At that moment, Ji Shaoqin really wanted to skin Ji Chi alive.
This foolish younger brother of his—did he really need to go to such lengths for an outsider?
The people from IBI had interrogated him around the clock and used severe torture to extract a confession, yet they couldn't make him give up the antidote to the Five-Colored Flower poison. He simply wanted to take revenge on Lu Yan!
But his foolish brother actually put himself in danger to force him to hand over the antidote.
One must know, his only weakness in this world was Ji Chi.
Ji Shaoqin's eyes were bloodshot, and the hand holding the gun trembled slightly. "Are you going to betray me too?"
Ji Chi bent his knees and knelt before Ji Shaoqin. "Brother, please don't make any more mistakes. I know you did it for the development of the Ji family, but you shouldn't have done illegal things. If you don't give the antidote to Lu Yan, then let me atone for your sins with him!"
Ji Shaoqin looked at Ji Chi, who had become so haggard and thin in just two short months, and his heart ached unbearably.
He had been arrested and the Ji family had gone bankrupt. He didn't need to think hard to imagine how much mistreatment and contempt Ji Chi had endured during this time.
For a once high-and-mighty wealthy young master to suddenly fall from heaven into hell, the blow must have been fatal!
"Ah Chi, must you stand on Lu Yan's side?"
Ji Chi's handsome face was already covered in tears. He had been raised and cared for by his brother since childhood, so naturally, he loved him. But his brother had broken the law, and he couldn't let innocent people be implicated.
"Brother, I only stand on the side of justice!" After Ji Chi spoke, he pulled out a dagger. "If you still refuse to hand over the antidote, I will die right in front of you!"
Seeing Ji Chi instantly slice a bloody mark across his own neck, Ji Shaoqin's pupils shrank. "Don't hurt yourself! I will tell you where the antidote is!"
The Five-Colored Flower poison was something Ji Shaoqin had specially commissioned someone to develop.
Actually, there was no specific antidote. If one had to neutralize the toxin, there was only one way.
That was to take the blood from his heart.
If the blood from a person's heart was taken, it would be very difficult for them to survive.
In other words, to cure the Five-Colored Flower poison, Ji Shaoqin had to trade his own life.
Therefore, even when IBI had previously subjected him to all kinds of brutal torture, he had refused to speak.
Ji Shaoqin gave his heart's blood to Ji Chi. After getting it, Ji Chi first injected it into Lu Yan's body, and only then, under Ji Shaoqin's forceful command, injected it into himself.
Ji Chi looked at Ji Shaoqin lying on the ground. With red eyes, he pulled Ji Shaoqin into his arms. "Brother, in your next life, don't do illegal things anymore!"
Ji Shaoqin's life was already slipping away. His breathing became rapid. He looked at the tear-streaked Ji Chi and revealed a weak smile.
A dying man, stripped of his murderous and bloody aura, became much kinder. "Don't cry, Ah Chi. You are still young. The Ji family will depend on you from now on. I have done many wrong things and deserve to go to hell. I will go down and apologize to Gu Xi, and apologize to those I have killed..."
Watching Ji Shaoqin slowly close his eyes and breathe his last in his arms, Ji Chi let out a painful roar, "Brother—"
With Ji Shaoqin's sudden death, Brother Scar and the other subordinates were all a bit dumbfounded.
But they also profoundly understood one thing: they absolutely could not let Little Yiyi go.
If they let him go, they would all be arrested.
Brother Scar pressed his gun against Little Yiyi. "We won't take this kid's life, but we want to survive. So, all irrelevant people must leave. Once we reach a safe place, we will naturally let the kid go!"
Lu Yan looked at Brother Scar, whose emotions could spiral out of control at any moment. Afraid that he would hurt Little Yiyi, Lu Yan didn't dare to act rashly.
Little Yiyi glanced at Lu Yan, and Lu Yan gave him a look. Little Yiyi was exceptionally smart and immediately understood the meaning in Lu Yan's eyes.
Just as Brother Scar was holding Little Yiyi and backing away, Little Yiyi suddenly bit his gun-holding wrist.
The moment Brother Scar recoiled in pain, Lu Yan fired a shot at his wrist.
At the same time, Lu Yan sprinted over and caught Little Yiyi.
Seeing this, Qin Chuan and the others immediately boarded the cruise ship and engaged in a fierce firefight with Brother Scar and his men.
Brother Scar was shot twice and fell to the ground.
While he still had a breath left, he pulled a small remote control from his pants pocket.
"Since we can't live, let's all die together!"
