My Romance Game Updated – Chapter 128
by Little PandaCollateral Damage
Zhou Zhilong had originally assumed that once Mu Ning couldn’t use her abilities, she would at least accept reality and stop fighting back. Who would have expected that, far from softening her attitude, she would raise the stakes by pulling out a dagger—and actually using it to wound someone!
To be honest, Zhou Zhilong didn’t care at all that Mu Chengzhi had been injured. What bothered him was that Mu Ning actually dared to defy him so brazenly, making him feel as though his authority was being challenged. Time and time again—he didn’t even know how many times it had been now—she had trampled his dignity underfoot!
She wasn’t even married to him yet, and she already dared to oppose him like this. Once they were married, wouldn’t she climb right over his head? That simply wouldn’t do! Zhou Zhilong decided that today, he had to teach Mu Ning a lesson. He would show her the authority of a husband. After they married, she would have to submissively follow his every command—she would have to go east when he said east, and never dare head west! If he wanted her abilities, she would have to hand them over without a single complaint!
At the thought of Mu Ning’s abilities, Zhou Zhilong’s expression turned ruthless. He waved a hand at the espers standing before her, signaling them to seize her.
Before the espers could move, however, Mu Ning beat them to it. She brought the dagger up, pressing the cold blade directly against her own throat. She was ruthless to others, but she was even more ruthless to herself. With just a slight press of her hand, a thin red line bloomed across her neck.
“Tie me up? There’s no need for that,” Mu Ning said, her voice dripping with ice. “Wouldn’t it be much faster if I just ended it myself?”
This sudden move instantly terrified the espers who had been about to step forward, causing them to halt in their tracks. As for Zhou Zhilong, his heart nearly leapt out of his chest in sheer terror! It was no joke—if Mu Ning actually ended her own life, where would he get her powerful dual-system abilities? After all, his Plunder ability only worked on living targets. If that weren’t the case, he wouldn’t have waited until after he finished stealing from other espers to finally dispatch them!
“Wait! Wait, wait, wait! Ningning! Calm down!” Zhou Zhilong stammered, his composure completely shattering. “It’s my fault! I only forced you because I care about you too much. I… I should have considered your feelings more. As for our wedding… if you really dislike it that much, we can take some more time to build our relationship first!”
“Yes, yes! Mu Ning, calm down!” Just like Zhou Zhilong, the Mu family was terrified that Mu Ning would actually kill herself. After all, they were relying on her to secure their marriage alliance with the Zhou family! If Mu Ning died, their relationship with the Zhous would probably be completely ruined. Besides, she still had her water-system ability! They were planning on relying on her for all their daily water needs in the future, which would save them a massive fortune in crystal cores! Although they detested her constant defiance, and had screamed at her to get out, none of them actually wanted her to leave—let alone die!
However, not everyone in the Mu family present was afraid of Mu Ning dying. Her eldest brother, Mu Xiao, for instance, was absolutely delighted to see her in such a wretched state. In fact, he wished she’d be even more ruthless with her own hands and cleanly slit her own throat.
Since childhood, Mu Xiao had despised his younger sister. Although their family favored him, the busybodies outside always loved to compare him to her. Before the apocalypse, his academic performance couldn’t match Mu Ning’s in any area. Now, after the apocalypse, his ability wasn’t as powerful as hers, his order was lower, and she treated him—her own older brother—with nothing but utter disdain!
Mu Xiao was consumed by a mixture of intense jealousy and deep hatred for Mu Ning. He couldn’t care less about the future marriage alliance with the Zhou family, or his future access to water resources. Right now, he wanted nothing more than to watch his sister die right before his eyes.
No, letting her end her own life was far too easy on her. A wretch so arrogant and domineering1—a bastard2 who had dared to threaten him with a whip just moments ago—deserved a much more brutal end. You dared to use a whip on me earlier? Fine, then let’s see how you handle my arm blades!
Recalling his shameful, humiliated state under Mu Ning’s coercive pressure just moments ago, Mu Xiao’s eyes turned blood-red. With a violent wave of his hands, his arms instantly transformed into two long blades, and he lunged viciously straight at her.
Mu Xiao’s sudden madness sent another shockwave through the crowd, who were still dazed by Mu Ning’s threat of self-termination. For a moment, no one moved to stop him. Yet before Mu Xiao could even reach her, he inexplicably stumbled and fell forward. Stumbling and flailing, his arm blades raised high, he lost all control and slashed directly toward Zhou Zhilong, who happened to be standing closest to him.
Caught completely off guard, Zhou Zhilong couldn’t react in time as Mu Xiao’s arm blades sliced a deep gash across his chest. In the face of this sudden assault, his survival instincts kicked in; he twisted his body backward in a desperate retreat. Leveraging his speed advantage, he blurred to Mu Xiao’s flank in a split second and delivered a savage, heavy kick directly to his waist.
The full force of a 6th-order strength esper’s kick sent Mu Xiao flying through the air. By the time he crashed heavily to the ground, he was coughing up blood uncontrollably.
“Xiao… Xiao’er…”
“Xiao’er, are you alright?! Speak to me, don’t scare your mother like this! Zhou Zhilong! Have you lost your mind?!”
“What do you mean, ‘what did I do’? Mu Xiao was clearly the one who attacked me first!” Painfully clutching the wound on his chest, Zhou Zhilong abandoned any pretense of maintaining his image as a polite prospective son-in-law. He shot back in furious outrage, “Uncle, Auntie, I’m injured too! Mu Xiao sliced me open! It’s pretty rich of you to go playing the victim and accusing me first3 like this!”
