Chapter 234: Bewitching Deception

"Don't touch him!"

Jiang Yuan lunged forward, and the Shadow under his feet seethed again.

The black Shadow Wall rose from the ground, rigidly spanning between Chen Shao and Xu An.

"Xu An! Listen to me!"

Jiang Yuan's voice was urgent, tinged with an uncommon agitation. He stared intently at the crouching boy on the ground, speaking at a breakneck pace:

"He's leading you toward ruin! You can still turn back now! If you come with me back to the bureau, even if it's to a special containment facility, at least you'll still be a person! At least you'll still live in the sunlight!"

"Follow him? Think it through! That's a one-way road! You'll become a wanted criminal, a street rat that everyone in The Federation shouts to beat! You'll become a complete monster!"

Those words came from Jiang Yuan with heartfelt sincerity.

He truly wanted to save the other.

He is a victim, a pitiful creature driven mad by those despicable parents and that damned Correction Place.

He shouldn't become a knife in Chen Shao's hand.

However.

"Monster?"

A light laugh broke the tense air in the living room.

Chen Shao wasn't angered by the Shadow Wall's barrier. He stood there, too lazy to even try dismantling the wall. He simply looked through the thin black shade at Xu An on the ground, his tone laced with unabashed mockery.

"Jiang Yuan, you're quite humorous."

Chen Shao leisurely took off his sunglasses, folded them neatly, and slipped them into the breast pocket of his suit.

That left eye was exposed to the air.

Crimson.

Deep.

As if connected to a vortex of hell.

"Take a look at this child," Chen Shao said, pointing at Xu An, then at the Xu Cheng'an couple feigning death on the ground, "and then at those two so-called 'people'."

"When his own parents sent him into that hell, letting people jab him with electric batons and stitch his mouth shut with needle and thread, where was your law? Where was your justice?"

Jiang Yuan was at a loss for words. He opened his mouth, only to find he couldn't refute at all.

"Now you want to save him?" Chen Shao shook his head, his gaze like that of a naive child, "Too late. From the moment he picked up the ruler, he was already abandoned by your world."

Saying that, Chen Shao took a step forward.

Boom!

The Black Wall, formed by the gathering of Shadow Ghosts, shattered at the instant Chen Shao stepped forward, like glass struck by a heavy hammer, splintering into a cascade of shards. The black fragments turned to smoke and dissipated, offering him not the slightest obstruction.

Chen Shao walked to Xu An's side, looking down at the boy from a height.

"We are already monsters."

"In this diseased world, normal people are wolves, we are sheep. To survive, sheep must grow tusks and become monsters fiercer than wolves."

Chen Shao crouched, his gaze level with Xu An's. That crimson left eye turned slowly, containing no madness, only absolute reason and coldness.

"I'm not like him. I won't paint you a rosy picture, telling you to reform or become a new person. That's a trick to fool children."

"I'll tell you just one fact—"

"The Federation Investigation Bureau will lock you in a custom cage, use you as a lab mouse, or simply 'contain' you—that is, destroy you."

Jiang Yuan's face turned ashen: "Chen Shao! Stop spreading deceit! The bureau has the Yugui Zhe Project, as long as he..."

"Cooperate?" Chen Shao cut in coldly, "Cooperate by wearing a collar? Cooperate by becoming another knife in your hands? Like you?"

Those words landed like a slap, leaving Jiang Yuan speechless.

Chen Shao turned his gaze back to Xu An, extending his clean, slender hand toward him.

"Join me."

"I don't care how many people you kill, nor how mad you are. As long as you're my kind, as long as you follow our rules."

"My ideal is to create an organization that shelters people like us. A place where we don't have to hide in gutters, be pointed at, or worry about being sent to 'Correction'."

Chen Shao's voice was low, bearing a strange charisma, each word striking directly at Xu An's soul.

"I'll give you a—just ours—Eden Garden."

"A true Sanctuary."

Sanctuary.

Those four characters were like a scorching branding iron, searing into Xu An's heart.

He has spent his whole life searching for this.

As a child, he thought home was a Sanctuary. Later, his parents sent him to the Correction Place.

At school he believed the dormitory was a Sanctuary. Later, that place became a battlefield of bullying for him.

In the correction center he thought obedience would grant a Sanctuary. Later, Instructor Lei Hu told him that place was hell.

In this vast world, countless lights shine, yet none is kept for him.

He is as lonely as a stray dog wandering the wasteland.

