Chapter 6: You Two Must Divorce
Zhang Minghao's heart plummeted like a stone into icy waters as Chen Liang's blade-sharp pronouncement sliced through the club's haze. *After the humiliation of prostration, must this degradation persist?* He pivoted violently, crimson-veined eyes bulging, voice quivering with volcanic fury. "Cease testing providence!"
Chen Liang's lips curled in glacial amusement. Though Tang Mengru and her spineless consort might reject their familial bond, blood ties were immutable bonds thicker than river currents. Their ultimate transgression—drugging his lawful wife—demanded retribution written in pain.
"Since your coffers overflow with ill-gotten wealth," Chen Liang's voice dripped arsenic sweetness, "why not demonstrate largesse? Liquid libations for this entire den of iniquity."
The colour drained from both Zhang Minghao's and Dao Ba's faces. *Financial ruination or physical annihilation?* Zhang's panicked gaze swept across the teeming nightclub, calculating the astronomical bar tab that would beggar his family. Defiance meant becoming another missing persons statistic.
The DJ's thunderous announcement – "Tonight's Dionysian revelry sponsored by Young Master Zhang!" - ignited seismic cheers that shook crystal martini glasses.
Rising with panther-like grace, Chen Liang brushed nonexistent dust from his sleeves. "A final souvenir – our patron specifically requested I remain... breathing."
Dao Ba's shark-tooth grin emerged as thugs materialised like spectres. Zhang's protests dissolved into animalistic shrieks, each crunch of bone harmonising with the bassline.
When the symphony of violence concluded, Zhang's once-aristocratic features resembled overripe persimmons. Dao Ba expelled a glob of phlegm in visceral contempt. "Convey this refusal to emergency care." After all, the 400,000 yuan beating fee warranted survival, prolonged suffering being the ultimate interest.
In the aftermath's smoky stillness, Xia Shanhu offered Dao Ba a trembling cigarette. "What manner of entity is this, Brother Liang? Even you tread like glass-walkers."
Dao Ba's laughter carried Arctic winds. "You imagine your amateur brawling could maim him? That was Mercy's fleeting kiss."
Scepticism faded when Xia Shanhu discovered his steel pipe – the one swung at Chen Liang's skull – bisected with edges smoother than surgical steel. His cigarette halted mid-ascent.
Rolling up his trousers revealed a mirroring laceration on his calf, blood oozing like rubies. The realisation struck like lightning – Chen Liang's fingertips had cleaved through tempered steel.
Then came the delayed sting – a hairline incision across his throat, precise as calligraphy. * When had death's breeze caressed him?
Dao Ba tapped his paralysed limbs. "My current state? His opening gambit. When Wu Tian sought vengeance..." The unspoken conclusion hung heavier than an executioner's blade.
Xia Shanhu's nicotine-stained fingers trembled. * We dance with devils.
...
Across the city, Zhao Wan'er paced like a caged tigress, smartphone imprinting her palm. Twelve times she'd dialled emergency services; twelve times faith stayed her hand. When her parents staggered through the door, reeking of gutter and disgrace, she embraced their battered forms.
"What calamity befell you? Name your tormentors!"
Their silence echoed louder than slammed doors. Zhao's heart constricted – this ritual of triple-locking meant Chen Liang's exile.
"Mother, why bar our benefactor? He delivered you from perdition!"
Tang Mengru whirled, eyes blazing with Medusa's fury. "That gutter rat's shadow shall never again profane this threshold!" She kicked her cowering husband toward the kitchen. "Prepare sustenance. This debacle stains your worthless hands."
As shower waters cleansed physical filth, Zhao redialled Chen Liang's number – thirteen unanswered rings. Her vision blurred. *What if river currents carry his...
The deadbolt clicked. Zhao lunged, but Tang's claws snagged her sweater. "Defy me, and join him in the streets!"
Chen Liang materialised in the doorway, exhaustion etching his features, yet standing unbowed. "All storms weathered, my phoenix."
She collapsed into his arms, tears baptizing his collar. *How dare I waver?
