Today's two updates were released at once. I knew everyone did not want to wait, so I posted this entire chapter in one go. The next update would be tomorrow at noon.
Li Yang took a deep breath, continuously rehearsing what he wanted to say to his future father-in-law as he walked toward him.
"Ring-ring-ring..." Suddenly, the phone in Jiang Xue's house rang. Jiang Xue's father immediately put down his chess piece and turned back into the house. Li Yang could not help but freeze, so he had no choice but to stop and turn toward Jiang Xue's home.
"Hello, dear, what is it?" Jiang Xue's father's hearty voice rang out from the living room. Li Yang was only about three meters away from him. The door was not closed, but he had to wait until Jiang Xue's father finished his call before entering. After all, making a good impression on his future father-in-law was very important.
"Wuwuwu..." A burst of sobbing came through the phone.
Li Yang could not help but curiously circulate his True Qi. The phone was very close to him, and he heard the sound with perfect clarity.
"What happened? Don't cry—what happened?!" Jiang Xue's father immediately roared. The moment he heard Jiang Xue's mother crying, he sensed that something was wrong.
"Xue'er is dead. She committed suicide out of guilt. The hospital said she committed suicide out of guilt!"...
Boom!
Li Yang suddenly felt his ears roar, his head spin in waves, and even heaven and earth seemed to sway.
"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!" Li Yang murmured unconsciously, before suddenly turning it into a low roar. "Impossible!"
Li Yang shot up and charged toward the car.
Beside his ears, Li Yang seemed to hear that voice that made his heart tremble.
"Brother Yi, I'll wait for you!"
Those had been her last words last night, and the last words of every day for the past year.
How could Xue, who had still been laughing brightly on the phone yesterday, possibly be dead? How could she?
"The hospital, the hospital!" Li Yang was completely at a loss. There was only one thought in his heart: get to the hospital.
Accelerate...
Accelerate... accelerate...
Li Yang kept accelerating. The car's speed climbed again and again, instantly surging to one hundred and sixty kilometers per hour. The car howled down the street like a gust of wind.
The wind was fierce!
His heart was in turmoil!
The traffic police sirens began to howl as well, but Li Yang was simply too fast!
Accelerate! Accelerate! Accelerate!
Li Yang only knew that he had to reach the hospital. He did not believe it, absolutely did not believe that Jiang Xue, who had been fine just yesterday, could be dead. Absolutely impossible!
Jiang Xue's home was not far from the hospital. Usually, Jiang Xue even walked to work. By rights, at Li Yang's current speed, he should have arrived quickly, but Li Yang felt that his car was far too slow and time was far too long. So he accelerated madly, accelerating without end!
He was there!
Boom! Li Yang slammed on the brakes. Without even waiting for the car to stop, he shoved open the door and leaped out.
True Qi surged frantically through Li Yang's entire body. His speed reached its limit, and like a wisp of green smoke, he flashed straight into the hospital lobby.
"Tell me, where is Jiang Xue?" Li Yang abruptly grabbed a nurse and growled.
The nurse in white froze and looked at the person before her in terror.
Was this even a human? His eyes were bloodshot, crimson like those of a bloodthirsty beast. The muscles in his face had twisted from extreme madness, making him look like a demon. Capillaries bulged across his skin, and even those on his forehead had burst, blood seeping out.
"Tell me, where is Jiang Xue?" Li Yang's voice became even lower, even more terrifying!
"She, she... committed suicide out of guilt. She was taken to the police station." The nurse in white finally came to her senses and stammered it out in a rush.
The police station!
The police station!
Before Li Yang's mind could even process it, his body had already charged madly toward the car!
It was entirely instinctive. In his daze, Li Yang's body had already entered the car.
"Get out of the car! Police!" The traffic officers had finally caught up.
Boom!
Li Yang drove straight into the police car, then continued accelerating toward the police station.
"Stop!" The police sirens howled again...
Deep in Li Yang's mind.
"Sigh, why is this young Li Yang so impetuous? Isn't it just the death of the physical body? What does that count for? As long as the soul is not extinguished, what is there to worry about? At most, she has entered the Ghost Realm. If this Hegemon makes a move, hmph hmph, I can let you ascend, then go to the Ghost Realm to find that Jiang Xue of yours. Besides, you are in the human world now. Your Jiang Xue would grow old and die anyway, but people in the Ghost Realm do not die. Wouldn't that mean you could never be separated again?"
