Chapter 83 - 78: Killing the Husband to Prove the Dao (Not)

Chapter 83: Chapter 78: Killing the Husband to Prove the Dao (Not)

Nan Jiamu drove to Guan City Hospital alone, heading straight for the VIP intensive care unit on the top floor.

She pushed the door open. A figure in a white coat was leaning over the hospital bed. He wasn’t checking on the patient; instead, he was bending close to Guan Heting’s neck, baring two fangs.

Nan Jiamu drew her gun.

BANG!

The bullet pierced the man’s thigh, splattering blood across the white bedsheets. He let out a miserable shriek and dropped to his knees. Beside him, an elegantly dressed woman screamed, covering her mouth as she stumbled backward into the wall.

Nan Jiamu strode forward, pressed the muzzle against the back of the Blood Clan member’s head, and decisively fired another shot.

Blood and brain matter splattered onto her hand. She flicked her wrist to shake it off, then raised the gun and aimed it at the woman.

"You crossed the line, Wei Shuqin!"

Guan Heting’s mother, Wei Shuqin, was deathly pale, her lips trembling. "I... I just wanted He Ting to wake up..." Her voice shook, but there was no guilt in her eyes. "He’s been lying here for half a month, and the doctors say he might never wake up! I just want my son to get better... Am I wrong for that?"

Nan Jiamu looked at Wei Shuqin as if looking at a stranger. "You’re not wrong. I was wrong. I shouldn’t have been soft-hearted and spared his life."

"Nan Jiamu, you venomous bitch! He Ting treated you so well, and you actually want him dead! You vicious woman!"

Hurried footsteps echoed from the corridor. Two Special Task Force agents rushed in. Seeing the corpse on the floor and then Nan Jiamu, they froze.

"Lock her up. Without my orders, no one is allowed to release her," Nan Jiamu ordered.

"What gives you the right!" Wei Shuqin struggled as the agents restrained her. "Nan Jiamu! Hasn’t ruining my son been enough for you? Now you want to ruin me? You venomous—"

The corpse was quickly dragged out, and the ward finally fell quiet.

The ECG monitor was still beeping, its green light blinking steadily. Nan Jiamu sat down in the chair beside the bed and placed her handgun on the nightstand.

She looked at the unconscious Guan Heting. He was incredibly handsome. Every time she saw him, she would feel an uncontrollable, biological attraction, and right now was no exception.

But she hated this feeling. It wasn’t her own emotion; it was the plot—the programming this damned world had carved into her brain. The female lead must love the male lead, love him to her very bones, love him enough to bear him five children.

"Do you know? For a moment, I thought you were the Black Domain Walker. I was scared into a cold sweat."

Guan Heting’s brain had already ceased to perceive the outside world. Only his most basic vital signs remained. The doctors called it a miracle; he was still alive entirely due to his sheer willpower to refuse death.

"Why is that? Why won’t you just die on your own? Why must you force me to kill you again?"

Nan Jiamu looked down at her blood-stained hand and forcefully wiped it clean against the pure white bedsheets.

"After more than twenty years of giving it my all, my only reward in the end is a man. Don’t you find this logic ridiculous? The me before I met you and the me after I met you are too disjointed."

Nan Jiamu smiled, a bitter, mocking expression on her face.

"The female leads in CEO romance novels always end up marrying the male lead, having a bunch of kids, and staying home to support their husband and raise the children. Readers call it a ’Happy Ending.’ How laughable. Then what was the point of their early lives spent seeking knowledge, studying hard, and sacrificing everything to climb higher? Was it all just to get a better man?

"Are power, fame, and status truly inferior to a good man?! I deserve those things, not the jewelry you threw millions at in some auction, nor the spectacle of you putting my shoes on for me in public! The envy of other women is worthless to me; I only find it pathetic and absurd!"

Nan Jiamu took a deep breath. She was rambling, barely knowing what she was saying anymore.

"Fortunately, I’ve woken up again. If you don’t die, I won’t be able to rest! Even if you aren’t the Black Domain Walker now, one day in the future, you will become my enemy because of this damned game. The plot won’t spare you, and it won’t spare me either! Let it end here, Guan Heting. Let this be the end of us."

Nan Jiamu reached out her hand. The lights in the ward flickered. Those past happy memories began flashing wildly and uncontrollably through her mind. Her heart ached as if it were being torn apart, and tears streamed from her eyes.

Yet Nan Jiamu still turned off the oxygen machine without a second of hesitation. The humming of the machine ceased, and the frequency of the ECG monitor’s green waves began to slow.

"In your next life, don’t meet me again."

On the bed, a single tear slipped from the corner of Guan Heting’s eye. It traced down his temple and vanished into his hair.

The waves on the ECG monitor grew slower and flatter, until finally, they flatlined into a single straight line.

