Chapter 102: A Candlelit Dinner with My Wife

Zhang Changlin stared at Du Fang, oblivious to the cigarette ash sliding from the corner of his mouth.

His brows drew together, folding into a deep furrow.

“Little Du, you’re not joking, are you?” Zhang Changlin asked gravely.

There was a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster outside Jiangling City…

Was this some kind of joke?

How terrifying would a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster be? Even Jiangling City would have great difficulty dealing with three city-destroying-class powerhouses.

Once a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster erupted, all of Jiangling City would likely be reduced to ashes in an instant.

“The Black Dragon King said that the Dream Disaster can move and is extremely difficult to detect. There’s even a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster entity stationed within it…” Du Fang said.

Zhang Changlin rubbed his brow. With one hand on his waist, he paced back and forth restlessly.

“If this is true, then it’s truly a thorny problem…”

“Go back to the base first. I’ll go find the president. This matter… must be reported to him. After all, a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster is lurking outside Jiangling City. The threat concerns the lives of millions of people throughout the entire city!” Zhang Changlin said solemnly.

Du Fang nodded, then turned and led Luoluo away from the top floor, returning to the Wildfire Squad’s base.

Zhang Changlin hurriedly lit another cigarette and ran toward the president’s office.

…

…

Du Fang returned to the Wildfire Squad’s base.

Since he had not gone home the previous night and had slept directly at the base, he did not need his assistant to pick him up today.

His assistant, Su Xiaoyu, had also arrived at the base early.

Compared with her usual lively and cheerful self, the assistant seemed somewhat dazed today. Sitting on the sofa with a cup of hot tea in her hands, she looked as though her mind were somewhere else entirely.

“Daydreaming?” Du Fang asked after glancing at her.

The assistant waved her hand. “Don’t bother me.”

But the moment she finished speaking, she suddenly felt her scalp prickle. She whipped her head around, and the focus returned to her eyes.

“Ah! Brother Du!”

The assistant sprang to her feet, her face instantly flushing crimson.

“What are you doing? Why are you acting so startled?” Du Fang asked, speechless.

The assistant’s eyes darted about. Whenever she thought of how her grandfather had asked her last night to invite Du Fang to dinner at their home, she felt extremely awkward.

She simply could not bring herself to say the invitation aloud.

Still, she was a straightforward girl. After struggling internally for half a minute, she finally gathered her courage and opened her mouth to invite him.

But a moment later, she covered her face again.

This was so embarrassing.

Inviting a boy home for dinner… somehow, it felt strange.

Du Fang looked helplessly at the assistant, whose inner drama appeared to be remarkably elaborate.

He could not be bothered to waste any more time, so he turned and headed toward the training room.

The assistant lowered her hands after covering her face, only to discover that Du Fang had disappeared. Her expression darkened, and she hurried after him.

“Xiaoyu, if there’s something you want to say, just say it,” Du Fang said helplessly.

The assistant pressed her lips together and glanced around the training room at Chen Xi, Su Jiuming, Si Nan, Zhao Lu, and the others.

Suddenly, a light bulb seemed to illuminate her mind.

She looked at Du Fang and grinned.

“Brother Du, I’ve been following you and staying with the Wildfire Squad all this time, and I’ve learned quite a lot here. My grandfather wants to thank all of you, so he specifically asked me to invite everyone from Wildfire to our home for dinner.”

The assistant felt that she was truly clever.

Inviting Brother Du alone counted as an invitation. Inviting the entire Wildfire Squad, with Brother Du hidden among them, also counted as an invitation.

Du Fang raised a brow.

“So that’s all it was?”

“Of course you can,” he said naturally. There was no reason to refuse.

The old man was probably only hosting a dinner at home to thank them—and, incidentally, ask them to take good care of Su Xiaoyu.

When Si Nan heard that there would be food, she immediately came over, her fiery red hair blazing as she hooked an arm around Su Xiaoyu’s neck and began asking questions.

“Everyone should come,” the assistant said brightly.

Holding a white rose, Su Jiuming smiled faintly. “Captain Zhang may not have time.”

