They were a couple!
Shen Qingsheng's heart sank. In these times when national resources were already scarce, how could they be fooling around like this?
"What's wrong with you?" Su Ze asked, looking at the colorless Shen Qingsheng.
I finally let myself fall for someone, only to lose so completely!
"Nothing, nothing." Shen Qingsheng regained his color but hung his head over the front of the car.
Soon, a black motorcycle carrying two people roared up and stopped beside the group.
"Hello everyone, I'm Cang Yu, please take care of me in the Land of the Living Dead." The driver removed his helmet, revealing a handsome young man with a bright, sunny disposition.
Everyone exchanged greetings.
Behind Cang Yu sat a beautiful girl named Zhi Xu, who gave off an impression of innocent cheerfulness - she seemed like a lively girl.
Everyone connected their headsets without further discussion, and the steel beasts rushed onto the highway like a torrent, roaring toward the Land of the Living Dead.
Through their conversation, Su Ze learned that the black-haired girl named Xu Ziyin was also at the peak of the Candle Realm, hoping to break through her boundary with him in the Land of the Living Dead, which would provide some measure of safety.
The others' purposes were simpler - they were there to make money and hunt for treasures.
In Yu Province, at the Rakshasa.
Uesugi Akizuki was curled up in the corner of her bed, hugging a pillow, her gaze distant and lonely, lost in thought.
"Mother, is she really alright?" Uesugi Chigenki asked her mother beside her.
Uesugi Chiaki shook her head, "I don't know either."
Uesugi Chiaki was puzzled.
Logically, now that the memory seal had been removed, her daughter should have recovered her memories.
Why was she still so dazed?
Though she was always a bit spacey before, she wasn't this bad.
"Leader, here's the information you requested," Haruna Sakurako said from behind the screen.
After receiving the documents, Uesugi Chiaki began reviewing them.
First, she saw a handsome ID photo - it was Su Ze.
It recorded Su Ze's background, though some important details were hidden. What she could see was only the information publicly available on the Forerunner website.
But the next page contained the extensive information that Haruna Sakurako had worked hard to collect about Su Ze.
It was very comprehensive, down to his ID card and ancestral history.
From his ID photo and life experiences, she could judge that he was a person of strong character and perseverance, and his stories of caring for his younger brother showed his gentleness.
The personal profiles on the Huaxia Organization's website usually included some small stories, verified by the person themselves and edited by executors before being posted online, to make the profiles more well-rounded.
"He's a child with a sad fate," Uesugi Chiaki closed the file.
He would also make a good husband who could be trusted for life - her younger daughter would probably not suffer if she married him.
She didn't say this out loud, but just looked at Uesugi Akizuki with a slight smile.
She had made a rough assessment of Su Ze's character.
Her younger daughter was already naive enough, and Uesugi Chiaki didn't want to drag her into these messy family affairs.
But the way things had developed gave Uesugi Chiaki a headache.
Uesugi Akizuki was already involved.
But if this Su Ze could protect, care for, and be one hundred percent good to her daughter.
Though she would be reluctant to part with her daughter, she would be willing to let them marry.
Her daughter's happiness was more important than anything else.
Uesugi Chigenki watched in confusion as her smiling mother walked toward Uesugi Akizuki, and was shocked by her mother's next words.
"Do you like Su Ze?"
Surprisingly, the little shrine maiden with wine-red hair first froze for a good while, then shook her head.
Uesugi Chigenki couldn't understand.
Her sister's feelings for Su Ze were obvious from the moment she saw them walking hand in hand.
If she didn't like him, why would she be crying like this?
Even with her memories restored, those feelings shouldn't have changed much.
After all, in the naive girl's memories, besides basic life knowledge, there was only eating, drinking, sleeping, gaming.
Of course, shopping was also one of her pleasures - she liked buying pretty trinkets to decorate her room.
However, whether her like for Su Ze was romantic love was another matter.
What confused Uesugi Chigenki further was that her little sister then nodded.
Uesugi Chigenki was completely bewildered - did she like him or not? What did the nodding and head-shaking mean?
It took Uesugi Chigenki's CPU several seconds to process her sister's actions and arrive at an answer.
But Uesugi Chiaki understood almost instantly, "He doesn't like you, is that it?"
After a moment of silence, Uesugi Akizuki nodded.
Uesugi Chiaki understood why her daughter hadn't been crying to see Su Ze after regaining her memories.
Because with her memories restored, she had figured some things out - you could say her system had updated, strengthening her awareness against deception.
Though not by much... well, at least it had improved somewhat.
Uesugi Akizuki thought Su Ze didn't want to have anything to do with her, which was why he wouldn't leave any contact information before parting.
She thought he had just taken care of her as a mission, and once they separated, his mission was complete.
What she didn't know was that Su Ze wanted to avoid involvement with the Rakshasa, not with her.
She had wanted to cry, but Su Ze had told her to think of herself and not cry, so she had been holding back her tears, though her eyes were red.
Uesugi Chiaki felt somewhat helpless.
Her daughter liked Su Ze, and if she caused trouble for Su Ze, she would become the villain in her daughter's eyes.
But it was also good - if Su Ze had liked Akizuki from the start, she would have worried that he was just after her daughter's body, fearing that he would play with her feelings and then abandon her.
Feelings could be cultivated - after all, who wouldn't come to like this adorable little shrine maiden?
Su Ze's qualities spoke for themselves - his features and height were excellent.
Though she was interested in Su Ze's background, these were just the Forerunner's official one-sided accounts and couldn't represent Su Ze's true character, so that needed further observation.
Uesugi Chiaki smiled, lovingly stroking her younger daughter's wine-red hair as she started crying again at the mention of Su Ze, "Su Ze doesn't dislike you - he actually did leave you his contact information."