...Only one?

Shi Youxi also realized what was happening, and he gritted his teeth, "What do you mean?!"

"It means that only one of the adults and the child can leave," Qi Pan chimed in. He also had a bit of a wicked sense of humor; judging from how Shi Bianji had treated this woman earlier, he could guess what her intentions were.

People can be released.

But it can't be that easy.

It wouldn't be bad to leave feeling nauseous while doing something like this.

Qi Pan pointed to the machine wrapped around Mu Zhentong's head, "Young Master Shi should know that if one is lowered, the other has to be lowered as well. Choose one."

There's no need to choose at all, but...

But! Shi Youxi looked at Mu Yiran tightly holding Mu Zhentong's hand, and he saw the sadness and disappointment that welled up in Mu Yiran's eyes after she understood his thoughts. She knew everything...

Not only Cheng Yuan and Chen Yiting, but also she knew that he had lied to her.

In that instant, the words "he chose his sister" suddenly stuck in his throat.

“Interesting.” Qi Pan smiled strangely, his gaze quickly shifting between the two of them. He glanced at Mu Zhentong, who was pretending to be dead, and an idea popped into his head. He immediately took out a revolver and said, “Is it hard to choose? Then let me help Young Master Shi choose.”

He twirled a few bullets, loaded them into the magazine, and said, "I'll fire one shot to the left and one to the right, and see which bullets take down. Hmm? Let fate decide, fair, right? Hahaha!"

Qi Pan laughed mockingly and wildly, just as he raised his hand to aim at the ring on Mu Yiran's hand, who was hanging there.

Almost at the same moment!

Two loud "bangs"

Qi Pan's wrist, which was holding the gun, was instantly pierced by a bullet. The bullet from the revolver in his hand then deviated from its original trajectory and broke the hanging ring in Mu Zhentong's hand.

"Aaaaaah!"

"gentlemen!"

That wasn't the end of it. Before anyone could react, Shi Youxi fired another shot at Shi Bianji, who had sneaked up to the edge of the platform.

A shot hit Shi Bianji in the left back.

Shi Bianji let out a low cry. His body had been tortured by Shi Youxi for a long time and was already at its limit. This shot made him fall to the ground in pain and weakness, twitching a few times before he quickly lost consciousness.

No one saw when Shi Youxi made his move. While Bily and the others were busy protecting Qi Pan, Shi Youxi grabbed someone to use as a shield and fired shots at Qi Pan. He took the opportunity to block Bily and the others' view of the platform, leaving everyone in front of him. He pulled out a miniature grenade, stuffed it into the human shield, and shoved the person hard towards Qi Pan.

"Watch out!" Bily screamed and tackled Qi Pan to the ground. A burst of light erupted, plunging the room into darkness. Only the faint light filtering in from outside could vaguely reveal the shadows swirling inside.

"Damn it, you dare to shoot!" Qi Pan pushed away the person on top of him, clutching his wrist and yelling wildly, "Damn it, kill that woman!"

He could simply capture Shi Youxi and exchange her for Shi Yan, but this woman had to die!

After dodging the grenade, the two people closest to Mu Yiran realized who the real "king" of this place was.

One of them made the first move, quickly reaching out to grab Mu Yiran, but in the next instant, his outstretched hand froze right in front of Mu Yiran.

"ah!"

Mu Yiran watched as the man, who had been shot in the head, spat out several mouthfuls of blood at her before collapsing to the ground.

Several figures rushed towards her from the side, and Shi Youxi suddenly shouted from the corner: "Qipan, your stuff!"

The phone, still lit up, was smashed towards Qi Pan.

Qi Pan saw this and immediately shouted, "Catch it! Quickly catch it and give it to me!"

The three remaining people around him reached out towards the light source. Shi Youxi aimed in the darkness and fired three shots without hesitation. The faint light from his phone illuminated the blood gushing from his head.

