Chapter Two: The Moment of Awakening

“Kexin?” Nangong Yuchen’s voice trembled, his heart jolting violently from its stillness—he knew something terrible had happened. The stench of blood still lingered in his nostrils, and with the swaying silhouette on the ceiling, he suddenly recalled what Lu Shijie had told him at the gates of Tech City that afternoon.

“I remember you have a beautiful elder sister, don’t you?”

Could it be…?

A chill shot through him—his heart leapt into his throat, and trembling all over, he approached the dark figure. Though it was only a few steps away, it took him a full two minutes to traverse that short distance.

At last, he stood before the shadow. With a quivering hand, he reached out to touch it.

Suddenly, several beams of light flickered on in the room. Though not as bright as electric lamps, they were enough to reveal the figure before him.

In that instant, Nangong Yuchen let out a hoarse, wild scream—he lost all reason, unable to accept the reality before his eyes.

Hanging from the ceiling was his own sister, Nangong Kexin.

Her clothes were in disarray, torn open in many places, exposing bloody wounds. Her once-lustrous hair hung in disheveled strands, covering her small face, which drooped lifelessly. Her fair, tender arms were now mottled with purple bruises, bound together tightly at the rope’s knot, leaving her suspended from the ceiling.

Blood dripped steadily from her bare feet, pooling on the floor below.

“Kexin is dead?” Nangong Yuchen fell to his knees, eyes nearly bursting from their sockets. His hands clutched his face, unable to accept the nightmare before him. Everything had been fine that morning—how could it have turned into this in just a day?

In the package box at the door still lay the surprise he’d prepared for his sister. But now…now, all was lost!

He roared in anguish, his heart howling like a wounded beast. At that moment, hatred erupted within him, swelling uncontrollably.

“Kexin!” He choked out her name over and over. Black and white veins gathered and spread across his face, as clear as blood vessels, crawling down his neck and radiating across his body.

“Haha! Let’s get out of here before this kid kills himself. Otherwise, how will we explain to the Warden?” From the corner of the living room sofa came raucous laughter. Four men in black suits, holding up cell phones as lights, stepped out.

It was their phones that lit the figure of Nangong Kexin.

At their head was a burly man, muscles bulging—a bald brute who’d fought Nangong Yuchen that night at the Star Emperor Tavern.

He strode to Nangong Kexin’s side, looking down at the kneeling Nangong Yuchen with a sinister grin. “So you’ve finally come back, kid!”

“If you’d been any later, you might not have seen your little girlfriend one last time!” This came from the shortest of the four, who licked his lips with a gloomy sneer.

They didn’t realize Nangong Yuchen and Nangong Kexin were siblings; they mistook them for lovers.

“Fourth, enough talk! That bitch put up a hell of a fight. I’m burning up here—let’s finish this brat and hand him over so I can have my fun!” leered another middle-aged man with a lascivious look.

“Can’t help it—Second is always like that, but the girl was fierce. To keep him from forcing himself on her, she clawed up her own face until she looked like a ghost. Gives me chills just thinking about it!” The musclebound leader laughed.

As the three laughed, the last man spoke with a cold voice from the back. “Enough chatter, finish him off!” Then, as if remembering something, he added, “Third, you’ve fought this brat before—go take care of him!”

The bald brute grinned, stepping in front of Nangong Yuchen.

“Was it you who killed Kexin?” Nangong Yuchen was on his feet. The black and white veins on his face weren’t so clear in the dim phone light, but his eyes burned scarlet, bloodshot lines crisscrossing the whites, blue veins bulging on his forehead—he looked every bit a crazed beast.

All reason gone, his mind seethed with murderous fury and hatred. He had only one thought: slaughter every one of these men to avenge Kexin!

“Die!” he screamed, charging first, fist swinging toward the bald brute’s head.

“Looking for death!” Third didn’t expect him to attack first. He raised his own fist to meet him head-on.

Their fists collided with a sickening thud. Pain shot through Nangong Yuchen’s hand, but lost in his rage, he ignored it, twisting his body and driving his elbow at Third’s head.

The brute snorted coldly, expecting his speed and bracing to block—but Nangong Yuchen abruptly stopped his attack and instead took the blow square in the chest, wrapping his arms tight around the brute.

And then, unexpectedly, Nangong Yuchen opened his mouth and bit down hard on the man’s neck.

“What the hell? Is this guy a dog? Since when do martial artists use their teeth?” The other three gaped in shock.

