Chapter 13: Gong Shenxi Has Long Been Dead

She was the heiress of the W Group, and the people surrounding her, both in number and influence, far surpassed those at Gong Xiali’s side.

In truth, Gong Xiali’s elaborate efforts to intercept Yu Mo back then were all because she feared her plan would fail. Yu Mo was the man who controlled half the power in W Group. That half had been entrusted to him by Gong Shenxi herself. He was Gong Shenxi’s most trusted right hand.

Ever since he appeared at W Group three years ago, it was as if he’d been endowed with supernatural abilities—cruel, ruthless, and incomparably efficient. Even Gong Xiali had to tread carefully around him.

That was why Gong Xiali believed that as long as he was kept away from Gong Shenxi’s side, and she spread rumors about an underground experiment in Sand City, luring Gong Shenxi there, she could seize the opportunity to eliminate her when she was alone.

But now, suddenly, fear gripped her. She could not believe that anyone could see through her schemes, or that everything had already been calculated in advance.

Shock was etched across Gong Xiali’s face.

Shen Chaoxi lifted her gaze, clearly savoring the expression revealed before her. Her lips curled into a smile, her voice light with amusement: “It’s all thanks to you.”

“You were kind enough to confess personally to being the mastermind behind the car accident three years ago that nearly took my life.”

Gong Xiali’s brows knitted in a deathly frown. What did Gong Shenxi mean by this? Did she know about this as well? Had she deliberately waited for this day, to hear the truth spoken from her own lips?

“Impossible!”

Gong Xiali was on the verge of madness. In her mind, memories of three years ago flashed by—ever since Gong Shenxi miraculously survived that car explosion and returned, she had changed. The once vicious heiress of W Group no longer confronted her openly. Instead, there was always a faint, incomprehensible smile at her lips, a light laugh that unsettled Gong Xiali.

Yet, if one spoke of changes, Gong Shenxi was still Gong Shenxi. From beginning to end, not even her face had altered. Only someone as perpetually at odds with her as Gong Xiali would have noticed those subtle differences.

If not for today, if not for Gong Shenxi saying these words to her face, perhaps she would never have realized exactly what had changed.

How could a person remain unchanged after everything? After surviving death, snatched back from the hands of the Reaper himself, wouldn’t one cherish life all the more?

Shen Chaoxi smiled: “You just said—how did you plan to kill me again?”

Was it to shatter her bones first, or let someone else have a taste of her?

At these words, Gong Xiali’s eyes shifted, fury blazing as she glared at Shen Chaoxi. She immediately tried to swing the iron rod in her hand, desperate to tear the woman before her to pieces.

But clearly, in the other’s grasp, no matter how fierce she once was, all she could do now was tuck her tail between her legs. The iron rod was snatched from her by one of the black-clad men at her side.

Shen Chaoxi extended a hand, and the black-clad man respectfully stepped forward, placing the rod in her hand.

Lowering her gaze, her smoky eyes held an unfathomable, enchanting authority.

“Gong Shenxi, you can’t do this!” Gong Xiali’s panic grew as she recognized the girl’s intentions.

She tried to resist, to struggle, but the black-clad men held her shoulders in a vice grip, making escape impossible.

Shen Chaoxi’s slender, alabaster fingers, though wounded and bloodstained, caressed the iron rod with a supple, almost boneless grace, captivating every eye.

“I haven’t even said what I intend to do yet.”

Her smile was exquisite, lips curving like a crescent moon. Her soft, chilling voice seeped into the heart, turning eerie in the midnight rain.

Yu Mo stood behind her, his dark eyes gazing quietly.

Her seductive gaze landed on Gong Xiali’s terrified, frenzied face, her faintly smiling lips driving onlookers mad with anxiety.

In that moment, everyone seemed to hold their breath, waiting for what she would say next.

But without further warning, gripping the rod, she strode up to Gong Xiali and swung with sudden force.

With a sickening crack, the iron rod smashed against Gong Xiali’s head, blood spurting wildly!

