Xinghe nodded. "I know, so the only thing we can do now is wait for her to come out."
They were not wrong; Xia Wa was in the middle of a meeting with He Lan Yuan in a secret room. He Lan Yuan was in a large armchair and his nostrils were attached with oxygen pipes. He should have been a picture of weakness, but his eyes that glared at the woman opposite him were surprisingly lively.
Ever since she'd walked in, his eyes had never left her. Even though there was no emotion in his gaze, it did speak of an unsurmountable pressure. Xia Wa seemed to ignore him completely. No matter how long he stared at her, she maintained an impenetrable composure. Two of them sat across each other wordlessly. After some time, He Lan Yuan finally lost his patience and was the first to break the silence.
"Xia Wa, it is you," he croaked in a harsh and grating voice.
Xia Wa nodded slightly and confirmed in a calm voice, "That's right, it is me."
"So, it is true that you have betrayed me." He Lan Yuan cut straight to the point.
"Yes." Xia Wa nodded again. Even though He Lan Yuan had known the truth before that, to hear it confirmed personally still dealt quite a blow to him. He coughed out a few dry laughs, but he did not get angered. "But why? Have I treated you badly?"
"At most, you are my academic teacher, but from the perspective of philosophy and thinking, we are complete opposites. Since there is no common ground between us, then what happened between us was only natural," Xia Wa answer matter-of-factly.
He Lan Yuan continued to cackle, "No common ground! That is the reason you betrayed me‽"
"You have harmed so many people and intend to ruin this Earth, there doesn't need to be a reason for me to betray you."
He Lan Yuan was startled; he did not expect this was Xia Wa's impression and attitude. His gaze zeroed in on her. "Do you not feel a little a bit sorry toward me?"
"He Lan Yuan, you do not deserve my pity," Xia Wa announced coldly. "When you chose this path, you chose to be humanity's enemy, and you lost your right to all human connections."
"In other words, you think betraying me is something noble?" He Lan Yuan scoffed, "Don't you remember it was you who designed Project Galaxy!"
Xia Wa nodded in admission. "I did. At the time, I still hadn't developed my own thinking. Therefore, I could only listen to your orders. However, after that, I learned many things and formed a clear idea of what I want, and so I chose to leave. Initially, I did not plan to betray you because you are after all my teacher and my father figure. But…"
"But what?" He Lan Yuan pressed.
Xia Wa lowered her gaze. "But after I returned to Earth and the longer I spent here, the more I felt like you are wrong. To stop you, I had to betray you. However, I left everything to God; it depended on fate how everything else developed."
He Lan Yuan understood what she meant. "Therefore, you planted your hope in your daughter to see whether she could deal with me?"
"Yes. If she couldn't then perhaps your plan would be a success. However, I knew, in the end, you would fail because no one in this world can be a permanent ruler."
"I can!" He Lan Yuan stressed furiously. "If the plan was successful, then I could've been! It is because of your betrayal that you ruined everything, if not for you…"