"Hurry up!" Chen Xinyuan urged from the side, nervously twirling the fruit knife in his hand.
No matter how ruthless they were, this was their first time killing someone.
The moment Peng Ang touched Jiang Xiao's head with the rope, Jiang Xiao, despite his pain, instinctively began to dodge and squirm, trying to save himself.
His struggle only heightened Peng Ang's fear—not of killing, but of failing. If Jiang Xiao didn't die, they were both going to prison. Maybe even worse.
Peng Ang had already worn out his family's and his uncle's patience with his gambling. If his uncle found out he had killed his cousin over a gambling debt, there'd be no escape.
Everyone knew that Jiang Xiao's father, a formidable businessman, had only one son. His entire empire was meant to be inherited by Jiang Xiao. To ensure their son's safety, his parents had even written a will: if anything happened to Jiang Xiao, their billions would be split into thousands of shares and donated to various charities across the country.
They had gone to extreme lengths to protect him. Whenever Jiang Xiao went out, he was always accompanied by bodyguards—highly trained, discreet bodyguards who would melt into crowds and only reveal themselves in times of danger.
If it hadn't been for their family connection, Peng Ang and Chen Xinyuan wouldn't have had the chance to pull off this kidnapping.
Seeing Jiang Xiao struggling, Peng Ang shouted for help, "Cousin, give me a hand!"
Chen Xinyuan reluctantly put down the fruit knife and helped Peng Ang hold Jiang Xiao still. Peng Ang quickly looped the rope around Jiang Xiao's neck and pulled it tight.
Jiang Xiao felt his breath cut off. His face turned red as he gasped for air.
"Harder!" Chen Xinyuan urged with a twisted sense of satisfaction.
At that moment, Jiang Xiao thought in despair that his life, only in his twenties, was about to end today.
Peng Ang's face wasn't any better than Jiang Xiao's. Veins bulged on his forehead as he poured all his strength into pulling the rope. Sweat dripped down his face, but something wasn't right. Despite his efforts, Jiang Xiao wasn't dying—just one more breath and it should have been over, but that breath never came.
Jiang Xiao, on the verge of suffocation, suddenly found himself breathing again. It was as if his neck had become invulnerable, impenetrable. No matter how hard Peng Ang pulled, it had no effect.
"Cousin, Chen Xinyuan! What the hell is going on? This is some kind of ghost!" Peng Ang, terrified, let go of the rope and stumbled back a few steps, looking at Jiang Xiao as if he had seen a ghost.
Chen Xinyuan thought Peng Ang was playing tricks. "Are you messing with me?"
"Why would I mess with you? We're in this together! If you get caught, I'm going down too!" Peng Ang, drenched in sweat, pointed at Jiang Xiao. "He's possessed! He must be!"
Before Chen Xinyuan could argue, Peng Ang shoved him forward. "If you think I'm faking it, go try yourself!"
Chen Xinyuan, a man of few words but ruthless in action, gripped the fruit knife tightly and took long strides toward Jiang Xiao. He raised the knife high and brought it down forcefully, but the blade couldn't even touch Jiang Xiao's skin.
Chen Xinyuan froze. Refusing to believe what had just happened, he tried again and again, each time with the same result.
Peng Ang and Chen Xinyuan weren't the only ones stunned—Jiang Xiao himself was in disbelief. He had no idea when he had acquired such a supernatural ability!
Chen Xinyuan was equally terrified, stumbling backward as he stared at Jiang Xiao in disbelief. "What kind of monster are you?"
Jiang Xiao... Good question. He wondered the same thing. If he had such an incredible ability, why had it stayed hidden for the first twenty years of his life?
There was no time to dwell on it. Their crime scene had been discovered, and Chen Xinyuan and Peng Ang, overwhelmed by fear, dropped the knife and rope and bolted out the door. The only thought in their minds was to escape, no matter what—anything was better than being caught by the police.
They were both in their twenties, too young to end up in prison!
Jiang Xiao lay exhausted on the filthy stone bed, his heart filled with relief at his narrow escape from death. He made a firm decision: from now on, he would live quietly, giving up his extravagant lifestyle. No more beautiful women, champagne, or fast cars—laying low and surviving was all that mattered.
After all, what good is money if even the wealthy can die?
"Captain Lu, we've found something!"
"Keep moving, target location identified—stone house!"
Hearing the chaotic voices outside, Jiang Xiao finally allowed himself to pass out. He was safe.
Meanwhile, after the virtuous golden light returned to Xiang Wan's body, she was finally able to get a good night's sleep.
Three divinations in one night—especially the final one, which was auctioned off for over a billion—had swept across the entire platform. Every headline was about Zhuang Zhou Meng Die saving three lives in one night.
Xiang Wan's fanbase exploded. Thanks to the platform's massive exposure, her followers had surpassed a billion.
Even the most popular influencers of the past couldn't compare to her now. If anyone still doubted Zhuang Zhou Meng Die's divination skills, the latest legal news the next day was the perfect proof.
Although Shen Ning's and Jiang Xiao's cases were still under investigation and had not been made public, Sun Wenli's near-abduction and trafficking incident had sounded a serious alarm for the general public.
The world doesn't give love without reason, and women must thoroughly investigate a man's background when dating. You never know if you're dealing with a human or a beast in human skin—just like Xu Chao, who tried to sell Sun Wenli to the northern cotton fields.
The news of Sun Wenli's successful counterattack against her traffickers thrilled the public, with many agreeing that people like Xu Chao deserved nothing less than death. Sun Wenli was exempted from criminal responsibility due to her justified self-defense.
This incident not only boosted the popularity of Zhuang Zhou Meng Die's teachings on the I Ching and Eight Trigrams, but it also sparked a surge in registrations for shooting courses, as well as martial arts, free fighting, taekwondo, and other self-defense classes. These courses became the top choice for parents with daughters.
Learning how to protect oneself was far better than being caught with no chance of survival.
Take Sun Wenli's case, for instance. If she hadn't known how to shoot, even if she had managed to kill Xu Chao, she would have struggled against the traffickers' capture, ending up as little more than merchandise, sold across the border.
In the hospital, Lu Jingcheng sat beside Jiang Xiao's bed, giving him a look of disbelief, mixed with a hint of condescension. "Do you think you're some kind of immortal? Invulnerable to knives and bullets?"
Jiang Xiao responded with complete certainty, "Absolutely! Cousin, I know it's hard to explain, but it really happened."
Seeing Lu Jingcheng's skeptical expression, Jiang Xiao grew anxious. "Cousin, you have to believe me! I can prove it!"