“What do you mean, Xiao’er attacked you first? He didn’t do it on purpose!” In Mu Chengzhi’s eyes, Mu Xiao had clearly been aiming for Mu Ning with his arm blades, only to lose his footing and stumble, losing control of his direction and falling toward Zhou Zhilong. Besides, Mu Xiao had absolutely no reason to attack Zhou Zhilong in the first place!
“Heh, ‘not on purpose’? Does ‘not on purpose’ give him the right to slash people?” Mu Chengzhi’s shameless defense sent a surge of fury through Zhou Zhilong, making the wound on his chest throb with agonizing pain.
“Slash people? That was purely an accident! Besides, didn’t you manage to dodge the worst of it? Why did you have to charge over and kick Xiao’er so hard?” Mu Chengzhi looked down at Mu Xiao, who was curled on the floor constantly coughing up blood, his resentment toward Zhou Zhilong growing even stronger.
“Tsk. Uncle, if you’re going to keep twisting the facts like this, then I don’t see any reason for our families to continue cooperating. Anyone with eyes can see who’s in the wrong here. Yet you can ignore your consciences and dump all the blame on my head. If this is how you act now, who knows what kind of underhanded, vicious schemes you’ll pull against the Zhou family once our alliance deepens?”
Zhou Zhilong’s words were like a bucket of cold water over Mu Chengzhi, instantly clearing his rage-addled mind. He was right. If they wanted to secure more power and influence within Ning’an Base in the future, they absolutely had to maintain their alliance with the Zhou family! If they fell out with Zhou Zhilong now, then their future…
With an aching heart, Mu Chengzhi looked once more at Mu Xiao, who was lying on the ground, unable to even cough up blood anymore but still dry-coughing incessantly. Gritting his teeth, the father forced himself to swallow his fury and soften his posture.
Although his son was important, the Mu family’s survival and future in the base were far more important!
With the Mu family’s future in mind, Mu Chengzhi clenched his fists tightly, using the sharp sting of the wound on his palm to keep himself focused. He cleared his throat twice before speaking to Zhou Zhilong in a raspy voice: “Ah, dear nephew… you’ve misunderstood. Given how close our families are, once Mu Ning marries you, we’ll be closer than ever, won’t we? I was just too anxious a moment ago and lost my head. You’re entirely correct, nephew. This was Xiao’er’s fault from the start! Is your wound alright, dear nephew? I have some excellent medicine here. I’ll bring some down for you right away. I guarantee that once you use it, you’ll…”
Zhou Zhilong merely snorted at Mu Chengzhi’s non-stop apologies. He slowly accepted some hemostatic gauze from a subordinate and pressed it against his wound, then tilted his chin, shooting a contemptuous glance at the silent, sprawling figure of Mu Xiao. Understanding the silent demand, Mu Chengzhi felt another wave of suppressed rage roil in his chest. But with the weight of the Zhou family looming behind the young man, he had no choice but to force himself to turn toward his son, who could no longer even muster a cough. Hardening his voice, he barked, “Mu Xiao! Today’s incident is entirely your fault! Apologize to your future brother-in-law right now!”
Mu Chengzhi heavily emphasized the words “future brother-in-law.”
Already in agony as his internal organs churned in torment, Mu Xiao froze in sheer disbelief when he heard his father demand an apology. But his confusion was swiftly replaced by an overwhelming surge of humiliation and rage. Was his father even human? Couldn’t he see that he was coughing too hard to even speak? Didn’t he know that his waist was already broken? Zhou Zhilong was standing there perfectly fine, yet he—the one who was critically injured—was the one who had to apologize to a guy with a minor scratch!
Mu Xiao forced his head up with a venomous glare, staring daggers at Zhou Zhilong. Instinctively, his gaze swept over to Mu Ning, who was still holding the dagger against her own throat. The moment their eyes met, he saw the unmistakable mockery and gloating amusement glittering deep in her eyes.
This woman! This wretched woman! She was the one who was supposed to die under my blades! Why am I the one who can’t even stand up now?!
Mu Ning’s provocative gaze remained fixed on him, his father’s constant urging continued to ring in his ears, and Zhou Zhilong stood there with that insufferable, high-and-mighty look, waiting for his apology. Gritting his teeth against the searing agony tearing through him, Mu Xiao opened his mouth to spit out a venomous curse—only to suddenly spray out a large mouthful of blood. Then, his vision went dark, and he blacked out completely from sheer fury.
Or, more likely, from the pain.
With Mu Xiao unconscious, any hope of an apology was obviously gone. Mu Chengzhi cast an apologetic, cautious look at Zhou Zhilong, asking tentatively, “Dear nephew, you see… under the circumstances…”
Since Mu Xiao had passed out, Zhou Zhilong couldn’t very well keep pressing him. He magnanimously waved it off, shooting another surreptitious glance at Mu Ning. After all, he had never actually intended to call off the engagement—he still needed her powerful 6th-order abilities. Now that Mu Xiao was reduced to such a pathetic state, and Mu Chengzhi had humbled himself enough to save his face, Zhou Zhilong generously dismissed the issue, declaring that they would let the matter rest. Since their families would be in-laws in the future, there was no need to let further unpleasantness sour their relations.
Footnotes
- A classic Chinese four-character idiom used to describe someone who behaves in an overbearing, arrogant, or domineering manner; literally translated as rampant and domineering.
- A common, harsh Chinese pejorative used to call someone a scoundrel, bastard, or unprincipled wretch; literally translated as mixed accounts.
- A common Chinese idiom referring to a scenario where the guilty party files a complaint first, preemptively accusing their victim to shift blame and play the victim.
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