Moth Chasing the Sun 16

They held each other for a long moment, then Lu Mingqiu patted her on the back. "Go take a shower, then sleep."

Yan Xianchuan agreed reluctantly, let go of her arms, and obediently returned to her own room.

The hot water washed away the blood and grime. Back in bed, Yan Xianchuan felt at ease—perhaps from the lingering warmth of the steam, or perhaps because the person she had been thinking of was finally home.

She slept a full night's sleep for the first time in days. When she woke the next day, it was already afternoon.

She washed up and dressed happily, then walked out of the bedroom to see Lu Mingqiu on the sofa, her fingers flying across the screen, probably handling business again.

"Morning!" she said, full of energy.

"Morning. I left you food in the kitchen," Lu Mingqiu managed a smile for her amid the work.

Hehe!

Yan Xianchuan scurried off to the kitchen. It was all her favorite foods, so she wolfed everything down. With a full belly, she wandered back to the living room, grabbed a round, plump orange from the coffee table, and sat down beside Lu Mingqiu to peel it.

She popped a segment into her mouth to taste first—sweet, not sour, delicious. Then she pinched two segments and held them to Lu Mingqiu's lips. "Want some?"

Lu Mingqiu kept her eyes on the light screen but opened her mouth and naturally ate what was fed to her.

This wasn't the first time such a thing had happened. At first she'd sternly refused, but later... well, it was all because of her soft heart.

They shared the orange. Yan Xianchuan suddenly received another message—it was from Qi Ziyang.

He was planning to ambush the Yue family members and asked if she wanted to come.

Yan Xianchuan's eyes lit up. She cleared her throat. "I have something to tell you."

Lu Mingqiu paused her flying fingers and turned to look at her. "Mm?"

A moment ago she'd felt completely justified, but when the words reached her mouth, her confidence wavered, and she began to stammer. "It's just... Qi Ziyang asked me to go beat someone up."

Yan Xianchuan glanced at Lu Mingqiu's expression and quickly shifted the blame. "He came to me on his own initiative. I didn't ask him."

Lu Mingqiu: "..."

"Go if you want to," Lu Mingqiu said, rubbing her forehead with resignation. "Just remember to cover your face."

Yan Xianchuan was so excited her blood ran hot, and she nearly jumped off the sofa.

"Wait," she began to cheer, but then she hesitated. "Does this count as me behaving well?"

Lu Mingqiu: "...Yes."

Yan Xianchuan: "Then can I have an ice cream cone?"

Lu Mingqiu pointed at the refrigerator.

Yan Xianchuan seemed to catch on. She ran to the kitchen, pulled open the fridge, and inside lay a box of matcha tiramisu.

****

Teresa and Qi Ziyang had met by accident—through a kidnapping.

Teresa was selfish and headstrong, often doing whatever came to mind. Once, while racing her car, she shook off all her bodyguards and ended up driving alone to a desolate suburb where even birds didn't shit.

She'd been drinking and felt a bit nauseous, so she planned to go into the woods and lean against a big tree to throw up.

Then she was captured by vagrants, who intended to sell her for money.

In a drafty, rundown warehouse, she ran into Qi Ziyang, who had been caught as well. The moment they saw each other, they both blurted out the same words: "What are you doing here!"

Teresa felt embarrassed and humiliated. She explained why she'd been captured, then asked Qi Ziyang—hadn't he already married into the Yue family? An omega, how could he have been kidnapped?

Qi Ziyang let out a cold laugh and began to curse up a storm, starting with a warm greeting to several generations of the Yue family's relatives and ending with a chaotic, orderly mention of bestiality, all delivered with impeccable fluency.

Finally, he said, "Yue Lingxiu, that moron, pushed me out of the car, and then these bastards picked me up."

Yue Lingxiu's intention had been to embarrass him, to make him walk home on foot. But this girl, with a brain the size of a walnut, didn't even think that a frail omega like him walking alone on the streets had absolutely no ability to protect himself.

