Chapter 173

Chapter 173

"..."

Chen Shanmin stood stunned, thinking he must have misheard. He'd never imagined Jiang Nian would say such things.

What proof was needed? He simply was!

Jiang Nian was pleased with his reaction and continued,

"A paternity test? Birth certificate? Family registry? Or perhaps your 'supposed loving care and devotion' as a father? Or fulfilling your duty by providing for me?"

Chen Shanmin couldn’t produce any of these now.

When his mother passed away, this man had cut ties with him in a fit of rage over a few retorts, demanding he pay back that 20 grand. Blood ties had long since lost their hold on him.

After all he’d been through, his hatred burned pure, without a shred of guilt. In fact, seeing Chen Shanmin’s face twist in fury at his "shameless" words felt damn satisfying.

"You—"

Under normal circumstances, Chen Shanmin would have slapped Jiang Nian for speaking like this. But now, all he could do was clench his jaw and insist,

"No matter how much you deny it, it’s the truth!"

Jiang Nian shook his head.

"Only what I acknowledge is the truth. The truth is, I lost my father before I was even born! My mother raised me alone, worked herself to death, and died too young of some incurable disease!"

"..."

Chen Shanmin was left speechless, his chest heaving violently.

Chen Lin, who had been holding back for so long, finally exploded, crying and cursing,

"Your mother’s illness wasn’t our fault! Using this messed-up world to vent your personal grudges, even disregarding blood ties—you'll get yours, Jiang Nian!"

"Whether I pay or not is none of your concern. All you need to know right now is that I am your retribution."

Jiang Nian didn't give a damn. In his past life, he had already suffered the consequences of his own soft-heartedness. He wouldn’t make that mistake again.

"..."

When he'd recovered somewhat, Chen Shanmin spoke again,

"If you need to rage at someone, rage at me. Xiao Yue and the others are innocent... I was saddened by your mother’s illness too, but we’d been divorced for years. There’s no need for such obsession!"

Jumping in, Chen Xiuling piped up,

"It was wrong of us to force you to repay that 20,000 yuan, but you said such terrible things. Your father was just disappointed and angry at the time. We wanted to help you too..."

"Save your fucking act! Quit spinning your lies in front of me! What I’m doing today has nothing to do with my mother! It’s because you tried to get me killed! You tricked me here to save Chen Yue! Remember? Don’t play dumb!"

Jiang Nian let out a bitter laugh. The same tired excuses, just like in his past life. Back then, because he hadn’t repaid the 20,000 yuan and was stuck living with them, all that guilt-tripping had left him powerless to resist.

Not this time.

"..."

With their little game exposed, the three just looked at each other, speechless, only to hear Jiang Nian ask again:

"How much do you know about Chen Yue regaining his past-life memories? How much has he confessed to you? If you're innocent, does that mean I deserve to be tricked, deceived, and left for dead?"

"......"

The three hesitated, then instinctively glanced at Chen Yue.

After a moment, Chen Shanmin spoke:

"Xiao Yue said you were part of our group in your past life... Our entire family was tricked by S Base and Xia Weiwei."

Jiang Nian turned to Chen Yue:

"Why didn’t you tell them what happened after I saved you?"

"......"

Chen Yue remained silent, his face dark with resentment. This lifetime was different, and some things simply couldn’t be spoken outright.

Chen Shanmin froze. Chen Yue had indeed never mentioned it—only that in their past life, Jiang Nian had been with them, that they had taken care of Jiang Nian, and that Jiang Nian’s superpower had saved him.

But Jiang Nian’s reaction now clearly suggested there was more to the story.

Suddenly realizing, Chen Shanmin asked:

"Jiang Nian, have you also regained your past-life memories?"

If so, his complete personality shift would make perfect sense.

Hearing this, Chen Xiuling and her daughter, who had been tense, knew instantly they were in trouble. Chen Yue had secretly told them—without Chen Shanmin’s knowledge—that in his awakened past-life memories, their relationship with Jiang Nian had been strained. He had instructed them not to tell his father and to persuade him to bring Jiang Nian here.

They hadn’t expected Jiang Nian to have also regained his past-life memories. No wonder he treated them with such hostility.

But why did he loathe them with murderous intensity?

Could it be that in their past life… they had killed Jiang Nian?

"......"

Jiang Nian neither confirmed nor denied it. After observing them for a moment, he said:

"Since none of you know, then ask Chen Yue. For the sake of family, you should try harder to persuade him."

With that, he walked over to a workbench lined with medical supplies, put on surgical gloves, and selected a syringe and several vials. Then, he turned to Chen Yue, who was glaring at him furiously:

"I’ve heard that injecting this medicine along with infected blood can supercharge the virus' spread..."

"If you've got the nerve, just kill me!"

Chen Yue looked fit to bite his head off.

Jiang Nian drew a blade, stepped forward, and sliced open Chen Yue’s medical gown. Without hesitation, he plunged the blade into his left arm:

"I keep my word. I won’t kill you outright—just make you beg for death."

"You bastard! Even if we didn’t get along in our past life, we've done nothing to you this time around! We were also at S Base’s mercy—"

Powerless to stop it, watching as the cocktail of drugs and infected blood was injected into her son’s body, witnessing his agony as his features twisted in torment, Chen Xiuling was sent into a frenzy.

"Jiang Nian!"

Chen Shanmin's eyes were bulging with rage:

"You're utterly malicious! No matter how poorly we got along in our past life, Xiao Yue has never harmed you in this one!"

Jiang Nian met his gaze directly:

"Let me say it again—your very existence is the greatest harm to me!"

Soon, the mixture of the drug and foul blood spread rapidly from the needle mark. The previously normal skin began to rot outward from the puncture point.

"Ah!"

Chen Yue could clearly feel the virus eroding his body, while another beast-like instinct surged through him. He caught the elusive yet maddening scent of blood wafting from his parents and sister.

Instinctively turning his head, his once-restrained expression contorted into a feral snarl:

His teeth chattered, veins bulged on his neck and forehead, and ravenous gulping noises rose from his throat. A mix of saliva and blood trickled from the corner of his mouth: he wanted to bite someone!