Her Rose – Chapter 78

Cheng Ying calmly listened as a red-eyed Jiang Hanguang finished her story, gently caressing the woman’s wrist.

There was a very inconspicuous, slightly raised white scar hidden on the side of her fair arm. It was unnoticeable unless you touched it.

Jiang Hanguang didn’t scar easily, so one could imagine how deep the wound must have been.

From Jiang Hanguang’s point of view, she really couldn’t think of any way to help Meng Ziyan.

Although the guards Feng Nan had arranged were formidable, they were on their territory now. If she just said a word to Yan Zhi, she believed the upright director would agree to use forceful means to keep Meng Ziyan there.

But if they did that, Feng Nan would immediately find out, and Meng Ziyan’s reputation and her family would surely be in jeopardy.

If Jiang Hanguang only wanted to ease her own conscience, she could have disregarded all this, but she couldn’t ignore Meng Ziyan’s own thoughts.

I’d rather die.

She was afraid that if she did this, Meng Ziyan still wouldn’t survive in the end.

For Cheng Ying, however, this wasn’t a particularly difficult matter, but she couldn’t tell Jiang Hanguang the truth to ease her worries.

In the end, she could only crouch down, look Jiang Hanguang in the eye, gently wipe away the tear stains from the woman’s face, and say softly, “Do you trust me?”

The woman opposite her, whose eyes were as red as a rabbit’s, looked into her eyes and nodded instinctively.

This almost instinctual trust from the woman made Cheng Ying let out a small smile.

The smile was faint and vanished in an instant.

“Then let her go back. I promise, she’ll be fine.”

This sentence was practically like coaxing a three-year-old. You promise? How can you promise? Once Meng Ziyan was back in Feng Nan’s hands, she would be a lamb to the slaughter. How could you save her from a thousand miles away?

But for some reason, as Jiang Hanguang looked into Cheng Ying’s calm eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to say a word of rebuttal.

This Cheng Ying felt unfamiliar to her. The woman was no longer angry, no longer sad, no longer looking at her scar with reddened eyes.

She just spoke so calmly, as if her words were the laws of this world, not to be questioned, and certainly not to be defied.

The great beast lurking in the deep sea had slowly surfaced, yet it remained motionless just beneath the waves, quietly watching the turmoil on the sea.

It was waiting for a night suitable for hunting. In that pitch darkness, it would devour its enemies completely.

Jiang Hanguang had once feared this side of Cheng Ying, but now she only felt safe.

Yes, no matter how incredible or illogical it seemed, Cheng Ying wouldn’t lie to her at a time like this.

She nodded.

Cheng Ying smiled again, this time a little deeper. She stood up and gave her a light hug. “Alright, don’t be sad. Go touch up your makeup. You’re competing on the same stage as your fan, you can’t be outshone.”

While Jiang Hanguang was touching up her makeup, Cheng Ying found Director Yan, who was still sulking in the filming area. “Director Yan, could I trouble you with something?”

Yan Zhi was in a very bad mood at the moment, so his words were naturally not so polite. “Speak!”

Cheng Ying beamed. Ever since witnessing a beast like Feng Nan, she found even Cheng Liang a bit more pleasing to the eye, let alone this stubborn old man before her who didn’t have a single bad bone in his body. “From the looks of Miss Meng, I’d guess she’s not very used to being around Alphas. Why don’t you have the actor playing opposite her wear a shielding patch? It might be a little better.”

Yan Zhi paused for a moment, then nodded. “I understand. It’s not a big deal. But how do you know so clearly?”

Cheng Ying shrugged. “Everyone has their own specialty.”

In fact, Jiang Hanguang also had a subconscious defensive reaction when she smelled an unfamiliar Alpha’s pheromones. It was just that her self-control was astonishing, so unless you were someone like Cheng Ying, who liked to stare at her for no reason, you wouldn’t notice.

However, it seemed Jiang Hanguang hadn’t had a stress reaction to her for a long time. At this thought, Cheng Ying smiled again.

As expected, before dealing with some unpleasant things, it was best to keep oneself in a pleasant mood as much as possible.

Cheng Ying’s suggestion had a good effect. When Jiang Hanguang went on stage again, her emotions had stabilized considerably, and Meng Ziyan no longer resisted the actor beside her. The scene that had been stuck for half the day finally passed without any major issues.

