Chapter 409 The Grand Finale: The King of Hell Disarms and Embraces a Baby, Begonia Blossoms Fill the Capital
winter solstice.
Beijing was blanketed in a heavy snowfall, the likes of which hadn't been seen in a decade. The snowflakes, as large as goose feathers, completely enveloped the city.
The top floor of the military hospital was completely surrounded by Lei Dun's men, so much so that not even a fly could get in.
The smell of disinfectant had a hint of gunpowder.
Qin Zheng leaned on a new cane—it was made of pure steel and could be used as a stick.
Standing guard at the elevator entrance, his eyes, like those of a sleepy wolf, were fixed on the red floor numbers.
"bite."
The elevator door opened a crack.
Qin Zheng had just raised the steel crutch halfway when he saw who was coming out and put it down again.
Lu Zhenguo was wearing a military overcoat, his shoulders covered in snowflakes, with Meng Wan following anxiously behind him.
"Has she given birth yet?" The old man's voice boomed, making the corridor ceiling light flicker twice.
"Not yet, she's been in the delivery room for three hours." Qin Zheng shook his head and gestured with his chin toward the end of the corridor.
"The brigade commander paced around the entrance so much that he almost wore through the floor tiles."
At the entrance to the delivery room.
Lu Jingyan had never been this cowardly in his life.
Even when he had a dozen guns pointed at his head in the southern jungles, he didn't even flinch.
But now, listening to Su Wantang's increasingly loud curses inside, this man, who was known as the "Living Yama," was so trembling that he even crushed his cigarette case.
"Lu Jingyan! You bastard!"
"I'm never having another baby! Ah—it hurts so much!"
"If you dare touch me again, I... I'll castrate you!"
Lu Jingyan pressed his face against the crack in the door, listening to the powerful curses. Far from being angry, he breathed a sigh of relief.
The fact that they can still swear means they have strength.
Meng Wan walked over and handed the thermos to her son with heartache: "Don't turn it anymore. This is how women go through childbirth. It's like going through the gates of hell."
Lu Jingyan wiped his face; it was covered in cold sweat.
"Mom, this has been going on for too long." His voice was hoarse, as if he had swallowed a handful of sand. "Can't we do a C-section?"
"Nonsense!" Meng Wan glared at him. "The doctor said the baby is in the correct position, and a natural birth is better for the baby."
As they were talking, the window at the end of the corridor suddenly shattered with a crash.
The wind and snow rushed in, and the cold wind felt like knives scraping against my face.
Qin Zheng reacted the fastest, thrusting his steel crutch horizontally in front of Lu Zhenguo: "Be on alert!"
The twelve Thunder Shield Guards simultaneously pulled back their bolts.
There was no sound outside the window.
Only the wind howled.
Lu Jingyan's eyes changed instantly. His anxious fatherly demeanor vanished, replaced by a murderous aura that seemed to have emerged from a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood.
He pulled the Browning from his waist and stood guard at the entrance to the delivery room.
"Since you're here, don't hide." Lu Jingyan stared at the ventilation opening on the ceiling, his voice icy cold.
"hehe……"
An old man's laughter, like fingernails scraping a blackboard, was so grating it made your teeth ache.
The vent grille suddenly fell off, and a dark figure floated down.
Not human.
It is a wheelchair.
A gaunt old man sat in a wheelchair, wearing an old-fashioned Zhongshan suit, with a thick blanket covering his legs.
His face was covered with age spots, and his eyes were sunken, making him look like a retired old man sunbathing at the entrance of an alley.
Except for those eyes.
They were mechanical eyes, with red light flickering in and out of their pupils.
“Shadow.” Lu Jingyan narrowed his eyes and uttered two words.
The old man tilted his head, surveyed the surrounding dark gun barrels, and laughed maniacally.
"Commander Lu, it's a pleasure to meet you. I heard your wife is giving birth? I've come to bring a congratulatory gift."
He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the wheelchair.
"Buzz—"
An extremely low-frequency vibration instantly filled the entire floor.
Qin Zheng felt as if a steel needle had been drilled into his brain; the pain made his vision blur, and his cane clattered to the ground. The Thunder Shield team members fared even worse, clutching their heads and collapsing to their knees; some even had blood flowing from their nostrils.
Sonic weapons.
Lu Zhenguo and Meng Wan were also pale-faced, leaning against the wall and swaying precariously.
Only Lu Jingyan remained standing.
He bit his tongue hard, the excruciating pain keeping him conscious, and raised his hand to fire a shot.
"Bang!"
The bullet struck three inches in front of the wheelchair, but it seemed to hit an invisible wall, eerily hovering in mid-air before clattering to the ground.
Magnetic shield.
"Save your breath." Shadow sighed and slowly maneuvered the wheelchair toward the delivery room.
