Chapter 596: Monster (Two-in-One)

Deep within the Stone Realm, inside a mansion built of massive boulders.

"Tap, tap, tap."

The sound of boots striking the floor echoed.

Everyone lining the corridor lowered their heads at the sight of the short black figure.

This was entirely because the woman following beside that figure was a genuine Tenth Tier.

Moreover, a Tenth Tier from Pure Blood City.

Pure Blood City only had two Tenth Tiers in the public eye.

But everyone knew there were plenty of Tenth Tiers among the clan elders of the two great families, the Chen Family and the Xue Family.

Even so, "plenty" still meant a number that could be counted on two hands.

Yet now, the Tenth Tier before them trailed beside Mao Si, obeying his every word.

It was a spectacle rarely seen in a hundred—no, a thousand years.

"Clack."

Pausing before a door, Yan Jing turned and pushed it open.

Inside, Chen Shi and Chen Nian, who had been waiting by the table, both stood up.

"Mister Si."

Chen Shi's pupils shrank uncontrollably as he looked at Chen Chunshui trailing behind Mao Si.

Even though he had already received the news.

Even though he had envisioned it in his mind.

When the scene truly unfolded before his eyes, he still couldn't control his expression.

This was Chen Chunshui.

The most dazzling genius of the Pure Blood Heavenly Kingdom from two hundred years ago.

She had guided the Chen Family for a full thirty years.

Now, she trailed behind Mao Si like a lapdog, her expression unspeakably fawning.

If Chen Chunshui had merely died, it would at most prove that Mao Si's strength was terrifying. If she had been captured, it would only show that his strength was unfathomable.

But now, Chen Chunshui had willingly submitted.

A member of the Chen Family.

Submitting willingly.

Chen Shi couldn't fathom how Mao Si had done it.

To his knowledge, members of the Chen Family would never willingly submit in almost any situation, let alone Chen Chunshui.

Unless their opponent was powerful to a certain degree.

Like a Deity.

"Brother Chen, I'm handing this person over to you," Yan Jing said.

Yan Jing's words made Chen Shi's pupils constrict again.

This was a Tenth Tier... just like that...

But Yan Jing was already addressing Chen Chunshui:

"Follow Brother Chen from now on."

Chen Chunshui was all smiles.

She didn't dare drop her smile.

She was truly terrified that Yan Jing would use her as an example to threaten the rest of the Chen Family.

If that happened, her name would truly be cursed for ten thousand years.

"Many thanks, Mister Si."

Chen Nian bowed slightly.

Yan Jing waved a hand:

"We're all brothers, no need for that."

"I only came over because I listened to Brother Yi Ji."

"Director Wen went to comprehend the stone element. If you need anything, just give me the word."

Yan Jing dropped into a chair, finding it a bit hard.

"Bobo!!!"

He shouted at the top of his lungs.

A few seconds later, a pair of hands pulled him into an embrace.

"Bobo isn't here. Will Hehe do?"

Wen He whispered as she hugged Yan Jing.

Yan Jing coughed twice:

"That's even better."

Chen Nian smiled as he watched Yan Jing lying in Wen He's embrace with his eyes closed.

Another eccentric.

The cat in front of him and that man named Wen Xu, combined, were enough to match any First Level Domain.

Yet the two of them were now willing to come to this godforsaken place to help him, the person with the lowest chance of winning in the Chen Family.

It reminded him of his two good friends. They were equally unreliable.

"Call Seventh Brother and Ninth Sister over," he said, looking at Chen Shi.

Soon, Chen Shi brought the two incredibly weak people into the room.

Chen Mingkai was relatively fine; apart from the layers of bandages wrapped around his neck and a slightly pale complexion, he looked largely unhurt. Chen Hong, on the other hand, looked much more miserable.

The chains deployed by Weng Lingxiao had pierced deeply into her flesh, appearing completely fused with her body and mottled with blood. The slightest movement would cause the chains to tighten even further. Unable to walk, Chen Hong had to be entirely supported by Chen Shi just to get here.

"Mr. Weng can't undo these chains either."

Chen Shi let out a sigh.

"He said he used his ultimate trump card—that black book—and even he can't control it."

"Cough, cough..."

The movement seemed to tighten the chains, and Chen Hong opened her eyes in pain.

Seeing Chen Shi beside her, her eyes reddened.

"Uncle Shi..."

The call was sweet and soft to the bone, making Chen Shi's eyebrows twitch.

He had watched these juniors grow up; if he really had to strike them ruthlessly, he would need quite a bit of mental preparation.

"Ninth Young Miss, it feels like it's been decades since we last met," Chen Shi said with a bitter smile.

"Uncle Shi, it hurts..."

Tears fell from Chen Hong's eyes.

