The Most Beautiful

"Dead?"

At Tiansheng Group's private training grounds, a young man with a long, deep scar across his forehead stopped training. He took the pristine white towel offered by someone nearby and wiped away his sweat, then said coolly, "Fifteen men couldn't take down one student from The Academy?"

The man offering the towel bowed deferentially. "Yes, young master. According to them, they only heard a muffled thud. They didn't see the other person make a move, but their own men were all sent flying into the wall. The other person asked who had sent Big Dog after him. Big Dog didn't answer, so he was killed. Hardly a bone in his body was left intact. His internal organs were all ruptured, as if he'd been crushed to death by tremendous force."

"He's a Tower Climber? How many floors?" The scarred young man turned around, looking somewhat surprised.

The man holding the towel bowed even lower. "We checked. He's never entered the tower."

The young man considered it. "Are you sure? Some people might be good at hiding it."

The towel-bearer nodded, still bent at the waist. "Absolutely. In this day and age, anyone Tiansheng wants to investigate can't hide unless the First Consortium protects them."

"Good." The young man frowned and sneered. "He ruined things between Cheng Queyi and me. I only meant to give him a warning, but I didn't expect to hook such a big fish."

He tossed the towel aside and turned to resume his training. "Those men didn't expose themselves, did they?"

"Well, there's a bit of a problem." The towel-bearer picked up the towel and put it in the laundry bin, hesitating before he continued. "They got clever and screamed a few times when Big Dog died."

"Pointless!" The young man increased the speed of the treadmill and started running faster. "If they exposed themselves, so be it. It doesn't matter. Pin Big Dog's death on him and make sure it sticks. I want to know the secret behind a non-Tower Climber taking on fifteen men!"

The towel-bearer bowed and left the training grounds.

In reality, the petite boy's injuries were far less serious than Wang Wen's.

With injuries so common in the World Tower these days, medical care had advanced rapidly. A stab wound to the abdomen and ruptured organs posed no danger to life as long as treatment was prompt.

Wang Wen's case was different. His unexplained "mental overexertion" depended more on luck and the so-called willpower of the injured.

Seeing the petite boy come to visit him at the hospital, full of energy, Wang Wen felt reassured.

The boy quietly nodded toward Cheng Queyi, who was peeling an apple, then raised his eyebrows at Wang Wen and mouthed, "Three days."

Wang Wen frowned and turned to look at Cheng Queyi. He sighed deeply. "Why are you peeling it, you spendthrift? Don't you know all the nutrients are in the skin?"

Cheng Queyi smiled at him and continued peeling the apple.

"Could one of you please take her away?" Wang Wen groaned weakly. "I'm worried I won't recover with her hanging around here."

The boy left. After all, he'd only just recovered from serious injuries and needed plenty of rest.

The man from the sofa left too, leaving behind a batch of the latest class records.

The man by the door left as well, leaving behind an Intelligence Department access pass.

Wang Wen tilted his head and looked at Cheng Queyi. "You should go too. Thanks for all your hard work these past few days."

Cheng Queyi picked up the apple and asked him, "Do you need me to feed you, senior?"

"No." Wang Wen propped himself up. "Can you tell me what's going through your mind? Why are you being so nice to me for no reason? I really only mentioned it in passing!"

Cheng Queyi set down the apple. Her smile gradually faded, and she said wistfully, "Didn't you also save my life for no reason, supposedly just because you 'mentioned it in passing'? Why were you so good to me?"

"How strange." Wang Wen gave a disdainful snort. "You've looked like this your whole life. Did you never realize? Saving a beautiful woman is just what men do. What reason would there need to be?"

"Senior, do you think Xiao Yi is beautiful?" Cheng Queyi propped her chin on one hand, twirling a dangling lock of hair with her fingers as she stared into Wang Wen's eyes.

Wang Wen looked at Cheng Queyi before him, and her face gradually overlapped with the one in his memories from another life.

That Cheng Queyi, so full of pain and insecurity,

had often asked him the same thing.

