RITM - 61

Chapter 61: The Nineteen-sided Mirrors – Origins (3)

A middle-aged man’s voice, slightly hoarse but exuding an undeniable aura of authority, echoed through the church. Everyone instinctively turned toward the source—below the altar, a group of people slowly wheeled in a wheelchair. The man seated in it wore sunglasses and a black silk Tang suit embroidered with intricate dragon patterns. His hair was slicked back, and three jagged scars marred his uneven face, pulling the corners of his sharp jaw downward. After taking a leisurely puff of his cigar, everyone around Zhou Jinru bowed deeply to him. 

“Fourth Master…” Tears welled up in Zhou Jinru’s eyes, though they stemmed more from fear than sorrow. 

The title “Fourth Master” left little doubt about his identity—the leader of Gongzhou’s notorious Canglong Group, Huang Xiaonan. 

Without uttering a word, he waved his hand dismissively, as if scolding her for her incompetence, and gestured for her to step aside. Then, he tilted his head, his sunglasses aimed in He Yingze’s direction. “Truly, fate has a way of bringing us together. So, the sixth son of He Yan has grown up quite a bit.” 

He Yingze’s lips curled into a faint smirk, though it was impossible to tell if he was truly smiling. “Such ‘fateful’ encounters shouldn’t allow a father-killer to leave alive.” 

“Don’t act as if your old man was harmless. He crippled my legs and left me with this.” Huang rolled up his sleeve, revealing a prosthetic arm. The scars on his face twisted grotesquely as he grinned. “And besides, is this how you speak to your future father-in-law?” 

His words plunged the church into a brief silence, leaving everyone bewildered. Only Zhou Jinru’s expression betrayed a mix of conflicting emotions. Finally, He Yingze broke the silence with a cold laugh. “I doubt she’d willingly acknowledge you.” 

“She’s young and hot-headed now, but she’ll come around eventually. Blood is thicker than water—a truth you understand better than anyone.” 

Had Huang Xiaonan not turned his sunglasses toward Luo Wei, Xie Xinqi would never have made the connection. But since she and Luo Wei were twins… Xie Xinqi eyed Huang Xiaonan suspiciously. “…Your daughter is Luo Wei?” 

“And you,” he replied simply. 

Xie Xinqi’s face turned tomato-red. Though she disliked her father’s numerous past indiscretions, in her heart, her father had always been Xie Mao. To admit that this fearsome gang leader was her biological father felt like a death sentence. After struggling for a moment, she finally managed to say to her mother, “You’re not as disgusting as he makes you sound, right?” 

Zhou Jinru was first shocked and hurt, but quickly masked her emotions with a sarcastic smile. She pointed at He Yingze. “Me, disgusting? What about when Xie Mao got together with his aunt and fathered that bastard Xie Xiuchen? Why didn’t you find that bastard disgusting then? You even got so close to him!” 

Indeed, these words confirmed Xie Xinqi’s earlier suspicions. The “sister” mentioned in Wu Qiaohan’s letter was none other than He Yingze’s mother, Wu Saiyu. Wu Qiaohan’s letter had also stated: “…She should have been the Miss Gongzhou champion, should have been your wife. But because Zhou Jinru colluded with the media and maliciously hyped things up, the championship was stolen from her…” Xie Xinqi had initially thought it might have been a misunderstanding—that Wu Saiyu’s withdrawal from the competition due to illness was merely coincidental, and that her mother lacked connections. But now, looking at Huang Xiaonan, she ventured cautiously, “But if you hadn’t poisoned Wu Saiyu to death, if you hadn’t maliciously hyped things up, you wouldn’t have had the chance to marry Dad, and Wu Qiaohan wouldn’t have seduced him, right?” 

“It seems you know quite a bit.” 

“That’s why I’m saying you’re disgusting. How many lives have you ruined, and yet you feel no guilt?” 

“Xie Xinqi, you ungrateful wretch! Who carried you for nine months? And here you are turning against me. What nonsense have you heard from Xie Mao? Do you believe everything he says? Without me, you wouldn’t even exist. Do you know who ordered me to take Wu Saiyu down? It was your grandparents!” 

