Chapter 242: Not Letting Any Lee Go!

Chapter 242: Not Letting Any Lee Go!

When Ling'er felt my fingers running through her hair, she opened her eyes. The softness of her strands slid between my knuckles as she looked up.

"Rick, are we still here?" Her voice was thick with sleep, blinking against the light. "I feel like I slept for two years?"

I leaned down, pressing a gentle kiss against her adorable forehead. My hand reached for the table, grabbing her cosmetic glasses and sliding them into her hands.

"Nope, just two hours." A smirk tugged at my lips as I sat back. "But I think Sam was in the slammer for two years, haha?"

Ling'er wrapped her arms around my neck, pulling me down into a fierce hug. Her grip tightened with enough force to bend a steel lamppost, a natural byproduct of our Body Refinement Realm base strength.

"So when I go to backup Sea Temple in the dark, what cosplay outfit do you want me to wear this time?" She teased, her breath warm against my neck.

"Why in the world do you like wearing flashy suits?" I sighed, looking at her with a serious expression. "You don't need to help Logan Chen fight. Just be there in case a strong Grandmaster shows up. You will have a few members of God Squad to serve under you."

Ling'er shifted, straddling my lap with an easy, fluid motion. She reached out, poking the tip of my nose playfully. "Firstly, you and I both know you secretly love my cosplay," she said, her eyes gleaming. "Secondly, if Snow Temple really betrays us like you think they will, I need to keep Sea Temple from losing too many men. Now, should I go for a magical girl or a movie character, fufu?"

Her fingers slid down to the fastenings of our clothes, unbuckling them for our next round of Dual Cultivation practice. Only one specific magical girl came to mind that matched Ling's exact look, raising my curiosity. "You aren't going to dress up as her, are you? That one from Earth?"

Beds were completely out of the question for our cultivation sessions due to the raw power we released. I scooped Ling'er up into my arms, her legs wrapping tightly around my waist as I carried her out of the room. We walked down the hallway toward the reinforced shower room floor we used specifically to avoid smashing furniture to pieces.

She rested her chin on my shoulder, her cheeks dimpling with a cute smile as she nodded. "Yup, that one, fufu." Her playful tone shifted, her voice turning serious as she looked up at me. "Rick, on a serious note, before we leave, you and I need to make our breakthroughs in the forest or mountains to reach the Golden Core Realm. We have been forcing down the Chi Refining Realm for too long, and it is time to breakthrough."

I looked down into her blue-grey eyes, which were already twinkling with mischief again as she held onto me like a koala.

"Why?" I asked, smoothing a hand over her back. "You said doing that would draw too much attention to us with the environmental damage to the area, and we would be discovered?"

She tapped her finger against my forehead, scolding me like a strict teacher dealing with a slow student. "Dummy, that is why I said the mountains or forest. Now that the big fight is coming, the Lee will move on you anyway, right? And anyone following us when we breakthrough deserves to die, so now is perfect for us."

By the time my feet hit the tiles of the large bathroom, her fingers had already stripped away most of our remaining clothes. Slipping into the water, she pulled me close, and we plunged straight into our lovemaking, our minds shifting instantly into the rhythm of cultivation.

As we exchanged our Chi in deep, rhythmic waves, my mind drifted to her words about the Golden Core Realm.

In a nutshell, the transition would compress all the loose, liquid Chi in our bodies, forcing it down into a highly efficient, solid dantian pill state. Instead of running dry after just one or two hours of full Chi mode before needing rest, we would be able to operate continuously for up to twenty-four hours straight.

The danger lay in crossing that specific barrier from Chi refining to Golden Core. A massive, violent burst of supernatural power would explode from our bodies the exact moment the core solidified. It acted exactly like an atmospheric electromagnetic pulse burst, capable of frying every single unprotected electronic device within a ten-mile radius, which made isolated wilderness an absolute necessity.

An hour later, the water had settled, and we stepped out of the bathroom into the Velvet Tower main office. Fully dressed and completely refreshed, the lingering energy of our cultivation hummed beneath our skin.