When Director Yan yelled “Cut!”, everyone on the set couldn’t help but applaud.

Meng Ziyan nodded slightly at the approaching Jiang Hanguang, then stepped forward and gave her a light hug.

“Take care.”

She didn’t say goodbye.

Jiang Hanguang, however, still couldn’t help but feel sorrowful. She just couldn’t let it show. She could only carefully avoid the wounds she remembered on Meng Ziyan and gently pat the other’s back.

Cheng Ying stood outside the studio gate. In one hand, she toyed with a metal ball the size of a ping-pong ball, while in the other, she held a half-smoked cigarette between her fingers.

She narrowed her eyes and pressed the ball lightly. The ball then flew at a speed invisible to the naked eye to the underside of the car Meng Ziyan had arrived in.

A nearly inaudible sound of metal clinging to metal rang out. Cheng Ying narrowed her eyes and stubbed out her cigarette on the nearby trash can.

“Follow them. If Feng Nan makes a move on Miss Meng, stop him.”

Cheng Mantou’s voice rang in her mind, the girl’s childish tone tinged with hidden anger. “Can I just kill that guy?”

Cheng Ying smiled and shook her head. “I remember writing ‘do not kill’ into your base programming. Besides,” she exhaled the last puff of smoke, “you can’t just steal someone’s job like that.”

Meng Ziyan looked back at Jiang Hanguang several times before getting into the car, surrounded by the guards.

The luxurious RV, carrying the small metal ball, returned to the Feng family’s villa on Yuxi Mountain. Meng Ziyan looked at the man standing at the villa entrance with a grim expression and couldn’t help but shiver.

Feng Nan wouldn’t do anything to her in front of outsiders. This, of course, wasn’t out of kindness, but out of a twisted possessiveness.

He could play with his things however he wanted; it wasn’t for others to enjoy.

Sure enough, after returning to the room, Feng Nan smiled sinisterly. “You saw Miss Jiang? How is she?”

Meng Ziyan looked at him, finding him terrifying, hateful, and pathetic all at once. For a person to degenerate to the point of living only for hatred of others, and to be smug about it, was truly hopeless.

She was already resigned to death. Or rather, she thought, if she survived, Feng Nan would still use her to threaten Jiang Hanguang in the end. It would be better to die.

Perhaps Jiang Hanguang’s embrace had been too soft and warm, so much so that she had actually found the courage to resist.

At least Jiang Hanguang pitied her with genuine sincerity, while this guy before her would never receive such an embrace in his entire life.

So she smiled. “She’s doing very well. You know that better than I do, don’t you?”

Jiang Hanguang has already escaped from your grasp. The rest of her life will blossom brilliantly under the sun.

But you’re about to be finished. You can only rot here with me.

Thankfully, we won’t be together after death. I might not go to heaven, but you will definitely go to the eighteenth level of hell.

This wasn’t the answer Feng Nan wanted. He looked at the Omega before him in disbelief. She had only been out for a few short hours; what was with the light in her eyes?

That kind of light, which was both detestable and frustrating, was just like Jiang Hanguang’s.

He flinched for a moment but quickly regained his composure.

It didn’t matter. He still had time to slowly torture her, and to slowly torture Jiang Hanguang.

He walked toward Meng Ziyan with a savage grin, and she habitually closed her eyes.

Neither of them noticed that on the underside of the RV parked in the courtyard, a large hole opened in the belly of the metal ball, and countless tiny, transparent specks of light flew out from it.

If someone were to look closely, they would discover that they were beautifully shaped little insects, like dragonflies that had been miniaturized many times over.

They were nearly invisible under the sunlight, and they swarmed into the towering villa through the gaps in the windows and doors.

A few of them landed in the room where Feng Nan and Meng Ziyan were.

One of them, at the exact moment Feng Nan raised his hand, slammed viciously into his neck.

“Zzzt!” A faint sound of electricity crackled. Feng Nan’s entire body went numb, his limbs suddenly lost their strength, and he fell in front of Meng Ziyan in a perfect face-plant.

His brain was still conscious, but he couldn’t control his body to get up from the floor.

Startled by the sound of a heavy object hitting the floor, Meng Ziyan opened her eyes and stared in shock at the scene before her.

The Alpha who had been so arrogant just a moment ago was now lying prone on the floor, his face contorted in pain, his limbs trembling, unable to support his body.

Immense fear enveloped Feng Nan. He twitched frantically on the ground like a fish out of water.

