Part 5
He squeezed the trembling muscles in his leg and forced himself to stand. “Shen Yunqian, don’t you dare!”
Shen Yunqian spoke with feigned calm: “You know Iâm always quite daring.”
“Behave.” The third bodyguard, still wanting to avenge Old Zou, kicked Lu Xunyeâs injured knee without holding back.
“Ugh.” The pain caused Lu Xunye to lose his strength and slump back onto the floor. Sweat poured down his face, but he gritted his teeth, veins bulging at his temples.
“You!” Shen Yunqianâs eyes widened in horror. For the first time, he called her by her full name. “Song Lan!“
The third bodyguard was shocked. “Young Master!”
The chaotic noise in Lu Xunyeâs ears felt like a compressed spring churning in his brain. Suddenly, the pressure on his forehead lightened. He looked up belatedly.
It was Si Jinyan, grabbing the barrel of the gun.
Si Jinyan forcibly turned the gun away. His trembling hands tightened, but his eyes were fixed on Fu Lan.
“I want you to tell me yourselfâare you truly my mother? If so, why did you abandon me!”
His voice was cold and hard, but the red rims of his eyes and his suppressed sobs betrayed him. “What did you mean by those words? Why should I hate the Shen family!”
“You knew all along that I would go through those things, didn’t you? Your death was fakeâeverything was a lie. Then what am I to you?”
“You threw me away once. Why show up again? What am I to you! What have I been all these years!”
The third bodyguard had given his gun to Fu Lan. Furthermore, he couldn’t use force against Si Jinyan and could only try to persuade him with words. “Young Master, things aren’t as you think.”
He tried to step in and separate them, only to be kicked into the corner by Si Jinyan. He clutched his stomach and knelt on the floor, vomiting a mouthful of blood. He tried a few times but couldn’t stand up.
It was unclear if Si Jinyan intended it as revenge, but that kick was meant to kill.
“Get out! You have no say here!”
Si Jinyan forcefully threw off Fu Lanâs hand. He gripped her shoulders, determined to get an answer.
But his heart cooled bit by bit when he saw the cold look in Fu Lanâs eyes.
Yet he still refused to give up, as if a negative answer from her could make everything vanish. “Speak… say something!”
Because he used too much force, and because of his hysterical questioning…
Fu Lan was stunned. The gun slipped from her hand, drawing an arc in the air. After hitting the ground, it slid for a distance, finally coming to a stop at the edge of the floor.
This was a development none of them had anticipated. The second bodyguard exchanged a look with the first in the distance.
The second bodyguard stopped aiming at Shen Yunqian and immediately ran back. The first bodyguard took over his job.
The first bodyguard gave him a vicious warning: “Don’t think of playing any tricks.”
Shen Yunqian lowered his gaze, standing obediently in place. No one could tell what he was thinking.
Just as the second bodyguard was inches away from the gun, leaning over to reach for it, he only had time to catch a grey blur in his vision before a sharp pain shot through his palm.
The precariously balanced gun was knocked off the edge by the impact, and a grey utility knife lay where it had been.
A shout came from behind: “Watch out!”
The blade was stained with fresh blood. The second bodyguardâs palm had been sliced open by the knife, droplets of blood staining the floor.
It was the sound of a trigger being pulled. His ears twitched, and he stood up with his gun.
Bang! A bullet struck the ground by his feet.
[Ten seconds ago:
Fu Lanâs group was having an argument. The first bodyguard saw a figure approaching from behind, spun around, and narrowly dodged Lu Xunyeâs punch.
In his surprise, he saw the third bodyguard had already fainted in the corner. That split second of distraction left his wrist feeling cold. By the time he snapped out of it, the intense pain from a knee strike to his solar plexus was more than he could handle.
Reflexively, he clutched his bleeding wrist. The gun that had been in his hand was now in Shen Yunqianâs.
