I've set up a Glossary!!!
*Check out 'Advanced Tasker' in the Glossary before this. Also check out Mental Fortitude and Anti-Realm of Realms. You can choose not to but you'd have an easier time understanding the general scope of things if you do. :) XoXo.
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He Yuan woke up as usual, bottle fed the twins and watched as the wet nurse and a servant cleaned them up. Unlike what everyone in the Han home thought, he'd actually overheard their conversation in the dining hall two weeks ago and was aware that not only was Han Tao returning this very morning, Chen Meili's ultrasound would also be carried out today.
He planned to go over to the hospital feigning sickness. Next, he would 'coincidently' run into the Hans there and 'find out' Chen Meili was pregnant.
"Mrs. Xu, we're all done." The servant said and transferred the twins into their sleeping cot, before going to sit on the bean bag next to the window whilst the wet nurse left the room.
"Haarr... Ahh..."
In the cot, both babies were wide awake and flailing their arms everywhere. At almost 5 months old, they were much bigger and very active.
Just last week, He Yuan had gotten the returns from his investments and had gotten a duplex apartment with two bedrooms and a guestroom in city Y. The location was more remote but with a good car, it would be easy to commute to and fro the school when the twins where old enough to begin.
Depending on how well things went today, the divorce should be finalized in about a day or two and him and the twins would be moving into the house.
He Yuan grabbed a rattle and shook at the twins.
Xu Cai giggled happily -showing a single growing tooth in his upper gum- and stiffly waved his arms whilst Xu Xiaoli whimpered softly and outstretched his small arms towards the toy.
The corners of He Yuan's lips subsconsciouly lifted and he shook the rattle some more.
Next to the window, the servant lady watched the interaction with a smile before something caught her eye and she looked out the window. "Ah? Young master Tao is back."
He Yuan lifted his head and walked over to the window. There, he spotted Han Tao -still in his police uniform- advancing towards the mansion with a spring in his step. One didn't need a soothsayer to know the source of the man's excitement.
He'd been of the idea that Han Tao was going to meet up with everyone else at the hospital and that was why he'd been olann6on going over to the hospital. Turns out he'd underestimated how eager the man was to see the woman pregnant with 'his child.'
He Yuan turned to the servant. "Call the wet nurse over and the both if you look after my boys. I'll be back in a while." And then he took a peek at the babies before walking out.
In Han Jinhai's family wing;
The Reaper who had taken over Chen Meili's body, Zhou Qi, was putting finishing touches to Chen Meili's appearance before the full length mirror. Besides her and seated on the dresser was an eye catching man dressed in a shiny green suit with green hair and slanted eyes. Her system, Mao Zi.
"This special one's appearance is not bad but a bit lacking," Mao Zi said with a drawl in his voice as he eyed Chen Meili up and down in disinterest.
A smirk came upon Chen Meili's face. "Of course. You're used to being around me so naturally every other female would look subpar."
The system rolled his eyes and he went on to the next topic. "Who do you think the Tasker is?"
Zhou Qi frowned. Things were a little off in this realm. Reapers were an existence that countered the work of Taskers so whilst Taskers aimed to reduce the luck of the special ones and bring balance to a realm, Reapers did the exact opposite of that.
Reapers thrived off of chaos and destruction and the broken strands of a Task realm was what fueled the functioning of their souls.
Normally, Taskers only encountered Reapers when they had reached the Advanced level and one peculiar thing about Advanced level Taskers was the fact that they no longer needed to take over the body of a leaser in order to enter a realm.
This meant that all the Taskers Zhou Qi had ever encountered since she became a Reaper were all Advanced Taskers who had manifested a physical body in the task realms.
Although it was Impossible for the inhabitants of a Task realm to notice the sudden appearance of an Advanced Tasker in their lives, as a Reaper, Zhou Qi had access to the original timeline and knew who was meant to be here and who was not.
This was why she was confused. The current state of things had deviated from how it went in the original timeline but after going through Chen Meili's memories over and over again, she had been unable to spot any unfamiliar figure.
So where was the Advanced Tasker and how exactly had they been able to seamlessly manipulate things to this extent from the shadows?
Zhou Qi absentmindedly completed Chen Meili's appearance with a wool scarve around her neck before turning to her system. "We don't know who the Tasker is yet so the best thing to do would be to lay low and not alert them of our presence.
-if they're able to achieve this much without even showing themselves then it's best not to act rashly."
Mao Zi clicked his tongue before nodding and demateralizing.
Zhou Qi checked out herself one more time in the mirror before walking out of the room.
On the second floor of the Han mansion;
He Yuan had just left Han Tao's family wing and was about to go down the stairs leading to the living room when 888's voice suddenly came through,
[Something doesn't feel right.]
He Yuan frowned. "What do you mean?"
888 pursed his lips for three seconds before saying, [I'm getting weird energy signals coming from Chen Meili's wing.]
The hand that was just about to hold the banister froze and He Yuan turned around to stare at the entrance to Chen Meili's wing with a confused frown.
At that moment, Chen Meili walked out of her family wing and 888 quirked a brow. The source of the energy was... The special one?
On the other hand, as soon as Mao Zi laid eyes on Xu Lifen, his eyes narrowed. [Stop.]
Zhou Qi froze immediately with a confused frown.