Lu Yan narrowed his eagle-like eyes. "Oh no, there's a bomb on the cruise ship!"
Lu Yan fired another shot at Brother Scar, but he was a step too late.
Before drawing his last breath, Brother Scar pressed the remote.
The cruise ship let out a massive explosion.
Protecting Little Yiyi, Lu Yan swiftly leaped onto a speedboat.
"Ji Chi hasn't jumped down yet..."
Seeing the destroyed cruise ship about to sink, while Ji Chi tightly hugged Ji Shaoqin's corpse with no intention of escaping, Lu Yan jumped back onto the ship that had been blown in half, grabbed Ji Chi by the collar, and dragged him out.
There was another boom.
A tremendous force struck Lu Yan from behind.
He instantly felt a burning pain in his back. Before he could react, his head spun, his vision went black, and he completely lost consciousness.
Just before he lost consciousness, he seemed to hear a cry of 'Daddy'!
Did the brat call him?
...
When Lu Yan slowly woke up, he saw Little Sweet Orange leaning against the edge of the hospital bed, her large, black grape-like eyes staring at him unblinkingly.
"Brother, Daddy is awake!" Little Sweet Orange said excitedly.
Little Yiyi immediately came to the bedside. Seeing that Lu Yan was awake, his eyes reddened slightly as he said, "Daddy!"
Lu Yan's mind went blank for a moment.
Was he dreaming?
Only in his dreams would this brat call him Daddy.
Seeing that Lu Yan wasn't speaking but just staring at him with deep, dark eyes, Little Yiyi's cool little face revealed a trace of guilt and helplessness.
If he hadn't been so useless, Daddy wouldn't have gotten hurt. It was all his fault!
Daddy definitely wouldn't like him anymore, right?
Little Yiyi lowered his long eyelashes in shame.
"Kid, can you call me that one more time?"
Golden tears fell from Little Yiyi's eyes. "I'm sorry, Daddy. It's my fault you got hurt."
Little Sweet Orange quickly shook her head. "Don't blame my brother, it's all my fault. If I hadn't wanted to eat sweets, my brother wouldn't have gone out and gotten caught."
Seeing both children crying, Lu Yan wanted to raise his hand to pat their heads, but the moment his hand moved, a piercing pain shot through his back.
"It has nothing to do with you, you absolutely must not blame yourselves!" A doting expression appeared in Lu Yan's deep eyes. "Besides, catching bad guys is Daddy's duty anyway."
Little Sweet Orange nodded vigorously. "Daddy is a great hero."
Little Yiyi also nodded along. "Before, I didn't understand Daddy. I thought Daddy was a big baddie, but now I know that Daddy is a great hero!"
Little Yiyi took the initiative to plant a kiss on Lu Yan's thin face.
A smile tugged at the corners of Lu Yan's lips. He felt an unreal sensation in his heart, as if he were dreaming.
"Kid, what about you? Did they hurt you after you were kidnapped?"
Little Yiyi shook his head. "No, I'm very smart. I even tricked that Brother Scar."
Lu Yan looked at Little Yiyi's still somewhat red and swollen little face, and said with a heartache, "From now on, Daddy will definitely protect you well. By the way, where is your Mommy?"
Speak of the devil, and he shall appear. Jiang Shuyin walked in, having cooked some soup.
The two children still had to go to school, so she arranged for the nanny and bodyguards to take them. She, on the other hand, stayed behind in the hospital room to keep Lu Yan company.
"The doctor said the Five-Color Flower poison in your system has been completely neutralized."
Lu Yan nodded.
After waking up, he could distinctly feel that his body had returned to its normal state.
If it hadn't been for Ji Chi, Ji Shaoqin probably would have taken the antidote to his grave.
"How is Ji Chi?"
Jiang Shuyin sighed. "He is quite despondent. I had your psychiatrist come over to counsel him, but his death wish is incredibly strong."
"After going through so many sudden tragedies, it is completely understandable that he can't think straight right now."
Seeing that Lu Yan's condition had improved considerably, Jiang Shuyin could no longer hold back the question she had kept bottled up for so long. "Lu Yan, tell me the truth. Do you just see me as a replacement?"
Lu Yan was slightly taken aback. "What do you mean?"
Jiang Shuyin brought up the conversation she had overheard a while back between him, Qin Chuan, and Dalong.
Lu Yan narrowed his eyes. "Years ago, I did fall in love with a girl at first sight. I have always kept a drawing of her in my wallet. If you want to see it, you are welcome to take it out and have a look."
Hearing the man's words, Jiang Shuyin grew so furious that her hands and feet turned ice-cold.
