Role-Playing a Dual Personality as a Background Character in a Manga

Chapter 128

At ‍​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​​​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌‌​​​​​​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​‌​​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌​​​​​‌​‌​‌​​​​‌‌​​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​​​‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌‌​‌‌​​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌​‌​​​‌​​‌‌​​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌‌‌​​‌​‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌​​‌‌​‌​​‌‌​​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌​​‌‌​‌​​​​‌​​‌‌​‌​‌‌​‌‌​‌​‌​‌​​​‌​‌‌‌‌​​​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌‌​‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌‌​​‌​​​‌​​​‌‌‌​‌​​​‌‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌​​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌​‌​​‌‌​‌‌‌‌​‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​​‌​​‌​‌‌​‌‌‌​​​‌‌​​​​​​‌‌‌‌​‌‍00:07 past midnight, inside Ding’an City.

Drip... drip...

The faucet in the bathroom kept dripping.

Miao Hongyuan, sixty-two years old, extended his wrinkled right hand and tightened the faucet once more. He deliberately remained there for several minutes. Only after he was certain it would no longer drip did he hobble away with his cane.

The floor creaked beneath him.

The night was secluded and utterly silent.

With his back bent, Miao Hongyuan slowly made his way toward the living room. Because of his repeatedly worsening neurasthenia, combined with the various chronic ailments brought on by old age, he had lately been unable to sleep at all. He already had a premonition that his death was near.

Yet he was unwilling. Unwilling—

Even before Miao Hongyuan had been born, his family had already been teetering on the edge of decline. And yet, through sheer force of will, he had managed to prop up this family that looked imposing on the outside while hollow within. Back then, Miao Hongyuan had thought that, although he would never be able to restore the Miao Family to its true height of glory, he had at least managed to pass it down intact.

As long as it could be passed down, there would always be descendants to take up his duties.

Miao Hongyuan had three children.

Although his second son’s Ability and disposition were both mediocre and weak, the talent and eloquence of his eldest son and third son had pleased him greatly. In those years when Miao Hongyuan had been at the height of his vigor and ambition, he had once criticized and resented that second son more than once.

They were all born of the same parents, so why were you the only one so mediocre?

Now that he looked back on it, a great deal of guilt suddenly welled up in Miao Hongyuan’s heart. An Ability was never something a child could change for himself, yet back then he had blindly blamed his son all the same. No wonder his second son had ended up having only one child...

He must have been afraid of becoming the same kind of father, mustn’t he?

Human hearts were biased, in the end.

Children blessed with extraordinary talent would always find it easier to receive their parents’ favor than children of ordinary talent. As the second son, Miao Weiyong had already suffered enough from his father’s rude blame, so naturally he had not wanted his own child to endure the same treatment.

There would have been nothing wrong with that, if only he had not been the only child left in the family.

Miao Weizhi. Miao Weibo...

The moment Miao Hongyuan thought of his two sons who had died young, his heart could not help but weep blood like a cuckoo’s cry. His proudest eldest son had died during an expedition into a Danger Zone. His beloved third son had died because he refused to go along with the powerful.

How could it have been suicide to avoid punishment? It had clearly been because he refused to conceal the truth about the Black Tide!

And yet, as an aging father whose body had already weakened, he could not even clear his child’s name! How laughable. How tragic!

At that thought, Miao Hongyuan’s grip on the cane tightened.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

The solid wooden cane struck the floor heavily, as though crying out its master’s unwillingness in his place.

Power. Power. It was all power.

If the Miao Family had still been in its prime, it never would have fallen to such a state. But now the family line had withered, and his foolish, mediocre second son was unwilling even to have a second child! That had been his own flesh and blood! His own younger brother!

Back then, Miao Hongyuan had been so furious that he had struck Miao Weiyong with his cane.

As he dodged the blows, Miao Weiyong had retorted, “But Father! With so many top-tier noble families in Central City, how many years would it take us to clear Younger Brother’s name? You already know my talent is poor, so are you expecting your grandson to defy the odds and surpass your own son?”

“Why not?!”

“It’s like drawing lots. If this lot is no good, then draw another. But how many generations would we have to keep drawing before we finally draw the lot you want?” Miao Weiyong had argued on. “And besides, if there’s something even we can’t accomplish, then demanding that a child—or even that child’s child—finish it for us is absurd, isn’t it?”

“Is there any second way at all?” Miao Hongyuan had roared back, panting with rage. “Who told us this damned thing called Ability would be fixed from birth? The entire Federation’s system of values is built on Ability. Is there anything in this world that could replace it?”

