Even in a kneeling position, her spine remained straight.
She lifted her head and looked up toward Song Lan and Lu Jia with unusual calm, showing no humiliation or unwillingness.
Her gaze fixed unwaveringly on the blade, afraid that Song Lan might suddenly act. Sheng Shubai’s tone was calm: “Can you let her go now?”
“How does it feel to kneel and beg your enemy?”
Song Lan laughed, her wrist twitching as she gradually tightened her grip on Lu Jia’s neck.
Her smile carried a hint of madness, twisting her gentle features into something ferocious: “Worth it. Even if I confess, it’s worth it. Why should your Sheng Family always lord over everyone? This is how it should be… this is how it should be!”
“This is how it should be… kneeling and begging me.”
She murmured the last part, audible only to her and Lu Jia.
For a moment, her vision blurred, and she mistook Sheng Shubai’s face in the distance for Sheng Ling’s.
Sheng Ling…
She might have liked her for a short while, but mostly it was jealousy and hatred toward a dead woman.
Over the years, those relationships mixed with genuine and fake affections had long been forgotten by Song Lan.
She only wanted to surpass Sheng Ling; she only wanted to prove she was stronger than Sheng Ling.
At this moment, the younger generation that Sheng Ling cherished and protected so much was kneeling before her, begging her to spare her lover’s life.
She was the winner!
How was she not the winner?!
Dissatisfied with Sheng Shubai’s calm gaze, Song Lan simply increased the pressure, choking Lu Jia until she could barely breathe.
The knife tip pressed right against her throat, leaving the girl unable to struggle.
Finally seeing panic and loss of control in Sheng Shubai’s expression, Song Lan laughed even more satisfactorily: “You’ve hated me for so many years, and now you have to kneel and beg me. You’ll probably never forget this taste for the rest of your life, right?”
She did it on purpose.
Making Sheng Shubai kneel publicly and beg her, ensuring Sheng Shubai would remember this moment forever.
If it could also create a rift between Sheng Shubai and Lu Jia, that would be even better.
Song Lan’s lips curved into an arc as she deftly released the carving knife from Lu Jia’s throat and shoved her back. “Why aren’t you leaving?”
Lu Jia stumbled from the push, not daring to look back as she headed straight toward Sheng Shubai. The handcuffs wouldn’t come off, and the chain between her ankle cuffs only allowed small steps, so she couldn’t even stride forward.
Sheng Shubai reacted quickly, standing up almost immediately to meet her.
But in the next second, she caught a glimpse of the woman behind Lu Jia making a new move with her peripheral vision.
That was… a gun muzzle.
Sheng Shubai’s pupils contracted sharply: “Lu Jia!”
Everything happened in the blink of an eye.
Before Song Lan released her hostage, she had naturally prepared for being captured on the spot. The SWAT officers and mercenaries outside the door had been poised like tigers for a long time.
But this small handgun hidden in her sleeve was her final plan.
She wanted Sheng Shubai to taste the mad joy of regaining what was lost, only to watch her lover die under the gun muzzle right before her eyes.
The gun muzzle aimed at the back of Lu Jia’s head.
Bang.
The instant she pulled the trigger, Sheng Shubai nearly despaired into silence.
At the same time, Song Lan raised a triumphant smile.
In the next second, her smile froze on her face.
How could… how could the clip be empty?!
She had just taken it from the basement not long ago, and the safe’s password was only known to…
A chill of horror struck Song Lan’s heart. She instinctively wanted to flee toward the basement stairs. But it was too late.
Bang.
This time, the bullet shot toward her.
It pierced her wrist with precision, causing the gun to clatter from Song Lan’s hand. The force sent her crashing into the sculpture behind her.
The SWAT officers and mercenaries holding guns closed in.
From among them, Shen Zhiwei walked out unhurriedly, holding a handgun identical to the one Song Lan had just used.
“Teacher.”
Shen Zhiwei smiled warmly. “Remember, you were the one who taught me how to shoot back then. Good thing I haven’t gotten rusty over the years.”
“You’re looking at it? How is it? Familiar, right?”
She shook the gun in her hand: “I just switched to this one today. I didn’t expect you’d use it so soon.”
“You knew everything? I really underestimated the Sheng Family.”
Song Lan’s full weight leaned against the sculpture’s base. She glanced at the gun on the ground, her smile mocking: “But I never imagined you’d be the one to betray me in the end.”
She tossed the detonator controller onto the ground and said indifferently: “You’ve probably tampered with the explosives behind my back too, haven’t you?”
