“Through mountains of blades and seas of fire, I will come to find you.”
Zhou Mangzhou moved like a startled rabbit. The hem of his silk robe flared out, revealing smooth, delicate calves as white as jade, though his footing was remarkably powerful. Within two seconds, he was right in front of Shao Yijue, his blade slicing toward Shao Yijue’s neck like flowing water.
Shao Yijue caught his wrist with lightning speed, the tip of the knife stopping a mere fraction of an inch from his Adam’s apple.
Zhou Mangzhou immediately kicked toward Shao Yijue’s waist with force. Taking advantage of Shao Yijue’s dodge, he twisted his wrist, broke free from the grip, and unleashed another reckless slash with his blade.
Shao Yijue’s gaze turned stern and cold. “Z-0019!”
Unfortunately, Zhou Mangzhou turned a deaf ear. At that moment, his eyes held only Shao Feng, the man who had betrayed him—General Shao.
The housekeeper and servants let out gasps, scrambling backward in a panic.
When his first strike missed, Zhou Mangzhou executed a series of agile, successive attacks against Shao Yijue. Every single blow aimed for a vital point, yet each one was blocked or evaded a split second before impact.
Shao Yijue focused entirely on defense, trying to subdue his out-of-control Omega, but Zhou Mangzhou seemed intimately familiar with his defensive patterns. Every single move he made carried a fierce, relentless momentum.
“Z-0019, initiate equilibrium mode!” Shao Yijue commanded in a deep voice.
“Sir, his somatosensory system is damaged; he can’t hear you!” the housekeeper called out anxiously.
The somatosensory system was a standard-issue program for all androids, primarily used to simulate and control hearing, vision, taste, smell, and touch. Impaired hearing meant he was incapable of following verbal commands.
The blade grazed past his chest once more. Shao Yijue leaned back slightly, snapping his hand out to grab Zhou Mangzhou’s arm. Zhou Mangzhou countered by kicking toward Shao Yijue’s waist again.
Shao Yijue locked onto his arm and spun him around. Losing control of his upper body and lacking stability in his lower stance, Zhou Mangzhou stumbled and fell to the floor. Shao Yijue moved to pin him down, but Zhou Mangzhou suddenly snapped his leg upward in a flying kick, aiming straight for the hand holding the fruit knife that Shao Yijue had previously caught.
The fruit knife instantly shot forward at a tricky, vicious angle, forcing Shao Yijue to dodge rapidly.
Thud. The fruit knife embedded itself deep into the wall.
The servants felt their scalps tingle. If that blade had landed on a person…
Freed from the restraint, Zhou Mangzhou pulled the fruit knife out with lightning speed and closed in on Shao Yijue with ruthless decisiveness. Fury burned like a tangible fire deep within his chest, and only bloodshed could soothe it even slightly.
Yet, deep down, he knew that actually harming Shao Feng would likely be exceedingly difficult.
The very martial arts Zhou Mangzhou was using had been taught to him by Shao Feng. Just as he was intimately familiar with Shao Feng’s defensive rhythms, Shao Feng knew every single one of his moves inside and out.
When it came to combat skills, he was far inferior to Shao Feng.
That was fine. He excelled in agility. Even if his odds of winning were only ten percent, he had to try.
The blade grazed past Shao Yijue’s shoulder, arm, waist, bridge of the nose, and cheek. The human-like Omega before him was as pale as a snowman, carrying a biting intent to kill, and moving with the fluid grace of a professional.
This made no sense. 0019 had never been matched with a combat system; he existed solely as an Omega spouse dependent on his Alpha.
Seeing his Omega’s fighting style grow increasingly fierce with no sign of stopping, the servants panicked completely. Shao Yijue finally switched from defense to offense.
Zhou Mangzhou lunged forward with a stab. Shao Yijue tilted his head slightly and delivered a lightning-fast palm strike to the side of Zhou Mangzhou’s neck. Zhou Mangzhou reacted swiftly, dodging to the side, only to have his wrist caught in a firm grip.
A feint! Zhou Mangzhou realized it instantly, but it was already too late. Shao Yijue gave his elbow a light tap, hitting some mysterious pressure point. A wave of sour numbness shot through half of Zhou Mangzhou’s arm, and the blade slipped from his grasp.