Gong Xiali’s brows furrowed, and in an instant, all resistance left her. Blood streamed from her forehead, hanging in broken lines.

She collapsed to the ground with a thud, her body twisted, head lolling to one side in abject vulnerability. Her neck quivered, and blood gushed from the back of her skull.

Outside the abandoned factory, a young man’s pupils contracted sharply at the sight!

He nearly rushed in to save the person inside, but Lu Yunzhou grabbed his arm. In the darkness, more than a dozen men in black tactical gear silently surrounded the derelict building.

Lu Yunzhou’s brow was furrowed, his voice cold as he warned, “Don’t be rash.”

The scene inside was so brutal and bloody that those outside went pale.

Icy rain poured down, drenching the men’s hair and bodies. Lu Yunzhou pressed his lips into a thin line—even in such harsh weather, they had still made it to Sand City.

Yet they had arrived just in time to witness this nightmarish scene.

They’d seen plenty of criminal infighting before, but even within W Group, things were this ruthless?

The sight was truly appalling.

“Take a good look inside before you act,” Lu Yunzhou ordered coolly.

His words made the young man who’d been about to charge in hesitate.

On closer inspection, the person on the ground didn’t seem to be her.

They hadn’t had time to see clearly before, but now, Chen Yu and the others realized something was off about the scene inside.

Gong Xiali, her skull bashed in, lay on the ground, her lips trembling. While the young woman before her, poised and elegant as a black swan, moved with a calm, irresistible grace.

She tossed the bloodied rod to the black-suited bodyguard at her side and leaned close to Gong Xiali.

“Gong Shenxi, you can’t kill me…” Gong Xiali’s voice was feeble, barely clinging to life.

Blood choked her throat, her head shattered, her world stained red.

“You wouldn’t dare kill me…”

“If you do, and the old man finds out—”

“Finds out?” Shen Chaoxi’s soft laugh was tinged with cold arrogance, the air of a queen above all reproach.

“And what then?”

The thick stench of blood filled the air, mingling with Gong Xiali’s ragged breaths as she struggled to say, “He’ll never forgive you.”

Even at death’s door, she tried to threaten her.

Shen Chaoxi laughed.

“It seems some people still haven’t woken up to reality.”

In Gong Xiali’s mind, Gong Shenxi, the W Group heiress, was highly favored by the old man. That was why she always suppressed Gong Xiali within the group.

But if Gong Shenxi truly killed her, even the old man would not let it pass.

As Shen Chaoxi’s pale face, tinged with a faint smile in the gloom, came into view, Gong Xiali’s lips twitched, blood clogging her throat, yet she forced out a sound with great effort.

“Gong Shenxi…”

“Do you really think the old man knows nothing about what I’ve done at the Sand City experimental base?”

Though Sand City was remote, it was still under W Group’s domain.

How could someone as shrewd as the old man be completely in the dark?

A shadow flickered in Shen Chaoxi’s eyes, a cold glint difficult to discern.

What Gong Xiali had done likely went far beyond this. For the sake of profit, she’d committed unspeakable acts.

Indeed, how could the old man not have heard whispers?

“Heh,” Gong Xiali’s weak voice sounded as though she was still gambling—that no matter how ruthless or poisonous Gong Shenxi’s methods, she wouldn’t dare kill her outright.

“Gong Shenxi, you never expected this, did you?” she sneered. “Everything I did was with the old man’s tacit approval.”

Though, of course, that didn’t include setting a trap in Sand City to kill her.

“So what?” Shen Chaoxi raised an eyebrow. Just as Gong Xiali thought that revealing these secrets would spare her, or at least preserve her life, a soft laugh fell from above.

“In light of all you’ve told me, I’ll share a secret with you as well.”

Leaning in close, Shen Chaoxi said with a smile by her ear, “Gong Shenxi is already dead.”

“The car accident you orchestrated back then did not fail.”

Gong Xiali’s pupils constricted violently.

She tried to speak, but from loss of blood and the severe trauma, her voice caught in her ruined throat and would not come.