The brute howled in pain, pummeling Yuchen’s head with his fists, but Yuchen only bit deeper, tearing out a chunk of flesh.

Blood spattered as the brute convulsed, clutching his neck, rolling on the ground in agony.

Nangong Yuchen’s face was smeared with blood. As he readied himself to attack again, the three remaining men moved in.

“All together! This kid’s freaky—disable him and take him back!” barked the leader. Seeing his brother gravely injured, he wanted to end this quickly.

The three attacked at once. The lecherous Second, moving fast, kicked Yuchen in the stomach, then drew a knife and slashed his calf.

The short Fourth seized the moment to smash a steel pipe into Yuchen’s head before he could rise.

With a sickening sound, the leader slashed Yuchen’s ankles with a dagger, severing his tendons. The steel pipe rained more blows upon him.

Very soon, Nangong Yuchen lay on the floor, drenched in blood, unable to move. His body convulsed violently, but he uttered not a scream—only glared at them, scarlet eyes filled with unyielding hatred.

“This kid…” They found him unnerving—his body was ruined, yet he didn’t cry out, and those blood-red eyes made their skin crawl.

At that moment, the pale, bald brute staggered upright. Enraged, he kicked Yuchen’s head repeatedly, grabbed his hair, and dragged him before Nangong Kexin.

“Boss, let me handle the Warden’s special instructions! I want this brat to watch his woman die!” Blood poured from his neck. Hatred twisted his face as he grabbed a knife and cut Kexin’s ropes, letting her fall.

He yanked her by the hair, forcing her head up in front of Yuchen’s face, sneering, “See this? Ha!”

Yuchen’s body trembled violently. In his eyes was a blood-soaked, horrific face—one side deathly pale, the other slashed with four deep, raw wounds from eye to lip. If he hadn’t known it was his sister, he’d never have recognized her.

Tears streamed from his crimson eyes.

“Kexin!” He wanted to cry out, but his wounds were too severe—his voice was barely a whisper.

Then, the brute raised his knife and slashed deep into Kexin’s back. Blood sprayed; she screamed in agony and awoke—she was not yet dead!

“Kexin!” Yuchen called weakly as she opened her eyes, barely alive.

“Yuchen…why…why did you come back? Didn’t you see…” Kexin sobbed, tears streaming as she recognized her brother’s familiar face.

“Kexin…” Yuchen could only murmur her name—he had no strength for more.

The leader and the other two watched with cruel grins, though inwardly they wondered why the Warden had insisted the girl be killed in front of Yuchen.

“What a touching reunion!” The bald brute’s face twisted in a ghastly grin. He licked the bloodied blade and sneered, “Now for a tragic farewell! Hahaha!”

With that, he raised the knife high and plunged it into Kexin’s back.

“No!” Yuchen watched, powerless to stop the blade descending.

“Kexin…” She struggled to raise a trembling hand toward Yuchen’s face. She knew they would both soon die, and in this final moment she wanted to touch her brother’s face, to remember him.

Her hand stopped just short of his cheek.

With a wet thud, the blade drove through her back. Blood splashed onto Yuchen’s face, dyeing his eyes a deeper red.

“Kexin!” His lips quivered, unable to make a sound—his cries thundered silently in his heart.

At that instant, the black and white veins crawling up his torso burst forth, covering his entire body. But as hatred, murderous intent, and rage surged within him, the black veins began to drive out the white, each contending for dominance.

A hollow thump—he could not tell if it was Kexin’s arm falling or his own heart’s death knell.

He only felt his blood boil, his cells burning, his body racked with tearing pain—as if something monstrous was about to emerge.

The leader, seeing their task nearly done, declared, “Hand him over to the Warden, and our mission is complete!”

Meanwhile, on a rooftop across the city, Angel glared furiously at Mulin Berkshire.

“So this is what you call ‘nothing excessive’?”

Her face was carved with disappointment and rage. She shoved Mulin Berkshire aside, intent on rushing to Nangong Yuchen’s home.

But Mulin Berkshire cried out, unable to accept her actions. “Princess! Have I done wrong? All we need is to bring the awakened Nangong Yuchen back to our clan—have I erred?”

“Isn’t he awakening now?”

Angel gave a bitter laugh, grief flooding her delicate features. In anguish, she said, “Do you know what you’re doing? Have you forgotten the elders’ prophecy? Do you want Nangong Yuchen to hate our entire race when he learns the truth one day?”