Chapter 994: No flicker of sympathy

Fate.

A word that could bring prosperity to one’s path—or instill fear in even the strongest men of the underworld. A name no one in the underworld ever wanted to encounter.

Hung Woo stood frozen in the foul-smelling room, his eyes widening like saucers. He stared at Yue Ling with his mouth hanging open, his mind struggling to process what stood before him.

It was only now that he remembered where he had seen those bluish-green eyes.

Eyes that seemed capable of seeing through a person and straight into their soul.

Hung Woo instinctively stumbled a step backward, as though his subconscious was desperately urging him to escape the room.

"Y-you... y-you’re... M-m-mami..."

But fate was not on his side.

His back slammed against the wall, and whatever color remained in his face drained away.

"But how...? This can’t be."

Disbelief consumed him.

He had met the notorious Mami of Fate once before, when Fate had summoned the major powers of the underworld to announce their return.

At the time, he had only seen her briefly.

The leader of Fate had attended the meeting in person, but no one had seen her face because she had worn a mask throughout the entire gathering.

Yet now, standing face-to-face with Yue Ling, a crucial detail finally surfaced in his mind.

The woman everyone believed was a sheltered, docile retired model...

Was the very same woman who stood at the top of Underworld.

The longer Hung Woo stared into her bluish-green eyes, the more he felt himself being dragged into a deep abyss of darkness.

"T-t-this..."

He stuttered once more, but quickly remembered where he was. The fear inside him slowly began to dissipate. Straightening his spine, he forced out a laugh.

"So what if you are Mami of Fate? You’re in my turf, and there’s nothing you can do."

He held himself together despite the doubt still lingering in his mind. His gaze shifted toward the two men who had dared to infiltrate his territory before returning to Yue Ling.

"It’s only you and them. You’re outnumbered."

Remembering Liu Peng’s escape to warn the others, Hung Woo knew it was only a matter of time before his men returned to aid him. The thought sent a thrill through him.

Not only would he have Han Yue Ling in his hands, but he would also have the fearsome leader of Fate.

Before his thoughts could deepen, a sound caught his attention.

Footsteps.

A knowing smirk spread across his face, but it quickly disappeared.

He had expected to hear the hurried footsteps of his men rushing to his aid.

Instead, the air shifted quietly.

Then came a single set of footsteps.

Each step was unhurried.

Steady.

The rhythmic sound of boots striking against the floor echoed through the room.

The world outside seemed to fold in on itself, the distant noises beyond the room fading until they neared a deafening silence.

Hung Woo stared at the door, unaware that he had been holding his breath.

Whoever those footsteps belonged to walked without hurry or disruption.

Each step was quiet and measured as the figure entered the room.

Hung Woo could only pray that it was one of his men.

But the moment the person appeared, whatever hope remained inside him vanished.

There was no rush. No hesitation.

Every movement was deliberate and controlled, carried out at a pace that belonged only to him. His presence seemed to command the room without effort, barely disturbing the air around him as the draft trailing in behind him brushed past his clothes.

The cold came with him.

His eyes moved once across the room, and that was all it took.

No raised voice, no overt threat. Just a glance, steady and unblinking, as though he had already measured everything here.

He said nothing.

He didn’t need to.

The message had already arrived with him.

Hung Woo watched in shock. With each step the man took, his heart sank further. His legs shook, surprised he was able to keep himself up.

"L-L-Lu T-Tian..."

Lu Tian’s footsteps echoed inside the room, not loudly, but with a weight that seemed to land heavier than it should. Each step felt final, like a decision already made. He didn’t look at anyone directly. The awareness of him lingered, pressing against every edge of the room.

That is, until his eyes landed on his wife.

The sharp air that he brought with him seemed to lift, but only by a small fraction.

He walked up to her, and his hand covered the hand that aimed the gun at Hung Woo.

His expression softened, and he took the gun from her.

"You shouldn’t dirty your hands."

A faint smile appeared on his face when his wife did not protest. He held the gun, and he turned around to face Hung Woo. This time, he points the gun at the man, not forgetting to shield his wife from the man’s view.

"You keep forgetting your place, Hung Woo."

His dark eyes stare dangerously at the man.

"Especially thinking you can go after my wife and her family."

Hung Woo stood frozen in place. Despite the tremble in his legs, all he felt was thousands of tiny bugs crawling on him, as if keeping him from moving.

He stared at Lu Tian, and everything finally made sense. The commotion outside wasn’t his men coming to his aid. It was the sound of Lu Tian’s men taking his men down.

He should have thought through his plan thoroughly. If he went after Han Yue Ling, he should have known that Lu Tian would no doubt be behind her.

He wanted to trap Yue Ling here, but his arrogance made him fall into his own trap.