Tang Mengru's broom handle cracked against the doorframe. "Begone! Divorce documents await dawn's light!"
Zhao's breath caught. Her father emerged bearing a cleaver and contempt. "The farce concludes tonight."
Chen Liang's gaze crystallised into diamond hardness. * So the serpents bear fangs after salvation.
"Mother, this injustice—" Zhao's protest died mid-flight.
"Silence!" Tang's screech could shatter crystal. "Gather your rags, cur! By sunrise, we sever this cursed union!"
The silence that followed hummed with unsheathed blades. Chen Liang's jawline could have cut stone. *Let war's drums thunder.
Zhao's imploring eyes sought his, finding only forged steel resolve.
*Let the Pyre of ingratitude burn, he thought. From ashes shall rise new empires.*
I Promise You!
**I. The Homecoming Turned Nightmare**
The family's long-anticipated reunion disintegrated into a maelstrom of chaos far more ruinous than their ordeal of being held captive. Nosy neighbours flocked around like vultures, brandishing their smartphones aloft, eager to capture and immortalise the family's disgrace.
**Zhao Wan'er's Indignation**:
*"Desist from filming this instant! This is a matter that concerns our family alone!"* She admonished, her voice quivering with barely suppressed composure as she then turned to face her father. *"Father, must you stoke the flames of this turmoil rather than quell them? Must we sacrifice our dignity on the altar of public humiliation?"*
- **Tang Mengru's Decree**:
*"This sham of a marriage must be dissolved without delay!"* She shrieked, her demand met with a chorus of vehement agreement:
*"Hear, hear! We will no longer tolerate this never-ending farce!"*
*"Who would endure having a parasitic son-in-law who squanders his wife's wealth?"*
The matriarch's visage turned a livid shade of purple. The venomous stories she had spread about Chen Liang's inadequacies now came back to haunt her, echoed in the jeers of that detestable neighbour (whose face was marred by a blemish that resembled a spider's egg sac):
*"What a stroke of luck you've had! My son works like a beast of burden for his in-laws. It's truly novel to see a man being kept!"*
---
**II. The Temptress' Gambit**
Amidst the bedlam, Xia Yu materialised like an otherworldly apparition, a vision of ethereal beauty standing in stark contrast to the sordid scene around her. She draped herself around Chen Liang, clinging to him like ivy to a wall, and whispered:
*"My dearest Liang, could you deny me such a trivial request?"*
- **Social Reckoning**:
The mole-faced harridan paled, the cruel mockery she had earlier uttered – "Not even the women of the night would have this good-for-nothing!"* – crumbling into insignificance in the face of this Aphrodite's pleading. Defeated, she slunk back into the shadows.
- **Domestic Unravelling**:
Zhao Bao'er declared imperiously, "Let the courts dissolve this union! However, I shall keep these luxurious silk garments that he procured for me." *
Tang Mengru levelled a scathing accusation: *"You've already taken a concubine, haven't you?"*
---
**III. The Fracture**
Chen Liang's self-restraint finally snapped, and with a volcanic outburst of anger, he repelled Xia Yu:
*"Leave this place at once, or our agreement will be null and void forever!"*
When she lingered, he reluctantly conceded through clenched teeth. Once her mission was accomplished, the enchantress vanished, leaving Tang Mengru to crow triumphantly:
*"Thus, this farce comes to an end! Prepare the divorce papers!"*
Yet, Zhao Wan'er stepped forward, placing herself between them like a protective shield:
*"Is this how you repay the man who risked his very life to save you?"*
The matriarch erupted in a fit of rage:
*"Save us? We were abducted because of his web of lies!"*
---
**IV. Revelation**
Zhao Wan'er's voice cut through the air like a blade of silver:
*"Have you no sense of shame? You hounded his father to his death over fabricated debts!"*
Her parents froze in their tracks, their concocted "one-million-yuan debt" now exposed for what it was. Tang Mengru spluttered indignantly:
*"Debts must be repaid! That good-for-nothing's downfall was due to his weakness!"*
---
**V. Oath Unbound**
As Tang Mengru's hand lashed out, aiming for her daughter's cheek, Chen Liang intercepted the blow. His declaration boomed with an unyielding finality:
*"No one shall lay a hand on my wife."*
Zhao Wan'er's eyes glistened with tears; her husband's unwavering devotion was finally revealed in all its untainted splendour.