And every time, he would answer earnestly, with all his heart, "Our Xiao Yi is the most beautiful person in the world."

Until the pain drove her to end her life. Even as she lay dying, when he found her, she still asked the same question:

"Captain, is Xiao Yi beautiful?"

Hearing those words again today, looking into the eyes across from him as she waited for an answer, Wang Wen's heart began to throb painfully, just as it had before. Like a conditioned reflex honed through battle, he answered with unwavering conviction, "Our Xiao Yi is the most beautiful person in the world! No one compares!!"

Cheng Queyi was stunned.

She reached out and gently wiped away the tears spilling from Wang Wen's eyes.

He spoke the most powerful words with the calmest expression, yet tears kept streaming down his face as if they weren't even his own. What had this young man been through?

She'd heard countless compliments and words of praise over the years.

Not one of them had ever made her feel so heartbroken.

Why?

Why did she feel this way?

Cheng Queyi's eyes reddened too. It felt as if lemon juice had filled her nose, stinging with sourness.

"All right, all right. I'll stop teasing you. Don't cry."

Seeing Wang Wen's tears grow heavier no matter how much she wiped them away, Cheng Queyi panicked completely.

He had only just woken from a coma, and he'd barely had anything to eat or drink for days.

If he kept crying like this, they'd have to rush him back to the doctor!

Wang Wen pushed her hand away and closed his eyes to take a deep breath.

He let out a long breath and shook his head with a self-mocking smile. "I really am getting old. As you get older, you get sentimental so easily."

"Pfft." Cheng Queyi wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, then smiled. "A little boy pretending to be mature."

Wang Wen put away all the casual swagger and carefree manner he'd deliberately shown to disguise his age. He looked at her gently and spoke softly. "Xiao Yi, take good care of yourself. Live this life happily and well."

Cheng Queyi stared blankly at him, listening blankly as he said things she couldn't understand, one sentence at a time.

"May every scheme and intrigue have nothing to do with you."

"May every malicious thought be kept a thousand miles away from you."

"May every encounter be kind and simple."

"May every decision be right and made with ease."

"May every reward be something you truly hoped for."

"May everything you receive be something you deeply love."

"May every street corner you pass have beautiful scenery."

"May you wake up smiling from every dream."

"May you enjoy delicious food without worrying about gaining weight."

"May your tears fall only when you're moved."

"May every gathering end without a parting."

"May every parting be followed by a reunion."

"May you receive every blessing I can think of."

"May you be safe, joyful, healthy, and free of worries for your whole life, and always as beautiful as a rainbow."

Cheng Queyi left.

She was afraid her heart would break if she stayed any longer.

No boy had ever treated her that way.

No boy had ever looked at her with eyes like his.

It wasn't admiration, and it certainly wasn't lust.

His gaze was as gentle as the winter sun, filled with a loved one's deepest affection.

She was perfectly fine. Why did he look at her that way?

Cheng Queyi didn't know the answer.

She only knew that when she heard him trying to send every bit of his good fortune her way, she panicked.

Even one's closest family wouldn't go that far.

He didn't owe her anything.

If anything, she owed him an enormous debt of gratitude that she could never repay.

Why was he treating her this way?

What did he want?

If he wanted something, why couldn't he just say so?

Why was he doing this?

Why did he only give and never ask for anything in return?

What was he trying to do?

Cheng Queyi left.

She left the hospital in tears.

No one understood why she was crying.

Just as she didn't understand why Wang Wen had cried.

In the private hospital room,

Wang Wen was physically and mentally exhausted. He felt he desperately needed a quiet rest to make up for the strain on his mind.

So he pulled up the covers and prepared to get some proper sleep.

Unfortunately, things never went as one wished.

Someone knocked on the hospital room door, and Yu Zhi walked in hesitantly.

Wang Wen looked at her helplessly. "I don't have the energy to argue with you right now."

Yu Zhi's expression was conflicted. She hesitated for a while, then worked up the courage to say, "I didn't know it would turn out like this. I thought he was just getting someone to scare you a little."