Chapter 124.2: Die, Die, Die Part 2
Out of consideration for Chen Xingzhou’s past favors, Wen Wen gave his brother advice. And out of consideration for Ji Jue, she arranged the necessary manpower and provided him with the blessing and power of Minerva. There was nothing else to be done. It could be said she had fulfilled every obligation and then some.
If Ji Jue was actually stubborn enough to use that trick and still couldn’t sort things out, and if he refused to leave, then he would be courting death. At that point, he’d be beyond saving.
Seeing that Ji Jue still wanted to say something, she clenched her fist, the crisp sound of cracking knuckles cutting him off.
“If you really want to thank me, then work hard for me in the future and make money to buy me a few more drinks. Alright, he’s here. You should go.”
Outside Ji Jue’s house, an ordinary-looking black car slowly came to a stop.
Mr. Lin got out of the car. When he saw Chen Yubo, he finally let out a breath of relief. Then, when he looked toward Ji Jue and the people from the North Mount District, he seemed to understand something and offered a grateful smile, bowing slightly.
There was no contact between the two sides at all. Not even a single word was exchanged. They simply passed each other by, heading in different directions.
And just like that, they went their separate ways.
Only, inside the Security Bureau’s vehicle, Wen Wen could no longer hold it in after sending Tong Hua home. She bent over and began coughing violently, so much so that it was as if something was tearing her apart from the inside.
Her lungs echoed with hollow, fractured reverberations. Blood seeped out from between her fingers. Before it even hit the ground, it rapidly crystallized into tiny, translucent shards. Cracks appeared in the steering wheel between her tightening fingers.
In the passenger seat, Mr. Zhang seemed completely unfazed, as if this was nothing unusual. After getting out of the car and pushing it to the roadside, he opened the trunk, took out a metal box, and retrieved a factory-preloaded pneumatic injector from inside.
He pressed it against Wen Wen’s neck. The drug was instantly injected, giving her a brief reprieve to breathe again.
Then, Mr. Zhang placed his hand on her shoulder.
A pure surge of life from the Vortex Path manifested, glowing with a soft white light as it circulated and repaired the old, accumulated wounds on her body. Unfortunately, it could only mend things superficially and was unable to erase the trauma of spirit matter corrosion that was like a blade nailed deep into her heart.
That was an injury left by a Celestial Being.
Once her condition finally stabilized a little, Mr. Zhang withdrew his hand. He casually crumpled the injector into a ball of scrap and tossed it aside.
“If you’re already injured, then don’t recklessly use Minerva’s Transcendence Blessing. Do you really have no fear of death?”
“I was just being cautious.” Wen Wen leaned back in her seat. Her face was pale, still stained with traces of blood, but she offered a self-mocking smile. “It’s not like I haven’t sought death before.”
“To survive from a Celestial Being’s punishment and still be hanging on by a thread is already nothing short of miraculous. You should take your condition more seriously.”
Mr. Zhang let go of her shoulder. At some point, a wound had appeared between his fingers. As spirit matter rushed toward it, it hissed and sizzled. Even mere contact with his spirit matter caused the shadow to spread and retaliate. He shook his hand slightly, and a layer of skin shed instantly. Then another layer was shed, and another.
After four successive cycles of shedding, the wound disappeared completely.
“Injuries left by a Celestial Being can only be healed by other Celestial Beings. If you keep going on like this, your condition will only get worse,” the old man said, his expression unusually serious. “The dragon path, although different from the sage’s path and somewhat more brutal and violent, is still a righteous orthodox lineage. Why resist it so much?”
Wen Wen let out a tired sigh. “Forget it. When I became a Chosen One, it wasn’t to destroy anything, and I don’t want to create any more disasters just to stay alive. If I die, then so be it. Let everything end there. The sins inherited from the Wen family end with me.”
Mr. Zhang shook his head and sighed softly.
“If Wen Zheng knew his daughter looked down on him like this, he’d probably wake up in anger even in his sleep.”
“That piece of trash? He can go to hell for all I care!” Wen Wen raised her hand without the slightest politeness and flipped the middle finger toward the night sky outside the window.
The night sky remained silent and endured without response. Only a single thread of starlight flickered in grief and fury.
***
“Fuck. Fuck!”
Under the same night sky, smoke filled an office as a cigar burned down. The people who had rushed over for the meeting were already visibly shaking with veins bulging, barely restraining their rage.
The Chosen One covered in tattoos could no longer suppress his brutality, his eyes bloodshot.