“It’s fine if Captain Zhang doesn’t come. Brother Du coming is enough,” the assistant said bluntly.

Su Jiuming fell silent.

Old Zhang, the world is not worth it.

…

…

One helicopter after another spun its rotors, tearing through the air as it sped toward the outskirts of Jiangling City.

They circled constantly around the city’s perimeter, conducting repeated searches.

For nearly the entire day, helicopters remained in the skies outside Jiangling City.

In addition, military trucks drove toward the outskirts, sweeping across the area in a carpet search.

Dream Ferrying Tower.

The president’s office.

Zhang Changlin held a cigarette between his lips, his face grave. President Tang Nai stood leaning on his cane, waiting as well.

One message after another came through on the phone.

Wen Ji, wearing sunglasses and pretending to look cool, glanced over the information before turning toward President Tang Nai.

“President, the results from the search teams sent outside Jiangling City are in…”

“There were no abnormalities and no fluctuations from any Dream Disaster.”

“The head of the detection team reported that a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster could not possibly exist there. If one did, the Dream Spirit fluctuations produced by such a disaster would be impossible to conceal.”

Wen Ji spoke in a solemn tone.

Tang Nai nodded without saying anything.

Zhang Changlin frowned. “That doesn’t make sense. Du Fang said that the Black Dragon King encountered a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster outside Jiangling City and obtained a Forbidden Artifact from within it.”

“Moreover, he used that Forbidden Artifact to arrange a dual-layer Dream Disaster inside Jiangling City, with the purpose of nourishing the artifact.”

“A Heavenly Demon Dragon King has no reason to lie.”

Tang Nai stroked his cane. On this point, he agreed with Zhang Changlin.

“But now, our search teams have used every professional instrument for detecting Dream Disasters to conduct a carpet search of the area surrounding Jiangling City, yet they found nothing at all. The only conclusion is that the Black Dragon King was lying. He deliberately exaggerated the danger and wasted our manpower and resources.”

“We cannot continue wasting manpower, material resources, and finances searching for a Dream Disaster that may not even exist.”

One senior official after another from the Jiangling City Dream Ferrying Masters Association voiced their opinions in the president’s office.

Many of them opposed continuing to spend vast amounts of manpower and resources on the investigation.

A nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster lurking outside Jiangling City?

The moment a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster appeared, it would be perceptible without any detector. Such a claim was practically an insult to their intelligence.

Biting down on his cigarette, Zhang Changlin sat in gloomy silence.

After a long while, President Tang Nai waved his hand.

“Order them to withdraw.”

“President…” Zhang Changlin immediately grew anxious.

Old Zhang naturally believed Du Fang. Moreover, he himself had touched the soil from that shrine. That soil—and that hand—could be described as a Forbidden Artifact derived from a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster. Even that description seemed like an understatement.

Therefore, Zhang Changlin had not doubted the Black Dragon King’s words in the slightest.

But his belief alone was useless.

The Jiangling City Dream Ferrying Masters Association was not governed by him alone.

After everyone else had left, President Tang Nai kept Zhang Changlin behind.

“Little Zhang, I know you’re unhappy. But mobilizing such a large amount of resources isn’t something I can decide by myself. That is the shortcoming of the Association as it exists today. Certain financial conglomerates have interfered and seized positions of power. In their eyes, only profit matters…”

“Many times, when there is no profit involved, they will not throw themselves into something regardless of the cost.”

Tang Nai’s back was hunched, and he looked old and weary.

“President…”

“Little Zhang, you should understand this better than I do. It isn’t only the Jiangling City Dream Ferrying Masters Association that is like this. The associations throughout the entire country are the same. In fact… the Dream Ferrying Masters Associations across the whole world are the same.”

“Things are somewhat better here at home. Overseas… the Dream Ferrying Masters Associations have basically been controlled by financial conglomerates. Their nature… changed long ago.”

Tang Nai sighed.

“Then, President, do you believe what I said?” Zhang Changlin asked.

“I do. But I’m not believing you. I’m believing what that child said…” Tang Nai replied.