Fortunately, the numb sensation didn’t last long. After a short while, he managed to sit up.

The first thing he saw was the astonished face of Meng Ziyan in front of him.

Having been seen in such an unsightly state, Feng Nan instantly forgot his earlier helplessness. Mustering strength from who knows where, he raised his foot to kick the woman.

“Zzzt!”

Once again, he fell to the ground, his limbs convulsing. This time, when he recovered, his gaze toward Meng Ziyan held a trace of fear.

But Meng Ziyan clearly didn’t know what was happening either. She looked around, even more bewildered than Feng Nan, wondering which deity had intervened to save her.

Just as Feng Nan was wondering whether to go out, find a tool, and try again, his phone suddenly let out a shrill ring.

Feng Nan’s expression changed. Every call he had received these past few days had been terrible news; he was about to develop a phobia of phones.

“President Feng, the police have found us! We’re relocating now… You’re on your own!”

The voice on the other end was rushed and fast. Before Feng Nan could ask any questions, all that was left was the busy tone of a disconnected call.

Feng Nan’s hands dropped dejectedly, and the phone fell from his trembling grasp.

He hadn’t expected the police to track down the shady company he had found so quickly. Those guys had evidence of him ordering people to be silenced.

Things had already reached this point. In three days at most, he would have to reserve a permanent spot in prison.

Feng Nan’s lips trembled. He no longer had the heart to torture Meng Ziyan.

With a grim expression, he left the room, returned to his own, and began writing invitations.

Let him, before everything came to an end, offer this world one last, dazzling flame.

The day after Meng Ziyan left, Jiang Hanguang received an invitation from Feng Nan, inviting her to a dinner party at the Feng family’s villa on Yuxi Mountain.

The other party seemed very afraid she wouldn’t come. Along with the invitation, an email was also sent.

Inside were two photos.

One of Meng Ziyan, and one of Feng Ying.

The email contained only a short sentence: I don’t wish to hear the sound of police sirens at my final dinner party. Do you understand?

The threat was palpable.

Jiang Hanguang showed the email to Cheng Ying. Cheng Ying didn’t show much of a reaction, merely nodding and comforting her, “It’s fine. I’ll go with you.”

After they returned yesterday, Cheng Ying, for once, didn’t go to bed early. It wasn’t until the sleepless Jiang Hanguang had nearly stared a hole in the ceiling that the Alpha, fresh from her shower, finally arrived.

There was no further explanation, only that it was work. She held her and fell asleep in no time.

This was actually a bit unusual. Normally, Cheng Ying always went to sleep later than her.

In fact, Cheng Ying’s state these past two days hadn’t been quite right. She was too silent and too calm.

But whenever Jiang Hanguang wanted to press for details, the other woman would put on that frivolous smile and kiss her until she was red-faced and flustered.

Jiang Hanguang knew that was Cheng Ying’s way of showing she didn’t want to talk.

She didn’t press further, only tightening her grip on the Alpha’s hand. The other’s hand was warm and strong, giving her a solid anchor in the cold night.

On the day of the dinner party, the sky darkened early. Cheng Ying drove Jiang Hanguang up the winding mountain road and stopped in front of the Feng family’s villa.

Unexpectedly yet understandably, quite a few people had come to the party today, including some socialites.

Half were there out of respect for Feng Ying, and the other half were there to watch the drama unfold.

But Jiang Hanguang knew better than any of them that today’s party was unusual. She didn’t wear an overly elaborate gown, but instead, like Cheng Ying, wore a slim-fitting suit that was easy to move in.

The moment she stepped into the banquet hall, Jiang Hanguang immediately began to scan her surroundings.

But Feng Nan was nowhere to be seen. People in small groups were listlessly enjoying the fine wine and food, whispering among themselves.

This scene, so much like a normal party, only made Jiang Hanguang feel more uneasy.

Fortunately, Cheng Ying beside her remained calm. She even got a small plate of lobster meat and handed it to her. “You barely ate any dinner. Have some more.”

Jiang Hanguang looked at the other’s calm face, and her own restless heart gradually calmed down.

In the banquet hall, there was soft music and graceful dancing, but in Feng Nan’s room, a murder was in progress.

The completely unconscious Feng Ying had been moved to Feng Nan’s bed. The life-support equipment was still faithfully carrying out its duty; clearly, Feng Nan didn’t intend to let his mother die peacefully.