In the darkness, all her senses were amplified, and the sounds of gunfire and screams continued. Mu Yiran didn't even know if a bullet would be shot at her in the next second.

This was Mu Yiran's first real step into Shi Youxi's world.

The darkness, stained with blood, was a place where every second felt like a suffocating death.

She was the one who almost died just now. Mu Yiran couldn't see where Shi Youxi was. Afraid of revealing Shi Youxi's location, she didn't dare to speak. Sweat poured down her forehead. How could she not be afraid of someone dying in front of her? But Mu Yiran didn't dare to shout. She gritted her teeth and concentrated all her strength in her hands.

There, a thin, bony wrist was being held.

Everything happened in an instant. Mu Yiran was quick enough to grab Mu Zhentong as she fell, but she was also too slow...

Mu Zhentong's leg was already caught in the shredder, and he was teetering on the edge, held tightly by Mu Yiran.

"Don't move, don't be afraid! I'll pull you up soon! Soon..." Mu Yiran's face was flushed, but she still tried to comfort Mu Zhentong in a breathy voice, like squeezing toothpaste. The sound of the shredder running and the chaotic footsteps drowned out her voice.

Mu Zhentong was in a daze. His eyes, as dark as still water, turned to look at her. His face was pale and bloodless. His lips trembled, but he didn't say anything. He just stared at Mu Yiran's face.

After a long while, he seemed to be talking to himself:

"...You're not my older sister, are you?"

Mu Yiran heard this and was startled. "I'm your older sister! Don't let go!"

“You’re not…you’re not her. She never calls me by my name, and she never says ‘we’…she hates me.”

Mu Zhentong always knew that Mu Yiran hated him, hated him from birth, because he was the child of her father and a prostitute. Her father forced her older sister's mother to gamble and later abandoned them to escape debts. It was he who shamelessly followed Mu Yiran.

She never called him by his name, always just saying "Hey".

"Hey, why are you following me! Get away from me! If you stay with me, I'll sell you to those creditors!"

"Hey! If it weren't for you, I would be free long ago! It's all because of you! Why should I take care of you! You're not my child!"

“Hey, if you get caught, just kill yourself right away. Don’t give me away. If I get caught, run away as fast as you can. They won’t kill me if they don’t catch you.”

But when he was caught, his sister held him tightly and didn't run away as she had promised.

The two were sold to Qi Pan by their creditors. He was captured and imprisoned underground to test drugs, while his sister was sent outside to do those terrible tasks.

In fact, every time, Mu Zhentong hoped that Mu Yiran would just run away, leave this place, leave him, this burden, and her sister would have a slightly better life.

But he didn't understand why his older sister always came back.

Qi Pan said this was the last mission, so when Mu Zhentong was surrounded, beaten, and even raped, she did not resist. He had not done a good job, so her sister would have to suffer.

It would be better if he were in a worse situation.

Even though his older sister hated him so much, she never abandoned him; this is what Mu Zhentong owes her.

When he arrived, the silver-haired man told him that he was taking him to see Mu Yiran, but Mu Zhentong knew at first glance that this person was not his older sister.

His older sister seems to have died.

When Mu Zhentong realized this, his mind went blank. It seemed that his older sister hadn't told him what he should do if she died first.

When half of his body was shredded, Mu Zhentong suddenly realized what had happened.

If his older sister is dead... then it seems there's no need for him to continue living.

Mu Yiran trembled all over. Her right hand, which was being held, was numb and her wrist was twisted strangely. Her left hand was also about to lose its grip on Mu Zhentong.

Qi Pan had lost his mind. He still knew Mu Yi Ran's location. His lower body was affected by the aftershock of the grenade, so he could only kneel down and pick up the gun and bullets, firing wildly in that direction.

Driven by rage, he no longer cared about the consequences of injuring Shi Youxi or his own men.

He's determined to fight to the death!

"I'd rather die than live! Even if I can't live, I'll drag you, Shi Youxi, down with me!"