But even if she had thought of it, she probably wouldn't have cared.

Only then did Teresa notice that in the dim moonlight, he was covered in all kinds of scrapes and bruises.

Qi Ziyang said through gritted teeth, "I'm going to twist her arm off and then use her hand to slap her face a few times!"

Teresa: Wow.

Teresa: What a unique omega.

Qi Ziyang spat on the ground, then leaned in close and whispered, "I overheard them talking. We'll be moved before dawn. There are only two guards nearby, at the door; the rest went to steal gasoline. I can untie the ropes, but can you take care of the people?"

"If you can untie them, why didn't you run?" Teresa asked instead.

"Do I look like someone who can outrun two burly men?" Qi Ziyang rolled his eyes.

Of course Teresa had learned martial arts, but the ropes binding them were tied extremely tight, and she couldn't break free. How did Qi Ziyang plan to get them off?

That's what she thought, and that's what she asked.

Qi Ziyang let out another cold laugh, then gave a violent tug. With a crack, his wrist dislocated instantly, the skin around it red and purple from the rope's grip.

With one arm disabled, the knot naturally loosened. He quickly used his remaining hand to untie the rope, then went to free Teresa.

The moonlight fell on that one hand of his. The whole hand hung unnaturally, twisted, swollen, and purple—utterly horrifying.

Teresa was stunned.

Is this a person? Is this an omega? Who could dislocate their own hand without even flinching!

"You..." She was at a loss for words.

"Hurry!" Qi Ziyang's lips were pale, but his eyes were fierce. "Do it! What're you waiting for? They'll be back any minute."

Teresa nodded numbly, found a half-length stick, knocked the guards out, and then fled with Qi Ziyang.

During the escape, he did act like an omega—after just a few steps, he was panting heavily, like he had a broken bellows in his lungs.

Teresa didn't hesitate. She hoisted him onto her back, carried him to the main road, and together they got into her car and drove back to her place.

After the examination, it was confirmed that Qi Ziyang's hand was indeed broken. But he wasn't sad or upset. He simply had a prosthetic installed. To the outside eye, it looked exactly the same as before—smooth and delicate skin—but beneath the surface, it was something else entirely.

In the upper-class society that valued natural perfection, this was unheard of.

That incident—racing drunk and getting kidnapped—was too embarrassing, so she never told anyone about it, not even her closest grandmother. And no one knew that it was after that incident that the two of them had begun to grow closer.

Sometimes at banquets, when Teresa saw Qi Ziyang pretending to be gentle and considerate, she couldn't help but think back to his eloquent speech that day.

Actually, that wasn't quite right. He was still eloquent now—at this very moment, he was furiously typing away at her on their messaging app, cursing someone out.

Teresa: Don't say it, he's actually cursing right on the mark.

She herself was the type who couldn't stand even a speck of dust in her eyes, so she and Qi Ziyang hit it off immediately. They felt they had found a kindred spirit and were almost ready to swear vows of brotherhood on the spot.

One day, Qi Ziyang asked her, "Don't you think I'm not very omega-like?"

Teresa nodded, then shook her head. "You're not like anyone else, and you don't have to be. You're just you."

Qi Ziyang laughed and scolded, "It's rare to hear a few actual human words come out of your mouth."

Teresa: "Get lost. But seriously, why do you have to be tied down to that brain-dead Yue Yongjian? Is he even worthy? I'm tired of looking at him all day."

Qi Ziyang said expressionlessly, "Don't say it like I chose this willingly. But..." He changed his tone. "If I can find a way to bring down the Yue family, then I'll naturally be free."

Teresa immediately declared, "Then let's do it!"

And thus, the two of them began to plan for the birthday banquet.

Throughout the entire birthday banquet incident, the reason Teresa had been so brazenly confident was because her relationship with the head of the Newman family—her grandmother—was indeed extraordinary.

