“Hum-hum-hum~ hum~ hum-hum-hum-hum~ hum-hum~”
Amidst soft, indistinct humming, a slender, fleeting figure flitted through the city's neon lights and shadows. Weightless as a ghost, she bounded between high-rises and skyscrapers. With every leap, a gentle breeze buoyed her body, as though she were soaring across the sky.
Just like that, she landed atop an apartment building.
Defying gravity, she walked down the exterior wall, kicked open a half-shut window, and leaped into the still-lit room.
“A-Ran, I'm back!”
What answered her was sword qi so refined it seemed suspended between existence and nothingness!
A merciless volley of a hundred strikes came howling straight at her!
Streaks of sword qi converged into a tempest, filling the cramped living room and completely swallowing her up. Yet soon enough, that storm of sword qi—far sharper than any blade—dissolved entirely beneath the casual sweep of a faint shimmer.
An Ning stepped inside and caught sight of that familiar face...
Already brimming with fury!
“Don't you dare bully Brother Ji Jue!”
“Throwing a tantrum, are we?”
An Ning paused in slight surprise, then nodded in realization. “Well, after two years apart, our little A-Ran has grown up.”
With a soft sigh, her figure suddenly surged forward, appearing before An Ran without warning and effortlessly dismantling the fierce onslaught he had spent so long preparing.
Finally, she deftly caught his wrist, twisted it, and pinned him onto the sofa.
Just like the outcome of countless duels in the past.
Xiao An was utterly routed.
Lowering her head, she asked inquisitively,
“Are you trying to steal a man from your sister?”
Xiao An froze, too stunned to even stay angry, and shook his head vigorously. “I—Brother Ji Jue and I aren't like that! And two men couldn't possibly—”
Yet An Ning leaned in close, staring straight at him.
“Yes you could, absolutely!” she countered decisively. “As long as it's true love, age, identity, and status aren't obstacles—so gender shouldn't be one either, right?”
“Brother Ji Jue and I aren't in the kind of relationship where we're going to get married!”
“Oho?”
An Ning's smile grew even more delighted. “Since you're not planning to steal your sister's man... then you'll definitely help me, won't you?”
She paused, her smile turning increasingly sweet as she let go of his wrist. “After all, if your big sister marries him, wouldn't you and Brother Ji Jue get to see each other every single day?”
“I...”
Xiao An was at a loss for words. Instinctively, he didn't want Brother Ji Jue to have too much contact with his sister, nor did he approve of the two being together. “Brother Ji Jue wouldn't like you!”
“Really? That's hard to say.”
An Ning twirled a stray lock of hair beside her ear with a slender finger, showing off her exquisite face. “After all, I'm very pretty—even prettier than you.”
“Useless!”
Xiao An puffed out his chest, retorting firmly, “Brother Ji Jue never judges people by their looks!”
“But I'm talented and strong—probably a dozen or a hundred times stronger than you, right?”
Resting her chin on her hand, An Ning kept smiling. “Besides, if I try a little harder, kick Second Uncle to the curb, and wait until Grandfather and Dad pass away, I might just become the head of the House of An.
“When that time comes, with the House of An backing him, wouldn't he have whatever his heart desires?”
“So what?”
Xiao An cast a disdainful glance, his resolve unwavering. “Brother Ji Jue has never cared about power, nor does he judge anyone's worth based on strength or background!”
“Really? Then it seems I have no advantages in his eyes at all.”
Despite saying this, An Ning didn't appear flustered in the slightest. Her smile grew increasingly sly, stirring an ominous premonition in An Ran's chest as he heard her soft words:
“In that case, is my only remaining virtue being... rich?”
“Gulp...”
An Ran went rigid.
Stiffly, he swallowed hard.
On this single point alone, no matter how he searched the Book of Sacred Words, he could find no counterargument.
An Ning discovered a weakness. An Ning launched an attack.
And just like that, An Ning closed out the game.
An Ran was utterly defeated, down for the count.
“Mmm, it's settled then! As long as I give him lots and lots of money, he'll definitely never forget me!”
Pressing her advantage, An Ning mused, “I recall he knows how to fix cars, right? Buying a car, hmm, that's too ordinary. I doubt it would leave much of a deep impression...”
As she spoke, she pulled out her phone and dialed a number. “Hello? Dad, it's me. I've got a man. Give me money. I want to buy that sports car factory from Universal Heavy Industries and give it to him...”
It was over. Over! All over!
An Ran broke out in a cold sweat, eyes glazed.
He could practically picture Brother Ji Jue being bought out by his sister's wealth, degenerating into a corrupt hedonist who spent money every day without an ounce of ambition left...
No, this could not happen!
He had to rescue Brother Ji Jue from his sister's clutches!
What should he do? What to do?! What could he do?!
On this day, just before his sixteenth birthday, An Ran understood the meaning of helplessness and despair for the very first time.
Fortunately... in the end, An Ning failed to buy the car factory.
Because Dad refused to shell out the money.
Not that he was stingy over such a modest introductory gift. Rather, in the eyes of a middle-aged pure-love traditionalist, without a formal confession and courtship, it didn't count as dating.
Long live pure love!
Xiao An resolved that from now on, he would work more part-time jobs, take more commissions, and earn heaps and heaps of money for Brother Ji Jue, so that he could hold fast to his ideals and stay safe from his sister's sinful temptations!
Strive! Work hard! Grow stronger!
Cast away my weakness right here and now...
This strength was the very reason to protect Brother Ji Jue!
And outside the window, the night was long.
The moonlight gradually hid behind the clouds.
The darkness was as enduring as a nightmare.
*
Nightmares and hell both lay steeped in blood.
Mercy Hospital, inpatient building. At the end of the blood-drenched corridor came a crisp sound.