Locked Out!
**I. The Aftermath of Conflict**
Chen Liang relinquished his grasp on Tang Mengru's wrist, his eyes ablaze with a smouldering, seething ire that pierced into her, much like a blade meticulously forged in the silent, smouldering flames of his righteous indignation.
- **Tang Mengru's Retreat:**
Overwhelmed by an all-consuming sense of culpability, she recoiled from the oppressive weight of his accusatory stare. With a haughty and disdainful *"Hmph!* she swept away towards her chamber, resembling a tempestuous, turbulent storm cloud withdrawing from the gentle warmth of the sunlight, its once menacing presence now diminished.
- **The Patriarch's Disgrace:**
Her father melted away into the impenetrable obscurity of the shadows, a spectral, wraith-like figure consumed by profound shame as he desperately sought to evade the tempestuous, chaotic turmoil that raged within the marriage. His craven cowardice was further exacerbated and accentuated by his wordless disappearance, leaving behind no discernible trace of his former presence.
The parlour was enveloped in a deathly, eerie stillness, evocative and reminiscent of a solemn tomb. Husband and wife stood in close physical proximity, yet emotionally, they were as distant as if separated by vast, boundless continents, their physical closeness starkly belied and contradicted by the profound chasm of emotions that irreversibly divided them.
---
### **II. The Chasm Between Them**
Zhao Wan'er perched on the edge of the Chesterfield sofa, unconsciously creating an intangible, invisible moat of opulent and luxurious fabric between them. The air in the room was thick, laden with unspoken confessions and pent-up emotions, the palpable tension suffocating and almost tangible.
- **A Sepulchral Apology:**
After what seemed like an interminable, endless eternity of deafening silence, her voice emerged softly, like a ghostly, ethereal mist, barely audible and delicate: *"My parents have committed a grievous, grave wrong...I tender my sincere apologies for the baseless, false accusations they have levelled."*
- **Aborted Exoneration:**
As Chen Liang began to speak (*"Regarding Xia Yu—"*), she raised her hand in a swift, decisive motion, cutting him off abruptly. Her gesture was as swift and final as the descent of a guillotine, leaving no room for argument. *"Cease. I will not brook or tolerate any excuses or rationalisations."*
She then disappeared into their bedroom, the sound of the latch clicking shut reverberating through the room like the solemn, final pronouncement of a judge's gavel, sealing the moment with finality.
Chen Liang stood before the sturdy, solid oak door, his lips contorted into a bitter, mirthless, and rueful smile. Once again, he was condemned and fated to spend another night in the purgatory of solitude, a solitary scholar adrift in a vast, uncharted sea of unspoken words and unresolved, lingering emotions.
---
### **III. The Unseen Ripple Effect**
Beyond the confining boundaries of their domestic upheaval and turmoil, a digital tempest and maelstrom raged on unabated:
- **Xu Jianing's Virtual Shipwreck:**
Her streaming empire, once flourishing and buoyed aloft by the viral, meteoric success of the *"Rengar's Ruthless Onslaught"* footage and the exclusive, coveted privileges it bestowed upon her elite viewers, was now in a precipitous, free-fall decline. Subscribers were deserting her in large, overwhelming numbers, scurrying away like rats fleeing a sinking, doomed ship.
- **The Apostasy:**
The fair-weather followers, who had once flocked to her channel with unbridled enthusiasm and fervour, now abandoned their digital seats of worship and devotion as Rengar's avatar remained trapped in a perpetual, unending state of greyscale, a poignant symbol of its dormant, neglected, and forgotten state.
- **Desperation's Ritual:**
Xu Jianing, in a state of manic, frenzied desperation, repeatedly mashed the F5 key on her keyboard, her actions teetering on the edge of obsession. Her lips moved in a hushed, whispered incantation, a desperate plea to the deities of the digital realm: *"By the infernal fires of Hades—where on earth have you vanished to?"*
Did I Sanction Your Audacity to Sit?
