Chapter 123: The Breakup

Early morning.

Lin Ye drove the helicopter to get Jin Shaoyu to the hospital in an extremely short amount of time; his off-road vehicle had top-tier configurations in every aspect, and the airbags deployed in time. Jin Shaoyu had protected Ling Wu and suffered a concussion from the impact, along with a few broken bones, but he was out of danger.

Moonlight shone into the ward through the window. Jin Shaoyu's fingers twitched slightly, then his eyelashes trembled, and he opened his eyes.

Before him was a stark white hospital room.

Jin Shaoyu felt stinging pain all over and could not move. His forehead was wrapped in several layers of bandages. He looked to his side; Ling Wu had fallen asleep slumped over his hospital bed. His profile was filled with moonlight, and the fine fuzz on his face was clearly visible. He still had that cold and quiet appearance...

He recalled the words he heard during the car accident and felt a lingering fear in his heart.

But what left the deepest impression on Jin Shaoyu was the person who saved him—the large green dragon tattoo on their neck. It was not the first time he had seen that tattoo. During those kidnappings before he came of age, he had seen such tattoos on the people who saved him.

And these people called Ling Wu "Boss."

The look in Jin Shaoyu's eyes as he gazed at Ling Wu was heavy and complex... So, all those times he thought he was just lucky to escape death, it was another person silently guarding him from behind the scenes.

In places unseen, someone was giving for you without asking for anything in return.

"Brother, the one who has been protecting me from beginning to end has always been you."

His voice was hoarse, drifting lightly through the ward.

【Ding! The system has detected that the mission target Jin Shaoyu's affection for you, the Host, has reached 100! Mission conditions met!】

【Mission Five: Kill the mission target Jin Shaoyu or have his affection for you reach 100 (1/1)】

【Mission complete?】

【4 missions remaining to be completed (1/5)】

Ling Wu was woken up by the system's notification sound. He lifted his head and saw that Jin Shaoyu had woken up. His tense body relaxed at first, but then it stiffened again. That pair of beautiful eyes seemed to have been infused with many complex things overnight, like heavy mountains pressing down, making it hard for him to catch his breath for even a moment.

Jin Shaoyu finally spoke: "Brother, I'm sorry... I know everything now. You never abandoned me on purpose. You have always kept me in your heart, otherwise, you wouldn't have specifically sent people to protect me."

"But actually, regardless of all this, even if you hadn't done these things, you would still be my brother, and I would still be your younger brother. We are each other's closest kin!"

"After Mom left, you were the last person I could confide in and rely on."

Ling Wu poured a cup of hot water and fed it to Jin Shaoyu's lips. He watched his brother obediently lower his head to drink, and asked him worriedly: "Brother, are you hurt?"

Silence for a few seconds.

Ling Wu: "No."

He looked at the young man's pale face on the hospital bed, his eyes numb and dead: "After you finish this cup of water... from now on, don't call me brother."

"And I don't have a younger brother like you."

The tone was serious and earnest.

The arc of Jin Shaoyu's lips slowed, stiffened, and finally froze on his face. His pupils flickered, and in an instant, his heartbeat fell into silence. He looked at Ling Wu in disbelief, his voice trembling: "Brother, what are you saying?"

"We just escaped a disaster; you're joking with me, right?"

Jin Shaoyu said cautiously: "But... this joke isn't funny at all."

"Brother, didn't we just make up?"

Make up?

Ling Wu was silent, standing there quietly, staring at Jin Shaoyu with an expressionless face. The young man's figure was upright, his lip line pulled flat, his gaze cold and distant, like snow that never melted in the depths of midwinter, making him hard to approach: "Jin Shaoyu, my responsibility to you ends here."

Jin Shaoyu's eyes turned red: "What do you mean by responsibility ends here?"

"Brother, are you going to abandon me again?"

"I don't allow it! I don't agree!"

