Free Web NovelChapter 138: You Should Have Just Called
"We are as surprised as you are," Su Zheng said with a light shrug, her purple eyes tracking between Wenzhi and Xinyuan.
"Whatever you say, I don’t really believe you," Wenzhi countered flatly, fixing them both with a hard stare. "The ominous messages, the kidnapping... none of it makes a single bit of sense if you just wanted to sit down and have a conversation."
Pei Luo let out a long, heavy sigh, his shoulders dropping slightly. "We can explain, Wenzhi. If we actually meant you any real harm, I would have done something far more drastic the moment you ignored my first text."
"So instead, you just decided to play the mysterious villain. Good for you," Wenzhi said dryly.
Pei Luo’s brow furrowed at the biting tone, but he pressed on. "We knew about Jiang Zhaohe. We knew she was working for the Old Blood and her plan to hand you over to them. But we also knew it was only going to end two ways if they successfully took you. Either Xinyuan would get captured alongside you, or Xinyuan would kill us all if you die. I texted you that first night specifically to warn you that Zhaohe wasn’t your friend. But I guess you got distracted especially since that was the exact night you two ran into Wu Youran."
Wenzhi tilted his head, his grey eyes narrowing. "You know a hell of a lot for a Guide who supposedly vanished off the grid."
A flash of raw, bitter resentment creased Pei Luo’s features. "They wiped out my entire family, Wenzhi. My entire bloodline was slaughtered under the excuse of hunting you and Xinyuan. Every single one of them. I’m not standing here blaming either of you for my loss, but I want my revenge. I want to bleed them dry and make them regret every single breath they’ve ever taken."
He took a step forward, his voice tight. "We’ve been moving in the shadows for weeks, planting eyes, hacking encrypted channels, and hunting down Old Blood spies. Su Zheng is the one who physically pulled Ru Yi and Duan Ze out of the crossfire before the blast, but we also needed to use them as leverage to draw you out. To bring you exactly here, so we could meet and talk."
Wenzhi gave him a completely dull look, slowly shaking his head. "There was absolutely no need for all the theater. You should have just called me or texted the exact words." He stated it as a fact.
"You aren’t exactly notorious for your trust, Wenzhi," Su Zheng interjected, crossing her arms over her white coat. Her sharp gaze lingered on Wenzhi before shifting over to Xinyuan, who was currently ignoring her entirely to stare up at the heavy, dark clouds rolling in overhead. It looked like it was going to snow soon. "Besides, you are a massive target now, far more than you actually comprehend, Lin Wenzhi, Faction Leader of the Sovereign."
She tilted her head, her smile fading into something much colder. "Luckily for all of us, Wu Youran is rotting in the dirt. But you need to realize there are still nine other Disaster-class Espers currently locked in and operational under the new merge between the Old Blood and the CEA."
Wenzhi let that number sink in before he looked back at the fresh corpses bleeding into the snow. "Then explain the obvious. How are the Old Blood operatives here right now? How the hell did they know I’d show up at this exact park tonight?"
Pei Luo and Su Zheng immediately exchanged a tense, fleeting look before turning back to face him.
"That," Su Zheng murmured, "we honestly don’t know."
"What do you guys want with me exactly?" Wenzhi asked, his voice cutting cleanly through the freezing air.
"The Red Zone Rifts," Su Zheng answered. "According to active researchers and underground scientists, the Rifts are expanding. The entire world is going to be completely covered in less than two years. That is exactly why the High Families are so obsessed with capturing you two. I don’t think those bastards even know how to negotiate anymore; they just keep throwing mindless violence at you, assuming you’ll eventually break. The panic is real, Wenzhi. Thousands are going to die, if there are even thousands left by the time the atmosphere completely collapses."
Su Zheng paused, her purple eyes locking dead onto Xinyuan with heavy seriousness. "It’s true what the data implies. You can fix it, Shao Xinyuan. You have the raw capacity to stabilize the world."
"We’ve heard all this again and again." Wenzhi let out a heavy breath and looked at Xinyuan, who immediately turned his head to meet his gaze.
Xinyuan’s lips parted slightly. "We should leave, Freckles."
"Let’s hear them out first. Then we can go," Wenzhi decided quietly.
Xinyuan gave a careful nod and at the moment, the crunch of snow heralded two more figures. Kaiwen and Duan Ze stepped into the clearing, their eyes scanning the freshly slaughtered Old Blood operatives.
Pei Luo’s head snapped toward them, his eyes widening in genuine surprise when he recognized the taller Guide. "Duan Ze..."
Duan Ze blinked, taking in Pei Luo’s rugged new appearance before offering a small, casual wave. "Glad to know you aren’t actually working for the Old Blood or the CEA."
"Though this might actually be worse," Kaiwen interjected, crossing his arms over his chest as he glared at Su Zheng. "Considering you two are talking about a Disaster-class Esper fixing the world. Isn’t that the exact same twisted narrative the Old Blood and the CEA are trying to push to justify their actions?"
"It’s not the same—" Su Zheng started to snap back, but she was abruptly cut off.
High-pitched military sirens suddenly began to echo from the outskirts of the park, the mechanical wails bouncing off the surrounding skyscrapers. Her face turned incredibly serious. "We need to move. Right now. We have a secure safehouse here in Belium City."
Right at that moment, the heavy clouds finally broke. Tiny snowflakes began to drift down from the dark sky, landing softly.
The night air plunged into a biting, bitter chill as the group turned on their heels, leaving the bleeding corpses behind to be swallowed by the falling snow.