Shen Zhiwei let out a light chuckle, tacitly agreeing.
Former teacher and student, now enemies.
Sheng Shubai had already pulled Lu Jia into her arms, too focused to pay attention to what was happening over there.
Lost and then found.
In that instant when Song Lan fired, her heart had nearly stopped beating.
Fortunately… fortunately, Lu Jia was unharmed.
The handcuffs and ankle cuffs on Lu Jia had a special mechanism; forcing them off would trigger an electric shock. Fortunately, before Shen Zhiwei appeared, she had tossed the remote control to a nearby mercenary to pass to Sheng Shubai.
Now, finally unlocked, revealing a full circle of red, swollen skin.
Sheng Shubai’s fingertips trembled as she wanted to touch but didn’t dare to stroke the bandaged ring around the girl’s wrist.
After so many emotional ups and downs, just holding this familiar warm, soft body made her choke up uncontrollably: “Lu Jia… I’m sorry.”
Sorry for not protecting you properly.
Sorry for taking so long to get here.
Lu Jia could feel it—Sheng Shubai was trembling, gripped by lingering fear.
She hugged the woman’s waist in return, uncaring of the onlookers or the occasion.
She wanted to comfort her.
“Sister, I’m already fine.”
“Just now…”
Lu Jia didn’t continue.
Watching her lover kneel because of her—that feeling was too awful. She didn’t dare mention it, afraid Sheng Shubai would recall that mood too.
Until Shen Zhiwei’s sharp shout drew their attention.
“Don’t come any closer! I want to talk alone with… Teacher.”
She deliberately lowered her voice on the second half, pausing half a second when saying “Teacher.”
The SWAT officers and mercenaries approaching stopped about three meters away, compelled by Shen Zhiwei’s gun trained on Song Lan.
Even with her former student’s gun pressed to her temple, Song Lan didn’t struggle.
She only asked: “When did you find out?”
The pressure of the gun muzzle increased noticeably, and Shen Zhiwei’s finger on the trigger trembled: “You still dare to mention it!”
Her mother… hadn’t been set up in a car accident by that mother-daughter pair after all.
The sole mastermind behind the scenes was Song Lan.
This teacher, who had made her kill the “enemy” with her own hands and raised her meticulously for so many years like a mother, was the true murderer of her mother.
She had called her mother’s killer “Teacher” for over ten years; she had been used by her enemy, willingly sinking into the quagmire with Song Lan, serving as her sharp blade.
Shen Zhiwei’s eyes reddened as she asked word by word: “Why?”
Her mother had been so innocent.
That night before leaving, her mother had said she would bring back chocolate and make her favorite cookies the next day.
But she never returned.
“Of course, it was for you.”
Song Lan’s tone was casual, as if Shen Zhiwei had asked something trivial and laughable: “How do you make a young, talented student trust you completely and work for you unconditionally?”
She looked up at Shen Zhiwei, her lips curving slightly: “By destroying her, then saving her, of course.”
The conversation was in Country A’s language. By the time those present realized something was wrong, Shen Zhiwei had already lost her rationality.
Her eyes bloodshot, the hand gripping the gun shook uncontrollably.
“Shen Zhiwei, stop!”
“Ms. Shen!”
Bang!
Bang!
Bang!
Three shots in succession.
Song Lan’s body stiffened violently before sliding limply to the ground.
A mocking smile lingered on her lips: “Zhiwei, aren’t you going to avenge your mother?”
Sheng Shubai had already covered Lu Jia’s eyes first.
She stared fixedly at the woman’s slumped form.
Shen Zhiwei’s three shots had targeted her left wrist and ankles, completely crippling her limbs.
Sheng Shubai felt a twinge of relief.
Good thing Song Lan didn’t die so easily.
How could they skip the torment?
She had planned to expose Song Lan’s venomous true nature, strip away the reputation and power she valued most, let the world scorn her, and then watch her meet her end by law.
She would wish her a trip to hell.
Shen Zhiwei was quickly subdued by the SWAT officers. She didn’t resist, staring deathly at Song Lan on the ground, still feeling it wasn’t enough.
She knew full well that Song Lan had deliberately provoked her, deliberately seeking death.
And she had nearly fallen for it.
Just before being handcuffed and led to the basement, in her last second, Shen Zhiwei deliberately ground her heel into Song Lan’s bloodied palm, crushing it hard.
Now that this woman was a crippled wreck with all four limbs broken, she wondered if this arrogant, lofty “printmaking master” could still pick up a carving knife to cling to her ridiculous, fragile sense of victory.
The scene proceeded orderly.
