Wan Tong stepped out of the room, and a small pebble landed near her foot. She pretended not to see it and continued walking forward.
“You tattled on me?” Dana’s voice came from behind her.
She let out a soft snort, not even pausing her steps.
Daina grew anxious and quickly followed but didn’t dare provoke her, only fidgeting on the side.
Just as Wan Tong was about to return to her room, she finally spoke, “I want fresh mangoes, picked right now.”
Daina looked puzzled. “What does that have to do with me?”
Wan Tong : “…”
“Go pick them for me.” She stared at the boy before her, enunciating each word.
Daina shook his head and said solemnly, “No one can boss Daina around except Brother Shen.”
Wan Tong’s lips curved into a smile as she toyed with the two cameras in her hands. Her slightly narrowed eyes carried a cryptic glint.
Daina took two steps back, hesitated for a second, then muttered, “Wait here.”
Then he ran off.
“Chill them before bringing them over~” Wan Tong chuckled lightly and pushed open the door to her room. After being held by Li Shen for a while earlier, she was already drenched in sweat. She wanted to take a shower and change clothes.
Not far away, Li Shen retreated into his room, his cold face tinged with complex emotions.
He was no longer the reckless young man from ten years ago, yet she still seemed frozen in that beautiful, innocent time.
In the quiet room, the phone on the desk suddenly rang.
“Li Shen…”
The all-too-familiar voice snapped Li Shen’s attention back.
He took three quick steps to the desk and looked at the screen.
“Li Shen, you killed my father! You lied to me! I hate you! Never appear in front of me again—get lost!”
On the screen, a girl in hospital clothes screamed hysterically, her eyes swollen and brimming with tears…
The video overlapped with his memories, making every nerve in Li Shen’s body tighten. A sharp, hoarse sound slipped from his throat: “No!”
The next second, something pierced through her forehead, and she collapsed.
*Bang!* Li Shen’s fist slammed into the phone screen with a muffled thud, but the video kept replaying the scene.
Just as he raised his phone to smash it, the image suddenly changed.
“Brother Li Shen, how do you have time to pick me up today?” The girl’s shy yet excited voice came from the phone.
She was wearing a school uniform, casually tossing her backpack into the back seat before hopping into the passenger seat. Her eyes, filled with admiration, were locked onto the person beside her.
Li Shen held the phone up, his bloodshot eyes unblinking. He couldn’t look away.
He remembered that day. He had just been in contact with the criminal police and felt terrible, so he went to her school.
That was also the last time he saw her smile so happily.
“Li Shen!”
Wan Tong burst through the door, stumbling as she rushed inside.
Shishi had just warned her that Damon was manipulating the system to send Li Shen videos from ten years ago. She knew it couldn’t be anything good, so she rushed over, only to find the situation was worse than expected.
She hugged him tightly from behind, arms wrapped firmly around his waist, her voice softening. “Brother Li Shen, don’t be like this…”
She felt his body stiffen, but it was clear he had snapped out of some painful memory.
She loosened her grip slightly, moved in front of him, and embraced him again.
The commotion had startled the others. Wu Li arrived, glanced inside, and then gestured for the others to leave.
When he spotted Daina holding a massive bunch of freshly picked mangoes in one hand and gripping a gun in the other, Wu Li’s eye twitched. He shut the door behind them. “Since when do you like eating those?”
Daina looked at the mangoes, still dripping with white sap, and scoffed. “They’re not for me.”
These mangoes were still unripe, probably unbearably sour.
The thought amused him. Suddenly, he felt motivated and ran downstairs again.
“Where are you going?”
Daina didn’t even turn back. “Making chilled mango slices.”
Let her suffer.
Wu Li shook his head helplessly. Lately, everyone had been acting unusually high-spirited, even Brother Shen.
He waited outside the door for a moment before Li Shen handed him a phone and gave him some hoarse instructions before shutting the door again.
Wu Li stared at the video looping on the screen, momentarily stunned.
That was… young Brother Shen and Cen Wantong.
Identical to the one inside the room.
