……
Shen Sixing sat on the sofa, his lips pressed into a thin line.
From childhood, he had been taught that he was the one who would shoulder everything for the family in the future.
He had to do his best.
The thought of “leaving” had never occurred to him before.
Because abandoning everything and walking away was tantamount to admitting failure and shirking responsibility.
But suddenly, Shen Yi had told him that he really would leave one day—with Wen Ya. His parents would choose to divorce and go their separate ways.
And his younger brother would inherit everything.
Everything would keep running.
The world would not stop turning simply because he left.
Shen Sixing lowered his head and stared at his fingers. Slowly, he unclenched his hands, leaving several faint marks in his palms.
Qin Ruolan’s words felt like a needle stabbing into his mind.
Qin Ruolan wanted him to think it through. She did not want him to abandon everything, only to regret it afterward.
“Big brother, are you really willing to let go of everything in this family? All for the sake of one woman? Don’t let a woman cloud your judgment.” Shen Sigui tried earnestly to persuade him.
Shen Sixing lowered his head, the loose strands of hair falling over his face and concealing his expression.
After a long while, he raised his eyes. His gaze was surprisingly calm as he admitted, “I haven’t been bewitched. In fact, I’ve been sick of everything in this family for a long time.”
“When you all urged me to come home a month ago, the first thing I did was run away and hide in an Internet café.”
“Back then, I thought about negotiating with you over this matter.” Shen Sixing revealed a full smile, his voice light and cheerful. “If one day, someone could accept all of me without caring about my past, and if we could even build a decent family together, then from that moment on—even if I had to die someday, I’d want to die beside her and the others, wouldn’t I?”
Shen Sixing lifted his head, and the hair slipped away from his forehead. “That sounds a little abnormal, doesn’t it?”
He rubbed the back of his neck and laughed. “Maybe I was exaggerating a little just now.”
“But forgive me. I really want to leave with them.”
“No matter how things turn out in the future, I won’t regret it.”
Shen Shu said nothing. After listening to Shen Sixing’s heartfelt confession, he remained frowning, still unable to understand what kind of spell that woman called Wen Ya had cast on him.
He could accept Shen Yi’s existence well enough. From the way the boy spoke, it seemed that he and Shen Yi might even get along fairly well in the future.
But Wen Ya was so utterly ordinary. What special charm could she possibly have?
……
Following the navigation, Wen Ya drove to the location and parked outside the iron gates of the Shen family estate.
She turned off the engine, opened the door, and got out.
She did not take her bag or draw her gun. With both hands empty, she walked straight to the gate and kicked it open.
The iron gate came crashing inward.
In an instant, more than a dozen searchlights along both sides of the path lit up. Their harsh white beams pinned her in place, leaving her completely exposed.
Wen Ya was already furious. Ignoring the dangerous glint of the lights, she pulled out her phone and called Shen Sixing first.
“Can you come out?”
When Shen Sixing answered, he was in the living room. Faced with the sudden question, he was baffled. “It’s not very convenient right now, Miss. Are you all right?”
Wen Ya smiled.
Thinking of the man pointing a gun at Shen Yi’s head, she softened her tone and spoke with a flickering expression beneath the lights.
“Fine. I’m absolutely wonderful, sir.”
At the same time, behind the wintergreen bushes, in the shadows of the veranda pillars, and behind the low walls on either side of the steps, at least a dozen gun barrels emerged.
Gunshots erupted in rapid succession. Bullets poured down like rain, sealing off every route forward.
Wen Ya gracefully leaned backward. Her upper body was almost parallel to the ground as a line of bullets skimmed the tip of her nose and shattered the ornamental ironwork on the gate behind her.
As she fell backward, she planted one hand on the ground and launched into a backflip.
The bullets chased her feet, drilling into the earth and sending fragments of stone flying. By the time Wen Ya landed, she had already slipped to the side of the wintergreen bushes.
Hearing the commotion on the other end of the call, Shen Sixing’s expression went blank for several seconds.
“Miss???”
“I’m downstairs at your house. Come out.”
She spoke calmly.
One of the gunmen leaned out to fire another shot. Wen Ya seized the barrel with one hand and forced it upward. The bullet flew harmlessly into the sky, while she used the gunman’s momentum to propel herself upward, driving her knee straight into his chest.
The man grunted and was sent flying into the flower bed.
Wen Ya did not even touch the ground. As she twisted in midair, her right foot tapped the top of the wintergreen bushes.
Her body shot diagonally across the courtyard. Bullets pursued her from behind, shredding the row of bushes into flying leaves and branches.
The gunmen on both sides swung their weapons around and continued firing.
Their curses echoed through the area.
“Is she even human?”
“What does she want?”
Behind the strange girl, the bullets wove a web of fire. She changed direction three times in succession, slipping out of each projectile’s path a fraction of a second before it arrived and evading the barrage with ease.
—Was this really human?
This was absolutely beyond the limits of human understanding.
In a panic, the gunmen used their communicators to alert the others and order them to prepare for an intruder.
Shen Sixing could hear the violent gunfire and the sharp rush of wind from the other end of the phone. His heart sank.
He dropped the phone and dashed out of the living room.
……
At that moment, Shen Yi still had no idea what was happening outside.
Qin Ruolan hurriedly pulled her into a room.
When the door opened, it revealed a room filled with beautiful clothes. They were arranged along all four walls in orderly rows, layered one after another like a carefully curated miniature museum.
The woman walked straight through the neatly arranged space, her steps light and brisk, as though she were touring her own territory.
Soon, she pulled out a dress.
It was a warm, creamy white, made from an extremely fine angora-wool blend. A layer of dense, fluffy fibers covered the surface. The dress reached her knees, with longer fur trim around the cuffs and hem. It was incredibly cute.
“What do you think of this one?” Qin Ruolan held up the dress, her eyes shining like a little girl proudly displaying her favorite treasure. “Put it on and let me see?”
……
I’ll finish this section covering the events of the past within the next week, then slowly bring things to a close and begin the countdown to the ending. Don’t worry, everyone—I’m wrapping it up, so there’s no need to rush.