Not only that, because of his ego, he thought he could get to Yue Ling first, never once thinking that she was the leader of Fate.

Now he wasn’t only dealing with the leader of Fate but the cold-blooded Lu Tian, whom everyone in the underworld never wants to cross.

He swallowed a hard, difficult gulp before trying to straighten his posture.

"Look... Mr. Lu, there seems to be a misunderstanding here."

He raised both his palms to the man in surrender.

"I had a deal with Miss Han. We can settle this peace—"

*Baaang—-

Before his words could finish, Lu Tian pulled the trigger and shot the man’s left hand. Blood spurted onto Hung Woo’s face, and he stared at what used to be his attached hand, now dangling loosely. Shock struck him before a shrill scream came out of him.

"—aaahhh!"

He fell onto the floor, holding his hand as if he could put it back in place.

Lu Tian watched the man without any sympathy. He took two steps forward, closing the distance between them, and squatted down.

He raised his hand holding the gun and pointed it at the man’s forehead.

"You shouldn’t have touched what isn’t yours."

Unaware of the real reason why Lu Tian shot his hand, Hung Woo ignored the immense pain shooting through his body and looked at Yue Ling.

"Please, it was a joke. I was going to let you leave with your brother."

He thought about his words before continuing.

"I only wanted to scare you. I didn’t..."

He paused in his words when he saw the look in her eyes. There’s no warmth in them, no flicker of sympathy or doubt. He knew right then that whatever he had to say was not going to save him now.

His mind descended into hysterical chaos before a flicker of hope suddenly ignited within him, prompting him to drop to his knees.

"It was your cousin. Your cousin, Ji Chu Hua. She paid me to do this. She said to get to you, I just needed to get your brother."

Yue Ling stared at the man in silence. She knew her cousin started this mess, but hearing it was another thing.

It wasn’t a secret that her grandfather and Ji Jingxu were her weak spots. However, given her grandfather’s status in Imperial, no one dared to go after him.

Instead, they went after Ji Jingxu.

Yet, everyone seemed to forget that he wasn’t just some adopted boy.

He was her brother, and he was the grandson of Imperial’s General.

Targeting him was the same as targeting them.

She turned her head to look at her brother. Gui Tian Lan held him up, and she could tell he had passed out after seeing her.

Her heart hurt for him and everything he had gone through. He never complained about the hardships he faced. He just smiled and carried on with life.

She closed her eyes to gather herself together. She was already losing her grandfather. She would not lose her brother, too.

Her eyes opened again, only this time, wrath revealed itself.

She walked over to the spot where her brother was hanged. She grabbed the chain that held him and walked back in the direction of her brother’s capture.

Clink—

The chain is cold in her hands, each link biting into her skin as her fingers tighten. Metal grinds softly against metal with every small movement—steady, controlled.

She doesn’t let go.

The weight drapes between her palms, heavy and certain, swaying just enough to whisper its presence—clink... clink...

She stops in front of Hung Woo, eyes coldly staring down at him. She knew he wouldn’t run. Not with Lu Tian still pointing the gun at him.

"No one will save you now. Not even Ji Chu Hua."

Hung Woo freezes before he even realizes he’s stopped moving.

His breath comes short, like his lungs forgot how to work properly. Every sound around him feels louder than it should be. His own heartbeat pounds hard enough to make his ears ring.

His left arm had grown numb due to the blood loss. He could only stare with wide, reddened eyes at the woman in front of him and the chain in her hands.

He didn’t know what she planned to do to him. His only option now was to beg, and maybe he would get away.

"P-please... I—"

His words were cut short when Yue Ling suddenly wrapped the chain around his neck and pulled. Her grip tightened, and she watched with no emotion as the color on his face began to change.

Even when he had stopped breathing, she kept a tight hold on the chain. The anger inside her did not ease.

She was angry for her brother. Angry for Assistant Zhong. Angry for all the innocent lives Hung Woo had destroyed. Angry at herself for not putting a stop to this disgusting man. Angry for trying to maintain balance in the Underworld.

It was only when she felt Lu Tian’s hand on her that she regained herself, not aware of when he had moved.

She looked down at her hands and the chain wrapped around the neck of the man she wanted to kill. Then a wave of fear washed over her.

Lu Tian had seen her personally kill the man at their house, and now, he watched her suffocate a man to near-death.

Would he see her differently now? Would he be afraid of her? Would he walk away from her?

She wouldn’t blame him for seeing the monster that she was... the amount of blood on her hands can never be erased.

Lu Tian didn’t need to hear her words to know what she was thinking about. He took her hands to loosen her grip on the chains, dropping them and Hung Woo’s body onto the ground.

He pulled her into his embrace. His hand held her head as he pressed it against his chest and placed a gentle kiss on the top of her head.

"You did good, my love."