Chapter 55: Cheng Yan

After realizing that Fu Yanzong harbored nothing but pure malice toward him, Su Tang finally did something smart. He summoned every ounce of courage and strength he had left to burst out of the water. Just as Fu Yanzong seized his wrist, Su Tang glared at him with venomous intensity and warned, “You wouldn’t dare do anything real to me, Fu Yanzong. You can’t. But if you treat me like this today, someday I will—”

Su Tang’s warning, roughened by his raw voice, actually sounded somewhat convincing. However, Fu Yanzong reacted as if he’d heard the punchline to a hilarious joke, slowly breaking into a laugh.

Su Tang could feel the pain from those icy fingers tightening gradually around his wrist. Moments later, Fu Yanzong lowered his gaze, his tone drawn out with evident amusement—and a touch of cruelty—as he shattered Su Tang’s illusions.

“I dare.”

“Mr. Su, why don’t you think about it? What do you even have left that could threaten me right now?”

Su Tang’s eyes bulged as he stared him down, his mind racing frantically.

Fu Yanzong had seemed indifferent to him from the start. Every interaction had veered off the plotline, clashing against him at every turn, even causing that car accident that landed him in the hospital.

He’d used items on Fu Yanzong and suspected something was off, but everything had somehow been brushed aside in the end…

Besides the Self-Rescue System serving as his anchor of reassurance, everyone else had acted so convincingly right.

Especially Song Linyu.

Whenever Song Linyu was around him, he paid the utmost attention to Fu Yanzong’s every slightest move. That concern and tension weren’t fake, which had led Su Tang to believe Song Linyu was the backup with the highest affection toward him—the one truly worthy of ending up on top.

Could a lunatic like Song Linyu fake that level of care so convincingly?

Su Tang didn’t buy it.

Unless it was genuine emotion spilling over.

On top of that, Fu Yanzong had kept bringing up Song Linyu in his words. That meant Song Linyu must have pulled some strings or offered him some incentive, sowing discord to turn Fu Yanzong against him.

…That was the guy’s ultimate goal. He just wanted Su Tang all to himself.

Su Tang mulled this over, oblivious to his fundamental mistake.

In his past life, treating Song Linyu like a disposable figurine or puppet to manipulate had become an ingrained habit. If Su Tang decided Song Linyu liked him, then he had to. Any inconsistencies could be fixed with the system’s cheats. Naturally, this made Su Tang foolish, arrogant, vicious, and utterly incompetent.

So, he flashed Fu Yanzong a chilling smile.

“You’re so bold in opposing me because you’re confident Song Linyu won’t care, right?”

“You’re wrong. Him egging you on like this is just to sever our connection completely.”

Su Tang spoke with utter conviction, trying to persuade the man before him.

“Fu Yanzong, do you really think you’ll get whatever Song Linyu promised you? You have no idea what kind of person he is. He’s a deranged lunatic, an unacknowledged bastard child, a schemer who’ll do anything for power. Only I’ve seen his true face. His goal is just to monopolize me—you’ve been played!”

For once, Su Tang had enough air to breathe and speak. His words came faster and clearer with every sentence. Each one made him feel closer to the truth. He stared intently at Fu Yanzong’s face, desperate to see doubt, disbelief, or rage flicker across it.

But strangely, Fu Yanzong showed no emotion whatsoever. Moments later, he even turned his head slightly to the side, as if unable to hold back a smile laced with unclear meaning.

“Mm.” He looked at Su Tang, almost encouragingly. “Got any more thoughts? Lay them all out. I’m actually quite interested—feels entertaining.”

“?”

Su Tang was thrown off by the reaction. All his prepared arguments stuck in his throat. After a moment, he managed to move his lips. Soaking in the frigid pool, he inexplicably felt a twinge of guilt but forced a confident expression. “In any case, you don’t understand Song Linyu at all. He—”

He’d barely started when his heart jolted violently. Sensing something abruptly, Su Tang tried to twist away from Fu Yanzong’s grip and dive back underwater.

But it was too late.

A pale, gaunt wrist reached out from behind Fu Yanzong. It seized Su Tang’s collar like he was a dying fish and yanked him straight up, slamming him down onto the poolside.

The newcomer appeared like a ghost emerging from nowhere, silent as he approached.

Fu Yanzong knew who it was. He leisurely released his hold, chuckled softly to himself, said nothing, and turned to eye Su Tang, who had collapsed on the ground like a pile of mud.

Song Linyu’s expression carried a deathly chill under the nighttime pool lights, making his snowy, icy face all the more terrifying as he stared down at the coughing Su Tang. Su Tang could even see his own terrified reflection in those pale pupils.

He should have been terrified.

Because next, without a change in expression, Song Linyu raised his hand and clamped it around Su Tang’s throat. His breathing barely shifted, as if he’d done something utterly mundane.

But the terror it inflicted on Su Tang was absolute. He could clearly hear the creaking of his own windpipe under the pressure—one crunch after another, threatening to snap his neck bones entirely.