Li Shen walked back from the door, picked up a light blanket, and wrapped Wan Tong up snugly.
Only then did Wan Tong realize she had rushed over too hastily, wearing only a thin bath towel with bare feet.
She looked down, adjusting the blanket.
But instead of holding her as he usually did, Li Shen hoisted her onto his shoulder.
She gasped in surprise, but before she could protest, he gently placed her on the bed.
“Tongtong, let me hold you for a moment.” His hoarse voice fell, and his body pressed down on hers.
Like he had absorbed a sedative, the tension in his muscles finally eased, relaxing completely.
Not long after, Wan Tong felt the weight on her body growing heavier and realized, he had fallen asleep.
She struggled to shift him slightly, slipping out from under him. After crouching by the bed for a while, she wrapped herself in a blanket and walked out.
Daina was squatting by her bedroom door. Seeing her return, he handed over a fruit platter. “Here.”
Wan Tong stared at the green mangoes in the dish, momentarily dazed. He actually went and picked mangoes for her?
A strange sense of guilt washed over her. She murmured a thank-you, then carried the platter back into her room.
Daina gazed at the closed door for a long time before turning to leave.
He had even picked the sourest one on purpose. Was he being too petty?
Just as Wan Tong finished changing clothes, there was another knock on the door.
No one was there.
A fruit platter sat on the ground, filled with an assortment of summer fruits, colorful and neatly arranged.
She picked it up, shut the door, and returned to the table, only to find the mango she had barely taken a bite of earlier had disappeared.
“…”
She glanced toward the window, and her previously frustrated mood lightened.
How unexpectedly cute.
That night, the villa was invaded.
Drowsy with sleep, Wan Tong barely registered what was happening when Li Shen kicked the door open and rushed in. By the time she came to her senses, he was already carrying her, leaping out from the second floor.
She clung tightly to his neck, occasionally feeling his reassuring pats on her back.
Gunfire rained down on them. The battle was even fiercer than during the day, gunshots echoing through the villa.
Several times, Wan Tong thought she was done for, until they finally sped away in a black jeep, leaving the battlefield behind.
Was this another move that evaded WT organization’s intelligence network?
She couldn’t help but connect the attack to Damon.
[Tongtong, the Raider’s system is locking onto you!]
Hearing Shishi’s warning, Wan Tong’s heart clenched.
Was Damon truly determined to kill her tonight?
Or perhaps he wanted to kill her right in front of Li Shen, to recreate the scene from ten years ago, ensuring Li Shen would be trapped in even deeper agony.
[Where is he?]
[He’s following.] Shishi reported a license plate number.
Wan Tong instinctively turned her head, but her hand was suddenly gripped tightly by Li Shen. He had noticed they were being tailed too.
“Sit tight,” he whispered near her ear, then signaled Wu Li, the driver.
The jeep made a sharp turn into a narrow path.
Damon’s car followed closely.
As they entered a dense forest, a mechanical voice suddenly rang out from the jeep’s speakers: “Li Shen, do you believe my bullet can pierce her skull?”
Wu Li hastily turned off the car’s Bluetooth, stealing a glance at Li Shen’s expression.
That same sentence had been in the afternoon’s looping phone video.
“Stop the car.” Li Shen’s voice cut through the darkness.
Wu Li pulled over, and the other vehicles behind them followed suit.
No one knew who fired first, but the gunshot shattered the silence of the night. Birds scattered in alarm, and the dull thuds of bullets against the bulletproof glass rattled Wantong’s nerves.
Li Shen wasn’t unprepared. Figures emerged from the shadows, surrounding the area as the battle erupted.
In the chaos, Wan Tong slipped away from Li Shen and climbed a small slope, waiting for Damon to arrive.
Sure enough, before long, a masked figure in black and white approached, idly spinning a gun in his hand.
“Why aren’t you running?” Damon lowered his voice, still unwilling to be recognized.
“Damon?” Wan Rong called out softly, her voice innocent.
He visibly stiffened. He prided himself on his disguise, even Li Shen had never suspected him.
