Zhu Zhu was not facing the Heavenly Dao for the first time. Although the previous one was a fake, it still gave her an experience: the Heavenly Dao that maintained the stability of a world was also a bully who picked on the weak and feared the strong.
She had previously attacked Zhou Qingbie and Qin Xiuran. Although she did not intend to kill, the Heavenly Dao still issued a warning.
This time, her long sword, in order to protect Jiang Chongyan, struck Qin Xiuran with a blow, leaving him in an uncertain life-or-death state. This was equivalent to slapping the face of the Heavenly Dao, the father of the Son of Destiny. No matter how great Zhu Zhu's merit was, it would be difficult to quell his rage.
The only solution was a power struggle between the two.
While the system hid in the space, trembling, it was full of admiration for its host. The hosts it had brought or heard of, once they attacked the protagonist and offended the Heavenly Dao, their first reaction was to immediately flee this world.
Not only did her host not run, but she also started fighting.
She didn't mention the last time she fought a fake, but this time it was the real deal.
Not only did they fight, but she also won.
The dark clouds in the sky receded, and the thunder disappeared without a trace. Tianyou gradually cleared up. Even walking in the dark forest, one could feel the oppressive power slowly disappearing.
If the system had a physical form, its current action would be to cautiously swallow its saliva: [Host, who exactly are you?]
"I am not human."
Based on the system's understanding of her, it felt that she was not cursing herself with this sentence.
Not human, not of the human race.
Oh, it was on her status panel, she was a god.
The system was still confused: [What is a god? Where does the power of a god come from? No, your, how did you come to be?]
Zhu Zhu thought for a moment and shook her head, "I don't know, maybe I've always existed."
Born with heaven and earth, living as long as the sun and moon.
This was a god.
The system heard it vaguely.
[Don't understand.] Its self-awareness was given by others, meaning its "self-awareness" was controlled by others. Gods were outside the main system's knowledge base, so it was even less likely to know.
"Then don't ask, it makes you look stupid."
System: [...]
Zhu Zhu walked back to her original position. Qin Xiuran and that man had already been taken away. Jiang Chongyan stood there surrounded by a group of people, not looking like he intended to escape.
"You're back!"
Zhou Qingbie had countless questions in her heart. About this person's origin, the origin of that sword, the power she used, and the destructive, world-shattering power that had just appeared.
Perhaps it felt somewhat familiar.
"Mmm."
Zhu Zhu sized up Jiang Chongyan and then said to her, "You can go now."
Zhou Qingbie suppressed the confusion in her heart: "Then we'll take our leave."
With that, she led her subordinates to withdraw in an organized manner.
These were the people she trusted the most. Without her permission, they would not cause unnecessary trouble or ask too many questions. Unless there were greater changes in the future, they would keep what happened today buried in their hearts for a lifetime.
These were not things Zhu Zhu needed to worry about. It didn't matter to her if people found out, as no one could deal with her anyway.
Zhou Qingbie was the one who needed to worry.
Zhu Zhu didn't care if she was worried or not. She looked at the person in front of her, her eyes holding a madness that Jiang Chongyan couldn't understand.
"Want to run?"
"I don't."
He could only refute her powerlessly. In fact, he had indeed run, using the skills Zhu Zhu had taught him to conceal himself, preventing her from finding him.
Zhu Zhu had no patience to listen to his explanation.
She threw the circle over and put it on Jiang Chongyan, binding his two hands.
Jiang Chongyan subconsciously wanted to struggle, but the circle emitted a golden light, tightening its grip. He even felt the pain of his soul being burned by sunlight, as he had when he was a child.
Zhu Zhu watched coldly.
Jiang Chongyan could not break free, so he gave up. His eyes, filled with starlight, looked at her fragilely, as if pleading.
Zhu Zhu's thought of locking him up instantly collapsed. She took back the circle, shrinking it into a bracelet, and then shrinking it into a ring.
"How big do you like it?"
Jiang Chongyan knew that he had to wear that thing, so he quickly chose one he liked.
"A ring."
Zhu Zhu moved closer, picked up one of his hands, and put the ring on it. She carefully looked at the slender hand, then raised it and lightly kissed the ring finger.
Jiang Chongyan's heart trembled, and he suddenly regretted it.
Why had he thought he would kill her and chosen to escape back then?
If she died, she would only become a ghost, and then they could be together for a longer time. Wouldn't that be better?
"Once you wear it, you can't take it off."
Jiang Chongyan withdrew his hand: "I know."
He paused and then said, "I was wrong."
He shouldn't have avoided it.
What was wrong with dying? He hadn't died before.
"Only this once," Zhu Zhu's calm voice carried a hint of madness, "If there's a next time, this ring will turn into a cage, and you'll be locked inside forever!"
Jiang Chongyan's heart trembled again.
A moment later, he said firmly, "I won't."
No matter life or death, they would always be together.
Zhu Zhu gently touched his hair: "Good boy."
Jiang Chongyan's heart settled, and he returned a smile.
—
Before he was attacked by those "masters," he had intended to kill all the wicked people in the Qin family, to avenge himself and to bring justice to more people.
Therefore, he didn't hide his actions much. Zhou Qingbie couldn't find him because those he had helped were secretly causing trouble, and coupled with the deviation of reality from the plot, Qin Xiuran had not joined or helped Zhou Qingbie, so she encountered considerable resistance when investigating.
With Zhou Qingbie's promise this time, those who had been harmed, both living and dead, approached them one by one. Through Jiang Chongyan, they told Zhou Qingbie about their experiences.
As a defender of justice, Zhou Qingbie was naturally so angry that she wished she could kill them immediately.
In the original plot, this was a key turning point for the male protagonist to change. He was influenced by the female protagonist and realized that some of his past methods were wrong, and that the people his family kept were not good people.
Under the condemnation of the female protagonist and his conscience, he chose to destroy his own family and killed several of the most wicked individuals, accelerating his pursuit of the beauty.
But he forgot that without his Qin family, those people would not have had the power to rely on and would not have done so many evil things.
What's more, he was the young master of the Qin family, and he was the one who benefited the most.
Following the hints from the ghosts, Zhou Qingbie quickly found evidence of their crimes. While applying for their arrest, she widely disseminated some of the most heinous cases through the media.
The Qin family was instantly pushed to the forefront of public opinion, becoming the target of widespread condemnation.
Coupled with Qin Xiuran's severe injuries and coma, his foundations completely ruined, and his followers scattering like birds and beasts, the remaining people bit and exposed each other, revealing quite a bit of evidence. This conveniently allowed the authorities to catch them all in one fell swoop.
Within a few months, the Qin family was completely ruined. Qin's father went to prison. Qin's mother lost her mind and could do nothing but be chased by people every day, cursed at and dunned for debts, leaving her no time to care for Qin Xiuran in the hospital.
Qin Xiuran was initially admitted to a VIP ward. After no one paid the fees, he was moved to a regular ward, and later, pushed out into the corridor.
Zhou Qingbie visited him once, paid a small sum of money, and had him returned to a regular ward.
She felt a pang of sadness.
He, who was once a favored son of heaven, had become like this now. Rather than wake up to find he had nothing and suffer for the rest of his life, it would be better for him to die directly.
But thinking about what the Qin family had done, Qin Xiuran hiding the fact that his cousin had hit someone with a car for his cultivation, and wanting to refine people's souls, attacking Jiang Chongyan and bringing it upon himself...
Finally, she looked at Qin Xiuran's pale and sallow face and said coldly, "You deserve it."