Desperate people, accept the seed of my soul!

Li Cheng walked over and stood beside Zhou Zhengqing. After a long silence, he finally spoke: "What is Li Zhengmin doing bringing people to the back alley?"

Zhou Zhengqing remained silent.

He knew Li Zhengmin had come to silence him, but he had no evidence.

Now that Li Zhengmin is dead, there is no way to verify the truth. The secrets of the Emperor's Club, Zhang Bingkun's ledgers, and all the shady transactions of the past twenty years have rotted away with Li Zhengmin's corpse.

"Clean up the scene thoroughly." Zhou Zhengqing's voice was weary. "Classify it as a 'gangster shootout.' Li Zhengmin heroically sacrificed his life while chasing criminals; report it and grant him the title of martyr. The rest, keep it to yourself."

Li Cheng paused for a moment: "Then inside the Emperor's Club—"

"Clean everything up. Leave no trace of the body, blood, or surveillance footage—not even a brick or tile." Zhou Zhengqing turned and walked back. "That's an order."

He doesn't intend to report the truth about tonight's events.

The appearance of Lin Shen, the escape of the two newly awakened individuals, and Li Zhengmin's operation to silence them—reporting these things would only make him lose face at headquarters.

It would be better to shift all the blame to the "gang fight," and Li Zhengmin would be a "martyr" even if he died, while Zhou Zhengqing at least kept his position as the special commissioner of Jeolla Province.

Night fell once again over Zhaoming Avenue, and the air was filled with the mingled smells of gunpowder and blood.

The neon lights of the Emperor Club were off, and the entire building was pitch black, with only a few beams of flashlight beams flickering in the lobby on the first floor.

The soldiers clearing the scene kept their heads down, lifting the bodies onto the trucks one by one, and no one spoke.

Inside the car, Su Wanxing leaned back in her seat and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

The moment the car door closed, the neon lights of the Emperor Club, the gunshots in the alley, Li Zhengmin's blood, and the scene of corpses scattered on the ground were all left outside the car window as if they had been paused.

The sound of wheels rolling over the asphalt road was steady and rhythmic, a stark contrast to the dense gunfire that had just erupted.

The battle they had just fought had exhausted their last bit of mental energy.

Su Wanxing's fingers were still trembling uncontrollably, the bluish-purple discoloration on her fingernails had not yet faded, and her fingertips were as cold as frozen meat just taken out of the refrigerator.

But it's much better than the extreme situation where I couldn't condense an ice cone on the sixth floor.

Su Mingyu leaned against the other side of the car window, his lips as white as paper.

His eyes were closed, his chest rising and falling slowly with his breathing, and his fingers unconsciously gripping the strap of his canvas bag.

There were still a few bottles of mineral water in the bag that hadn't been poured out yet. The bottles gently bumped against each other as the car swayed, making a gurgling sound.

"Thank you." Su Wanxing looked at Lin Shen driving in front, her voice still a little hoarse.

His throat was choked by the gunpowder smoke from the gunfight, and every word he spoke felt like it was being rubbed against sandpaper. "If it weren't for you, we would have been done for today."

She said it from the bottom of her heart.

Just now on the sixth floor of the Emperor Club, if Lin Shen hadn't suddenly appeared, she and Su Mingyu would either have been knocked out by tranquilizer darts in the corridor, riddled with bullets by armor-piercing rounds, or ambushed and shot to death by Li Zhengmin in the back alley.

No matter what the outcome, it's impossible for anyone to be alive sitting in this car.

"Of course." Lin Shen glanced at her in the rearview mirror, a faint smile appearing on his lips. "We're the same kind of people, both driven to the brink of despair."

He said this in a very calm tone, as if he were talking about today's weather.

But Su Wanxing could tell what lay behind that calmness—an understanding that needed no further explanation after experiencing the same despair.

Lin Shen paused for a moment, then turned his gaze back to the road ahead.

The provincial highway was flanked by dark farmland, with only the occasional flash of a solitary streetlamp illuminating the interior of the vehicle in a flickering light.

"The organization I belong to is called Fireseed." His voice was lower than before, with a touch of solemnity. "The people inside are just like you, they have awakened their abilities, and they all have blood feuds to avenge. Chen Guohua is avenging his daughter, Han Xiao is avenging his wife and daughter, Li Rui is avenging his wife, Liu Zhen is avenging his wife and children, Meng Zhaowen is avenging his brother, Shen Qinghou is avenging his mother, and Shen Hanzhou is avenging his senior sister."

He read out the names one by one, very slowly, as if he were counting a very important list.

Each name carries a deep-seated hatred, and each name represents a story that erupts after being driven to the brink of despair.

"We have all been trampled underfoot by this world, oppressed by the powerful, betrayed by the law, and abandoned by everyone. Then we awakened our abilities and, one by one, dragged all those who bullied us into hell."

Lin Shen's voice did not waver in the slightest when he said the word "hell".

He wasn't making harsh statements; he was simply stating a fact that had already occurred.

Chiji was destroyed, Xiongbei Lieyang Branch was destroyed, Wuyue Society Lieyang Branch was destroyed, and the Wei Group was destroyed.

The blood debts owed by those people have been repaid by Huosheng, one by one.

"If you're willing, you can join us. Let's take revenge together and deal with those beasts who bullied us."

Su Wanxing and Su Mingyu exchanged a glance.

The siblings have relied on each other since childhood and can understand each other's thoughts without needing to speak.

Su Mingyu's eyes were frighteningly bright—not from the illusory light of mental exhaustion, but from something that had been ignited.

That was the look in someone's eyes when they suddenly see a light after groping in the dark for too long.

They no longer have a home.

I can't go back to that leaky little house in Fu'an Lane, and I can't stay in Zhaoming City anymore.

The killings of Zhao Hu, Zhang Bingkun, Wang Haidong, and Li Zhengmin were all major cases that shocked the entire province, and the authorities would not let them go.

Moreover, Zhao Hu said before he died that "a big shot above" specifically wanted her.

Before his death, Zhang Bingkun said that Li Zhengmin was that important person.

But Li Zhengmin also said that he was only the deputy director.

Above the deputy director is the director, above the director is the mayor, and above the mayor are provincial officials.

They don't know how long this rotten chain is.

But no matter how long it is, they have to cut it into sections.

"Okay." Su Wanxing nodded, her voice soft but firm, "We'll join."

When she said those two words, many images flashed through her mind.

The image shows her and her younger brother huddled together in a corner of a small house, trying to keep warm after their parents died.

The image shows the younger brother lying in the hospital with his leg broken, crying in pain.

The scene of onlookers pointing and whispering when Zhao Hu slapped her.

The scene shows Zhang Bingkun kneeling on the ground begging for mercy in the office on the sixth floor of the Emperor Club.

The terrified and distorted face of Li Zhengmin before his death.

These images, strung together, form a path of no return.

But she had already embarked on this path and never thought of turning back.

Lin Shen looked at the siblings in the rearview mirror, and the corners of his mouth curved up a little wider than before.

He reached under the passenger seat and pulled out a first-aid kit, tossing it to the back seat: "There's disinfectant and bandages inside. Treat your wounds first. We need to get to the safe house before dawn and then contact the others to meet up."

Su Mingyu took the first aid kit and first disinfected the wound on his sister's arm.

When the hydrogen peroxide was poured on, white foam appeared on the wound, and Su Wanxing frowned in pain, but she didn't make a sound.

Lin Shen pressed the accelerator pedal down a little more.

The gray-blue sedan sped along the provincial highway, its headlights piercing the darkness and illuminating the road ahead.