“Dad, Mom, since Zhen Xiang has officially joined the Samurai Sect, we’ll technically be colleagues from now on. I’ve made plans to have dinner with some friends, and I thought I’d bring Zhen Xiang along to meet them. So, you don’t need to prepare lunch for us.”
“Okay,” they both agreed readily.
Her uncle nodded with a sense of satisfaction. “Keiko, you’re the older sister here. Make sure you guide her with work matters, since she’s new to this.”
Chiba Keiko replied, “Of course, that goes without saying.”
As soon as they left the house, Su Mu’s demeanor instantly became subdued, though outwardly, he managed to appear relatively normal.
Chiba Keiko remained silent, walking straight to the car and sliding into the driver’s seat. Su Mu automatically took the passenger seat beside her.
She broke the silence by stepping on the gas, then glanced at him, her brows furrowed with anger. “Who bullied you?”
If she hadn’t asked, maybe it would have been okay. But her question triggered something, and Su Mu suddenly began to sniffle.
He turned his head away, crying pitifully, blinking his eyes rapidly.
Wait, something’s wrong. Why did the tears suddenly stop?
He subtly circulated spiritual energy within, stimulating his tear ducts. Immediately, a stream of tears soaked his collar.
Uh oh, too much!
Rubbing his eyes, Su Mu tried to act brave. “It’s nothing, Sister Keiko. Given my background, this is just something I have to go through.”
Su Mu’s true identity had been disclosed to the higher-ups, so Chiba Keiko knew his past. She knew he used to be called Lin Qianye, and she even knew about him ‘stealing’ the boyfriend of Ye Qingyu’s younger sister back during the Tianjiao Camp days.
She hesitated for a long moment, then finally let out a soft sigh. “If only the Chiba family were more powerful, you wouldn’t have had to leave home as a child, and you wouldn’t have had to suffer like this.”
Su Mu tried to force a smile, but the tears wouldn’t stop. It was a classic image of a ‘li hua dai yu’ (pear blossom bathed in rain) — no, make it a rainstorm — pitiful and heart-wrenching.
(Internally: Aaaah, this is bad! I’m never doing this again. I can’t stop it!)
The more he struggled, the angrier Chiba Keiko became. “Although we’re not in a position to directly confront the mastermind behind all this, the man who hurt you is said to be just an ordinary person. I’ll find out who he is within the next couple of days…”
Still crying, Su Mu tried to dissuade her. “Sister Keiko, don’t. Killing him would only make my sacrifice meaningless. After all, I did accept the mission willingly. No one is really to blame here.”
The car gradually fell silent, broken only by Su Mu’s sniffles.
It wasn’t that he was overly immersed in the act; it was simply that the tears were hard to stop. Every time he sniffled, it triggered another wave of sobbing.
Chiba Keiko pulled the car over, turned, and wrapped her arms around Su Mu to comfort him.
Su Mu felt numb.
Why does everyone feel the need to hug me? Does anyone ever consider how I feel?
Sure, it was comfortable, but the emotional toll was enormous…
It was a full half-hour before he finally stopped crying. Chiba Keiko’s clothes were a mess, but she didn’t complain.
Don’t misunderstand — this time, it was from tears.
During that half-hour, Chiba Keiko’s mind had wandered.
She wondered why her ‘sister’ was crying so hard.
Setting aside the immediate cause, it must have been because of a boyfriend.
In just thirty minutes, her imagination had conjured up a full-blown, melodramatic soap opera.
In her mental drama, the female lead loved the male lead desperately, only to be violated by another man. Instead of comforting her, the male lead abandoned her, citing her ‘impurity.’ His lack of understanding became the final straw…
Just as she was approaching the grand finale, Su Mu tugged at her arm. “Sister Keiko, I want hot pot. Will you come with me?”
Chiba Keiko snapped back to reality. “Huh? Oh, sure!”
Seeing her dazed expression, Su Mu was puzzled. Was I crying that long? Even the person comforting me is spacing out?
Chiba Keiko stepped on the gas, merging back onto the road. But almost absentmindedly, she collided head-on with a red car coming from the opposite direction.
The crash happened suddenly, and the aftermath was severe.
Even though both Su Mu and Chiba Keiko were Supernaturals, they couldn’t escape injury.
Su Mu was relatively lucky, sustaining only minor scrapes and bruises. But Chiba Keiko’s forehead was split open, blood gushing out profusely. Without immediate treatment to stop the bleeding, her life would be in danger.
The problem was, they were trapped in the car. The impact had twisted the frame, pinning them inside.
Without a second thought, Su Mu pushed against the crumpled metal with all his strength, prying open the section trapping them with his bare hands.
With another loud crack, the car split open in the middle. Su Mu grabbed Chiba Keiko and leaped out.
The instant they cleared the vehicle, a violent wave of heat slammed into them from behind, accompanied by a deafening explosion.
Su Mu glanced back. The two people in the other car were undeniably dead.
Maybe because the explosion drew all the attention, Su Mu’s feat of tearing the car apart was only noticed by a few stunned onlookers. Everyone else was focused on the fire.
Traffic instantly gridlocked. Su Mu, holding the unconscious Chiba Keiko like a superhero, started running towards the nearest hospital.
As he ran, he tried to rouse her, but there was no response.
Despite his past, Su Mu was clear about his debts of gratitude and grudges. And Chiba Keiko had been genuinely kind to him. His desire to save her was intense.
But, unbelievably, a group of masked figures chose that exact moment to block his path. Their leader was a C-rank, his body wreathed in red flames.
Su Mu recognized it immediately. This was a ninja technique exclusive to the Samurai Sect. This guy, like the one he’d killed before, was a fire-attribute user.
If he had to guess, this was probably an internal power struggle within the sect.
Su Mu had no desire to get involved and tried to go around them. But they pursued him, suggesting this was premeditated.
The leader activated his technique, and the blazing flames coalesced into a giant dragon, poised to engulf Su Mu.
Su Mu let out a cold laugh. “Playing with fire in front of me? You’re really asking for it.”
A tiny speck of black energy shot from his fingertip, arcing towards the fiery dragon.
The instant they collided, the fire dragon violently twisted and disintegrated, collapsing into nothingness in the blink of an eye.
By the time the group registered what happened, Su Mu had vanished without a trace.
“Should we chase him?”
The leader raised a hand to stop them. “Our objective is complete. Don’t pursue a desperate foe. Retreat!”
Just then, one of the underlings couldn’t help but blurt out, “But ‘Qiong Kou’ refers to a cornered, desperate enemy with nowhere left to run. It doesn’t really fit here.”
The leader’s face immediately darkened. “Oh? So you’re the expert, are you!”
He was already frustrated from the failed attack and had just barely salvaged his dignity with that command. Now this brainless subordinate had to contradict him.
“The whole point of this operation was to stir up conflict between Uesugi Fumikazu and Nishimura Koishi. Our goal is achieved. The enemy fled in panic – how is that not a desperate retreat?” The leader glared fiercely at the underling who had dared to correct him.
The subordinate immediately backed down.
As the leader turned to leave, he couldn’t help but glance back at the spot where his fire dragon had disintegrated, a flicker of confusion in his eyes.