Chapter 643: Separation of life and death! The most beautiful woman in the world!
As Xiao Fan walked towards the movie theater's screening room, the movie was already nearing its end. The protagonists had killed the murderer, but they suffered heavy casualties, especially the female lead, who shielded the male lead, blocking a fatal blow with her body. Her clothes stained with blood, the female lead lay in the male lead's arms, a scene of life and death separation, and the movie theater was filled with crying.
"Wuwuwu, the screenwriter is so cruel! The male and female leads went through so many dangers and finally got together, only for them to be separated by death!"
"Screenwriter, you have no heart!" a woman's voice cut through the sobs, thick with indignation.
"That's disgusting! I spent dozens of yuan on a ticket just to watch this kind of plot? Bad luck!" a man grumbled from the back row.
"Yeah, these screenwriters, if someone doesn't die, it's not profound enough. Isn't a happy ending with everyone reunited better?" his girlfriend chimed in, her voice muffled by a tissue.
Inside the sprawling, darkened screening room, the air was thick with shared grief. The credits rolled, casting a pale, shifting light over tear-streaked faces. The sounds of sniffles, curses, and disappointed sighs intertwined, creating a somber chorus that filled the cavernous space.
"It's such a shame," Zhong Lingyin murmured, her voice husky with emotion. "They finally became a couple after so much difficulty, and the female lead actually died in the male lead's arms." She rested her head on Shen Anyu's shoulder, the warmth of his body a solid comfort against the film's tragic chill. Her eyes, usually as bright as distant galaxies, were now misty and teary.
Shen Anyu found it a bit amusing. 'Is the great Heavenly Queen Zhong so sentimental?' he thought, a smile playing on his lips. Of course, he couldn't voice such a thought aloud. That would be courting disaster.
Instead, he gently patted her fragrant shoulder, his touch both a comfort and a quiet assertion of his presence. His voice was a low, soothing murmur, laced with unshakable confidence. "That's because the movie's male lead is useless. If it were me, no one would be able to hurt you."
The abrupt shift from cinematic tragedy to his personal, arrogant guarantee made Zhong Lingyin chuckle through her tears. The sound was a little watery, but genuinely amused. She playfully glared at him, the last of her sorrow evaporating like morning mist. "How can you say that? You've completely ruined my emotional moment."
Despite her words, her mood had brightened considerably. The fictional heartbreak faded, replaced by the much more tangible and reassuring presence of the man beside her. Her starry eyes fixed on Shen Anyu's profile, and her slender, fair hand rose to gently stroke his handsome face. The touch was feather-light, reverent. "Yes," she whispered, her voice soft but firm, imbued with a faith that could move mountains. "With my husband here, I definitely won't be harmed by anyone."
Her voice was a melody of deep trust and profound affection. A flicker of pride, fierce and brilliant, emerged in her bright eyes. 'That's right,' she affirmed to herself. 'My man is powerful. Incredibly, impossibly powerful. He would never let our story end in a tragic separation of life and death like the one on screen.'
"Not necessarily." Shen Anyu's lips curved into a wicked grin. He leaned in, his face so close she could feel the heat radiating from his skin. He lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper that tickled her earlobe, sending a jolt straight down her spine. "Others can't hurt you, but I can hurt you."
Zhong Lingyin's cheeks immediately bloomed with a deep, crimson flush that spread down her neck. Her eyes, just moments ago clear, seemed to be shrouded in a seductive mist. She knew exactly what kind of "hurt" he meant, and far from being afraid, a thrill of happy anticipation coursed through her veins.
"Hmph."
A sharp, cold snort cut through their intimate bubble. Liu Ruyan, who had been sitting silently beside them, glared daggers at Shen Anyu, her charming eyes narrowed into slits of pure indignation. After Shen Anyu had finally removed his hand from her, she could finally move, but a debilitating numbness still lingered through her entire body. Her limbs felt heavy, weak, and uncooperative, a lingering consequence of the electric current that had coursed through her.
Who in their right mind would have thought that Young Master Shen, after acquiring the formidable Divine Lightning Ability, would weaponize it not for combat, but for… this? The faint, tingling current had swept through every inch of her, an indescribable and overwhelming sensation that had stolen all her strength, leaving her mind reeling and her body paralyzed in a state of exquisite helplessness.
Hearing Liu Ruyan's indignant snort, a blushing Zhong Lingyin gently pushed Shen Anyu away. "Brother Shen, Sister Ruyan, the movie is over," she whispered, trying to sound normal. "Let's go."
"Hmm, alright." Shen Anyu's smile was unfazed. "Shall we go back, or continue shopping?"
"Let's go straight back to Jinxiu Mountain Villa," Zhong Lingyin replied, her gaze softening as she looked at Shen Anyu, her eyes filled with a tender promise. "It's getting late, it's time to rest." Her voice dropped to an intimate murmur. "I'm already very, very happy with today's birthday." 'And next,' she thought, her heart skipping a beat, 'it's my turn to make Brother Shen happy.'
"Alright then." Shen Anyu nodded gently. He took Zhong Lingyin's small, soft hand and stood up, pulling her with him. Then, he turned and feigned a look of pure confusion as he gazed down at Liu Ruyan, who remained slumped in her seat. "Yan'er, why aren't you getting up?"
