Travel through time, and then establish an anomaly management bureau!

Page 20

Zhang Su's eyes sharpened instantly. He put down his teacup, stood up abruptly, and his gaze shot towards the door leading to the living room with lightning speed.

Almost simultaneously, the living room door was flung open with a loud bang!

Four figures, carrying the scent of the sea breeze, sweat, and anxiety, rushed in, panting heavily—three men and one woman! Their faces were flushed from running a long distance and filled with barely concealed terror. Their eyes immediately turned anxiously to Mingyuan, who was lying on the bench with blood at the corner of his mouth.

"Mingyuan! How are you?!" The middle-aged man with a kind face and wearing a sailor's jacket, who was at the front, hadn't finished speaking when he suddenly saw the bloodstains on Mingyuan's lips and his pale face. His voice changed.

"Brother!" Another tall, thin young man with features somewhat similar to Mingyuan rushed to the bench.

"Ah Yuan!" The middle-aged woman, dressed in an elegant long dress, with a stern face but now filled with worry, excitedly grasped Ming Yuan's hand.

The last person to enter was a sturdy, taciturn middle-aged man with sharp, eagle-like eyes. He immediately spotted Zhang Su, whose aura was completely different and whose expression was calm. He stopped abruptly, his sharp, hostile gaze instantly locking onto Zhang Su.

"Second Uncle, Third Uncle, Youngest Uncle, Aunt." Mingyuan looked at his familiar yet anxious relatives and called out their names weakly, forcing a reassuring smile. "You're finally back. It's good that you're back, it's good that you're back!"

His feelings at that moment were incredibly complex; he felt relieved to see his loved ones, but also filled with worry about their health.

Zhang Su met the hostile gaze with unwavering composure. He thought to himself that the Qiu family members had returned quite quickly; he had expected to wait much longer.

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Are there any readers currently following this story who could give the author a little encouragement? ┗( T﹏T )┛

Volume 1: Chapter 19 The Passing of Time: Family Disputes

Before the four members of the Qiu family could even confront Zhang Su, Mingyuan Qiu took the lead in explaining the current situation to them, clearly recounting the whole story from their initial encounter with Zhang Su to the urgent summons of them back home.

The four of them then understood what was going on.

But his four uncles and aunts—Yuanfeng, Yuanhai, Yuanping, and Yuanzhi—did not experience the elation or relief that Mingyuan had expected. Instead, they fell silent, their expressions complex and solemn, even... resistant.

Zhang Su, who was standing to the side, took in everyone's reactions and roughly guessed what was going on: "It seems that not all members of the Qiu family want to escape this 'curse'..."

As the eldest brother, Yuanfeng Qiu was the first to break the silence.

He looked at Zhang Su with apologetic eyes and said, "Lord Zhang Su, thank you for removing the curse from Mingyuan. The entire Qiu family is very grateful for this favor."

He bowed slightly and said sincerely, "Our previous gaze was offensive; we lost our composure in the heat of the moment. Please forgive us."

"It's alright." Zhang Su said calmly, waving his hand with a composed demeanor. "Being vigilant is a survival instinct; once the misunderstanding is cleared up, it's fine."

As he spoke, his gaze swept over the four people.

"However... judging from your expressions, it seems you are not entirely looking forward to 'removing the Tai Sui'?"

He pointed out the problem directly.

Yuanhai Qiu gave a bitter laugh and did not answer directly.

Yuanping Qiu subconsciously lowered her head, avoiding Zhang Su's gaze.

Yuanzhi Qiu frowned, his sharp gaze lingering on Zhang Su's face for a moment before he spoke, "Sir, it's not that we're ungrateful. It's just... this matter is of utmost importance, and seeing is believing. You said you removed the 'Black Tai Sui Embryo' from Mingyuan's body; could you allow us to see it with our own eyes?"

Yuanfeng Qiu: "Yes, Your Excellency Zhang Su. It's not that we don't trust you, but this matter concerns the life and death of our family, and we cannot afford to make any mistakes. Only if we can see it with our own eyes can we truly feel at ease."

Although Yuanping Qiu and Yuanhai Qiu did not speak out in agreement, their silence was tantamount to acquiescence.

Zhang Su nodded and said, "I understand. In that case, please take a look."

With a slight thought, the black tai sui reappeared in his palm the next instant.