[You have personally ended the male protagonist of this world, severing the shackles of the plot. Your prowess has earned you a new exclusive Talent: Slaying the Husband to Prove the Dao (Just kidding).]

[Exclusive Talent: Breaking Obsession]

[Effect: You have seen through the true nature of this world. All the emotions that make your heart flutter, hesitate, fear, or weaken are nothing but shackles written onto your nerves by the plot. From now on, you are immune to all forms of mind control, Illusion Technique, charm, and other emotional interference. Your judgment will not be swayed by any external force, and your will shall maintain absolute clarity at all times.]

[You killed your male protagonist in exchange for a superpower that keeps you from being blinded by emotions. Was the trade worth it? Did you truly never love him? Don’t ask me; ask your currently lucid self.]

Nan Jiamu wiped the tear stains from her eyes with her bloodied hand, her gaze growing colder and deeper than before.

The flatline on the ECG monitor was like a boundary, severing her past from her future.

Wang called. Nan Jiamu answered, and a moment later, she let out a cold scoff.

"They want me to give the order? Are they all afraid of bearing the responsibility and consequences? Fine. If they won’t bear it, I will! Anyone who violates the curfew tonight and steps onto the streets is to be shot on sight. Show no mercy! Prepare a press conference; I will explain everything personally!"

Nan Jiamu picked up her handgun and turned to leave. She didn’t spare Guan Heting another glance, nor did she look back.

From now on, she was no longer anyone’s accessory. She was no longer a marionette of the plot, and she would not march toward anyone’s expected "happy ending." ℯ

She would only be herself!

In the shadows outside the ward, Bai Qiang watched Nan Jiamu’s retreating figure, then glanced toward the room and sighed.

"A dark female lead is truly terrifying! Though, the traits of the Black Domain Walker do match Guan Heting quite well: betrayed by his beloved wife at the peak of his life, lost everything in a car crash, studied painting since childhood, and suffered from mental illness. Tsk... Just who exactly is this Black Domain Walker?"

***

Under the veil of night, firelight and gunshots intertwined. The scent of blood and gunpowder slowly permeated the air.

A cat slipped silently through the corners of the city, ignoring the chaotic screams and running crowds. She leaped onto a dumpster at the alleyway entrance, then bounded up to a low-hanging eave, moving soundlessly across the roof tiles.

Passing a giant screen at an intersection, Yin Zhen stopped.

On the screen, Nan Jiamu was clad in full military uniform. Her epaulets gleamed with a cold luster under the lights, and her soft, long hair was tied back sharply. The sweetness bestowed upon her by her character setting was completely gone, replaced by an aura of unquestionable iron blood.

"Good evening, citizens. I am Nan Jiamu, Supreme Commander of the Guan City Special Task Force. Everything you just saw is real. The Vampire invasion truly exists, but I need you to see clearly exactly what it means to become a Vampire."

The footage switched. A Blood Clan member’s skin blackened and cracked under the sunlight before crumbling into ashes.

"They fear the sun. Once exposed to sunlight, they will suffer severe burns within three seconds and turn to ash within thirty. They must feed on human blood, and this craving cannot be suppressed. You do not instantly gain immense Strength simply by becoming a member of the Blood Clan; it requires a prolonged and massive intake of human blood to experience even slow growth. Furthermore, long-term starvation or the consumption of contaminated blood sources will cause them to mutate into mindless monsters."

The screen displayed images of the Fallen Species, their twisted forms appearing especially hideous under the dim lighting.

Yin Zhen heard panicked screams erupting from several nearby buildings.

"The rhetoric you heard earlier harbored malicious intent. It only touted the benefits of becoming a member of the Blood Clan without mentioning the price. Now, I am placing that price right in front of you."

Nan Jiamu’s voice didn’t waver in the slightest, sounding as though she were merely reading a report.

"Following this incident, we immediately established a specialized laboratory to conduct systematic research on the Blood Clan’s genetics. We will use safe methods to extract and refine those factors capable of enhancing the body, ultimately developing them into medications or treatments suitable for human use. You will not need to become monsters, feed on blood, or fear the sun to gain Strength and healing.

"But this takes time. During this period, we need your cooperation. The curfews and check-ins are not meant to imprison you; they are there to protect you from becoming the Blood Clan’s prey. The Blood Clan cannot survive in the sunlight, so they only operate at night. The check-ins will expose them, allowing us to deal with them as quickly as possible..."

Yin Zhen shook her fur, turned, and leaped off the eave, continuing her mad dash toward the area Lucy had told her about.

By the time she reached the urban village, several Special Task Force vehicles had also pulled up in unison at the entrance. Bai Qiang, dressed in a professional suit, stepped out of a car in the rear.

Yin Zhen’s gaze sharpened.

At this moment, she and Bai Qiang were no longer collaborators, but competitors.