***
Bonus chapter! Thank you to Zzz for the donation! ^^
***
At 11 PM, the long-awaited rain finally began to fall. Though not heavy, the raindrops were large, pounding against the factory with loud, resonant sounds.
But no sound was louder than the gunfire.
Gunshots erupted intermittently outside the factory, each report enough to make one's heart clench. It was impossible to tell where the bullets were hitting, but soon a fire broke out in the abandoned factory.
The derelict building was filled with flammable and explosive materials. If the flames reached them, the entire structure would be blown to pieces.
They couldn't stay here any longer.
The dagger that had stabbed Ruan Qing hadn't hit any vital organs, and the trace of rule-based power was only slowly damaging his body. He still had time.
Ruan Qing's face was already deathly pale. Taking a deep breath, he endured the excruciating pain and pulled out the dagger, then tremblingly picked up the little girl who had fallen unconscious.
The little boy seemed to realize he had misunderstood and made a terrible mistake. He watched Ruan Qing with a mix of fear and guilt, wanting to follow but not daring to.
The other children, stunned by the rapid succession of events, remained huddled in the corner like frightened rabbits. Even though the cage door was now open, none of them ran.
The pain in his abdomen sent beads of sweat rolling down Ruan Qing's forehead. He turned to the still-frozen little boy and managed to force out a sentence, "...Gather them. We're leaving together."
Only then did the boy snap out of his daze. Frantically, he began urging the other children to move.
Had this been any other trafficker, the boy would have been killed on the spot for stabbing one of them. But this terrifying man had done no such thing—instead, he'd picked up the little girl.
Realizing Ruan Qing was here to save them, the children scrambled to their feet, helping the injured and those too weak to move, silently following behind him.
The rain grew heavier, its roar gradually drowning out other sounds, as if trying to wash away all the filth and sin.
Blood continued to pour from Ruan Qing's wound. The excessive blood loss left him chilled to the bone and his vision blurred, yet he clenched his teeth and carried the little girl forward, step by agonizing step.
They weren't far enough yet. The factory explosion would still reach them here.
Ruan Qing wanted to keep going, to put more distance between them and danger, but his strength was gone. Holding the little girl, he collapsed weakly to the ground. Blood seeped from his body, spreading in the rainwater.
Even in the darkness, the sight was horrifying.
The little boy, the oldest of the group, had led the other children ahead. He was the first to notice Ruan Qing hadn't followed.
His heart skipped a beat, and he immediately ran back, soon spotting the figure slumped on the ground.
The little boy’s eyes reddened as he stared at the blood spreading relentlessly. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as his small hands pressed frantically against Ruan Qing’s wound, trying in vain to stop the bleeding.
"Y-you… are you okay?"
Ruan Qing shook his head slightly. The stab wound from the child wasn’t fatal—what was killing him was the trace of the Rules’ power lingering on the blade, relentlessly eroding his soul.
His soul was on the verge of dissipating.
This death was different from all the others. This time, he wouldn’t remain in the instance, nor would he leave even a trace behind.
This time, it was true death.
Though Ruan Qing had shaken his head, the boy only grew more distraught, his voice trembling with sobs. "I—I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to! I just… I thought you were going to hurt Qiaoqiao..."
Ruan Qing knew the boy hadn’t intended to stab him. He’d merely been controlled by the Rule Enforcer—yet the weight of this killing would fall on him alone.
For a child barely a few years old, that burden was far too cruel.
Gently ruffling the boy’s hair, Ruan Qing spoke in a weak but tender voice, "You were protecting someone important to you. That was brave."
"But… but—"
"Turn around." Ruan Qing softly interrupted before the boy could finish.
Hesitating, the boy obeyed. The next moment, he felt weight settle on his back—the unconscious little girl.
Instinctively, he reached back to support her, then turned his tear-streaked face toward Ruan Qing in panic.
By the time Ruan Qing had settled the girl onto the boy’s back, he’d exhausted the last of his strength. Still, with great effort, he slipped a bank card into the boy’s chest pocket, his words labored.
"Fifty… thousand… in the card. The source… isn’t clean..."
"If… the police… haven’t frozen it… use it… for her treatment..."
"What about you!?" The boy cried desperately, tears falling harder.
"I won’t leave! If we go, we go together!"
Already struggling under the girl’s weight, the boy tried to support Ruan Qing with one arm. But even at his lightest, Ruan Qing was too much for the child to lift. With a faint push, Ruan Qing offered him one last gentle smile.
"Go... they're waiting for you..."
Every child born into this world deserves the right to see it for themselves, not to be buried in this rainy night like him.
The little boy was nudged forward a few steps. Not far away stood the children who had escaped from the cages, all watching him with uneasy silence, waiting for him to join them.
The boy glanced at the waiting group, then turned back silently to look at Ruan Qing one last time. Finally, gritting his teeth, he adjusted the little girl on his back and turned toward the darkness, walking toward the other children.
He needed to hurry. There might still be time to find help.
The fire in the abandoned factory grew fiercer, so intense that even the heavy rain couldn't extinguish it. The flames loomed dangerously, threatening to explode at any moment.
Ruan Qing wasn't worried about the explosion reaching him. He probably wouldn't last that long anyway.
A bone-deep chill spread through his body, sapping even the strength to remain sitting. He collapsed onto the wet ground, his vision beginning to blur at the edges.
Yet his hearing remained sharp—the relentless patter of rain and the escalating gunfire. The increasing gunshots suggested reinforcements had arrived for the police. Their plan had apparently succeeded. But none of that mattered to Ruan Qing anymore.
So tired.
An overwhelming exhaustion pressed down on him, his eyelids growing impossibly heavy.
He hadn't slept properly since that first rainy night. Maybe he was just... sleepy.
Ruan Qing's pupils dilated, his gaze growing unfocused. After all those times bidding his teacher goodnight, tonight it was finally his turn to say it to himself.
Good...
Just as his eyelids began to close, he thought he heard someone calling his name—a voice that sounded like his teacher's.
With his last ounce of strength, he turned toward the sound. But his vision had faded completely now, the world reduced to shapeless shadows. The voices, too, had disappeared.
Must have been... his imagination.
***
It wasn't imagination. Several figures had materialized in the air nearby, one of them unmistakably the System.
Radiating terrifying energy, the System didn't hesitate before surging toward Ruan Qing.
Xiao Mingyu immediately stepped in front of the man, blocking his path along with several others.
A violent struggle erupted instantly. Terrifying energy radiated outward, threatening to tear the entire space apart.
But the deranged man wasn't so easily subdued—especially when he sensed that weakening presence. His eyes darkened instantly, his madness intensifying.
No longer caring about consequences, he violently repelled those blocking him and lunged toward Ruan Qing's location.
Yet again, he was stopped—this time by the enforcers of the Rules.
He'd already lost his mind long before Si Qing's death. The thought of losing Si Qing again was unbearable.
Anyone standing in his way became his enemy—even the enforcers of the Rules meant nothing to him.
Without hesitation, the man gathered his power to attack the enforcer. Xiao Mingyu and the others, horrified, threw themselves forward despite their injuries to restrain him again.
If the Rules' enforcers intervened directly, there would be no going back.
They fought desperately to hold him back, but as mere projections in this space, they were no match. Helplessly, they watched as the man recklessly charged toward Ruan Qing.
Gone was the aloof, divine demeanor. The man was sheer panic incarnate—his eyes wide with rare, undisguised terror.
He was terrified of Si Qing's death. Terrified of failing to save him.
Faster. He needed to move faster.