"hiss……"

When that familiar 'aura' from the depths of their blood rushed towards them, the four extraordinary individuals from the Qiu family almost simultaneously gasped, their bodies tensing uncontrollably!

Yuanfeng Qiu's pupils suddenly contracted as he stared intently at the throbbing mass of flesh, as if he were seeing the nightmare lurking within his own body.

Yuanhai Qiu's Adam's apple bobbed, and his face instantly turned pale.

Yuanping Qiu subconsciously covered her mouth to prevent herself from making a sound.

Yuanzhi Qiu took a sudden step forward, his eyes like a scalpel, wanting to imprint every detail of the embryo into his mind.

No words are needed to explain this resonance, which stems from blood ties and curses; it is the most irrefutable proof.

“It’s true…” Yuanfeng Qiu’s voice trembled slightly, and he bowed deeply first. “Lord Zhang Su! Yuanfeng of the Qiu family, on behalf of the family, kowtows to thank you for your great kindness! Please forgive my previous rudeness!”

There was no longer a trace of doubt in his words, only heartfelt awe and gratitude.

Yuanhai Qiu and Yuanping Qiu followed suit, bowing almost simultaneously, their voices filled with excitement and lingering fear: "Thank you for saving my nephew, the Qiu family will never forget you!"

Yuanzhi Qiu finally lowered his head slowly and thanked him, saying, "Your methods are divine, Yuanzhi...is completely convinced! I apologize for my previous offense and ask for your punishment!"

Zhang Su nodded slightly, accepting their praise readily, and said, "There's no need for such formalities. Let's just take what we need."

When he had another thought, Tai Sui withdrew into the void.

The atmosphere in the living room seemed a little more relaxed, but the somber mood hadn't completely dissipated.

Looking at her empty palm, Yuanping Qiu subconsciously touched her abdomen, her tone filled with complex and unspeakable regret. She sighed softly to Yuanhai Qiu beside her, "Ah, if only the four of us had children now, we could be like Mingyuan and get rid of this curse."

Yuanhai Qiu nodded, his eyes also showing regret.

However, these words struck Mingyuan Qiu as odd.

The boy's excitement froze instantly. He looked abruptly at his aunt, then at the other three elders, his eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment: "Aunt? What are you talking about? Uncles? You can ask Lord Zhang Su to remove the Tai Sui for you right now! Once it's removed, your future younger siblings won't have Tai Sui in their bodies, right? Whether you have children now or not is completely irrelevant."

He looked anxiously at Yuanzhi Qiu, the uncle with the highest level of education and culture in the family, who was a senior teacher at a private high school, hoping that he would agree. However, he saw that Yuanzhi Qiu also had a furrowed brow and a heavy expression, and did not refute Aunt Yuanping's words.

Yuanzhi Qiu raised his head and looked at his intelligent but clearly not yet experienced in the ways of the world, nephew. He sighed deeply, his sigh filled with helplessness.

He said, “Mingyuan, you are a smart child, and I suppose you can guess what we are thinking… That’s right. We elders—including your father and the other four—do not want to remove the Tai Sui from our bodies, lose our supernatural abilities, and become ordinary people again.”

"Why?!" Mingyuan asked incredulously upon hearing this. "Haven't we always hated this curse? Now that we have a chance to get rid of it, why not?!"

"Because once we lose our power, our Qiu family's century-old foundation in Muyun Port will crumble in an instant!"

Yuanfeng Qiu pushed up his glasses, raised his voice, and said with a serious expression.

"Once we lose our supernatural abilities, it would be good if our family could fall to the common people! The most likely scenario is that we will be completely devoured by those forces that have been eyeing us for a long time—those white and brown people who covet our wealth and property—leaving no trace of us!"

"Impossible!" Mingyuan retorted vehemently, looking at Zhang Su as if seeking his approval. "Lord Zhang Su, aren't you right? As long as our knowledge, experience, and connections remain, our Qiu family will always be able to survive!"

"Even if we encounter extraordinary threats, we can still seek help from official organizations! The police station, the Church of Poseidon...aren't they the ones who maintain order? There's always a way to deal with any danger!"

Zhang Su did not answer. Although he was a time traveler and did not understand the social ecology of this world very well, there were always some underlying rules that were the same.

For example, the law of the jungle and the suppression of dissent.