"I want your woman to die with me!"

Shi Youxi crouched down and rushed towards Mu Yiran. He was only thinking about the woman hanging there and didn't care about his exposed back at all.

The stray bullet grazed his shoulder blade again. Shi Youxi swallowed the blood in his throat. He looked at the pale forearm in mid-air, calculated the distance and ran towards the power source. Just as he was about to turn off the shredder, he interrupted Mu Yiran's grip on the ring.

But suddenly!

Suddenly, a figure rushed in from the corner of her eye. Shi Youxi only saw the gun barrel pointed in Mu Yiran's direction. "Bang—"

"—Shi Youxi!"

Mu Yiran watched helplessly as the slender figure a few steps away trembled violently! He forcefully blocked the incoming gunshot, staggering and falling to one knee!

"Hehe, Xiao Xi, you want to save her?" Shi Bianji, who had woken up at some point, leaned against the power control panel. He glanced at the boy whose back was hunched over.

"If you want to save her, you should talk to me properly. How could you shoot me!" He chuckled sinisterly, then casually fired two shots in Mu Yiran's direction. When he was out of bullets, he glanced at Shi Youxi, who was clinging to the edge of the control panel, awkwardly trying to pull Cheng Ran away. He sneered and suddenly pressed the switch on the hoisting rope.

"Ugh—" Mu Yiran plummeted downwards, then abruptly stopped! A desperate scream was forced between her lips, her eyes filled with tears.

"Shi Youxi..."

Shi Youxi only had time to grab the spinning chain. The veins on his hands bulged, and his clean fingertips were covered in blood. His handsome face remained tense, and his eyes, which were fixed on Mu Yiran, were filled with panic and guilt he had never felt before.

"sorry……"

I'm sorry to have made you go through this.

It's because of me that you went through this.

He imprisoned her, claiming it was for protection, but it brought her disaster.

"Shi Youxi..." Mu Yiran said in a trembling voice. He saw Shi Bianji behind him touch another gun and walk towards Shi Youxi humming a tune, as if he were watching a play.

The sound of a gun being cocked, bullets hitting the ground, the approaching footsteps of Shi Youxi, and Qi Pan's frantic panting as he crept towards them.

Every sound was an extreme pressure on Mu Yiran's nerves.

Several more shots grazed the hem of her clothes. Shi Youxi raised his hand to block them, but the bullets pierced through. He only had enough strength to hold onto the chain, and he let the slow footsteps behind him slowly approach. Shi Youxi remained calm and even smiled as he comforted Mu Yiran.

"Sister, close your eyes."

Shi Bianji heard this, and he chuckled as he tapped the gun handle. "Xiao Xi, haven't you decided who to choose yet? The one below or the one above?"

“I know you want to choose CEO Cheng, you just need to let go.” Shi Bianji offered the best solution: “Human bones are very hard, especially the skull. The machine will get stuck, but she will be fine once she is lowered down.”

"That's also very troublesome."

“Otherwise, Mr. Cheng, you should come down yourself. Don’t trouble Xiao Xi.” Shi Bianji clicked his tongue. “You just need to let go—”

Shi Bianji spoke terrifying words with a faint smile, the iron chains on his head creaking, and Mu Yiran suddenly knew.

Who to choose?

It wasn't Shi Youxi who made the choice.

It's up to her to choose.

Is she going to stand by and watch Shi Youxi be tortured in order to save Mu Zhentong, or is she going to make Shi Youxi let go... and let Mu Zhentong be shattered to pieces right before her eyes!

Mu Yiran's heart clenched, and her vision blurred. What should she do...?

what to do……

What right does she have to decide someone else's life or death?!

She wanted to tell Shi Youxi to leave. She wanted Shi Youxi to let go.

But someone else spoke first.

Mu Zhentong's fingers curled slightly in her palm. He looked at her and said, "Let go."