Her parents had died early, so Teresa had been raised at her grandmother's knee since she was little. She had a kind of spoiled, lawless boldness, an active and uplifting temperament, and a sufficiently sharp mind. She also had the cold-bloodedness of a person in power, just like her grandmother had in her youth.

The old matriarch intended for Teresa to take over her position.

So even though she knew that Teresa, her granddaughter, had deliberately set a trap, she wasn't angry. On the contrary, she felt gratified.

She had used the birthday banquet, used the Newman family's status, and even made herself a tool for her granddaughter's use—this was exactly the kind of heir the old matriarch wanted to see: one ruthless enough to exchange the smallest cost for the greatest benefit.

But the Newman family head still called Teresa into her study and asked gently, "Do you like Qi Ziyang?"

Teresa wasn't flustered at being found out. In fact, if her grandmother didn't know anything, that would be the real surprise. "There's really nothing emotional between him and me. It's pure friendship, really."

The Newman family head narrowed her eyes. "You're about the right age. It's time to consider an arranged marriage. Do you have any thoughts of your own?"

Teresa said carelessly, "Whatever Grandma arranges is fine."

The old matriarch smiled. "Well, there's no rush. I'll take my time to choose. But since you're so invested in the Yue family, I'll leave this matter to you. Whatever you can tear off from their family business, you can keep in your own personal treasury. How about that?"

"Then can I..." Teresa made a throat-slitting gesture.

"Mind your limits," the Newman family head said lightly.

"Grandma is the best!" Teresa flung herself into the old woman's arms, cuddling and acting spoiled for a good while, then immediately went to tell Qi Ziyang the good news.

The latter smacked his lips. "Your grandmother really treats you well."

She didn't mind being used by her granddaughter, and when she learned that Teresa disliked the Yue family, she simply handed over all the affairs to her, letting her deal with the Yue family as she pleased. The spoiling was boundless.

Teresa rubbed her hands together excitedly. "Grandma said it's fine to kill a few people, but I thought, why give them such a quick, easy death?"

"Let's ambush one of them every now and then, beat them up to vent our anger. We'll do it at least a dozen or twenty times."

Qi Ziyang: Pfft.

Then he immediately called Yan Xianchuan.

And so the Yue family fell into dark days. Stocks plummeted, businesses went under, top executives fled one after another. The old Yue family head worried until his hair turned white, but he had no solutions.

To make matters worse, they were also kidnapped from time to time. The kidnappers wanted neither money nor their lives. They would cover their mouths, beat them black and blue, and then even deliver them back to their doorstep.

They reported it to the police, but the Investigation Bureau wouldn't even look into it.

They hired bodyguards, but the bodyguards were useless—they couldn't stop the kidnappers anyway.

A fight every three days, a beating every five. The family never had a chance to heal.

Under the combined strain of physical and mental exhaustion, the head of the Yue family fell ill before long.

Once he fell, his younger daughter, Yue Lingxiu, probably suffered from internal heat and anger, and she too collapsed. That very night, she received a critical illness notice, and not long after, the electrocardiogram flatlined. She left even earlier than the old Yue head.

No one knew that she had literally been angered to death.

The night before she died, Qi Ziyang strolled into her hospital room, shook the sleeping Yue Lingxiu awake, and began to lay out his plans.

Yue Lingxiu grew angrier and angrier as she listened. She was already dizzy, poisoned, and had one foot on the threshold of death. At that, her blood surged upward, and she dropped dead right there on the spot.

Yue Yongjian was forced to take on this messy situation. Facing his family's severely damaged reputation and affairs, he knew where the problem lay. He went to Teresa's door multiple times, begging forgiveness, saying he knew he was wrong and shouldn't have acted that way, spouting a sackful of flattering words to the Newman family's face, but the person opposite him didn't even give the slightest reaction.

