LWGP - Chapter 218
Chapter 218: Glorious Desolation
It was actually in the side courtyard. Wang Jiu didn't care about others' opinions, so she naturally hadn't bothered with soundproofing. However, to protect Wang Jiu's privacy, Qian Cheng had taken out a device when he was nearby. After Wang Jiu walked out, he stopped Song Yuanqiao, who still hadn't given up.
"Lao Song, it's useless."
Song Yuanqiao turned to look at him, somewhat resentful. "You think I don't know how stupid it is to do something I know is impossible? I just don't want to again…"
Again what? Lose another family member?
But Song Yuanqiao knew those words were hard to say. He didn't have the right.
Perhaps he simply didn't want this pitiful and monstrously talented child to put an end to her own life, even if she was trying to save the most important person in his life.
Qian Cheng was also saddened, but with the calmness of a psychologist, he gave him an answer. "If you calm down, you should realize that she wants to save the Old Lady not just for emotional reasons, but because of her personality."
Personality. The word triggered a memory that seemed distant but was actually not that long ago.
It was from their conversation in the car after they left the crematorium (before they reached the manure truck explosion on Lotus Road).
At that time, they had talked about pants.
Yes, Wang Jiu's pants.
Back then, the two old men had no intention of bringing up the topic. In fact, for many years, they had tacitly avoided it out of respect for the Old Lady and Wang Jiu. It was only on that day, when they noticed a problem with Wang Jiu's personality, that they revisited the old subject.
But it was done with considerable subtlety.
It wasn't really about the pants, but about Zhou Shanren and what Wang Jiu had endured.
At the time, they had thought Wang Jiu might not have escaped that night at all. But now they knew that she had been in Zhou Shanren's hands not just for that night, but for several months. And given Zhou Shanren's inhumanly horrific actions, some things could almost be predicted.
However, Lin Zi had once said something—not because of Wang Jiu, but a belief she had held since she was young.
"When it comes to sex, if the woman herself considers it harm, then it must be harm. If she doesn't, then no one has the right to say a word about it."
In that era, such a view was incredibly progressive and went against the mainstream. But the Old Lady didn't care at all, because in her eyes, the people who gossiped behind her back weren't particularly brilliant figures.
If they weren't more brilliant than her, yet still pointed fingers, then even arguing with them was a waste of time.
And when this was applied to Wang Jiu, it meant that even if she had been victimized, if she had let it go or no longer cared, there was no need for others to keep pitying her and so on.
Thus, it was best not to mention it.
In the car that day, the two old men had no intention of dwelling on it, but they did have an in-depth discussion about something else.
Qian Cheng, who was driving, said, "I've always wondered why Wang Jiu values the Old Lady so much. It's true that the Old Lady loved her unconditionally when she had nothing, but for a genius with such an extremely strong sense of self, the main reason should be that Wang Jiu's personality itself was shaped by the Old Lady."
If one's personality was shaped by another, then that dependence was undoubtedly a form of faith.
Song Yuanqiao was stunned for a moment, then said, "That reminds me of something. The first time Lin Zi brought Wang Jiu to the Song family, Wang Jiu was apparently bullied and mocked by the younger ones behind her back. She didn't say anything to Lin Zi afterward, but Lin Zi actually knew everything. In front of everyone, she said one thing to her."
Qian Cheng: "What?"
Song Yuanqiao: "Don't argue with idiots, only compete with masters."
The simple explanation was—don't talk shit, let's PK.
Qian Cheng: "Haha, years later, Wang Jiu really slapped your family members in the face, didn't she? Even that department bypassed Song Yin to recruit Wang Jiu first. But 'compete to win' is so direct. Would the Old Lady say something like that?"
Song Yuanqiao: "It was probably to lead into what she said next. She also told Wang Jiu that if you have to sacrifice or harm others to get what you want, then that person isn't particularly strong or brilliant. They're still quite weak."
Qian Cheng thought for a moment, then suddenly understood and gave a wry smile. "The Old Lady is brilliant."
They had always worried that Wang Jiu, born into darkness, would turn bad, and they had taken all sorts of precautions and made assumptions. The Old Lady was so brilliant; she started by shaping Wang Jiu's personality. Qian Cheng had also tried this kind of shaping, but he had failed. He had been an elite among his peers since childhood, but he was far from a top-tier genius like the Old Lady and Wang Jiu.
