Chapter 205: Still Returned

Outside the sterile ICU ward of Tai Tao City First Hospital.

Chen Shao, separated by thick glass, quietly watched the inside.

On the hospital bed, Chen Yao's breathing was steady, her chest rising and falling slightly with the rhythm of the life-support equipment.

Her originally failing heart had been replaced by a young, healthy, strong heart.

The surgery was very successful.

The lead surgeon removed his mask, gave him an "OK" gesture, his face showing professional ease.

Chen Shao nodded in response.

His sister was saved.

Three days later, Chen Yao was transferred from the ICU to a regular ward.

She remained weak, but color had returned to her pale face. Those eyes, which had always been dull, now shone remarkably.

"Brother."

Her voice was very soft, like a kitten calling.

"I want to eat hot pot, with the spiciest beef tallow broth."

Chen Shao was tucking in the blanket corner for her; hearing this, his hand stopped moving.

"I also want to ride a roller coaster, the kind shown on TV that plunges straight down from the highest point!"

"And a haunted house! You're timid, so you'll have to protect me then!"

The girl lay on the hospital bed, chattering excitedly about planning a brand-new life, her eyes sparkling with all her hopes for the future.

Chen Shao listened, smiling, nodding continually.

"Okay, I'll go along with whatever you want."

"When you're better, brother will take you to do everything you want to do."

His smile was gentle, his gaze indulgent, no different from any day of the past twenty-plus years.

Chen Yao chatted on, then fell asleep, content.

Chen Shao tucked her in, then sat by her bedside for a long time, only rising gently and leaving the ward after confirming she was deeply asleep.

The smile on his face vanished the moment the door closed.

He hurried to the restroom at the end of the corridor, shoved the door open, and locked it from inside.

"Ugh—"

A surge of sweet‑sour liquid welled up from his throat; he lunged to the toilet and vomited violently.

What came up wasn't stomach contents, but mouthfuls of thick blood mixed with black clots, accompanied by a faint corpse‑like odor.

It felt as if his five viscera and six bowels were about to be vomited out together.

After a long while, he slumped, exhausted, onto the cold tiles, gasping heavily.

He lifted his head and looked at the stained mirror before him.

The person in the mirror had a complexion as pale as paper.

The most terrifying thing was his left eye.

The bloody vortex within it spun faster and more frenzied than ever before!

What made his scalp tingle was that countless fine, web‑like blood threads had spread from the edge of his eye socket, like sinister red cracks spreading and crawling across the skin at the corner of his eye.

This power was devouring him.

Just like Jiang Yuan...

No.

The thought flashed through Chen Shao's mind, only to be immediately rejected by himself.

He is different.

The agent of the Federal Weird Investigation Bureau is a one‑in‑a‑million "Weird Master," a being capable of commanding the Weird.

And he, Chen Shao, is merely a fortunate soul chosen by the Abyss, a mortal who trades soul and life for a wish.

He is merely a vessel.

Overusing this power that is not his own will end only in being completely ruptured and overtaken by the "Eye Ghost" lurking deep within his body.

By then, he will no longer be Chen Shao.

But a walking corpse ruled by desire.

He will die.

Thinking of this, he shuddered.

No.

He can't use it anymore.

Yao Yao's surgery has already succeeded; his greatest wish has been fulfilled.

All that remains is to accompany his sister and live well.

He struggled to his feet from the floor, turned on the tap, and rinsed his face with cold water over and over to wash away the bloodstains.

Then he pulled from his pocket the pair of gold‑rimmed glasses stained with some dried blood.

He carefully wiped the lenses clean.

When he put the glasses back on, at the moment the temples rested on his ears,

the frantic blood‑red vortex in his left eye, as if hit by a pause button, slowly subsided, returning to the appearance of a normal eyeball.

The blood‑red cracks that had spread onto his skin also visibly faded.

The cold, arrogant consciousness of another "him" that had dwelled in his mind was also completely sealed away by these glasses, sinking into unfathomable darkness.

He became once again the gentle, somewhat timid Chen Shao.

He looked at his reflection, restored to normal, and let out a long sigh.

This… is fine.

But he didn't know that once the gears of fate began to turn, no one could ever stop them.

Jiang Hai City, Tianhong Group Headquarters.

In the top‑level Chairman's office, the atmosphere was so oppressive it could be wrung out like water.

A million‑worth antique vase was smashed hard onto the floor, shattering to pieces.

"Useless! A bunch of useless!"

Wang Tianhong, the helmsman of Tianhong Group, the big shot whose foot‑stomps in Jiang Hai City could make the business world tremble, now had blood‑red eyes, looking like a mad tiger.

"My son is dead! He died under mysterious circumstances! You damn people tell me it was suicide?!"

He grabbed the collar of a senior City Bureau police officer in front of him and spat a spray of saliva onto his face.

"What reason could he have to kill himself?! I just bought him a globally limited‑edition sports car last week! He's supposed to travel around the world next month! He would commit suicide?!"

The officer's expression was grim, yet he dared not resist, and could only laboriously explain: "Chairman Wang, please calm down. We surveyed every scene and questioned all relevant personnel; all the evidence… points to Mr. Wang Ze having… taken his own life."

"Nonsense!"

Wang Tianhong kicked the desk, and the expensive rose‑wood table slid half a meter backward.

"I know my son! He fears death more than anyone! Someone must have harmed him! It has to be!"

He paced the office like a trapped beast, his eyes filled with ferocity and madness, causing the surrounding bodyguards and subordinates to fall silent as cold cicadas.

Suddenly, he stopped pacing and stared dead‑ahead at the officer.

"By the way, the organs! Where are my son's organs?"

"According to Federation law, the corpse must be dissected to determine the cause of death..."

"I'm asking you where the organs went!" Wang Tianhong's voice suddenly rose, sharp and grating.

The officer shivered from the shout, instinctively stepped back half a step, and his voice lowered.

"Chairman Wang… according to the hospital records, Mr. Wang Ze, before his death, signed a 'Federation Voluntary Organ Donation Agreement'."

"So his… his heart and some other organs have, following procedure, been transplanted to another successfully matched patient."

The office fell silent in an instant.

You could hear a pin drop.

Everyone held their breath, staring at Wang Tianhong in terror.

The raging anger on Wang Tianhong's face slowly faded.

In its place was a chilling calm.

He even smiled.

"Donation?"

He repeated the word, his tone light as if speaking in a dream.

"My son, the one who wouldn't even part with his New‑Year money for anyone else, would donate his own heart to a stranger?"

Cold sweat streamed down the officer's forehead.

He felt he was facing not a man but a primeval beast about to go berserk.

Wang Tianhong slowly walked to the massive floor‑to‑ceiling window, looking at the city below that resembled a Matchbox.

"Investigate."

He spat out a word.

"Tell me clearly who received my son's organs."

He turned, his face bearing a warm, spring‑like smile, yet his words dropped the room's temperature to freezing.

"My son, Wang Tianhong's son, even a single hair that fell from him is mine."

"No matter who, whatever method they used, taking something that isn't theirs..."

"All must be returned to me, intact, as they were."