Ding—
The elevator doors slid open, revealing a ghastly face with exposed white bone. Staggering, he moved his left leg, stepping out one pace at a time.
Blood dripped from his torn, empty left sleeve.
“Aren't these days... just a bit too exciting?”
Uncle Lin raised a left hand condensed from black smoke and sparks to touch his face. He forced his broken jaw back into place, smoothed out the mangled skin, and pieced his original appearance back together.
In the reflection of the window, he scrutinized his current hideous look.
Behind the elevator doors lay a silent hell piled high with corpses and gore.
“Tui.”
He lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of crimson blood.
Step by step, he walked down the corpse-strewn corridor.
Finally, he pushed open the ward doors.
Amidst the utter devastation, a weary sigh sounded.
“You're late, Uncle Lin.”
On the floor, amidst overturned carts, tangled cables, and IV lines, Chen Xingzhou looked up and rasped a greeting, “Did something happen?”
In his stranglehold, the nurse struggled violently against his chest, spitting up bubbles of bright crimson blood. Spasming hands tore wildly at Chen Xingzhou's face, gouging scratches deep enough to expose bone.
And just like that, in wretched ruin, she met her end.
Silence fell once more.
“Seems you're in pretty good shape. Surgery was a success, then—the panacea wasn't wasted on you.”
His equally battered partner grinned and asked mockingly, “Suffering through hell and back for nothing... was it worth the trouble?”
“Ever since I hit the streets at seven and started working for bosses at eleven, I understood one truth: a real man either dies with no grave to bury him, clean and neat, or he wins completely, riding high in triumph.
“If you don't even dare to gamble your own life, what kind of man are you?”
Chen Xingzhou pried his hands loose with difficulty, ignoring the crimson pouring from his abdomen. He coughed, wheezed, and finally looked up. “Got a smoke?”
“Smoking now? Trying to die?”
Uncle Lin curled his lip, but his remaining right hand fished around in his pocket for a long moment before tossing over a cigarette pack and lighter.
A wisp of blue smoke rose from the flame.
A white cloud was exhaled slowly.
Chen Xingzhou leaned back comfortably in the pool of blood by the foot of the bed, oblivious to the agonizing pain in his guts and the shadow of death, as if without a care in the world. “You look like you've aged years. Were the days after my death really that bad?”
“Quite pleasant and relaxing, actually. One less troublesome boss meant every day felt like retirement,” Uncle Lin replied nonchalantly. “Though that kid Yubo has had a rough couple of days. He was probably on the verge of breaking.”
Chen Xingzhou fell silent for a moment, then murmured, “I was the one who dragged him into this.”
“No, I think his only wish right now is for you to hurry up and kick the bucket.”
“Huh?”
Chen Xingzhou stared blankly.
Uncle Lin shrugged. “He plans to take a friend's advice and donate all that money to the Church of Chongguang. Then start his life over from scratch, all on his own.”
“Haha, hahahahaha—cough, cough, cough...”
Through his hacking coughs, Chen Xingzhou couldn't hold it back and burst into laughter. “Doesn't that mean he's made a great friend? Good, that's wonderful. Now I can rest easy even if I die.”
“Perish the thought. Bad weeds live forever—you've still got a long life ahead of you.”
“That hardly sounds like a compliment.”
“Take what you can get. It's not like you're a good person anyway.”
Uncle Lin reached out with his lone arm, hauled the half-dead Chen Xingzhou off the floor, and seated him in a wheelchair. Then he fished a vial of medicine from his pocket and jammed another needle into his neck. “Don't celebrate too early. The game isn't decided yet.”
“No, I've already won...”
Amidst the daze and vertigo, Chen Xingzhou grinned, murmuring softly, “Wrestling my life back from heaven—I did it. This round, victory is mine!”
“Right, right, whatever you say.”
Uncle Lin nodded helplessly, watching the color slowly return to his pale face as the expensive drugs brought him back to lucidity and reason.
Until the very last trace of a smile vanished from his face.
He regained his composure.
Once again, he had become the Chen Xingzhou he knew.
Outside in the bloody corridor, footsteps echoed. Figure after figure emerged from the shadows, lining the hallway and waiting in silence.
Until Uncle Lin pushed open the doors, rolling out a wheelchair that crushed through the pools of blood.
“Let's go, everyone,”
Chen Xingzhou nodded calmly, greeting his long-separated subordinates. “Let's go see our old friends and bring them some good news.”
He added, “Tonight has been too long. I'm afraid they won't make it to dawn.”
Outside the window, the last streaks of neon and light were snuffed out in the dead of night.
In the boundless dark, there remained only blood and death.
Such was the brutal finale.
Leaving behind the devastated ward and corridor, they disappeared into the darkness.
Fifteen minutes later, Lei Yaoxing received word: the two squads under Jin Wujiu and Li Wentong had been completely wiped out. Chen Xingzhou was missing, whereabouts unknown.
Two hours later, a doctor at Haizhou Guangyao Hospital personally signed the death certificate and delivered it into Lei Yaoxing's hands outside the emergency room.
After clinging to life for half a month, Lei Wuye had finally drawn his last breath.
“One step slow, every step slow.”
Lei Yaoxing stared at the slip of paper in his hands, then looked up at the gathering night outside the window. At the end of that boundless darkness, the outcome awaiting him had already begun to show itself.
Yet unexpectedly, he remained entirely calm.
“Begin the funeral arrangements,”
he said. “Some things must come to an end. There has to be a conclusion.”
Four hours later, amidst sudden thunder, torrential rain poured down.
When the sudden downpour passed as quickly as it had arrived, a faint glimmer of dawn leaped across the edge of the sky, illuminating bloodstains that had yet to wash away.
A night that had seemed endlessly long to everyone had finally reached its end.
Chapter 137