"Enough!" Ling Wu threw the cup, as if he had endured for a long time and finally couldn't help but explode, shouting at him: "Stop calling me brother! I've had enough! Jin Shaoyu, no one can stand you!"

Jin Shaoyu stammered, trembling uncontrollably.

Ling Wu coldly accused: "It's been like this since we were small. Just because I was born a year earlier than you, I let you have everything. I gave you the toys I liked, I gave you the chance to go to summer camp, I gave you the last candy in my pocket, I took care of you and protected you..."

"But you never asked what I wanted. You thought my care for you was taken for granted, just because I was the older brother! You verbally abused me, you let others bully me. Have you ever given me anything good? No, never! You gave me cold looks, you embarrassed me. When you were playing happily at the amusement park at age 6, I was at home being forced by Jin Liangjin to kill!"

"I remember you asked me a particularly naive question back then. You asked me if I was happy? I didn't give you the answer at the time..." Ling Wu looked at him, shouting hoarsely: "Now I'm telling you, I'm not happy!"

"I'm not happy at all!"

Jin Shaoyu's tears fell.

The sharp words pierced his heart. The sensations, which were many times more painful than broken bones, followed one after another, seeping into his marrow, making him ache to the core!

The pathetic thing was that he couldn't refute a single word Ling Wu said.

Had he ever given Ling Wu anything good?

No.

He used verbal abuse.

He gave cold looks.

He embarrassed Ling Wu.

"I'm sorry..." Jin Shaoyu endured the pain of his wounds tearing and tried to pull Ling Wu's hand: "What happened while I was unconscious? Brother, did Jin Liangjin say something to you?"

Ling Wu shook him off: "No!"

"Nothing at all!"

"You are always like this, never growing up, blaming all your mistakes on others, never reflecting on your own faults. I'm tired of cleaning up your messes and covering for you!"

Jin Shaoyu cried and begged him: "Brother... I was wrong, I will change, I will definitely change! Please don't be like this, please, okay?"

"Since you're awake, I'm leaving." Ling Wu didn't look at him, his eyes filled with struggle and reluctance. He stood at the door, his hand on the doorknob: "Don't come looking for me in the future. I have no relationship with you anymore."

As the words fell, he walked out of the ward.

Just as Ling Wu left the ward, a commotion came from inside, followed by several cries of pain. His footsteps stopped abruptly, and he turned back to open the door and go inside.

He saw Jin Shaoyu had fallen off the hospital bed and was crawling with difficulty toward the door. His wounds had split open, and there was blood everywhere beneath him...

Seeing Ling Wu return, he smiled on his sickly face as if he had victory in his grasp: "Brother, I knew you would come back. You couldn't possibly ignore me."

Ling Wu clenched his palms and walked over, biting his lip as he helped him back onto the hospital bed. He hurriedly pressed the call button to summon a doctor: "Are you crazy?"

Jin Shaoyu said, "When you abandoned me and left, I was on the verge of going mad."

Perhaps Jin Shaoyu was not clear on this, but Ling Wu could see through the stakes; Ming Tan came from the Slums, so he could not possibly have the money to hire an assassin to kill Jin Shaoyu, nor did he have the standing, and he was close with Jin Bei...

The person behind Jin Bei was Jin Liangjin, who sat atop the entire commercial Empire.

Ling Wu knew that the opportunity he had been waiting for had arrived, yet he had not expected it to cost Jin Shaoyu such a painful price; he could not and would not allow Jin Shaoyu to be harmed again.

What Ling Wu was about to do next, the revenge he was about to exact, was a declaration of war against the noble class of the Empire in disguise!

Ling Wu could not afford to wait any longer; his mental state was nearing the point of collapse, and perhaps one day when he woke up, he would be completely insane.

He had to draw a clear line between himself and Jin Shaoyu.

Cut the Gordian knot, and clear the path ahead.

Ling Wu understood that he could not go back to the Federation.

He was going to poke a hole through the sky of the Empire.

The broad and smooth road that Jin Shaoyu was to walk, Ling Wu would pave with his own life.