Desperate Struggle

The cozy bedroom seemed to be a trap?

This was Yu Jin's first reaction.

His second reaction was that the kid had gone insane.

Yu Jin had seen countless acts of rebellion and defiant words, but he had never seen anyone define their own mother as a toy.

He frowned and strided coldly toward Xia Jie.

Xia Jie's distorted face froze, and he turned to run.

But how could a child outrun an adult?

In the blink of an eye, Yu Jin reached the doorway and lunged to grab Xia Jie, who was disappearing around the corner.

Yet, the moment Yu Jin stepped out of the bedroom, what entered his field of vision was not Xia Jie's fleeing back, but a razor-sharp bone blade thrusting straight toward him!

Father Xia was back!

He lunged forward with a furious, hideous snarl, stabbing the bone blade viciously toward Yu Jin's chest.

Yu Jin sidestepped to dodge the lethal strike, letting the bone blade pierce his upper arm. He then tensed his muscles to trap the blade and, seizing the momentum, transformed his other hand into a finger blade, stabbing it directly toward Father Xia's heart.

When his fingertips made contact with the chest, a crisp 'ding' resonated.

Yu Jin froze for a split second, only then realizing that Father Xia's ribs had already flared outward into armor, protecting his heart.

In that brief moment of distraction, the bone blade trapped in Yu Jin's muscle violently spun open. Each joint expanded like an opening umbrella, tearing through his entire upper arm. It then rapidly contracted, turning into a slithering bone serpent that shot out an inch behind Yu Jin, before abruptly snapping back to pierce through his back.

A hit!

Not the heart, but Yu Jin's palm.

In an almost impossible contortion, Yu Jin had twisted his right hand behind his back and grabbed the bone blade, gripping the 'serpent head' in a vice-like hold, preventing it from advancing even a fraction of an inch.

But because of this bizarre posture, he was locked in place.

Neither of them could move.

Father Xia glared at the murderer who had killed his wife right in front of him, the burning fury in his eyes eager to reduce Yu Jin into literal ashes.

Yet even so, Yu Jin could still detect a hint of struggle on Father Xia's face.

He had no patience to figure out what this struggle was about. To quickly break free from this deadlock, he had to push his physical capabilities to their absolute limits.

Headbutt!

Generally speaking, the skull was very hard and could often be used as a weapon.

But this was not a normal situation.

Yu Jin slammed his forehead directly into Father Xia's face. With a dull thud, Father Xia didn't feel a thing, while Yu Jin ended up seeing stars.

Seeing this, Xia Jie, who had run off to watch the battle from a safe distance, burst into roaring laughter, mocking him without restraint:

“Stupid pig! The old man has the hardest bones. Did you really think you could headbutt him to death? Overestimating yourself! I'll enjoy watching you die!”

Father Xia's strength was immense, on par with Yu Jin's, but strangely, during the time Xia Jie was speaking, the bone blade pressing toward Yu Jin's back actually wavered slightly.

Yu Jin's eyebrows shot up. Seizing the opportunity, in an inhuman movement, he used his twisted right hand to drag the bone blade from behind his back, over his head, and hacked down violently!

He sliced off his own left arm.

The moment his arm severed and fell, Yu Jin broke free from Father Xia's lock. He was free.

He snorted coldly, the irritation in his eyes flaring even brighter. Leaving Father Xia aside, he charged toward Xia Jie like an out-of-control beast.

Xia Jie was terrified. He kept backing up, retreating until there was nowhere left to go, his back pressed against a broken wall as panic spread across his face.

Yet in the next second, the panic on his face vanished completely, replaced by an extremely playful, mocking expression.

“You didn't actually think I was scared, did you?

Heh, a stupid pig is just a stupid pig.”

He sneered and gave a light wave of his hand. His figure vanished on the spot!

In his place, Father Xia was suddenly swapped into his original position.

Yu Jin's pupils dilated, but his forward momentum was unstoppable. He could only watch helplessly as he crashed straight into the blood-dripping tip of the blade before Father Xia.

The bone blade pierced through his heart, and an explosive, searing agony erupted in his chest cavity.

Yu Jin felt the crimson at the tips of his hair suddenly drip down, bleeding into his vision. The bloody hue grew thicker and thicker until it turned pitch black.

He spat out a mouthful of blood, his bloodshot eyes brimming with resentment. Drawing on the very last bit of momentum from his charge, he struggled with all his might, ignoring the severe trauma of the bone blade piercing through his body. He reached out with his only remaining right hand and swung it fiercely at Father Xia.

