Chapter 6

Chapter 6

It all happened too fast; Ruan Yunchu's mind went blank.

He closed his eyes instinctively, his body firmly pressed back into the wheelchair, one hand covering the back of his head, pulling him tightly into an embrace.

After what felt like an eternity, the violent shaking from the collision finally stopped. Breathing still unsteady, he slowly opened his eyes, the sharp ringing still lingering in his ears.

"Are you alright?"

Ruan Yunchu's face was pale. He saw Yan Zhuo release him, his gaze anxious and concerned.

A broad, warm hand touched his head. Yan Zhuo's lips moved, but Yunchu couldn't hear what he was saying; he could only make out the gist of it from the movement of his lips.

He shook his head, and saw the man let out a sigh of relief, his eyes then turning sharp and fierce as he looked out the window and said something.

The next second, Yan Zhuo pushed open the door on the other side and got out.

The noise in his ears finally faded. The car's alarm was still blaring, and the driver, startled, turned around anxiously to check on him.

"I'm fine."

He came to his senses and instinctively tightened his hand, only to find a pistol that Yan Zhuo had somehow slipped into his hand.

He recognized its shape—it was the Ruan family's standard-issue self-defense weapon, one for each member. He knew the situation had been unsettled lately and had prepared his own tools. That idiot Yan Zhuo—why would he give him his only weapon?

A wave of dizziness hit him. He gripped the pistol tightly, the cold, hard metal pressing into his palm. Breathing heavily, he finally regained some composure.

He instinctively looked out the window. Dust was swirling, smoke was billowing—clearly, someone had deliberately turned this place into a smoke-filled battlefield.

The driver, well-trained, quickly locked the car and handed a mask to Ruan Yunchu.

"Young master, to be safe, please put this on first. There might be something in that fog that could paralyze your senses."

Ruan Yunchu took it but didn't put it on immediately. Instead, he turned to look outside the car.

"If that's the case, Yan Zhuo is in danger."

The driver grew anxious. "Young master, this is no time for hesitation."

"Bring him a mask."

"..."

The driver couldn't believe it. Going out there would be suicide.

His hand, hanging at his side, slowly clenched into a fist around something hidden. He made a final attempt. "You put yours on first, then I'll go."

"Are you disobeying my orders?" Ruan Yunchu was still unwell, pale, his lashes trembling, but when he looked up again, his eyes held a chilling ruthlessness. "Then die."

With two bangs, bullets crackling with blue electric charges shot out. The driver dodged nimbly but one grazed his shoulder, making his body jerk stiff for a moment. Yet within a second, he forcibly controlled his instinctive reaction and threw himself backward.

Before his hand could reach its target, a sharp pain shot through his palm—a blade pinned it to the seat, immobilizing him.

At the same time, the graze on his shoulder began to burn fiercely, as if it would burn and eat through his entire arm.

But Ruan Yunchu didn't give him time to recover. He pressed the pistol to the driver's forehead, breathing rapidly.

"Don't, don't kill me! I was forced into this too." The driver's body trembled, as if only now feeling fear.

Ruan Yunchu stared coldly at him. "Who?"

"It, it was someone named Ruan. He paid me to—"

Bang. His voice stopped abruptly.

Warm blood splattered on his cheek. Ruan Yunchu froze for two seconds, then a hand covering his own—gentle yet unyielding—took the pistol from his grip.

Yan Zhuo smelled strongly of gunpowder, mingling with his own scent, making him look especially dangerous.

He stood outside the car door without entering, looking at Ruan Yunchu's dazed expression, and couldn't help but smirk. "Young master, are you scared?"

Ruan Yunchu's eyes sharpened. He instinctively reached for his gun, but Yan Zhuo grabbed his wrist.

"He can't be killed yet. Interrogate him first, then kill him, okay?"

Yan Zhuo stroked the slender, smooth wrist. Seeing that Yunchu wouldn't insist, he glanced at the man still pinned to the seat with a blade through his hand and a bullet wound in his shoulder, howling in pain.

By the time journalists and the Allied Forces arrived, the topic had already topped the day's trending list. Dark speculations swirled across the StarNet.

"Some people said the inheritance wouldn't be safe, but I thought it was a joke. and they really went and did something like this?"

"Ordinary people fight tooth and nail over a few thousand star coins. This is the Ruan family. After selling off those assets, he's even richer."

"I heard those distant relatives are still in A Sector."

"I'm not one for conspiracy theories, but do we even need to guess the culprit?"

Yan Zhuo thought the young master wouldn't agree to an interview, but when the most renowned media outlet arrived, Ruan Yunchu calmly got out of the car.

He was wearing thin clothes, his hair loose, his clothes still bearing signs of the struggle. His face was pale and bloodstained. The moment he stood before the cameras, all eyes were on him.

"No one told me he looked like this."

"A bit inappropriate, but he's really beautiful."

"What a beautiful Omega."

"Do you know who planned this assassination attempt?"

"Are you injured? We heard a suspect was caught. Do you know him?"

"Do you think the mastermind was after your newly acquired inheritance, or something else—"

"I'm not sure, but I believe the Allied Forces will get to the bottom of this. No dangerous elements will be allowed to run wild in A Star." Ruan Yunchu's voice was soft, and his long lashes trembled slightly, displaying just the right amount of vulnerability.