I walked over to the heavy desk, picking up a thick stack of documents and handing them over to her. "Alright Miss Ling, here are the travel plans for the SEG filming lineup for Entertainment Tonight's live filming of Adam Lee's Yellow Emperor awakening farce."

Her eyes scanned the pages, her gaze darting across the text with inhuman speed as she processed the text.

"It says both Ana Zi and Kate Tang will be hosting live that evening?" She looked up, frowning slightly. "Are they really coming to Central with us?"

I nodded once, then shook my head with a heavy sigh. "Kate isn't going. Lan Chow is taking her place and will protect Ana, who demanded I let her go despite the danger."

Ling'er tilted her head to the side, shifting through the next page. "Is Jean Jia going also? She is kinda useless, right?"

A smirk spread across my face as I leaned over, pointing directly at the attached photograph of Jean Jia. "I asked Jean Jia to grow her hair out for the past year and to wear red-framed glasses. Look at who she looks like if she dresses down."

Ling'er stared at the photo, her eyes widening as a knowing look flashed across her face. "Fuck, you made her start dressing like Lucy Shen over the last year, just so you could bring Lucy with us?!"

I gave her a sharp thumbs-up, and she nodded in approval. Since Ling'er was traveling under the guise of the vice president of SEG, our identities would easily bypass the Central government's heavy blockade around the event site.

"Rick, your name isn't in this roster? How are you coming with?" She held up the papers, pointing at the empty slot.

I leaned over her shoulder, my finger tapping against the name of a cameraman listed on her sheet. "I will pretend to be this guy till Raymond Lee is dealt with, then I will just be myself when we arrive in Central. They won't dare act with the world media watching, especially with our actors playing as the Political Lee." My smile turned cold, the thought of Raymond's upcoming death burning in my chest.

Ling'er waved the paperwork in the air to dry the ink, stepping toward the door and throwing a playful kiss over her shoulder. "Alright Boss Tang, fufu. I will go file this with Central via online faxing."

The door clicked shut behind my cultivation Dao Companion, leaving the office silent. I reached into my pocket, pulling out my smartphone to check for missed messages. Seeing the screen lit up with alerts, I selected the most urgent number and dialed Luke Fu.

The call connected instantly, his gruff voice vibrating through my earpiece. [Leader, I called to remind you about the meeting at the Country Club, cough.]

I walked over to the wide glass window, looking down from the thirty-ninth floor. My eyes scanned the sprawling streets stretching toward the southwest of Star City. "Are you with Star City leader Jasmin Rin, and did she ask you to call?"

A muffled rustling came through the line as someone shifted, followed by Luke's sheepish voice.

[Leader, it is like this... It is time for your monthly inspection of the Country Club, and Sister Rin will join us like normal, cough.]

I raised my free hand, rubbing my temples to ward off the oncoming headache. Just like with Gretta Yang, this woman was relentless. I had promoted her from a simple manager of the Country Club to West-side Manager, and finally to City Manager, but her personal pursuit of me never stopped. For years, every member of the Fire Birds had whispered that she was my secret mistress, mostly because she openly told anyone who would listen that she belonged entirely to me.

I looked back out at the bustling city below, clearing my throat. "Tell her I will come for dinner with the both of you, because we actually have important work to do in the next two weeks. Tell Jasmin to behave and I will join you guys for dinner tonight."

A sudden scuffle broke out on the other end of the line as the phone was forcefully wrestled away from Luke's hand. A moment later, the smooth, sultry voice of Jasmin Rin filled the earpiece.

[Thanks Leader, haha. I know you're very busy, and I won't take too much of your time... It just has been a while is all.]

I shook my head, a small smile breaking through my annoyance anyway. "We had a meal last month, like every other month. Hey, this meeting is serious, alright?"

I could hear her breathing shallowly on the other end, trying and failing to suppress her sheer excitement. [But... Last time was not private? That doesn't count... Besides, I know where you are going is dangerous this time, and I am worried for you, Leader.]

