The bullet did not hit Yao Chen because Yao Chen’s flying knife was faster, grazing Han Yanyan's arm as it clattered with a burst of blood droplets. At the moment Han Yanyan pulled the trigger, her arm was injured, causing her to lose grip on the gun, which fell to the ground, the bullet instead striking the ceiling. Han Yanyan cried out in pain and tumbled off the sofa, rolling onto the carpet.
Before she could recover, Yao Chen quickly seized the gun, aiming it squarely at her.
San Hu heard the gunshot and rushed in. Upon seeing the scene before him, he breathed a sigh of relief and shouted, "Big Brother, hurry! The police will be here soon!"
“I know," Yao Chen fixed his gaze on Han Yanyan. "You go outside and keep watch."
San Hu misunderstood this as a desire to torment Han Yanyan and turned to leave.
This woman deserved a fate worse than death for what she tried to do to him.
Yao Chen shared the same thought. She actually dared to attempt to kill him. The way she raised the gun just moments ago was too precise, clearly a sign of professional training. Who on earth was she? Why did she do this?
Clenching his teeth, he resolutely lowered the gun’s muzzle and shot through Han Yanyan's ankle.
Han Yanyan let out a piercing scream, nearly losing consciousness from the agony. Gritting her teeth against the pain, she started crawling away from Yao Chen.
“Tell me, why?” Yao Chen demanded through clenched teeth.
With a white face and cold sweat beading her brow, Han Yanyan turned to look at him.
“You kill, deal drugs, gamble, lend at high interest, force people into prostitution...” she replied.
Yao Chen fired again, this time piercing her other ankle.
“Don’t spout nonsense about good and evil not existing together!” he growled, teeth grinding. “Are you some sort of embodiment of justice? You know better than that!”
“I’m just telling you that you... you are where you are today because of your own actions." Han Yanyan gasped in pain, "I’m certainly not an embodiment of justice.”
Yao Chen bellowed, “Then why!”
Han Yanyan’s face was as pale as wax, and in this dire moment, she actually smiled.
“Because you... are you, and I… am me.” She smiled wickedly yet strikingly.
Within that striking smile lay an unspeakable desolation.
Because you are “Yao Chen,” and I am “Han Yanyan.” Neither of us are really ourselves. In this world, we play the roles others impose upon us, lacking any choice in the matter.
Yao Chen could not comprehend the meaning behind Han Yanyan’s words, yet her smile left him shaken.
If given one more chance, he thought, he would still fall for this woman.
At that moment, Han Yanyan’s hand finally grasped the hilt of a knife.
The death here was not the end; perhaps there would be another chance for us to meet again.
She flung the knife toward Yao Chen. His pupils constricted in shock, and he aimed at her forehead, pulling the trigger.
Time froze.
This was the second time.
Han Yanyan saw the bullet and the flying knife glide past each other. The bullet was fast, the knife slow. Yet in her eyes, everything felt slow and painfully clear.
The knife sped toward her throat, the bullet towards her brow. If either struck true, they would perish together. Would Leo be pleased by such an outcome?
But Han Yanyan was far from pleased.
She watched helplessly as the bullet sliced through the air, trailing a white stream, slowly heading for her brow. She could hear her own heartbeat, the blood rushing through her veins.
Fear of death gripped her.
It was like standing on a ten-meter diving board, readying to leap into the water, knowing no fear. But if someone were to push her unexpectedly, that suddenness would evoke a scream of terror.
If Han Yanyan had truly wished to die, she could have cast aside all fear. Yet, she did not want to die; she only wished to resolve this world’s turmoil. The bullet hurtling toward her awakened a dread of death she couldn’t dismiss.
Even though she understood that, in this place, death was not the finality.
Stop! Stop!
I am the Architect!
I have built this world!
Stop for me—stop now!
An invisible force shield formed before her, the bullet rushed forward, striking the barrier. It came to a halt, the force colliding and creating swirling white currents of air.
But it finally stopped.
Within her, deep in her being, there was an extraordinary power on the verge of eruption. This power yearned to set her ablaze, to turn her to ashes, only to rise anew from the flames!
In the moment before the explosion, Han Yanyan looked up. Her gaze passed over the bullet and the knife captured by the force shield, locking onto Yao Chen.
She saw eyes staring back at her.
They were undeniably Yao Chen’s eyes, yet at the same time, they were not. Han Yanyan had seen those eyes before, more than once.
They too looked at her, beyond the bullets and knives—but without the love and hatred Yao Chen held for her, only cold indifference.
In that split second, Han Yanyan suddenly understood. In that very moment, before her stood someone surpassing “Yao Chen,” someone beyond this world. She was facing his true self!
With this “true self” emerged a terrifying oppression emanating from the man opposite her. A tremendous force was barreling toward her like a roaring tide. If her own power erupted, it would collide head-on. The consequence of such a collision could be...
Death!
Real death!
Ferocious fear seized Han Yanyan, but she could neither stop her internal power from erupting nor resist the overwhelming pressure from him.