At this moment, Yuanping Qiu also spoke up, saying, "A Yuan... you're thinking too simply. You're too naive."

She walked up to Mingyuan, gently placed her hands on his shoulders, looked directly into his confused and angry eyes, and spoke with a bittersweet tone, as if she had been through it all:

“If our Qiu family were not a rare breed, but rather of Caucasian or Brown race, then what you said would indeed be very likely to come true. With the protection of wealth, connections, and official order, the family could survive even without any superhumans.”

"But we are not."

“We are rare people! We are extremely rare in this Dusk Cloud Harbor, and even in the entire Calidor Empire! We have always been subjected to racial discrimination and exclusion!”

Yuan Ping's voice was sharp and mournful: "A rare family without the power to protect itself, possessing wealth? That's like a child walking down a busy street with a gold brick! Those white people, brown people, those greedy gangs, chambers of commerce, even... certain parasites disguised as officials, they will pounce on us like sharks smelling blood! Stealing, robbing, extortion... they will use every means to squeeze every last drop of blood from our Qiu family!"

"Our success today is due to the extraordinary power brought by the curse! If it weren't for that, our ancestors would probably have been beaten to death by the sticks and fists of other races on the very first day they set foot on this land! We wouldn't be where we are today!"

"Can you understand this cruel reality?!"

The cruel reality, like a cold tide, instantly drowned Mingyuan Qiu's last shred of hope. His face turned ashen, his lips trembled slightly, but the flame in the boy's eyes was not completely extinguished.

"Then...then we can use money to buy supernatural powers!" He almost gritted his teeth as he blurted out his last thought, "We can buy supernatural items to protect ourselves or buy potion recipes from other pathways! We can become superhumans from other pathways, so we can both break free of the curse and have the power to protect our family! Since we have money! Why not give it a try?!"

The living room fell into a deathly silence.

Yuanzhi Qiu looked at him, slowly shook his head, his eyes filled with a hint of pity, but even more so with an undeniable determination:

“Mingyuan, the fact that you can think of this shows that you are really thinking, which is good. But this will not work either.”

"First, truly powerful and intimidating extraordinary items are unimaginably expensive and extremely rare, far beyond the reach of someone at our level. Ordinary items? They're just a drop in the ocean, only increasing our covetousness."

"Secondly, potion recipes for other sequences? Have you forgotten that we are a rare race? We rare races have extremely strong resistance to all sequences except for the extraordinary sequences that are 'exclusive' to our race. The rate of us going out of control when taking potions that are not 'exclusive to rare races' is extremely high. Out of a hundred people, ninety-nine will fail! It's lucky if we don't mutate into monsters on the spot but die!"

Even if he succeeds as one of the rare lucky ones, he cannot fully unleash the potential of this sequence potion; at most, he can only reach 30%! This is because these potions always resist rare individuals!

"We taught you this when you were little, how could you forget it now?"

“Third,” Yuanzhi’s voice was like a heavy hammer, shattering Mingyuan’s last hope, “even if we don’t have bloodline restrictions, can use extraordinary potions other than those exclusive to rare people, and successfully transform into extraordinary beings of other sequences… so what?”

How long will the period of transition be after we lose our power and regain it, and then readjust? A year? Two years? During this time, who will protect the Qiu family? Will those watchful enemies allow us this 'weak period'?

He glanced around at his siblings, his gaze finally settling on Zhang Su before returning to Mingyuan's face, and concluded decisively:

"Therefore, there is only one answer. The 'Black Tai Sui' within us is the foundation of our Qiu family, our strength, and also our...destiny. We will never give it up until we find a foolproof path that will allow us to remain unscathed even after losing 'it'!"

"Power is the foundation upon which our Qiu family survives on this land! Without power, everything is in vain!"

Yuanzhi's words were like a final judgment. The flame in Mingyuan Qiu's eyes was finally extinguished, leaving only bewilderment and a sense of powerlessness crushed by the overwhelming reality.

He opened his mouth, but could not utter a single word, and could only slump his head in despair.

Zhang Su took it all in without batting an eye.

Dependence on curses, racial dilemmas, fragility of order... this is the underlying nature of this world.

The words of these four elders of the Qiu family all expressed their helplessness in the face of survival; they had no other choice.

The boy's face completely lost its color. He understood that his uncle's analysis was piercing and reasonable.

