Chapter 411: Blade

Chapter 411: The Blade's Edge

Before the fall of the Divine Kingdom.

Lu Yao leaned against the door, feeling the bird pattern carved on it dig uncomfortably into his shoulder blades. He didn't know how long this door had existed or who had designed the relief, but he remembered that when Liu Yu was young, she would always pause for a long time in front of this door before entering.

He had just bid farewell to his sister and at that moment, thoughts of Liu Yu came to mind.

His impression of Liu Yu was complex. Initially, she could be easily described as a gentle and beautiful mother.

But one day, he found it hard to summarize her. It was when he passed by his mother's room and heard a series of pfft sounds coming from inside.

Lu Yao held his breath and peered through the keyhole, seeing a sharp blade of light. Liu Yu held a dagger, her hair disheveled, wearing only a nightgown, and was forcefully stabbing a pillow.

The tip of the knife sank in, feathers flew, and Liu Yu seemed to be killing someone.

Liu Yu sensed the gaze from the doorway, glanced up, and Lu Yao felt as if she were about to kill him. He retreated hastily, hiding under the covers, trembling.

He couldn't explain what Liu Yu was doing that day, and she never explained it to him. Later, they all said that Mother had gone mad. He found the answer overnight: oh, so she was just crazy, then it was reassuring.

Mother never hit or scolded him, but all her care was just right. Occasionally, Lu Yao could sense the emotions his mother revealed, as if someone who had been acting for too long finally exposed their true thoughts in a moment of relaxation.

Mother despised him.

Lu Yao could sense this from a young age. The pride of heaven, the future head of the Lu family, yet he couldn't earn his mother's love.

He didn't even know why. Was it because he had done something wrong that displeased her?

He recalled countless times the look in her eyes, filled with murderous intent.

Mother's love for his sister was more evident, a bond that needed no confirmation, flowing naturally between them like a river, something he could never join.

A child's emotions are simple. When Lu Yao was very young, he tried to win his mother's affection, but after several attempts without response, his efforts turned sour, especially when he saw Liu Yu walking toward the grand door at the end of the corridor.

That door, adorned with a bird pattern, led to where the head of the household resided.

When Lu Yao understood what that door meant, his first reaction was that Mother suddenly wasn't as beautiful anymore, becoming dirty and despicable. How could she be both his mother and his sister?

The thought made him want to vomit, and he feared this secret being exposed, as if a bomb were buried under his bed, making him live each day in constant fear, feeling as if an eye were watching him and countless mouths cursing him as a bastard.

Later, Liu Yu committed suicide, and Lu Yao secretly breathed a sigh of relief. That invisible bomb would never explode.

After Mother's death, Lu Yuan changed a lot. She stood in the corner, dressed in a refined black dress, looking like a porcelain doll, as if she had become an orphan overnight.

Lu Yao didn't know how to correctly interpret his own psychology, why he felt joy on the day of his mother's death.

Was it because he was jealous of the close relationship between Mother and his sister?

Lu Yao walked over, took his sister's hand, and gently hugged her, saying, "Don't be afraid, Brother will take care of you."

He repeated this to himself many times. In many adventure novels, the male protagonist always has a younger sister, often pitiful and needing money for treatment, which becomes the core goal for the protagonist to venture out into the world. Sometimes, the sister even dies to reach the climax of the story.

Such stories appear in countless adventure novels, a timeless classic, and Lu Yao felt it symbolized his role as the protagonist.

Lu Yao almost immersed himself in this, repeatedly telling himself, "Brother will be good to you."

He worked hard to fulfill this, learning the family's secrets, taking control of the Lu family's company, and providing the best for his sister.

Lu Yuan was as beautiful as Mother, flawless in appearance, drawing frequent glances wherever she went.

She became the perfect sister, even better than those in adventure novels—beautiful yet tragic, everything just right.

But in that unintentional moment, he saw eyes identical to Mother's, and the same look in them.

She hates me, she looks down on me.

Lu Yao's suspicions lingered. He thought of Liu Yu's eyes as she raised the knife, and the image of Liu Yu merged with Lu Yuan. One day, his sister would kill him.

Slap—

That day, he slapped Lu Yuan. His first reaction was fear. Thinking of Lu Yuan's secrets, he felt certain he would die.