“Unless the Aberrants vanish, there is no second choice at all!”

...

Now that he thought back on those words, a wave of desolation rose in Miao Hongyuan’s heart.

As someone who had once belonged to a flourishing prestigious noble family, Miao Hongyuan naturally understood the underlying logic of the Federation’s social system far better than ordinary people did. So long as Aberrants continued to exist in this world, Ability would continue to be the standard by which society judged people.

Those words people liked to say—that it was fine to have a weak Ability, that the gap could be closed later through effort—were complete nonsense.

If Ability could truly be compensated for later, then why was the Federation’s standard for judging people still Ability? If Ability could truly be changed through human effort, then why had the noble families continued to occupy the uppermost tier of Federation society so firmly?

“Ah...” Miao Hongyuan suddenly let out a long sigh.

His child had given up on avenging his brother and was even unwilling to tell his own son the truth. He himself was old and frail. The shadow of death had already begun to appear before him. It seemed that his ending had long since been set in stone...

At last, Miao Hongyuan reached the door to the living room.

Years of recurring illness had made his steps painfully slow. Even the short distance from the bedroom to the living room—a mere ten meters at most—had taken him a very long time.

Since he could not sleep anyway, Miao Hongyuan simply decided to sit it out on the sofa until dawn.

Once two more days of meetings were over, he would be able to return home with his son and grandson. Suddenly, Miao Hongyuan thought of the journey back. It would probably take several days. He wondered whether that disappointing son of his had at least had the sense to prepare some elderly necessities in the car.

Most likely not. Miao Hongyuan shook his head in disgust.

If Miao Weiyong had shown even the slightest sign of obeying his father, he would never have gone to Huangtie City to haul around that filthy iron ore of his. Even now, the relationship between the father and son of the Miao Family was still not especially warm.

But... it was, at the very least, the career his son took pride in.

With a trace of melancholy, Miao Hongyuan thought that before he died, he should at least go and see it with his own eyes. Experience it once.

While he was still alive, he wanted to know more about this child he had once neglected. The future of his child’s child would be for that child’s father to worry about. He only wanted to take one last look at his final—and only surviving—child.

Miao Hongyuan’s weathered left hand came to rest on the handle of the living room door.

Just as he was about to push it open, his hand suddenly froze.

His gaze slowly shifted toward the faint black shadow visible in the gap between the wooden door and the floor.

If he remembered correctly, there should have been nothing behind the door capable of blocking the light.

The hand that should have pushed open the door slowly moved instead toward the switch by the wall—yet it did not fall.

He naturally knew the layout of the apartment where he was staying.

This place was empty. Only he, a frail old man, was temporarily living here. If he did something like turning on the light, it might only provoke this “visitor” who had arrived in the dead of night. But had he done anything recently that was worth silencing him over?

Cold sweat immediately beaded on Miao Hongyuan’s brow.

The meeting he was attending now was nothing more than an ordinary conference. It had been convened by the Railway Bureau, and the topic was a discussion on “how to reduce train accident rates and how to repair the abandoned rail line between Ding’an City and Haiding City.”

There was nothing in it that should have required a cover-up.

So where was the problem?

What exactly had he done that someone would come all this way just to silence him?

Just as Miao Hongyuan was at a complete loss, a male voice as low and elegant as a cello sounded from within.

“Since you’ve already discovered me, why not come straight in, Elder Miao? Wouldn’t you agree?”

Miao Hongyuan’s body went rigid at once.

He instinctively stepped back several paces, his expression grave, as though he were about to walk into a Hongmen Banquet. As he moved, the wooden floor beneath his feet gave out a few timely creaks.

Miao Hongyuan immediately understood.

It was the sound of the floorboards that had exposed him.

But there was no use regretting it now. Bracing himself, Miao Hongyuan pushed open the living room door and said sternly, “I was unaware that I was expecting a visitor tonight.”

His words were grand and forceful, but the assassin had already seen through the bravado.

“There is no need for that.” Resting his chin casually on one hand, the assassin smiled faintly. “You and I both know there are no residents living within more than a dozen kilometers of this place. Or is it that... Elder Miao believes my hearing is inferior to yours?”

He had been thoroughly seen through. Miao Hongyuan’s face flushed with both shame and anger.

