Chapter 165: Beyond the Plan

Chapter 165: Unplanned

Before coming to see Song Yuqing, the group had been informed that Qi Zhengqing was not at the Qi residence.

Now confronted by Qi Zhengqing, they all felt a desire to retreat. They should not have forgotten that Qi Zhengqing was Song Yuqing's alpha, nor that he was one of only three S+-level alphas in New Continent.

When Qi Zhengqing was angry, he had countless ways to make their lives miserable.

Qi Zhengqing repeated his order to leave, "Get out."

Only then did the group snap back to reality. "We'll visit Mr. Song another time."

Qi Zhengqing did not respond to them.

After they left, Qi Zhengqing went upstairs again. It wasn't until he was alone that he frowned, suppressing the metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.

It was time to settle scores.

Song Yuqing had successfully killed that mysterious person from Sri Lanka Continent. These people had no reason to live; they deserved to die.

The reputation for brutality no longer needed to fall on Song Yuqing.

He was perfectly suited for it now, wasn't he?

A husband driven mad by missing his wife, an alpha with a short lifespan who couldn’t wait for his wife to return—no matter how mad he became, it would be justified.

Qi Zhengqing picked up a pen and wrote on paper.

—Qingqing…

In less than ten days, the alphas who had forced their way into the Qi residence demanding to see Song Yuqing began meeting various fatal ends—attacked, car accidents, even falling out of bed while sleeping and dying…

The causes of death were bizarre, and no one dared to inquire further about matters related to Song Yuqing. No one dared to covet power that wasn’t theirs anymore.

If Qi Zhengqing said Song Yuqing was recuperating, then Song Yuqing was recuperating.

If they dug any deeper, Song Yuqing might not really be sick, but they would certainly end up dead.

Thirty-three days had passed.

He wondered how Qi Zhengqing was doing. He should be taking his medicine properly; Qi Zhengqing had never given him reason to worry.

Half a month—just wait another half a month. At most, that was all the time he needed.

Once he returned, everything would be resolved.

Su Quan came again in the evening.

He sat quietly by Song Yuqing’s bed, watching the young man’s sleeping face. He reached out to touch him but stopped his hand half an inch from Song Yuqing’s cheek, then shifted to gently twist a strand of Song Yuqing’s hair.

He remembered…

An ancient text mentioned a tradition: when marrying, both parties should take a strand of their hair and twine them together.

Oh, it was called "tying the hair."

Tying the hair as husband and wife, loving each other without doubt.

In life, we shall return together; in death, we shall long for each other eternally.

Song Yuqing slapped Su Quan’s hand away.

His eyes opened, cold and sharp.

Su Quan smirked. "Still not asleep?"

"Or can’t you tell whether it’s day or night?"

Deep in the mine, the lights were always on. Day and night became disordered, and staying too long in the mine would make anyone lose their sense of time.

Song Yuqing glared coldly at Su Quan. "If you have something to say, say it. No one wants to chat with you."

Su Quan: "Qingqing, must you be so cold to me? You’re the one who reduced me to this state. Don’t you feel even a moment of heartache or guilt?"

"Touch…"

Su Quan tightly gripped Song Yuqing’s hand and pressed it against his own chest, then his arm, then his abdomen. Song Yuqing tried to pull his hand back, but he was held in an iron grip and couldn’t break free.

He could only struggle as Su Quan forced his hand to feel his body.

"Let go."

Song Yuqing’s voice was icy, but his beautiful amber eyes glistened with anger.

Cold and stubborn.

Su Quan: "What? You don’t dare touch your masterpiece?"

Song Yuqing said coldly, "I could never create such trash."

"Monster."

Every part of him was trash. He was a monster. Su Quan found it bitterly ironic.

"Wasn’t it you who did this to me?"

Su Quan’s gaze darkened. This was just like Song Yuqing—always looking down on him with disdain, hurling the cruelest words at him.

If it weren’t for Song Yuqing, would he have ended up like this?

Would he have had limbs amputated due to frostbite? Would he have turned himself into a complete monster?

"Qingqing, you have no heart."

Song Yuqing’s expression remained blank. Why should he have a heart for someone like this? Just because this person was an enemy who wanted to turn him into a fool?

An enemy was an enemy. Showing mercy to an enemy was being cruel to oneself.

Song Yuqing: "Get lost."

As if he hadn’t heard, Su Quan once again grabbed Song Yuqing’s wrist, pulling him closer. "Qingqing, actually, I don’t blame you…"

"Stop thinking about them."

"Stay with me. I can lay the Four Continents at your feet."

"If you’re willing, I won’t seek revenge anymore. I won’t make you sad again. I’ll let go of the past."

Song Yuqing broke free from Su Quan’s grip. "I’m not willing."

"Go ahead, get your revenge."

Su Quan's patience ran thin again. "Pei Huai was an unforeseen variable..."

"Aside from Pei Huai, do you think the other alphas around you are truly loyal to you?" Su Quan pinched Song Yuqing's cheek, forcing him to look up.

This position left Song Yuqing's slender neck completely exposed to Su Quan's gaze.

Delicate and pale like a mountain snow lotus, as if the slightest touch would make its petals drift away, scattered to the wind, forever out of reach.

Su Quan did not miss the barely perceptible shock in Song Yuqing's eyes, and his spirits rose again.

Song Yuqing frowned slightly. "Whether they are loyal to me or not is none of your concern."

"If it's none of my concern, then let me show you."

"I'm not going." Song Yuqing's voice was cold. "Su Quan, get out, you dog!"