"No, I won't tell this foolish boy Li Yang yet. This foolish boy's temperament seems to be changing now, and the Star Realm Three Stages also shows signs of a breakthrough. Once he completely breaks through, I'll tell him about the Ghost Realm. Then this Hegemon can make him cultivate diligently. This boy will definitely cultivate with his life on the line. Hahaha, wouldn't it be even easier for this Hegemon to return to the Demon Realm?"
Accelerate, accelerate again!
Li Yang accelerated wildly!
His sole thought was—see Jiang Xue!
"I'm here!" Li Yang immediately braked and rushed out of the car.
At that moment, dozens of armed police officers stood in the police station courtyard with loaded weapons. In the inner courtyard, a woman in her forties was crying and making a scene.
"Let me in! Let me see my daughter! Let me in!"
The woman cried helplessly, but she could not enter. The police would not let her in.
"My daughter is dead. Let me, her mother, see her one more time. How can you not even let me see her once?" The woman collapsed weakly to the ground.
Li Yang looked at the dozens of armed police officers before him and suddenly shouted, "Get lost!" But the dozens of armed police officers immediately aimed their guns at Li Yang.
Li Yang's eyes narrowed slightly. He sensed something unusual. He did not attack. His offensive power was strong, but his defense had not reached the point where he could withstand bullets. This was not the time to show off. The calmness forged through his special forces training returned once more.
"Good kid, you think driving a Mercedes lets you speed like this?" At last, a traffic officer caught up from behind.
Li Yang said coldly, "Go call your chief. Tell him someone from Group 9 wants to see him!"
"I don't care whether you're from Group 9 or Group 10. I'm from Traffic Police Group 8! First come with me and make a statement..." The traffic officer kept grumbling, when one of the dozens of armed police officers suddenly shoved him aside.
The traffic officer turned around to curse, but when he saw who had pushed him, his face immediately broke into a smile. "So it's Captain Wang. Leave this matter to me."
Captain Wang was the captain of the armed police brigade. This time, he had received a call from the police station chief and learned that the situation was serious. With no time to waste, he had immediately brought dozens of armed police officers over. As the top man of the armed police brigade, he knew of Security Bureau Group 9. After all, they still needed his men's cooperation in handling certain matters.
"This is my identification." Li Yang suppressed the anxiety in his heart and took out his credentials.
Captain Wang's expression immediately changed. With a beaming smile, he said, "Oh, so you're from the military. Come, let's talk inside!"
Li Yang said flatly, "Take me to see the nurse sent from the hospital."
Captain Wang said with some difficulty, "This... this may be hard to arrange!"
"Not even for me, Captain Wang?" Li Yang said evenly. Though his rank was lower than Captain Wang's, people from the Security Bureau had privileges to begin with—privileges ordinary military officers could not compare to.
Thinking of Li Yang's identity, Captain Wang relaxed and immediately said, "Fine, it's no big problem. I'll take you there!"
The woman collapsed on the ground suddenly seemed to regain all her strength. She grabbed Captain Wang and Li Yang, crying, "Let me see my daughter. I beg you, let me see her."
Li Yang recognized the woman. She was Jiang Xue's mother. However, Li Yang had only met her once back then, and Jiang Xue's mother probably did not remember him at all.
"Take this woman to the holding room!" Captain Wang gave the order.
Li Yang forcibly suppressed the fury and grief in his heart. The most important thing now was seeing Jiang Xue.
Led by Captain Wang, Li Yang arrived at a corridor in the rear courtyard.
"The girl's body is inside. Go in and have a look. I won't go in! Sigh, what a pitiful girl." Captain Wang sighed and remained outside the door.
Standing outside, Li Yang's right hand trembled slightly as he opened the iron door and walked in.
At the center of the room lay a delicate body, covered with a white sheet.
Trembling, one step at a time, Li Yang walked toward that familiar figure which had haunted his dreams, utterly lost and bereft.
The first time Li Yang had saved Jiang Xue from being robbed.
"Thank you!" The girl looked at Li Yang gratefully.
Recalling that frail girl he had seen for the first time, Li Yang could not help but smile faintly. His feet moved closer unconsciously, closer to the figure beneath the white sheet.
"Brother Yi, it's you! Today at the hospital, there was this little girl who came to see a doctor. She was so adorable. Every time she got an injection, she just kept crying and crying..." Her laughter from the past still seemed to ring in his ears.
