"I understand," Cheng Jinyang murmured softly, "even though you've always treated me as just an ordinary person, you never ruled out the possibility in the end. That's why you chose to attempt to kill me here, to eliminate any unforeseen changes and future troubles."
"Exactly," Wang Chuzhong admitted calmly.
"In that case," Cheng Jinyang took a deep breath, "Cui Jinqi and my clansmen, although they haven't sided with you, are also weak and of little value to the court."
"Can you spare them?"
"No," Wang Chuzhong maintained his smile, showing interest in Cheng Jinyang's final expression. "I've already dispatched forces to destroy the Shendu Cheng clan's troops half an hour ago—though at that time, I didn't anticipate meeting you here early."
Cheng Jinyang's breath suddenly quickened.
"As for this Cui Xiaoniang, from the Qinghe Cui clan, she may have a future possibility of leading her family."
"She has such a close relationship with you. If I kill you here, she will surely hold a grudge against me. Do you think I would leave behind a potential enemy, connected to the Five Great Families, who might become my adversary in the future?" Wang Chuzhong asked casually.
"No," Cheng Jinyang softly argued, "she and I are not in the kind of relationship you imagine."
"Jinqi, you say something."
If my clansmen cannot be saved, at least Cui Xiaoniang...
Absolutely cannot die because of me!
Hearing Cheng Jinyang defend her, Cui Jinqi remained silent on his back.
She understood clearly the purpose behind Cheng Jinyang's words.
Wang Chuzhong looked calmly at her, and the eyes of everyone present focused on her, waiting for her clarification and self-preservation.
"I..." Cui Jinqi lifted her head, tears streaking her delicate face once more. "I am of the Qinghe Cui clan!"
Her voice was not loud but unusually resolute:
"If you want to kill Jinyang, I will activate my powers and self-destruct, taking you all down with me!"
Cheng Jinyang stood stunned, his last sliver of hope shattered.
She was lying.
She actually chose to lie again.
Clearly, we don't have such an intimate relationship, yet she deliberately said she was willing to die with me...
"What are you saying!" he gritted his teeth, his voice low and furious. "Cui Jinqi! What relationship do we have that's worth you offending the Duke for?"
Self-destruction and mutual annihilation were impossible. Cui Xiaoniang, who isn't even a seventh-grade, and in the case of Wang Chuzhong's side, Shen Shiju and Xie Yongye are fourth-grade supernaturals. How can you possibly hurt the opposite side?
"I, I..." Cui Jinqi's tone was urgent, her voice anxious. "I can't watch you die..."
"Whether I live or die has nothing to do with you!" Cheng Jinyang tried to throw her off, roaring, "Get off!"
"I won't! I won't!" Cui Xiaoniang hugged him tightly like an octopus, tears streaming uncontrollably. "I've already lost Sister Heng, I won't... I won't be foolish again..."
Wang Chuzhong watched quietly as Cheng Jinyang tried every means to appear fierce, trying to save Cui Xiaoniang's life; while Cui Xiaoniang clung to him tightly, preferring to die with him.
He couldn't quite understand this kind of romantic affection, what magical power could make people forget life and death.
In his early years, dozens of maids and concubines were kept in his family, and when some people persuaded him not to indulge in female color, he handed over the selling contract to them and let them go freely.
Women, aren't they just used for breeding offspring?
So he completely lost the last interest in the subject and was bored:
"Kill them."
......
In the subway car.
Wang Wanrou still sat there with her eyes closed, her mind's eye crowded with the spiritual code of Cheng Jinyang.
It had started a few minutes ago, through their mental interface communication, suddenly inundated with a plethora of negative emotions.
Fear, reluctance, despair... It seemed Cheng Jinyang was facing some unforeseen adversity.
However, the corresponding "connection synchronization value" began to rapidly climb, reaching heights she had never observed before.
So that's how it is.
Wang Wanrou breathed a sigh of relief, a smile of "so that's how it is" appearing on her face.
It turned out to be a life-saving mechanism.
Like adrenaline surging dramatically in a critical moment, fundamentally a bodily mechanism evolved by humans to cope with deadly crises.
Because of this, whenever Cheng Jinyang wasn't in mortal danger, no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't find a way to trigger it.
Jinyang.
I was right about you after all.
You will eventually tread this path.
This time, let me lend you a helping hand first.
Her mind began to work intensely, continuously writing, debugging, and executing complex spiritual codes.
Quickly connecting one after another to other linked objects.
In the Hejian Xing family territory, Xing Yuanzhi was handling the evacuation of the entire clan from Lin'an.
Jinyang, are you leading the team to suppress the rebellion in Jiangning District now?
I wonder how he's doing...
Then, her mind suddenly shook.
In the Yangdi Chu family's territory, Chu Qingqing was talking to her father Chu Jiye:
"Recently, regarding how to deal with the phase transition between different metal crystals, your daughter has a new idea..."
Her voice suddenly paused strangely.
"What's wrong?" Noticing his daughter's strangeness, Chu Jiye asked curiously.
"Nothing." Miss Qingqing smiled and said, "Father, I'm a little tired and want to go back to rest."
In the Hongnong Yang family's territory, Yang Wanshu, wearing a mask, sat alone in the waiting room playing with her phone, while her brother Yang Siping accompanied her.
She suddenly looked up, gazing bewilderedly at the ceiling of the waiting room.
Behind the battlefield in Jiangning District, in a dire situation, Cui Jinqi held Cheng Jinyang tightly.
"Jinyang..." She breathed softly, her almost imperceptible breath swirling around his neck.
The Longxiang Army around them raised their rifles, and swarms of drones in the sky sealed off all escape routes. High-level supernaturals stood nearby like cold-blooded spectators outside a colosseum, awaiting imminent death, their gazes devoid of any warmth.
"It's alright." Cheng Jinyang held her tightly, gripping her pale hands.
"We will... die together."
Yet before the opposition could fire, a flame erupted suddenly in his heart, as if about to explode his chest cavity.
In the northern city, the Purple Palace within the divine capital Luoyang.
Standing in the palace corridor, Su Lili suddenly looked up.
Her gaze turned towards the southeast, spanning over six hundred kilometers of distance, connecting directly with Cheng Jinyang in the northern part of Jiangning District.
At this moment, all his inner thoughts, disregarding the physical distance, flooded into her mind.
Flowing into the hearts of all the connected young women:
There's no way back now.
Just as Wang Chuzhong said.
In this chaotic world, the weak can only serve as pawns in the hands of the powerful.
To be consumed, discarded, sacrificed...
However.
Who would willingly
In this lifetime,
only be a pawn?!!!!!!!!
The dying screams echoed thunderously in the spiritual realm.
Shaking the girls' hearts violently.
The next moment, the gunfire from the Longxiang Army intensified.
Cui Jinqi squeezed her eyes shut forcefully, but the anticipated pain did not strike.
All that remained in her ears was the rustling sound, as if countless leaves were rustling in the wind.
She cautiously opened her eyes and saw around her... liquid-like metal had surged up from beneath them, blocking all the bullets fired towards them.
More metal crawled up their clothes and skin.
It shielded everything outside and enveloped them inside.
It flowed out from Cheng Jinyang's collar, rapidly growing upwards, from his jawline to his cheeks, then to his cheekbones and forehead, finally completely covering his face.
Only leaving behind a pair of bright red alien eyes, with pupils resembling the radiance of a supernova.
Like splashing blood.
Like burning flames.