This time, she thought, she might truly die.
Then... it was as if a television turned off suddenly, or a computer was abruptly unplugged, like the power in the house failing. The world didn't collapse; it didn’t end.
The world was forcefully severed.
Han Yanyan did not return to the pure white space but found herself trapped in boundless darkness. In that dark void, it felt as if a giant hand had grasped her, squeezing and crushing, making her feel both shattered and reformed. If light were to shine, she might have looked like a monster with a foot on her head and hands sprouting from her backside.
Amid that binding and squeezing, the power within her that longed to break free grew weaker, as if brutally suppressed.
This could only be the work of Leo, not Yao Chen.
“Damn it!” Leo exclaimed flustered, “This woman!”
“What’s happening?” someone overseeing the world and Leo asked.
Leo had no time to respond; he swiped a bright screen before him, directing the person to see for himself. At the crucial moment, Leo had urgently severed the world!
“Inject the suppressant!”
“What’s going on? The values are still climbing? Give her another dose!”
Leo shouted commands to the system, his voice hoarse.
On another screen, the wildly fluctuating values finally began to slow down, stabilizing at a certain point, then gradually descending until they finally steadied.
The onlooker was astonished, “Is she—her mental capacity about to activate? Wasn’t it said she came from a very primitive place?”
“Very primitive!” Leo snapped, “Isn’t it because you insisted I save her? Her genes are too primitive, showing zero resistance to gene therapy, and now she’s gone overboard. Luckily, I acted quickly and severed it. If she activated, she would be crushed to bits by your family member, and there’d be no coming back from that.”
“What about my family member?” the other person asked.
“Oh!” Leo pulled up a screen and exclaimed, “Look at this! Look at this!”
The line on the screen was stable, resembling a flatline on a heartbeat monitor. Suddenly, a minor fluctuation appeared, gently rising before settling once more.
But now, that line was shooting upward like a swan’s neck, a significant rise!
The other person’s eyes sparkled with interest.
Yet above this line, another red warning line hovered, the graph visibly illustrating that the red line indicated targets the main line still had yet to reach. There was still some distance to cover...
“Push on! Keep pushing!” the person urged, slapping Leo on the shoulder with a hefty hand, causing Leo to wince in pain.
The individual glanced at Han Yanyan’s screen and added, “Her value is very precarious; even a slight fluctuation could send her over the edge.”
“Don’t worry, I’m monitoring it. If she wavers, I’ll give her a dose of the suppressant,” Leo answered.
“Take care; if the damage is too severe, avoid injections if possible,” the person cautioned. “She’s remarkable; treat her well!”
Leo clicked his tongue.
The man shot him a look and said, “You Architects treat them as expendables?”
Leo replied, “What can I do? Most don’t last more than six months.”
“Dead?” the man asked.
“Not exactly.” Leo shrugged. “They all go mad. Sometimes, a few do die.”
Madness was alarmingly normal, the man thought.
He had monitored for an entire day and knew he would probably lose his mind after three worlds if it were him. Human hearts are made of flesh; in such a world, one can’t avoid all feelings of connection to others. Whether it be familial ties, love, or friendship, any fracturing loss can destroy a person's heart.
“What about those people?” he inquired.
Leo replied, “Where they came from is where they go back.”
After a moment of silence, the man commented, “That’s pretty ruthless.”
Leo protested, “Three died yesterday alone, and I’m telling you, double my commission!”
“Understood, I won’t skimp on you,” the man assured. “How is she holding up? Shall we... create another world?”
“If she can manage, I’m out of luck; it’s been ten hours, and I need sleep!” Leo yawned widely while attending to his tasks.
The man frowned, “What are you doing?”
“Let her keep working; I need rest, but she doesn’t,” Leo replied. “I’m a businessman, pursuing maximum profit. I have other clients too.”
Seeing the man’s frown deepen, Leo added, “Don’t fret; as she continues to train, she’ll become even stronger. This woman is not simple; I believe she can last six months without going mad. Aren’t you going to sleep?”
The man had been monitoring all day and indeed felt tired. He instructed his armed subordinates in the room, “You two take turns and watch closely.”
Leo grumbled, “A bit of trust would be nice; I rely on this for a living, and I have strong ethical standards.”
“It’s not about trusting you,” the man replied. “That one is too important.”
Leo scoffed, “With such good fortune, why not enjoy the benefits instead of causing chaos?”
The man’s expression grew serious: “It’s faith.”
He asked, “Do you have faith? Is there anything in the universe worth sacrificing your life for?”
“I believe in money,” Leo declared. “I’ll do anything for money, but taking my life? No way.”
“Ah, sleep then. Don’t attempt to convert me; it’s pointless.” Leo leaned back and sank into his chair, which closed around him like a pod, the surface transparent as glass, flashing with numerous graphs and images.
The man huffed and then went to sleep.
Meanwhile, Leo's voice resonated in the white space: “Han Yanyan, Han Yanyan.”
Han Yanyan opened her eyes in that white space upon hearing her name.