Chapter 38: The Final Twilight

Chen Hao lifted his chin, gazing at the sun as it prepared to sink below the horizon, and said softly, “Limei, how long has it been since we went out for a stroll together?”

Limei sniffed, her voice slightly hoarse: “A long, long time. Ever since we realized there was no hope left for either of us to break through to the SS-rank, and our lives became nothing but work and raising Xiao Jie, we haven’t walked together like this. The two of us have just been running ourselves ragged every day.”

Chen Hao pulled Limei tighter against his side, his palm rubbing gently against her shoulder. “Do you regret following me deep into the Aberration Forest back then?”

Limei lifted her gaze to look at her husband and shook her head. There were fine lines at the corners of her eyes, but they remained as clear as ever—too clear for the eyes of an S-rank aberration.

“What’s to regret? If the two of us hadn’t been gravely wounded back then, but instead secured the SS-rank aberration core from that giant tree, you’d already be an SS-rank, reassigned to work in the district office. And I would sooner or later have been an SS-rank, working in the district office too. Winners and losers, you accept the gamble and take the loss.”

Chen Hao let out a long sigh, his breath turning into a wisp of white fog in the twilight: “Thankfully, thankfully we had Xiao Jie. He healed us and gave us hope.”

Limei covered her mouth as she laughed, tears welling up in her eyes as she did: “Yeah, it’s just that he was too mischievous and liked to cling to me; I loved and hated him for it.”

At this, the two simultaneously lowered their heads, falling silent. The sports field grew quiet for a long while.

Limei broke the silence first, her voice trembling as if she had been holding it in for a very long time and could no longer contain it: “We were so strict with Xiao Jie from the time he was little, teaching him everything the right way—why did he turn out so bad when he grew up?”

Chen Hao’s voice was hoarse as well: “Unawares, he became our spiritual pillar. Our love for him overflowed, and no matter how hard we tried to restrain ourselves, it was still spoiling him.”

Limei’s tears finally fell, landing one by one at her feet: “But I genuinely wanted him to become a good child.”

“That’s why I punished him by making him a dorm manager for a day.”

Limei suddenly threw off Chen Hao’s arm, spun around, and roared at him: “Is the punishment enough now?!”

Chen Hao roared back, his voice exploding across the empty sports field: “More than enough! Haha… it’s overflowing again! Look, look—the sun is about to go down.”

Limei tilted her head back, gazing at the final streak of golden light on the horizon. The corners of her mouth slowly curled upward, revealing a smile uglier than crying: “Caw, caw, caw… night is falling.”

“Indeed, indeed, Limei. In this final twilight, will it be you and me, or that Jiang Xiaoyu?”

Limei’s voice dropped low, carrying a hint of exhaustion: “He’s still a child.”

Chen Hao’s voice lost its passion, turning heavy and deep: “What kind of child commits a crime this big?”

Silence! A very long silence!

“Kill.”

“Kill.”

The moment that single word fell, Chen Hao threw his head back and let out a roar. His body swelled violently in the twilight, his skin splitting inch by inch as dark brown bark surged out from the fissures, rolling over itself in layers. His limbs morphed into thick, sturdy branches, and countless iron-black boughs burst from his back, every single one draped with dense arrays of barbed, sharp thorns.

Limei reached out a hand, and a bloody flute materialized in her grip.

She brought the flute across her lips, then suddenly glanced back behind them.

“This Blood Explosion is a tough nut to crack! His body is riddled with wounds, yet he refused to say a single word about Jiang Xiaoyu.”

The iron tree Chen Hao grinned, a gash tearing open across his bark-like face, which was no longer human, revealing a dense row of woody, sharp teeth: “Yet he still lost to your bewitching music.”

Limei fell silent for a moment: “Why though?”

Chen Hao’s laughter was muffled and hoarse: “Just like back then, after we were gravely wounded, someone told us they could help us secure that SS-rank aberration core, and… and they didn’t even ask for anything in return.”

“Hope,” Limei murmured, then waved a hand. “Then spare him.”

The iron tree Chen Hao laughed heartily, his branches shaking wildly: “He was just talking big.”

“Kill.”

“Kill!”

By this time, Jiang Xiaoyu had already walked up to stand before them.

“Let Blood Explosion go. This has nothing to do with him.”

Chen Hao laughed aloud, the sound echoing from deep within his canopy, making the ground tremble slightly: “Of course. He has already paid his past debts.”

With that, the branches behind him whipped forward, tossing the blood-soaked Blood Explosion high into the air toward Jiang Xiaoyu.

The moment those barbed thorns pulled free from his body, Blood Explosion let out a muffled grunt and crashed heavily to the ground in front of Jiang Xiaoyu.

He was bleeding all over; his face, his arms, his chest—everywhere was riddled with holes pierced by the thorns. Yet he still gripped his massive machete tightly in his hand.

Jiang Xiaoyu: “Blood Explosion, can you still stand?”

Blood Explosion propped himself up with difficulty. His face was covered in blood, making his features unrecognizable, but those eyes were still frighteningly bright.

“Boss, I didn’t betray you.”

“I believe you.”

Blood Explosion cupped his fist, biting down hard on those two words: “Thank you, Boss.”

Jiang Xiaoyu stood up, shifting his gaze away from Blood Explosion to look at Chen Hao and Limei: “The girl on my back is innocent as well. Do you agree?”

Chen Hao smiled, the expression on his bark-face surprisingly gentle: “Of course. But once the sun goes down completely, we won’t be responsible for their safety. So we should finish things between us as quickly as possible, alright?”

“Alright. One battle to decide the outcome.”

“Splendid. Go arrange them.”

Jiang Xiaoyu carried the unconscious Xiaoqi to the base of the basketball hoop, gently leaning her against the iron pole.

Blood Explosion leaned on his machete, limping over to stand beside Xiaoqi.

Jiang Xiaoyu pulled the silver key to 1314 from his pocket.

“If I die, send Xiaoqi to the room on the left in 1314.”

Blood Explosion grinned.

“Boss, non-S-rank aberrations can’t enter 1314. You’d better take her there yourself. But… I’ll use my final breath to look after Lady Xiaoqi.”

Jiang Xiaoyu nodded and turned to walk toward the center of the sports field.