Chapter 24: Fei Jing, do you have even a shred of humanity left?

"What are you doing?"

Lu Tian's voice cracked into pieces, shattered by overwhelming fury and terror. She stumbled down the stairs, tripping over her own feet. The parts of her body left uncovered by clothing were covered in bruises, a truly harrowing sight.

Seeing this, Fei Jing signaled the witch to pause. He took a long stride forward, anxious to help her up. However, Mother Fei grabbed her son firmly, holding him back. "Jing, that little vixen is finally dead. Heaven took pity on the blessings of the Fei family and swept away that jinx. Her ashes must be sealed, or a great calamity will befall us!"

To heighten the atmosphere, the witch deliberately shook the bells on her wrists and ankles, producing a piercing sound. Rolling her eyes, she chanted, "Look! Look quickly, the reincarnated demon is in this room! She wants to kill her own human father; she wants to bring disaster upon the world!"

Fei Jing was not a superstitious man. But in the world of business, who among them didn't subscribe to the belief that it is better to be safe than sorry? He hesitated.

Lu Tian’s eyes were bloodshot. She shook her head frantically, trying to rush forward and reclaim Nannan's ashes.

"Someone! Come here, quickly! Tie this madwoman up!" Mother Fei roared.

"No! Don't touch me! Don't touch me!"

The witch began her ritual again. As a mother, Lu Tian was pinned to the ground, her limbs forced behind her back in a humiliating and twisted posture, rendering her unable to move. With no other choice, she pinned her final hope on Fei Jing, screaming, "Jing, that is our daughter! She was so cute, so dependent on her father. She is not a demon; you know that! She isn't!"

"Mother..."

Fei Jing thought of Nannan—that soft little bundle who would smile like a radiant sunflower and throw herself into his arms to act spoiled whenever he returned home exhausted from work. She would pat her tiny chest and swear in her milky voice, "Hee hee, Mommy, Daddy, when Nannan grows up, I’m going to be the coolest, most powerful CEO, and I’ll use lots and lots of money to support you in your old age."

What could a three-year-old child possibly understand? She simply loved her parents with all her heart.

Lu Tian was hoarse, her vision long since blurred by tears. She pleaded, "Fei Jing, save our Nannan, please save her..."

The dead cannot return to life. Was it possible that even that final handful of ashes had to be tormented and abused by her own grandmother?

"Son, Lu Tian is an ungrateful wretch. She doesn't care about the future of our Fei family. Do you want a catastrophe to befall us too?" Mother Fei declared righteously.

On the second floor, Lu Youyou held a small knife, having already carved several bloody gashes into her own arm. Blood dripped, drop by drop, into a bowl, accumulating into a pool of viscous red liquid. Fei Jing glanced over, his expression complex.

Mother Fei nodded in satisfaction. "See? The witch said we needed fresh blood to activate the formation, and Youyou volunteered. A girl like this is the only one truly worthy of being your wife."

She did not explicitly point out the affair between the two, but her disdain for Lu Tian was naked and raw.

Lu Youyou, having lost too much blood, was deathly pale. Yet, she forced a smile. "Auntie Fei, Brother Fei is my brother-in-law. Whatever I do for him is only right."

"Humph, brother-in-law? Your sister doesn't even have a fraction of the submissiveness of a proper wife! She’s nothing but a madwoman, completely ungrateful!"

With that, Mother Fei moved to strike Lu Tian. Fei Jing firmly seized her wrist, his attitude cold and brooks no argument. "Tian is my only wife. I don't care what you want to do, but one thing is certain: no one is allowed to hurt her!"

He scooped her up and carried her into the master bedroom without a word of protest.

The moment the urn shattered, Lu Tian erupted with the ferocious strength of a mother. She bit down on Fei Jing's arm, and as soon as the blood flowed and his grip loosened, she rolled away and lunged at the ashes scattered on the floor, gathering them into her palms bit by bit. The tiny, sharp ceramic shards sliced into her skin.

Bleeding and pain had, for some time now, become the recurring theme of Lu Tian's life.

Fei Jing, heartbroken, tried to pull her up. She slapped his hand away, knelt on the floor, and looked up. With a voice as raspy as metal scraping against stone, she questioned, "Fei Jing, why? Why have you lost even the last shred of your humanity?"

To what extent could human selfishness expand? Where had the Fei Jing gone—the man who used to lick her wounds and sincerely cherish and care for their daughter?

"Tian, Mom just wants Nannan to have a peaceful journey. Don't be so extreme!" The helplessness in his tone was deeply ironic.

Lu Tian cradled the ashes in her arms. Beneath the dazzling morning sun, her trembling, fragile frame seemed to be gilded with a faint, ethereal gold. Fei Jing felt a tightness in his chest and reached out to pull her into his arms. He was afraid—afraid that his beloved wife would vanish, afraid that one day she would truly have no reliance on him left...

"Wife."

"Fei Jing, perhaps your mother is right. Sooner or later, you will face a great calamity and reap what you have sown!" Before she finished speaking, she had already vanished through the foyer.

A light gray 911 sports car sped away. The man tried to chase, shouting angrily at the butler, "Tian’s emotions have been unstable lately! What are you people paid for? How could you let her get the keys?"

Mother Fei snorted dismissively and pushed the clinging Lu Youyou toward Fei Jing. She urged him repeatedly, "You’ve seen clearly today who loves you and our Fei family more. Jing, treat Youyou well and give her and the child a status as soon as possible."

"Husband, Sister is just too troublesome. You can't keep indulging her, or she'll only get worse, thinking you're easy to bully." Lu Youyou's small hand caressed Fei Jing's abdominal muscles, trailing downward.

Something stirred within him. He sighed and called Chen Yi. "Follow Tian. Don't let anything happen to her. Otherwise, I'm holding you responsible!"

"No, Boss Fei, Lu Tian is your wife. Why are you sending me instead of following her yourself?" Chen Yi had spent the night at a beach bar and was still exhausted.

Lu Youyou jumped on the spot, her youthful, fair legs intertwining like silver snakes. "Mmm~ Husband, I want to go play in the garden with you! Oh! You’re so annoying, why are you pinching my chest~"

The call went silent for a moment.

Chen Yi chuckled. "OK, I’ll go guard your wife. Have fun."

*Beep, beep, beep—*

The call was hung up impatiently.

Meanwhile, at the pier closest to the castle, the burial-at-sea company's speedboat had been waiting for a long time.

"Madam, wasn't it said that both parents would be performing the burial? Why are you alone?"

"He's dead." Lu Tian gripped her sleeves, pulling them down hard to hide the dense, jagged wounds on her palms.

The worker paused, stunned.

She boarded the speedboat. "My husband is dead. He was robbed and shot to death."

"Ah? Then... please accept my condolences."

In the heavy atmosphere, the speedboat left the port. In the clearest part of the sea, pink dolphins sang and leaped as Nannan's ashes were scattered.

At first, she managed to forcibly suppress the collapse and desolation within her heart. By the end, Lu Tian slumped against the railing of the deck, sitting on the floor, sobbing uncontrollably.

Her phone kept vibrating. The explicit photos sent by Lu Youyou felt like a series of slaps in broad daylight.

The final text message read:

—[Lu Tian, do you still remember that night ten years ago, at No. 301, Nanyuan Street, in the Jinggang city district?]

Inside the cockpit, Tuanzi pressed her face against the windshield, staring intently at Lu Tian, who was grieving alone not far away. The little girl turned back, glared unfriendlily at Li Yanchen, and spat at him. "Bad Daddy, stop looking at that case on Nanyuan Street! Hurry, hurry, let's go out and comfort Mommy."