With the employer’s mission complete, the mercenaries stood aside.
Sheng Shubai waved her hand, signaling everyone to wait outside first.
Tonight’s operation had originally been just a rescue plan.
Time had been too tight; when cooperating with Shen Zhiwei, they had only managed to disable the remote alarms in Song Lan’s villa ahead of time.
When they infiltrated, the alarms would only sound on the island. Even if Song Lan checked the surveillance and rushed over, it would be too late.
When the surveillance contact notified them that Song Lan had inexplicably come to the island in the middle of the night, they thought the operation had leaked and had no choice but to confront her head-on.
Fortunately, it ended without disaster.
Sheng Shubai still tightly covered Lu Jia’s eyes until Song Lan was handcuffed, loaded onto a stretcher, and taken away. Only then did she release her hand.
Large pools of blood stained the ground, and she wouldn’t let Lu Jia see: “Don’t look, or you’ll have nightmares.”
The girl hadn’t struggled at all during this, obediently leaning into her embrace. She also raised her hand, fumbling to cover Sheng Shubai’s eyes, but the woman gently grasped her fingertips and intertwined their fingers.
Lu Jia called softly: “Sister.”
“Mm, everything’s fine now.”
Sheng Shubai comforted her, rubbing the girl’s head before finally letting go.
Lu Jia looked at her, tracing every inch carefully.
It had been less than three days since their last meeting, but she had lost weight and looked haggard.
Her gaze fell on the dark circles under Sheng Shubai’s eyes. Lu Jia thought that Sheng Shubai surely hadn’t rested well these past few days.
Under her scrutiny, Sheng Shubai knew she didn’t look as pretty as usual but still curved her eyes into a smile.
It was the first smile she had shown in days.
After all the ups and downs, Sheng Shubai now only wanted to gaze at Lu Jia without blinking.
Afraid that if she blinked, she would lose her again.
After a brief moment of intimacy, Lu Jia’s ankle was still injured, and standing too long would hurt.
As she turned to find a place to rest, she saw Sheng Shuyun and Liu Zhao standing not far away, looking toward them, with… the girl who had applied medicine to her during the day?
“…Shuyun-jie, Zhao-jie, and this miss—”
Lu Jia nodded lightly: “Thank you.”
During the earlier standoff, she had only focused on Sheng Shubai and hadn’t noticed them there.
They had clearly come all the way from the country for her sake.
Wu Shi waved it off: “No big deal. Second Miss has already thanked me.”
After a brief exchange of greetings, movement came from the stairs.
One by one, the victims were brought out.
Most were in abnormal states, supported by SWAT as they ascended. Upon seeing the bright, spacious first floor of the exhibition hall, they muttered to themselves while crying and laughing, or screamed something.
The last two out were Ren Si and Shu Chihan.
The former looked in the best condition, even helping to support Shu Chihan.
When Song Lan had taken Lu Jia away, they had passed Ren Si’s window, so she naturally recognized the girl’s face. Ren Si raised an eyebrow at Lu Jia, but then froze upon glimpsing a few people not far ahead.
She handed Shu Chihan to the accompanying doctor and walked straight up: “President Sheng.”
Sheng Shuyun was stunned for a few seconds before reacting: “Little Ren, long time no see.”
She hadn’t expected to see Ren Si again here.
Four years ago, when she first noticed something off about Song Lan, Sheng Shuyun had carefully selected a young girl studying printmaking and sent her to Country A.
She had signed a contract and informed her of the potential risks, and Ren Si had accepted it all.
Originally, Sheng Shuyun had only wanted to find evidence of the woman’s plagiarism or academic misconduct. But over a year later, after receiving Ren Si’s message that something seemed off, she could no longer track her whereabouts.
At that moment, she immediately dispatched people, even at the risk of arousing Song Lan’s suspicions and disrupting the plan. She had to bring Ren Si back safely.
Yet there was no news at all, as if Ren Si had vanished into thin air.
Later, after uncovering more information, Sheng Shuyun could only guess that Song Lan had discovered her and killed her.
Sheng Shuyun felt guilty for a long time.
Even when wielding iron-blooded tactics in business wars, she couldn’t truly turn a blind eye to a vibrant life lost because of the Sheng Family.
Fortunately, Ren Si was still alive.
“It’s good that you’re okay,” Sheng Shuyun said softly once more.
She turned to look out the window.
Zangguan was built on the edge of the island, with the endless sea stretching out not far away. It was deep into the night, and both the sky and the sea were vast expanses of pitch-black darkness, like thick ink.
But she knew dawn was coming.
