Volume 1, Chapter 33: Pulling the Trigger

A torrential rain lashed against an unremarkable cemetery in Nancheng, resembling a purgatory on earth that would never cease.

After hanging up the call made to Beicheng, Shu Wan continued up the mountain, umbrella in hand. It took quite some time before she finally spotted the joint grave with the nameless headstone.

She stood alone in the rain, dazed for a long while, before finally bowing down to place the two bouquets she had been holding in front of the stone. Then, she knelt on the damp ground, struggling to shield a small patch of space with her umbrella, and pulled a small stack of paper money from her bag, attempting to light it with a lighter.

After Shu Huaiqing and Meng Xian died, she, as their only descendant, was not even granted the right to handle their bodies. It wasn't until they had been buried in secret that special personnel brought her here to pay her respects; by then, it was already the fifth day after their passing. She dared not imagine what their bodies had been subjected to during those five days—whether dissected or studied.

At that time, Shu Wan had been in a state of total collapse, refusing all communication and all inquiries. Other than the fact that she was still breathing, she was essentially a walking corpse. Even when brought here to pay respects back then, her gaze had been vacant and unresponsive; she had not even kowtowed once for them. The staff had once suspected that she had gone mad, that she was ruined.

A year later, Shu Wan finally knelt before their grave, clumsily mimicking the way others burned paper and offered incense. It was the first time in her life she had ever done such a thing. As luck would have it, the weather was uncooperative; the lighter sparked, but failed to produce a flame.

The girl tossed the lighter aside and laughed. "I haven't even blamed you for abandoning me, yet you're already blaming me for not visiting you all year."

A gust of wind blew by, and the paper money was whisked away instantly, leaving no trace. She laughed again. "Right, you are staunch materialists. For the sake of your ideals, your faith, and the grand cause in your hearts, you could even abandon and sacrifice me. Why would you care for this bit of money... You are truly great..."

As she spoke, two lines of tears rolled down. The girl remained in her kneeling position, collapsing onto her own lap, sobbing silently for a long time. She dared to complain to her parents about being abandoned at this grave, but she dared not admit that she had fled back to Nancheng like a refugee, all for a man. She dared not tell them that this man was Meng Huaijin, her uncle.

A year ago, he had traveled thousands of miles to retrieve her. Six months ago, she had fallen hopelessly in love with him. She dared even less to tell them that, in order to force him to see her, she had resorted to the most extreme measures. She demanded he come to see her within five hours, and that he never see Jiang Jie again.

An hour had already passed. Was he already on his way to the airport? After all, today was his big day, the high-profile engagement banquet in Beicheng... Would he come? Shu Wan did not know.

Would he be very angry? Certainly. She had already sensed his fury during their phone call.

At some point, the black umbrella had been blown away by the wind. The gale howled, wantonly tousling the girl's dark, soft hair. Cold raindrops slid rapidly down her small, delicate chin, soaking through her thin clothes and trousers as if to condense the chill of the entire rainy season upon her.

Shu Wan allowed herself to be miserable on this day. If that man truly went through with the engagement, she could exile herself today. After all... he was the first person she had ever loved, her youth, her everything, and her only.

Over an hour passed in this manner when Shu Wan suddenly felt a chill on her back, as if someone were watching her. Reflexively, she grabbed the gun on the ground and whipped her head around. It had only been two hours; even if he were coming, he couldn't have arrived yet. Because of their profession, the enemies Shu Huaiqing and Meng Xian had made were all vicious and ruthless; it was possible that those people had caught wind of something and come for revenge.

Shu Wan did not dare to lower her guard. She aimed the gun into the thick fog. For a long while, she saw nothing but the gray, gloomy sky and the unceasing rain. Beyond that, there was nothing.

She retracted the gun, turned back, and stared blankly at the nameless headstone. "Let me tell you some good news: my college entrance exam score is enough to get me into the best university in Beicheng. Also, I'm doing very well, and my uncle is very good to me..."

The moment she finished speaking, she felt a chill on her skin as a large hand gripped her neck from behind!

The girl’s eyes sharpened. She instinctively grabbed the gun on the ground and spun around, aiming it at the intruder's chest! The moment she saw who it was, she froze in place. Her pupils dilated, her mind went blank, and the hand holding the gun began to shake uncontrollably.

The hand that had been gripping the back of her neck shifted as she turned, now clamping onto the tendons of her throat.

The man’s elegant, handsome black suit was soaked through. Facing the gun pointed at his chest, he didn't even blink. He stared fixedly at Shu Wan, his eyes swirling with a hurricane a thousand times more aggressive than the storm, a cold, piercing intensity that could freeze this entire hillside solid. He had spent over a decade in the military districts and returned to the political center of Beicheng last year; dominance and brutality were already etched into his blood and bones. If he were truly enraged, Shu Wan was like a droplet of water before the sun; the word "instant" would not even be enough to describe her evaporation.

"You only dared to tell them that I am very good to you?"

Rain washed over Meng Huaijin’s stern, sharp face. The man’s free hand firmly controlled the gun she was about to pull back, his voice deep as he questioned her. With the hand holding the gun pinned down, any slight misstep could lead to an accidental discharge. Shu Wan was trembling all over, her voice as light as a feather. "It’s only been two hours. How, how did you get here so fast?"

Meng Huaijin ignored her question entirely, his overwhelming fury contained within eyes as deep as the ocean. He used his thumb to rub against the girl's neck, where the skin was so thin the veins were visible. "You didn't tell them that you fell in love with your uncle, that you wanted to be his woman, and that you forced him to choose on the day of his engagement... You didn't tell them any of this?"

It was that touch that made Shu Wan feel a faint electrical current pass through her for the first time, causing her to shudder again. She forced herself to suppress the intensity of the trembling, because her index finger had been forcibly pressed against the trigger by the man; any excessive movement could easily cause the gun to go off.

The girl could not speak. She only shook her head, tears spilling out, mixing with the rain as they traced down the corners of her mouth and finally disappeared into the hand gripping her neck, where the veins were bulging.

"So brave, yet you dare not admit it?"

Meng Huaijin continued to grip her slender neck, pulling her toward him, forcing her closer until there was only the distance of the gun between them. He said grimly, "Shu Wan, tell them what you threatened me to come here for."

"No... not here..." She had originally intended to wait for him at the bottom of the mountain after paying her respects, never imagining he would arrive so quickly.

Meng Huaijin squeezed her, pressing his chest against the barrel. "So fond of playing games? I'll play with you. Pull the trigger."

"No... no, let go, Uncle. It's dangerous. Don't press any harder, I beg you."

The man ignored her completely. "Tell your mother what you ordered me to come here for."

Shu Wan shook her head violently, tears streaming down. She kept her mouth tightly shut, biting her lip until it bled, the blood mixing with tears and rain, all flowing onto the back of Meng Huaijin's hand.

The man suddenly snatched the gun from her hand and smashed it against the ground with immense force! The weapon shattered into pieces instantly!

Shu Wan was jerked forward by his powerful pull, slamming into his sturdy chest, the impact leaving her lungs aching.

"Then tell me, since you threatened me to travel thousands of miles to get here, what do you want me to do to you?"

She saw something primal and savage, cruel and violent, in his cold, extreme expression.

"Not here, Uncle, please... I don't want..."

"It's too late."

Maintaining the grip on her throat, Meng Huaijin increased the pressure by a third, leaning in close to her. His voice was laced with a bone-chilling coldness that signaled impending disaster. "Shu Wan, today I will grant your wish. Whether you want me or you want to make love, I will give it to you. I will make you hurt, as long as you can endure it."