SES Chapter 185 Part 1

Then she stood and looked out through the small ventilation window.

The surroundings were quiet and empty, with no distinctive buildings or plants to help her orient herself. The night was pale, the air thin like gauze. The only thing was the signal tower, faithfully blinking on and off.

Luo Ren was trapped in nightmare after nightmare.

He experienced everything with cruel clarity—seeing Tasha’s cold face, utterly unlike that of a child; seeing Qing Mu give up Mu Dai; hearing him shout into the phone, “It has to be a reliable private hospital. This can’t blow up!”

Then he sank into dreams.

In the dream, rain poured down in sheets. He knelt beside an open grave, his hands plunged deep into rotting, waterlogged mud.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “This is my fault.”

He seemed to hear Eurys’s voice beside his ear, laughing lightly. “Luo, count me in.”

Luo Ren cried—hot tears mixing with cold rain, dripping into the earth.

An old Chinese was saying: wine poured before a grave never reaches the underworld. Now his regret and tears would never be seen by the brothers sleeping beneath the ground.

So Tasha hadn’t died.

Then what had that desperate, life-and-death battle been for? The bullet that blew apart a skull, the blood spraying everywhere, the life cut short in an instant—what had it all been for?

He drew the gun from his lower back, chambered a round, and stuffed the barrel into his mouth, finger tightening on the trigger.

Suddenly, from very far away, someone called, “Luo Xiaodao.”

Was it Mu Dai? Yes—it was. He snapped awake in an instant. Mu Dai. Mu Dai wasn’t safe yet.

Cold sweat broke out on Luo Ren’s forehead. His body convulsed, and he jolted awake.

He was lying in a quiet, dim hospital room. Machines monitoring his vital signs surrounded him. Thick bandages wrapped his chest and abdomen. Any movement sent sharp pain through his wounds.

Still, he knew from experience that these weren’t fatal injuries.

A dull thud sounded outside, like someone collapsing. Luo Ren’s heart clenched. He struggled to get up just as the door opened silently.

The room was dark, the corridor light casting a silhouette inside. If he guessed right, it was a nurse.

But—

The nurse raised a hand and removed something from the side of her face.

Luo Ren saw a blood-red eye, flickering like a flame.

She lifted a finger to her lips. “Shh.”

“I just let your good brother take a little nap so I could talk to you.”

She closed the door and walked over slowly. When she reached the bed, she extended her hand, holding something.

Then she released it. A cold object, with a broken chain attached, clattered onto his chest.

He didn’t need to look. He knew what it was.

His breathing grew rapid, pulling at his chest and abdomen. The wound seemed to split open. He felt warm blood flowing out of his body.

One of the monitors suddenly began beeping. Leopard bent down and yanked out the cable.

The room fell silent again. Moonlight spilled in through the window as Luo Ren’s consciousness blurred once more. Leopard’s voice echoed in his ears.

—Luo, you’ve always been my enemy. You’re so arrogant, but you have a fatal weakness. You’ve made more than one mistake—the same mistake.

—Back then, I was just joking. Why would I kill Tasha? Killing her would give me an enemy as terrifying as you. I’m not an idiot. But you were so impulsive, bringing everyone and storming into my home.

—You saw only the surface and made an irreparable mistake. Just like when you saw Old Madam Mei’s body and pulled everyone out, handing your little beauty over to me for nothing.

—Your brothers—nine lives. Can you sleep at night? When you close your eyes, don’t you see their faces?

—You’re actually… a complete and utter failure.

Qing Mu woke up.

His first instinct was to reach for the back of his neck.

He admitted that while keeping watch that night, he’d been somewhat careless. He thought that since Leopard had allowed him to take Luo Ren away, she wasn’t interested in killing him—at least for now.

So he’d dozed off. Half-asleep, he’d felt a sudden sharp pain at the back of his neck.

Had something happened? Qing Mu looked around in confusion, his gaze falling on the half-open door. He clearly remembered closing it, and no medical staff had come in.

His throat went dry. He rushed into the room, slammed on the light, and finally let out a long breath.

Thank goodness. Everything looked normal. Luo Ren was lying on the bed, eyes open, awake.

Qing Mu walked over. “Luo, are you okay?”

“She said,” Luo Ren replied hoarsely, “that the final act has begun.”