Li Yang seemed to hear Jiang Xue's clear, melodious laughter, and his smile grew wider. His steps continued forward, one step after another.
"I believe our love is just like the love in Butterfly Lovers. Not even life and death can keep us apart!"
Boom!
All those beautiful memories collapsed in an instant!
The words not even life and death can keep us apart were like a curse, instantly shattering Li Yang's heart that had been immersed in the past...
Li Yang slowly knelt down and gently lifted the white sheet.
It was a familiar face. Jiang Xue looked as though she were asleep, still so beautiful, still making people want to cherish and protect her.
"Brother Yi, I'll wait for you!" Those were the final words of every phone call, and they were also proof of Jiang Xue's unwavering heart. She had waited, day after day, always waiting...
But...
Tears flowed from Li Yang's blank eyes. His right hand stretched out tremblingly and slowly stroked Jiang Xue's face, but all he felt was coldness.
At this moment, the two of them were separated by the realms of yin and yang.
A low voice sounded...
"Xue, I'm here. I finally came, but you... but why did you wait until this day? I... I came today to marry you!"
It was as if Li Yang's heart were being devoured bit by bit...
Yet Li Yang still looked at Jiang Xue with deep affection. "Xue, look, I even bought the ring!" Li Yang hurriedly pulled a box from his pocket and carefully took out the ring, but his hand would not stop trembling.
"Xue, is this ring beautiful? I bought it especially for you. I know you like butterflies. This butterfly-shaped diamond ring cost over six million. Do you like it? If you don't, I can buy a more expensive one, a better one. Ten million? Fifty million? As long as you want it, I'll buy it. Really, I have money. I can buy it..." Li Yang seemed terribly nervous. He kept talking as he tried his best to put the ring on Jiang Xue's hand.
Suddenly, a heartbroken wail sounded outside the room.
Li Yang instantly fell silent. He stopped speaking, not another word, only carefully looking at Jiang Xue—at her brows, at her lips...
Gradually, a mournful sob echoed through the room. "Xue, I... I never even had time to tell you... my real name..."
Every day's longing, every day's anticipation, yet until the day she died, Jiang Xue had never received Li Yang's proposal. When Li Yang had finally come to propose, Jiang Xue had just left.
Every day, Li Yang and Jiang Xue had spoken by phone. They had not even met again.
What made Li Yang regret so bitterly that his heart twisted was this—he had not even told Jiang Xue his real name!
"Ahhhhh!" A grief-stricken roar erupted from the depths of Li Yang's heart. Was it agony? Guilt? Rage? Helplessness? Regret?
Suddenly, boundless spiritual energy of heaven and earth began pouring into Li Yang's body. Like water bursting down from a high dam, it directly began merging with the True Qi within him. Yet Li Yang's mind remained immersed in pain and regret. He loved someone, yet even when his beloved died, she did not know his name! He had not even made it in time to see her one last time!
The pain twisting his heart was like countless insects devouring his soul.
Powerful spiritual energy kept flooding in, but no matter how much there was, it could not erase even a trace of Li Yang's regret. Strands of baleful aura began winding around his heart...
"Mm, this foolish boy Li Yang isn't bad. He has finally reached the Regret Realm. Now his cultivation speed will be much faster. Seeing him suffer like this, even this Hegemon is starting to soften. I almost want to tell him that his wife has not truly died; she merely went to the Ghost Realm. To cultivators, as long as the soul has not scattered into smoke, it does not count as death! Endure, endure, endure. I'll tell him once this boy reaches the Melancholy Realm. Otherwise, who knows what year or month it will be before he breaks through the third level of mental cultivation? This Li Xunhuan is strange too. He entered the Dao through love, so why did he create a path of wounded love? Could that Li Xunhuan have suffered like this too?"
"Still, things look quite good now. This foolish boy Li Yang is overflowing with baleful aura. He won't be able to remain in that damned Security Bureau any longer. Hmph, this Hegemon had long been displeased with being bound by the Security Bureau, but this foolish boy stubbornly insisted on staying. Hmph hmph, now that baleful aura has arisen, he will not be able to stay even if he wants to. From now on, he can only cultivate my demonic path! Great Venerable Chi You, use your vast divine powers to lead this lost child onto the demonic path!"
There was no expression left on Li Yang's face, no emotion left at all.
