Chapter 397: A Shattered Halo and a Glimmer of Rebirth
*Chu Yun, you don't want Xu Ruoxue's identity to be exposed, do you?*
Chu Yun's pupils constricted, and his expression changed abruptly. The air around him seemed to freeze, the casual confidence he'd momentarily regained shattering like glass. He stared at the man holding the woman he loved, a cold dread seeping into his very bones.
A hint of a cruel, almost playful smile flashed in Shen Anyu's dark eyes. He tightened his arm around Xu Ruoxue's delicate waist, pulling her closer against the fine wool of his bespoke suit as he continued his assault, his voice a silken, venomous whisper transmitted directly into Chu Yun's mind.
*Xu Ruoxue is the head of the Intelligence Hall of the Blood Skull Mercenary Group. A very important, very illegal position. If her identity is exposed, the evidence against her is ironclad. She'll face at least twenty years in prison, Chu Yun. Twenty years. You don't want that to happen, do you?*
The mental projection was insidious, bypassing everyone else and stabbing directly into Chu Yun's deepest fears. Shen Anyu's words painted a vivid, horrifying picture in his mind's eye.
*Think about it. Xu Ruoxue was once the second Young Miss of the illustrious Shanghai Xu Family, a pampered lady who knew nothing but luxury and comfort. She was never meant for a life of violence and crime. She was implicated entirely because of you. Your quest for revenge dragged her into this darkness. Do you really have the heart to expose her now? To let her pay the price for your war?*
Shen Anyu paused, letting the poison sink in. He could feel Xu Ruoxue tremble slightly in his embrace, her body tense and her breathing shallow. Her scent—a faint, sweet fragrance of jasmine mixed with the metallic tang of fear—was intoxicating.
He leaned in, his lips almost brushing her ear, though his words were still meant only for Chu Yun.
*Imagine it, Chu Yun. A delicate, breathtaking beauty like Xu Ruoxue… spending two decades in a dark, damp, and cold prison. Can you picture the coarse, grey uniform scratching her perfect skin? The foul, unappetizing sludge they call food? The darkness that robs her of sunlight, year after year, until her vibrant beauty fades into a pale, hollow shell? Tsk tsk… what a tragic waste.*
The mental imagery was a hammer blow. Chu Yun's jaw clenched so tightly that a sharp, cracking sound echoed in the silent standoff. He gritted his teeth, the thought of this terrifying consequence making his entire body tremble uncontrollably. He saw it all: Xu Ruoxue, alone in a cramped cell, the light in her eyes dying a little more each day, surrounded by hardened criminals, her spirit slowly being crushed by the relentless, grinding despair of incarceration.
*'How could he let that happen? How could his beloved Ruoxue, the woman who had sacrificed everything for him, endure such a hell?'*
*'Absolutely not. He would rather die a thousand times.'*
Sensing his opponent's will crumbling, Shen Anyu delivered the final, benevolent-sounding strike. His tone shifted, becoming righteous and reassuring, as if he were a noble hero offering a difficult but necessary solution.
*With my protection, however, Xu Ruoxue will surely live a carefree and happy life. Her identity will remain a secret, and she will have access to resources and a status far beyond what even the Xu Family could once provide. You can rest assured and entrust her to me, without any worries for her future.*
Chu Yun watched, his vision blurring with rage and unshed tears, as Shen Anyu embraced Xu Ruoxue. The sight was a dagger twisting in his heart. The man who had destroyed his life, crippled him, and orchestrated the downfall of his organization was now posturing as his lover's savior. And the most agonizing part? He was right.
His teeth ground together, the sound audible to the nearby Fire Phoenix operatives. He could taste the coppery tang of blood as he bit down on the inside of his cheek. For a long, suffocating moment, he was silent, his world collapsing into a vortex of impotent fury and soul-crushing despair.
Finally, with eyes bloodshot and his throat raw and hoarse, he squeezed out a single, broken word.