The enemy was right before him, but no matter how hard he tried, Yu Jin's fist could not reach him.

So close. Just a little bit more.

If only his fist could reach just a tiny bit further!

In Xia Jie's eyes, Yu Jin's struggle was utterly hilarious. That weak, feeble gesture didn't look like an attack at all; it looked more like Yu Jin was waving himself goodbye.

Xia Jie sneered, mocking him:

“You like using your fists?

Too bad they aren't big enough.

Go in peace, and don't worry about being lonely down there—I'll send your colleagues down to keep you company one by one.

What was your name again? Yu... something?

Whatever, doesn't matter. Do it.”

With that, Xia Jie waved his hand again, like an execution supervisor handing down the order for immediate death, commanding the executioner to dispatch the 'criminal'.

Father Xia was naturally that executioner, but he did not carry out the command immediately.

His face contorted violently, his teeth clenching as if resisting. His trembling muscles tore through his own skin. Though he hadn't been injured, his face was instantly covered in blood.

Seeing Father Xia disobeying his order, Xia Jie's anger flared, his expression darkening as he barked, “I said do it! Are you fucking deaf?!”

Father Xia was still resisting, but the bone blade did not listen to him. The moment the order was given, the bone blade violently ripped out of Yu Jin's body, taking with it his very last shred of strength.

Yu Jin went completely limp, but even before hitting the ground, he still hadn't given up on his attack. His remaining consciousness drove his only remaining right hand to swing at Father Xia once more.

This action completely enraged Xia Jie. He spat on the ground in disgust, and the bone blade suddenly whipped upward, tracing a circle in the air before plunging down to sever Yu Jin's right hand as well.

The excruciating pain of his severed wrist was nothing compared to death, and Yu Jin could no longer feel it anyway.

His consciousness was sinking into darkness. In his final moments, there were no life-flashing-before-his-eyes memories, only the faint sound of calling voices.

“Brother? Brother!

What are you thinking about?”

“!!!”

Yu Jin jolted, snapping back to his senses. He realized he was sitting on the bed in the bedroom, holding the revolver covered in painted smirks.

Beside him, Xia Jie was looking at him eagerly. Pointing at the gun in Yu Jin's hand, the boy suppressed the excitement in his eyes, dying to try it.

“Brother, can I touch it?”

I'm not dead?!

Yu Jin held his breath, his mind in complete disarray.

The scenes that had just unfolded rushed back into his mind. That agonizing pain, the vivid sensations, the overflowing rage, the desperate final moments—everything had felt so incredibly real... Had he actually just spaced out?

With lingering fear, Yu Jin touched his chest—no pain. He looked at his left arm—it was still there.

He exhaled a long breath, finally letting his heart settle back into his chest.

But in the next second, he felt a faint throbbing pain in his right hand, at the very spot where it had been severed at the wrist.

He abruptly stared at his right hand. A faint black line was pulsing on his wrist.

The black line grew deeper and darker, soon cracking open into a slit. Inside, flesh and blood churned, as if some terrifying entity were hidden within.

Then, his entire right arm began to twitch involuntarily. The blood and flesh beneath his skin boiled, cheering and leaping as they forced a pale, spine-like bone out from the slit.

The instant the bone was exposed to the air, all its joints flared open like the canopy of an umbrella, before folding back in sequence to turn into a writhing, razor-sharp bone blade coiled around Yu Jin's wrist.

Somehow, Yu Jin suddenly felt that if he had the extra length of this bone blade, he would have been able to strike Father Xia just now.

“Brother?”

Xia Jie's call snapped Yu Jin out of his wandering thoughts again. Yu Jin jolted once more. When he looked down, the bone blade was gone.

His right wrist was still perfectly intact, and the phantom pain had vanished. Only the gun remained in his hand, grinning with its painted smirks, staring back at him as if mocking something.

Yu Jin's brow furrowed, and he blurted out, “Did you see that?”

Xiao Jie asked, bewildered, “See what?”

Yu Jin let out a sigh of relief.

Good. He didn't see it.

Seeing that Yu Jin seemed about to space out again, Xiao Jie quickly asked:

“Brother, can I...”

“No.”

Yu Jin decisively put the gun away and distanced himself from Xiao Jie on the bed.

“?”

Xiao Jie froze, a trace of embarrassment on his face as he timidly sat back down.

He hugged his legs, looking as innocent as any other child.

“Okay, I won't look then.”

...