"This is the culmination of fifty years of technological advancement at Eagle's Nest. Today, I'm here to take my 'Holy Infant'."
He stared at the door of the delivery room with a fanatical look that was nauseating.
"Perfect genes, coupled with the nourishment of the spiritual spring... that is the key to human evolution."
Lu Jingyan threw away his gun, pulled a military dagger from his boot, and stood like a lone wolf in a desperate situation, blocking the only way.
"If you want to get in, step over my dead body."
The shadow chuckled: "As you wish."
The armrests of the wheelchair flipped open, revealing two dark gun barrels.
Just then, a loud baby cry suddenly came from the delivery room.
"Wow--"
That cry was like the dawn breaking through the darkness.
The red light in Shadow's eyes intensified: "It's born! My Holy Infant!"
He jerked the lever, and the wheelchair accelerated toward the gate.
Just as Lu Jingyan was about to pounce, the delivery room door suddenly opened.
It wasn't knocked open.
It opens from the inside.
A figure in blood-stained surgical scrubs stood at the door, not holding a child, but carrying a red can that looked like a fire extinguisher.
Su Wantang's face was as pale as paper, and her hair was soaked with sweat and stuck to her face, but two flames burned in her peach blossom eyes.
"You son of a bitch!"
She cursed and pulled the trigger without hesitation.
"Sizzle—"
There was no flame, and no dry powder.
What sprayed out was a pale blue liquid, accompanied by an extremely cold white mist.
That was "special liquid nitrogen" she made by compressing and freezing the spiritual spring water she had accumulated in her space.
Before Shadow could react, the extremely cold liquid splashed all over him.
Magnetic shields can protect against bullets, but not against liquids.
"Sizzle—"
That was the crisp sound of metal rapidly cooling and contracting.
The shadow's wheelchair instantly frosted over, and the delicate electronic components short-circuited and sparked at the ultra-low temperature.
The red light in those mechanical eyes flickered twice before going out completely.
"Ah—my legs! My equipment!"
The shadow let out a shrill scream, trying to move, but found its joints were frozen.
Su Wantang's hand went limp, and the jar fell to the ground with a clatter.
She swayed, and looked like she was about to fall.
Lu Jingyan rushed over like a gust of wind and caught her.
"Wantang!"
"No... don't let him get away..." Su Wantang gasped for breath, pointing at the old man who had turned into an ice sculpture.
"He's just a... cyborg, the core of which is that battery in his heart..."
Lu Jingyan gently handed her over to Meng Wan, who had rushed over, and then turned to walk towards the shadow.
At this moment, the shadow looked like a fly frozen in amber, its face filled with terror.
"No...don't kill me! I have the secret to immortality! I have..."
Lu Jingyan kicked the wheelchair over.
He twirled the bayonet in his hand and then gripped it in the other hand.
"Immortality?" A cruel smile curled at the corner of Lu Jingyan's lips; it was the true smile of the King of Hell.
"Be careful in your next life, don't mess with the people I need to protect."
"Pfft."
The bayonet pierced the shadow's left chest with precision, and with a sickening metallic crack, pulled out a tiny battery emitting black smoke.
The shadow's twitching stopped abruptly.
This malignant tumor, which had lurked in the shadows of China for decades, has finally been eradicated.
The low-frequency vibrations in the corridor disappeared.
Qin Zheng got up from the ground and spat out a mouthful of bloody phlegm: "Damn it, this old bastard is quite a troublemaker."
Lu Jingyan ignored the corpse, threw away the bloodstained military dagger, and turned to rush back to Su Wantang's side.
"Where is the child?" His voice trembled.
In the delivery room, a nurse came out carrying two swaddled babies, trembling.
"Congratulations, Chief! It's...it's a pair of twins, a boy and a girl."
Lu Jingyan didn't even glance at the child. He knelt down beside Su Wantang's stretcher and held her cold hand to his face.
"Honey, does it hurt?"
Su Wantang weakly opened her eyes and looked at this man who usually sheds blood but not tears, his eyes red like a wronged dog, and couldn't help but laugh.
"Lord Yama, you just killed someone and didn't wash your hands, don't touch my face."
"Okay, okay, I'll wash, I'll go wash right now." Lu Jingyan stammered, tears streaming down his face.
"We're not having any more children, not in this lifetime."
Lu Zhenguo came closer, looked at the two wrinkled little monkeys, and his mustache stood on end with amusement:
"Good! Good! I'm going to call my old comrades-in-arms, let's see who dares to say that the Lu family has no one to rely on!"
Meng Wan rolled her eyes at him: "Let Wan Tang rest first!"
...
Three years later.
It's the winter solstice again.
The Lu family compound was as bustling as a vegetable market.
"Brother! Give me back my crabapple cake!"
A beautifully sculpted little girl, with her short legs, chased after a chubby-faced little boy.