He knew very well that his strength had long since declined with age. In his current state, he was simply incapable of fighting an assassin who had infiltrated alone. His one advantage had been the chance to bluff by taking advantage of the intruder’s unfamiliarity with the surrounding area, but even that had already been exposed.

Under the clear moonlight, Miao Hongyuan secretly examined this midnight visitor.

The assassin wore an exquisitely crafted mask that concealed much of his face. His crimson slit pupils flickered like a flame in the dark. He sat casually on the sofa in the living room, the tails of his formal coat draped across the cushions, while a pair of black leather boots reflected a faint glimmer of moonlight.

Miao Hongyuan could not help furrowing his brow.

The assassin looked to be somewhere in his twenties or thirties. As for those crimson eyes... they were far too distinctive, far too striking.

Keeping his tone calm, though with a trace of confusion mixed into it, Miao Hongyuan said, “I do not know of any grievance between myself and the Infected.

“Who sent you?”

Across the first half of Miao Hongyuan’s life, he had come into contact with plenty of dirty work in Central City, and he had also done a great deal of dirty work for the Federal Council. Miao Hongyuan had long since been prepared for the possibility that someone might one day try to silence him, even though he had been fortunate enough to survive until now.

But the one sent to silence him absolutely could not have been one of the Infected!

What Central City despised most were the Infected. No noble family would dare maintain ties with them. Even if the infected person in question was his own blood brother, it would make no difference.

“That question is rather laughable.” A composed smile curved the assassin’s lips as he spoke in a careless tone. “Can I not have come here on my own behalf? Or do I not qualify to represent myself?”

The question was a viciously sharp one.

Miao Hongyuan replied with difficulty, “Of course you can. It’s just... I do not understand what grievance there could possibly be between me and the Infected...”

“Why must you insist on fixating on the fact that I am one of the Infected?” The assassin let out a deliberately melancholy sigh, then said coldly, “Or is that all the information you can see? That would be a great disappointment, Elder Miao.”

“Th-that...” Miao Hongyuan immediately broke out into even colder sweat.

He really had been focusing too much on the identity of the Infected. Miao Hongyuan had encountered the Infected before, but only by accident. Members of noble families were rarely ever infected. They advocated unions of the strong and used marriage alliances to obtain superior genes generation after generation.

And Ability Users were born with Infection Resistance. They were the group least likely to be infected.

That was yet another piece of proof that the Ability system could continue to endure within the Federation.

Could it be that some commoner from somewhere had come to seek revenge? Was someone as minor as him, a small fry who had only ever assisted from behind the scenes, really worth one of the Infected traveling this far to take revenge on?

No, no—

Miao Hongyuan hurriedly cut off his own spiraling thoughts.

He eyed the assassin warily.

Though the living room was dim, the moonlight still made it possible to see the visitor’s outline clearly. The assassin was merely sitting at ease in the shabby room, yet somehow he had forcefully raised the very sense of luxury in the entire living room. Every one of his gestures was naturally elegant.

There was no way he could be a commoner.

Miao Hongyuan frowned. “Who are you?”

Though the range of possibilities had now narrowed further, he still could not identify the intruder. He had seen many heirs of noble families, yet none of them matched the assassin before him.

“It seems I have made things too difficult for an old man,” the assassin sighed.

But very soon, his tone shifted as he pointed the matter out with leisurely precision.

“But if you truly knew who I was, you would not be huddling together with your son and grandson in this tiny northern city.”

Miao Hongyuan fell silent.

As humiliating as it was, that was the truth.

Because the Abilities of his son and grandson were too mediocre, they had been unable to inherit the network of connections that descendants of the Miao Family ought to have possessed. And after that departure from Central City years ago, Miao Hongyuan himself had likewise been isolated from Central City’s inner circles.

Because of that, he had been unable to obtain the latest intelligence from the Federation.

Perhaps the young man had long since become known to the noble families of Central City, but to an old man who had been pushed out of Central City’s core circles eight or nine years ago, the young man before him was merely an assassin of unknown identity.

“Say what you came to say.” Miao Hongyuan’s voice turned cold. “I imagine that if you have gone to such lengths to speak with me, it is not because you find it amusing, is it?”

Although his body had grown old and weak with age, his sharp instincts had not vanished. It was precisely because of that that Miao Hongyuan had been invited to participate in this railway conference, and it was also precisely because of that that he could still make his voice heard within Central City’s power circles.

“Impressive.” The young man gave a light, measured clap. “If that is so, then your descendants are utterly inferior to you.”

“What did you do?!”