She truly wasn't pretending to be pitiful on purpose.

It really hurt.

Those chains felt like they had pierced right into her heart, the pain making it tremble.

"I know, I know."

Chen Shi let out a sigh.

"Speak with the Young Lord. It's not my place to decide."

It was as if Chen Hong only now saw the person across from her clearly.

Looking at Chen Nian.

She lowered her head.

It still hurt.

But she couldn't bring herself to speak.

Back then, Chen Nian must have hurt far more than she did, yet she hadn't said a single word.

It wasn't just her.

None of them had said a word.

"Ninth Sister, it's been a long time."

In the end, it was Chen Nian who broke the silence.

"Mn, Fifth Brother..." Chen Hong blushed.

"I won," Chen Nian said softly.

Chen Hong's face grew even redder, flushing all the way to the roots of her ears.

Chen Nian's words touched upon a secret between them.

Several years ago, when Chen Nian left home, the rest of their siblings had gathered together.

At the time, they had debated who would be the winner of this Blood War.

All the other siblings said she would definitely finish dead last.

Refusing to accept it, she retorted that Fifth Brother would definitely be the one at the bottom.

The rest of the siblings had roared with laughter.

And Chen Nian had just happened to pass by the corner at that moment.

"Beating me is nothing to boast about..." Chen Hong turned her head away, her voice growing quieter. "I'm the weakest one."

"..."

Chen Nian chuckled softly.

Only upon hearing his laugh did Chen Hong raise her head.

"Let's leave it at that. This is where it ends."

Chen Nian smiled.

"You're still the same. You haven't changed."

Chen Hong blinked, disbelief in her eyes.

"Fifth Brother, you aren't going to kill me?"

"Why would I kill you?" Chen Nian's gaze was calm. "Go on. Head back."

"I... I can leave right now?"

Chen Hong blinked again.

"You don't want to?" Chen Nian looked at her.

"I d-do... I do... I really do!" Chen Hong nodded incessantly.

"Mn."

Chen Nian waved his hand gently, and the door swung open without any wind.

"Go."

Enduring the agonizing pain, Chen Hong hastily stumbled toward the door.

Just as she reached the threshold, she hesitated and looked back at Chen Nian.

It was as if she feared he might suddenly change his mind.

Only when she realized that he truly harbored no intent to kill her did she sprint outside in one breath.

From beginning to end, she never saw the expression of Chen Chunshui standing by the door.

Upon seeing Chen Hong leave, Chen Chunshui's eyes visibly trembled.

"Are you satisfied with this outcome, Ninth Aunt?"

Chen Nian smiled at Chen Chunshui.

Chen Chunshui pursed her lips.

"I... I... I am satisfied, Fifth Young Lord."

She did her best to force a smile onto her face.

Chen Nian smiled.

"I truly have nothing to say about Ninth Sister."

"Between her and me, there is only that one phrase: this is where it ends."

After running out the door, Chen Hong's mind was filled with the joy of surviving a catastrophe.

She was absolutely overjoyed.

So happy she could explode.

Such joy reminded her of her relationship with Chen Nian years ago.

Back then, they had been on excellent terms.

To be exact, they were among the closest out of everyone.

Even in the Chen Family, where basically everyone possessed perfect looks, Chen Nian's appearance stood out spectacularly.

To her younger self, just like most younger sisters, she loved tailing behind such a handsome older brother.

Furthermore, Chen Nian was exceptionally gentle; whatever she wanted, he would buy it for her.

She feared exhaustion and hardship; even when she was already five or six years old, she demanded to be carried everywhere.

Since she was also shy around strangers, she always needed someone to accompany her.

Chen Chunshui was certainly willing to do that sort of thing, but Chen Hong only wanted Chen Nian to take her around.

At that time, everyone was terrified of Chen Nian.

As a once-in-a-generation genius in the Clan, Chen Nian's bloodline purity was vastly higher than anyone else's. In the Chen Family, which judged solely on bloodline purity, this meant Chen Nian wielded the ultimate power of life and death.

If he wanted to, Chen Nian could kill any relative who displeased him.

Even his own parents.

Such status. Such power.

It resulted in Chen Nian being viewed as anything but family in everyone's eyes.

Instead, he was a monster.

Even if this monster had never actually used his power.

An entity where merely speaking to him required constant vigilance to avoid being killed—if that wasn't a monster, what was?

So when she first asked Chen Nian to hold her, Chen Chunshui beside her hurriedly clamped a hand over her mouth.

"The Fifth Young Lord is very busy. Let's go, Ninth Young Miss."

Chen Nian did indeed look very busy. Normally, he always held a book in his hands.

Whichever way he went, he always seemed in a hurry, walking with swift steps and rarely speaking to anyone.