### **I. The Slap That Shattered Decorum**
The security guard had hardly caught sight of the silk-clad figure hurtling towards him when Xia Yu's manicured fingers lashed out, striking his cheek with a sharp crack. The sound of flesh meeting flesh echoed through the marbled vestibule of Lakeside Manor, shattering the serene ambiance.
**Xia Yu's Incandescence**:
*"You imbecilic wretch!"* she hissed, her obsidian eyes ablaze with fury as she glared at the security guard, whose cheek now bore a vivid crimson handprint. *"How dare you impede someone bearing the Meng family's seal of approval?!"*
Weeks of painstakingly woven schemes to ensnare Chen Liang were now unravelling at the hands of this lowly obstacle. His arrival in a humble yellow taxi (the very thought was mortifying!) had ignited her anger to a volcanic fervour.
*(Subtextual whisper: "No matter how hard they try, the commoners will always remain commoners. He couldn't even arrange for a more dignified mode of transport for this important occasion!")*
**Chen Liang's Intercession**:
*"Xia Yu, this blatant act of brutality is completely unacceptable!"* He thundered, his voice booming through the vestibule.
*"Oh? Then do tell, whose stinginess led to this sorry mess?"* she retorted, crossing her arms defiantly, like a pair of crossed scimitars ready for battle. *"You expect me to apologise? Not even in ten lifetimes!"*
The security guard, his face etched with a look of stoic martyrdom, locked eyes with Chen Liang. In that moment, an unspoken understanding passed between them, a silent covenant forged in the absurdity of the situation, bridging the gap between their different social castes.
---
### **II. The Theatre of Dominance**
A phalanx of security guards descended upon the scene, led by their granite-jawed captain. The captain was unmoved by Xia Yu's alluring beauty, reminiscent of a delicate peony, but was intrigued by her audacious and brazen behaviour.
**The Edict**:
*"You will apologise. Immediately",* the captain commanded, his voice as cold and unyielding as forged steel.
Xia Yu let out a mocking laugh, her voice tinkling like broken glass. She jabbed a lacquered nail into the captain's sternum and sneered, *"Keep dreaming, you insignificant ant! Meng Shao himself is waiting inside. Are you eager to join the ranks of the unemployed?"*
**The Arbiter's Judgement**:
The maitre d' materialised out of nowhere, his presence exuding an air of authority. His icy pronouncement cut through the thick, humid air like a knife: *"This is your ultimatum: either apologise or leave this establishment."*
The whispers of the patrons, who had been watching the scene unfold, swelled into a tidal wave of condemnation. Xia Yu's once regal facade began to crumble under the weight of their collective disapproval.
---
### **III. The Descent Into Abjection**
Meng Chen appeared, his presence as imposing as an unsheathed katana in the charged atmosphere.
**Xia Yu's Mortification**:
*"M-Meng Shao! This whole debacle wasn't—"* she stammered, her voice trembling with fear.
He reached out and roughly grabbed a handful of her raven-black hair (a familiar gesture that always preceded some form of torment). *"Clean up this repulsive mess,"* he purred menacingly, *" or tonight's lesson might become... rather instructive."*
**The Mandated Grovel**:
With her jaw clenched so tightly that her teeth threatened to shatter, Xia Yu forced herself to bow deeply at a ninety-degree angle. *"I, this unworthy one... humbly prostrate myself before your great magnanimity,"* she said through gritted teeth.
The staff members struggled to suppress their smirks as Xia Yu's cheeks flushed a deep scarlet, the colour of a phoenix's plume. The taste of humiliation was as bitter and acrid as poisoned chrysanthemum tea.
---
### **IV. The Symposium of Vipers**
Inside the opulently decorated private room, a sumptuous feast was laid out on the table, untouched. The cutlery, gilded and shining, glinted like dormant blades in the soft light.