"Thank… you…"
As soon as the words left his mouth, all the color drained from Chu Yun's face, leaving it a ghastly, ashen grey. The fire in his eyes, the defiant spark that had defined him, was extinguished completely. He slumped, not just physically, but spiritually, as if his very soul had been hollowed out, leaving an empty, despairing shell.
At that exact moment, the familiar robotic notifications chimed in Shen Anyu's mind.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Chu Yun is utterly disheartened, his Dao Heart shattered. Plundered +426,658 destiny value!]
[Ding! Chu Yun's destiny value has been cleared. The Child of Destiny's halo is shattered, and he loses his Child of Destiny status!]
Shen Anyu was a little surprised. He hadn't expected Chu Yun's remaining destiny value to be wiped out so completely in one fell swoop, shattering his protagonist halo along with it.
However, on second thought, it was quite normal.
*'This one was built on a fragile foundation,'* Shen Anyu mused, a flicker of contempt in his eyes.
Chu Yun's entire existence revolved around two pillars: avenging himself against the Ji Family of Modu and protecting Xu Ruoxue. Now, the Ji Family was utterly annihilated, a task Shen Anyu had so graciously completed for him, robbing him of his purpose. And Xu Ruoxue, his other pillar, now required Shen Anyu's protection to avoid a fate worse than death. Both of his life's driving forces had been twisted into knots, both now intrinsically linked to his greatest enemy. With his revenge stolen and his love forfeit, his will to fight simply evaporated.
This was also a testament to Chu Yun's stubborn, brittle personality. Other Sons of Destiny wouldn't be so easily disheartened. Shen Anyu's mind briefly flickered to Ye Linyuan. That tenacious cockroach had suffered countless losses at his hands, yet his fighting spirit remained stubbornly unyielding. Chu Yun, by comparison, was pathetically fragile.
Watching Chu Yun being escorted away by the Fire Phoenix Special Forces members An Zhiyue had summoned, Shen Anyu pinched his chin thoughtfully. A faint, self-satisfied smile appeared on his handsome face.
"Today I did another good deed," he murmured to himself. "No, two."
Shen Anyu increasingly felt that he was, in fact, a great person of destiny—a benefactor to the world. He had annihilated the entire Ji Family for Chu Yun, helping him achieve his lifelong goal of revenge. He had even magnanimously disregarded Chu Yun's pathetic assassination attempt and promised to take care of Xu Ruoxue for the rest of her life, ensuring her safety and happiness.
*'Tell me,'* he thought with amusement, *'if this isn't the definition of a good person, what is? It's truly a case of repaying evil with good.'*
And the best part? Chu Yun had even thanked him for it. The memory of that broken, grateful whisper was a sweet nectar.
As Chu Yun, utterly dejected and disheartened, was being cuffed and led away, Shen Anyu's eyes flashed with a cold, calculating light. With a flick of his finger so subtle it was invisible to the naked eye, a nanometer-scale monitoring robot detached from his cufflink and landed silently on Chu Yun's collar. At the same time, a remote psychic pull, a minute application of his immense spiritual power, drew a single, perfect drop of Chu Yun's fresh blood from a small cut on his lip. The crimson bead flew through the air and landed gently in his palm, unseen by anyone.
The nanometer monitoring robot was self-explanatory; it would grant him a perfect, 24/7 surveillance feed of Chu Yun's every word and action. Unless a truly special existence like Sophie was involved, even a Great Grandmaster expert couldn't escape its watch.
And the fresh blood? With this, Shen Anyu could cast his God-level Blood Curse Technique at any moment, from anywhere in the world, and remotely crush Chu Yun's heart.
*'So why not kill him now?'*
A faint golden light flickered deep within Shen Anyu's pupils as he activated his Tianji Observation Technique, his gaze piercing through the veil of mortal fate. His perception shifted, and he could see the metaphysical energies clinging to Chu Yun. A roiling, black cloud of catastrophic misfortune covered Chu Yun's head, thick with the stench of failure and doom. A suffocating blood mist, representing imminent death and defeat, coiled around his body like a great serpent. It was an aura of absolute ruin. Any capable fortune-teller would see this and immediately conclude that Chu Yun was doomed, a dead man walking who should start preparing his own coffin.
