The banquet hall for the Xie Group's anniversary celebration was brightly lit and filled with the clinking of glasses. Social elites, business tycoons, and media reporters gathered together, their elegant attire and cheerful conversation creating a scene of extravagance. This was a stage meticulously crafted by Xie Hongyuan to showcase his wealth and power.
Inside the lounge, the atmosphere was completely at odds with the hustle and bustle outside.
Xie Chen (the main personality), dressed in a custom-made haute couture suit, sat in front of a vanity mirror, his face pale, his fingers cold and trembling slightly. The face reflected in the mirror was still handsome, but filled with undisguised tension and fear. Su Nian stood behind him, her hands gently resting on his tense shoulders, giving him a firm yet reassuring look through the mirror.
“Remember, what you are playing is your mother’s gift, her indomitable spirit.” Su Nian’s voice was low, but it reached his ears clearly. “You are not fighting alone.”
Xie Chen took a deep breath and, through the mirror, saw Ah Chen standing in the shadows of the corner of the lounge. Today, Ah Chen was unusually dressed in a sharply tailored black suit, without a tie, and the top two buttons of his shirt were casually undone. He exuded a cold and dangerous aura unlike his usual manic self. He leaned against the wall, arms crossed, his dark eyes like those of a lurking cheetah, fixed on the lounge door, as if waiting for something.
He didn't look at Xie Chen or Su Nian, but his very presence was a silent support and deterrent.
"It's time, Mr. Xie, it's your turn to go on stage," a staff member announced as they entered the room.
Xie Chen's body trembled violently, and he looked at Su Nian for help.
Su Nian pressed his shoulder hard and gave him a "you can do it" look.
Ah Chen nodded slightly, almost imperceptibly, from the shadows.
Xie Chen closed his eyes, took another deep breath, and when he opened them again, although fear was still in his eyes, there was also a hint of desperate determination. He stood up, straightened the non-existent wrinkles, and walked with slightly stiff but firm steps toward the door leading to the stage.
The stage spotlight, like a judge's gaze, focused on Xie Chen as he walked toward the piano. Below the stage, Xie Hongyuan sat in the main seat, wearing a polite and reserved smile, like a father proud of his son. Only occasionally, when his eyes swept over Xie Chen, did a hint of cold, controlling desire be revealed.
Xie Chen sat down at the piano. The cold touch of the keys made his fingertips tremble. He looked up, his gaze sweeping across the sea of people below the stage, finally settling on Xie Hongyuan's hypocritical face. A wave of immense fear gripped him again, making him almost want to run away.
Just then, out of the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of the stage backdrop. Su Nian stood there, giving him an encouraging gesture. In the deeper shadows, A Chen's figure was faintly visible, his dark eyes fixed on him, without urging, without disdain, only a near-synchronized, suppressed tension and...trust?
A strange feeling welled up inside him. He wasn't alone.
He slowly raised his hand, his long, slender fingers hovering above the piano keys. The entire hall fell silent; all eyes were fixed on him.
Then, he pressed the first note.
The familiar yet melancholic melody of "Candle in the Wind," like a gentle stream carrying a subtle tremor, flowed through the opulent banquet hall. At first, the notes were somewhat hesitant, tinged with tension, but gradually, Xie Chen became immersed in the music. He remembered his mother's gentle smile, her focused expression as she played the piece, and the love and hope that the melody represented—love and hope that had not been completely extinguished by violence.
The music flowed smoothly, and the emotions became richer. It was no longer just simple sorrow, but also contained a resilience after struggle, a silent rebellion. The guests below the stage were gradually drawn in by this infectious performance, and the whispers subsided.
Xie Hongyuan's smile froze slightly. He seemed to have also sensed the unusual meaning in the melody, and his eyes sharpened.
The song ended.
The last note faded into the air, and the banquet hall fell into a brief silence, which was then broken by enthusiastic applause. Xie Chen sat at the piano, slightly out of breath, with fine beads of sweat on his forehead, but his eyes were no longer filled with fear. Instead, there was a sense of relief and exhaustion, and... a faint, unnoticed determination.
He did it. Under the watchful eyes of his enemies, he played his mother's final song.
Amid applause, Xie Hongyuan stood up, his face once again displaying a perfect smile, preparing to go on stage to deliver his planned speech of filial piety and to once again consolidate his control over his "son" in front of everyone.
However, just as he was about to take a step—
Xie Chen, standing on the stage, slowly raised his head. His eyes changed!
No longer gentle and fragile, but instantly replaced by a cold, sharp, and seemingly penetrating blackness! The overall temperament also underwent a dramatic change, transforming from the previous elegance and sensitivity into an aggressive and dangerously oppressive aura!
It was Ah Chen! He switched out at the critical moment when the performance ended and he was about to relax!
The audience erupted in an uproar! Many noticed the dramatic change in Xie Chen's demeanor and whispers began to circulate again.
Xie Hongyuan abruptly stopped, his smile freezing completely, and for the first time, his eyes revealed a look of unprepared shock and a hint of... barely perceptible panic! He knew that "he" had come out!
Ignoring the commotion below the stage, Ah Chen picked up the microphone from the piano, his gaze like a cold arrow, shooting straight at Xie Hongyuan below the stage, a cruel and gleeful smile curving his lips.
"Ladies and gentlemen," his voice, deep and husky, carrying a wicked and cynical air, echoed through the microphone throughout the banquet hall, "thank you all for coming to this... interesting gathering."
