Chosen: Beyond Fate

Buzz buzz...

Amid soft and indistinct humming, a drifting, slender figure swept through the city’s neon lights and nightscape. Like a weightless ghost, she leapt between skyscrapers and towering buildings. Each time she jumped, the breeze lifted her as though she were flying through the sky.

At last, she landed atop an apartment building.

Ignoring gravity, she walked straight down the wall, kicked open the half-closed window, and jumped into the still brightly lit room.

“An Ran, I’m back!”

What answered her was sword energy so refined it hovered on the edge of existence. A merciless barrage of a hundred sword strikes came screaming toward her.

Streams of sword energy gathered like a tornado, filling the overly cramped living room and swallowing her whole. Yet soon enough, the countless blade-like currents were scattered completely with a single sweep of faint light.

An Ning stepped inside and saw that familiar face already burning with fury.

“You’re not allowed to bully Mr. Ji!”

“Oh? Throwing a tantrum now?” An Ning paused in slight surprise, then nodded in realization. “Mm, after two years apart, I see you’ve really grown up.”

With a sigh, her figure suddenly rushed forward, appearing before An Ran without warning. Effortlessly, she dismantled and crushed the fierce assault he had prepared for so long.

Finally, with practiced ease, she grabbed his wrist, twisted it, and pinned him down onto the sofa. Just like the outcome of their countless past sparring matches, An Ran was utterly defeated.

At last, An Ning lowered her head and asked curiously, “So, are you trying to steal a man from your sister?”

An Ran froze. The shock instantly made him forget his anger as he frantically shook his head.

“I... M-Mr. Ji and I aren't in that kind of relationship! And people say two men can’t be together...”

An Ning leaned closer, staring straight into his eyes.

“Oh, that’s not really the case. Not that many people say that, actually!" she declared without hesitation. “As long as it’s true love, then identity and status aren’t problems. Gender shouldn’t be a problem either, right?”

“Mr. Ji and I don’t have the kind of relationship where we’d get married!”

“Oh really?” An Ning’s smile grew even more delighted. “Since you’re not planning to compete with me for him, then you’ll definitely help me, right?”

She paused for a moment, her smile becoming even sweeter as she released him. “After all, if your sister marries him, wouldn’t that mean you and Mr. Ji could spend every day together?”

“I...” An Ran was suddenly speechless. Instinctively, he did not want Mr. Ji getting too close to his sister, nor did he approve of the two being together. “Mr. Ji would never like you!”

“Really? That’s hard to say.” An Ning lifted her long fingers and twirled a strand of hair beside her ear, revealing her delicate cheek. “After all, I’m very pretty. Even prettier than you.”

“That won’t work!” An Ran lifted his head proudly and promptly retorted, “Mr. Ji never judges people by appearance!”

“But I’m talented and strong too. Probably ten or even a hundred times stronger than you.” Resting her chin in one hand, An Ning continued smiling. “Besides, if I work a little harder and kick Second Uncle out of the way, then once Grandpa and Dad pass away, I might just become the head of the An family. By then, with the An family backing him, wouldn’t he be able to get whatever he wants?”

“So what?” An Ran shot her a disdainful glance, his resolve growing even firmer. “Mr. Ji has never cared about power or status. He’d never judge someone based on strength or family background!”

“Really? Then it sounds like I have no advantage at all in his eyes.” Though she said that, An Ning did not seem flustered in the slightest. Instead, her smile grew even more cunning, filling An Ran with a terrible premonition as she gently added, “In that case, isn’t being rich my only remaining advantage?”

“Ah...” An Ran froze, stiffly swallowing a mouthful of saliva.

Of all things, this was the one point he could not refute even if he flipped through the Collection of Holy Quotes cover to cover. An Ning had discovered the weakness, so she launched her attack. And thus, she killed the match outright.

An Ran suffered complete defeat, unable to recover.

An Ning used her advantage to the fullest. “Mm, then it’s settled! As long as I give him lots and lots of money, he definitely won’t be able to forget me! I remember he knows how to repair cars, right? Buying him a car... hmm, too ordinary. Doesn’t feel memorable enough.”

She pulled out her phone and made a call. “Hello? Dad, it’s me. I’ve got a man now, send me money. I want to buy that sports car factory owned by Universal Heavy Industries and give it to him.”

It’s over. It’s over. Everything’s over!

Cold sweat poured down An Ran’s face as his eyes lost focus. He could practically already see Mr. Ji being corrupted by his sister’s money, turning into a fallen shell who only knew how to indulge himself and spend recklessly, with no dreams or ambitions left.

No, he couldn’t allow that to happen! He had to save Mr. Ji from his sister’s evil clutches!

What do I do? What do I do?! WHAT DO I DO?!

On the day before his sixteenth birthday, An Ran experienced for the first time what it truly meant to feel lost and helpless. Fortunately, An Ning did not manage to buy the car factory in the end, because their father refused to give her the money. It was not out of stinginess over such a tiny gift. Rather, in the eyes of a middle-aged man devoted to pure romance, if there had been no official confession or relationship, then it did not count as dating.

Long live pure love!

An Ran made up his mind. From now on, he would work more jobs, take more commissions, and earn lots and lots of money for Mr. Ji, so Mr. Ji could hold onto his ideals and resist his sister’s sinful temptations!

I’ll strive and work hard! I’ll become stronger! I cast aside my weakness here... This power exists for the sake of protecting Mr. Ji!

Outside the window, the endless night stretched on. Moonlight slowly vanished behind the clouds, and darkness endured like an eternal nightmare.

***

Nightmares and hell both lay within blood.

At the end of the corridor soaked in crimson inside the inpatient building of Mercy Hospital, there was a ding, signaling the elevator doors opening. A ghastly face stripped down to exposed bone staggered forward slowly. Blood dripped from the ruined empty sleeve hanging from its left arm.

