Dominion's End

Volume 4, Chapter 9: In This Life, We Both Are Doing Swell

Translated by Michimochi (proofread by EvlNabiki & Lala Su; C/E edited by lucathia)

After sleeping in for two whole days, I couldn’t escape my chicken soup fate. Actually, the soup left no aftertaste in my mouth, so it wasn’t particularly hard to finish.

Well, it was about time to face the problem regarding Guan Weijun. Ignoring her wasn’t the way to go. I didn’t know if the solution I had thought of would work though, and I was hesitant about carrying it out, but this was also the only way I could make it up to Guan Weijun.

With feelings of guilt, I looked down at the ice pattern on my left wrist… Hm? Has the color turned darker? Although it hadn’t returned to its original shade, it wasn’t as faint as it had been yesterday, like it was on the verge of fading.

This ever-changing shade is making me so nervous!

Forget it. This wasn’t supposed to be mine in the first place. I forced myself to stop thinking about the ice pattern and walked out the door to find Guan Weijun, but Junjun blocked me right outside the door.

“érge, where are you going? I want to go, too.”

I frowned. If Junjun comes along, things might be a bit… Suddenly, I was hit with Junjun’s ultimate puppy-eye attack. I immediately surrendered. I could face my big brother sternly, but once I was in front of my little sister, my body would turn into putty.

In this life, I’m a siscon through and through. Left with no other choice, I said, “Fine, but you have to promise me that no matter what I do, you won’t voice any disagreements.”

Junjun pulled her brows together and unhappily said, “érge, what are you planning to do now?”

Eh, did I give it away again? Am I truly so helpless against the power of my little sister?

“A-anyway, if you don’t promise me, I won’t bring you along!” I put on my best stern face.

Junjun held up two fingers and said, “First, don’t ever think of leaving home. Second, don’t ever harm yourself. I don’t care what else you do.”

Let me think: does this count as harming myself?

“érge?” Junjun’s expression changed from a super cute girl to a fanged dragon lady.

I hastily said, “All right, all right. érge will promise you anything! Let’s go right now. I’m gonna find Guan Weijun and the others with her. Dàge told me to hurry up and decide whether to take them in or to have them leave quickly so they can search for food. Otherwise, chasing them away after all the food is already gone would be too cruel.”

Junjun was extremely doubtful, yet she didn’t say anything. She followed quietly behind me and murmured, “If you get hurt again, I’m going to make you drink chicken soup all three meals every single day.”

Wait a minute. So you actually know that chicken soup is nothing but torture?

I speechlessly led the little sister who had gradually grown devious since the apocalypse… We descended down the stairs to find the living room occupied with a few sewing machines. Shoes covered the floor. Mountains of clothes were piled on the sofas and the tables. Obviously, the mercenaries didn’t know what to do with this kind of stuff.

“Junjun, alter the clothes with me later. I want to make some uniforms for everyone.”

Junjun asked curiously, “Aren’t these the clothes you brought back? These clothes are already pretty, and everyone likes them. Zheng-shū even took a couple of coats to wear. Do we need to alter them?”

“Of course,” I earnestly said, “We’ve got to customize the clothes to the Jiang Dominion style in uniform.”

After all, we couldn’t go out and let the enemy exclaim, “So they’re the LV team!” Those high-end brands would steal all the grandeur.

Junjun nodded and grinned as she said, “Sure, then, I want one with a pleated skirt.”

I already knew that. I nodded and reminded her, “Remember to wear boy shorts under it.”

Junjun blushed and said, “I know. I’ve been scolded for accidentally exposing my underwear before. ”

Who called her out? Who took a peek? I’m going to silence him!

“Dàge was the one who called me out to be more careful. èrge, please, don’t put on such an ugly look.”

“…” Fine. If Dàge was the one who peeked, no harm was done. You could say that he had seen it since we were growing up. Not just underwear, but even bare bottoms during bath time. He had seen it all, even though it was when we were little.

I grabbed a jacket from the pile on the table and put it on, getting ready to leave.

Junjun saw it and frowned. “èrge, are you cold?”

I shook my head. As I walked, I explained, “I’m concealing my strength right now. I can’t exactly show that I don’t feel cold.”

Junjun immediately said, “Then, I’ll go get a coat on, too.”

I stopped her immediately. “You don’t need to conceal your strength. In the apocalypse, the stronger the better it is for girls; otherwise, if there’s a lecher and you didn’t have any power, you’re going to be bullied by him.”

It suddenly dawned on her. Yet, shortly after, she felt something was not right and protested, “But èrge, you’re so pretty. If you hide your strength, it won’t do you any good either. People are going to bully you, too!”

I shook my head and said, “That won’t happen. As long as Dàge is powerful enough, there won’t be anyone who dares to touch us. It would just be verbal abuse at most. Plus, I’m not a girl, so just let them talk. But it’s different for you. If anyone dares to lift a single finger or whisper a single word, Dàge and I will destroy that imbecile! Junjun, for the sake of the human population, you better not conceal your strength. It’s best if you’re so strong that everyone idolizes you as their goddess.”

Junjun giggled. “All right, I’ll definitely become super powerful!”

I was satisfied. The war goddess of our family is just around the corner.