**Meng Chen's Checkmate**:
As Chen Liang began to take his seat, Meng Chen's deep baritone voice rang out, freezing him in his tracks:
*"Did I give you permission to sit in my presence?"*
The challenge hung in the air, like the fabled Sword of Damocles, its silent threat more powerful than any battle cry, casting a shadow over their heads.
Chapter 12: Is That All Thy Arsenal Contains?
### **I. The Serpent's Gambit**
Meng Chen's crafty, serpentine smile stretched wider as the chamber pulsed with the ravenous, voyeuristic eagerness of the onlookers.
- **The Rabble's Bloodlust**:
*"Behold! The authentic scion of the Meng clan makes his triumphant resurgence!"*
The spectators fixated their gazes intently on Chen Liang, their malevolent thoughts acting as ethereal whips, lashing at his very being—*"Succumb to our ire! Provide us with a pretext to reduce you to naught but dust and cinders."*
- **Xia Yu's Pyrrhic Victory**:
She exhaled a breath laden with a vindictive sense of gratification, reminiscent of the sulphurous fumes billowing from a slumbering volcano. *"This is the very essence of poetic retribution,"* she whispered, her form adorned in sumptuous couture, using the silken armour of her attire to cloak her prior humiliation.
Meng Chen's hand alighted upon Chen Liang's shoulder, and with a gesture towards the spilled claret, he declared, *"My emotions are exquisitely encapsulated within this wine-drenched requiem."*
---
### **II. The Stillness Before Tempest**
Chen Liang's eyes, as frigid and inscrutable as ancient glaciers, defied every effort to fathom his impending reaction.
- **Meng Chen's Bafflement**:
*"Does not a single spark of anger course through your veins?"*
*"Why should I yield to anger when indifference reigns supreme in my heart?"* Chen Liang shrugged his shoulders with an air of complete nonchalance, as if they were tectonic plates shifting ever so slightly, utterly unfazed by the surrounding circumstances.
The collective breath of the assembled throng caught in their throats—their knuckles blanched white with tension; his hands remained as pliant and supple as the boughs of a willow tree in the gentle breeze.
- **The Jeering Chorus**:
*"You spineless cur! The ignoble progeny of a once-illustrious lineage!"*
*"For a paltry sum of ten thousand sullied coins, he'd readily barter away his family's ancestral heirlooms."*
Xia Yu clenched her teeth, suppressing the words that threatened to spill forth, yet her eyes blazed with seething anger, her gaze as piercing as daggers, silently screaming: *"Is this the craven coward whom I once held dear?"*
---
### **III. The Viper's Uncoiling**
Meng Chen's so-called "generous offer" hung suspended in the air like a gilded noose, transforming the purported brilliance of a gemcutter into a menial chore befitting a lowly latrine attendant.
- **The Peripeteia**:
Chen Liang lifted his goblet... and then poured the rich, deep burgundy wine onto the polished marble floor. *"A libation to your ostensible magnanimity, Meng Scion."*
Even the passage of time seemed to stutter and hesitate in that moment of audacity.
- **Meng Chen's Vesuvian Eruption**:
*"How dare you dare to mock one of noble birth?!"* He lunged forward, hurtling a crystal object through the air with ferocious intent.
**KRACK-THOOM!**— The decanter careened off an unseen obstacle and exploded, shattering into a dazzling display of shards and wine, reminiscent of the wild and chaotic fireworks of Dionysus.
---
### **IV. The Veil Lifted**
Chen Liang's latent powers began to materialise:
- **"Crimson Thorns" Revelation**:
A crimson, otherworldly aura enveloped him—every assault launched against him now rebounded with twice the force, a fearsome boomerang of retribution.
Meng Chen stumbled backwards, a thin trickle of blood crowning his head. *"What arcane sorcery of the ancients is this—?!"*
- **The Coup de Grâce**:
Chen Liang tilted his head ever so slightly, a mere five degrees. *"Is this the entire breadth of your martial prowess?"*
The gathering descended into a chaotic and frenzied ballet of pandemonium, a maelstrom of confusion and disbelief.
Consecutive Cranial Concertos!
