51: Chapter 51 "Auntie, you used to protect me, now President Lin is taking us home."

The light from the eternal lamp was dim, and several ancestral tablets swayed on the altar table.

On the cold, damp bluestone floor, a person lay prone.

Su Muxue's limbs were twisted backward at angles that defied human anatomy.

The once-pristine white shirt she wore was stained with dust and blood.

Her long hair, usually kept in a meticulous bun, was scattered all over the floor.

Hearing the sound of the door being kicked open, Su Muxue lifted her head with extreme difficulty.

Her stunningly beautiful face was devoid of color and covered in cold sweat.

She clearly saw Lin Yuan standing at the doorway, along with Su Xiaonuan, whom he was holding by the hand.

This "Ice Empress," who had always been decisive in the City Center Hospital emergency room and had never taken a step back even when facing knife-wielding troublemakers, saw her defenses crumble completely in that instant.

Her eyes instantly turned red.

There was no sound, only her violently trembling shoulders.

So that was it!

No wonder in the previous life, the "Ice Empress," one of the three S-rank Espers in Jiangcheng, stood on high ground and watched as dozens of the Su Family were bitten to death when the Mutant Zombie Horde attacked the Su Family manor.

Thinking about it, given Su Muxue's personality, even without his interference in this life, she would never have accepted the blind date arranged by the family.

In other words, in her past life, she had also had her limbs broken in this very ancestral hall.

No wonder she didn't save them.

Su Xiaonuan let go of Lin Yuan's hand.

She had even lost one of her high heels while running, stumbling into the ancestral hall and dropping to her knees on the dust-covered stone floor with a thud.

She didn't dare touch Su Muxue's twisted limbs at all, only carefully cupping her cold cheeks.

"Aunt..." Su Xiaonuan's voice was hoarse, tears streaming down her face uncontrollably.

This was the only person who had secretly slipped her meal money in private over the past dozen years.

Su Xiaonuan forcefully wiped the blood from the corner of Su Muxue's mouth, her tone laced with an unprecedented ferocity and stubbornness.

"Aunt, you used to protect me."

"Now, Boss Lin is taking us home. In this world, no one can touch you."

Su Muxue looked at the young niece before her who once didn't even dare to speak loudly.

She wanted to speak, but her jawbone had also been dislocated, so she could only emit painful, low whimpers.

Su Muxue wanted to raise her hand to touch her head.

But that arm hung limply on the ground, twitching just once.

Seeing this, Su Xiaonuan's tears instantly fell onto her palm.

A steady sound of footsteps approached.

Lin Yuan walked up to them.

He crouched down, his long, slender fingers directly grasping Su Muxue's twisted right arm.

"Bear with it."

Before he had even finished speaking.

Lin Yuan exerted force with both hands.

Crack!

"Ugh—!"

Su Muxue let out a suppressed scream in her throat, her delicate body convulsing wildly.

Cold sweat soaked through her thin clothes.

Lin Yuan's movements did not pause for even a second.

Crack! Left arm reset.

Crack! Right leg reset.

Crack! Left leg reset.

Finally, Lin Yuan gripped her jaw with one hand and pressed his thumb slightly.

Click.

Her jaw snapped back into place.

The whole process took less than ten seconds.

Su Muxue was in so much pain that her vision went black; she gasped for air, her body went limp, and she fell forward.

Lin Yuan reached out his right arm, wrapped it around her waist, and scooped the limp Su Muxue into his arms with one hand.

Su Muxue instinctively gripped the black suit fabric on Lin Yuan's chest, burying her face in his broad, firm chest.

She didn't want to think about anything right now; she just wanted to leave this man-eating hell.

Lin Yuan took Su Xiaonuan's hand again with his left hand.

"Let's go."

The three of them turned and stepped over the high threshold of the ancestral hall.

Second Aunt was still slumped in the corridor two meters outside the ancestral hall, her crotch emitting a foul, pungent odor.

Lin Yuan asked Su Xiaonuan if she wanted to beat up this old woman.

Su Xiaonuan shook her head.

It wasn't that she didn't hate her anymore, she just wasn't interested.

[Ding! Target Su Xiaonuan (Beauty 87), Favorability +2%! Current Favorability: 97%!]

Lin Yuan strode forward with long legs, heading toward the front courtyard.

The rain was pouring down.

On the bluestone slabs of the Su Family's front courtyard, a crowd of people was already kneeling densely.

Su Changqing had already driven away the reporters and paid them hush money.

Then, supporting the Head of the Su Family, he hurriedly hid back in the backyard.

The moment Lin Yuan returned.

Everyone pressed their heads against the cold standing water, their shoulders trembling uncontrollably.

Their breathing was stifled.

Lin Yuan walked through them.

He didn't even glance at them.

With an unobstructed path, he walked to the vermilion gate of the Su residence.

Lin Yuan stopped.

Holding Su Muxue, he slowly turned around.

His gaze swept over the crowd kneeling on the ground, past the elaborately carved rockeries and pavilions, and finally settled on the towering eaves of the back hall.

"Find the person who started the rumors."

After saying this, regardless of whether anyone had heard, he turned and got into the george patton.

