Time flew by, and three years had passed in the blink of an eye. Tang Ke's every move seemed to target the Han Family, his very existence threatening their survival.
Two years ago, Han Yanyan had already taken over as the family head, but now the old patriarch insisted on taking matters into his own hands.
“Do you really have to go? Tang Ke is a madman,” Han Yanyan asked while holding the hand of a small boy.
“The causes I planted must be resolved by my own hands,” the old patriarch said.
Time had carved signs of aging on the man’s face; he looked older now. He said, “You take good care of Xiao Tuo.”
He gently stroked the boy’s head, a look of tenderness lighting up his face. A man who had once been indifferent and strict with his own children now seemed softened in his old age.
At thirty-two, Han Yanyan watched as the six-year-old Han Tuo’s spiritual powers manifested explosively, reaching an A+ grade. He surpassed both Han Yanyan and Tang Ke's former talents, and was already recognized as Han Yanyan's heir.
But he was not Han Yanyan’s son; he was the son born when Han Jun, her father, was still strong and vigorous. With the existence of this child, Han Yanyan had no desire for marriage or more children, and her father let her be.
Since his spiritual powers manifested, Han Tuo had been kept apart from his birth mother, raised alongside Han Yanyan and the old patriarch, taught day and night.
As the old patriarch prepared to board the ship, Han Yanyan suddenly called out to him, “Dad—”
Han Jun turned back; Han Yanyan gazed at him for a moment and softly said, “Thank you for teaching me all these years. I have learned so much.”
The old patriarch chuckled, “Then you should teach Xiao Tuo well, just as I taught you.”
Han Yanyan smiled and nodded.
She watched the spacecraft soar into the sky, standing there for a long time.
“Elder sister, aren’t we going back?” Han Tuo tugged at her hand.
Han Yanyan ruffled his hair. “You go play,” she said, letting him go.
Alone, she gazed vacantly at the azure sky.
Another twenty years had passed. Two rounds and forty years of father and daughter. It was time to say goodbye.
Tang Ke received all the information regarding the old patriarch's journey from the little fairy. He narrowed his eyes, staring at the light screen.
She had managed to obtain those videos back then, handling things under the noses of the Han Patriarch and Han Yanyan, helping him infiltrate the main control system to steal confidential documents. Since that time, he had been speculating about her identity. If the information she provided today was true, then she must be someone trusted by the Han Patriarch.
Who was she? What was her purpose? What did she want?
“Do you want to take the Han family?” he sent in a message. “You and I, we can share.”
“Luring me with benefits does not mean anything to me,” the little fairy replied.
“Then what do you want?” he asked.
The little fairy was silent for a moment before saying, “I want a pair of eyes that shine like stars. Are they still there?”
Tang Ke said, “You must know they have long since disappeared.”
He no longer had those kinds of eyes. The killing intent and malice in his gaze were too heavy, causing people to shy away from looking at him directly.
“Then I have nothing left to desire,” the little fairy said.
Tang Ke didn’t believe her.
His thoughts had long ceased being innocent, and he believed that everyone desired something. Interests, greed, or hatred were the strongest driving forces pushing people forward.
Even if she really was a little fairy, she surely wanted something.
But then he thought of her as a woman—a girl who had been emotional, delicate, and gentle since childhood, quietly caring for him. So what she desired, could it be him?
Smoking a cigarette, Tang Ke found himself feeling a bit narcissistic.
When a man becomes strong enough, it is inevitable to have such self-admiration. Only then could it explain the motives behind the little fairy’s every action.
Women often did remarkable things for love and for men.
Women like Han Yanyan were ultimately a rarity.
Ten days after the old patriarch set sail, the fleet encountered an ambush, losing contact with the family.
Before that, the last message Han Yanyan received from her father was: Be careful; there’s a traitor!
Yes, she knew. Because she was that traitor. She had personally sent Han Jun into Tang Ke's hands.
Han Yanyan had been waiting for the world to end, but there was no change at all. Had Han Jun not died?
Half a month later, the Han family’s search team located a lifeboat. Han Jing Shan, who was traveling with the old patriarch, activated the life support system, deeply unconscious.
She was the only survivor from the old patriarch’s entourage. She bore wounds, having been tortured and violated.
In her hand, she clutched a chip. Tang Ke left a message for Han Yanyan.
Indeed, Han Jun had died—a slow and painful death. Tang Ke had captured him and subsequently tortured him to death.
Han Yanyan was certain that what happened to Han Jing Shan was also done by his hand.
She confronted him: “You said you wouldn’t harm the women of the Han family.”
He replied, “I said I wouldn’t kill.”
She asked, “Why treat her this way?”
He answered, “That’s how he treated my mother.”
Han Yanyan responded, “I am Han Jing Shan.”