Although both systems were unable to probe themselves, their hosts were a different issue. Both systems scrutinized the opposite side for a while before saying into the minds of their hosts at the same time,
[A Reaper?]
[An Intermediate Tasker?]
He Yuan's frown deepened. "What's a Reaper?"
888 cursed. In the Soul realm, everything was sectioned off into levels -even information. This meant that since his host was not yet an Advanced Tasker, certain information was not meant to be disclosed to him.
Since his host had already encountered a Reaper, it couldn't count as breaking the rules so he he quickly gave a quick rundown of what Reapers were and what role they played.
He Yuan tilted his head slightly. "If a Tasker is only meant to encounter a Reaper at the Advanced level. What is with this situation?"
888 adjusted his glasses and answered in a steady voice, [I have no idea what's going on but I need you to get out of here. Reapers are meant to go against Taskers at the Advanced level and above. You're an Intermediate Tasker. I don't need to explain how disadvantaged we are right now.]
On the opposite side, Zhou Qi's brows lifted in surprise. An Intermediate Tasker? "Are you sure?"
Mao Zi rolled his eyes to the back of his head. "What do you take me for? I've been in this game longer than you, do you think I'm an idiot?"
Zhou Qi tsked. "I didn't say that. I'm just surprised. I've never encountered an Intermediate Tasker before. So this is the reason we weren't able to figure out who the Tasker was? It turns out they were in a Leaser's body all along."
She scrutinized Xu Lifen's body from head to toe. This was the Leaser? She'd seen the original timeline and in her opinion, this Xu Lifen was one whiny bitch. Yes, the special one had shamelessly snatched the husband of this Xu Lifen, the twins and even had the inheritance given to her own son in the end but so what?
If she, Zhou Qi, was in Chen Meili's shoes then she also would've done the same thing! She wasn't pretentious so if she wanted a man, who cared if he was married or not?
What mattered to her was her own goal and she was willing to do everything to achieve that. Call her selfish but she didn't care. Why was it her place to be considerate towards others? Why should she give a damn about the feelings of others?
Not everyone was meant to be nice and no one was entitled to being treated nicely by other people! The world wasn't all roses and chocolates. If everyone was nice then there would be no crimes in the world but, surprise surprise, crimes existed! People did horrible things to other people. Reality was fucked, shit happens, move on!
Xu Lifen could only blame herself for being weak and easily manipulated!
"Hehe." Zhou Qi giggled and with a wave of Chen Meili's hand a long whip appeared in her hand. Next to her, her system, Mao Zi, materialized with weird combination of a wide smile and raised brows.
888 cursed again. The whip in the Reaper's hand appeared formless -as if she was holding a long string of light but he knew just how powerful these kinds of manifested weapons were. They wouldn't leave a single mark on the physical body but could practically fry a soul into nonexistence.
His host hadn't cultivated his mental fortitude yet so he was currently unable to create the kind of weapon that the Reaper had and as for him, his level as a system was dependent on his host's level.
His next upgrade was when He Yuan became an Advanced Tasker so... He eyed the green clad man next to the Reaper... It was highly possible that he was no match for the opponent's system with his current strength.
Despite this, 888 also materialized next to his host with a calm and aloof appearance that he did not feel.
Zhou Qi flexed her whip and eyed 888. The silver haired man was wearing a black dress shirt, black pants and black boots. He stood next to his host with his hands in his pockets and a confident bearing.
Her eyes went from his smooth forehead to his alluring eyes, to slightly full lips and finally to his slender but powerful frame. Ah~ He was just her type. Too bad...
Next to his host, Mao Zi had a contemplative look on his face. Why did he feel that this system was familiar? He went through his thoughts and just as he was about to give up, a certain memory flashed through his mind.
Mao Zi's eyes widened and his body trembled from shock. He had lived for over a thousand years and had changed hosts countless number of times but even then, he could never forget those cerulean blue eyes and silvery white hair.
"He-" He quickly caught himself from speaking out loud and telepathically told his host instead, [He's... He's a First generation system!]
Zhou Qi frowned and sent back impatiently, [What's that?]
Mao Zi's throat felt clogged. He'd wondered why they would suddenly encounter an Intermediate Tasker in Task realm. Who knew things weren't so simple? What was the other side up to? Why would a First generation system be with a mere intermediate Tasker? What was special about this realm that would require a whole First generation system to appear undercover like this?!
The worst part was that it wasn't just any First generation system. It was this demon they'd sent!
Mao Zi shakily gulped down his fear and sent to his host, [Zhou Qi, we need to go!]
Zhou Qi frowned. [For what?!]
Mao Zi grit his teeth. [There's no time to explain! I can assist you to take on an Advanced Tasker, I can stretch my limits and try to contend against an Ultra Tasker but I dare not go against a First generation System. These demons were created with the very essence of Chaos in their bones!
-Do I look suicidal to you?!]
With that, Mao Zi dematerialized and directly returned to the Anti-Realm of Realms.... Leaving his host behind.
Zhou Qi's eyes widened when she no longer her felt her system. This was her third task realm as a Reaper. Mao Zi had been in the Anti-Realm of Realms longer than she ever will be. Something that could frighten Mao Zi so much...
Her hands trembled as she looked at 888 with steadily growing fear. The weapon in her hand dissipated and then ignoring the soul searing pain,
"UGHAAHHH!"
Zhou Qi painfully extracted herself from Chen Meili's body and left the realm.
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