Blood Bloomed Amid the Slaughter

"Die!" Qinglang snarled viciously, about to pull the trigger.

Bang!

A gunshot rang out.

No bullet flew from Qinglang's pistol. Instead, his entire arm went flying.

Blood bloomed like flowers, strikingly vivid.

Fang Yuan whipped his head toward the gunshot.

He saw the clock tower at T-shaped Bridge, standing in the night, utterly still.

He estimated the distance at over five hundred meters.

Anything that could hit a target from that far away had to be a sniper rifle.

There was no time to think.

Fang Yuan lunged over, snatched the pistol from Qinglang's severed hand, and pressed it against his forehead.

"So you brought backup!" Qinglang roared bitterly, glaring viciously at the clock tower outside the window.

"Didn't you bring backup too?" Fang Yuan snorted.

"Fang Yuan, there's no deep hatred between us. Let me go, and I promise I won't trouble you again," Qinglang hurriedly begged.

His left arm had been shot off by the sniper rifle, leaving a mangled stump.

The intense pain brought huge beads of sweat to his forehead.

"My biggest regret is not killing you in the old district last time. I won't make the same mistake twice." Fang Yuan's eyes were cold and fierce as he prepared to pull the trigger.

"No! Don't shoot! I'll buy my life! Two hundred thousand! Two hundred thousand!"

As he spoke, Qinglang hurriedly took a check from his breast pocket and held it out to Fang Yuan.

Fang Yuan took the check and glanced at it. It really was for two hundred thousand.

"You're pretty loaded." Fang Yuan readied himself to pull the trigger.

Fang Yuan had handled guns as a child.

After all, Old Fang had served in the military and often brought out his Glock to show off when Fang Yuan was little.

Without a magazine, of course.

The one in his hand now not only had a magazine, but also had a round in the chamber.

All he had to do was pull the trigger to blow his opponent's head apart.

Seeing that Fang Yuan really intended to shoot, Qinglang hurriedly shouted, "You took the money! You can't shoot!"

"Did I promise not to kill you?" Fang Yuan's voice was utterly indifferent.

"I already gave you the money! Two hundred thousand!"

"If you didn't give it to me, couldn't I just take it myself after killing you?"

"You!" Qinglang roared.

Fang Yuan pulled the trigger.

Bang!

Blood bloomed amid the slaughter, like flowers in the dawn.

Before that moment, Fang Yuan had never thought he would kill someone one day, much less at this age.

But by kidnapping Fang Xiaozhu, Qinglang had crossed a line that could not be tolerated.

Fang Yuan even felt some regret.

He should have been more ruthless at the old district's basketball court last week and killed Qinglang outright.

Then his sister would not have suffered today's ordeal.

The same mistake.

Fang Yuan would not allow himself to make it twice, so after killing Qinglang, he spared none of Qinglang's remaining men.

He killed them all, leaving no future trouble.

The age of rift invasions was cruel by nature.

Awakeners, Star Beasts, mutated creatures-every one of them was extremely dangerous.

It was just that Fang Yuan had always lived in a city where order had yet to collapse, and before this, he had never witnessed this world's cruelty firsthand.

Only when his sister fell into danger did the ferocity in his heart finally awaken.

Fang Yuan killed every thug in the warehouse.

From their fear and fury as they died, he absorbed a large amount of Rage Points.

Each one yielded seventy or eighty points.

Clearly, anger at the moment of death was far stronger than usual.

Fang Yuan tallied his Rage Points and found that he had gained a total of 910.

An unprecedented haul.

After leaving the warehouse.

Fang Yuan glanced at the clock tower at T-shaped Bridge, a suspicion forming in his mind.

So he climbed the clock tower, hoping to find the shooter.

He searched the top floor but found no shooter, only a shell casing.

The brass casing still held a trace of warmth.

As Fang Yuan stood atop the clock tower, overlooking the city.

A blaze lit up in the direction of the warehouse.

Flames rapidly engulfed all of Warehouse 63, like a magnificent display of fireworks, dazzling beyond compare.

Fang Yuan stood on the clock tower, watching the brilliant fireworks below.

He vaguely felt something within him slowly blooming in the flames.

Fang Yuan had not set the fire.

And it burned so evenly that it certainly had not started naturally.

Fang Yuan did not investigate further, because the gunshots would surely draw the police and agents from the Supervision Bureau.

The Supervision Bureau agents in particular would be troublesome if they set their sights on him.

Fang Yuan descended the clock tower and darted into the night, disappearing.

Half an hour later.

Fang Yuan returned to Donghai City Hospital and found Fang Zhenguo washing his hands in the restroom, a black guitar case at his feet.

Fang Zhenguo washed his hands very thoroughly, probably more thoroughly than he had in over a decade.

He even soaped the cast on his left hand.

Fang Yuan walked over, nudged the guitar case with his foot, and asked, "You really know how to play guitar?"

Fang Zhenguo finished washing, shook the water from his hands, and slung the guitar case onto his back. "I'm all right. Haven't played in over twenty years. I'm a little rusty."

With that, he headed out.

"Teach me sometime, then? I've never played guitar." Fang Yuan continued speaking in riddles.

"It's not that easy to learn. We'll talk about it later. You stink of sweat. Wash up properly, and don't stink up Xiaozhu's room." With that, Fang Zhenguo left.

Fang Yuan lifted his shirt collar and sniffed it, muttering, "What stink?"

Then he began washing his hands.

As he washed, rubbing his right fist hurt a little.

He had used Thunder Fist twice earlier. With 23 strength, its explosive power was astonishing.

But his constitution was only 14, so the recoil was a little much.

Still, Thunder Fist really was powerful enough to kill Viper instantly with a single punch.

That had been a monster with both strength and agility off the charts.

While washing his hands, Fang Yuan wondered whether he should raise his constitution as well.

If he increased his constitution, he would become a monster with all four attributes maxed out.

But once an attribute reached its limit, diminishing returns would set in, so the optimal strategy was to improve his constitution through training first and only add points after reaching the cap.

After washing his hands, Fang Yuan washed his face, then went to the ward to see Fang Xiaozhu.

Li Shuhua had stayed beside the bed the whole time.

Fang Yuan walked over and asked softly, "Xiaozhu still hasn't woken up?"

"Not yet. Let her sleep a little longer. Don't wake her," Li Shuhua whispered.

Fang Yuan nodded and glanced at his sister. Seeing that her breathing was steady, he felt reassured.

But the next day came.

Fang Xiaozhu still had not woken up.

When Fang Xiaozhu had fallen into a deep sleep yesterday, the doctor had examined her and said she was uninjured, so the whole family had been fairly reassured.

They had thought she would wake up the next day after a good sleep.

But when Li Shuhua tried to wake her children for breakfast that morning, she could not wake her no matter what she did.

At first, Li Shuhua called a doctor to examine her.

When she still could not wake her by noon, she called Fang Yuan.

When Fang Yuan arrived at the hospital, the doctor was examining her but still could not find the cause.

Moreover, Fang Xiaozhu's breathing was becoming increasingly rapid, as though she could not catch her breath.

"The patient's having trouble breathing! Bring over a ventilator! Intubate her!"

The attending physician hurriedly had a nurse bring over a ventilator and inserted a breathing tube.

Seeing that something was wrong, Fang Yuan hurriedly directed Star Power into his eyes and immediately discovered something strange about Fang Xiaozhu's attributes.

Name: Fang Xiaozhu

Star Power level: None/Lv.1

Attributes: Strength 3, agility 5, constitution 3, spirit 10

Superpower Trait: None

Skills: None