When Will Vengeance End?

~

Star Engraving Prefecture Medical Officer Department, light therapy room.

Le Yu lay on the bed beneath four convex high-intensity lamps. Two medical officers kneaded, pressed, and pounded his scarred body with both hands. In their hands, Le Yu's body seemed to become modeling clay, deforming wildly before gradually reassembling itself.

After who knew how long, the two medical officers exhaled heavily, took towels to wipe the hot sweat from their foreheads, and signaled the apprentices to turn off the high-intensity lamps.

"Is it over?" Le Yu suddenly asked, lying on the bed with his eyes tightly shut.

The medical officers were startled. Medical Officer Yu asked in astonishment, "When did you wake up?"

"I never fell asleep." Le Yu opened his eyes and said languidly, "Boiling Sleep Soup has no effect on me."

"You were conscious the entire time while undergoing Reconstruction Surgery?" Medical Officer Yu looked incredulous. "You didn't feel any pain?"

Reconstruction Surgery was the most commonly used operation in medical officer surgery. Taking advantage of the way intense light could penetrate the body, medical officers used healing combat arts to massage the surface of the body and promote blood circulation, reconnecting severed blood vessels, nerves, muscles, and even bones. Simply put, they used light energy to temporarily fill the patient's 'gaps,' tricking the body into believing that it was 'fine.' The body's functions would then resume normal operation, achieving the effect of rapidly multiplying cells and forcibly healing the injuries.

Body: I think I'm good to go.

Brain: No, you're not... (Smack!)

Light: That's right, you're perfectly fine. Take two steps without your crutch. (Hands over crutch.) See? You're perfectly fine. (Takes away crutch!)

Reconstruction Surgery was extraordinarily effective, but its drawback was that filling the body with light caused the patient tremendous pain. Some patients had even died from the pain. Therefore, in the past, patients undergoing Reconstruction Surgery had always been physically hypnotized—knocked unconscious directly.

In recent times, medical officers had discovered a plant with powerful sleep-inducing properties. When boiled into a soup, it caused patients to fall into a deep, sleepless coma without side effects. Thus, Boiling Sleep Soup became standard for Reconstruction Surgery. As for anesthetics that stopped or reduced pain, it wasn't that they didn't exist, but almost no one used them. Such drugs caused some degree of damage to the mind and could even permanently reduce Mental Power. The Radiant People, who valued Mental Power above all else, naturally treated them as poison.

Therefore, Medical Officer Yu's shock at Le Yu was perfectly understandable. He knew that the patient lying on the bed was Qian Yuliu, captain of Statistics Department First Special Operations Team, who had just defeated three people in succession and blasted one person to death before being brought in—a thoroughly vicious criminal.

Patients becoming enraged from agony and violently killing medical officers was hardly rare.

At the thought, Medical Officer Yu broke into a cold sweat, feeling as though he had just taken a lap around the gates of hell.

Le Yu had no idea what was going through Medical Officer Yu's mind. He sat up and did a few stretches, then said with a smile, "It didn't hurt. Your technique is excellent, Medical Officer."

Medical Officer Yu's eyebrows twitched violently. He knew exactly how severe Qian Yuliu's injuries had been: two penetrating wounds and thirty-eight severe impact wounds. Such injuries were rare even in Star Engraving Prefecture. He had exhausted himself to reconstruct Qian Yuliu's body.

But the surgery had only just ended, and Qian Yuliu already dared to sit up and move around? Could he not feel his fragile muscles and nerves screaming in agony?

And he said Reconstruction Surgery didn't hurt? Medical Officer Yu occasionally performed Reconstruction Surgery on himself while conscious after suffering minor injuries. Even treating a scraped knee from kneeling on a washboard could sometimes make his scalp go numb from the stabbing pain of the light therapy.

Qian Yuliu had just had nearly his entire body stuffed full of light!

The sensation should have been comparable to eating a king durian—with the shell still on!

Was this the ruthless type from the Statistics Department?

He was ruthless toward others, but even more ruthless toward himself!

Medical Officer Yu's voice grew increasingly gentle and courteous. "Take Captain Qian back to the inpatient department. It's unwise to eat or drink within three hours after surgery. Does Captain Qian have any other discomfort?"

"No. Sorry for the trouble, Medical Officer."

Le Yu sat in a wheelchair and was pushed to the inpatient department by a young female medical officer. Since there were no elevators, the Medical Officer Department was generally made up of two-story buildings. The second floors were mostly teaching and office areas, while the first floors contained treatment, surgery, and inpatient areas, making it easier for patients to get around.