But Shen Anyu's Tianji Observation Technique was far beyond the crude divinations of mortal fortune-tellers. His gaze was sharp enough to discern the subtlest threads of destiny. And what he saw made him pause.
He keenly noticed that although a black cloud covered Chu Yun's head and a thick blood mist surrounded him, there was still a single, hair-thin wisp of green qi stubbornly clinging to him.
Green qi symbolized lifespan and vitality.
This meant that despite everything—despite the shattered halo, the crippled body, and the crushing despair—Chu Yun was not destined to die just yet. He still had a glimmer of life!
*'A bit interesting,'* Shen Anyu thought, his curiosity piqued. *'This Child of Destiny has had his destiny value cleared and his halo shattered. I personally destroyed his Dantian and Qi Sea. I shattered his tendons and ligaments, wiping out his cultivation. Given the crimes he's committed, he could be shot a hundred and eighty times without issue. Yet, he still has a glimmer of life?'*
Shen Anyu was not at all surprised that a Son of Destiny could rise from the ashes or practically climb out of a coffin. Just moments ago, in his despair, Chu Yun had experienced a desperate breakthrough, surging from the Early Stage of the Grandmaster realm to the Late Stage. An Zhiyue's mouth had dropped open in astonishment, and the surrounding crowd was even more dumbfounded, but Shen Anyu hadn't batted an eye. It was completely within his expectations for a protagonist cornered.
But now, Chu Yun was no longer a Child of Destiny. That he still possessed this thread of survival was what made things truly fascinating.
*'Could it be that the remnants of the Blood Skull Mercenary Group under his command could stage a prison break?'*
Shen Anyu quickly dismissed the idea. According to his intelligence, besides Chu Yun, the three other Grandmasters of the group—Blood Dragon, Blood Tiger, and Blood Wolf—had all been eliminated. Xu Ruoxue, the brains of the operation, was now under his control. The remaining grunts and small-fry were simply not capable of rescuing a high-value prisoner from the custody of a powerful figure like An Zhiyue.
Shen Anyu narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint within them as he briefly pondered just killing Chu Yun now and being done with it. A simple activation of the Blood Curse was all it would take.
As this thought crossed his mind, he observed through the Tianji Observation Technique that the wisp of green qi above Chu Yun's head immediately wavered. It flickered violently, like a candle flame caught in a gale, ready to be extinguished at any moment.
Shen Anyu pinched his chin, and a slow, predatory smile spread across his face.
This confirmed it. That faint glimmer of life couldn't possibly withstand a direct move from him. If he chose to act, Chu Yun would die, destiny be damned.
*'Then I'll keep him alive for now,'* he decided. *'Let's see what happens. Perhaps this bait can lure out a much bigger fish!'*
Chu Yun was already a dead man walking. With a single thought, Shen Anyu could end him. But this strange, resilient glimmer of life had sparked his curiosity. Someone, or something, was working to save Chu Yun.
Thinking of this, Shen Anyu turned his gaze to An Zhiyue, his expression turning serious.
"Aunt, although Chu Yun has been crippled, we can't let our guard down. We must take extreme precautions to prevent anyone from attempting a prison break."
Hearing his solemn instruction, An Zhiyue looked at Shen Anyu with a flash of surprise before her expression hardened with conviction.
"Don't worry," she said, her voice firm and resolute. "I will personally lead the team to keep an eye on Chu Yun. I won't relax for a single moment until he's executed. Let's see who dares to try and rescue someone from my hands!"
...
Meanwhile, at that very moment, in a location far, far away.
A young man shot up in his bed, gasping for air, his eyes wide with disbelief and confusion.
"I... I've been reborn?"
He looked down at his own hands, then at his surroundings, a frantic and dawning realization washing over him.
"I've been reborn from two and a half years in the future?"
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