"Hypocrite!"
Sun Aotian looked at Wen Yuâs calm expression and slowly spat out the word.
"You make it sound so righteous, so honorable, as if you never intended to kill me in the first place!"
"Wen Yu! âBig Brotherâ!"
"Letâs cut the crap! Itâs making me sick!"
"You came out here to kill, didnât you? Whether itâs me, Zhang Lifei, or... Big Brother Sun, you wonât spare a single one of us!"
"Since my little trick didnât get you, then come on! Come and kill me!"
"Youâd certainly have the stomach to kill me, but what about... Big! Brother! Sun!"
Following Sun Aotianâs shout, a figure slowly walked over.
"I want to see if you can bring yourself to kill *him*!"
ă...ă
"So, youâve allied with them?"
Wen Yu looked at the slightly pale Sun Ruixing and calmly stamped out his cigarette butt.
Sun Ruixing nodded, acknowledging Wen Yuâs question.
"Yes. I didnât expect you to take their side, but itâs understandable. After all, if you were with me, you wouldnât survive until the end," Wen Yu said.
"Exactly."
Only then did Sun Ruixing speak for the first time.
"Iâm not as strong as you, nor as ruthless. Even if I helped you, you would kill me in the end."
Wen Yu nodded.
Sun Aotian was right, and so was Sun Ruixing. When I clawed my way out of the ground, I was determined to kill every living creature. No matter who it was.
"But dying at your hands... that would be no loss at all!"
As Sun Ruixing finished speaking, the situation took a dramatic turn!
ă...ă
With his right hand, Sun Ruixing swiftly swung his shield, smashing it into Zhang Lifeiâs face!
Under Sun Ruixingâs sudden attack, the completely unprepared Zhang Lifei was sent flying as if hit head-on by a sports car. He flipped two and a half times in the air before landing headfirst on the ground!
"What are you doing?" Sun Aotian shouted, his face filled with disbelief at Sun Ruixingâs actions.
"Nothing much. Just dealing with a beast," Sun Ruixing said slowly, calmly looking at Zhang Lifei, who lay on the ground, blood streaming from his nose and mouth.
"Oh, by the way, did you know? When I was at the gathering place, I met Li Shanlin a few times. We even had drinks together a couple of times."
Sun Ruixing stepped on Zhang Lifeiâs back. The immense force made Zhang Lifei cough up a mouthful of blood, his breathing growing even weaker.
"So you couldnât possibly understand what the man you just killed felt for you."
"That man never married. He spent his entire life following your father and watched you grow up."
"I drank with him twice in total. Each time, he said he wanted to see you get married, to see you have a child, to be your childâs honorary grandfather."
"Iâd imagine, after hearing the final rules, he must have already planned to sacrifice himself to protect you. He definitely would have."
"But in the end, his death was so pathetic, so cheap. Truly."
"I saw it. You gathered a skill behind your back and then struck him with it."
"He turned his head and just looked at you."
"You didnât dare to meet his eyes. You lowered your head, and then, another skill!"
"Perhaps you should have looked into his eyes. As I see it, there probably wasnât any resentment there."
"Recklessly hurting those who love you? Recklessly harming those who help you?"
"You truly donât deserve to live. Moreover, Iâm ashamed to be associated with people like you!"
After saying this, Sun Ruixing, paying no mind to Zhang Lifeiâs thoughts as he lay on the ground, raised his foot and stomped, crushing Zhang Lifeiâs skull.
Then, he turned his head and looked at the still disbelieving Sun Aotian.
"Youâre next!"
ă...ă
Wen Yu wiped a large stone beside him and sat down. He lit another cigarette, quietly watching the battle unfold.
I wasnât sure what Sun Ruixing was thinking. If the three of themâSun Ruixing, Sun Aotian, and Zhang Lifeiâhad teamed up, they might have had a tiny, negligible chance of success against me. But now that Sun Ruixing had dealt with Zhang Lifei, the remaining two stood absolutely no chance. Although this was beyond my expectations...
"This is the Old Sun I know," a low sigh escaped Wen Yuâs lips.
By then, the battle before him had already concluded.
Sun Aotian was dead. There was no doubt about that.
Leaving aside skills, just in terms of physical conditioning, Sun Ruixing completely outclassed Sun Aotian.
"Give me a cigarette."
Sun Ruixing, carrying his blood-stained shield, sat down next to Wen Yu and asked for one.
The two of them smoked in silence, quietly watching Cyclops relentlessly slaughter the few remaining mutant beasts.
"Why did you kill them both?" Wen Yu asked.
"If I hadnât killed them, was I supposed to try and kill you?" Sun Ruixing countered. "Letâs not even discuss whether Iâd be willing. Even if the three of usâSun Aotian, Zhang Lifei, and Iâhad joined forces, what chance would we have stood against you?"
"More importantly, those two brats were ill-mannered. I didnât like them."
"Thatâs true," Wen Yu said, his voice serious and stern. "But by doing this, youâve essentially extinguished your only hope. You understand, I wonât hold back."
Towards Sun Ruixing, in what might be his final moments, Wen Yu disdained to lie, nor did he wish to.
"You will kill me," Sun Ruixing stated with conviction.
Wen Yu remained silent.
"But, do you know something?" Sun Ruixing said, then suddenly slung an arm around Wen Yuâs neck.
"Whether you *will* kill me and whether you *want* to kill meâthose are two different things!"
"Do you want to kill me?"
"I donât," Wen Yu answered with conviction.
"See? Thatâs all that matters!"
"Even if your hand is the one that strikes me down, the one responsible for my death wonât truly be *you*."
"So, donât feel any burden."
Sun Ruixing was smiling as he spoke, but Wen Yu couldnât quite hear the rest of his words clearly.
It was just words of comfort, nothing more. Things like that were truly unnecessary at this point...
ă...ă
Cyclops came trotting back from the distance. He saw his boss smoking and chatting with Sun Ruixing, just like always.
Yet, Cyclops sensed something was a little different.
So, Cyclops quietly lay down beside Wen Yu, who then recalled him into the Soul Realm.
"So beautiful! That sunset! See it?" Sun Ruixing pointed to the sun nearing the horizon and nudged Wen Yu with his elbow.
"Yeah," Wen Yu responded softly.
Then, another deathly silence fell between them, lasting until the sun had completely set.
"Itâs time for you to send me on my way..." Sun Ruixing finally said.