Chapter 191

Words : 1115 Updated : Oct 11th, 2025

Back ‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‌‍in the day, the Chen family caught a lucky break, and their business flourished. Father Chen, brimming with ambition to make his mark in the industry, thought of his two children at home and was determined to build more resources to nurture them. It was around this time that a business partner invited Father Chen to a banquet celebrating the birthday of the eldest daughter of the Ji Family. The mention of the Ji Family startled Father Chen. Though his business was doing well, the Ji Family remained an unapproachable giant in his eyes. "Can I really go? I wasn’t invited," he asked. His partner patted him on the shoulder reassuringly. "Don’t worry. As long as you’re with someone, you can get in." With a mix of excitement and the desire to expand his connections, Father Chen eagerly set off for the Ji Family estate. Little did he know, what awaited him there would become a nightmare that haunted him to this day. The ancestral mansion of the Ji Family exuded the opulence and heritage of an aristocratic dynasty, every corner dripping with extravagance. Father Chen wandered around, admiring the sights. Distracted, he strayed from the main path and found himself following a trail lined with moss roses. That was when he witnessed a scene he would never forget. A group of impeccably dressed, fashionable teenagers huddled together, laughing raucously around something in their midst. At the center stood a girl in a floor-length red dress. She was pale and slender, with waist-length jet-black hair and an otherworldly beauty—almost as if she didn’t belong to this dimension. She smiled faintly, pointing at something with her crimson-painted nails. The boys around her nodded eagerly, their gazes filled with an inexplicable fervor. Assuming it was just kids playing around, Father Chen was about to turn away when the group suddenly parted. That was when he saw what—or rather, *who*—they had been surrounding. A frail-looking boy, dwarfed by the crowd. He was drenched in blood, bound tightly with thorned ropes that dug into his skin, turning him into a grotesque, bleeding mess. Opposite him stood one of the boys who had just received the girl’s command. In his hands was a skinned, unrecognizable animal—a bloody, mangled lump of flesh. Father Chen couldn’t make out what it was, but his stomach churned, and he barely suppressed the urge to vomit. Clearly, the boy recognized the mutilated creature. Even from a distance, Father Chen could see his body convulse in violent struggle, the thorns biting deeper, turning him into a crimson specter. Then, the girl’s voice—soft, lilting—sent a chill down his spine. "Xiao Zhou, Yan Zhen heard I’ve been lacking inspiration for my paintings lately, so he brought me this gift. Look, isn’t it beautiful?" Her smile was innocent as she lifted the hem of her dress and stepped closer to the bloodied boy, her tone sweetly earnest. The boy, lost in a feral rage, couldn’t hear her. His body strained against the restraints, his neck arching as if he longed to tear her throat out with his teeth. Watching his reaction, Ji Wanting’s smile deepened. The boy writhed like prey ensnared in barbed vines, his blood feeding the thorns. And the girl? She was the rose blooming in that crimson nourishment, her petals growing ever more vivid. Father Chen thought he even heard them discussing carving a piece of flesh from the skinned animal to force-feed the boy. Then— Somehow, the bound boy broke free. Like a rabid beast, he lunged at the nearest target: Ji Wanting. But Father Chen’s sharp eyes caught the tall, silent boy standing at the periphery—the one who had remained still and wordless the entire time—yanking Ji Wanting out of harm’s way at the last second. Failing his first strike, the bloodied boy turned his fury on the others. The boy holding the skinned animal was the unluckiest. Teeth sank into his neck, and a geyser of blood splattered across the ground. "Holy shit! Didn’t they drug him?! How is he still moving?!" "Ah—help! HELP!" Screams, chaos, the thud of frantic footsteps. Amid the pandemonium, Ji Wanting’s laughter rang out, clapping in delight as if watching a performance. "Go on, Xiao Zhou! Bite them to death!" Her indifference to the victims made it impossible to tell whose side she was really on. The boy fought like a demon. Father Chen’s vision blurred, but he swore he saw someone’s intestines spill onto the grass. It was a scene of carnage—bloody, brutal, deranged—a feast of savagery. And Father Chen? He was nothing but a helpless mortal who had stumbled into hell. The boy was finally subdued when security arrived, jabbing him with a sedative until he collapsed. Just then, Father Chen’s business partner found him, grabbing his shoulder so abruptly he nearly screamed. His partner’s face was ghostly pale, his voice sharp with urgency. "What the hell are you doing here? Let’s go!" As he was dragged away, Father Chen glanced back one last time. The boy, now a mindless force of slaughter, was still wreaking havoc. And Ji Wanting—the architect of this madness—turned her head in the crowd. Her innocent, beautiful eyes locked onto Father Chen’s. Then, slowly, she blinked. After that, any thought of networking or opportunity vanished. Father Chen fled in disgrace, returning home with a fever that lasted three days. He wasted away, never regaining his weight. Years later, he recounted this story to Old Lady Chen. No wonder the mere mention of the Ji Family sent him into a frenzy. "It’s been so many years. The kids you saw that day are all gone—died in the Ji Family’s internal power struggles." "Ji Nian seems normal, at least. Not corrupted like the others." Old Master Chen snorted, pulling his hat low over his eyes. "There’s still Ji Tingzhou—the last one standing." After his rise, the rest of the Ji Family met gruesome, untimely deaths. Rumors swirled that Ji Tingzhou was behind them, but Old Master Chen *knew* it was him. A place like the Ji Family? The one who survived a den of monsters had to be the worst of them all. While searching for his cane, Old Master Chen wiped his face behind Old Lady Chen’s back. He never told her the real reason he couldn’t move on. What if he hadn’t frozen in fear that day? What if he had stepped in to help that boy? That child—younger than his own sons—had been tormented by his peers. After hurting so many, the Ji Family would never let him live. If only he hadn’t let himself be dragged away. If only he had turned back and *tried*.

Chapter 191

Comments (0)