Zhou Mangzhou kicked toward Shao Yijue’s abdomen, but it was actually a feint, using his toes to hook the falling fruit knife and fling it into his other hand.
He opened his fingers wide, but halfway through, the fruit knife was kicked away by the other man, spinning into the air. Seeing this, the servants were scared half to death, letting out a sharp shriek as they squatted down and covered their heads.
With a crisp clang, the knife spun in a circle before embedding itself at an angle into the heavy load-bearing steel cable at the top of the massive crystal chandelier. The chandelier began to sway back and forth like a roaring waterfall.
Deprived of his weapon, Zhou Mangzhou did not stop his assassination attempt. He kicked Shao Yijue’s wrist to temporarily break free, then snatched an umbrella from the stand and slashed downward.
Shao Yijue retreated while dodging. Zhou Mangzhou literally wielded the umbrella like a sword, and while it did not leave the place in absolute ruins, it was certainly no different from wrecking the house.
The spacious villa living room had turned into a full-scale battlefield.
Shao Yijue backed up near the sofa. Perhaps because the terrain here was complicated, Zhou Mangzhou’s offensive slowed down just a fraction, though it remained ferocious. Cups and plates were scattered across the coffee table in a chaotic mess, and fruit rolled all over the floor.
Shao Yijue seized the right moment to snatch the umbrella away. Zhou Mangzhou was yanked closer, his foot caught by the sofa, and Shao Yijue took advantage of the opening to slam him down onto the cushions.
Zhou Mangzhou moved to counterattack immediately, but Shao Yijue pinned both of his hands above his head with a single hand, holding them as steady as welded iron so he could not move an inch. Unable to break free, Zhou Mangzhou used his knees to thrust upward with all his might. Shao Yijue absorbed the blow expressionlessly, his posture not shifting by a single millimeter.
Conversely, Zhou Mangzhou felt as though his knee had slammed into an iron plate. His kneecap went numb and his face turned slightly pale. Shao Feng’s abdomen was still as hard as a rock!
At that exact moment, the belt around Zhou Mangzhou’s waist suddenly loosened.
Shao Yijue pulled out the silk robe’s sash and efficiently tied his hands together.
Clenching his back teeth, Zhou Mangzhou aggressively extended his leg and kicked the edge of the coffee table with ten percent of his strength. The solid wood and stone legs of the table scraped harshly against the marble floor, producing a grating screech. At the same time, as Zhou Mangzhou intentionally leaned his body to the side, the sofa, bearing the combined weight of two grown men, suddenly tipped backward.
The sofa flipped over.
The two of them tumbled to the floor. Zhou Mangzhou wrestled back the initiative, his legs wrapping around the lower half of Shao Yijue’s body like a pair of scissors. Using that leverage, he rolled behind Shao Yijue, and his bound hands now served as a formidable weapon as he tightened the sash around Shao Yijue’s neck.
The entire sequence of movements was executed in one fluid motion, agile as a small panther, which was also a close-combat technique Shao Feng had once taught him.
Even though Shao Yijue had not been taking it seriously from the beginning, he had not expected to actually be trapped by Zhou Mangzhou. Taking advantage of that brief moment of distraction, Zhou Mangzhou dragged him backward with a burst of rapid steps.
He needed his back against a solid support to exert maximum force with his hands, otherwise, relying solely on Zhou Mangzhou’s current arm strength, Shao Yijue would have broken free in under ten seconds.
They were right in the middle of the stairs connecting the living room and the second floor. The waterfall-like crystal chandelier swayed slightly at the apex, casting specks of light like scattered stardust across their bodies.
Zhou Mangzhou pressed his lower back against the outer edge of the stair railing, his lower body flush against the wall. With his leverage instantly secured, he tightened his grip around Shao Yijue’s neck with all his might.
Shao Yijue tilted his head back slightly. Veins bulged at his temples from the lack of oxygen, but his expression remained as calm as ever. In truth, if he struck backward with his elbow, he could easily break free.
Yet, given the strength of a top-tier Alpha, he feared he might injure his own Omega.