Liu Ruyan rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they stayed in their sockets. Her charming gaze swept over him, a tempest of exasperation and allure. There was no real menace in her expression, only a captivating charm that was impossible to ignore. In that moment, Liu Ruyan was like a lazy, alluring white fox draped over the theater chair. Her body was soft and boneless, her posture a picture of languid grace, and her delicate face was still tinged with a rosy flush from the earlier… incident.
She was numb from the electricity. How was she supposed to get up? Even a dignified Martial Dao Grandmaster had no strength to stand, let alone walk, after what he'd done.
Seeing her state, Zhong Lingyin's starry eyes first showed a hint of confusion, which quickly morphed into a sudden realization. A suppressed giggle escaped her lips. 'Oh, I see.' She chirped in a deliberately high-pitched, cheerful voice, "Brother Shen, you should help Sister Ruyan up."
Zhong Lingyin, in her innocence, assumed that Second Senior Sister Liu Ruyan was merely putting on a show of jealousy, refusing to get up out of pique. She found the thought amusing and felt no resentment. After all, she was the newcomer in their dynamic and had already prepared herself mentally for such hurdles. As long as Second Senior Sister could eventually forgive her for intruding, humbling herself a little was a small price to pay.
With that in mind, Zhong Lingyin gently nudged Shen Anyu with her elbow, signaling him with her eyes to go forward and appease the 'pouting' Liu Ruyan.
Shen Anyu's smile widened. He naturally had no objections in the slightest.
He stepped over and easily helped Liu Ruyan to her feet. Her pliant body leaned heavily against his shoulder, her weight a pleasant burden. His other hand remained firmly clasped around Zhong Lingyin's, securing them both to his sides.
By the time they were finally ready to leave, most of the audience had already filtered out. Only a few scattered couples remained, whispering intimately in the dark, not yet ready to break the spell of the cinema. The once-packed screening room now appeared vast and empty.
Xiao Fan walked in just in time to see the perfect, infuriating tableau. There was Shen Anyu, a king between his queens. In one arm, he supported the breathtaking Liu Ruyan, whose body was practically melting into his side. With his other hand, he held the equally stunning Zhong Lingyin, a triumphant embrace of two of the world's most beautiful women.
[Ding! Child of Destiny Xiao Fan is filled with envy, plundering +6666 destiny value!]
[Ding! Child of Destiny Xiao Fan is filled with jealousy, plundering +6666 destiny value!]
Even though he had witnessed this gut-wrenching scene before, the sight still filled Xiao Fan with a potent cocktail of envy and raw jealousy. The more he looked at Shen Anyu, the more a sour, burning displeasure churned in his stomach.
'Damn it, why does this kid have such a blessing with women? Even I, Xiao Fan, the legendary Super Soldier King, don't have such outrageously good fortune!' he thought, the bitterness so strong he felt like he was chewing on lemons.
Although he now had the soft, cute, and adoring school belle Xia Mengmeng—nearly a decade his junior—as his girlfriend and was gradually settling down, his past was a different story. As the General Instructor of the Black Dragon Special Forces, Xiao Fan had a reputation as a romantic wanderer who enjoyed life to its fullest. Two women at once? Child's play. He had been with twenty, whether in fleeting relationships or for a single night of passion.
But he knew, with a certainty that stung his pride, that the quality of those women couldn't hold a candle to the likes of Liu Ruyan. Because Zhong Lingyin was wearing makeup and a disguise, her peerless beauty was slightly muted, appearing a touch less striking than usual. A true, world-class beauty didn't need heavy makeup; her bare face alone was a masterpiece capable of overthrowing nations.
While stewing in his sour thoughts, Xiao Fan's light and casual eyes were anything but. They were sharp, predatory, intentionally and unintentionally scanning the faces of the few remaining audience members trickling out of the screening room. He was hunting for Yao Qi's trace among them.
While Shen Anyu and his companions were absorbed in their movie, Xiao Fan had conducted a thorough, painstaking search of every other corner of Xihe Shopping Mall. He had discreetly scanned tens of thousands of people, one by one. If Yao Qi was in this building, the cinema was the last possible hiding place.
However, after a long and careful search, none of the departing audience members matched his target. If Yao Qi had been among them, he could not have possibly hidden his aura from Xiao Fan's honed senses. A quick scan of the dozen or so people still lingering in the screening room also yielded nothing. They were just ordinary civilians.
Xiao Fan frowned slightly, a crease forming between his brows. 'Had Yao Qi quietly left Xihe Shopping Mall already? Did the beautiful An fail to trap him, allowing that bastard to escape?'
'Heh, if that's the case, it would be a rare miss for the beautiful An,' Xiao Fan mused, a playful, calculating glint appearing in his eyes as a new possibility bloomed in his mind. 'And she might even have to ask me, Xiao Fan, for help.'
The Yanxia Female War God, the General Instructor of the Fire Phoenix Special Forces, An Zhiyue—the beautiful An—a woman who had never known failure. If she let Yao Qi, a major wanted criminal with countless lives on his hands, slip through her fingers this time, her pristine reputation would surely suffer a significant blow. She would be beyond anxious.
Given An Zhiyue's ironclad sense of responsibility, she might even be desperate enough to come to him for assistance. The proud Fire Phoenix, the untouchable and beautiful An, lowering her head to ask him for help—just the thought of it made a jolt of excited anticipation run through Xiao Fan.
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