At this revelation, not only Xie Xinqi but even He Yingze looked at Zhou Jinru in astonishment. Zhou Jinru exhaled sharply. “You know your family’s traditions well enough—the compatibility of the daughter-in-law’s birth chart is paramount. Your grandparents said Wu Saiyu’s birth chart clashed with your father’s, so they refused to let her into the family. That’s why I slipped slow-acting poison into her drink.” 

By this point, Xie Xinqi was no longer angry—just utterly disappointed. She laughed bitterly. “They never told you to kill anyone. Besides, Grandpa and Grandma never expected you to be so useless. You’ve killed so many people, yet you couldn’t even give them the grandson they wanted.” 

Zhou Jinru was stunned. After all these years, to hear such words again—and from her own daughter—made her veins bulge with rage, her pores visibly enlarged. “You should ask Wu Qiaohan about that! Besides, her sister only pretended to be frail to win the judges’ favor. If she wanted to play the role of a tragic beauty, I simply gave her a taste of real illness. What’s wrong with that? It’s not my fault she died—she was weak!” 

Just moments ago, Luo Wei had wondered why He Yingze, with his immense pride, hadn’t reacted to such accusations against his mother. But before Zhou Jinru could finish her sentence, Chang Feng roared and charged at her. His speed was blinding—almost invisible to the naked eye. Instinctively, Zhou Jinru crouched and covered her head, screaming. Chang Feng delivered a powerful backward kick—not at her, but at the black-clad guard holding Luo Wei. The guard flew through the air, crashing toward He Yingze, who leapt up to catch him and swiftly pulled the trigger, firing several bullets in rapid succession. Their movements were so fast that others barely had time to react. By the time they drew their weapons, they were already lying incapacitated on the ground. Meanwhile, Chang Feng remained in the fray, dodging attacks and engaging in brutal hand-to-hand combat. The sounds of flesh striking flesh and bones breaking filled the air as their figures darted through the crowd like fierce, agile leopards. 

Luo Wei watched in horror, trying to slip away unnoticed to safety. However, under Huang Xiaonan’s orders, a black-clad assailant wielding a Japanese katana charged at her, seemingly intent on capturing her as a hostage. She pushed over a nearby angel statue, and the deafening crash of shattering marble was followed by a cloud of dust. As the two were engulfed, she scrambled to her feet and tried to flee. But having stayed in one position for too long, her vision blurred with stars, and after running a few steps, she collapsed. The attacker lunged at her like a tiger, but she rolled over and kicked him squarely in the groin. Several men hissed in sympathetic pain as the man clutched himself, writhing on the ground, nearly unconscious.

But her luck ran out there. As one man fell, two more closed in on her. Trapped between them, Luo Wei dodged the katana’s blade and swung it wildly, her mind racing with despair. This is it—I’m dead. Her thoughts were scattered. Who should she stab first? No, wait—could she even bring herself to stab someone? This was a society governed by law, not some martial arts fantasy world… Just as they were about to seize her, two sharp gunshots rang out, and both men collapsed to their knees. A figure darted over, pulling her into his arms. She instinctively swung the katana, but then caught the familiar scent of his cologne. 

“He Yingze…” Without another thought, she buried herself in his embrace. 

He Yingze, however, had no time to respond. With precise efficiency, he took down the remaining attackers. Finally, he raised his gun and aimed at Huang Xiaonan. His arms tightened slightly around Luo Wei, his brow furrowing as he made his final decision—pulling the trigger and firing a shot toward Huang Xiaonan’s head. 

At the same moment, Chang Feng’s fight with another opponent caused yet another statue to topple. The deafening crash filled the now-smoky church, white dust billowing through the air. But the bullet didn’t miss—it struck someone squarely in the chest. 

“From the very beginning, I knew this would be the outcome,” He Yingze said, his expression blank. “That’s why I warned you long ago not to get close to me.” 

“What?” Luo Wei looked up at him, confused. 