In his hand, a sharp knife glinted brightly. Before him was Meng Ziyan, who had been forced into a corner.

A savage and crazed smile appeared on his face. Soon, he would be able to throw Meng Ziyan’s bloody head downstairs. Just the thought of Jiang Hanguang’s expression then made him tremble with excitement.

As for the party guests, they would surely be so panicked they would want to flee.

But it was too late. The villa doors were locked tight, and the high-concentration fuel he had planted around the villa would burn everything to ashes.

Feng’s was gone. He certainly wasn’t going to watch these people continue to live comfortably.

Meng Ziyan gritted her teeth, grabbed a small statuette from nearby, and prepared for a final, desperate struggle.

Just then, that familiar “zzzt” sound rang out once more.

The knife in Feng Nan’s hand clattered to the floor. Just like yesterday, he fell powerlessly to the ground.

But what was different was the crisp click that came from the door.

The door that Feng Nan had deadbolted with a key right in front of Meng Ziyan opened silently.

Soothing music and soft light streamed in. A single word, born of a sudden inspiration, appeared in her mind.

“Run!”

Without hesitation, Meng Ziyan scrambled past Feng Nan and rushed out of the room. She was wearing only a thin dress, and every inch of her exposed skin was covered in overlapping scars.

But she still ran with all her might, like a person at the bottom of a well waiting to die who suddenly sees a rope lowered from the top.

An Omega covered in wounds came tearing down from the second floor. Everyone at the party saw her clearly, and the once-lively banquet hall instantly fell silent.

Jiang Hanguang, however, couldn’t help but cry out, “Ziyan!”

“Ziyan!” Another cry came from the other staircase. It was two plainly dressed, terrified-looking middle-aged women.

That must be Meng Ziyan’s family.

“Auntie! Second Auntie!” Meng Ziyan grabbed both their hands, tears already streaming down like rain.

Just as everyone was still confused, Feng Nan charged down from the second floor, brandishing a knife with a crazed look on his face.

Now everyone understood. The crowd immediately erupted into a commotion, surging toward the main entrance.

Jiang Hanguang grabbed the hand of Meng Ziyan, who was being pushed toward her. Cheng Ying shielded her with her body from the jostling crowd and said in a low voice in her ear, “Go!”

The crowd pushed to the door, only to find it locked tight, and a wave of alarm swept through them.

By this time, Feng Nan had caught up to the last person in the crowd. He slashed down recklessly. The Alpha let out a pained cry and retreated. Although he was lucky enough to dodge the blade’s edge, his arm was still cut.

The crowd immediately began to pound on the main door even more frantically, trying to push the tightly shut door open.

Feng Nan licked the blood from the knife with a savage grin. “Today, no one is getting out of here!”

He pressed the button on the walkie-talkie in his hand. “Light the fire!”

However, the response he expected didn’t come from the other end, nor did towering flames shoot up from outside.

Instead, the main door, which had seemed quite sturdy, suddenly seemed unable to withstand the crowd’s pushing and burst open with a bang.

Feng Nan’s eyes nearly popped out of his head. The crowd, like prisoners granted freedom, immediately scattered and fled.

Cheng Ying escorted Jiang Hanguang and the others to the car, set the self-driving destination to the bottom of the mountain, and turned to go back.

Jiang Hanguang grabbed her. “Where are you going!”

The woman’s voice was urgent and stern in a way it had never been before, her hand gripping her like a pair of pliers.

Even if Jiang Hanguang were a pair of pliers, she would surely be the gentlest pliers in the world.

Cheng Ying gave a helpless smile. “Feng Ying is still inside.”

Jiang Hanguang: “…”

A thought flashed through her mind.

She’s already a dying person. I can’t let you risk your life for her.

But her kindness prevented her from saying those words out loud.

But Cheng Ying just lowered her eyes, pried her hand from her wrist, and placed it back on the steering wheel.

She gently kissed Jiang Hanguang’s forehead. “Trust me, I’ll be fine.”

With the fleeing crowd behind her, the Alpha’s face shifted between light and shadow under the lights.

Gentle yet resolute, cold yet cruel.

She was like a hero.

Jiang Hanguang was stunned for a second, but that fleeting moment of shock was enough for Cheng Ying to close the car door. The silver-white sports car cut a beautiful arc through the air as it sped toward its destination.

