Ruan Shu clutched her clothes and nodded obediently, but the tension on her face remained.
Fortunately, after that initial sound, there were no further explosions, which allowed her to relax a bit.
Then, Ruan Shu saw her older brother, looking utterly disheveled.
Her small mouth opened wide as she stared at him, clearly shocked.
“Big brother, you…”
Why do you look like this?!
Ruan Fengsi’s expression was grim, and the dark, dirty stains all over him only made it worse.
He gave a menacing grin, “Ruan Xinglan, damn it, you’ve really outdone yourself!”
The butler stood off to the side, maintaining a neutral gaze.
Ruan Shu looked at them in confusion, wondering what had happened.
“I’m fine,” he reassured her, controlling his emotions in front of her, at least enough not to start yelling at Ruan Xinglan on a video call.
“It was that idiot second brother of yours, don’t worry.”
Ruan Shu: “…”
But with that gritted, murderous expression, it’s hard not to worry!
“Big brother, go take a shower first.”
Even though Ruan Shu herself was still barefoot, she quickly ran off to get him a pair of slippers.
“Put on some shoes,” Ruan Fengsi reminded her, trying to keep his anger in check as he went off to shower.
Ruan Xinglan, that bastard, better stay out of his sight forever!
After his shower, still dripping with wet hair, Ruan Fengsi couldn’t hold back his temper any longer and video-called Ruan Xinglan.
As soon as the call connected, he launched into a furious tirade.
“Ruan Xinglan, if you want to die, just say so! Don’t ever let me see you in this lifetime, you %$@&@!”
The rest was a string of expletives. The young man on the screen, wearing a white shirt and exuding a scholarly charm, didn’t seem annoyed at all. Instead, he calmly put on a pair of headphones, right in front of Ruan Fengsi.
Then, with a serene smile, he said, “Big brother, what are you saying? I can’t hear you.”
His lighthearted tone and the way he shrugged his shoulders were infuriating.
Ruan Fengsi grew even more enraged, yelling inside his room, “Damn it! Ruan Xinglan, just you wait! Don’t let me find you, or I’ll crack open that skull of yours!”
Ruan Xinglan gave a gentle smile and suddenly lifted his hand, shaking a silver peace knot charm in front of the camera, his mild, amiable face doing nothing to mask the mischievous glint in his eyes.
“Big brother, is this what you’re looking for?”
Ruan Fengsi: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
If Ruan Xinglan were here right now, he’d probably be finished.
A terrifying aura radiated from Ruan Fengsi, who glared menacingly at the man on the other side of the screen, then let out a cold, sinister smile.
“Alright, kid. You want to play games with your big brother? Just wait!”
He laughed in exasperation, then, right in front of Ruan Xinglan, opened a mercenary bounty page. He posted Ruan Xinglan’s full name, his current alias, photo, and identity, setting the bounty at twenty million.
Bounty Requirement: As long as he doesn’t die, make him wish he had!
This time, Ruan Xinglan wasn’t smiling. “You’re serious?”
Ruan Fengsi let out a huff, “What do you think?”
The two brothers glared at each other through the screen, as if trying to kill one another with sheer eye contact.
Knock knock…
“Big brother, are you in there?”
A soft, gentle voice echoed from outside, instantly shattering the tense atmosphere.
Mostly because Ruan Fengsi himself broke it.
His expression visibly changed, going from fierce and vengeful to unexpectedly gentle and reserved.
Across the screen, Ruan Xinglan raised an intrigued eyebrow.
Ignoring his ill-fated younger brother, Ruan Fengsi went straight to the door.
Ruan Shu walked in holding a soft, dry towel. “Big brother, your towel’s washed, but you didn’t take it back.”
Her voice was sweet and soft, clearer this time for Ruan Xinglan, who could only listen in as Ruan Fengsi cut off the screen share, so Ruan Shu couldn’t see anything.
“Big brother, are you hurt?”
Ruan Shu climbed onto the bed, using the dry towel to carefully dry his hair.
Ruan Fengsi had short hair, making it easy for her to dry most of the water.
“I’m fine, Shushu. Your second brother’s just a lunatic; stay away from him. He even sent a bomb today just to try and blow me up.”
Ruan Fengsi shamelessly slandered Ruan Xinglan.
“Second brother?” The young girl’s eyes went wide with surprise.
“Why would he do that?”
Ruan Fengsi replied, “He’s a lunatic. Don’t be fooled by his looks. Even when he was little, he’d make dangerous gadgets to prank your third brother and then frame me for it. Your third brother would come looking for me to fight. Now he’s just outright sending dangerous items. This isn’t the first time, either.”
Ruan Fengsi had no qualms about badmouthing his younger brother.
Meanwhile, on the other end, Ruan Xinglan was listening silently: “…”
Though he didn’t really care, hearing himself slandered so thoroughly was indeed irritating.
And, really, all you remember is getting tricked? Why not mention some of the nasty things you did back then? So it’s fine for you to play with fire, but I’m not even allowed to light a candle?
Ruan Shu, for her part, was utterly stunned. She hadn’t expected that the explosion sound was from her second brother trying to blow up her big brother. Her heart was shaken—was her big brother’s and second brother’s relationship really this combustible?
“Remember, don’t go near your second brother. He’s ruthless,” Ruan Fengsi warned her.
Ruan Shu nodded earnestly, her voice soft and obedient, “Okay, Shushu understands.”
After Ruan Shu left, Ruan Fengsi reopened the video call. The first thing he saw was his second brother’s expressionless face.
With a wicked grin, he taunted, “Guess if Shushu will still want to hang around you after this?”
Ruan Xinglan let out a cold chuckle. “Childish. As if I care?”
Just a random sister out of nowhere. Ruan Fengsi must have lost his mind to treat her like a treasure.
Ruan Fengsi’s smile grew more enigmatic. “Oh, really? I hope you keep that same indifference.”
Don’t end up slapping yourself in the face.
Although, he’d been guilty of that himself before.
Ruan Shu quickly put the whole “second brother” incident behind her—after all, she hadn’t even met him yet.
She was highly cooperative with Brother Qingran’s research, willingly giving blood samples or Jingshen whenever he needed them. However, Ruan Qingran rarely asked for much blood; mostly, he just needed her to spend about half an hour for a Jingshen check.
The rest of her time was her own.
Once she understood her abilities, whenever her grandfather was home, she would help him treat his spirit pollution daily.
Three days later, when Ruan He went for another check-up on his spirit pollution levels, they had dropped below ninety.
For someone of Ruan He’s age, spirit pollution above ninety meant that it was only a matter of time, or one triggering event, before he would turn into a mindless beast.
Such beasts were usually spared execution by the government, who instead opted to capture them and exile them to solitary planets to live alone.
For citizens of the Star Beast Empire, that was a fate worse than death.
After all, no one wanted to become a mindless beast. It was as good as being dead.