Tang Ke laughed upon seeing the message and replied, “No, you are not.”
He indeed suspected she was Han Jing Shan. Han Jing Shan was well-trusted and was Han Yanyan’s right hand. But when he acted against her, her reaction told him she was not.
Thus, he no longer had to hold back, ruthlessly wanting to ravage her.
“Did I do something wrong?” the little fairy asked him.
Tang Ke clenched his teeth around the cigarette as he replied, “You said you would always stand by my side.”
“You are no longer my little star,” the little fairy said, sounding very forlorn. So she truly was an emotional woman.
At her age, to still be calling someone ‘little star’! Tang Ke's head felt heavy. He struggled to find clear thoughts and said, “I need you.”
After a moment, he repeated, “I need you,” trying to strengthen his tone. Emotional women are sensitive to tone, right?
Sure enough, the little fairy fell silent for a moment before saying, “I will help you one last time.”
Tang Ke smiled.
Han Yanyan rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. Little star had learned to manipulate emotions too, she thought.
Han Jun was dead, and the world had not changed—this only indicated that Tang Ke was still not satisfied. It seemed that killing Han Yanyan was the only way he could be completely satisfied.
As the female family head sought revenge for her father, she personally stepped into battle determined to kill the traitorous Tang Ke. Tang Ke had truly received the little fairy’s last piece of help; she provided him with Han Yanyan's route information just like before.
She said, “She is determined to kill you. Do you really want to kill her?”
Tang Ke replied, “No, I want her to suffer more deeply than death. What her father did to my mother, I want to return it double.”
Looking up, he noticed at his bedside there was a holographic projector casting a holographic image.
Over the years, he had collected a few recent photos of Han Yanyan. In her youth, she had been strikingly beautiful and elegant. Now, in her thirties, she had matured fully—every smile and frown radiating charm like a living aphrodisiac.
Tang Ke’s adolescence had been spent infatuated with her. His first awakening to desire was because of her, his nighttime breath and morning arousal awakened by her allure. But she had never allowed him to grow too close, leaving his youthful passions nowhere to vent, just growing deeper and deeper.
This had accumulated into an obsession, an evil thought. He couldn’t help but lick his lips.
The intelligent brain buzzed as the little fairy sent her final message.
She said, “This is the last time. You and I, it ends here. On the day we meet again, it will be a matter of life and death.”
Tang Ke stared at her message and sent a reply back, but he was notified that her number had been deactivated and could no longer be contacted.
There was no more little star in this world, nor any more little fairy.
What was in the past was in the past, and the return would come in time.
For reasons he could not comprehend, there was a subtle ache deep in his heart. He gazed at Han Yanyan’s holographic image, imagining what he would do upon capturing her, filling the void with malicious intentions.
Han Yanyan embarked on her campaign against Tang Ke. When her spacecraft was ambushed in the asteroid belt, a smile appeared on her stunning face.
It had dragged on far too long; she was growing somewhat impatient. Old man, awaken soon.
Donning her mecha, she flew from the deck, drawing the large mecha blade and bravely charging into battle.
As the mecha marked with wolf patterns clashed with her blade, sparks flew. In the vacuum of space, there were no shifting rocks or rumblings. Everyone was engrossed in the fight, with no time to spare.
Only Han Yanyan noticed—the nearest asteroid, nearly as large as the moon… trembled. Han Yanyan smiled. She knew it—she was truly the terminus of his love and hatred in this life.
The complexities of a person's heart and emotions can be intricate yet simple.
“I heard you haven’t married or had children. What happened? After I left, could none of them satisfy you?” Tang Ke’s voice came through the communication channel.
“Your voice sounds a bit more manly now,” Han Yanyan mocked. “I wonder if I’m still taller than you?”
In their exchange, the two mecha blades clashed dozens of times; sparks exploded with each hit. Just as Han Yanyan withdrew her blade, she pulled out a laser gun and fired a shot. The wolf-patterned mecha maneuvered narrowly, barely evading the attack.
“Not bad; you haven't forgotten what I taught you,” Han Yanyan praised.
Tang Ke snorted. He could not deny that he had laid a solid foundation in the Han family, with Han Yanyan contributing significantly.
But so what? She treated him like a plaything, molded him to her liking. Tang Ke thought back to how they had toyed with their mothers and felt a wave of hatred.
These lofty nobles—though they professed to value practical combat, how could those pampered days compare to his bloody trials?
The two mechas sped through the void, even quicker than ordinary spacecraft, gradually leaving the asteroid belt and drawing closer to the planet's surface.
Tang Ke felt a strange sensation.
Han Yanyan was weaker than he had expected. She had brought far fewer men than she should have. Could it be… a trap?
“Have you watched the video I prepared for you?” he taunted.