He Yingze didn’t elaborate. As the smoke cleared, he saw that one of Huang Xiaonan’s henchmen had shielded him, taking the bullet in the shoulder blade instead. Huang Xiaonan shoved the lifeless body aside and, amidst the chaos, was escorted out through a side door of the church by two others. A black sedan waited outside; they scrambled inside and sped off. The snow in the alley was tinged yellow under the glow of streetlights and swirling dust as the car’s shadow raced forward. He Yingze pushed Luo Wei toward Chang Feng and sprinted after them, firing several shots at the fleeing vehicle. Sure enough, the car soon blew a tire, crashing violently into a wall. An SUV screeched to a halt at the alley’s entrance. Huang Xiaonan leapt out, clutching his forehead, blood dripping from his fingertips, and continued to flee under the protection of his men. He Yingze kept firing until the gun clicked empty. He quickly reloaded, but in that fleeting moment, the group had already piled into the waiting SUV. They turned a corner and disappeared from sight. By the time He Yingze reached the spot where they’d vanished, they were well beyond his range. Clenching his teeth in frustration, he kicked the mangled remains of their sedan into even smaller pieces. 

---

Inside the church, only devastation remained. Chang Feng had tied Zhou Jinru and Xie Xinqi together, forcing them to sit on a chair. He handed Luo Wei a gun, instructing her to keep it trained on them while he bound the remaining henchmen. Watching him work, Luo Wei couldn’t help but find the situation absurd: her biological mother had tried to harm her, her older sister seemed harmless but might still be in cahoots with their mother, so here she was, pointing a gun at both of them, waiting for the man she loved to decide their fate. Catching Xie Xinqi glaring at her, she offered an awkward smile. “I’m not doing this on purpose.” 

But upon closer inspection, Zhou Jinru’s face was deathly pale, her eyes hollow as they stared blankly at the crucifix above the altar. A cold wind blew open the stained-glass windows, sending a chill through the church, which now felt more like a graveyard. Luo Wei spoke softly, “Mrs. Xie, you don’t look well… Are you okay?” 

Zhou Jinru gave a bitter smile. “The year Wu Qiaohan died, I was terrified. I knew your father had begun to suspect that she wasn’t the one who killed my daughter. He started to feel guilty about her. That’s why I arranged for that couple to take my daughter far away from Gongzhou… I feared that if she returned and your father found out, all the status I’d fought so hard for in the Xie family would vanish overnight… But recently, I’ve finally come to realize something… Perhaps I was too extreme…” 

She turned to look at Luo Wei. Though her face was no longer youthful, traces of her former beauty lingered. A faint, rare tenderness softened her gaze as she glanced at Xie Xinqi. “If only I had spent more time with my children, things wouldn’t have ended up like this. Why didn’t I cherish you two more? My daughters—you’re both such remarkable, beautiful girls…” 

Xie Xinqi bit her lip, tears streaming down her face as memories of childhood grievances flooded back. “What good does it do now? I’ve already grown up. You’re my mother, yet you’ve never once hugged me or tucked me in at night. Father said you used to do those things, but I don’t remember—and I don’t believe it!” 

Luo Wei’s eyes reddened, her thoughts drifting to the parents who had raised her. “I don’t even know who you are. All I want is my mom and dad. And you—you got them killed.” 

Zhou Jinru acted as though she hadn’t heard their words. “If I could go back in time, I’d make the same choices again. A woman’s youth and beauty are far too precious. You may think I’m cruel and selfish now, but that’s because you don’t understand—God grants women their glory early in life, while men’s glory comes later. Right now, you’re at the peak of your lives, so naturally, men adore you. But give it twenty years. When time has forged him into gold and worn you down to dust, you’ll understand what I mean… Only self-interest… is eternal…” 

Not long after, black liquid began to trickle from the corner of her mouth. Luo Wei shook her head, realizing it was poisoned blood, and trembled as she whispered, “Mrs. Xie?” 

Xie Xinqi looked at her mother, panic-stricken, and shouted, “Mom!!” 

Chang Feng, hearing the commotion, turned and pointed his gun at Zhou Jinru. “You’d better not die. You don’t deserve an easy way out.” 

