IPC Chapter 34 Part 1: Crimson Flame Lion

Interstellar Power Couple

Translator: Leslie

Quality Check: Linn

Editor: Chesh

First Published on Chaleuria

Chapter 34 Part 1: Crimson Flame Lion

Xiao Zhicheng wasted no time in conveying Lei Jue’s decision. When the Zuo family heard that Lei Jue had agreed to come, they immediately sent someone to receive him. Zuo Zhihuan had also purposely announced that there was an important occasion at their residence, calling his own children to return home so that they may have the opportunity to rub shoulders with Xiao Lingyu and Lei Jue; especially Lei Jue. Zuo Zhihuan had met him before at the national assembly, and had a decent impression of him because of his gentle and soft-spoken nature. He did look a little weak on the surface, but he was mannerful in his actions, a reliable person indeed.

It was every parent’s wish that their own children would get to make friends with those who had influence. Zuo Zhihuan was no exception, and when you add in the fact that Lei Jue was both a wood elemental user and the spouse of Xiao Zhicheng’s son…. That was why he was filled with anticipation for this meeting, even if Lei Jue didn’t agree to heal him.

When Lei Jue and Xiao Lingyu first arrived at the Zuo residence and descended from their aircraft, they caught sight of Zuo Yan and Zuo Nian, who they had seen at Mount Rikalun. Lady Zuo had also personally come out to welcome them. As for the eldest, Zuo Qiu, and the second eldest, that scoundrel Zuo Feng, since they were still on the road, Lei Jue didn’t see them.

A scrap of disappointment flashed through Lei Jue’s heart, but he didn’t show it on his face. He leaned against Xiao Lingyu like a child leaning against their mother. As he listened to Xiao Lingyu introduce the lady of the Zuo family to him, he piped up in an obedient manner, “Nice to meet you, Auntie Zuo.”

Ding Yuwen wasn’t a particularly tall woman. Her beauty wasn’t one that made her appear gallant yet approachable, like Luo Yuling. This wife of a top military family resembled the traditional Jiangnan beauties that Lei Jue had seen before—beautiful in a classic way, but somewhat fragile. She had an air that made people want to pity and fawn over her.

“Nice to meet you, Little Lei. I apologize for troubling you to come all this way.” Ding Yuwen finished her words with a soft quirk of her lips and a slight nod towards Xiao Lingyu. “Lingyu has also become more handsome these past few years.”

“Auntie Zuo, you flatter me,” Xiao Lingyu said. “How is Uncle Zuo now?”

“Elder Ming came over a few days ago. Zuo Zhihuan was much better after that treatment, but he hasn’t been all that well these past two days. You’ll see for yourself when you meet him.” Ding Yuwen inwardly sighed. Although the two of them had been divorced before marrying each other, her feelings toward her husband were not a lie. Unfortunately for her, the two children she bore with him weren’t as powerful as they could have been, had she stayed married to her first husband. Her children’s future didn’t look that good, either. Her husband might still be alive, for the moment, but if he were to pass away one day, their children’s lives would become difficult. 

“Little Big Brother, I didn’t expect to see you again so soon,” Zuo Nian cut in with delight. “But I only knew you were coming when you’d almost gotten reached here. Otherwise, I would have made some of my famous golden shredded meat for you.”

“Huh? Little Nian, have you met Lei Jue before?” Ding Yuwen asked in surprise when she heard the words ‘see you again’.

“Oh, I did. He helped Third Brother—” Zuo Nian quickly shut her mouth, because her third brother had poked her. She knew it was so that their mother wouldn’t know about their injuries, so she changed the rest of what she was about to say. “Big Brother Little Lei helped Third Brother with something.”

“So that’s how it was. Little Lei, I am simply grateful.” Ding Yuwen didn’t question them any further, because there were some things she could figure out even without asking about it. After all, with her family background, what else would they need Lei Jue’s help with?

“It was only a small matter.” With that, Lei Jue followed her into the Zuo family’s main house. Its architectural style differed from that found in Northern Ling. The first thought that entered Lei Jue’s mind when he saw it was, why does it look like a tube with a cover on top?

In truth, it really did look somewhat like a tube with a cover on top. Of course, this was simply the building style. The Zuo residence was a tower. If you were to discount the conical, transparent top, it was a tube that was thick at the base yet slender on top. This ‘tube’ was about fifty to sixty meters in diameter at its thickest part. The entire structure was a brilliant grey, making it seem especially imposing. It was only when Lei Jue entered it that he realized there was a reason for its size; the Zuo family had placed their garden inside, so their house seemed gigantic from the outside. The transparent cone on the top was most likely to allow sunlight inside.

Lei Jue examined the place as he walked over to where Zuo Zhihuan was. Zuo Zhihuan was not in the living room, his bedroom, or the study. Instead, he was in a room that was fairly high up in the tower, high enough that Lei Jue was bothered by the heat when he entered. Following that thought, he saw a man with an ashen face and seemingly no strength left in his body. This person was not as well-built as Xiao Zhicheng, and, perhaps because he had been poisoned too severely, he looked to be in even worse shape than Xiao Zhicheng.

“Uncle Zuo, we’ve come to see you.” Xiao Lingyu’s acting skills were finally being put to use. He brought Lei Jue over and sat down near Zuo Zhihuan. “How are you feeling now?”

“It’s like what you see right now. Sometimes it’s better, sometimes it’s worse.” Zuo Zhihuan sighed and expended some strength to prop himself up a little. “It must have been a bother for you to come here.”

“It’s no trouble at all. When you put it that way, you’re making it seem like we’re complete strangers.” Xiao Lingyu patted Lei Jue’s hand. “Little Jue, hurry up and help Uncle Zuo recover.”