Curious, he asked, “Who are you calling?”
“You lowered your voice on purpose, but I can still tell it’s you.”
Damon stepped closer, silent for a moment before letting out a cold chuckle. He dropped the act and spoke in his usual voice. “So what if you recognize me? It won’t save your life.”
His aura flickered between restraint and murderous intent. Wan Tong found it odd. Just for a moment, it felt like he didn’t truly want to kill her.
Or maybe, he was just waiting for Li Shen.
She took a step back. “Why do you want to kill me?”
“You shouldn’t exist.”
“…You know I came back from the dead?”
At her words, Demond’s expression darkened. He questioned his system internally : [What does she mean, back from the dead?]
pNo records of her exist.] The system responded.
A sharp pain stabbed through Damon’s mind as the original owner’s emotions stirred once more. The videos he had sent Li Shen that afternoon had affected him too, more than he wanted to admit.
So he had no choice but to act now, to kill both Wantong and Li Shen, once and for all.
He suddenly remembered the strand of hair that Li Shen had sent over today.
[Help me run a DNA test on that hair.]
At first, Damon hadn’t paid much attention to it, but now, he suddenly felt the urge to find out what was going on.
“Did Brother Li Shen tell you that?” Wan Tong continued asking, trying to distract him.
“Coming back from the dead? Do you take me for a child, so easy to fool? Cen Wantong has been dead for a long time. Who the hell are you, you impostor?”
Damon’s voice was laced with anger, an anger that Wan Tong hadn’t expected.
He should have been mocking her, but instead, he was furious.
“Then why do you say I shouldn’t exist?” Wan Tong countered.
Damon no longer wanted to waste words with her, especially since the person he had been waiting for had arrived. The most exciting scene was about to unfold.
However—
*Bang!*
Just as Damon raised his hand, a sniper shot struck, knocking his gun to the ground.
Wan Tong seized the moment, delivering a fierce kick to his body, sending him sprawling to the floor. She swiftly picked up the fallen gun.
She wasn’t going to give Damon the chance to reset and start over. Learning from her past mistakes, she suppressed her urge to kill him immediately. Instead, she planned to fire several shots into him, hoping he wouldn’t endure the pain and would choose to escape on his own.
The first place she aimed was just below his abdomen, the most vulnerable spot on a man.
But Damon was quick to react. His long leg swept out, knocking her down in an instant.
Wan Tong’s current body had never suffered such hardship. The pain from the fall was sharp, and she lost track of where the gun had landed.
But she quickly pulled a dagger from her waist, the one Li Shen had given her for self-defense in the car.
She thrust it toward Demond’s abdomen—
The first strike missed. The blade only grazed his waist, but the thick scent of blood immediately filled the air.
It all happened in just a few seconds.
By the time Li Shen arrived, Wan Tong was already swinging the dagger for a second stab. She put all her strength into it, yet it still missed.
That scene made Li Shen feel a tearing pain in his chest.
She shouldn’t have had to go through this.
“Tongtong!”
His voice made Wan Tong’s hand tremble, causing her to miss again.
In the next moment, Li Shen was already in front of them. With a swift chop to the neck, he knocked the struggling Damon unconscious. Then, with shaking hands, he scooped up the girl from the ground, prying the dagger from her tightly clenched fingers.
“Relax, it’s okay now…”
His voice was hoarse. There were so many things he wanted to say, but in the end, he swallowed them all. He just held her tightly, supporting her trembling body.
Wan Tong was truly scared. This body was even more fragile than she thought. It had turned ice-cold and was shaking uncontrollably.
Wrapped in the warmth of his embrace, surrounded by his familiar scent, she finally began to calm down.
She blinked away her tears, rubbing the dampness off onto his chest. Then, pointing at the unconscious man on the ground, she rasped out, “I want to kill him.”
Her voice was thick with tears. She was clearly terrified, yet she still insisted on killing, on doing something she wasn’t capable of.
Li Shen felt a dull ache in his heart. But he only responded, “I’m sorry, Tongtong. He can’t die.”