Lu Xunye saw Shen Yunqian kick something away, then watch as he gripped the anti-slip grooves on the slide and pulled it back, chambering a round.
The first bodyguard followed his gaze and was shaken to his core when he saw the second bodyguard leaning over to pick something up at the edge of the floor. He immediately ran over. “Watch out!”]
Shen Yunqian fired without mercy. The person at the edge of the floor was prepared and dodged. Almost instantly, Shen Yunqian fired again.
This shot hit the manâs right shoulder. The impact caused his body at the edge to sway. He fell backward, a sense of weightlessness surging from his head to his toes.
When the man opened his eyes again, he saw his colleagueâthe one he always bickered withâsprawled at the edge ten stories high. Half the manâs body was leaning out of the building, both hands tightly gripping the colleagueâs left hand. He hung there, looking so small against the high-rise.
After countless experiences taking money to silence others, this was the first time the man had been saved like this. He gave a resigned smile, stiffly raised his right hand, and stuffed the gun into the otherâs hand.
…
Lu Xunyeâs strength was spent. He slumped down, supported by Shen Yunqian. Due to blood loss, his lips were incredibly pale and his throat was parched.
Leaning against Shen Yunqian, he felt a sense of unreality. He remembered to ask, “What did you use to cut that man?”
Shen Yunqian said nothing, merely holding something up before his eyes.
Lu Xunye looked down and saw a blade only two centimeters long held between the other’s fingertips. He pondered for a long time before suddenly letting out a laugh, as if remembering something.
“Shen Yunqian… were you really playing the pig to eat the tiger before?” As he spoke, he nudged the youth with the top of his head, his voice growing fainter. “If Iâd known you were this capable… I should have let you protect me.”
Shen Yunqian endured the tingling sensation of the soft hair brushing against his ear and gave a soft, “Mm.”
“Things are exactly as you thought. Why bother asking?”
Si Jinyanâs body swayed. His hands on Fu Lanâs shoulders loosened. He murmured the words: “Exactly… as I thought?”
“What I needed was a blade to use against the Si family, not a weak and useless son.” A subtle bitterness appeared at the corner of Fu Lanâs lips, and her eyes grew moist, though she turned her head to suppress it.
Looking back at Si Jinyan, her emotions were perfectly concealed. “Clearly, you did well.”
“I was planning to get revenge on those in the Si family who were unkind to us once I grew up. Why did you… am I not your biological son?” Si Jinyan pressed her unwillingly.
Suddenly, his pupils shrank. He pushed Fu Lan away with force.
Si Jinyan stood in front of her. Meeting Shen Yunqianâs cold gaze, his eyelashes trembled. He opened his mouth. “Shen…”
“Considering what just happened, I’ll give you some face,” Shen Yunqian interrupted. “Move.”
“Are you going to kill her?”
Si Jinyan had witnessed the grudges between them just now. At this moment, he could no longer be as arrogant as before. A rare look of pleading appeared. “She is the only family I have left.”
Shen Yunqian wanted to ask himâwhat about my family? If it weren’t for her helping the villains, they might still be safe at home, and everyone would have had a happy ending. But…
He didn’t ask. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he felt it was no longer necessary.
“That is your business,” Shen Yunqian said.
When intense hatred loses its anchor, everything becomes a ridiculous illusion.
Si Jinyan no longer had the standing to speak in a reproaching tone. His low voice was mixed with a hint of a sob. “…Are you truly going to be this heartless?”
Shen Yunqian felt it was unnecessary to respond, but someone spoke for him.
“Before, you were stubbornly convinced that your mother’s death was inextricably linked to Uncle and Auntie Shen. You thought they knew the truth but let your mother die in their place. So you hated them, and you hated Shen Yunqian.”
“And now? This was all your motherâs scheme. The Shen family did nothing to wrong you, yet your mother helped a pack of wolves and jackals turn against them. She helped Shen Qizhao murder his benefactors.”
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