Han Yanyan had indeed watched it. Han Jing Shan had suffered a mental breakdown after awakening, having witnessed Tang Ke cruelty towards her uncle.
Han Yanyan had drifted through this world for forty years, trained by Han Jun as if he were an iceberg, nearly impervious to emotions. But Tang Ke's words still pricked a certain spot in her heart.
Her mecha suddenly lost its stability; she abandoned defense and launched a frenzied attack! Tang Ke saw the opening and severed one of her arms.
Han Yanyan calmed down.
“He… never gave in to the end. Are you about to explode with rage?” she asked through gritted teeth with a smile.
Tang Ke also held admiration, “You actually watched it from beginning to end.” His men were losing their composure, some even vomiting from the pressure of the situation.
He had to admit, “That old man is the toughest nut I’ve ever seen.”
“Of course,” Han Yanyan said proudly, “This man is the most resolute one I have ever met in my life. His heart is as hard as iron; nothing and no one can shake him.”
Gentle beauties and tender-hearted little souls would not suffice; tools and agony would hold no weight.
“He has no weaknesses. He is a true strongman. If he were not my father, I might even fall in love with him,” she continued. “Aren’t you curious why I haven’t married? Because there’s no one else like him in this world strong enough to captivate my heart.”
Tang Ke huffed.
“I knew it; in your eyes, only strength matters!”
“You know full well what he did to my mother. You know exactly what she suffered. Yet, you did nothing!”
“You used your smile to mesmerize me, training me, trying to make me into the plaything my mother was!”
“Han Yanyan! You favor strength! Let me show you what true strength is!”
The wolf-patterned mecha raised its massive blade, a strike like an avalanche shooting downwards.
Han Yanyan braced herself against the blow.
The mecha blade shattered against her resistance, the remnants cutting off her remaining arm. Flames erupted from the severed wound in various sizes. Still relentless, the wolf-patterned mecha flipped over and set up a photon cannon on its shoulder, firing directly at Han Yanyan.
Han Yanyan’s pupils constricted the instant the blinding white light shot from the cannon; she decisively abandoned her mecha, ejecting herself and the seat from behind it.
Her beloved armor shattered before her eyes! It had shielded her from that blast!
The colossal shockwave thrust her towards the planet’s atmosphere.
The explosion's flames cast shadows across her spacesuit visor.
In that fleeting moment, they both heard each other's voices through the communicator.
“You won,” she said.
“I won,” Tang Ke stated.
“Don’t get yourself killed,” he added, his voice filled with excitement and malice. The wolf-patterned mecha raced towards Han Yanyan like a shooting star.
He wanted to capture her, torture her, violate her—crush her pride and beauty underfoot! Just the thought of what he was going to do, filled him with a boiling exhilaration.
Amidst his excitement, Han Yanyan smiled.
Although the void around them was silent, she distinctly heard the sounds of wind and thunder, planets crashing. Although there was no star nearby, she saw a bright light rushing towards her from the depths of the wolf-patterned mecha.
She witnessed space rupture behind him, white light flooding forth.
This world was coming to an end; a certain departed soul was about to be awakened.
Finally unable to contain herself, Han Yanyan asked, “Tang Ke, are you happy now, having become the very person you despised most?”
As the world neared an end, Tang Ke was lost in a dizzying high-speed flight. He subconsciously murmured, “Happy?”
He replied, “I am happy.”
Of course, he was happy. He had grown up under the scorn of others and had long envied and hated those who looked down on him, dreaming of one day rising above them, turning the tables on those who had once trampled on him.
In the end, he had achieved it. He brought their family to ruin.
Ah, so delightful!
“As long as you’re happy,” Han Yanyan said, “Tang Ke.”
That voice slipped into his ears and made him freeze.
Tang Ke? Who was Tang Ke? Was he Tang Ke?
No… he was not!
He remembered who he was! How did he end up here? What was this world? What was this life?
“Goodbye, my little star,” Han Yanyan said with a smile, awaiting the end of the world.
…Little star?
The day we meet again, the day of life and death.
Her!
It was her!?
Han Yanyan’s smile suddenly froze.
In her vision, the white light surging from the universe’s fissures was about to devour and dissolve everything. In that blinding white glow, the wolf-patterned mecha blurred, transforming into a pure blue light, rushing towards her with unmatched speed.
That wasn’t the mecha, nor was it Tang Ke. That thing had transcended this world!
Han Yanyan realized what it was and extended her hand toward the blue light.
The white light surged forward—the world melted away.
But just before that, Han Yanyan's fingertips brushed against the blue light. By the standard of this reality, it lasted for 0.000000001 seconds.
Han Yanyan's consciousness came into direct contact with an S-Class spiritual power departed soul for 0.000000001 seconds.
That was enough.