Coming to her senses, Jiang Hanguang almost frantically pounded on the control panel, but she couldn’t make the car stop.

After several attempts, she opened the car window as if waking from a dream, wanting to look back at Cheng Ying.

But that amount of time was enough for the high-performance sports car to leave the towering villa far behind.

Jiang Hanguang froze for a moment, unbuckled her seatbelt, and tried to jump out of the window, only to be yanked back by Meng Ziyan beside her.

“Are you crazy!”

Meng Ziyan’s hands, holding her, were also trembling, because she saw Jiang Hanguang’s face clearly.

The woman’s face was filled with terror and rage, an expression a hundred times more frightening than when she had seen her scars.

She had no doubt that if she let go at that moment, Jiang Hanguang would jump from the sports car, which was traveling at a hundred kilometers per hour, without a second thought.

Even if she were smashed into a pulp, she would crawl back to Cheng Ying’s side.

She dared not imagine what would happen to Jiang Hanguang if something really happened to Cheng Ying.

She could only hold on tightly to Jiang Hanguang’s struggling body, repeating over and over in her ear, “It’s okay, it’s okay, she said she’ll be fine…”

Cheng Ying watched her car disappear from sight and lightly touched her own lips.

The warmth of Jiang Hanguang’s forehead still lingered there.

Soft and sweet.

She sighed and turned to the tall guards running toward her, raising her hands.

“Take me to see your President Feng. He didn’t tell you to beat me to death on the spot, did he?”

After causing such a huge commotion, if I can’t see this through to the end, then it’ll be a real failure.

The two guards were first taken aback by her nonchalant demeanor, but they still cautiously approached, twisted Cheng Ying’s arms behind her back, and handcuffed her.

Their job was to risk their lives for money. The sum Feng Nan had given them before was enough, and now there was no need to run away.

Cheng Ying was escorted inside by the two men. After failing to chase down the crowd, Feng Nan had already returned to his room, probably intending to see his mother off on her final journey.

Cheng Ying stopped at the top of the stairs. The two guards immediately surged forward menacingly, about to lift her up.

Before they could even touch Cheng Ying’s hands, two “zzzt” sounds rang out, and the two tall, burly guards instantly rolled their eyes back and fainted.

Unlike the short-acting stimulus used on Feng Nan before, this jolt was enough to make them sleep until dawn.

Cheng Ying put the handcuffs in her pocket, flexed her wrists, and pressed a bracelet-like metal ring on her wrist.

A faint light slowly enveloped her. Her figure gradually faded until it disappeared completely.

An invisibility bracelet, a little gadget Cheng Ying had created out of boredom. Its function was roughly to envelop a person entirely in a thin layer of energy. Besides making one invisible, it also prevented them from leaving any traces, including hair, fingerprints, and so on.

It was practically an essential tool for home, travel, murder, and silencing witnesses.

Cheng Ying didn’t know if she had truly inherited Cheng Mo’s cruelty, to be always coming up with these kinds of things.

But if the other party hadn’t provoked Jiang Hanguang, she wouldn’t have planned on using it anyway.

Feng Nan, who was sitting by his mother’s bed muttering to himself, didn’t notice his door opening silently once again.

Cheng Ying stared at the back of Feng Nan’s head and thought for the first time how someone could have such a disgusting-looking back of the head. It made her so nauseous that she had to try several angles before she could bring herself to strike.

In the end, she decided to just punch him in the face.

Feng Nan was grabbed by the back of his collar with immense force and thrown to the ground before he could even react.

But he quickly let out a scream of absolute clarity.

Because that immense force smashed into his face.

His nose was instantly flattened. Blood and tears gushed out together, splattering on the carpet beneath him.

Cheng Ying watched the dazzling color bloom before her eyes, watched Feng Nan’s hateful face become a bloody mess.

She continued to throw punches, her face devoid of expression.

Not enough.

The sound of bones cracking.

Not enough.

A scream like a pig being slaughtered.

Not enough.

The sound of blood spurting.

This isn’t difficult, is it?

Cheng Mo’s voice echoed in her mind.

You see, you rightfully have this power.

You are my daughter, after all.

Cheng Ying shattered Feng Nan’s leg bones. It was unclear whether she was speaking to the wailing man or the lingering ghost when she said, “Can’t you be quiet for a moment?”

Her voice was calm and indifferent, like a demon’s.