Chapter 46: The Rival Always Wants to Taste Him Again [46]

Chapter 46: The Rival Who Can't Stop Tasting Him "46"

"Then knock yourself out~"

Shi Mo didn't hesitate. Upon hearing Ye Qi's words, he turned and left without hesitation, putting distance between them, and even pulled the chair away with him.

He sat on the chair from afar, watching Ye Qi fight those men like he was watching a show.

As Ye Qi's so-called "nemesis," he knew his strength better than anyone.

Besides, with Ye Qi's protagonist halo mostly restored by now, he wasn't worried these guys could hurt Ye Qi.

Lin Ran, lying in a pool of blood, glared at Ye Qi with eyes blazing with hatred.

He gasped heavily, looking utterly pathetic, yet still, with trembling hands, reached into his clothes and pulled out a communication device.

Lin Ran pressed it tightly, gritting his teeth and shaking as he said, "Get in here! All of you, get in here! Kill him!"

Shi Mo narrowed his eyes. The next moment, several more people barged in.

These men looked ferocious, radiating pure menace—nothing like the thugs Ye Qi had just taken down with ease.

And to top it off, they were holding guns.

Shi Mo's fingers curled slightly. His gaze sharpened on the guns in their hands, a flash of crimson flickering in his eyes!

The moment they spotted Ye Qi, they raised their guns to fire, and Lin Ran flashed a manic grin.

But the next second, they all froze.

"What the hell?! Why won't it work?!"

Panic flashed across their faces. No matter how they struggled, the guns in their hands were like broken toys—completely useless!

Ye Qi's eyes had turned cold at the sight of the guns, but when he realized they couldn't fire, he didn't hesitate. He seized the chance and lunged straight at them!

He snatched the guns from their hands and tossed them aside, then drove the bloodstained blade deep into their bodies!

Ye Qi moved fast and viciously, giving them no chance to catch their breath or recover.

He crippled their hands, then their legs, leaving them unable to fight back.

In an instant, the air was thick with the stench of blood. Bodies collapsed into the crimson pool one after another—brutal, horrifying, and utterly chilling.

Yet watching all this, Shi Mo just chuckled softly, crossing his legs.

He propped his head on one hand against the armrest, idly twirling the fruit knife Ye Qi had handed him earlier in his other hand, looking completely at ease.

His gaze paused when it landed on Lin Ran, who was struggling to his feet and reaching for another knife.

"Ahh—!"

Lin Ran tried to sneak up on Ye Qi, but before he could even get close, he collapsed on his own.

Lin Ran turned his head stiffly in disbelief, staring at the knife that had pierced his calf and pinned his leg to the ground.

"Why?! Why, Shi Mo?! Why are you doing this to me?! I like you so much—why are you doing this to me?!"

Lin Ran stared at Shi Mo, his eyes filled with disbelief and shock.

Even now, he still couldn't accept that Shi Mo would turn on him.

He wailed hysterically, "Shi Mo! Shi Mo... why are you doing this to me? Why..."

"You clearly liked me so much back then—you used to like me so much..."

Shi Mo looked at Lin Ran like this and finally deigned to get up, strolling over to him and crouching down in front of him.

He casually pulled the knife out, then traced it along Lin Ran's neck, letting out a soft sigh. "Lin Ran, do you hear that?"

Lin Ran asked, dazed, "Hear what?"

Shi Mo smiled, his eyes curving into crescents. "The sound of police sirens. I already called the cops~"

"Lin Ran, you're done for."

Lin Ran's face went white as a sheet. He grabbed Shi Mo's ankle tightly, his eyes burning with resentment and hatred, and gritted out, "Shi... Mo... why the hell are you doing this to me?! I swear, no matter how much I went after Ye Qi, I never did anything to you!"

"I even... I even wanted to cut you in on the deal, to split the Ye family fortune with you!"

"So why are you doing this to me?!"

Lin Ran practically roared the last sentence in frustration.

He questioned Shi Mo, trying to distract him, while his trembling hand reached into his clothes for another remote button.

Shi Mo just glanced at Lin Ran's blood-stained hand with a hint of disgust, mentally noting he'd need to wash thoroughly when he got back.

"What? You trying to blow this place up too?"

Lin Ran's body stiffened instantly at being caught.

Shi Mo poked Lin Ran's waist with the knife, making him flinch on instinct.

He let out a soft chuckle, then casually took the button from Lin Ran's hand and pressed it right in front of him.

Nothing. Not a damn thing.

The last glimmer of hope in Lin Ran's eyes died, his gaze going numb and hollow.

Shi Mo drawled, "What a shame..."

Lin Ran seemed to have all the strength drained from his body. He collapsed to the ground, tears streaming uncontrollably from the corners of his eyes.

"It shouldn't have been like this... How did it come to this?"

"I got reborn... I should be the protagonist of this world... I should..."

Lin Ran muttered, his tone still bitter.

"I should take revenge... escape my fate of dying a horrible death, have a better future, reach the peak of life, and make everyone envy me!"

"I'm the protagonist! I got reborn—how could I not be the protagonist... How did it end up like this..."

A faint smile tugged at the corner of Shi Mo's lips: "Because you're not the protagonist at all, Lin Ran. Whether in your past life or this one, you've always been nothing but trash—a total piece of garbage."

"How could someone like you ever be worthy of being the protagonist?"

"Don't give me that look. I'm just telling it like it is."

Shi Mo met Lin Ran's resentment-filled gaze, and the smile on his face faded slightly. He dragged the knife across Lin Ran's neck, slicing open a wound.

Not deep enough to kill, but it hurt like hell.

Lin Ran hissed through his teeth, but hearing Shi Mo's words, it finally clicked.

So the one who'd been pulling the strings online, twisting public opinion against him—it wasn't Ye Qi. It was Shi Mo!

"It was you... so it was you..."

Lin Ran opened his mouth to confront Shi Mo, but no words came out.

Shi Mo tapped the flat of the blade against Lin Ran's cheek. He was still smiling, but his eyes were pure ice:

"Lin Ran, feeling pretty proud of yourself, aren't you?"

"Thanks to your do-over, you went around stealing other people's hard work left and right. You didn't lift a finger—just took what others spent forever creating and called it yours."

"Your so-called 'peak of life' is built on the blood and bones of the original creators, relying on what you stole from them."

"Then you stitched their achievements together into your own shabby little triumph..."

Shi Mo pointed the tip of the knife at Lin Ran's eye. He really hated the look in Lin Ran's eyes.

"What are you so bitter and resentful about?"

"Since you chose to climb to the top on the backs of others' work, you should've been ready for them to drag you right back down into the mud, don't you think?"