He answered a few questions briefly, his face growing paler. Yan Zhuo stepped forward at the right moment to support him and bid the media farewell.

The group got back in the car and, under relentless pursuit by the journalists, headed to the hospital.

After the check-up, nothing serious was found, but Ruan Yunchu stayed in the hospital overnight.

Outside, public opinion grew more feverish. Many citizens condemned the lax security, using this incident to criticize A Sector's overcrowded and chaotic environment. By the next day, the headline of the Ruan family's young master being attacked was still trending.

Chen Quan was run off his feet. When he came to pick Ruan Yunchu up from the hospital the next noon, despite knowing the whole thing was staged, he couldn't help but sigh when he saw Yunchu's pallid face.

"Once this is over, young master, you must take good care of yourself."

But Ruan Yunchu didn't seem to care. He only asked, "How are things at the hospital?"

"Almost done. The higher-ups have been taken care of, and the equipment is from the first batch. You can pick a date—the momentum is already building."

"Then choose a date soon. It'd be a shame to waste this free buzz."

Back home, Ruan Yunchu still didn't rest; he reviewed all the materials Chen Quan had sent until someone knocked on the study door, snapping him out of his daze.

Yan Zhuo pushed the door open, but Ruan Yunchu didn't look at him, instead checking the time.

It was so late.

"Young Master, I used to think you weren't fond of wealth, but now it doesn't seem that way." Yan Zhuo smirked.

Ever since Ruan Yunchu entered the hospital and returned home, Yan Zhuo had been acting passive-aggressive, as if full of suppressed anger.

Ruan Yunchu said indifferently, "Who doesn't love wealth? I just take what I want."

Yan Zhuo's face darkened as he pushed Ruan Yunchu's wheelchair out of the room without a word. "If your health collapses, no amount of money will help."

The hallway was dimmer than the study, long and shadowy. Ruan Yunchu's previously excited nerves gradually relaxed, and he only then did he realize how tired he was.

Back in the room, Yan Zhuo lifted him onto the bed; as usual, he didn't leave. He reached out to toy with Ruan Yunchu's hair.

"Young Master, are you afraid?"

The man on the bed gave him a glance, a mocking smile curling his lips. "Do you think I'm inexperienced?"

It was a shoddy assassination attempt, and he had merely shot the man in the shoulder. Even if his head had been blown open, Ruan Yunchu wouldn't feel an ounce of fear.

He didn't say it, but Yan Zhuo understood.

"So this isn't the first time something like this has happened?"

Hearing the probing tone in Yan Zhuo's voice, Ruan Yunchu simply looked away. "That's none of your concern. Do your job and don't be too curious."

"But when it comes to you, Young Master, I can't help being curious." Yan Zhuo sighed, kneeling on one knee on the carpet, propping his chin on his hand, as if he had more to say. "Hearing you say that just makes my heart ache for you."

"..."

Ruan Yunchu got goosebumps. He shot Yan Zhuo a cold glare.

"Really." Yan Zhuo expressed his loyalty.

"If you feel sorry, keep it to yourself." Ruan Yunchu was merciless, showing no sign of being moved.

Yan Zhuo felt a twinge of regret. Seeing that Ruan Yunchu wasn't ready to sleep, he changed the subject. "Young Master, how did you know that guy was off?"

Even he only realized it later.

Ruan Yunchu closed his eyes and said, "He didn't know me."

"?"

Yan Zhuo raised an eyebrow.

"Chen Quan's people planted around me would definitely know my habits. Who would dare disobey when I order a rescue?"

Yan Zhuo got the gist and also picked up on something unexpected. "So you were worried about me back then, Young Master."

"Just testing."

Ruan Yunchu didn't want to tell him more. At that kind of moment, his bodyguards would have only one goal: protecting him. They would never waver when he ordered them to save Yan Zhuo.

During training, Chen Quan never gave them a second option beyond protecting Ruan Yunchu—even if the order came from Ruan Yunchu himself.

Yan Zhuo gazed at his calm sleeping face, his eyes softening, but marveling to himself.

In such a tense situation, to be able to make such a rational judgment—the Young Master was truly something else.

After a while, sensing that his breathing had steadied, he got up and left the room.

Ten seconds after the door closed, Ruan Yunchu opened his eyes, calmly looking at the window at the foot of the bed. A faint light from beside the bed spilled onto the blanket, creating a serene atmosphere around him.

Soft, soothing music played in the background. He thought for a long time, but his worries only grew deeper.

Yan Zhuo's gun today was specially modified, stronger than the original, with even more potent electrical pulse effects.

That kind of skill meant he must have studied at a military academy, or... he was a rebel spy from another planet.

Compared to the first guess, this possibility, which had only occurred to him today, was far more alarming.

If that were the case, Yan Zhuo staying by his side was indeed a hidden danger.

His best choice would be to quietly get rid of this trouble, Yan Zhuo. But with so much on the horizon, he still needed a capable assistant to serve him.

For a moment, he was torn.

Yan Zhuo wasn't entirely sincere with him—of that, he was certain.

A beast like this, if he couldn't completely tame it... then he could only—

But what did Yan Zhuo really want?