and a beautiful woman naturally attracted a lot of attention, yet no one came over to bother them at all. After all, unless one had supreme power one would not dare disturb someone who might be in a higher position.
Wouldn't it be unfortunate to end up getting kicked or killed for provoking someone they shouldn't have provoked? So, the two siblings arrived at their first destination all somnolence had completely disappeared from them and their faces still had smiles on them as proof of how pleasant the walk was.
"... Honestly, I didn't think I would ever come back to this place." Meng Qi sighed as she looked at the large villa in front of her eyes.
"Oh, that reminds me." Bai Zemin suddenly realized something and said in confusion as he looked at her, "Meng Qi, what did you use the favor Uncle Wu owed you on? Such an important favor shouldn't be used on something insignificant after all."
It seemed strange to Bai Zemin that Meng Qi had used such a big favor as soon as she earned it. After all, their father's power was big enough to accomplish practically anything and his position high enough to ignore many things.
"About that..." Meng Qi hesitated before she shook her head and said somewhat embarrassed, "Big brother, don't ask. It's no big deal."
"..." Bai Zemin stared at her for a couple of seconds before turning his gaze away.
Meng Qi was quite stubborn and it was hard to change her mind about anything; quite similar to Bai Zemin in this aspect. Therefore, he did not press the matter any further even though he was now beginning to suspect.
On the other hand, the reason why Meng Qi did not say anything to him was because she did not want to cause problems for Bai Zemin. He had been holding back all this time just for the sake of the girl named Wu Yijun, which meant that she was a valuable friend to him. However, Meng Qi knew that if she told him what her problem was, the hassle would be no small matter; even less so now that she knew what her domineering and proud big brother was capable of.
After ringing the doorbell, a maid opened the door to the villa and after introducing themselves the pretty woman stepped back to announce the duo's arrival.
According to what Bai Zemin had learned earlier, everyone in the privileged area had power generators that used solar panels. These generators could generate enough power to keep the lights and refrigerators on for at least 19 hours a day or just refrigerators indefinitely. Since the night only lasted around 10-11 hours at the moment, the lights were only on for 12-13 hours at most, so it was still far from the limit.
As for the rest of the base, the survivors used things like candles, mutant luminescent seeds, kerosene lamps, and so on.
A few moments after the maid from before disappeared inside the house, the door opened once again and a beautiful woman appeared before Bai Zemin and Meng Qi's eyes.
"This is a really unexpected surprise." Sun Ling put a hand on her slender waist and looked at Bai Zemin steadily as she said with a faint smile on her face, "Young man, you have been missing for so many days. Do you know how my daughter has been feeling during this week without being able to see you?"
"Mom!!!"
An extremely embarrassed and anxious voice sounded from the upstairs window and looking up Bai Zemin met the flushed face of Wu Yijun who was currently looking at Meng Qi with curiosity in her big black eyes.
"Good morning, Yijun." Bai Zemin waved his hand upward and joked, "I see you still like to wear bunny pajamas."
"I-I... I'll be down in a minute!" Wu Yijun blushed even more fiercely and after stomping on the floor she ran off, hiding in what was probably her room.
Sun Ling smiled in relief to see that her little princess seemed to be back to normal. She had managed to apologize with her daughter and explain to her that what she said back then was not ill-intentioned, something Wu Yijun of course already knew. It was also after realizing that her daughter's feelings were pure and strong that Sun Ling visited her older brother to ask him to keep Sun Jie in line or else she would have to take action herself.
Sun Yun really loved Sun Ling very much and although he spoiled Sun Jie a lot he was not a man to spoil his son to the point of causing a family rupture. Therefore, seeing that Sun Ling was extremely serious about the matter, Sun Yun forbade Sun Jie to go near the street where Meng Qi's family resided.
"Aunt Sun, I see that you are as radiant as ever." Bai Zemin greeted with a happy smile.
"Hehe... I wonder where that indifferent young man I met a week ago left off?" Sun Ling chuckled before inviting them in and saying, "I guess meeting your family relieved a great burden for you."
"In fact, one of my goals in coming here was to thank you and Uncle Wu." Bai Zemin said in a serious voice and putting jokes aside.
"There is no need to thank anything. At the end of the day, it was you who found them."
Bai Zemin and Sun Ling exchanged a few more words as they walked to the living room. After Sun Ling poured several cups of tea, she looked at Meng Qi with a charming smile and said in a tender voice, "Meng Qi, it's been a couple of weeks since I last saw you. I really want to thank you for your help back then."
"No," Meng Qi shook her head and without being nervous at all despite being in front of one of the most powerful people in the entire Chinese Renaissance replied, "When I activated the Unbreakable Field, I didn't do it for free. Besides, you and Mayor Wu already paid me for my work back then."
Sun Ling looked at Meng Qi silently for a few seconds and also looked at Bai Zemin as if she was studying something. After seeing that Bai Zemin didn't react too much to the conversation they were having, Sun Ling judged that he probably didn't know the favor Meng Qi asked them and presumably was also unaware that Bai Delan had been there to ask and warn regarding Sun Jie's behavior.
"Even so, let me thank you." Sun Ling smiled with her heart relieved and pointed to the tea in front of them as she said confidently, "This tea is made from mutant herbs that I personally collected from the forest thirty kilometers to the west. It has the effect of clearing the mind and relieving tension in the body. My most precious creation to this day."
Since Bai Zemin knew nothing, then all the better. Sun Ling honestly did not fear the young man in front of her, however, it was true that a soul evolver capable of fighting another soul evolver 10 levels above was no small thing. Besides, there was also the fact that her daughter Wu Yijun was in love with him and of course it could not be left behind that there were five other powerful soul evolvers who were friends with him.
