RIACMET chapter 173

 

“… ”

Chen Shanmin froze in shock, thinking he must have misheard. He never expected to hear something like that.

How could he prove it?

Satisfied with his reaction, Jiang Nian asked again:

“A paternity test? A birth certificate? A household registration book? Or—‘your attention, understanding, and love for me’? Or maybe providing me with food and clothes and fulfilling your duty as a father?”

Chen Shanmin couldn’t provide any of those things.

When Jiang Nian’s mother passed away, Chen Shanmin lashed out in anger, feeling insulted by Jiang Nian’s words. He cut off all ties with Jiang Nian and forced him to pay back 20,000 yuan. Blood ties could no longer hold them together.

After going through so much, Jiang Nian openly hated them without the slightest guilt. He even felt a twisted satisfaction when he saw their faces twist in anger at his so-called “scoundrel” words.

“You…”

If Jiang Nian had spoken like this in the past, Chen Shanmin would have slapped him without hesitation. Now, however, all he could do was grit his teeth and press on helplessly.

“No matter how much you deny it, it’s still a fact!”

Jiang Nian shook his head.

“I acknowledge the facts. The fact is, I lost my father before I was born. My mother raised me alone, working overtime. She suffered from a terminal illness at a young age!”

“…”

Chen Shanmin was speechless, his chest heaving violently.

Chen Lin, who had held back for a long time, burst into tears and cursed.

“It wasn’t us who made your mother sick! You’re using the chaos of the world to vent your anger and ignoring our blood ties entirely. You’ll get your retribution, Jiang Nian!”

“Whether or not I get retribution has nothing to do with you. What you need to know right now is that I am your retribution!”

Jiang Nian didn’t care. In his previous life, his soft heart brought him nothing but disaster, and he was never going to let that happen again.

“…”

Chen Shanmin slowed his breathing and said,

“If you’re angry, then take it out on me. Xiaoyue and the others are innocent… I was sad when your mother fell ill too, but we’ve been divorced for years. You don’t need to be so paranoid!”

Seeing this, Chen Xiuling quickly followed his lead, saying,

“It was wrong of us to force you to return the 20,000 yuan, but you’ve gone too far with your words. Your father was too disappointed and angry back then. We also wanted to help you…”

“Don’t try to act innocent and twist the facts in front of me! What I’m doing today has nothing to do with my mother! You’re the ones who schemed against me. You lured me here to save Chen Yue. Remember? Why are you pretending you don’t know?”

Jiang Nian laughed. This familiar, cunning routine was exactly the same as in his previous life. Back then, he hadn’t repaid the 20,000 yuan, so he relied on others. The moral blackmail kept piling up until he couldn’t fight back at all.

Not this time.

“…”

The three of them exchanged silent glances after their little trick was exposed. Jiang Nian then asked,

“How much do you know about Chen Yue’s recovered memories from his previous life? How much did he tell you? If we’re innocent, did I deserve to be tricked and die?”

“…”

The three of them unconsciously turned to look at Chen Yue.

After a moment, Chen Shanmin spoke.

“Xiao Yue said you were with us in the previous life. Our family was tricked by S Base and Xia Weiwei.”

Jiang Nian stared at Chen Yue.

“Then why didn’t you tell them what happened to you after I saved you?”

“…”

Chen Yue remained silent, but his face was full of resentment. The situation in this life was different, and of course, there were some things he couldn’t say outright.

Chen Shanmin was taken aback. Chen Yue had only mentioned that Jiang Nian was with them in the previous life, that they had taken care of him, and that Jiang Nian’s superpower had saved him. Jiang Nian had rescued him in that past life.

However, Jiang Nian’s reaction now clearly showed that there was more to it.

At the same time, he had a realization.

“Jiang Nian… Have you also recovered your memories from the past life?”

With those words, the strange behavior of these two people, who were so different, suddenly made sense.

Chen Xiuling and her daughter, who had been nervous before, now sensed that something was amiss. After all, Chen Yue had secretly told them—behind Chen Shanmin’s back—that they hadn’t gotten along well with Jiang Nian in his recovered memories. They couldn’t tell their father, so they had to convince him to let Jiang Nian come.

Who would have thought that Jiang Nian had also regained his past-life memories? No wonder he treated them so badly.

But what was with that murderous look in his eyes?

Could they have killed Jiang Nian in their previous life?

“…”

Jiang Nian neither admitted nor denied it. He glanced at them and said,

“Since you don’t know, just ask Chen Yue. For your family’s sake, you’d better persuade him.”

Then, he walked over to the desk piled high with medicine, put on medical gloves, took out a syringe and several vials, and looked at Chen Yue, who was glaring at him.

“I heard that this kind of drug, once injected into infected blood, can make the virus spread really fast…”

“Kill me if you have the guts!”

Chen Yue looked like he wanted to bite him to death.

Jiang Nian pulled out a dagger, walked forward, ripped open Chen Yue’s hospital gown, and stabbed his left arm without hesitation.

“I’m keeping my word. I’m not just going to kill you. I’ll make you live a life worse than death!”

“You bastard! Even though we didn’t get along in our previous life together, we haven’t offended you in this one. We were under S Base’s control…”

Seeing the drug mixed with tainted blood injected into her son, torturing him until he was almost unrecognizable, Chen Xiuling was furious.

“Jiang Nian!”

Chen Shanmin’s eyes went red.

“You’re too cruel! No matter how bad things were between us in our previous life, Xiao Yue never harmed you in this one!”

Jiang Nian met his gaze.

“I’ll say it again—your existence is the greatest loss of my life!”

Soon, the concoction mixed with infected blood began spreading from the needle mark. Visible to the naked eye, it rotted the once normal skin from the center outward.

“Ah!”

Chen Yue could clearly feel the virus gnawing away at his body, and a beast-like instinct began to stir within him. He caught the faint scent of blood coming from his parents and sister.

His head turned involuntarily; the expression on his face twisted into something terrifying.

His teeth began to chatter, his veins bulged on his neck and forehead, and a swallowing sound tore from his throat. Drool mixed with blood trickled from the corner of his mouth.

He wanted to bite someone!