The little boy ran while stuffing snacks into his mouth, saying, "Mom said, whoever grabs it first keeps it!"
"That's what Dad left for me!" The little girl sat down on the snow in anger and started wailing at the top of her lungs.
"Dad! My brother is bullying me!"
As soon as the curtain to the main hall was lifted, Lu Jingyan rushed out wearing an apron and holding a spatula.
"Lu Cheng'an! Are you asking for a beating?"
The once formidable Brigade Commander Lu is now the Lu family's top chef and full-time stay-at-home dad.
Since that day at the hospital, he has truly stepped back from the front lines and gone to the military academy as a casual instructor, where his most important task every day is to take care of his wife and children.
Seeing that things were not going well, the little boy Lu Cheng'an quickly slipped behind Qin Zheng.
He smiled and shielded the young master, saying, "Brigadier, he's just a child, he needs to grow."
"You spoil him!" Lu Jingyan glared at Qin Zheng, then turned and picked up his daughter Lu Anning from the ground, his movements as gentle as if he were holding a rare treasure.
"Don't cry, Ningning. Dad made you a new one. It's all for you. Don't give any to your brother."
Lu Cheng'an made a face at Qin Zheng's back: "You're biased!"
Su Wantang sat on a rocking chair under the eaves, holding a purple clay teapot in her hands. It was a top-quality Da Hong Pao teapot that she had "borrowed" from Old Master Lu.
She wore a pure white fox fur coat, and the years had left no trace on her face; instead, they gave her a touch of languor and nobility.
Today, she is ostensibly the chairperson of Tangdi Group, controlling half of the economic lifeline of Beijing's elite circle;
In secret, she was the mysterious "Mr. Bai," whom everyone in both the legitimate and underworld circles had to bow down and call "Master."
"Alright, it's a holiday, this noise is giving me a headache," Su Wantang said lazily.
Lu Jingyan immediately shut up, hugged his daughter and came over, his face full of flattery: "Wife, the dumplings are ready, with sauerkraut and pork filling, your favorite kind."
Su Wantang glanced at him: "I want to eat spicy food."
"Yes! I've already prepared chili oil." Lu Jingyan put his daughter down and squatted down beside the rocking chair to massage her legs. "You're happy today, tonight..."
He whispered a few words in her ear.
Su Wantang's cheeks flushed slightly, and she kicked him lightly: "You old lecher."
Lu Jingyan took her ankle in his hand, his fingertips caressing her delicate skin, his eyes so deep they seemed to draw her in:
"So, who are you trying to impress with your serious demeanor?"
Just then, the sound of a car engine came from outside the gate.
Lu Jingyue walked in arm in arm with Zhou Jimin. This girl is now completely cured of her illness, has become a famous painter, and has even won over that dull-witted Zhou Jimin who was focused on scientific research.
"Brother, sister-in-law! Look who I brought!"
Du Kangnian followed behind, as did Huo Jingran, who had flown in specially from Hong Kong Island.
Du Kangnian was carrying a large suitcase, and when he saw Su Wantang, he grinned from ear to ear:
"Miss, this is the profit-sharing ledger from Shanghai this year, and also... the batch of old mine jadeite you requested."
Su Wantang's eyes lit up.
She sat up straight, took the ledger, and casually flipped through it. The string of zeros was pleasing to the eye.
"Old Du, you've worked hard."
"Of course, of course."
Huo Jingran stepped forward and handed over a document: "Wantang, the semiconductor production line on Hong Kong Island has been set up. This is the equity transfer document. Your copy hasn't been touched."
Su Wantang smiled and took it, then casually handed it to Lu Jingyan: "Take it, give it to the child as New Year's money."
Lu Jingyan didn't even glance at the priceless document, casually stuffing it into his apron pocket, his mind and eyes only on the woman in front of him.
"Okay, whatever you say."
Night falls.
The snow was still falling, but the Lu family compound was brightly lit and warm.
The family sat around a large round table as steaming dumplings were served.
Grandpa Lu sat in the main seat, beaming with joy as he looked at his children and grandchildren gathered around him. Meng Wan poured a glass of wine for everyone.
Su Wantang picked up her wine glass, looked at Lu Jingyan beside her, and then at the room full of relatives and friends.
In my past life, those were ten years of despair spent on a sickbed.
In this life, she has money, power, a lover, children, and the warmth of family life.
Su Wantang, this time, she's completely won.
"A toast to this prosperous era," Su Wantang said softly.
Lu Jingyan took her hand under the table, their fingers intertwined, his palm burning hot.
"I salute you," he whispered in her ear, "you are my golden age."
Fireworks exploded outside the window.
The dazzling light and shadow reflected in their intertwined gazes.
Snow falls silently, crabapple blossoms bloom.
The story is long, and the rest of life is still long.
But that doesn't stop them from eating dumplings, counting money, and loving each other every winter solstice night.
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