### **I. The Serpent's Gambit**
*"Now... let the dance commence."*
Chen Liang's lips curved into a feline-like, predatory smirk, much like that of a stealthy panther prowling in the night. Simultaneously, Rammus' profound, sonorous voice reverberated within the recesses of his mind: *"The arena yearns insatiably for a magnificent and unforgettable spectacle!"*
- **The Opening Crescendo**:
His hand transmuted instantaneously into a fearsome, talon-like appendage, reminiscent of a raptor's deadly grasp. With a swift and decisive motion, he snatched up a Bordeaux decanter. In a split second, a deafening **KRACK-SHATTER!** resounded through the air as the shards of the crystalline decanter embedded themselves forcefully into Meng Chen's parietal bone. Vivid streams of deep crimson blood meandered down through the tyrant's quivering digits, painting a gruesome tableau.
Xia Yu inhaled sharply, her breath hitching in her throat, as she exclaimed in disbelief, *"He actually had the audacity to strike someone of noble lineage?!"* In an instant, the primal instinct for self-preservation overrode her previous sense of loyalty. A thought flashed through her mind: *"If the Meng family decides to exact retribution—"*
- **The Judas Embrace**:
She reached out and clutched Chen Liang's forearm tightly, her voice filled with desperation as she cried out, *"Put an end to this senseless madness!"*
His gaze, as frigid and unyielding as a glacier, swept over her with a dismissive air, severing the last tenuous strand of their erstwhile collusion.
---
### **II. The Ophidian's Hiss**
Meng Chen, his figure now resembling a blood-drenched Dionysus, the ancient god of wine and revelry, bellowed forth in a rage, his voice echoing through the chamber: *"Before the break of dawn, either you shall meet your untimely demise, or my esteemed family name shall be sullied and lost forever!"*
- **Chen Liang's Riposte**:
*"I offer my sincere apologies—however, my noble family lineage holds the act of filial parricide in the utmost contempt."*
Time seemed to stand still in that moment. Even the very molecules suspended in the air seemed to recoil in horror at the audacity and boldness of his words.
---
### **III. The Thorns' Anthem**
Meng Chen's obsequious sycophants lunged forward with a ferocious intensity, brandishing their menacing, vitriolic crystal weapons. Chen Liang, in a display of mockery and defiance, tilted his head slightly, as if he were deliberately inviting their attacks.
- **Aegis of Retribution**:
Everyy assault launched against him ricocheted back with a vengeance. The emerald-hued glass shattered violently against the foreheads of the attackers, creating a grotesque and macabre pattern of blood-spattered mosaics upon the pristine marble floor.
One of them shrieked in abject horror, *"By the infernal forge of Hades—what sort of nightmarish chimaera is this creature?!"*
- **Psychomachia**:
Chen Liang nonchalantly brushed away an imaginary speck of lint from his immaculate lapel. *"Is this already the grand finale?"* He quipped, his smile as cold as ice, sending an involuntary shudder down the spines of everyone present.
---
### **IV. The Pawnbrokers' Waltz**
The scions of affluence and privilege, in a desperate bid, began to barter away their dignity in a tawdry display:
- **Paltry Obols**:
*"20,000 sullied and tarnished coins!"* → *"Multiply that sum by three to pay the dreaded toll of Hades!"* → *"An amount so vast that it rivals the wealth of Croesus himself!"*
Each of their desperate pleas was met with the chilling sound of **a cranial carillon**, as glass shattered mercilessly against their heads, composing a macabre requiem for these empty and soulless individuals.
- **The Pretender's Ultimatum**:
*"Lay a single hand on me, and by the first light of dawn, your beloved kin will be nothing more than mere phantoms, vanished from this world!"*
Chen Liang's response was to hoist a magnificent **Ming-dynasty porcelain salver** high into the air, its delicate beauty contrasting sharply with the violence of the moment, as if it were the legendary Excalibur, a symbol of power and defiance.