He paused, his gaze sweeping across the room before finally settling on Xie Hongyuan, whose face was ashen.
"Before my father delivers his moving speeches, I'd like to share a little... secret of the Xie family." His tone was casual, yet it instantly chilled the atmosphere in the banquet hall!
Xie Hongyuan suddenly stood up and shouted sternly, "Xie Chen! What nonsense are you talking about! Get down here!" He tried to suppress Xie Chen with his usual authority.
But Ah Chen just scoffed, his eyes growing even colder: "What? Father, are you scared? Afraid that everyone will know that you, this successful entrepreneur, model husband, and father... are actually a hypocrite who has been a long-term abuser of his wife, drove her to her death, and may even be involved in illegal activities?"
"Whoosh—!"
The audience erupted in chaos! Reporters, like sharks smelling blood, frantically snapped photos!
Xie Hongyuan trembled with rage, his face turning from pale to ashen. He pointed at Achen, but was too terrified to utter a coherent sentence.
Ah Chen stopped looking at him and took out the brown paper envelope from the inside pocket of his suit. He shook the envelope as if it were an invitation to death.
“The contents of this place,” his voice came clearly into everyone’s ears through the microphone, “include my mother’s diagnosis of domestic violence, her suicide note accusing someone of threatening and controlling her, and… some interesting clues about certain ‘special’ dealings with the Xie Group.”
He looked at Xie Hongyuan, whose face was ashen, with eyes as if he were looking at a pile of disgusting garbage: "Father, what do you think? Should I share these 'gifts' with all the guests and media friends here now? Or... should we have a proper 'talk' about it in private?"
A threat, a naked, yet precise and deadly threat.
Xie Hongyuan stared intently at A Chen, or rather, at the envelope in his hand, his chest heaving violently. Everything he had carefully cultivated—his reputation, status, and image—was being roasted over a fire in the most brutal and direct way by his son on stage, whom he considered a "flawed product"!
He had no doubt that the madman would reveal everything on the spot! That would be utter destruction!
A long, suffocating standoff.
Finally, Xie Hongyuan seemed to have all his strength drained away. He staggered back a step and slumped back into his chair, looking as if he had aged ten years in an instant. He raised his hand with difficulty, waved it, and hoarsely instructed his assistant beside him, "...Cancel...cancel the next segment...Please...please, guests...make yourselves at home..."
He chose to compromise. Faced with overwhelming leverage and the other party's reckless madness, he suffered a crushing defeat.
Chaos erupted in the banquet hall, with guests buzzing with discussion and reporters attempting to break through barriers to obtain more information.
On stage, Ah Chen watched the man collapse in an instant, his face devoid of any joy of victory, only a cold emptiness and profound weariness. He had avenged his great enemy, but there was no expected satisfaction, only endless emptiness.
He dropped the microphone, ignoring the noise and chaos behind him, and walked straight off the stage.
Su Nian immediately went to meet him. When Ah Chen saw her, the cold fortress around him seemed to crumble instantly. He pulled her into a tight embrace, so tight that he almost crushed her. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his body trembling slightly.
“It’s over…” he whispered hoarsely in her ear, his voice carrying a sense of relief, but also a deeper, unbearable pain.
Su Nian hugged him and gently patted his back: "Yes, it's over."
Just then, 088's voice suddenly rang in Su Nian's mind, but it was no longer its usual lively tone; instead, it was filled with rapid electrical static and unprecedented panic:
[Warning! High-dimensional energy interference detected! World stability has drastically decreased! Mission completion calculation... Error... Error... Unable to connect to the main...]
The sound stopped abruptly!
At the same time, Su Nian felt a strong sense of dizziness and disorientation! The surrounding scenery began to distort and blur, and the noise of the banquet hall seemed to be separated by a thick curtain of water. The figure of A Chen in her arms also began to become unstable, as if it would disappear at any moment.
"Su Nian!" Ah Chen seemed to sense something was wrong as well. He suddenly raised his head, grabbed her arm tightly, and his dark eyes were filled with shock, anger, and... a bottomless panic that transcended the world. "Don't go! I won't allow it—!"
His roar seemed to pierce through the barriers of time and space.
However, that force was irresistible.
In the last moment before her consciousness completely faded, Su Nian seemed to see A Chen, no, she saw countless blurry figures overlapping on him—the CEO's obsession, the Immortal Lord's aloofness, the Prince's laziness, the Emperor's tyranny, the e-sports god's dependence, and the pianist's struggle and pain... All the fragments of Xie Chen, in that instant, cast the same desperate and unwilling gaze upon her!
[Forced shutdown! Target: Main God Space! Teleport—!]
Everything went completely black.
(End of Chapter 146)
(The End of Volume 6, The Pianist with a Dual Personality)
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Volume Seven Preview: Memory Regression and Systemic Upheaval
Background: Main God Space, Spacetime Turbulence
Status: Su Nian has been forced to leave the small world; System 088 has lost contact due to interference from an unknown force. Xie Chen's soul fragments are resonating and showing a tendency to converge.
Core objectives: Survival, uncovering the truth behind the system's anomalies, and confronting Xie Chen's gradually complete soul entity.
Highlights: Su Nian reviews her past missions and comes to understand her true feelings for Xie Chen. A shattered system, a blurry yet oppressively powerful collection of fragments, heralds the final battle.
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