“Oh, alright.” Lei Jue placed the backs of his hands on top of Zuo Zhihuan’s own hands. “Uncle Zuo, please relax your body as much as you can.” Once he had finished speaking, he focussed on healing Zuo Zhihuan.

At first, Ding Yuwen was like Zuo Zhihuan. She hadn’t given much thought to it, and just figured that since he was an A-rank wood elemental ability user, his healing powers should be decent enough. But when the two of them saw the thick and sturdy web of green light extending from the back of Lei Jue’s hands and quickly creeping all over Zuo Zhihuan’s body, their eyes began to express shock. They realized that this child’s power was even stronger than Elder Ming’s. The green web of healing light was especially sturdy, as if it were filled to the brim with energy. Zuo Zhihuan could clearly sense that this child was way faster at healing than Elder Ming. In the blink of an eye, he no longer felt any of the fatigue that was plaguing him earlier. When Elder Ming had treated him, it took over half an hour for Zuo Zhihuan to feel the same effect.

Lei Jue had actually only used 30% of his power, because he had already been planning to split it into two rounds of treatment when he arrived.

That was why he stopped after a short while. He then said, “Uncle Zuo, Auntie Zuo, I need to rest for a bit before continuing.”

It was only then that Ding Yuwen slowly returned to reality. “Oh, okay—is it because you’re tired? Do you want something to eat?”

Even though she clearly knew that Lei Jue didn’t want for anything while being with the Xiao family, Ding Yuwen still couldn’t stop herself from presenting various food and drinks to Lei Jue.

Once the shock had worn off, Zuo Zhihuan saw that Lei Jue didn’t seem to be pleased with this.

He did his best to paste a more kindly smile on his face. “Little Lei, I’m really grateful that you came here personally.”

Lei Jue shook his head and returned to sit by Xiao Lingyu’s side. He was especially close to Xiao Lingyu, as if he would feel insecure without Xiao Lingyu by his side.

Xiao Lingyu gently stroked his head. “What’s wrong, do you feel a little unwell?”

Lei Jue shook his head again, then suddenly grabbed Xiao Lingyu’s hands. Anyone with eyes could now see that Lei Jue seemed to be somewhat afraid.

Zuo Zhihuan and Ding Yuwen shared a glance, as if they were asking each other, what is up with this child?

The atmosphere in the room suddenly became awkward. Then Ding Yuwen remembered that her daughter was on friendly terms with Lei Jue, so she hurriedly said, “That’s right. Little Nian, didn’t you say that you wanted to let Big Brother Little Lei taste your golden shredded meat? Since we still have some time, why don’t you make some for him?”

Zuo Nian immediately replied, “Sure, sure. Big Brother Lei, you must wait for me then!”

Lei Jue gave a slight nod. “Mm.”

It was only after that that Zuo Zhihuan came up with a new change of topic. “Little Lei and Little Nian know each other?”

“We met at Mount Rikalun. That’s right—” He looked at Zuo Yan, who hadn’t spoken since they’d greeted each other earlier. “Has your leg healed yet?” Lei Jue said.

Zuo Yan hadn’t expected that Lei Jue would suddenly speak to him, so he simply froze. “Thank you. It was already completely healed that day.”

Lei Jue nodded, and didn’t continue the conversation. However, Zuo Zhihuan’s curiosity was successfully piqued by this. “Little Yan, you hurt your leg before?”

Zuo Yan hadn’t wanted to let his parents know about this, but since the cat was already out of the bag, he could only say, “I hurt it by accident up on the mountain. I bumped into Lei Jue by chance that time, so he healed me before he left.”

Zuo Zhihuan was no fool; of course he wasn’t going to believe that his son had accidentally injured himself. Although this third son of his wasn’t as powerful as his brothers, be it in elemental power or physique, he still wasn’t so weak as to get hurt by accident on the mountain. Since he was more energetic due to Lei Jue’s healing, Zuo Zhihuan furrowed his brows. “How exactly did you get that injury?”

Zuo Yan truly didn’t want to sadden his mother. In addition to that, his father was a person who placed more importance on reputation. If anyone were to catch wind that certain members of his family had attempted fratricide, and weren’t as close-knit a family as others thought…. In any case, the outcome would not be pretty. So he said, “It got scratched when I was protecting Little Nian. It’s nothing.”

Lei Jue snorted inwardly. What a stubborn guy! Surely they weren’t just going to leave after he finished healing Zuo Zhihuan? That surely wouldn’t do!

Xiao Lingyu obviously had a moment of understanding with Lei Jue and turned to look at Zuo Yan. “Wasn’t that wound caused by a piercing ice bullet? How did it change to a scratch? Don’t you lie to my Little Jue. He’s an extremely naive person and will believe anything you tell him.”

Zuo Yan shot a dark glare at Xiao Lingyu, as if to say that no one would think he was mute even if he didn’t open his mouth.

Zuo Zhihuan was obviously not pleased by this. His son hadn’t refuted any of Xiao Lingyu’s words, so it was evident that it had happened. And this was at Mount Rikalun, which was under Southern Clearwater. He hadn’t died yet, so who in the world had dared open fire at his son?! More than likely, it was that narrow-minded, good-for-nothing second son of his!

However, Xiao Lingyu continued to speak as if he hadn’t seen Zuo Zhihuan’s expression. “You were lucky that you met my Little Jue that day, otherwise that wound of yours probably wouldn’t be anywhere close to recovered, even after a month.”

That was true, so Zuo Yan once again gave his thanks to Lei Jue.