But Lu Yuan had no reaction, touching the mark of the slap, tears welling in her eyes, looking at him in disbelief, and ultimately remaining silent, probably finding excuses for him in her heart.

Lu Yuan loved him, and he faced no punishment.

Lu Yao, feeling relieved, became excited. He had already delved into the core secrets of the Lu family, knowing that his sister was the mother of the new world, possessing great power.

But so what? Lu Yao gloated. As long as Prometheus remained and Teacher Qi lived, neither Liu Yu nor Lu Yuan could use their Psychic abilities.

Lu Yuan would inevitably walk behind that door, continuing the mission of the bastard within her.

Just as dirty as Mother.

The mother of the new world is a great achievement, medals can be awarded, as many as needed, but standing at the pinnacle of the pyramid is only himself.

He is the true master of the new world.

Lu Yao's gaze toward his sister grew increasingly strange, sometimes wanting to place her on a pedestal, other times endlessly belittling her in his heart.

He didn't particularly enjoy hitting people, but each time he did, he felt inexplicably relieved, as if a long-held breath was finally released.

Each time he hit Lu Yuan, he reaffirmed his position as the master.

He comforted his sister, expressing his love, "I love you, I will take care of you and stay by your side."

If the world ends, we will die together. We are both bastards, only I can understand what you have endured, so you cannot abandon me.

He sent Lu Yuan behind the door, as Teacher Qi instructed. Once this dirty deed was done, everything would succeed. This sordid act suddenly had the best explanation, turning into a great victory, a salvation for all humanity, quite ironic.

But Lu Yao was not happy. He wanted to rush in and stop everything, unable to imagine what was happening inside. His fists clenched tighter and tighter, as if he were trying to draw blood from himself.

Pfft—

In a daze, he seemed to hear the sound of a blade piercing a pillow, a sound that always appeared, following him like a ghost. At first, he thought it was an illusion, but the sound grew louder.

Pfft, pfft—

It wasn't the sound of a blade, but more like an electrical anomaly. Then, in the next moment, the dark corridor glowed red, and the alarm sounded. The servants of the Lu family hurried about, trying to determine what had happened.

Lu Yao instinctively raised his secondary brain. Normally, someone would send him a crisis report at this time, and he was skilled at handling crises. He had cleaned up the mess of the last creation.

But the secondary brain flickered and stopped, the blue light extinguished. Lu Yao stared blankly, unable to react.

"The defense grid is down, run!"

He heard the shouts, different from when Zhu Ning attacked the Divine Kingdom. The tall blue defense grid went out in a second, as if the world was shrouded in darkness after the sun set.

The loyal servants did not come to save him as they had practiced; no one even informed him of this disaster. Their first reaction was to save themselves.

Amidst the hurried footsteps, Lu Yao felt abandoned.

He lifted his eyes. On one side of the corridor was a dark door, and on the other side was a narrow window. Normally, one could see the blue glow from here, a corner of the defense grid. Every time Liu Yu came out, he would glance across as if looking at his enemy.

Lu Yao was also looking, counting silently in his heart. This might be an accident, and it would probably light up again in the next second.

One, two, three…

He counted to a hundred, but the blue light did not come back on. Prometheus had shut down.

Such a powerful intelligent being wouldn't malfunction and go out for a minute. More than a hundred seconds meant he was dead.

Prometheus was dead.

His heart trembled, finding it hard to believe, as if the sky had fallen.

Lu Yao was the head of the Lu family, the father of the new world. He should have been calm, but his clenched fists were trembling.

He tried to calm himself countless times, thinking about what to do with his sister. The servants wouldn't save them. Lu Yao thought of the protagonist in adventure novels who would choose to save his sister in moments of despair. He was still the protagonist.

Lu Yao turned and pushed open the door, intending to rush in, find his sister, and hold her tightly.

But his impulse dissipated after pushing the door. This was not a place he should enter without permission.

Lu Yao instinctively wanted to flee, but his legs wouldn't move. The room was pitch black, and he heard the beeping of the life support machine.

Lu Yao's feet stopped, moving forward as if guided by fate until he could see the bed.

The screen of the machine caught his attention first. The lines that should have been wavy were straight, indicating that the maintained life had ended?

