Chapter 120: An Unkind Father, An Unfilial Son |
The teacup slipped from Shi Rang's grasp, spilling warm tea all over the carpet.
He looked at Shi Shixin, who was frozen in place, and then turned his gaze to the uninvited guest, confirming that he did not recognize the man.
However, with the Reality Anchor destroyed, Shi Rang could reactivate his Perception. An unprecedentedly strong Anomaly Fluctuation appeared where the man stood, accompanied by a signal source:
[Field Department Veil Project Duty Equipment #7430]
The equipment was in standby mode, with no recording functions active.
Across the tea table, Shi Shixin's expression gradually shifted from shock to confusion, perfectly mirroring Shi Rang's own feelings.
Why would someone from the Management Bureau destroy a Reality Anchor to help him?
Wasn't this man clearly Shi Shixin's bodyguard?
Where exactly did such a powerful Anomaly Fluctuation come from?
Under the gaze of both men, the man drew a handgun from his waist, clicked off the safety, and aimed it at Shi Shixin.
"Slowly take your hands out of your pockets, and do not even try to press that panic button. I know that if anything happens to you, you can immediately call in a quick response team, but you can go ahead and see if they can save your life. Yes, just like that. Put both hands where I can see them... Very good."
The field agent held the gun and smiled at Shi Rang once again.
Shi Rang suddenly realized that the man had not called him Shi Tiantian; he had used his current name.
"Are you from the Ascension Society?"
"There is no need to be so secretive. We can speak openly, because Mr. Shi Shixin will either choose to cooperate, or he will not remember a single thing." The man pulled a bottle of Class-A Amnestic from the other side of his belt and showed it to Shi Rang. "That is right. I am on your side, Shi Rang."
"You two colluded to set me up?" Even with a gun pointed at him, Shi Shixin remained perfectly composed. "Who put you up to this? Do you really think they can offer a higher price than I can?"
"Considering your age and heart condition, you are quite calm, Mr. Shi. You are certain that I would not dare kill you, otherwise triggering the Veil Project's alarms would subject us to endless pursuit, but that means nothing to us. I can break your limbs before you die, and then pluck out an eye or cut out your tongue. So, until I allow you to speak, stay quiet."
The old man's face turned deathly pale, and he finally shut his mouth.
"What exactly is going on here?" This time, it was Shi Rang who spoke.
The man stroked his chin, speaking slowly in a rather cheerful tone. "Where should I begin... Let us start from when you reclaimed your original identity.
"Once Shi Shixin learned of your situation, he decided to send you away and use other methods to confiscate this identity of yours. He would then publicly declare that his son had died of illness to eliminate any hidden risks, but he failed because of your persistence. Thus, he began to suspect that you had already been roped in by his competitors and were about to be used as a tool against him. That was the reason behind the beginning of this meeting.
"He memorized a very long script that he had discussed with his advisors, first putting on a show as a good father to trick you into revealing your secrets.
"Regardless of the outcome, he would have coaxed you into drinking that cup of tea. It was laced with an Amnestic Agent, which would have forced you into a period of absolute, mindless obedience, making it easier for him to relocate you and continue extracting information. Afterward, he would have had someone throw you into a psychiatric hospital, ensuring that you spent the rest of your life there as a madman."
The man narrowed his eyes slightly, as if recalling something.
"Oh, right, using the Amnestic Agent was this field agent's idea. The Management Bureau distributed far too many doses of the Class-A Amnestic, and quite a few people took them for their own profit. They would use them to commit sexual assaults or petty theft, and afterward, they could perfectly erase the victim's memories. What a wonderful tool.
"His exact words were, 'The Bureau cannot manage it all anyway, so what risk could there be?'"
"You penetrated the Reality Anchor to control him?" Shi Shixin's dry lips parted slightly. "That is impossible, the Stabilization Anchor..."
Bang! A gunshot rang out.
Shi Shixin let out a miserable shriek and collapsed onto the sofa, clutching his ear.
A smoking, sizzling hole had appeared on the backrest of the sofa, right where his head had just been.
The old man screamed for a moment before abruptly stopping. He slowly released his hand and carefully touched his burning ear, only to find it completely intact.
The bullet had just grazed the outer edge of his ear.
"The next shot will not be a warning. I did not give you permission to speak."
"Wait a moment."
Shi Rang stood up from his seat and patted down his pants, which had been splashed with tea.
"I have something to ask him."
The Ascension Society member occupying the field agent's body waved a hand at him, gesturing for him to go ahead.