Yue Yongjian began to feel resentful. I've already apologized so humbly; what more do you want? Do you really want to wipe out the Yue family completely?

And then he saw Qi Ziyang approaching, chatting and laughing with Teresa. He flew into a rage on the spot.

"Well, well, you slut! So it was you stirring the pot all along. Lingxiu told me before that you were having an affair with that Yan girl, and I didn't believe her. But now I see you're having an affair with Teresa too. You bitch, can't you go a single day without seducing someone?!"

Qi Ziyang: "He's really stupid, isn't he?"

Teresa: "Yeah."

Qi Ziyang: "How's your cleanup going?"

Teresa: "Almost done."

Yue Yongjian, jumping up and down on the side: "I'm talking!"

Qi Ziyang turned around, smiled at him, and said, "Then he's no use anymore. I've had enough of the joke. It's boring—he just repeats the same lines over and over."

He was exquisite and pretty, like a porcelain doll, and with his recent good food and rest, his complexion had improved, making him even more beautiful than before.

Yue Yongjian had always been lecherous and gluttonous. Seeing Qi Ziyang smile at him, he was momentarily dazzled, and his voice softened. "If you come back now, I'll pretend none of this ever happened."

Qi Ziyang crooked his finger at him. Yue Yongjian, mesmerized, walked over. His face was gently patted twice. "You really can't change your nature, can you? A dog that eats shit will always eat shit."

With a sneer, his hand slid down to the man's neck. With a snap, he twisted it. Yue Yongjian's face still wore a look of shock as he dropped dead.

"Oh! You admitted you're shit!" Teresa didn't spare even half a glance at the body on the floor, instead teasing her friend over the words he'd just used.

Qi Ziyang: "?"

Qi Ziyang laughed in anger. "If I'm shit, what are you? We're both in this cesspool together, so you're shit too!"

The two looked at each other and burst into laughter.

The body on the ground was dragged away by the bodyguards, thrown into a bag like garbage and discarded.

Teresa pulled out a pack of cigarettes. "Want one?"

Qi Ziyang shook his head. "I still can't get used to that smell."

As he spoke, he extended his index finger to the end of the cigarette at Teresa's lips. The skin on his fingertip suddenly shifted, revealing a small nozzle like a small spray gun, which shot out a blue flame, lighting the cigarette.

Teresa wasn't surprised at all. She rolled her eyes, then said, "No way. Today's a good day. We have to celebrate. Let's book the entire Star Club for our Master Qi to have some fun!"

And then she received a solid elbow to the ribs, accompanied by the words: "Don't cause trouble."

"I still have work to do."

Teresa suddenly realized. "Right. And your father. The old man's still alive and kicking. What do you plan to do about him?"

Qi Ziyang lifted a cold smile. "I've thought it over carefully. Letting him die is too easy on him. The old thing's old enough, but his lecherous appetite hasn't diminished."

He made a chopping gesture. "Why not just cut it off directly."

Teresa: I'll spare three seconds of schadenfreude for the Qi family head.

From the Newman family banquet incident to the Yue family's removal, it took about two months in total. This once-arrogant minor family was now shattered, with only a few stray branches of the cadet lines remaining, and even they were keeping their heads down and behaving.

They still had leftover money, not enough for their old extravagant spending, but compared to ordinary citizens, they were still wealthy landlords.

During those two months, nothing major happened.

Yan Xianchuan followed her daily routine—like a puppet emperor reviewing memorials, she signed off on the documents that Xie Five brought her one by one.

Occasionally, she'd offer a few opinions of her own. Slowly, she was able to get involved in some business matters.

Of course, that still mainly relied on Lu Mingqiu, her external brain.

Dingyang City was located in the north, so autumns were short. One morning, she woke up to find a vast expanse of white outside her window—it had snowed.

Inside, the room was as warm as spring. The two sat facing each other, having breakfast, while the morning news played on the television, all of it useless filler.