Geniuses—their ways of thinking have commonalities.
The first characteristic the Old Lady shaped in Wang Jiu's personality wasn't the common choice of "kindness" that Qian Cheng would have picked, but the monstrously talented quality of "pride."
Pride makes for a better backbone than kindness. Lao Wang was always trying to be like the Old Lady. Other things in her core couldn't be changed, but there was one thing she learned to imitate perfectly.
That was the backbone of "pride."
No matter what methods she used, she wasn't despicable. Instead, she calculated things based on a foundation of "transactions."
You could say she was repeatedly dancing on the bottom line of the Old Lady's teachings, but she never crossed it.
This also proved that the Old Lady's personality shaping was successful.
It had never failed.
That was their discussion in the car back then. Now, Qian Cheng was reminding Song Yuanqiao.
Song Yuanqiao understood as well. He lowered his eyes and let out a long sigh. "Her personality is set, too proud to allow anyone to change her original intention—except for the person who shaped her personality."
But as it happened… that person was already dead.
Song Yuanqiao never mentioned Jiong Jiong, and neither did Qian Cheng, because they were almost certain that what Song Yin had said was true. But it still needed investigation. With Song Yin's death, he had no intention of using Wang Jiu as a breakthrough point.
If Wang Jiu could have said something, she would have said it long ago.
Since she didn't, it meant she had no useful information.
So why ask?
Jiong Jiong had no responsibility toward Wang Jiu. Even with Lin Zi in the middle, Song Yuanqiao asked himself and knew he didn't have that right.
With these thoughts, Song Yuanqiao saw Wang Jiu walk outside and say to Yan Hui in front of everyone, "Let the dog out."
Yan Hui immediately took out a cage and threw it on the ground. The cage grew larger.
Trapped inside, Ming Shu wearily opened his eyes. He didn't look at anyone else, only at Wang Jiu, fully aware of his status as a prisoner.
"I haven't touched the resources. They're all yours. Although the result would be the same if you killed me, I am a great prophet. Even if I'm not as powerful as the demon king by your side, you can never have too many of my profession. If you don't mind…"
Wang Jiu raised an eyelid. "You think I've kept you alive until now just so you can illegally sell your body in public?"
Ming Shu fell silent, his gaze flickering as he quickly glanced at the central figures. It seemed they had already reached an agreement with Wang Jiu.
Clearly, Ming Shu was one of the items on their agenda.
Why?
His master had already fallen.
Even if he was a great prophet, why handle him so cautiously, as if the central authorities still cared?
Everyone's confusion was soon answered.
Because the world-weary Yan Hui said woodenly, "You have no soul. You're just a puppet, and the strings aren't in this spacetime."
Ming Shu's expression changed.
The people from the central authorities had already come forward. Ever since Wang Jiu had mentioned this, they had realized the meaning behind it.
Other spacetimes. Wang Jiu knew, and the central authorities were full of experts. Of course, some had already received related information; there were internal files on the matter.
They also knew that these people from other spacetimes were about to return, but they didn't know that someone had already landed their claws here.
It was too fast, chillingly so.
But what was even faster was that Ming Shu, who was originally terrified, suddenly changed his expression.
It was calm, steady, and full of premonition.
"You think this is fast? It can be even faster."
"Like right now."
He clasped his hands, seemingly forming a seal, and his entire aura seemed to transform, becoming mysterious and powerful, as if he were summoning something, or perhaps waiting for something.
Everyone subconsciously held their breath and went on high alert as a group.
And in that instant…
A mysterious ball of light appeared above his head with a buzz, and then a milky-white halo tinged with certain pure dark tones suddenly appeared.
Holy shit, a terrifying creature was really descending.
Wang Jiu raised an eyebrow.
On guard!
Liu Wuren was about to shout, but in the next second, he shut his mouth.
Because that black-and-white mysterious creature passed directly through the cage and landed its butt on Ming Shu's head… The angle was perfect, its butt perfectly aligned, and the impact was powerful, directly causing the head of the seal-forming Ming Shu to make a crack sound.
Unfortunately, his neck had been broken.
Bang!!