---
### **V. The Deus Ex Machina**
A phalanx of security guards forcefully breached the sanctity of the room. Meng Chen's grin was suffused with a triumphant and bloodthirsty satisfaction as he sneered, *"Checkmate, you lowly, gutter-born wretch."*
Chen Liang's grip on the ceramic weapon remained steadfast and unwavering, a testament to his resolve.
**Coda**:
*"Go ahead and tempt the capricious fates."*
Xiao Chen, What Discernment Have You?
### **I. The Theatre of Supremacy**
Meng Chen, resembling a blood-stained Dionysus, cowered behind the security captain, much like a cowardly cur seeking refuge in the shadow of its master.
- **The Indictment**:
*"I am Meng Chen of House Meng Jewellery, your esteemed and wealthy patron! This lowly individual, a mere alchemist from the gutter, dared to assault someone of noble birth!"* His finger trembled as he pointed towards his fractured frontal bone and the whimpering sycophants lying supine on the floor, which was now stained with a pattern of crimson mosaics.
*"Aim for his body, not his head—he possesses some sort of strange artifice that protects his cranium like iron!"*
- **The Captain's Gambit**:
The captain's piercing gaze bore into Chen Liang's mind, as if trying to uncover his deepest secrets. *"Our paths have crossed before this incident."* His air of authority was so powerful that it overshadowed even Meng Chen's blustering bravado.
When a subordinate showed signs of speaking up, likely to mention Chen Liang's previous act of magnanimity, the captain silenced the potential dissent with a single, menacing glance, like that of a basilisk.
---
### **II. The Unanticipated Decree**
Chen Liang shrugged his shoulders with a nonchalant air, much like Atlas bearing the weight of the world. *"They started this dance of conflict. I simply composed its final and fitting conclusion."*
- **Meng Chen's Psittacine Mockery**:
*"Who in their right mind would believe the words of a pauper over those of a platinum-card holder?"*
The captain tilted his head slightly, as if considering the situation. Then, he delivered ajudgmentt with the force of a thunderclap:
*"This is a dispute among the guests of this gathering. Lakeside Manor will not interfere in this matter."*
- **The Reckoning**:
As the security guards withdrew from the scene, Chen Liang raised his celadon salver and once again forcefully struck Meng Chen, altering his craniofacial structure. The onlookers gasped in unison, as if they were part of a Dionysian ritual.
---
### **III. The Karmic Epilogue**
- **Samsaric Invoicing**:
The ambulance finally arrived, but it was prevented from leaving until Meng Chen paid the sum of **3,800 celestial tokens** for the "artisan-crafted" carafes that he had broken. It was as if the universe was exacting its form of karmic justice.
*"You—!"* He choked on his anger, his face turning purple, and lost consciousness in the middle of his curse, as if his rage had finally overwhelmed him.
- **Hippocratic Irony**:
Driven by a strange emptiness within him, Chen Liang carried some nourishing food to his father's room in the sanatorium. However, he happened to cross paths with the procession taking Meng Chen to the emergency room.
Dr He Feng, always the one to pose thought-provoking questions like a Socratic philosopher, said, "Xiao Chen, try to make sense of these traumatic signs and symptoms."*
Zhou Wei's eyes blazed with anger, and the intensity of his glare was so powerful that it seemed as if it could melt tungsten.
---
### **IV. The Progenitors' Furies**
Meng Chen's parents stormed into the emergency room, their elegant haute couture clothing standing in stark contrast to the chaotic environment of the ER.
- **The Anathema**:
*"What wretched, underworldly wretch dared to do this?!"* The patriarch's furious shout was so loud that it made Xia Yu jump in fright. Her eyes, like windows to her soul, clearly betrayed Chen Liang, revealing his identity with the clarity of a Medusa's gaze.
The matriarch wailed and lamented over her son's newly inflicted mark of disgrace, which was like an open wound on his reputation.
- **The Peripeteia**:
Chen Liang met the patriarch's murderous gaze head-on, his eyes unblinking, much like Horus defiantly facing Set in ancient Egyptian mythology.
A Middle School Graduate? Who Are You Trying to Deceive?