I walked through the main gate and said hello to Yunqian and Cain, who were watching the gate. Yunqian was already wearing some shorts she had taken. With how cold and freezing it was, wearing these shorts made her appear particularly powerful. Beside her, although Cain hadn’t gotten any new clothes for himself, the short-sleeved t-shirt he was wearing made him appear pretty powerful, too.

I liked what I saw. Mental note to self, don’t make the clothes too thick when we start tailoring them later. The more revealing, the better. Of course, my sister is the exception. The pleated skirt is already too short. Nothing else is allowed!

“Shuyu,” Yunqian called out to us. “Where are you and Junjun heading?”

“We’re looking for that group of people out there,” I shouted back. “Will be back in a moment.”

Yunqian nodded and said, “Now I can explain to that bro-sis-con boss where his pair of siblings have gone.”

Cain howled, “Boss is such a “love the house, love its fowl” kind of man. Shuyu is so powerful. What does he even need to worry about?”

How did you come up with “love the house, love its fowl”? I didn’t understand what he was trying to say, but Cain’s words made me frown. Later, I needed to tell everyone about how I was concealing my strength. I couldn’t have them expose me so casually, or else my earlier efforts in pretense would all be in vain.

Stepping out of the mansion, we passed through a street and immediately began seeing signs of life. The scene was more comforting now, unlike the ghost town from before. The place they had chosen was quite close to the mansion though. If it wasn’t for Yunqian holding a sniper rifle at the sentry point, these people would probably have chosen to squeeze their way into a house right next door to the mansion.

Well, this was also understandable. After all, it was a world filled with monsters. Who wouldn’t want to live next to the strong, unless the strong one was scarier than the man-eating aberrants? Actually, that kind of situation happened quite often. If one wanted to know what type of moral conduct the elite who occupied the area held, just take a look at the expressions of the local residents.

All the people on the streets who saw Junjun and me had similar reactions. First, they were nervous. However, once they had a better look at our faces, they would relax. It was completely different from their nervousness in response to the others in the JDT.

I pondered for a moment, then asked a woman who was drying her laundry, “Excuse me, where’s Guan Weijun?”

The woman apparently recognized me. She pointed at a house and said, “Guan Weijun lives over there.”

I thanked her and walked over to where she had pointed. I even heard her sigh in admiration, “What a pair of beautiful siblings!” However, her lamentation far outweighed her admiration. In the apocalypse, being too beautiful wasn’t a good thing.

I knocked on the door. The person inside immediately opened it, without an ounce of caution. Then again, with such a gap in strength, there was no use in being wary, so she might as well be welcoming instead.

Guan Weijun had opened the door herself. Seeing that familiar face, I felt even more conflicted. This person in front of me was the original Jiang Shuyu. Even though the soul was trapped in the body of “Guan Weijun,” whose innate talent far paled in comparison to “Jiang Shuyu,” she was still so remarkable. I couldn’t even start to imagine what heights she would have reached if she could have had the body of “Jiang Shuyu.”

As for me, can I really hope to compare with her?

“What’s wrong?” Guan Weijun asked, not knowing what was going on. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“I want to talk with you privately,”

I looked at Zhang Jing and Tai Wen, who were behind her. There was also a woman. She looked very familiar. She was probably Tai Wen’s wife. I wasn’t sure where Mom had gone, but she was most likely doing the housework. I didn’t have to worry about her, since there was Guan Weijun to protect her.

Junjun harrumphed behind me.

“… My sister and I want to talk with you privately.”

Guan Weijun didn’t even give it a thought and said “sure.” Tai Wen in the back didn’t agree and shouted, “Weijun, take me with you at least.”

“It’s just the little brother and sister. What am I bringing you with me for?” Guan Weijun turned him down and said, “If I were to go and see my husband, then I’d bring you and Zhang Jing with me.”

Your husband… I sweated. I wasn’t sure if the next thing would go smoothly.

Tai Wen hesitated, then looked at Junjun and me. The two of us looked back at him. As one, brother and sister both played innocent, instantly winning him over. He relaxed, obviously feeling that he had been too wary. See, being young is such a natural disguise.

After we dealt with Tai Wen, Guan Weijun asked me, “So, where are we going? Are you fine going up to the attic to have the conversation there? I guarantee Tai Wen and Zhang Jing aren’t going to eavesdrop. If they dare, I’ll bash them until they’re plastered against the wall.”

Tai Wen immediately retreated behind his wife. The latter was holding her laughter. She was a petite woman with an egg-shaped face and was very pleasing to the eye.

I said, “Let’s go up then.”

Following Guan Weijun up the stairs, Junjun whispered, “èrge, are you going to have Dàge propose to her?”

… Sister, you make it sound like an outdated arranged marriage. I’m just the second brother, not the tyrannical head of the Jiang family!

“Heck no, it’s not like that. Dàge will marry whoever he wants to marry.”

In front of us, Guan Weijun’s footsteps faltered, but then she continued climbing up the stairs. With such a close distance, it would be impossible for her not to have heard us.

She pushed open the door to the attic. I watched Guan Weijun turn her body to face us. My heartbeat suddenly picked up. It was the first time I was doing such a thing in both my lives, and I was unsure if this was going to work.

With both women staring straight at me, I grew even more nervous. I knew I shouldn’t have let Junjun come with me.

Fuck it! Let’s just do this!

I hollered, “Guan Weijun. C-Can I ask for your hand in marriage? Then, you can stay here. From now on, I’ll protect you well!”