Su Meng wore an expression that seemed to say, “Who could possibly refuse this?”
In the end, she sent Qin Ye and Qin Qing away. Qin Qing’s face had been particularly unpleasant ever since she heard Qin Ye call Su Meng “sister.”
“She must have been deceived by that little blind boy. No, I need to…” Qin Ye’s brows remained furrowed after leaving the room, but before he could finish his sentence, his clothes were tugged.
“But… haven’t you always disliked her? You…” Qin Qing spoke up.
“I just hate that little blind boy. He rubs me the wrong way, that’s all.” Qin Ye paused at her words, then irritably turned his face away.
Upon hearing this, Qin Qing’s gaze flickered, and she fell silent.
Su Meng sat in the room, watching the direction where Qin Ye and Qin Qing had departed.
[That little brat is planning to cause trouble for Ji Weichen.] Su Meng remarked.
[Aren’t you going to stop him?] 666 asked, puzzled.
[But I feel like the little cub doesn’t quite trust me yet. I wish he could trust me a bit more.] Su Meng said, lowering her gaze to glance at Ji Weichen.
She wanted to tame him until he was even more obedient.
To make him trust her a little more.
To let him take advantage of her even more boldly.
…
Night fell, and the Qin Family estate was eerily silent. Almost everyone had gone to the old residence to celebrate Qin Ye’s birthday and curry favor with the Ji family, who had come from the Upper Capital.
Jade City wasn’t particularly prosperous, so after dark, large areas were plunged into darkness. Only a small district remained vibrant and bright, lit up as if it were daytime.
This was the realm of neon lights and entertainment venues, a breeding ground for sin.
A man in a black short-sleeved shirt, gaunt and sullen-faced, emerged cursing from a casino. As he walked, he rummaged through his pockets, eventually pulling out only a few scattered paper bills. His brows furrowed deeply in frustration.
In the end, he managed to fish out a cigarette, lighting it and holding it between his fingers.
Suddenly, his eyes fixed on a figure standing on the street, and they lit up instantly. Rubbing his hands together, he tossed the cigarette butt to the ground, crushed it under his foot, and approached the figure.
“So it’s really you.” The man chuckled, feeling as though luck had smiled upon him. The young master of the Qin Family had suddenly contacted him, hiring him to teach someone a lesson—by any means necessary, to provoke and pressure him, ideally exposing his twisted, ugly side.
“Your name is Ji something, right? Tsk, everyone said you and your mother were dead, missing. What a pity. If only your mother had been willing to submit to me back then, none of this nonsense would have happened…” The man’s tone was scornful and contemptuous, but as he spoke, his words caught in his throat when he met Ji Weichen’s gaze.
It felt as though he were being stared down by eyes full of malice, sending a chill down his spine and stirring up uneasy memories.
But this unease quickly faded when he noticed the vacant, unfocused look in Ji Weichen’s eyes, as if he couldn’t see.
“What do you want?” Ji Weichen lowered his gaze, retreating step by step into the dark alley.
“Can’t be helped. You’ve offended the young master of the Qin Family. He paid me to teach you a lesson. So, which will it be this time—a broken arm or a broken leg? Actually, I might let you off the hook… if your mother…” The man narrowed his eyes, a lecherous glint in his gaze.
Hearing these words, Ji Weichen’s eyes darkened, filled with murderous intent.
…In the dimly lit alley, a man lay on the ground, his face pale and eyes filled with terror. He tried to squirm, but to his astonishment, his body was paralyzed. Like a piece of meat on a chopping board, he could only feebly crawl backward, utterly defenseless.
Standing before him was a young boy who seemed like a Monster crawled out of hell. Clutching a shard of glass in his hand, blood dripped steadily from his palm as he advanced step by step toward the man.
“Don’t… don’t come closer. I’ll let you go, I’ll let you go…” the gaunt man trembled.
Ji Weichen remained unmoved, as if submerged in an old nightmare.
At that moment, footsteps echoed from the alley’s entrance, signaling someone’s approach.
“Weichen?” a voice called from behind, growing closer with each step.
Hearing the voice, Ji Weichen stiffened and froze in place.
It was Su Meng.
Ji Weichen’s gaze fell upon the man, whose back bore a vicious, old scar.
One he had left there.
His hands trembled slightly, as if he could still feel the slippery sensation from that time, overlapping with the present.
When his mother was still alive, this man had been their neighbor. Coveting the beauty of the woman next door, the man had tried to force himself on her but failed. In retaliation, he spread rumors that she was promiscuous, secretly seducing men everywhere, and that she had accused him of assault only because they couldn’t agree on a price.
He had fought with all his might to protect his mother, covered in blood—his own from a head wound and the man’s blood on his hands. He wanted to comfort her, to tell her it was over, not to be afraid, that he would protect her.
But he still remembered the look in his mother’s eyes—as if he were a terrifying Monster, more frightening than the man himself. She had screamed at him, “You Monster, you’re not my son. Get away from me!”
Yes, he was a Monster soaked in despair, ugliness, malice, and dark vengeance. No one could ever like him. Only by pretending to be obedient could he earn a sliver of affection.
He had once prayed for a God to descend and save him. But even if there were Gods in this world, they would likely despise and loathe a being like him.
He did not turn around.
Ji Weichen thought, her hypocritical mask should finally be torn away. Her indulgence and favoritism should end here…
He…
As he pondered, he felt a gentle touch on his palm, and then his hand was taken.
“Did he bully you?” the girl before him asked, using a handkerchief to carefully wipe the blood from his palm as she spoke.
Ji Weichen felt the sensation on his palm, stroke after stroke, as if erasing the slippery, repulsive feeling from all those years ago.
There was no disgust, no fear, no pushing him away, no treating him like a Monster.
Reaching out, he instinctively clutched the fabric of Su Meng’s sleeve and lowered his gaze.
“Big sister… aren’t you afraid of me?”