Runes • Rifles • Reincarnation

239. Reunion

After giving meeting gifts to his four newfound juniors, Jin Shu handed Yin’er to Sun Mei’er and excused himself. There were others he was eager to see after such a long separation—and he had no desire to be assaulted again for the crime of walking down the street with his daughter in his arms.Sun Mei’er didn’t have to worry about that. None of the Adept Realm elders could defeat her, and even if a Master Realm elder stepped in, she could always resort to her ultimate trump card—crying for her wife.

From his earlier conversation with his mother, Jin Shu had learned that Chen Ai Yun had trounced the Master Realm White Tiger elder despite only being in the early Adept Realm.

Fighting above one’s cultivation level was the mark of a true genius. Both Sun Mei’er and Chen Ai Yun were such monsters.

No one knew exactly how one achieved the ability to fight beyond their realm, but it was widely believed to involve an accumulation of luck and fate.

The mark of the Heaven’s Chosen.

According to Wang Jiao—the kid who could see luck—Jin Shu was also Heaven’s Chosen.

One with unprecedented luck, at that.

Still, that didn’t mean he could leap across multiple major realms without consequence. Not unless he was willing to stake his life and exhaust every weapon at his disposal.

Lost in thought, Jin Shu eventually arrived at the city’s center—where, according to his mother, his little wives were staying.

He found the building and knocked on the door.

“Hm? Who is it?” a lively voice called from inside.

The door swung open without waiting for an answer.

Li Xue stared at him for a heartbeat before squealing, “Jin Shu?!” and launching herself into his arms.

He wasn’t prepared for such an enthusiastic greeting. She hit him like a koala, arms and legs wrapping around him as she kissed him squarely on the lips.

Not that he would have dodged.

He blinked in surprise. Li Xue was bold—but not usually that bold. He decided to blame his mother’s influence.

After a few seconds, she pulled back with a radiant smile. “You’re early.”

He nodded. “Some things happened. I ended up arriving ahead of schedule.”

She suddenly leaned in and sniffed at his clothes.

“You smell like other women,” she accused. “Do I have new little sister wives?”

Jin Shu blinked. “…I hope not.”

He shook his head. “I just met the Ling Sisters. Apparently, I’m the ancestor of the Azure Dragon sister, Long Ling.”

Li Xue blinked.

“Oh.”

She clearly had no idea how to respond to that.

Fortunately, she didn’t have to.

“Jin Shu!” Biyu called as she hurried over to investigate the commotion.

“Jin Shu?!” Tian Li echoed from the opposite corridor, rounding the corner with wide eyes.

Both women froze for a heartbeat before rushing forward to embrace him from either side.

He now had one woman clinging to him like a koala—and another secured under each arm.

Truly extravagant.

“When did you get here?” Biyu asked.

“Aren’t you early?” Tian Li added.

“I arrived not long ago—earlier tonight,” he replied. “I’m early thanks to meeting my… descendant?”

The three women stared at him.

“You remember I told you my first life was in the Azure Dragon Clan,” he said. “Well, I met one of them near the end of my journey. She’s not actually my descendant—just one from my former clan.”

They nodded slowly, processing.

“We met some dragons too,” Li Xue said. “But they weren’t Azure Dragons. They said only one Azure Dragon was coming.”

“Bing Hou was very excited when she met them,” Tian Li added.

Jin Shu nodded. He could understand why. Bing Hou descended from a lesser dragon tribe that had long since lost the purity of its original bloodline from mingling with humans. If she could trace her ancestry back to its source tribe, she might restore it. Otherwise, her only option would be to marry into a higher-tier clan—like the Azure Dragons.

What he didn’t understand was why the Azure Dragon Clan had sent only Long Ling, along with a handful of lesser tribes.

Still, it wasn’t pressing enough to dwell on.

“How was your journey?” Biyu asked softly. “…I wanted to go with you, but Master said it was better if you traveled alone.”

The other two nodded. They’d wanted the same, but Sun Mei’er had stopped them as well.

Thinking of the dangers he had encountered—especially at the beginning and the end—he was deeply relieved they hadn’t been there.

“It was… eye-opening.”

They tilted their heads in unison.

“Let’s sit down,” he said. “I’ll tell you everything.”

His shoulders were starting to ache from holding Li Xue.

The three agreed.

None of them let go.

With a quiet sigh, he carefully extracted his arms and peeled Li Xue off himself before glancing around for somewhere to sit.

That was when he noticed the strange white-and-red-haired woman seated on a cushion, a black harpoon resting across her lap.