**I. The Father's Wrath**
Meng Jie, the formidable and unyielding patriarch of the Meng Jewellery Group, loomed ominously outside the emergency room, much like a tempestuous squall gathering on the distant horizon. His immaculately tailored Savile Row suit, a testament to sartorial elegance, and the opulent $200,000 Winston chronograph, a symbol of wealth and prestige, exuded an aura of unrivalled affluence. Yet, his beloved scion lay supine and motionless on a sterile hospital cot, his skull brutally injured by the violent onslaught of Chen Liang's hands, a grim reminder of the brutal altercation that had transpired.
**The Interrogation**
"Was it him?" Meng Jie's voice, laced with venom and barely contained rage, oozed malevolence as he fixed a piercing, reptilian glare upon Chen Liang, his eyes like twin daggers boring into his soul.
Xia Yu, her heart pounding in her chest, worriedly nibbled at her lower lip, paralysed by abject terror. *(In the face of his unchecked fury, could even a woman hope to escape unscathed, her safety hanging in the balance?)*
**Privilege Unbridled**
Meng's wife, Wang Yazhi, her shrill voice piercing the air like a banshee's wail, shrieked at the medical staff with unbridled fury: "Resuscitate my son this instant, without delay! Or I shall ensure that your professional licences are summarily revoked and cast into the abyss of oblivion, never to be retrieved!"
Their menacing threats, like arrows shot in vain, dissipated harmlessly against the steely resolve of Dr He Feng, the stoic and resolute director of the emergency room. His sardonic, knowing smirk seemed to wordlessly convey a silent challenge: *Bring it on. I am not afraid of your empty threats.
**II. The Clinical Gambit**
Dr. He Feng, the maverick and iconoclastic chief of the Emergency Room, with a flourish of bravado, unveiled a daring and audacious stratagem that left everyone in the room stunned and speechless.
**Diagnostic Trial**
"Xiao Chen, conduct a comprehensive and meticulous assessment of the patient," he commanded, his voice brooking no argument. He was impervious to the seething jealousy that radiated from Zhou Wei like a palpable heat, a silent testament to the latter's envy and resentment. *(What conceivable reason could there be for entrusting such a crucial and delicate task to a school dropout, a decision that defied all logic and convention?)*
Chen Liang, his heart pounding in his chest, hesitated briefly before activating the enigmatic and mysterious *Aatrox's Insight*. His irises pulsed with an otherworldly, ethereal glow, like twin orbs of fire, as he meticulously scanned Meng Chen's cranium, his gaze penetrating deep into the recesses of his skull.
"Superficial laceration of the scalp. There is no evidence of cranial fractures," he declared, his voice steady and unwavering.
**Fallout**
Zhou Wei, his face contorted with disdain and contempt, sneered derisively, "Mimicking my diagnosis? How lamentably devoid of originality and creativity – a pathetic attempt to steal my thunder."
Wang Yazhi, her face contorted with rage and indignation, erupted in a fit of unbridled fury: "A mere middle-school dropout masquerading as a medical professional? This hospital is a veritable cesspool of ineptitude and incompetence, a place where quacks and charlatans run amok."
**III. Power Reconfigured**
**Empty Braggadocio**
The Meng family, their sense of entitlement and arrogance palpable, imperiously demanded a transfer to a private hospital, their voices filled with haughty disdain. However, their bravado was quickly deflated when they were confronted with the stark reality of a $50,000 upfront deposit requirement, a sum that was beyond their reach. *(An abrupt and deafening silence descended upon the room, as if a heavy curtain had been drawn across the stage, reminiscent of a broken phonograph needle screeching to a sudden halt.)*
**The Doctor's Secret**
Chen Liang's preternatural acumen, akin to the penetrating vision of an X-ray machine, allowed him to discern the barely perceptible tremors in He Feng's hands, a subtle yet telltale sign of his deteriorating health. He also noticed the telltale signs of cirrhotic lesions in his liver, a condition that the doctor had been desperately trying to conceal. *(What compelling and pressing reason could there be for him to cling so tenaciously to this desperate and carefully guarded secret, a secret that could have far-reaching consequences for his career and his life?)*
To be continuous…