"Hmph, to actually comprehend the Regret Realm at a time like this. My Internal Energy has broken through again, reaching the third layer of the Six Extremes Pure Yang Art." Li Yang felt no joy whatsoever, only a baleful aura buried deep in his bones.
Li Yang had changed!
Li Yang opened the sealed iron door.
"Captain Wang, how exactly did this girl die?" Li Yang's voice was calm, as though he were discussing something that had nothing to do with him.
Fortunately, the room's soundproofing was excellent, so Captain Wang had not heard Li Yang's low sobbing.
"Sigh, that girl was pitiful. Her death was probably connected to Lin Tianyu, the heir of Shenglin Group. That hospital is a domestic subsidiary of Shenglin Group. Half a day after Lin Tianyu inspected it, the girl died. And the director hinted to us that it was related to Young Master Lin." Captain Wang sighed.
Li Yang frowned. "But there's no evidence."
Captain Wang said, "How could anyone find evidence? The forensic examination confirmed that the girl did commit suicide, and there were no signs that she had been violated. So even if her parents wanted to sue, they would have no case to bring. But this matter cannot be made public, even without evidence detrimental to Young Master Lin."
Li Yang fell silent.
"Lin Tianyu! The hospital director!" Killing intent rose in Li Yang's heart.
Hospital director's office.
Director Fang Shimin sat there, still cursing inwardly. "That stubborn little nurse. All she had to do was accompany Young Master Lin. Young Master Lin taking a fancy to her was her good fortune. When she couldn't refuse, she said she was going to change clothes. Who would have thought she would swallow pills and kill herself? What rotten luck, rotten luck. Those two bodyguards of Young Master Lin's, standing watch outside, were idiots too. They never even noticed that the little nurse had killed herself."
Suddenly, Fang Shimin saw a pair of eyes—deep eyes. An indescribable power passed through them, and Fang Shimin gradually felt drowsy. Slowly, he closed his eyes.
Li Yang looked at the hypnotized Fang Shimin before him and smiled coldly. With his mental cultivation, an ordinary person could not withstand his hypnosis at all.
"Tell me exactly how Nurse Jiang Xue died. Tell me everything." Li Yang's question carried a strange cadence. Fang Shimin slowly opened his vacant eyes.
"...She actually swallowed pills and committed suicide while changing clothes. In the end, Young Master Lin gave me a terrible scolding too. What rotten luck." Fang Shimin explained the entire sequence of events.
Flames began flickering in Li Yang's eyes, and he clenched his teeth hard. "Die, die, die. You all deserve to die. You made Xue accompany Lin Tianyu and drove Xue to kill herself. I want all of you—to—die!" Li Yang shot out a hand like lightning. No one could even see the trace of its movement before his right hand was already resting on Fang Shimin's head.
Internal Energy rushed into Fang Shimin's head like a torrent. Fang Shimin's body immediately convulsed, blood flowed from his seven orifices, and he died on the spot.
"Xue, whoever hurt you, I will never let them go. Whoever it is!" A glint of red flashed through Li Yang's eyes.
Inside a small hotel room.
Li Yang sat quietly on the bed. After glancing at the time on the clock, he took out his phone. Jiang Xue's photo on the screen made his hand tremble slightly, but his face remained expressionless.
"A Shuo, it's your big brother Li Yang. Have the Hong Bang's Shanghai branch find out everything about Lin Tianyu for me. Don't ask why." Li Yang hung up and slowly stroked the thirty throwing knives lying on the bed beside him.
"Lin Tianyu, you must die!" Li Yang's voice seemed to squeeze out from between his teeth, and the icy gleam in his eyes made one's heart tremble.
But Li Yang himself did not notice that the baleful aura in his heart had grown even thicker, the red light in his eyes even more intense, and his killing intent even stronger.
PS: The next chapter: Killing Intent in the Dark Night. As for Jiang Xue and Li Yang, I can only guarantee that they will stay together for life, until the heavens crumble and the earth grows old! The process may have some twists and turns, but love that has endured hardship may perhaps be all the more precious... Li Yang's eventual departure from the Security Bureau cannot be changed. Only then will his future have fewer limits. Everything is unknown, and the future requires Li Yang's hard work and struggle...
If everyone approves of Tomato, then vote! By now, the plot is no longer something Tomato can control. The personalities of the characters in Tomato's novels determine their actions, and the plot arises naturally from them.
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