Song Linyu’s pallid fingertips dug slowly into the most vulnerable spot on his skin, delivering excruciating pain.

Su Tang’s vision spun wildly. A wheezing gasp leaked from his throat, frantic and desperate. He flailed his hand, trying to grab something for a counterattack, but only left helpless, pitiful scratches on the slick poolside.

Had Song Linyu lost it again? Was he insane??

Su Tang despaired, his sight abruptly going dark, ears ringing, heartbeat tightening as if squeezed by an invisible fist.

On the verge of blacking out, Song Linyu leaned down slowly, his gaze calm to the point of indifference. His thin lips parted, his voice steady and emotionless, each word landing clearly in Su Tang’s ear.

“I’ll tell him exactly what kind of person I am.”

“It has nothing to do with you. Or anyone else.”

“—That’s enough.”

Fu Yanzong’s voice suddenly sounded beside Song Linyu’s ear. Without hesitation, he reached out and gripped Song Linyu’s still-trembling wrist.

Song Linyu’s head was bowed, his expression hidden behind his slightly drooping black hair. Only half his profile was visible, lips pressed into a tight line.

His entire body was locked in fight-or-flight tension. Hearing those words from Su Tang had made him desperately want to kill the man right there—to eliminate the threat forever.

But… he couldn’t.

Not when they’d come this far. He couldn’t let himself mess up again, couldn’t leave Fu Yanzong alone.

Song Linyu’s rigid palm slowly released its grip.

Despite his body screaming with alertness, when Fu Yanzong stood and gently tugged him closer, Song Linyu rose obediently into his embrace. His breathing heaved raggedly for a moment before he reined it in with rigid control.

Su Tang convulsed on the ground, coughing up a faint trace of blood. But with this hard-won breath, how could he waste the chance to flee? Thoughts of revenge or fighting back vanished; survival instinct screamed to escape first.

He clawed forward desperately. Through his blurry vision, he spotted Cheng Yan standing in the distance.

In that instant, Su Tang lit up with desperate hope. He called out Cheng Yan’s name with all his strength before finally succumbing and collapsing unconscious.

So he didn’t see Cheng Yan’s utterly calm glance at him. Nor did he hear Cheng Yan approach and say to Fu Yanzong in all seriousness, “I know you’re furious. But just letting him suffer like this isn’t nearly enough… All the power he relies on, all the affection he tricked out of people—it all needs to vanish.”

“Let me take him away. We’ll settle the rest with him slowly.”

Fu Yanzong studied the young man before him. As if struck by a sudden thought, he tilted his head curiously and asked the Self-Rescue System in his mind, “This Cheng Yan… did you bind him too?”

The Self-Rescue System had just sighed in relief that Song Linyu hadn’t snapped and killed Su Tang, triggering an escape transfer. Now it jolted and immediately activated its monitoring function, scrutinizing Cheng Yan closely before replying to Fu Yanzong, “Host, among all the candidates we detected, you’re the one with the highest chance of successful self-rescue. No system is bound to him. But he does seem a bit off… Hold on, let me analyze further.”

Fu Yanzong got no clear answer from the Self-Rescue System, so he gestured invitingly to Cheng Yan with a smile.

Then he raised his hand again, gently cupping the jaw of Song Linyu—who was still in a stressed, somewhat disheveled state—and tilted his head to check his expression.

Good. No major issues.

Cheng Yan paused in dragging Su Tang away. He lifted his gaze, watching the two men’s interaction with an inscrutable look.

Fu Yanzong noticed the meaningful stare, as if Cheng Yan had something to say. Perfectly composed, Fu Yanzong curved the corner of his eye in a friendly smile and asked, “What is it? Spit it out.”

This demeanor was indeed quite amiable, but Cheng Yan knew that Fu Yanzong’s gentleness was merely a superficial courtesy he used in social situations. The only bit of sincerity he possessed was probably reserved for…

“Nothing. I just think it’s rather fascinating how you two always end up sticking together, no matter what.”

Cheng Yan spoke calmly, then continued to Fu Yanzong. “I know what you want to ask me. Just consider it… a nightmare I had.”

Fu Yanzong’s expression flickered slightly. In his mind, the Self-Rescue System exclaimed in shock, “Host, the data stream on Cheng Yan shows signs of a restart. In your terms, it looks like he’s been reborn?!”

“…”

Hearing this, Fu Yanzong let out a helpless sigh. In some ways, his worldview had truly been reshaped by all these supernatural oddities. He wasn’t surprised in the least—in fact, it felt entirely expected.

“Since it was just a nightmare, there’s no need to dwell on it.”

Fu Yanzong replied to Cheng Yan with calm assurance. “It’s all in the past.”

Cheng Yan fell silent for a long moment. Then he nodded to Fu Yanzong and murmured, “I know. Thank you.”

After all, in that nightmare Cheng Yan had endured, he himself had been the biggest fool of them all—the one who provided the most points to Su Tang.