He blinked.

He recognized the weapon immediately.

It was the old design of his railgun dart.

He did not recognize the woman.

She noticed his gaze lingering on the harpoon and immediately clutched it to her chest, baring her teeth in a defensive snarl.

“It’s mine!” she snapped. “You can’t have it!”

There was only one “person” he knew who possessed one of his darts.

But she had been a miniature spider—with an equally miniature weapon.

“…Bai Wang?” he asked uncertainly.

“She is Bai Wang,” Biyu confirmed. “After agreeing to become my guardian spirit, she gained a human form.”

Jin Shu nodded in understanding and raised both hands to show he meant no harm.

“Don’t worry. I won’t take it back. In fact, if you’d like, I can enhance it with stronger runes.”

“Stronger…?” she repeated, her eyes flickering.

After a moment’s hesitation, she extended all three pairs of arms and offered him the harpoon.

Only then did he fully register the extra limbs. Six arms, two legs—eight limbs in total, just like a spider.

Strangely, it didn’t look out of place on her.

The sight sparked an idea.

He took the harpoon and began inscribing runes, using his fingertip as a needle. Ever since gaining affinity with the metal element, he no longer required specialized engraving tools.

“Ah—!”

Bai Wang’s sudden moan shattered his concentration.

Everyone turned toward her.

She flushed but didn’t avert her gaze.

“I’m connected to that weapon,” she explained breathlessly. “So when he touches it… it’s like he’s touching me.”

Jin Shu nearly dropped the harpoon.

“P-please continue,” she urged. “I can feel my strength increasing.”

He glanced at Biyu.

After a brief moment of consideration, she gave him a small nod.

Suppressing a sigh, he resumed his work—this time far more carefully, lest he accidentally damage the weapon and harm Bai Wang in the process.

She bit her lip, clearly trying—and failing—to suppress further sounds.

If someone were standing outside, it would sound like something entirely different was happening.

Inside, however, he was merely carving runes into a weapon while a woman inexplicably moaned in response.

Honestly… it might look worse from inside.

Deciding he could not endure this for long, he sped up the inscription process.

A few minutes later, he finished and extended the harpoon back toward her.

She was in no condition to take it.

Bai Wang had collapsed onto her back, sweat glistening across her skin, her face redder than her hair. The other three women didn’t look much better.

The atmosphere was catastrophically awkward.

He immediately regretted ever offering to improve the weapon.

Clearing his throat, he gently set the harpoon down. “I… think I’ll step outside for a moment.”

He turned and hurried out the door—only to collide directly with Sun Mei’er and Chen Ai Yun.

Sun Mei’er peeked past him into the room, blinked once at the scene, then smiled.

“Wow. Four at once? That’s wild… even I haven't tried that yet.”

Chen Ai Yun glanced inside as well—and promptly turned scarlet.

“I-it’s not what it looks like!” Jin Shu blurted. “I was upgrading Bai Wang’s weapon! She’s spiritually and physically linked to it, so when I inscribed the runes—this happened!”

Bai Wang was still too weak to move. The other three had been too embarrassed to speak earlier—but now, with their masters present, they scrambled to recover their composure and rushed out to support him.

“I-it’s exactly as he said,” Biyu insisted, cheeks tinged pink. “He was just touching her, and she started making noises. We didn’t want to interrupt since she asked him to continue.”

She froze mid-sentence, realizing her blunder.

Li Xue immediately grinned and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, yes! That’s precisely what happened.”

Tian Li, meanwhile, remained far too mortified to contribute.

Jin Shu was fairly certain the situation was beyond salvaging, so he decisively changed the subject.

“What brings you two here? And where did Yin’er go?”

He glanced around but didn’t see her anywhere.

“We came to share some exciting news,” Sun Mei’er said brightly. “Not quite as exciting as what you all were up to, of course. As for Yin’er, she’s playing with the Ling Sisters.”

Jin Shu nodded.

Then the awkwardness crept back in.

He wasn’t sure whether he should invite them inside… or suggest they speak elsewhere.

Sun Mei’er, however, clearly did not suffer from such concerns.

She slipped past him without hesitation and took a seat right beside Bai Wang, who had managed to sit upright and was still visibly recovering.

Chen Ai Yun wasn’t quite as thick-skinned as Sun Mei’er—but she was capable of following her lead. She gave Jin Shu a small, composed look before gesturing toward the interior.

“Let’s go inside.”

They reentered the room and took their seats.

The atmosphere remained heavy.

Everyone wore a different shade of awkward.