“Has life... gotten a little too exciting lately?”

Mr. Lin raised his left hand, formed from black smoke and sparks, and touched his face. He forcibly reset his broken jaw, smoothed over the shattered flesh, and pieced his original appearance back together. In the reflection of the window, he examined the ugly state he was now in.

Behind the elevator doors lay a hell piled high with corpses and crimson blood, utterly silent.

“Tch.” He lowered his head and spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva.

Step by step, he walked down the corridor littered with bodies. At last, he pushed open the ward door. Amid the wreckage came a weary sigh.

From the floor, among overturned carts, tangled cables, and IV tubes, Chen Xingzhou lifted his head and greeted him hoarsely. “You’re late, Mr. Lin. What happened?”

In his arms, locked within the crushing grip of both his hands, the nurse struggled frantically, coughing up crimson bubbles of blood. Her twitching fingers clawed wildly at Chen Xingzhou’s face, leaving deep gouges that exposed bone.

And so she met her miserable end, falling utterly mum.

Chen Xingzhou’s equally battered partner bared his teeth in mockery and asked, “Looks like things turned out pretty well. The surgery was a success after all. That panacea wasn’t wasted on you. You died and came back for nothing. What was the point?”

Chen Xingzhou grinned. “Ever since I started running the streets at seven, and while I was already working for the boss by eleven, I understood one truth. A real man either dies so that there’s not even a corpse left behind, or wins so thoroughly that his glory shakes the world. If you don’t even dare gamble with your own life, what kind of man are you?”

Chen Xingzhou struggled to loosen his grip, ignoring the crimson blood spilling from his abdomen. Coughing and gasping for breath, he finally lifted his head. “Got a cigarette?”

“You want to smoke at a time like this? Do you want to die?”

Mr. Lin clicked his tongue, rummaged around in his pocket with his remaining right hand for a while, then tossed over a cigarette pack and a lighter.

A wisp of smoke rose with the flame, and white haze drifted slowly from his lips.

Chen Xingzhou lay comfortably in the pool of blood at the foot of the bed, ignoring the twisting agony in his organs and the shadow of death looming over him, as though he had no worries at all. “You look a lot older. Were the days after my death really that bad?”

“You could say they were pretty relaxed and pleasant. Without a troublesome boss around, every day felt like retirement,” Mr. Lin answered carelessly. “But that kid Yubo has had it rough these past few days. He probably can’t hold on much longer.”

Chen Xingzhou fell silent for a moment before softly saying, “I dragged him down with me.”

“No. I think the only thing keeping him going right now is his hope that you’d hurry up and die.”

Chen Xingzhou stared. “Huh?”

Mr. Lin shrugged. “He plans to take his friend’s advice and donate that money to the Radiant Church. Then start over in life all by himself.”

“Hah... hahahaha...” Even while coughing violently, Chen Xingzhou could not stop himself from laughing out loud. “So he really did make a good friend. That’s good. Very good. Now even if I die, I can rest easy.”

“Come on now. Scourges live a thousand years. Your life’s still far from over.”

“That doesn’t sound like a compliment.”

“Make do with it. You’re not exactly a good person either.” Mr. Lin stretched out his single arm and hauled the half-dead Chen Xingzhou up from the floor, settling him into a wheelchair. Then he dug another syringe out of his pocket and jabbed it into his boss’s neck. “Don’t celebrate too early. The outcome still isn’t decided.”

“No. I’ve already won...” Dizzy and delirious, Chen Xingzhou grinned and murmured softly, “I fought heaven itself for my life, and I succeeded. This round, victory belongs to me!”

“Yeah, yeah. Sure.” Mr. Lin nodded helplessly as he watched the pale color in Chen Xingzhou’s face slowly regain a flush beneath the effects of the expensive medicine.

Little by little, clarity returned and his reason recovered, until at last, the final trace of a smile vanished from his face. He became calm once more, and once again turned into the Chen Xingzhou Mr. Lin knew best.

Outside the door, footsteps echoed through the blood-soaked corridor. One figure after another emerged from the darkness and stood silently in the hallway, waiting.

Mr. Lin pushed open the door, and a wheelchair rolled out through the pools of blood.

“Let’s go, everyone.” Chen Xingzhou gave a calm nod, greeting his long-unseen subordinates. “Let’s pay our old friends a visit and bring them some good news. The night’s too long. I’m afraid some people won’t live to see the dawn.”

Outside the windows, the final traces of neon and light faded into the depths of midnight. Within the endless darkness, there was only blood and death. This was a cruel ending.

Leaving behind the wrecked ward and ruined corridor, the people disappeared into the dark.

Fifteen minutes later, Lei Yaoxing received word that Jin Wujiu’s and Li Wentong’s teams had been completely wiped out. Chen Xingzhou was gone, his whereabouts unknown.

Two hours later, a doctor from Haizhou Glory Hospital personally signed a death certificate and handed it to Lei Yaoxing outside the emergency room. After lingering on the brink of death for half a month, Lei Wuye had finally breathed his last.

“One step behind, and we’re behind for good.” Lei Yaoxing gazed at the single sheet of proof in his hand. Raising his head, he looked at the ever-deepening night outside the window. At the far end of that endless darkness, the outcome awaiting him had already revealed itself faintly.

Unexpectedly, he felt completely calm. Quietly, he said, “Send out the funeral notices. Some things should come to an end. There has to be a conclusion eventually.”

Four hours later, lightning appeared without warning, followed by torrential rain. After the sudden downpour hurried away, a faint trace of dawn finally emerged at the edge of the sky, illuminating the bloodstains that the rain had failed to wash clean.

For everyone involved, the seemingly endless night had come to an end at last.