This made him fit even better with everyone's perception of a monster.

Monsters, of course, couldn't communicate with people.

But unprecedentedly, Chen Nian seemed to hear her words that day, and he came to a stop beside her.

"You are..."

A hint of confusion flashed in his eyes as if he were trying to discern her identity, before he finally spoke softly:

"Ninth Sister?"

"Brother."

Like a newborn calf that does not fear the tiger, she directly hugged Chen Nian's thigh.

This terrified Chen Chunshui beside her so much she hardly dared to breathe, rapidly blurting out: "Fifth Young Lord, the Ninth Young Miss is young, please forgive—"

Before Chen Chunshui could finish, Chen Nian scooped her right up into his arms.

"It's fine. I'll watch her for a while, Ninth Aunt."

Just like that, she became a permanent sidekick trailing behind Chen Nian.

Her innate bloodline purity was lower than her siblings. Before she was ten, she was constantly sick. It was said that every time she fell ill, Chen Nian would use his own Blood Value to help her weather the crisis.

Though such behavior met with collective opposition from all the higher-ups, whatever Chen Nian had said to them resulted in those very same higher-ups ultimately acquiescing.

However, as she gradually grew up and learned how to be afraid, their relationship began to change.

At that time, everyone told her she absolutely had to be careful around Chen Nian.

Absolutely careful around Chen Nian.

If she displeased Chen Nian, death would be getting off lightly.

Under such immense pressure, she naturally began to distance herself from Chen Nian.

When Chen Nian greeted her, their interactions were far more distant than before.

Later on, she began integrating into the social circles of her other older brothers and sisters, pushing herself even further away from Chen Nian.

"Is Fifth Brother a normal person? No, rather, I should ask—is Fifth Brother even a person?" Back then, Second Brother always espoused such views, drawing secret snickers from their siblings.

She naturally felt the same way.

No one would like having a radiant, privileged monster who received vastly different treatment right by their side.

Not long after, she heard that Chen Nian had gotten involved with a girl from the Xue Family.

This enraged the higher-ups, resulting in Chen Nian being placed in solitary confinement for months.

The Chen Family and Xue Family could not intermarry; it was a taboo since ancient times.

That was because if their bloodlines merged, their purity would dilute each other.

Even if both parents possessed over 60% purity, once combined, regardless of which family's bloodline was dominant, the resulting purity would plunge to around 20%. This was the first time Chen Nian was ever punished.

Everyone relished gossiping about it in private, though they naturally didn't dare say a word in the open.

Even if the monster made mistakes, he would be fine, so long as he remained a monster.

After some more time passed, just when everyone thought peace had returned, another massive incident struck.

Chen Nian and that Xue Family girl eloped!!!

This incident directly alarmed the grand patriarch of the Chen Family—their father.

Rumor had it that the Xue Family was equally furious.

They dispatched the girl's older brother to hunt them down.

In the end, the girl was accidentally shot dead by an arrow.

Chen Nian was brought back.

Their father declared permanent solitary confinement.

Moreover, a fiancée was found for Chen Nian, and they were to be married by the end of the year.

According to private whispers, this fiancée possessed a physique rarely seen in a thousand years. Once the two coupled, they might just birth a little monster even greater than Chen Nian.

A monster giving birth to a little monster. It seemed quite reasonable.

Out of curiosity, she had secretly snooped around for news about her Fifth Brother and that girl, securing a photograph from a retainer in charge of guard duty in the Clan.

In the photo, Chen Nian had a stubbly beard and lifeless eyes, completely different from the handsome, icy monster in her memories.

But he was still a monster after all...

She had sighed with that thought at the time.

However, what she hadn't expected was...

The monster was soon no longer a monster.

The next time she saw Chen Nian, he had already been released.

Wrapped entirely in bandages, his miserable appearance was like that of a completely different person.

Rumor had it that he had willingly driven a strange metal into his own body, which polluted his bloodline purity.

Following the incident, the Clan pooled the strength of all its higher-ups to save him, desperately trying to preserve the power of his bloodline.

But they still failed in the end.

They only managed to salvage a portion of his high-purity bloodline.

The price was that Chen Nian, forcefully stripped of his high-purity blood, saw his bloodline purity plunge straight below 10%.

As a result, Chen Nian's bloodline purity was not even higher than a retainer with a slightly elevated status.

At best, he was only slightly stronger than a random passerby in Pure Blood City.

The monster was finally no longer a monster.

The dark cloud pressing down over everyone's heads had dissipated.

Chen Hong remembered that night—Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister had organized a dinner, and everyone drank and celebrated until late into the night.

Though no one mentioned why they were gathering, everyone's thoughts were surely the same.

The monster was gone.

All that was left in the Chen Family was a piece of trash.