Chapter 1734 Ji Hongmao has come looking for him.

Li Luo first opened Li Qing's chat box and replied to her separately. Then she sent messages to Tang Mingcheng and Liu Mengyun, making sure to mention "I'm fine" in each one, just in case the three of them were worried.

Just as I sent the last message, the communicator suddenly vibrated, and a notification popped up on the screen saying "Mom (video call)".

Li Luo quickly sat up straight, rapidly smoothing her hair that had been crumpled from sitting on the wicker chair, and tugging at the hem of her light gray loungewear.

Although I know my parents don't mind, I still don't want them to see me looking listless.

With a light tap of the finger to "answer," the screen instantly lit up.

The moment the screen popped open, Li Qing's face immediately came closer.

Her hair was neatly tied back with a hair tie, and she was still wearing a black combat uniform. There was some dust on her cuffs, but she didn't look disheveled at all. Although there were faint red veins in her eyes, they were very bright. It was obvious that she had just finished what she was doing and hadn't even had a chance to catch her breath before coming over.

"Lolo? Are you alright? Your dad and I were so worried when we couldn't get in touch with you. But we knew you were busy, so we didn't dare to contact you rashly, afraid of disturbing your plans!"

"Mom, I'm fine! I've been busy dealing with that mysterious man these past two days. I only had a moment to myself after I finally finished him off, and then I remembered that I hadn't checked the communicator since it was in the warehouse." Li Luo quickly replied, her voice softening. "Where's Dad? Is he alright? Is Aunt Yun alright too?"

“It’s all good, it’s all good,” Li Qing’s voice softened a bit, but she paused and then deliberately lowered her voice, “It’s just… there’s something your dad always says he doesn’t want to tell you, because he’s afraid it will distract you when you’re out there.”

Li Luo's heart jumped instantly. She knew Li Qing too well; her mother never kept secrets from her, and her hesitation to speak now was definitely because she was afraid of worrying her.

Before she could ask any further questions, Tang Mingcheng's extremely soft voice came from the other end of the communicator, as if he were whispering in Li Qing's ear, and it carried a suppressed emotion: "Don't hide it anymore, just tell Luo Luo clearly, so that she can know the truth."

“It’s Ji Hongmao.” Li Qing’s voice suddenly turned cold, each word sounding like it was wrapped in ice. “He arrived at the Jinling base three days ago, found us, and said he hadn’t seen you in a long time and wanted to ‘have a chat’ with you. Your father didn’t want to talk to him, but he used his status as ‘your biological father’ to gossip in the base and tried to get close to the management to make his presence known. Now he’s staying at the guesthouse and refuses to leave.”

"Ji Hongmao?"

These three words, like poisoned ice picks, pierced Li Luo's heart with a "thud."

The images of her family's destruction and death in her past life instantly burst through the floodgates of memory, violently dragging her back to those hellish days.

She remembered the stinging pain of his nails digging into her scalp as he dragged her by the hair toward the operating table;

I remember the cold-blooded, self-righteous look in his eyes when he said, "Your heart can save Wanrou."

She also remembered the feeling of Tang Mingcheng's head being splattered with blood by his men when he tried to stop him;

There was also a mother who, in her panic to save her, rushed into a horde of zombies, and in the end, not even her body was left intact...

Those images are not faded memories, but scars etched into the very bones. Hearing that name is like being brutally torn open, revealing a bloody and painful wound.

Li Luo's breath caught in his throat, his knuckles clenched so tightly they turned white, the edge of the communicator digging painfully into his palm, and even his fingertips trembling uncontrollably.

It felt like a smoldering fire was burning inside her chest, making her throat tight and her voice filled with a chilling, clenched-teeth tone.