At the end of the day, Shangguan Bing Xue and Chen He might have been acquaintances or friends of the Wu and Sun Family for many years due to the connection they both had with Wu Yijun, but Sun Ling knew very well that after fighting alongside Bai Zemin throughout this time the two of them had surely developed a certain friendship with him.
Not only was there no need to stir up the hornets' nest over something so small, but Sun Ling really hoped that she could get along with the entire Bai family. After all, if someday her daughter Wu Yijun and Bai Zemin were to become engaged, it was best to avoid unnecessary awkwardness.
"Oh?" Bai Zemin had no idea of Sun Ling's or Meng Qi's thoughts but hearing the effect the tea in front of him had, he couldn't help but feel a little curious. He lifted the cup without much hope and without delicacy drank the contents in one gulp.
Seeing Bai Zemin's careless and classless movement, Sun Ling couldn't help but laugh out loud.
"...Big brother, you..." Meng Qi was also a bit speechless at what she had just seen.
Bai Zemin ignored the two women and closed his eyes, tasting the remaining flavor inside his mouth as he calmly said, "Valerian, Chamomile, Kava... And a mutant plant I don't know."
"Eh?" Sun Ling suddenly stopped laughing and said dumbfounded, "You can feel all the flavors even though I added several drops of Dawn Dew?"
Meng Qi was the one who answered instead of Bai Zemin: "Aunt Sun, even though my brother is a bit crude, this is because he is a straightforward person... but he is actually quite careful in his heart. In high school, he was even praised by a master who visited the facility to give a talk on the benefits of natural herbs on the human body."
Before Sun Ling could say anything, a series of anxious footsteps sounded from the hallway and when everyone looked toward the entrance of the room they saw Wu Yijun wearing her magic robe. The girl had her eyes fixed on Bai Zemin as soon as she saw him, and for a long time, she said nothing as if she wanted to engrave his face in her now blurred memory after not seeing him for so many days.
Meng Qi took the opportunity to take a good look at the woman in front of her. Her dark eyes carefully scanned every detail as if she was confirming something but it wasn't long before Meng Qi realized that regardless of whether it was face, body, aura, or any other visible detail; Wu Yijun was without a doubt the most perfect woman she had ever seen in her life.
"Hello, you should be Wu Yijun, right?" Meng Qi bravely stood up and approached with a smile.
"... I am Wu Yijun..." Wu Yijun finally looked at her and then her eyes roamed over Bai Zemin for a second before she looked back at Meng Qi as if she was asking who this young beauty was.
"My name is Meng Qi, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." Meng Qi smiled sweetly and extended a hand forward. "My big brother has told me a lot about you."
"Big brother?" Wu Yijun almost jumped when she heard these words and subconsciously looked at her mother with eyes sparkling with fury.
"Oh... I may have forgotten to mention something like that." Sun Ling looked away as she casually whistled.
The corner of Wu Yijun's mouth twitched a couple of times at the sight of her mother acting like a naive child. Previously Wu Yijun had asked Sun Ling to show her a photo of Bai Zemin's family so that when she saw them in the near future she would know how to act and behave to make the perfect first impression... But the problem was that she knew nothing about Meng Qi except the name she had heard from Bai Zemin in the past!
Fortunately, Wu Yijun was not a normal woman. She had experienced all kinds of things in her life and had met all kinds of people, therefore, she quickly reacted and gracefully took Meng Qi's hand before gently shaking it.
"The pleasure is all mine." Wu Yijun smiled friendly and said in a soft voice, "Bai Zemin often mentioned you on our way from the university to here. I always wanted to meet you and now that the opportunity finally presented itself I must say that your appearance is even higher than how he described you."
The two women exchanged several polite words and were clearly acting restrained towards each other. They seemed to be testing the ground as if they wanted to make sure they did not step on some land mine or something similar; this was the impression Bai Zemin got from both of them.
But in fact, Bai Zemin knew that Meng Qi would not easily let Wu Yijun go now that she knew that Wu Yijun had feelings for him. After all, she would surely not be happy to have a loved one she had grown up with taken away from her just like that.
Regardless of how mature she might be, Meng Qi was only 17 years old after all.
Bai Zemin let the two young women meet in silence as he judged that all would be okay for the next few minutes. He looked at Sun Ling and took the opportunity to ask her something that had him intrigued.
"Aunt Sun, may I ask what happened to the people I asked you to find?"
"Oh," Sun Ling seemed to remember something as she quickly stood up and walked over to one of the cabinets from where she pulled out a notebook that Bai Zemin immediately recognized.
"I marked with green those we managed to find." Said the mother of Wu Yijun as she slid the notebook on the table and handed it to Bai Zemin. "The rest of the people are not survivors of our settlement... And being frank with you, they probably aren't alive considering that currently 90% of Chanqping District is ruled by our Renaissance China."
Bai Zemin nodded silently and with a serious expression on his face began to skim through the contents of the notebook very carefully. About five minutes later, he closed the notebook and sighed as he let his body relax against the backrest.
Two thousand three hundred and fifty-two were the names that were written in this notebook. Each of the names written there represented a person cherished by someone with some status inside the Transcendent faction.
However, out of the two thousand three hundred and one hundred and forty-two, only fifty-three of them were alive within the walls of the Chinese Renaissance faction.
The eyes of Bai Zemin flashed with an extremely complicated light. While he had expected this to happen, facing reality was really different after all.
How was he supposed to give out this bad news later? There was no way it would be with a smile on the face.
The only thing that gave him some relief was the fact that among the survivors Sun Ling and Wu Keqian managed to find was Zhong De's mother. Considering that it had probably been a few days since the results came out, Bai Zemin estimated that Zhong De had already managed to reunite with his mother by now.

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