Zhou Jinru let out a cold laugh, her icy gaze sweeping over Chang Feng. “Before today, I’d already prepared myself to die if I failed… Now that I’ve lost everything, do you really think I’d let the son of Wu Saiyu, the nephew of that little wretch, see me fall so low?” She clutched her chest, coughing violently, spitting out mouthfuls of blood. “For her entire life… she’ll never… surpass… me…” 

It was unclear whether the “her” she referred to was her elder daughter or her younger one. With that, she slid off the chair, collapsing onto the cold marble floor.

For a long time, the only sound in the church was Xie Xinqi’s muffled sobs. She had hated her mother for as long as she could remember, often wishing she had never existed. But on this day, all she could do was cling to her mother’s lifeless body and cry endlessly. Though Luo Wei felt no emotional connection to the woman, she was moved by Xie Xinqi’s anguish and quietly wiped away her own tears. Even when He Yingze returned and urged her to leave, she insisted on staying behind to comfort Xie Xinqi. 

As dusk fell, Xie Xinqi borrowed their phone to call Xie Xiuchen, asking him to come pick her up. Luo Wei stayed by her side, waiting with her in the church. When the sound of a car horn echoed outside, Luo Wei removed her coat and draped it over Xie Xinqi’s shoulders, helping her walk out of the church. As they opened the heavy doors, it felt like stepping into another season altogether. Outside, on the steps below, Xie Xiuchen leaned casually against the car door. Dressed in a white suit with a blue shirt and white bow tie, he looked like a prince straight out of a fairy tale. For Xie Xinqi, he was her last lifeline. Having lost her parents, betrayed and abused by her boyfriend, she couldn’t afford to lose her brother. Clutching Luo Wei’s coat tightly, tears streaming down her face, she ran down the steps toward him. Knowing what had transpired but wanting to comfort her, Xie Xiuchen smiled and opened his arms wide. 

Just then, a shadow flickered near the flowerbed fence beside the steps. Overcome with emotion, Xie Xinqi didn’t notice the movement. Xie Xiuchen turned his head quickly and saw a woman struggling to raise a gun with both hands. He shouted, “Luo Wei, look out!” 

The gunshot shattered the silence, sending a flock of white pigeons spiraling into the gray sky. Standing at the church entrance, Luo Wei watched in shock as Ni Lei suddenly appeared from nowhere, firing a shot in Xie Xinqi’s direction while screaming her name. Chang Feng shoved Luo Wei and He Yingze back into the church, leaping over the stair railing to subdue Ni Lei with his bare hands. She thrashed and screamed wildly until he struck her nape, knocking her unconscious. 

Xie Xinqi had no idea what was happening. All she knew was that her brother had lunged at her, knocking her to the ground. Her spine collided painfully with the stone steps, and then she heard the gunshot. He lay on top of her, holding her tightly, refusing to let go. His body felt impossibly heavy, and when she tried to push him off, her hands came away slick with warm, sticky liquid. Looking down at her crimson-stained fingers, she froze in disbelief. Whispering faintly, almost to herself, she murmured, “No…” Pushing him up slightly, she saw that his forehead was grazed from the impact with the steps, blood flowing freely. The pristine white of his suit was now stained red, a gaping wound piercing through his chest and back, spilling more blood by the second… 

“No, no…” Frantically, she pressed her hands against the gushing wound, but the blood seeped through her fingers, soaking her clothes in scarlet. Xie Xiuchen gazed into her eyes, his complexion already pale as death. Gone were the flirtatious, peach-blossom eyes; now they brimmed with tears, as if trying to convey the emotions he’d suppressed for years. His lips parted weakly, and he managed to whisper two words: “…Xinqi.” Then his body went limp, collapsing onto her shoulder. 

Xie Xinqi held his shoulders, unable to form another coherent word. Letting out a heart-wrenching scream that seemed to tear her very soul apart, she collapsed onto the steps, her long hair obscuring her face. Her mouth hung open in an expression of utter despair, as though frozen in eternal agony, making it impossible for her to breathe. Cradling his head, her trembling fingers clawed at her own hair, leaving streaks of blood across her face. A profound silence descended, so deep that the rustle of falling leaves could be heard. Beneath the sacred church, all that remained was her incoherent, grief-stricken wailing—a lamentation that drained the last of her strength.