"Knock knock knock—"

“Mingyue, it’s my elder brother.”

Even now, Zhu Xingye still made sure to knock politely before entering Zhu Mingyue's room.

Zhu Mingyue tucked the time-reversal gun into her lower back beforehand. After confirming that her coat was long enough and the gun was completely hidden, she said to the door, "The door isn't locked, you can come in."

No sooner had he finished speaking than Zhu Xingye pushed open the door.

He walked into the room with a cold smile on his face, his gaze directly scrutinizing Zhu Mingyue.

Zhu Mingyue stared at him expressionlessly, her words full of sarcasm: "Why did you finally decide to show your face? Is it because your lies finally couldn't hold up anymore?"

Zhu Mingyue didn't intend to play dumb; she knew why Zhu Xingye had come to see her.

Zhu Xingye curled his lips, but his expression was somewhat puzzled: "Mingyue, sometimes I don't know if you're really worried about Chaochao or just pretending. You knew that this matter would have a bad impact on Chaochao, but you still leaked it out."

"It's one thing for Shi Jing and Jiang Jingwen to know, but now even your second and third brothers are starting to suspect. Mingyue, what exactly are you trying to do?"

"Ha, you're asking me?" Zhu Mingyue was so angry she almost laughed. "Zhu Xingye, I'd like to ask you what you're planning to do."

"You know this will have a very bad impact on Chaochao, so why did you still do it? If you had just stayed put and done nothing, would all of this have happened today?"

"You're the one who caused all the problems, yet you still have the nerve to question me? Zhu Xingye, are you out of your mind?!"

"..." Zhu Xingye was speechless for a moment after being rebuked by her.

She tilted her head slightly, looking at Zhu Xingye with disdain and contempt: "Brother, I still consider you my brother! If you have any conscience at all, hurry up and release Chaochao."

"Your second and third brothers don't know the truth. It's not too late for you to turn back now!"

"Heh..." Zhu Xingye sneered, "So what if it's not too late? I don't want to turn back anyway."

Zhu Mingyue: "You..."

"I've worked so hard for over ten years, and it's only now that I've finally met someone I like so much. How can you expect me to give up?" Zhu Xingye frowned, his tone suddenly tinged with sadness.

“Mingyue, I took over the Zhu Group when I was seventeen and became the sole head of the Zhu family. At that time, Chaochao was just a little girl with a mushroom haircut. She was too young, and Zhu Ning and Zhu Qian had to go to school, so neither of them had time to take care of her. I took her with me every day, and would hold her and coax her to sleep while I was in meetings.”

"She grew up in my hands, and she was always there for me when I was most lonely and helpless! She is my only pillar of support. What's wrong with liking her?"

"But...but she's your sister." Zhu Mingyue's expression showed some reluctance. "She did keep you company, but given her status, how can you be with her?"

Zhu Xingye: "Why not? She and I aren't related by blood!"

As he spoke, Zhu Xingye slowly approached Zhu Mingyue: "Mingyue, I admit that when I developed feelings for her, her background had not yet been revealed, so for the past few years I have been suppressing my feelings and dared not reveal them at all."

"Until I found you!"

"When I found out that Chaochao wasn't the Zhu family's biological daughter, I was ecstatic! I thought I could finally be with the person I love, but I never expected that all of you would be stopping me."

"I just want to be with the people I like, I don't understand what's wrong with that..."

As Zhu Xingye spoke, he drew closer and closer, and Zhu Mingyue finally realized something was wrong.

She instinctively raised her hand to grip the gun at her waist and took a few steps back warily: "Zhu Xingye, what do you want to do?"

"Heh..." Zhu Xingye grinned and chuckled, "I didn't mean anything by it, I was just having a heart-to-heart talk with my dear sister."

His words were eloquent, but his actions never stopped, and in fact, they seemed to be getting increasingly hurried.

Zhu Mingyue's alarm bells rang, and she gripped the gun tightly in her hand instantly.

Zhu Xingye sized her up, only noticing that she had assumed a defensive stance, but unaware that she had a gun tucked into her waistband.

He didn't take the girl's defenses seriously. After taking a few slow steps, he suddenly pulled a thin syringe out of his trench coat pocket!

The syringe contained a clear liquid. Although Zhu Mingyue didn't know what it was, she was certain that it would harm her.

She dared not hesitate any longer and quickly pulled out the retrograde gun, aiming it at Zhu Xingye's forehead.

Zhu Xingye suddenly stopped moving.

He narrowed his eyes, looking at the gun in Zhu Mingyue's hand with some disdain: "Mingyue, are you a child? You actually want to threaten your older brother with a toy gun."

Zhu Mingyue frowned: "Who told you it was just a toy gun?"

Zhu Xingye raised an eyebrow: "Isn't that right? You're a college student who hasn't even officially graduated yet, a newcomer to the entertainment industry, how could you possibly get your hands on a real gun?"

"Moreover, there are no guns that look like this, either domestically or internationally."

"Hmph," Zhu Mingyue sneered, "This gun is completely different from the kind of gun you think it is."

"Oh?" Zhu Xingye tilted his head, his expression like he was teasing a child. "How is it different?"

Zhu Mingyue: "You'll know once you try it."

As soon as she finished speaking, she pulled the trigger without hesitation for a second.

With a muffled "bang," a ball of blue and white light suddenly condensed at the muzzle of the retrograde gun. The rays intertwined, forming a vortex at the muzzle.

Then, a blinding white light surged out from the vortex and struck Zhu Xingye's forehead at an absurdly fast speed.

"call out--"

The sound of something cutting through the air pierced Zhu Mingyue's eardrums. Zhu Mingyue was thrown backward by the recoil of the retrograde gun. Before she could regain her footing, she saw the ball of white light directly enter Zhu Xingye's brow.

Zhu Xingye's body stiffened, and his brows furrowed in pain.

Immediately afterwards, an overwhelming sense of dizziness enveloped him, and before he could react, everything went black—

"Thump!"

His body crashed heavily to the ground, his eyes closed, and he lost consciousness.

"..."

Zhu Mingyue stared at him blankly. After a moment, she cautiously took two steps forward and kicked Zhu Xingye's shin.

"..."

Zhu Xingye was completely dizzy and had no reaction at all.

"Phew..." Zhu Mingyue finally breathed a sigh of relief and quickly took out her phone to send a message to Shi Jing.

— Zhu Xingye has been hit by the time-reversal gun and is now unconscious. You guys come in quickly!

But as soon as the message was sent, Zhu Mingyue suddenly felt dizzy.

"...Hmm?" She frowned in confusion, not yet understanding what was happening to her, when she suddenly collapsed next to Zhu Xingye.