The Su Family thought they had survived.

But Lin Yuan knew very well.

When the red moon rises, Su Muxue will return in person to freeze this ancestral hall into a tomb.

Rumble!

The black steel beast disappeared into the night.

[Ding! Target Su Muxue (Beauty 90), Favorability +2%, Current Favorability 12%.]

...

Cloud Top Palace, Villa No. 12.

In the guest room, the air conditioning was set to a comfortable 24 degrees.

The air was filled with a faint scent of medical alcohol and mercurochrome.

Su Xiaonuan walked out of the bathroom carrying a basin of warm water.

She sat on the edge of the bed, wrung out a towel, and bit by bit, wiped away the bruises on Su Muxue's body caused by the forced pulling of her joints.

Su Muxue had already changed into a set of Wang Ya's pajamas; due to the relaxation after extreme mental tension, she had fallen into a deep sleep.

Yet her brows remained tightly furrowed, and even in her sleep, her hands were clutching the edge of the quilt tightly.

Su Xiaonuan felt her heart ache in waves as she watched her once high-spirited aunt reduced to this state.

Thinking back to when she was kicked out of the Su Family, it was Su Muxue who had secretly slipped a bank card into her school uniform pocket.

But now, this only person who had ever protected her had also been broken by the Su Family like this.

For the first time, she clearly realized that gentleness could not save anyone.

Only Lin Yuan could.

She tucked in the corner of the quilt and checked the status of Su Muxue's reset limbs once more.

No abnormalities.

Su Xiaonuan turned off the bedside lamp, tiptoed out of the guest room, and closed the door.

At the end of the hallway, the door to the master bedroom was ajar.

Dim, yellow light shone through the gap.

Su Xiaonuan pushed the door open and walked in.

Lin Yuan had just showered and was wearing a black bathrobe, holding an unlit cigarette between his fingers, watching the acid rain outside the window.

Su Xiaonuan did not speak.

She walked to the sofa and stood in front of Lin Yuan.

Then, very naturally, she bent down, picked up the lighter from the coffee table, and lit the cigarette for him.

"Boss Lin."

Su Xiaonuan looked down at her hands.

"Just now in the ancestral hall, I was suddenly very scared."

Lin Yuan looked at her.

Su Xiaonuan's voice was as light as if she were talking in her sleep.

"I'm afraid that one day, when I'm no longer useful, you won't want me either."

Lin Yuan stroked her head and said softly, "That won't happen, as long as you remain loyal."

"Go close the door."

[Ding! Target Su Xiaonuan (Beauty 87), emotional fluctuation has reached its peak!]

[Favorability Critical Hit +3%! Current Favorability: 100%!]

[Favorability has exceeded the critical threshold, a unique brand has been placed on her soul! The target will never betray!]

[Ding! Conditions met! A-rank Spatial Ability [Dimensional Space] awakened!]

Boom!

A dazzling white light suddenly exploded in Lin Yuan's mind.

The next second.

In his consciousness, a vast, static dark space appeared.

Lin Yuan stared at the glass water cup on the coffee table.

Without moving his hands, he just shifted his thoughts slightly.

Swish.

The water cup vanished into thin air.

With another thought.

Swish.

The water cup appeared steadily in his hand.

With this space, the problem of transferring the two thousand tons of supplies from the meat processing plant was solved.

Lin Yuan put down the water cup.

The door lock made a very faint "click" sound.

Su Xiaonuan had already locked the master bedroom door from the inside.

She walked to Lin Yuan, without any hesitation, and dropped to her knees directly on the soft wool carpet.

She looked up at Lin Yuan.

Her petite, pure yet seductive face was full of pathological submission.

"Boss Lin." Su Xiaonuan's voice was extremely soft.

Lin Yuan reached out his finger and pinched her delicate chin.

"I feel like I have your brand on me."

Lin Yuan's gaze swept over her, "Oh?"

Su Xiaonuan turned slightly and pulled open the collar of her nightgown.

A brand of a spider lily, woven from purple-black lines, was silently blooming in a place where it shouldn't be.

"We go to the meat processing plant tomorrow."

Lin Yuan applied slight pressure with his finger, his voice sounding exceptionally low in the quiet room.

"The strategy needs to change."

Su Xiaonuan did not answer.

Her fingers gripped the hem of Lin Yuan's bathrobe, her knuckles turning white.

In the hallway outside, a pair of bare feet stopped silently in front of the master bedroom door.

It was Su Muxue.

She didn't know when she had woken up; one hand was supporting her against the wall as she barely stood, while the other hand hovered over the doorknob.

Through the ajar door, Su Xiaonuan's tearful voice calling "Boss Lin, Boss Lin..." clearly drilled into her ears.

Su Muxue's hand froze in mid-air.

Her fingertips curled slightly, and she pulled them back.

She turned around, stepping barefoot on the wooden floor, and walked back to the guest room step by step, without a sound.

The moment she closed the door, she leaned against the door panel and slowly slid down to a sitting position.

The warmth of Lin Yuan's chest still lingered in her arms.

Su Muxue closed her eyes.

In the darkness, the sound of her heartbeat was deafeningly loud.