Each word was spat out with such venom that it made one's heart tremble. The guards outside even wanted to lean closer to hear what was happening inside.

So damn thrilling.

Had Su Quan forgotten what he was supposed to be doing?

All he seemed to remember was coming on time every day to tease the beauty.

Song Yuqing was blindfolded with white silk by Su Quan and forcibly led from the bedroom. "Don't touch me. I'll walk on my own."

This was Song Yuqing giving in.

"Fine, walk on your own."

Only when they reached their destination did Su Quan remove the white silk blindfold from Song Yuqing's eyes.

After being in darkness so long, Song Yuqing's vision was blurry upon opening his eyes, but he could still make out the black boxes stacked high throughout the room.

These black boxes had been re-sorted and marked when they were stored in Xinzhou.

With a single glance, Song Yuqing could tell these were the black boxes destined for Xinzhou, the ones he'd ordered sealed.

Only a handful of people he trusted knew the storage location of these boxes.

Unfortunately...

Ye Siling was one of them.

Song Yuqing slowly closed his eyes, his face pale. "So what? Do you think I care?"

Su Quan savored Song Yuqing's subtle, barely noticeable pain at that moment.

His delight increased.

Song Yuqing did care. Song Yuqing couldn't stand the betrayal of the hounds he'd trained himself.

Su Quan embraced Song Yuqing from behind, gently turning his face to force him to see clearly. "Qingqing, look closely. This is the evidence of Ye Siling's betrayal."

"His love for you is such that he would plunge a knife in your back twice."

"And those old bastards in Xinzhou—they can't wait for you to die so they can take over everything you have."

"You've worn yourself out for Xinzhou, sacrificing everything... it's simply..."

"Not worth it."

A careless comment that completely negated everything Song Yuqing had done.

Su Quan gently stroked Song Yuqing's cheek with his thumb, his tone full of delight. "Darling, how did I not realize before how endearingly naive you are?"

Song Yuqing quietly stared at the black boxes across from him. There were so many of them—enough to obliterate Su Quan in this life and the next.

Simple blades or bullets naturally couldn't kill Su Quan in his current state.

The markings on the boxes appeared to be to prevent theft, but in reality, each mark was a detonation point.

To be detonated with psychic energy.

Song Yuqing said coldly, "And what makes you so great?"

Su Quan: "Of course I'm not a good person, but only a villain like me has only you in mind."

Song Yuqing's disgust for Su Quan remained unconcealed. "Stop with the disgusting talk."

"Xiao..." An alpha who burst in suddenly was silenced by an icy glare from Su Quan before he could finish speaking.

"I'll take you back to rest."

"In a couple of days, I'll give you a gift. You'll like it."

Since he had discovered how to hurt Song Yuqing, he wanted to see him in constant pain.

Hurt until he trusts no one.

As for the likes of Pei Huai and Qi Zhengqing, he would eventually make Song Yuqing see how his affection had doomed those loyal to him.

Song Yuqing put the blindfold on himself. Su Quan seemed distrustful and checked it again.

"You must behave and not peek. Qingqing's eyes are very beautiful."

"But they look beautiful blindfolded too."

Song Yuqing: "No need for threats."

One step, two steps...

They retraced their steps twice.

A turn...

Su Quan saw Song Yuqing back to his residence, wished him goodnight, and hurried away.

Song Yuqing removed the blindfold himself, absentmindedly rubbing the fine yet cold white silk between his fingers. His lowered eyes glimmered with an indecipherable emotion.

He casually tossed the crumpled silk onto the cold floor as if discarding trash.

"Qingqing, what do we do now?"

Song Yuqing cast his eyes down. "Xiao Jinshi."

An unforeseen variable.

Why is *he* here?

Is Xiao Jinshi the big present Su Quan prepared for him?

System 88: "Qingqing, will Xiao Jinshi betray you?"

Song Yuqing didn't answer System 88's question but instead asked, "What do you think?"

System 88: "Could Xiao Jinshi betray you too?"

If Su Quan's temptation for Xiao Jinshi is Song Yuqing, it's hard to guarantee that lunatic, Xiao Jinshi, wouldn't do something.

After all, Xiao Jinshi is different from Pei Huai and Qi Zhengqing—he never got much in return from Song Yuqing. The last time Song Yuqing met Xiao Jinshi, he chose Qi Zhengqing over Xiao Jinshi.

System 88: "Right now, everyone looks like a traitor to me."

Song Yuqing tilted his head slightly. "Do I look like a traitor to you?"

System 88: "No, you don't. You seem like my scheming mom."

Song Yuqing: "..."

System 88 received a sharp glare from Song Yuqing for calling him "mom" and began buzzing around him again. "Mom—I mean, Qingqing, can you explain your plan to me? I don’t understand it at all."

Song Yuqing: "Figure it out yourself."

Even the most useless system isn’t as useless as System 88, Song Yuqing thought idly, wondering who would ever want such a useless system.

"Don’t you work with other hosts for missions?"

System 88 whined: "Qingqing, what kind of question is that? Are you trying to ditch me? I won’t leave—you haven’t finished your mission yet!"

Song Yuqing: "..."

Song Yuqing lifted his eyes and glanced coolly at System 88. "What is our mission?"

System 88: "Crush all alphas and ascend the throne!"

Song Yuqing fell silent. He remembered their original mission was to protect Qi Ran’s chastity.

System 88 had forgotten all about it. Luckily, Qi Ran…

Thinking of Qi Ran, Song Yuqing rested his chin in his hand, his expression icy and tired.

When all this is over, Qi Ran should return to the Central Special Zone.