"Alright, give Luke back his phone. He did his job and called for you, geez... Drinking with you back then was not smart, was it?" Well, it was back when I could still get tipsy.

[Leader, it was innocent, really! We didn't even cross that line, fufu. But I am still waiting, for five long years... Bye.]

The line clicked as she handed the device back, and Luke's voice returned, completely defensive and innocent. [Boss, I married her little sister. I have no choice but to help Big Sis Rin, okay?!]

I sighed, remembering the family web. Crazy Hummer Fu has two wives, and it was Jasmin herself who had orchestrated the marriage between her younger sister and Luke back when I appointed him West-side Manager. Jasmin knew I genuinely liked Luke as a brother, and because she always looked for ways to stay close to me, she had tied her family directly to his.

"Luke, I understand... Just don't bail on me out of nowhere, got it?" I gripped my phone tighter, my knuckles whitening as I warned him.

When I heard what he did, my lip twitched with sheer disbelief at his audacity.

[Boss Rick, can you hear me? The connection is bad... Click, do do do...] Luke's voice cracked nervously through the earpiece right before he cut the line to escape the awkward conversation.

While I stared at the dead screen, Lucy came strolling into my office with a confident sway. Her high clearance level meant she had full permission to bypass the secretaries outside without a second glance.

Lucy gave me a winning smile while she held our baby, Valentine Shen, who the family affectionately just called Val.

"I just fed him, and he literally shit on my way to see you, haha," Lucy said sheepishly, clearing her throat with a guilty little laugh after handing him over. The instant his weight settled against my chest, the unmistakable smell of a fresh, poop-filled diaper hit my nose, causing me to glare right at her.

"I overheard... It seems you got Country Club kidnapped again, right? That Luke is so funny." Lucy watched me carry Val straight toward the bathroom changing station I had installed in the corner for my many children.

"Rick, did I ever tell you that you look the most handsome when changing diapers? Ufufu," she teased, stepping up beside me and handing me a fresh diaper. "Don't worry, Val will potty train fast. He is a genius."

I smiled back at Lucy, shaking my head because I knew damn well what she had actually done. While sitting in her own office listening in to my phone call, she had undoubtedly smelled the dirty diaper and used it as the perfect excuse to run right into my arms. Still, this playful, calculating nature was just part of her undeniable charm as a woman and a mother.

Lucy was actually incredibly good at raising our child, but she never missed a single opportunity to force a bonding moment between Val, me, and herself.

"Are you sure you want to come to Central with us?" I asked, pinning the clean diaper into place before lifting our son back up. "Don't you want to hack from home where it's safe?"

Lucy pressed another warm kiss against my lips, carefully taking Val back into her own arms and leaning her body heavily into mine.

"I want to see Big Rick... It has been far too long," she said, her voice turning deeply serious as her grip tightened on my shirt. "I spent lots of time with my father, but I miss seeing my brother. I also want to watch you get revenge for our family, Rick. So yes, I have to go with."

Looking into her deep blue eyes, they told me a completely different story. She wasn't going to Central for her brother or her father at all; she just refused to let me out of her sight for even a second. Yandere women truly were incapable of being completely honest about their attachments.

"Good," I said, leaning in to kiss her lips one final time before reaching over to grab my car keys off the desk. "I can't do it without my Lucy Shen at my side. I need to leave for a Fire Birds meeting with Luke now."

As Lucy walked beside me toward the door, she suddenly leaned in close to my ear, her voice dropping to a wicked whisper. "Just fuck her already. She is technically Luke's sister, and you have strung her along for years... I like Jasmin, fufu. Plus, she never told anyone about the blowjobs she gave you back then, haha... Okay, don't glare at me, bye!"

Watching Lucy instantly flee down the corridor toward the safety of the computer department, I could only shake my head. Turning on my heel, I headed straight for the private elevators, bracing myself to get ready for dinner with two incredibly crazy Fire Birds.