Things like: such-and-such town discovered a cow with extra legs; such-and-such town's heavy snow collapsed an old building; an endangered protected species had successfully mated and was expected to produce offspring next year.

Amid all this haphazardly compiled news that paid no attention to people's livelihood or economy, suddenly an out-of-place report popped up.

—The newly appointed General Bolov declared that he would wipe out the Mechanical Pure Land. He had already captured a key figure within the terrorist organization and would thoroughly eliminate the pests that endangered society.

Current Mechanical Pure Land & Resistance member Yan Xianchuan: "?"

Current Resistance figurehead Lu Mingqiu: "?"

Lu Mingqiu: "I haven't received any news about this."

If this were true, with such a large-scale operation, the Federation would definitely know about it. Moreover, mobilizing troops required approval. Without the President's consent, Azbeto wouldn't have the authority.

She immediately sent a message to someone and quickly received a reply: 【Higher-ups have already approved it. It's true.】

The Mechanical Pure Land was going to fall?

They had indeed not contacted Yan Xianchuan in a long time, nor given her any assignments.

Yan Xianchuan thought for a moment and sent a message to her contact. 【I saw the news that the organization is in danger. What's going on?】

Her contact, the Rattlesnake, seemed to be online 24/7. He was very attentive to her, since she was a member of a wealthy family, and replied: 【Don't worry, the organization is fine.】

That was very subtle.

The Federation side was saying this was real, and if it were fake, the President wouldn't have approved it. But the Mechanical Pure Land also said it was fine. Why were they so calm and collected, showing not a trace of panic?

In a flash of insight, Lu Mingqiu suddenly grasped a glimmer of understanding that had been teasing at the edge of her mind.

That plan!

Azbeto's grand plan.

This must be connected to it.

She voiced her suspicions, and at the end added: 【I suggest increasing surveillance on Azbeto. He's definitely planning something.】

The person on the other end received the message, but suspicion alone wasn't evidence they could present.

All they could do was wait and see.

Besides, Azbeto had indeed submitted an interrogation file containing internal information about the Mechanical Pure Land. He had a prisoner in custody who had been brought to the relevant department and interrogated again, and it was confirmed that this person was indeed a core member of the Mechanical Pure Land, revealing many details about the organization's movements and internal affairs.

That couldn't be faked.

Azbeto took the job and swung into action quickly.

The first thing he did was sweep through the gangs and underground establishments in Kurtzli City. And by sweep, I mean literally—thoroughly, completely, sweeping them clean.

Those gang members, those people engaged in gray industries—he slaughtered them all.

For a time, the entire city was shrouded in an unshakeable stench of blood. The chimneys of the crematorium never rested, belching thick smoke around the clock.

Corpses piled up nearly into hills. The entire city fell silent in terror, everyone afraid for their own lives. At the sight of any patrol team, everyone shut the hell up.

When the events fermented and spread, it caused an uproar in public opinion.

Azbeto's public justification was that these people had conspired with the Mechanical Pure Land, harbored evil intentions, and threatened Federation security. And the ones he killed were all lawbreakers anyway. Although his methods were ruthless and merciless, after two days, law and order in Kurtzli City had noticeably improved.

Even petty theft vanished.

Azbeto's reputation took a sudden turn for the better, with many thinking he had done a great deed.

Who among those living at the bottom didn't live in fear every day? From muggings to full-scale fights, it was something that happened around them day and night.

Now, with the bad guys hiding their tails, General Bolov was a great man.

However, he was still criticized. His methods were too cruel, and acting so blatantly—wasn't he afraid of scaring off the snake? The Federation had laws. Who gave him the right to kill on a whim? What about the rule of law?

On the surface, Azbeto humbly accepted the scolding. He ended the call and immediately said to his adjutant, "The experiment results are good. We can begin."

A cold, lingering smile curled over his thin lips as he pressed the red button at his side.