Chapter 158 Discovering the Truth

His finest youth came to an abrupt end, though he knew not whence the blow had fallen. The Grim Reaper seemed to linger relentlessly around Zhong Huayan; she could no longer bear these continuous, bloody spectacles.

"Xu Chuyin! Wake up! Wake up, I beg you!"

She choked on her sobs, holding the boy in her arms and screaming hoarsely.

Until, with trembling fingers, she forced open the boy's lips, only to find a blood-soaked ball of paper hidden within!

The paper must have been hastily shoved into his mouth in a moment of extreme emergency. To guard it, he had bitten down so tightly with his dying breath that even the deadly poison taking effect had failed to relax his jaw.

Moreover, the lining pocket of Sweet Potato's jacket had been pulled open, indicating that the assassin had come in search of this very report. The killer had taken whatever was in Sweet Potato's pocket, never imagining that Xu Chuyin was still concealing another copy right inside his mouth.

With trembling hands, Zhong Huayan pulled the paper ball from his mouth, unfolding the truth bought with two young lives.

On the blood-stained white paper, the words were written with chilling clarity:

[This cerebral symptom is a sequela of a coma lasting up to three years, most likely induced by asphyxia following the fire.]

It was merely this single, short line of text—a summary Xu Chuyin had specifically extracted from the complete medical report and kept in reserve as a precaution.

And this single line struck with the finality of a judge's gavel, sending a sharp, agonizing pain through her head.

"No... This..."

With trembling fingers, Zhong Huayan silently recited the words again, one by one.

She burst into laughter, her laughter desolate and sharp, piercingly colder than the desolate autumn wind howling outside.

When she raised her head, Fu Yanyuan sat immaculately in a suit upon a chair on the adjacent rooftop, cold and silent. Behind him stood a dense wall of bodyguards, his towering power pressing down upon her so heavily that she could not even stand, left to kneel on the ground covered in blood, cradling the dead boy in her arms. What use was it even if she fought her way through his overwhelming authority to catch a glimpse of the truth? She could never truly attain the ending she desired.

With a gaze of utter despair, Zhong Huayan looked up at this man who remained forever beyond her reach.

"Did you do this?"

"Which matter are you referring to?"

Fu Yanyuan at this moment resembled a wild beast on the verge of breaking out of its cage; never before had he shown such patience with anyone. A bitter, chilling chuckle escaped his lips, sounding terrifying yet desolate.

His fingers slowly turned the Buddhist prayer beads as he gazed down at the grief-stricken woman. His heart ached far more than anyone else's, yet he could not allow a shred of tenderness to show. Truly, he should have locked this woman away in his mansion, forbidding her from going anywhere. He had built a utopia for her; she should have remained happy and carefree, instead of constantly harboring so many independent thoughts of her own. At this rate, A-Hua would leave him sooner or later. If some secrets could no longer be kept, then he would keep them no longer. Even if he had to break her legs, she would still belong to him.

"I didn't cross over into another body through soul transposition; I am simply Zhong Huayan."

"Correct."

"Xu Chuyin, Sweet Potato—were they both killed by your men!"

"Where is your proof?"

"Fu Yanyuan!"

"I am here, A-Hua."

Zhong Huayan stood up with trembling steps. Her long white dress was now stained with blood, and her makeup was ruined by tears. She looked truly pitiable.

Her hands were outstretched, like a child who had lost her way home, blood dripping continuously from her fingertips... She was on the verge of a complete breakdown. Striking her own chest, she hurled question after question at the motionless man before her, her heart utterly shattered—not merely by death, but by the collapse of the deep-seated reliance she had placed in her innermost soul.

"Fu Yanyuan! Today was the day I achieved my dream, I was so happy! Truly! But why did you have to do this? Why!"

"Why must you have the truth at all costs!"

"When did you find out that I am not Zhong Huayan!"

The Buddhist prayer beads in Fu Yanyuan's hand suddenly snapped, the pearls scattering onto the ground with crisp, echoing sounds. His mind was in turmoil, his eyes bloodshot and ablaze with fury. Out on the calm, dark surface of the river, a torrential storm suddenly whipped up, roaring deafeningly.

"I knew it long ago, A-Hua. Wasn't it better to remain blissfully ignorant? Why! If you dislike my gentle side, I can show you my other face! Is a mere Xu Chuyin worth your crying like this? He deserved to die ten thousand times over! You can only ever be mine, and anyone who comes near you deserves this exact fate! I have a thousand ways to make you obedient, yet I chose not to use a single one of them. I let you spread your wings and fly! I lavished you with wealth and status! I gave you freedom! Wasn't that good? Why must you obsess over the truth? Why must you go behind my back and pull these stunts?!"

Having finished speaking, Fu Yanyuan grabbed the woman directly, ignoring her hoarse screams, and clamped a hand around her throat.

He forced her to meet his gaze head-on.

Zhong Huayan felt as though she had lost her mind; she even began to doubt... what the true story really was behind the perceptions she had held for over thirty years! Driven by a surge of courage she knew not where she found, she screamed at the top of her lungs!

"I am a living human being, damn it! I am myself! I am not your appendage! I have the right to make my own choices, rather than being a bird kept completely in the dark! Your so-called love is too selfish, too despicable! Someone who does not understand love has no business loving anyone at all. I, Zhong Huayan, disdain a love like yours! If this is what it means to live, I would rather die!"

Even the assistant and bodyguards broke out in cold sweat. Only someone utterly ignorant of the extent of their boss's ruthlessness would dare to scream at him in such a manner.

Fu Yanyuan suddenly grew terrifyingly calm, his expression so frigid that not a trace of warmth could be detected. A cold snort escaped his lips.

If only A-Hua had shown a shred of weakness—just a single word—he was actually very easy to appease.

Yet, she did not.

Not a single word.

She disdained his love; she would rather die.

Fu Yanyuan's hands were trembling. A thousand things hung heavy on the tip of his tongue, choked back in his throat, while grievances and agony clogged his chest. He had tasted every kind of bitterness imaginable, but none hurt as deeply as this heart-wrenching devastation, every word a dagger to the soul.

She truly wanted to tear his heart right out of his chest.

In truth, everyone who followed Fu Yanyuan knew that he was at his most vulnerable moment right now. Even though he clenched his fists so tightly that his palms began to bleed, he did not utter another syllable.

"Fu Yanyuan, did Li Yanyan die? Why did I wake up as her? Why did my mole disappear? Why did my facial features change as well? Was this your doing? Why! What about the fire? Am I a joke? Fu Yanyuan, speak to me!"

Zhong Huayan's throat burned with pain, yet she continued to scream through her tears, exhausting the very last ounce of her strength.

She beat her fists relentlessly against the man's chest. He remained completely motionless, his expression shrouded in gloom.

He could not bear to watch her treat her own body with such cruelty, screaming herself hoarse like this.

He had no choice but to clamp a hand around her throat once more, lowering his voice into a slow, thinly veiled threat.

"Do you only intend to behave once you've lost your voice completely?"

"I won't! I will speak! If you have the guts, kill me! Was Sweet Potato killed by you? Were those dozens of innocent girls in the underground palace killed by you? What about my fire? Where is the real Li Yanyan? It is impossible for me to let go of these life-and-death questions and simply forget them! Those are human lives too, not things to be casually ignored! Fu Yanyuan, you clearly knew long ago that my soul hadn't transmigrated, yet you chose to keep it a secret. What else have you hidden from me? Do I have to lay piece after piece of evidence right before your eyes before you'll finally admit the truth?"