Ming Shu's head slammed into the ground. The Gun Gun sitting on his head was stunned for a moment, then placed its left foot on Ming Shu's head, its right foot on its left, and tried to break through space again. But this time… a few strands of azure silk grabbed its right foot, pulling and yanking it out of the cage, dangling it upside down in front of Wang Jiu.
"Ying ying ying, let me go…" Gun Gun had wanted to struggle, but upon seeing the expressionless Wang Jiu, it instantly covered its mouth, terrified yet obedient.
A great demon. This was a dragon-slaying great demon. It had to shut up.
At this moment, the people from the next courtyard ran out with the other Gun Guns.
"Sorry, it suddenly disappeared. We didn't expect that."
Grand Uncle Xie waved his hand, telling them to stop talking. He looked at the upside-down Gun Gun. "The spirit vein has already started to be digested by it."
Gun Gun: "Right, right, right! I was running around because of the spirit vein. I didn't mean to smash your prisoner to death."
Wang Jiu: "Are you explaining to me?"
Gun Gun: "Ying ying ying, don't kill me."
Wang Jiu: "Why would I kill you?"
She reached out, her fingers landing on its belly. Her five fingers caressed it sensually, as if stroking a lover's beautiful body.
Gun Gun's body trembled.
"I… I'll spit it out for you?"
"No need, it'll hurt your throat. Let's just perform a dissection."
"???"
Gun Gun was shocked. Its first reaction was to hug Wang Jiu's arm with both paws. "Ying ying ying, no, big sister! I can be your pet. If you have me, you have a spirit vein."
Bai Bai: This feels somewhat familiar.
No one had expected this slightly cunning panda cub to be so quick on the uptake. It seemed truly terrified by Wang Jiu's ferocity.
Wang Jiu suddenly grabbed Gun Gun's neck. This habitual action was a bit scary, but soon everyone almost burst out laughing.
Because Wang Jiu found her fingers sinking in… this cub was too damn fat. Her fingers fumbled around, almost unable to find its neck. Fine. After a pause, Wang Jiu seriously added her other hand.
That did the trick.
The slightly obsessive neck-grabbing demon king, Lao Wang, relaxed her expression.
Honestly, Lao Wang seemed cuter than the panda.
In any case, Xie Jiang laughed.
Wang Jiu: "I thought you were just fluffy. I didn't expect you to be genuinely fat."
Gun Gun: "Big sister, I just want to be your pet. Why are you body-shaming a bear?"
Wang Jiu: "Attacking? Then you can stop your affinity skill, right? Constantly farming favorability, are you more of a flirt than me?"
She only flirted occasionally, but this little black-and-white fatty was farming affinity 24/7.
Everyone suddenly understood. Affinity skill?
No wonder they always felt strange about this Gun Gun. Both on the battlefield and now, they found it especially cute and pitiful, as if they were on drugs.
So that was it.
After being seen through, Gun Gun became even more scared. "This is my awakened talent skill. It's permanent. I don't need to activate it. No cost, no cooldown. All living beings are affected."
Holy shit!
Such a heaven-defying skill?
Even Wang Jiu pursed her lips. She threw Gun Gun, and it landed in Wang Shu's arms. Then she looked at Ming Shu, whose neck had been broken.
Ming Shu was dead?
He was. Gun Gun was impressive. With the boost from the spirit vein, it had directly emptied Ming Shu's HP.
In other words, all of Ming Shu's resources now belonged to Gun Gun.
But Ming Shu's body hadn't disappeared yet, as if… it wasn't over?
Just then, Grand Uncle Xie suddenly looked at the compass hanging from his waist. Seeing the needle spinning wildly, a thought struck him. "There's a change in the space."
No, it should be said there was a change in spacetime.
As everyone was surprised, they suddenly felt a wind arrive. It was a long, endless wind, and the air became very dry, as if a lot of oxygen or other gases had been sucked away. The falling raindrops began to slow down, and then the sky started to change.
The clouds thinned, the dark clouds dissipated, and the air grew hot and dry. Then… at the zenith of the sky, directly above this courtyard, a hole seemed to have been torn open.
That opening was a vortex, a door.
It was silent, yet it was glorious and desolate.
The reason it was called desolate was because after it opened, the other space it connected to… was barren and dilapidated, with corpses stretching for ten thousand li.
It had been destroyed.
And the survivors were about to return.
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