Le Yu did not see many patients along the way. After all, not many people could come to the Medical Officer Department for treatment in the first place. Unless they were powerful figures or seriously ill, they were not qualified to stay there.

However, medical officers could cure most illnesses through surgery and massage, so hospitalization was unnecessary. Furthermore, the Radiant People had relatively strong resistance to illness thanks to their enhanced Mental Power. Thus, although medical resources were scarce, disease had not become a disaster for Radiance.

As Le Yu passed through the courtyard of the Medical Officer Department, he happened to run into a group of people.

Familiar faces.

Gao Jin, Xia Lingo, Lin Xue, and the others were walking toward the entrance with downcast expressions. Behind them followed a middle-aged woman holding a little boy by the hand. The woman had a plump, round appearance that marked her as someone who had been pampered since childhood, and she kept clutching a handkerchief while sobbing softly.

Gao Jin's expression changed the instant he saw Le Yu. He opened his mouth to speak, evidently about to fire off dozens of righteous reprimands and furious curses like a machine gun. But he swallowed the thousand words in his throat, turned his head, and hurried away without saying a word.

The others also left in silence. However, when a young man beside the middle-aged woman saw Le Yu, he involuntarily called out in a trembling voice, "Qian Yuliu!"

Gao Jin cursed inwardly, "Oh no!" and hurriedly restrained the middle-aged woman. "Aunt Lu, calm down. Don't do anything rash!"

Lin Xue also took hold of the middle-aged woman. "Aunt Lu, let's go home, all right?"

But contrary to their expectations, the middle-aged woman did not become agitated. She merely stared blankly in Le Yu's direction and asked, "Are you Qian Yuliu?"

Le Yu motioned for the female medical officer pushing his wheelchair to stop and nodded. "I am."

Lin Xue, Gao Jin, and the others watched the middle-aged woman anxiously. She slowly squatted down and embraced the little boy beside her, whose expression was somewhat bewildered. "Xiao Hui, did you get a good look at that person?"

Xiao Hui looked at Le Yu and nodded firmly without saying anything.

"You must remember him. He was the one who killed your father and your uncle. You must remember his name. Your enemy is called Qian Yuliu. You must remember that name. When you grow up, you must, you must, take...revenge... Wuwu..."

The middle-aged woman could not stop herself from sobbing softly as she spoke. Xiao Hui reached out in a panic and wiped the tears from his mother's face. "Mom, don't cry. I'll be good. Mom, don't cry..."

Everyone nearby could not help but redden around the eyes. Two clear streams of tears even poured down Gao Jin's face. At that moment, an incongruous voice slowly rang out:

"When will vengeance end~?"

Gao Jin finally lost control and roared, "Shut up! Anyone else would have the right to say that, but you, Qian Yuliu, absolutely do not!"

"Truth is truth no matter who speaks it, and dog fangs are dog fangs no matter whose mouth they come from. Don't let hatred rule your mind. Appreciate your enemy, and you'll gain more from it."

Le Yu spoke calmly. "Do you really think it's right to make a child live in hatred from a young age? He can't even recognize all the characters yet, and you want to teach him 'revenge'? He could have had a happy childhood. Do you really have to destroy it?"

"His happy childhood wasn't destroyed by us. It was destroyed by you!" Gao Jin shouted. "You killed his uncle, Lin Jinyao, and then killed his father, Lin Xue'en! Don't you feel even the slightest shame?!"

"Shh." Le Yu lightly touched a finger to his lips. "This is a hospital. Keep it down."

After a pause, he smiled again. "No. I don't feel ashamed at all."

"You—"

"I'm a patient. I'm not arguing with you. You mistake kindness for malice. The world is already so unstable. This orphan and his mother should focus on living well and holding on to the happiness in their hands instead of thinking about something as unrealistic as revenge."

The corners of Le Yu's lips curled upward. "If you really want revenge, I advise you to hurry, because...you won't have the chance for long."

Lin Xue'en was the second person Le Yu had killed after transmigrating into this world.

Interestingly, the first person he had killed was Lin Jinyao.

Both brothers had died at his hands, which gave Le Yu an inexplicable sense of malicious amusement from fate.

But as for the traitor Lin Xue'en, Le Yu felt not the slightest guilt. Whether the Lin Family hated him or wanted revenge, he did not care. In any case, they would not get the chance.

