Chapter 974

The tyrant's words had barely fallen when Jin Chen hadn't yet processed their meaning, and he felt someone seize him from behind.

Jin Chen turned his head in surprise, following the hand gripping his arm upward, and met Wen Zhengheng's red, tear-filled phoenix eyes.

"Huai Feng..."

"Don't kill him."

Wen Zhengheng spoke softly, seeing Jin Chen's incredulous gaze, tears instantly fell, and he choked out, gripping his hand.

"A Chen, don't kill him, he cannot die."

Jin Chen was overwhelmed by shock and doubt, his grip loosening a fraction, his stern expression freezing on his face.

"Why...?"

Why are you stopping me…

The tyrant saw the scene, let out a low laugh, and seized the opportunity to punch Jin Chen hard.

Jin Chen paid him no heed; after taking the blow, he seized the tyrant and hurled him onto the sharp rocks, his movement utterly brutal.

Then he grabbed Wen Zhengheng's hand, merely wanting to ascertain his attitude.

"Tell me, why won't you let me kill him?"

Wen Zhengheng's expression pained, he locked eyes with him, his words trembling: "He… he is the emperor, of Jin State…" "I don't want to hear these excuses!"

Wen Zhengheng's body shuddered at his shout, the unfinished words stuck in his throat, even his breath cut off, making him look all the more wronged and pitiful.

Jin Chen drew a deep breath to calm himself, gently brushed the tears from Wen Zhengheng's eye corners, his action tender: "Huai Feng, I don't want to quarrel with you—be good and tell me, okay?"

Having said that, his voice also choked, he pressed his forehead against Wen Zhengheng's, his Adam's apple rolling, eyes blood‑red, "Why?"

You are my companion, you are mine.

Why, even after your soul has been changed, do you still care about his life or death?

Wen Zhengheng opened his mouth, but could utter nothing, and dared not speak.

There's no way to gamble on whether what the emperor just said was true, not knowing Jin Chen's origin, and fearing he might vanish.

Wen Zhengheng shed silent tears, slowly taking hold of Jin Chen's tightly gripped dagger hand, looking at his eyes and shaking his head: "I…"

"I don't know how to say it, but… A Chen, he cannot die, he…"

The sound of the dagger hitting the floor cut off Wen Zhengheng's words.

Jin Chen could barely move his lips, as if mocking himself, he slowly straightened his body, his gaze falling on the tyrant's smiling face beside the fake mountain rocks.

He then looked back at Wen Zhengheng, released his hand, his heart overwhelmed by great sorrow and despondency, leaving no room for anything else.

"You really… care about him a lot."

Jin Chen finally looked at Wen Zhengheng and spoke those words, feeling both heartache and anger, realizing that staying longer might make him hurt Wen Zhengheng, he stepped over the fallen dagger and turned away without hesitation.

"A Chen!"

Wen Zhengheng cried out helplessly, but got no reply as he didn't turn back, only able to watch helplessly as he grew ever more distant.

The late night wind was bitterly cold.

Wen Zhengheng's face turned pale, he bit his nearly bloodless lips, tears spilled uncontrollably and fell heavily, his heart filled with sour anguish, as if torn by a dagger.

After a long while, the tyrant covered his wound and rose, standing behind Wen Zhengheng, "Empress, you have never done this for me."

Wen Zhengheng instantly turned, his crimson eyes glaring at him, hostility surging, hatred seeping into his marrow: "You'd better not have deceived me, or else…"

"Otherwise, I won't spare you even without A Chen lifting a finger."

Before his words faded, the Silver Moon Guard appeared from all directions, drawing their swords in warning.

The tyrant's face was awful, he stumbled away in utter disgrace.

——

Jin Chen returned alone to the Imperial Bedchamber.

Clad in the cold moonlight all over, his expression solemn and downcast.

Yan Fu'an, who had been waiting, was startled, hurried forward, and said, "Your Majesty… what has happened to you?"

Saying that, they hurriedly had a palace maid prepare hot water; wiping His Majesty's face would also be good.

No need.

Jin Chen raised his hand, continued walking inside, "You all step back, I want to rest."

This...

Yan Fu'an hurriedly lowered his head, "This servant receives the order."

Watching His Majesty enter the inner sleeping quarters, they shook their head and glanced toward the Qi Xin Hall.

This look... seems like they're having a tiff with Your Highness again.

Dismissed, don't disturb His Majesty's rest.

Yan Fu'an dismissed the crowd, leaving only the palace maid who was to attend to His Majesty's rising in the morning.

Inside the sleeping quarters.

The candlelight was dim, the clear moonlight seeped in through the window.

Jin Chen leaned against the window, expressionless, his aura low to the extreme.

0731 nervously reported.

【Detected Villain Blackening Value +10, total 75!】

【...... Detected Protagonist's Happy Ending Progress +20, total 0!】

Crack.

The lattice window was broken.

Jin Chen slowly exhaled a mouthful of turbid air, the corners of his mouth pulling back.

It seems he guessed correctly; only when Huai Feng and the tyrant's original self intersect will the protagonist's happy ending progress rise.

The two tasks seemed contradictory, but the solution was actually simple.

Heartbeat Value……was never part of the task.

Jin Chen painfully closed his eyes, the hand resting on the window clenched into a fist.

0731 perhaps also guessed this, fell silent for a while, then proposed.

【Host, why don't we in this world just let the Blackening Value go to zero? ……】

Jin Chen: ……

【So, you want me to watch them love each other helplessly?】

【……】 That's not what I meant, but it's indeed quite cruel.

0731 seeing the Host's lost-and-desolate state also felt bad, 【I'll go talk to Boss Bai Ze! This world definitely has a problem.】

Jin Chen hummed, pressing his fingers and continuing to space out, trying to straighten his chaotic thoughts.

But the more he thought, the angrier he got, his heart and mind feeling blocked like a boulder, ultimately failing to think.

A few minutes later, a sudden screeching noise in Jin Chen's mind startled him.

【Ahhh wuu!! Host!!】

【...... Say.】 Jin Chen thought it brought back some bad news.

【Boss Bai Ze blocked me! Blocked!!】

0731 also started crying sadly, 【Even unilaterally refusing contact! What's the difference between that and blocking!】

Jin Chen was surprised, but he spoke bluntly and intentionally.

【It doesn't want you anymore?】

In return, 0731 gave an even more sorrowful wail.

Jin Chen's head buzzed, but his sad mood was somewhat dispelled by this lively troublemaker.

The only thing that can currently explain it is that everything happening now, and Boss Bai Ze's unilateral blocking, might be related to that so-called evaluation.

But Jin Chen doesn't understand; his experience already surpasses that of most taskers, why suddenly there's an evaluation.

Jin Chen sat and thought for a long time, finally giving up thinking further tonight after such chaos, locking the still-grieving 0731 into a small dark room and forcibly shutting it down, sleeping with a head hurting like it's about to explode.

Tonight the moon is waning; no one who cares slept well.

Wen Zhiheng returned to the Hall of Resting Heart, but when trying to sleep he no longer had the familiar warm embrace.

He lay flat, his phoenix eyes lifeless, already unable to shed tears, yet his sorrow not diminished at all.