Time rewinds to the train, where Xie Yuchen has just pushed Yang Hao out of the window. There is still a small distance between the railway and the riverbank, and he has to exert some force; otherwise, Yang Hao would fall headfirst onto the concrete railing beside the tracks. After that, he throws Yang Hao’s luggage out as well and turns back to look at Liang Wan.

The girl is completely stunned, and upon seeing Xiao Hua looking at her, she shrinks back onto the bed. Xie Yuchen sighs. He comes from a family with excellent upbringing and has always been considerate and tolerant towards women, but at this moment, there is no other choice. He steps forward, suddenly exerts force to grab Liang Wan’s ankle, almost lifting her up, then wraps his arms around her and spins around, throwing her out of the window as if they were dancing.

As he hears her scream instantly drowned out by the wind, he rubs his arms and jumps down from the table. It has been a long time since he used such strength; his arms feel a bit strained. In the past, when he practiced every day, throwing someone out wasn’t a problem at all. His explosive power for short-distance bursts was very strong, thanks to his ability to do handstands and flips.

The train shakes as it passes over the railway bridge. He glances at his phone and sends out the last text message. Then, he tosses the phone out of the window. Putting on his leather jacket, he leans against the table.

There is movement next door, clearly, the earlier scream has alerted some people. However, these are not the ones he needs to avoid; those people are not so easily startled. They are usually calm in the face of change and are certainly now calmly arranging alternative plans.

People coming out of the city cannot hide their whereabouts, as Li Cu and the others have a very obvious destination. However, Liang Wan has also appeared beside Li Cu, which was not his arrangement; she should have appeared later. Her presence signifies a kind of demonstration and warning from the other side.

“All the plans you arranged, we can easily pry into and intervene.”

This is the subtext from the other side. The covert game between both parties has reached this point. He can only smile bitterly; it seems both sides have acknowledged each other’s existence, just unwilling to confront each other directly.

Poor Li Cu and Liang Wan are like pieces on a chessboard, constantly being manipulated by others. But this is where it ends.

He recalls that night when Wu Xie told him about the entire plan—the plan for retaliation. After returning from Motuo, Wu Xie seemed to have disappeared. Xiao Hua knew that it was because Wu Xie had finally caught sight of the enemy.

From a huge invisible net, all the details of the conspiracy are pulled, but there is no way to track, analyze, or even prove its existence. However, to finally see the shadow of the enemy, even if it is just a shadow, is a significant advancement for generations caught in the vortex.

Xie Yuchen does not know what actions Wu Xie will take. Four months have passed, and no one could find him. When Wu Xie reappears after four months, he has a full beard and a greasy smell, looking emaciated but with eyes that gleam with a kind of neurotic light.

He shaves and showers at Xie Yuchen’s home, then lays out his plan. It is a plan for retaliation, a plan for revenge. Xie Yuchen is astonished by Wu Xie’s determination and courage, or rather, the resentment in his heart.

After Wu Xie saw the shadow of the enemy, the first thing that came to his mind was a full-scale counterattack—no negotiations, no probing. What Wu Xie conveyed to Xie Yuchen was a plan for an all-out retaliation without any reservations.

What Xie Yuchen found most incomprehensible was the sheer decisiveness and ruthlessness of this plan. He could imagine how Wu Xie, without eating or drinking, had spent countless hours alone in a dark room continually simulating, strategizing, and contemplating, designing this plan with such determination and cruelty…

In the past, Wu Xie was compassionate and weak-hearted, afraid of causing harm to others in any situation. However, this plan revealed another side of him.

Years of emotional oppression and accumulation—regarding the entire Wu family, the people he cared about, and the history of the Old Nine Gates—had coalesced into a massive, intense spot of hatred in Wu Xie’s heart. Now, this side had fully erupted; Wu Xie sought revenge for all the control and torment endured by his family over three generations.

This plan was terrifying, and the cost was exceedingly high.

Yet he did not stop Wu Xie, for there was no choice; he himself had no choice. He knew all too well whether the spot in his heart existed.

From the shadows of his childhood, he had protected countless people, sacrificed many things that should have belonged to others, and endured countless nightmares that woke him in the middle of the night with a pounding heart.

He would support this plan, even if what he was about to do terrified him.

Footsteps began to echo in the corridor, and he knew it was starting.

His appearance on the train, throwing people off it, signified the beginning of a direct declaration of war. Both sides would no longer hide behind veils. It also marked the official stance of the Xie family against these individuals.

In Wu Xie’s plan, it was crucial whether all of Xie Yuchen’s strength could restrain the enemy’s energy.

Previously, the concealment had led the enemy to believe that the Xie family was unaware of the clear situation. Xie Yuchen might have realized that his family had been infiltrated, controlled, and monitored at every turn, but like Wu Xie, he could only grope around in this invisible web, unable even to touch the threads of the net.

Xie Yuchen might continuously employ various tricks, but he would never discover where all the roots lay.

However, they were mistaken. A butterfly knife slipped out of Xie Yuchen’s sleeve, and the last text message he sent had gone to all the channels of the Xie family.

That was a false message about his death. Within four days, the Xie family’s channels would inevitably descend into chaos. Humanity’s inherent flaws in the face of power would be unmistakably exposed.

Not only the Xie family, but the vast network involved all those within this interest chain; anyone who relied on this livelihood would be caught in the whirlpool.

If those maintaining basic order began to disappear one by one, then the hidden forces behind them, no matter how reluctant to show themselves, would find it impossible to remain so secure.

This was just the first step, but it would unfold slowly.

Xiao Hua stepped out of the private room, and two young men who looked like university students approached him down the corridor. Xiao Hua quickly turned and walked briskly in the opposite direction.

The two university students immediately quickened their pace.

Upon entering the hard sleeper compartment, he saw three people standing in the corridor, all looking at him with the same expression.

Xiao Hua did not slow down; he walked straight toward them, spinning the butterfly knife in his hand.

Could he win?

He didn’t know that this was an enemy he had never encountered before, not an ordinary person, but someone who truly surpassed them in both intelligence and skill. He stared at the fingers of those people, those unusually long fingers.

He leaped up, stepping onto an empty hard seat, trying to jump over the blockade created by the edge of the seat. But the opponent was faster; he saw the other person crouching as they maneuvered around his butterfly knife while simultaneously pinching his collarbone.

The carriage erupted in screams, and Jie Yuchen found himself instantly caught in a joint lock, his body turned and restrained. Almost simultaneously, he dislocated his shoulder and, at an incomprehensible angle, elbowed back.

The opponent had no choice but to let go, and Jie Yuchen pulled back his dislocated arm, spinning the butterfly knife in his hand before thrusting it out in a reverse grip.