But now.

This suit‑clad, terrifyingly strong man extended his hand to him.

The man's eyes held no fear, no disgust, nor that lofty pity.

That was... acceptance.

Xu An turned his head, glancing at Jiang Yuan.

Jiang Yuan held another Poker Card in his hand; though he didn't raise it, his defensive posture was unmistakable.

It was the gaze of a police officer looking at a criminal. It was the hunter's gaze at prey.

He turned his head again and looked at the parents on the ground.

Xu Cheng'an buried his face in the floor, trembling all over. Li Juan's crotch was soaked, emitting an unpleasant urine smell.

This is his "family."

As long as he nods, as long as he goes with Jiang Yuan, this pair of scums can survive.

They will continue to live in a mansion, indulge in debauchery, and might even have another child, completely forgetting him as a "failure."

On what grounds?

An unprecedented wave of brutal rage exploded in Xu An's chest.

He turned back, staring fixedly at Chen Shao's hand.

That is not a hand.

That is a Ticket to the New World.

Snap.

A light sound.

Xu An's hand, stained with black blood and grime, trembled yet was resolutely placed on Chen Shao's palm.

Icy cold.

Yet unusually solid.

"No—!!" Jiang Yuan roared, Shadow Ghosts surged madly, trying to charge forward.

But it was all too late.

The moment the two hands clasped, an invisible stance erupted explosively around Chen Shao as the center.

Jiang Yuan felt as if he had collided with a high‑speed train, his body was hurled backward, crashing heavily into the wall behind him, shattering the wall that bore a famous painting.

Chen Shao tightened his grip on the youth's hand, applying a little force to pull him up from the ground.

Xu An staggered.

The earlier battle had drained his stamina, his legs wobbling.

Chen Shao did not release his hand; instead he supported his shoulder.

"Excellent eyes."

Chen Shao looked at the youth's eyes, hollow yet burning with vengeful fire, and nodded with satisfaction.

"Welcome to join."

After speaking, he slowly turned his head, looking at Jiang Yuan struggling to rise from the ruins. His gaze suddenly turned cold, like two bone‑carving knives.

"Some things only we can do. You people standing on the shore will never understand the drowning one's despair."

Chen Shao smoothed his slightly wrinkled cuff, his tone returning to calm.

"Since you've joined, there must be a ceremony."

He turned sideways, addressing Xu An: "Now, it's time to fulfill the promise for our new member. This is the membership gift I give you."

Chen Shao snapped his fingers.

Snap!

The crisp sound echoed in the dead silent living room, like a starting gun.

The next second, a Weird scene unfolded.

Xu Cheng'an and Li Juan, who had been lying on the ground, seemed to be seized by two invisible giant hands at the back of their necks, with no point of leverage, and they floated straight up!

Gravity ceased to work at that moment.

"Ugh—!! Uh uh!!"

Xu Cheng'an kicked frantically in mid‑air, his hands clawing at the void, trying to grasp even a single straw of salvation. His face swelled to a pork‑liver hue, his eyeballs bulged, and the extreme terror rendered him unable to even scream.

The unconscious Li Juan was forcibly awakened, and as soon as she opened her eyes she found herself suspended two meters above the ground, below a living room strewn with wreckage. Her eyes rolled white with terror; she tried to scream but her voice was caught in her throat, producing only a choking "gurgle."

Chen Shao's fingers gently flicked.

The two plump bodies drifted slowly in the air, finally stopping before Xu An.

Like two pieces of meat awaiting slaughter.

Xu Cheng'an at last saw the situation clearly. He saw the demon in a suit, and also saw… his son standing beside the demon.

"Ugh uh!!"

He shook his head desperately, his gaze full of pleading.

I'm your father!

He shouted wildly in his mind.

When you were little I still held you! I bought you toys!

Xu An looked at the father floating before his eyes.

How laughable.

Even now, this man's eyes held only fear, not a hint of remorse. He feared death, not repentance.

Xu An still clutched the Red Wood Ruler tightly in his hand.

It was stained with Lei Hu's blood and the principal's blood. Now it thirsts for even closer blood.

Chen Shao stepped back half a pace, giving the entire stage to the father and son. He slipped both hands into his pockets, readjusted his sunglasses onto his nose, shielding the captivating Demon Eye.

Yet his voice, calm to the extreme, sounded like a demon's whisper in Xu An's ear:

"In this world, no one can judge you."

"Except yourself."

"Act."