The exorbitant prices for powerful and extraordinary items are unattainable, and the potion recipes are strongly resisted by their rare race. Once the family loses its extraordinary power, those covetous jackals will surely tear the Qiu family to shreds.

“Strength…is the foundation of survival…” Mingyuan murmured, repeating Yuanzhi’s final conclusion, and slumped back in his chair, as if his spine had been removed.

Zhang Su, who had been quietly observing, took in all the struggles within the Qiu family and Yuan Zhi's rational analysis.

He had come to a deeper understanding of the Qiu family elders' choice—in this world filled with racial discrimination and power worship, rare families who had lost their extraordinary powers were indeed like lambs to the slaughter.

The "potion resistance" mentioned by Yuanzhi was a crucial piece of intelligence, further sealing off the possibility of the Qiu family changing their sequence.

Zhang Su's gaze swept over Yuanfeng, Yuanhai, Yuanping, and Yuanzhi, and he analyzed in his heart: "The natural aversion of rare races to non-exclusive pathway potions... This explains why the Church of the True God and the Calidor Empire were lenient towards this rare family with six extraordinary members and did not cause them any trouble. It turns out that it was not that they did not want to interfere, but that they knew that they could only reach Sequence 8 at most, and could not jump to other pathways, so they could not cause any trouble at all."

"Hmm... Kick the neighbor (four) 6 Ni ba Er b:a.{It's an interesting gap in survival."

Zhang Su nodded slightly, the underlying logic of this world becoming clearer in his mind.

But a new doubt arose in his mind: what about the spouses of the four elders of the Qiu family? They were all approaching or already middle-aged; surely they weren't married yet?

In the era before he transmigrated, it was normal for people to remain unmarried in middle age or to stay single for life, but in this world, things are different.

Thinking of this, he asked again: "Excuse me for asking, are any of you married? Do you have spouses? If so, where are they right now? Why weren't they summoned home with you? And do they have any 'Tai Sui' inside them?"

This unexpected question caught them all off guard.

Yuan Yue/Yiqi ($:two|) Sanqiu Siji VII Chan Sizhi Qiu replied on behalf of the group: "Thank you for your concern. They are all currently at their respective workplaces or in safe places. As for Tai Sui... they don't have it in their bodies."

"The 'bloodline talisman' we used before was essentially powered by the Tai Sui within us. Only those who share the extraordinary power of Tai Sui can sense and respond to this special bloodline call. Our wives and husbands are ordinary people; they do not possess the power of Tai Sui within them, so they cannot receive the call and therefore cannot return."

"As for the parasitism of Tai Sui, it only follows one clear rule—it only chooses to parasitize descendants with the bloodline of the Qiu family, and never oversteps its bounds to meddle with its spouse. No matter how close the relationship between the two parties is, or how 'intimate' their bodies are..."

As he finished speaking, his voice trailed off, sounding somewhat embarrassed.

Zhang Su said, "I see. So this is the rule for the inheritance of your Qiu family's 'curse'? It is only passed down to descendants and not to spouses... This does leave a trace of warmth for you."

Yuanping Qiuqing said with relief, "Yes, if even our loved ones are afflicted by this evil thing and turn into monsters after they turn seventy, then we would rather die than find a spouse! Even if we were to find one... we would only find someone we don't love, someone we have no feelings for, someone purely a tool to continue our bloodline. At least that way, our consciences wouldn't hurt so much."

This stark, survival-driven choice is both cruel and real.

Zhang Su remained silent for a moment, and finally just sighed softly, neither agreeing nor criticizing.

In this situation, moral judgment seems so pale and powerless.

As Mingyuan Qiu listened to the conversation between his elders and Zhang Su, the despair in his heart surged like a cold tide, wave after wave.

He understood, he understood completely. His uncles and aunts were right, and his father must have thought the same thing.

The burden of continuing the family line and surviving... left them with no other choice.

His so-called "ideal solution" crumbles in the face of cold reality.

Could it be that... his elders are really destined to accept this cursed fate? Like their ancestors, will they struggle in their old age under the torment of the Grand Duke Jupiter, ultimately waiting to become monsters?

A profound sense of powerlessness and grief welled up in his chest, almost suffocating him.

And then—"Bang!"

A loud bang came from downstairs as if a door had been opened!

Another series of hurried, frantic footsteps rushed up to the second floor!