He was thinking of Du Fang. Compared with Zhang Changlin, Tang Nai trusted Du Fang even more.

Zhang Changlin was speechless.

You really didn’t have to put it so plainly.

“Don’t worry. I’ve already reported the information to the capital. With the headquarters president’s special ability, if there truly is a nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster beyond Jiangling, he will certainly take it seriously. In addition, for the next period of time, I’ll frequently patrol the outskirts of Jiangling City and investigate once every day.”

“If the nation-ruining-class Dream Disaster you described truly exists…”

“Then, as a Dream Ferrying Master, I should stand on the front line all the more—to light the lamps that belong to the countless households of Jiangling City.”

“This is the duty we Dream Ferrying Masters are meant to fulfill.”

…

…

After sweating through an entire day of cultivation in the training room, Du Fang felt that he had grown increasingly adept at controlling his greatly enhanced strength.

He rode back to the residential complex in the assistant’s red sports car.

Under the setting sun, the assistant looked at Du Fang’s elongated shadow and called out with a smile, “Brother Du, don’t forget to come to my house for dinner tomorrow!”

Du Fang nodded.

Only then did the assistant excitedly slam her foot down on the accelerator. Her car transformed into a fiery red streak on the street, vanishing around a turn with a sharp drift.

Standing at the entrance of the residential complex, Du Fang stretched lazily.

Suddenly, he turned his head toward the side.

The setting sun was breathtakingly beautiful, spilling across the earth in a blaze of crimson.

“Son, Daddy’s taking you out for a buffet tonight!”

“Yay! We’re going to eat at a buffet! I want to eat lots and lots of prawns, and I want king crab!”

“No problem. Eat as much as you like—take however much you can eat! But don’t waste any. Wasting food is shameful.”

…

A father and son passed by Du Fang on his side.

The father held his son’s hand, and Du Fang caught every word of their conversation.

“A buffet…”

Du Fang murmured thoughtfully.

Then he turned to look at Luoluo, who was holding his hand. She had Little Piggy Qiqi tucked in her arms and was gazing up at him with bright, limpid eyes full of expectation.

“Daddy, can we have a buffet too?” Luoluo asked eagerly.

Du Fang realized that he had never personally taken Luoluo out to eat at a restaurant.

Tonight was the perfect opportunity not to cook.

“Let’s go!”

Filled with sudden enthusiasm, Du Fang acted at once.

He took Luoluo by the hand, hailed a taxi, and headed for Jiangling City’s largest revolving buffet restaurant.

…

On the upper floor of the hotel was a revolving restaurant.

All kinds of ingredients were neatly arranged on the shelves.

The setting sun streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, bathing the tables and turning the food a brilliant red.

Du Fang propped his chin on one hand, smiling as he watched Luoluo eat until her mouth was slick with oil.

“Slow down. You’ll choke,” Du Fang said gently.

“If there’s anything you like, Daddy will get it for you.”

“Luoluo wants big oysters!”

“Sure thing. What else?”

“King crab, red crab, roast goose, giant sea snails, braised sea cucumber…”

“No problem!”

Du Fang rose and went to the shelves of food.

Before long, he returned carrying dish after dish, filling the table until there was barely any room left.

Luoluo’s face was flushed as she giggled with delight.

Du Fang turned his attention to the Wife’s Hand resting on his shoulder.

“You have a share too, darling. You can’t eat, but I prepared something for you as well,” Du Fang said with a smile.

He asked a server for a candle and lit it.

Then he took an empty plate and pulled one gold ring after another from his pocket, along with silver rings, bracelets, bangles, prayer beads, and more.

He arranged them across the plate.

“Darling, choose whatever you like and try them all. Let’s call this a candlelit dinner!”

Du Fang was the very picture of generosity.

The Wife’s Hand paused.

Then it happily began trying on the rings one after another.

Luoluo giggled incessantly as she ate, utterly delighted.

The Wife’s Hand was equally jubilant, eagerly switching between the gold and silver rings.

Resting his chin in his hand, Du Fang watched them with a gentle smile.

The setting sun illuminated his flawless face.

At that moment, the atmosphere held nothing but warmth and beauty.