Chapter 92: Blood

Xiao Nian glanced at Xiao Moyan beside him, then at Qiu Muying, who was crying on the sofa, before turning to face Xia Ran.

“Xia Linying is your own daughter. Even a tiger won’t eat its cubs. To get back at me, to cover up your crimes, you actually used her as bait? Xia Ran, you’re really not human.”  

Hearing his words, Xiao Moyan’s eyes widened sharply, staring straight at Xia Ran, while Qiu Muying on the sofa turned deathly pale, her body trembling.  

Xia Ran’s face stayed calm. He looked at Xiao Nian and shook his head.  

“Xia Linying is my daughter. Her life and everything she has are given by me. How I treat her is none of your business, Xiao Nian, I didn’t expect that after ten years, our hatred still couldn’t end.”  

“If it weren’t for your distrust, and your cruelty back then, how would I have become like this? You think I would foolishly wait for you to kill me, to end up like Tao Shao?”  

Xiao Nian said softly, his eyes empty of emotion as he looked at Xia Ran. Qiu Muying, who had been lying on the sofa, sat up, staring at Xia Ran in panic.  

“He… he’s telling the truth? How could you…”  

“Shut up!”

Xia Ran shouted loudly, cutting off Qiu Muying’s words. He turned and glared at her with hatred.

“Xia Ran, how could you treat Xiaxia like this? She’s your daughter, your real daughter...”  

Qiu Muying looked at him through tears, her eyes full of despair. She never thought, never once thought, that the Xia Ran who had cared for her all these years, who treated her the same even after she made a terrible mistake, would turn out to be the one behind all this evil. Deception, it was all deception? Why? Why did it have to be like this...

Xia Ran clenched his jaw tight, his eyes filled with hatred as he looked at Qiu Muying.  

“Real daughter? Did she ever treat me as her real father? I worked hard to raise her, not for her to help the daughter of my enemy! For Xiao Moyan’s sake, she nearly emptied the whole Xia family! I fought with everything I had, to get Tianhuang back, and she gave it all away just because Xiao Moyan asked her to stay. The blood in her veins isn’t mine, it’s your filthy, despicable blood, Qiu Muying!”

Each word cut deep. Xiao Moyan stood at the side, biting her lip hard, full of guilt and self-blame. She had always hated Xia Lingying for hesitating between love and family, pushing all her hatred onto her, forcing her to hate the Xia family too.  

Facing Xiao Moyan’s endless pressure, Xia Lingying never argued. She only tried to use her gentleness to soften the hatred in Xiao Moyan’s heart. But hatred could not be washed away. Xiao Moyan got dragged in deeper, her heart growing distant, though her mouth stayed silent.  

Xia Ran’s words just now showed how Xia Lingying had always protected Xiao Moyan in the Xia family. She couldn’t let her father hurt Xiao Moyan, and she couldn’t let Xiao Moyan hurt her mother. Stuck between love and family, she had no power to choose and no way to escape.  

In the end, all she got was blame from both sides. In despair, she left because she had no choice.

Xiao Nian stayed silent as he looked at Xiao Moyan’s pained face. He sighed and waved at the bodyguard beside him. The man hesitated for a moment, but not daring to disobey Xiao Nian’s order, he took out a sharp, gleaming dagger from his waist pouch and handed it to him.

The air turned tense at once. The men A’Sen brought quickly surrounded Xiao Moyan, while Qiu Muying’s face went pale. Xia Ran, however, stayed calm. He took a drag from his cigarette. He had imagined this scene countless nights without sleep. Finally, it had become real.  

Xiao Nian, our grudge should end here.

Xiao Nian’s thumb brushed the cold blade as his eyes fixed on Xiao Moyan. Pushing aside A’Sen, who stood in front of him, Xiao Moyan looked at him coldly.

“Xiaoxiao... Dad has failed you, and failed your mom even more.”

The man who was always proud and hard-spoken finally softened. Xiao Moyan froze, looking at him, not knowing what he meant. After a silent stare between father and daughter, Xiao Nian turned to Qiu Muying, sighed, and said softly,

“Muying, everything started because of our sins. It was my fault. Back then, I did everything to have you, and in the end, I ruined both our families. For over ten years, I’ve lived worse than death. I’m tired. I don’t want to keep fighting anymore. All hatred must have an end. Since he wants my life, I’ll give it to him.”

After that, Xiao Nian turned the dagger toward himself and handed it to Xia Ran.

“Xia Ran, we’ve fought for more than ten years, all because of that letter filled with everyone’s secrets. I already sent people to find Lan Chen. The letters are all destroyed. You can rest easy now.  