Outside of work and routine training, he rarely resorted to physical violence with anyone.
Seeing this, the housekeeper and servants were utterly terrified. A young brown-skinned maid remembered something and immediately dashed toward the utility room.
True to Shao Yijue’s hesitation, once Zhou Mangzhou had secured the upper hand, he only used about seventy or eighty percent of his strength. He knew he should not be like this, for with national enmities and deep-seated hatreds between them, how could he grow soft because of personal romance?
Yet he simply could not bring himself to deal a fatal blow.
Due to exerting so much effort, Zhou Mangzhou’s arms grew sore and numb, and he could barely breathe. He wanted to speak, wanted to demand answers, but no voice came out.
Three seconds, five seconds, ten seconds passed. Shao Yijue struck backward against the stair railing behind Zhou Mangzhou. With a crisp cracking sound, the oak handrail shattered into pieces instantly.
Zhou Mangzhou lost the support behind his lower back and tipped backward abruptly.
Shao Yijue yanked on the sash binding his hands, spinning around to pull him back.
Stumbling forward, Zhou Mangzhou crashed into Shao Yijue. Due to their familiar height difference, his forehead collided with Shao Yijue’s chin, dealing a negligible amount of damage, but damage nonetheless.
Pressing his thin lips into a firm line, Shao Yijue moved to bind his out-of-control Omega once more.
Zhou Mangzhou recovered quickly, refusing to submit.
While Zhou Mangzhou was frantically struggling, the brown-skinned maid hurried back, holding an arm-length stun baton in her hand. She flicked the switch to maximum voltage and charged toward the two of them.
That stun baton was naturally meant for Zhou Mangzhou.
Her pace was remarkably swift, covering the distance in two or three strides. Oblivious to the danger the baton posed, Zhou Mangzhou glanced at her from the corner of his eye and unleashed a flying kick.
Shao Yijue reacted even faster, pulling him aside with lightning speed while intercepting the stun baton with his bare hand.
A voltage of five hundred thousand volts let out a crackling explosion, with faint blue arcs of electricity spreading from his palm all the way up his arm.
The maid turned pale with fright. “Mr. Shao!”
With voltage that high, an ordinary person would pass out the moment they touched it, but Shao Yijue merely furrowed his brow slightly and tossed the stun baton away, causing the maid to retreat repeatedly in panic.
Only belatedly did Zhou Mangzhou realize that the stick might have been dangerous.
Shao Yijue’s arm felt somewhat numb, but he still had sensation in it, and subduing Zhou Mangzhou would not be a problem.
Instinctively taking a step back, Zhou Mangzhou trod on an apple and slipped violently. His gaze shifted from Shao Yijue up to the massive crystal chandelier overhead.
His body was falling, and the crystal chandelier was falling too.
Zhou Mangzhou’s pupils constricted.
No one had anticipated that a tiny fruit knife would cause the crystal chandelier to lose its load-bearing support and come crashing down in ruin.
The sight was breathtakingly beautiful, resembling thousands of rushing waterfalls making their final plunge during an earthquake.
Silver and gleaming, utterly peerless.
Only, that kind of weight was destined to be something Zhou Mangzhou could not withstand, and he would likely be crushed to death.
The split second before he plummeted, Zhou Mangzhou’s vision suddenly went dark, and the scent of snow brushed against his nose, which was Shao Feng’s scent, the familiar fragrance he knew so well.
If this was hell, if this was heaven.
Zhou Mangzhou could not tell them apart. His heartbeat was pressed against another person’s heartbeat, and a large hand cradled the back of his head, pressing him firmly against a chest.
His entire body was enveloped and protected within another flesh-and-blood frame.
The five-hundred-plus-pound crystal chandelier crashed down onto that flesh-and-blood body, sending cascading crystal beads splashing and shattering all around them.
Zhou Mangzhou’s heart gave a heavy thump. Amidst the crisp, cold scent of snow, he caught the faint smell of blood.
He was completely unhurt.
“No matter where Your Highness is, as long as Your Highness needs me, I will brave mountains of blades and seas of fire to find you.” Someone had once told him that.
“Shao Feng?” Zhou Mangzhou murmured silently.