Miao Hongyuan’s whole body tensed at once.

But realizing he had lost his composure, he quickly forced his emotions back down and said coldly, “They have nothing to do with the affairs of Central City. Do not drag them into this! Otherwise, I will never cooperate with you!”

“Heh...” The young man let out a few soft laughs.

As he watched the exaggerated display on the old man’s face, he said indifferently, “Please don’t concern yourself with that. I only wished to make an observation. They are all rather foolish. If not for them, I would never have been able to confirm that you were staying in Ding’an City.”

So much for “remaining in Ding’an City for a while.” They had practically exposed his location to him in full.

Miao Hongyuan fell silent.

Miao Hongyuan was speechless.

Miao Hongyuan stood there like a wooden chicken.

That hurt more than being killed!

Though he had always known his descendants were mediocre and incapable, he had never imagined that they would directly reveal his location like that. Had they been tricked into talking? Or had they revealed it some other way? What method had they used exactly?

His face turned green, then white.

Seeing that, the young man smiled with interest.

Then, smoothly lowering his crossed leg, he asked in an elegant tone, “Do you remember twenty-one years ago?”

“Twenty-one years ago?”

The date was too distant, and a look of confusion flashed across Miao Hongyuan’s face. Many things had happened twenty-one years ago, but there was only one matter he had both known of and been involved in...

The moment he realized what it was, Miao Hongyuan’s eyes widened.

“You’re from the Li Family? No, that’s impossible! No one could have survived in Licheng. The Federal Council even specifically dispatched the Cleanup Department—”

But before he could finish speaking, a single cold glance from the young man forced him into silence.

“The Li Family... Heh. What a familiar thing to hear.” The young man gave a cold laugh.

The Dawn Society, its leader “Dawn,” Licheng, the Li Family, and Li Yuan...

When Ji Qing had first given Raven a name, he had never imagined there would be so many coincidences. At the time, he had only thought that the character used in the leader’s codename made for a suitable surname, so he had directly adopted it.

But now—he would make use of that surname.

After that cold stare, the young man returned to his graceful bearing and elegant speech. His crimson eyes were icy as he said, “So now you understand why I have come, do you not?”

Miao Hongyuan’s forehead broke out in cold sweat once again.

Now he finally understood just how dangerous the man before him truly was. If he were to reveal the truth behind Licheng’s fall here and now, then an old case buried for more than twenty years would be pried open again, and Central City’s future would surely be overturned from top to bottom...

Why? Why would anyone still try to reopen the case twenty-one years later?

The more Miao Hongyuan thought about it, the more horrified he became.

Had not the Li Family already perished along with Licheng? And even if someone truly had survived, why would they carry that hatred on until now?

If this had been the spirited Miao Hongyuan of those earlier years, he would rather have died than yield. But the Miao Hongyuan before the young man now was already old and frail, soaked through with hatred toward his enemies.

Quite suddenly, his heart calmed down.

He was about to die, and his revenge had not yet been exacted. His enemies had not yet been brought to justice either.

“I can tell you,” Miao Hongyuan said softly.

He gave a self-mocking smile and muttered in a low voice, “If it were not for this matter, I might refuse even in death. But this matter is the exception. Only this matter...”

“Because my child died for it.”

For the sake of justice. For the sake of fairness. For the sake of the people’s right to know the truth.

Not every Black Tide was a disaster whose cause remained unknowable. Some Black Tides could have been avoided.

His most beloved child, Miao Weibo, had originally only wanted to investigate the cause of the Black Tide so that the Federation could avoid them more effectively in the future. Yet somehow, in the course of that investigation, he had uncovered the truth behind Licheng’s fall—and in the end, he had been murdered for it.

How laughable.

How lamentable.

As the Clan Head of the Miao Family, he ought to have protected the status and interests of the noble families.

As a citizen of the Federation, he ought to have upheld the stability and peace of the Federation.

But as an old man who had lost a son in middle age, all he wanted was for the enemies who had killed his child to pay with their lives.

His remaining child had refused to avenge his younger brother, but as a father—he had to do it.

For some reason, an image suddenly rose before Miao Hongyuan’s eyes: the very first time he had held his youngest son. The infant had slept quietly in his arms, face soft and plump, with an obvious ring of milk still smeared around the corner of his mouth.

A sorrowful curve rose at Miao Hongyuan’s lips.

If he had known things would end this way, then back then, he would never have named him “Bo”—the “Bo” from “indifferent to fame and fortune.”

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