Shi Rang walked around the tea table and stopped in front of Shi Shixin, looking down to scrutinize the withered little old man.
Father and son stared at each other once again, their positions completely reversed from when they had first met.
Shi Rang was calm, far calmer than he had ever expected to be.
The child and the adult versions of Shi Rang that had been constantly arguing in his heart finally ceased their struggle. They sat motionless in his mind, as if waiting for a movie to begin, waiting for a certain answer that was about to be revealed.
The opening credits of this grand play flashed with questions like 'Why?', 'Is this real?', and 'Am I just a burden to you?', before finally settling on the one sentence Shi Rang truly wanted to ask.
"Why did you even have me?"
In front of his son, Shi Shixin's authority returned. He slowly sat up straight and let out a cold sneer. "Go ask Xia Nianji. You are the one who crawled out from between her legs."
Shi Rang grabbed the teapot from the table and smashed it viciously against the man's head.
The little old man was knocked sideways by the blow, before dazedly lifting his head.
Initially, he showed none of the terror he had displayed during the gunshot. He was merely deeply confused, as if he could not comprehend what had just happened. It was not until he touched the blood on his head and saw Shi Rang's fist coming down that he suddenly realized the situation, finally letting out a shrill scream.
Between every kick and punch, Shi Rang's spirit seemed to leave his body. All he could hear were the insults and mockery from the past; every word that had struck his heart now transformed into the violent swinging of his fists and feet.
He could not describe whether this was overwhelming rage, but aside from this vengeance, his mind could no longer hold anything else. Even Shi Shixin's agonized wails failed to draw any of his attention.
He just kept raising his hand, time and time again, as if this were the only thing left to do in the entire world...
In the end, it was the field agent who caught his arm and forcefully dragged him away from the sofa.
"That is enough. We still need him."
The agent pulled Shi Rang to the side.
Shi Rang did not charge forward again. He stood there, clutching his bruised fists and gasping for breath, his eyes reflecting Shi Shixin, who was curled up on the floor groaning in pain.
Yet, looking deeper into Shi Rang's eyes, there was only an abyss of hopeless emptiness.
The version of himself from childhood—the one who had always hidden at the bottom of his heart, the one who had worn a look of eager anticipation in front of his grandfather and grandmother's house, at the school gates, at the airport, and in front of the villa—was dead.
The field agent made no attempt to comfort Shi Rang. Instead, he returned to Shi Shixin, squatted down, and waved the gun in his hand.
"You dismissed the bodyguards and other security personnel you could not trust, leaving only this field agent who shares your foul tastes, because you were afraid the Management Bureau would notice your actions and replace you for 'improper conduct.' The good news is, we have no intention of dragging you down from this position. You are still useful, Shi Shixin. You are useful to our Ascension Society."
"Ascension Society, you are from the Ascension Society..." The old man repeated the words amidst his groans, letting out a suffocating sound. He looked up from behind the arms shielding his head, then flinched and turned away again. "I feel unwell... I need to see a doctor... My heart..."
"Oh, give me a break. Your illness is entirely your own doing from drowning yourself in alcohol and women. Stop playing the victim—get up."
The field agent hauled him up and tossed him back onto the sofa, but Shi Shixin continued to clutch his chest, gasping weakly for air. His face turned a cyanotic blue as he struggled to grab the medicine bottle from the tea table.
He was genuinely having a heart attack.
Ignoring him completely, the field agent walked over to the window and pulled open the west-facing curtains.
With a flash of light, Jing Zi appeared in the room. His head bowed, he carefully presented a thumb-sized glass bottle to the agent.
"Shi Shixin, I am going to make you an offer. You can either suffer through this heart attack and forget everything that happened tonight, or, you can become useful to us."
The agent took the small bottle from Jing Zi's hands and held it up to the old man's unfocused eyes.
"'CVA-A-006 - Fountain of Youth', have you heard of it? I imagine with your channels, you must have caught wind of a few rumors. That is right, this is the elixir of immortality that grants eternal health and youth."
Shi Shixin's struggling ceased for a fleeting moment at the sight of the bottle.
The agent snatched the pills clutched tightly in Shi Shixin's palm, swept all the tea sets and pastries off the table onto the carpet, and placed the two items side by side on the surface.
When the glass bottle touched the tea table, it made a crisp clink sound. The colorless, transparent liquid inside sloshed around, appearing even lighter than water.
Standing by the tea table like an auctioneer, the field agent spread his hands toward the two items.
"Come now, Mr. Shi. Choose. Pick one."