Chapter 12: Jealousy (Conclusion)

When Song Qingxiu arrived at the hospital clutching his diary and an iron box, his feet suddenly became shackled by iron chains emerging from the floor in the corridor.

Calmly lifting his chin, he locked eyes with the dense black shadow standing before the glass wall. A strange hostility flickered in both their gazes.

Zhu Dan, curled up in the corner, saw Song Qingxiu’s eyes brighten, and the four of them fled like mad to hide behind him.

The whites of the eyes were completely stained with black blood, the dark pupils glaring intently at everyone present.

Around Song Wu, the bloodstained iron chains seemed to come alive, swirling around him. The pungent stench of black blood dripped in the air, connecting in threads before splattering onto the floor.

His gaze lingered long on Song Qingxiu. A dense pattern of black vines crept up one side of his cheek, extending all the way to the corner of his eye.

Song Qingxiu deliberately averted his eyes and glanced behind him.

Behind Song Wu, Xi Jinyuan, drenched in blood, weakly clutched his bleeding abdomen, trembling as he lay on the shattered floor.

It was clear that Song Wu was behind this.

Understanding the situation, Song Qingxiu clicked his tongue lightly and stepped forward without fear, until the iron chain embedded in the ceiling above scraped his nose before crashing heavily onto the floor, marking a clear boundary line. Only then did he halt.

“Song Qingxiu, you still dare to come?” Song Wu’s voice was hoarse, neither human nor ghostly. “Are you begging for death?”

Minutes earlier, Zhu Dan had seen the cart pushed into the morgue roll silently down the corridor, the wheels clattering ominously in her heart.

In what felt like a single second, the entire hospital fell into silence.

Nurses and doctors in the corridor vanished as if into smoke, leaving only the two of them and a corpse in the world.

Zhu Dan’s heart pounded heavily; a chilling dread crawled from her tailbone to the back of her head, an intense, bone-deep danger.

Her eyes fixed unwaveringly on the stairs leading to the emergency exit, where a tide of blackness surged toward her. Her legs weakened, she took a few steps back and turned to flee.

What a joke—letting a novice throw powerless punches at the boss?!

Better to just lie down and wait for death!

“Clang clang.”

The chains clashed crisply in the air as a tall figure slowly approached.

As he lifted his head, brushing back his messy bangs, Zhu Dan finally saw those eyes devoid of any whites.

At Song Wu’s feet, the dragging chains seemed to bind a shadow.

Only when she got closer did Zhu Dan realize it was the young man with the braid and the bloodied figure barely clinging to life.

Holding her breath to look more closely, she discovered the bloodied man was none other than Liu Liu—the very one they had searched for in vain!

Revenge!

Two words flashed violently through Zhu Dan’s mind.

Raw, naked revenge!

Song Wu wasn’t retaliating against Liu Liu for harming himself but for causing Jiang Shengsheng’s death!

At first, the players thought the boss resented them for indirectly causing Jiang Shengsheng’s demise, until Song Qingxiu chuckled softly and slowly uttered, “The victor is king, the defeated are outlaws; only those who stand by her side are victors.”

And the victor was none other than Song Qingxiu himself.

Zhu Dan and the others went blank, their minds fried by Song Qingxiu’s words.

At that moment, the young man with the braid almost jumped up to cover Song Qingxiu’s mouth, desperate to stop him from adding fuel to the fire. He didn’t want the ranking or the prize—they did!

“You are right,” Song Wu sneered unexpectedly, nodding slightly.

He curled his lips, madness gleaming in his inhuman eyes. “I will kill you first, then kill every dog who dares to seduce her, and devour your souls. Then the baby will be mine alone.”

The sharp chains twisted into a gigantic scythe in the air. Song Wu flicked his finger casually, and the chains and scythe shot swiftly toward the calm man.

With one hand in his pocket, the black tide enveloping him receded, revealing the exquisite suit he wore before death.

The handsome youth bore a deranged yet composed smile: “You think you deserve to look at her?”

Zhu Dan was a novice player, but Song Qingxiu was not.

He raised two fingers before his eyes. A thin card, as delicate as a cicada’s wing, was held between them and flicked away effortlessly.

[Jelly Adhesive · Defensive Item] successfully used!

An invisible jelly wrapped around the living, the sharp blade sinking deep but stopping stubbornly just an inch from Song Qingxiu’s forehead, unable to break through.

“That’s all you’ve got?” Song Qingxiu’s lips curled into a mocking smile. “I’m better suited for her. You will always be like a child who never grows up, bringing her endless trouble.”

As if not satisfied with the provocation, Song Qingxiu said shockingly, “Indeed, only if you die will that baby’s adorable eyes look only at me. I will never regret killing you.”

“What?!” The young man with the braid gasped, trembling as he tugged at the stunned Zhu Dan beside him, pointing at the smiling man. “He... he’s too deep in character!”

Coming to her senses, Zhu Dan looked at the man’s upright back with a complex gaze. She shook her head and urged them to hurry with the answers: “He’s the boss. He has plenty of items. Why worry? Let’s submit our answers and get the rewards!”

“Right, right!”

The young man with the braid quickly opened the panel and submitted their answer under [Who Really Killed Song Wu?]—“Song Qingxiu.”

Three seconds later, the players’ figures gradually faded, breaking into fragments that disappeared into the air.

Lowering his gaze, Song Qingxiu’s smile faded. “Song Wu, she is mine. I will take her away.”

It was strange—Song Qingxiu felt intense interference from the game. The emotions repressed by his character infected him with an obsessive madness toward NPC Jiang Shengsheng.

Only when the game’s constraints lifted from his body did Song Qingxiu realize how laughable it was to run away.

Falling in love with an NPC was difficult, but falling for Jiang Shengsheng was not.

If he wanted someone, he would stop at nothing, exhaust every means to have her.

Song Qingxiu never pretended to be a good man.

“Dream on!” Song Wu’s body exuded thick black blood. Countless black tides condensed into clawing tentacles, enveloping the man standing firm until not a breath of air could get through.

After standing still for a moment, believing Song Qingxiu had been swallowed, Song Wu curled his lips and stepped briskly into a room deep in the corridor.

The clean, cozy hospital room was meticulously arranged by him. The woman lying on the bed was stiff, her delicate face drained of all color.

Song Wu used the power he had devoured to heal Jiang Shengsheng’s countless wounds. He bent down, gently stroking her cold cheek with pity.

“Bad baby,” Song Wu murmured, “finally, you belong to me completely.”

A sharp “psst” sounded—the blade piercing flesh echoed through the room.

Thick, icy black blood splattered everywhere. The man behind Song Wu leisurely wiped his sharp long knife and kicked aside the body kneeling beside the bed.