“Yucheng is dead, and Xiao Zhou is in the hospital with his legs amputated, crippled for life. Those bastards, I’m going to kill them. I’m going to kill them all! It’s all Chen Xingzhou’s fault! Why didn’t he die somewhere else instead of right in front of our door? I think he did it on purpose to screw with us! He’s the one harming you, Mr. Lei! You can’t let him fool you!”
“Enough. Shut up!” Across the table, a gaunt man looked up. His eyes were completely pale, holding a sharp look. “Mr. Xing hasn’t even spoken yet. Do you think it’s appropriate for you to run your mouth?”
The aura of numerous White Deer Chosen Ones intertwined, turning the entire office into a demonic realm capable of making ordinary people faint in terror. Yet at the very center, there was a patch of absolute calm, no aura daring to approach within three meters.
It was as if even the maddened beasts refused to provoke the authority of a monster.
Lei Yaoxing lowered his gaze. A brief, breathtakingly sharp aura erupted from him, then slowly faded away.
“These matters may be inseparable from Chen Xingzhou,” he said calmly, “but what happened tonight was not an act.”
Everything had happened right under his eyes, and he was caught off guard, yet Chen Xingzhou had never managed to deceive his perception.
That bullet, fired from thousands of meters away and striking from behind, pierced straight into the heart. Until the moment it hit, he had not sensed it at all. In other words, if that bullet had been aimed at him instead, he would have had no way to dodge it.
And Chen Xingzhou wasn’t even a Chosen One. Aside from a few insignificant alchemical tools, he had nothing to rely on. In an instant, the bullet destroyed his heart. Toxins spread, dissolving his organs, corroding his nervous system, and even contaminating his soul.
Right before his eyes, Chen Xingzhou collapsed into a pool of blood, rapidly losing all signs of life. Even with immediate emergency treatment from a Vortex Path Chosen One on the spot, it was to no avail. He was still stuck in the emergency room.
At that moment, if Lei Yaoxing had wanted to, at such close range, he could have silently extinguished Chen Xingzhou’s last thread of life without anyone noticing. The reason he hadn’t acted was that he simply wanted Chen Xingzhou to survive long enough to be revived, or at least preserve his brain and memories for retrieval by a Chosen One of the Heart Core Path.
The White Pact Gang that had done Chen Xingzhou’s dirty work had already been reduced to ashes. The remaining members began infighting the moment Chen Xingzhou was sent into surgery. His former right-hand man had rushed over overnight to submit himself, and was now obediently kneeling downstairs waiting for Lei Yaoxing’s audience. As for the rest, only a handful of trusted subordinates remained, and they too were now in chaos.
Everything he had built had collapsed into dust along with his severe injury. It disintegrated on its own without any external push.
“Send people to keep watch at Mercy Hospital,” Lei Yaoxing ordered expressionlessly. “If he dies, then it’s over. If he survives, then clean it up properly. Also, keep tabs on his younger brother. Do not act rashly.”
“Young Master Xing,” the old man said gravely, “if we purge everything at a time like this, the uncles and elders might...”
“Even if I don’t purge them, do you think they’ll take my side?!” Lei Yaoxing exploded in rage. Cracks appeared across the table in front of him. “Get this straight. There’s no room for negotiation anymore. It’s either they die, or we die. Do we even have another choice?!”
“And the Seventh Young Master...” someone said hesitantly.
Seventh Brother, who had originally been on Lei Yaoxing’s side, was now secretly reaching out to the uncles and elders, trying to restore order and settle old sins.
Lei Yaoxing laughed. “Heh. What a great younger brother he is.”
Not just the seventh was involved, but even the ninth and the eleventh brothers. Not to mention the various big figures who had once been loyal to Lei Wuye—Spittle Kun the drug-smuggler; Golden-Tooth Leopard, who controlled all of Cliff City’s casinos and betting shops in secret; and those returnees from Ship City who thought they had cleaned themselves up and gone legit.
“Then fight. Just fight!” Lei Yaoxing waved his hand, issuing an order that sent all the beasts into madness. “Fight until they lose. Fight until they submit. Fight until they die! After all that talk, in the end, isn’t it just the strongest who gets to be the leader? I want the people in charge of Wasteland Assembly to kneel and beg me to become the next leader!”
If they refused to kneel, he’d just have them killed.
***
“Damn it, you live such a good life?”
Under the same night sky, Ji Jue looked at everything before him. His earlier impulse to step in with righteous fervor instantly turned ice-cold. Without thinking, he was already about to clench his fists toward Chen Yubo and leave.
“I’ve thought it through. Those who commit too many wrongdoings will eventually bring about their own downfall. If you’re in this line of work, you’ll have to pay the price sooner or later. Since you’re already on your last breath, then you might as well just go die.”
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