When fate begins, it must also end. I no longer have a reason to live. Take my life, as a debt for Lan Ran (Xiao’s mother), as an apology to Muying.”

Xia Ran took the dagger. He squinted and looked Xiao Nian up and down. Then he looked down at the dagger in his hand and smiled coldly. His right fist clenched until the knuckles cracked.

"Xiao Nian, you will die for someone else? You will bow to me, Xia Ran?"

Xia Ran laughed louder and louder. His eerie laugh made people nervous. Xiao Nian, who had no expression, slowly turned pale. He stared at Xia Ran. After a long time, Xia Ran stopped laughing. He stood up and looked at him coldly. He clapped his hands a few times.

Slow footsteps echoed in the silent Xia house. A group of big men opened the door and rushed in. In an instant, they surrounded the whole room.

Qiu Muying went pale. Her broken heart had no place to land. She looked at the scene that was just like the night ten years ago. She felt nothing left.

The nightmare from ten years ago still haunted them. Today, everything was the same, but the balance of victory seemed to favor Xia Ran, who had waited and suffered for years.

The leader, a man with a scary scar on his face, came to Xia Ran and whispered something. Xia Ran nodded. His face turned darker.

The scarred man ran to the tall men around Xiao Nian. He put a gun to one man’s head.

"Take it out."

The man said nothing. He looked at Xiao Nian again. After a short pause, a dull gunshot rang out. Ink-black blood splashed across Xia house's living room. Qiu Muying screamed and curled up on the sofa. A'Sen froze, then used his body to shield Xiao Moyan. Xiao Moyan stayed calm. She just quietly watched the man falling in a pool of blood.

The scarred man bent down, reached into the bullet-pierced body, and pulled out a small white object. He stood and respectfully handed it to Xia Ran.

Taking the blood-stained object, Xia Ran gave Xiao Nian a cold smile.

"A camera? Xiao Nian, looks like you haven't lived in the underworld for a long time. You use such an old trick on me. Do you think I, Xia Ran, am still the same one you bullied ten years ago?"

Staring at Xiao Nian, Xia Ran slowly raised the dagger in his hand.

"Xiao Nian, you did all this for that cheap woman. After today, I'll give her back to you. I just don't know if you'll still want her—"

A strange laugh echoed. Xia Ran looked at Xiao Nian, then walked to the sofa and squatted down, staring at the terrified Qiu Muying.

The cold blade pressed against her face. Qiu Muying’s face turned pale as fear spread from her heart. Her bloodless lips trembled slightly.

“Xia Ran, you dare!”

Xiao Nian almost roared, shouting at Xia Ran. He pushed the people beside him and was about to rush forward, but a black pistol was pressed against him.

“I dare? Why wouldn’t I dare!”

Xia Ran sneered coldly, but her hand moved. Her wrist slowly slid, and the sharp blade cut across that fair cheek. Qiu Muying screamed, and red blood spread at once, running down her face and Xia Ran’s hand that held the blade, dripping one by one onto the white sofa. The bloody smell spread, and the color of death slowly covered everyone.

The veins on Xiao Nian’s neck bulged as he gasped hard, his eyes full of blood as he glared at Xia Ran.

Xia Ran stopped moving, yet the red blood kept flowing. Xiao Moyan stared at Qiu Muying, whose face looked much like Xia Linying’s, now covered in blood, her scream sharp and trembling. Her right fist clenched tight, and her whole body turned cold.

She wanted revenge. She wanted her to suffer, to live worse than death. But when she saw her like this and thought of how painful Xia Linying would feel if she knew, Xiao Moyan’s heart suddenly ached.

“Let her go!”

Watching the thick drops fall from the blade and the scar on Qiu Muying’s right cheek that would never heal, Xia Ran slowly stood and smiled coldly.

“Qiu Muying, you followed me for so long. You should know the end of betraying me. Today you get what you deserve.”

Covering her cheek with her right hand, Qiu Muying moaned in pain. She bit her lip so hard that blood came out. The blood mixed with the blood on her face and flowed down Xiao Nian’s once-loved cheek, taking away her last pride.

It's worse than death, worse than death...

He tightened his hand on the dagger and turned. He looked at Xiao Moyan with a cold face. Then he looked at Xiao Nian, who was pinned to the ground and near breaking, and smiled coldly.

“Xiao Nian, I will take away every precious thing you have left in your name.”

Holding the dagger, as Xiao Nian’s screams neared collapse, Xia Ran slowly walked toward Xiao Moyan.

Author's Note:

For some reason, after writing this, I don't even want to eat chicken legs anymore... I feel nauseous...

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