To be fair, given Qian Yuliu's current identity, surviving until next year would require the blessing of the heavens. That child would need more than a decade to grow up. By then, Qian Yuliu would either have grass three meters high over his grave or would have long since returned to the organization and cleared his name. How could the other side possibly get revenge?

But on closer thought, someone like Qian Yuliu, an enemy spy, was most likely to die silently without anyone noticing. That was why Le Yu had advised them not to waste their time on revenge.

You haven't even made a move, and I might already be dead!

Yet Le Yu's painstaking good intentions sounded completely different to those listening. Gao Jin's expression changed. "Qian Yuliu, are you still planning to attack a widow and her child?! Are you even human?"

Damn it, he really wanted to use a forbidden resurrection technique to bring the brothers Lin Jinyao and Lin Xue'en back to life, so everyone would know that he was actually an upright spy sent by White Night, while Lin Xue'en was the villainous mole bought by the Statistics Department. Then Gao Jin, that idiot, could kneel down in shame and sing "Conquer" to him.

"Sure, but thinking about it isn't illegal, is it? Go report me. Let's see whether the Judicial Department will come arrest me." Le Yu was carefree. "Are you angry? If you've got the nerve, kill me. Come on~"

"You, you—"

"I just love watching you rage helplessly like this. Especially since you can't beat me in a fight and can't win an argument. Why don't you go home and grow sweet potatoes?" Le Yu smiled in satisfaction. Since he could not reveal his identity and humiliate Gao Jin, he would at least throw out a few insults and collect some interest.

Gao Jin's face flushed bright red with rage. Suddenly, he spat out a mouthful of blood, startling everyone. But he pushed away the people supporting him and walked out of the Medical Officer Department with an expression of grief and indignation. It seemed he had learned his lesson and would no longer confront Le Yu directly.

Xia Lingo glanced at Le Yu, said nothing, and left with the others.

Le Yu had no interest in talking with them either. He motioned for the female medical officer, who had been cautiously watching the show behind him, to continue pushing him to the inpatient department.

Lin Xue glanced back at Le Yu's retreating figure and suddenly said, "Xia Lingo, take Aunt Lu and Xiao Hui home first. I have something to do."

With that, Lin Xue hurried after Le Yu's wheelchair in small, quick steps, under everyone's astonished gazes.

"Qian Yuliu, I want to ask you something."

"Love... Go ahead." Le Yu instinctively wanted to make a witty remark, but after thinking about it, decided not to.

"Why did you kill my second uncle?" Lin Xue's brows drew together slightly as she stared straight at Le Yu and asked softly, "Was it related to the gunshot wound you suffered?"

At the time, Lin Xue had personally watched Le Yu grab her second uncle by the neck and smash his head against the ground.

After losing two close relatives in succession, Lin Xue's mind had gone blank. Although her heart had immediately been filled with grief and regret, when both sides were sent to the Medical Officer Department for treatment, she keenly noticed the gunshot wound on Qian Yuliu.

Qian Yuliu had not suffered that injury during his first three battles, and her second uncle had not used a firearm. Therefore, without a doubt, Qian Yuliu's gunshot wound had come from an assassination attempt elsewhere.

Furthermore, Qian Yuliu had not displayed any obvious Killing Intent during his earlier battles. Yet after exchanging several blows with her second uncle, his Killing Intent had suddenly erupted. That incongruity made Lin Xue faintly realize that there seemed to be more secrets behind this vendetta.

Qian Yuliu's words just now had also been strange. Although they sounded like ordinary insults, thinking about them carefully, they also seemed like well-intentioned advice.

Therefore, in that instant, Lin Xue had suddenly been seized by an impulse—or rather, her sixth sense had led her to make a decision. She would ask her father's killer for an answer.

"It was related."

Lin Xue's eyes widened, and her calves trembled slightly. She felt that she was about to hear a secret that would overturn her entire worldview.

Le Yu shrugged. "Getting shot is bound to make someone angry. There just happened to be an old bastard standing in front of me, so it was only natural that I hit him a little harder, right? Who knew his head would be so fragile?"

The young female medical officer shuddered when she heard this. She cast a sidelong glance at Lin Xue and thought, As expected of the Statistics Department's Captain Qian. He's in a wheelchair and still this arrogant. Isn't he afraid someone will flip his wheelchair over?

However, Lin Xue did not become angry as the medical officer had expected. She merely stared at Le Yu in silence for a long while before suddenly asking, "Then why didn't you kill me? When my scabbard was pointed at your chest, I truly wanted to kill you. You must have known that I would kill you, so why didn't you snap my neck?"

Because I'm attracted to your body, Le Yu thought.