Lu Yao's pupils contracted, his gaze moving downward. He saw a large patch of red.

Blood stained the white sheets. The last time he saw so much blood was at Liu Yu's suicide scene. He didn't understand then why it had to be so dramatic.

But now he seemed to understand. Such a strong visual impact was terrifying, as if his own heart was being gripped.

The throat of the head of the Lu family was slashed, the trachea completely severed, the gash resembling an open mouth. The old man, who had lived for a hundred years, had wide-open eyes, disbelieving even in death.

How dare anyone kill him?

And this single cut was not enough. There were at least a dozen cuts of various sizes on his body. Once, there was a madwoman who stabbed him repeatedly, cutting his throat not as the first step but the last. She almost tortured him, ensuring he died a miserable death.

The pfft sound Lu Yao heard was not an illusion; it had really happened behind the door. Looking at the cuts again, he seemed to hear the sound of the blade once more.

Nian Nian killed her father, her grandfather, the source of her bloodline.

Lu Yao forced himself to calm down, remembering the emergency plan, which Teacher Qi had taught him. If the head of the family died, what should be done?

Prometheus was already dead, the defense grid failed. As long as Nian Nian remained rational, she would stand by his side, given such a great cause.

"Brother."

In the dark room, in front of their father's corpse, he heard Nian Nian's voice.

A pair of hands embraced him from behind, the stench of fresh blood soaking his back. He guessed it must be their father's blood.

His sister's hands were so small, her embrace so soft. Lu Yao remembered holding his sister when their mother died, pulling her close. Now, he was the one being held.

He suddenly realized that it wasn't his sister who needed the protagonist, but the protagonist who needed his sister.

After being embraced, he felt a hard-to-describe emotion, a mix of comfort and fear.

But soon, the embrace turned sour. The arms tightened, making it hard for Lu Yao to breathe, feeling his organs being compressed.

"Brother." Nian Nian called softly.

"Save… save me…" Lu Yao felt death closing in, begging for mercy. His voice grew hoarse, as if all the blood in his body was reversing, his heart weak and trembling, his eyeballs under pressure, ready to burst.

And his feet were shaking, not just his own, but the entire Divine Kingdom was about to fall.

Nian Nian was irrational, a madwoman, sharing the same blood as their mother. And part of this madness was due to Lu Yao, as she was driven mad by the Lu family.

First-class citizens shouted, and the people of the Divine Kingdom trembled, some praying to the heavens.

She wouldn't care about the survival of the world, only revenge, nothing but revenge.

If the price of revenge was the death of all humanity, then let it be.

Carrying the portion of Liu Yu and the portion of her grandmother, Zhu Ning moved forward, seizing the only chance, determined to fight back with all her might, freed from the shackles that had bound her far away.

The divine kingdom trembled at her wrath, countless droplets condensed in the air, the pressure around her grew infinitely, and the floating islands began to descend inch by inch.

Lu Yao saw Nian Nian’s face reflected in the instrument, her exquisite features splattered with blood, her eyes cold and ruthless, as if she had hidden for years just for this moment, sharp like two blades.

Each time she was slapped, the suppressed hatred, the desire to tear him apart, finally erupted after years of accumulation.

It reminded Lu Yao of his mother’s eyes; Liu Yu stabbed the pillow repeatedly, white feathers flying, while Nian Nian stabbed her father, real blood splattering.

Back then, he could flee in panic, but now, embraced tightly by his sister, he couldn’t even run away.

His ribs seemed broken, his internal organs were surely rupturing, heart, liver, spleen, and lungs exploding like fireworks, spraying blood mist.

“Save… save…”

“Brother, go to hell.” Her eyes curved, a smile on her lips, but her arms tightened.

They had once said they would go to hell together, but in Nian Nian’s words, there was no “we,” only herself, and the one going to hell was only him.

Lu Yao was enveloped by an indescribable fear. He was certainly afraid of death or failure, but nothing compared to the terror he felt now, abandoned by his sister.

Nian Nian wanted him to die alone, and after his death, she would continue to live.

No matter what kind of life Nian Nian led in the future, it would not include him. Loneliness was more terrifying than death.

Pfft—

He heard the sound of the blade again, the knife that Liu Yu had raised so many years ago finally fell.