CHAPTER 269: CHAPTER 269: YOU’RE SO DUMB.

Qingran didn’t blink.

Didn’t flinch.

The slight tremble in her fingers stilled entirely, and when she moved next, it was with surgical precision, grabbing Boran’s collar, slamming him down to the floor with a bone-rattling crack.

The air around her exploded, slamming into the walls like a shockwave.

She crouched beside him, one knee pinning his chest. Her face lowered until they were nearly nose to nose.

Her voice came low.

"I should kill you."

He coughed, spitting blood to the side. "You won’t."

"Don’t tempt me."

"You never could, even when I begged for it. Remember?" His voice softened to mockery. "Back then, when you hesitated. When you cried."

Qingran didn’t react.

Emotion drained from her face, replaced by the same calm that came just before she executed a target.

"I didn’t hesitate.." she said coolly. "I just wanted to be sure you were worth the bullet. You weren’t."

He chuckled again, but it was weaker now, the edge fraying beneath his amusement.

Qingran’s pressure on his ribs was beginning to weigh down his lungs.

"I’m not here to relive the past.." she said. "I want answers."

He stared at her, eyes dark, calculating. "I told you. You already have them."

"No. You’re dancing around it like you always do. I want to know why. Why Wei Sheng? Why now? Why Shen Li?"

Bo Yanran tilted his head.

Even as her weight pressed down harder, he looked... curious. "You still haven’t figured it out?"

Qingran narrowed her eyes.

"She’s the cure.." she said. "Her blood... undoes the mutation."

A slow, pleased smile crept across his bruised face. "Atta girl."

She didn’t flinch. "Where’s the real Wei Sheng?"

That smile didn’t waver. "Aren’t I real enough for ya?"

She slammed him into the floor again.

The impact knocked a grunt from him, and a smear of blood from his temple. Her fingers dug into his collarbone.

"You don’t get to wear his face and act like this is a game."

"It’s not a game...." he croaked, grinning even wider. "It’s theatre art. You think I’ve come here to answer riddles and beg for forgiveness?"

She stared down at him. "Then what did you come here for??"

He went still.

For the first time since she’d walked in, something flickered in his eyes, recognition... and something darker.

"I came here for you. I told you, the more you ignore me, the more I’ll hurt the people clothes to you.."

Qingran leaned closer, her voice icy. "You always liked pawns. Always liked manipulating people who didn’t know any better. But you made a mistake this time."

Bo Ran’s eyes glittered. "Did I?"

Another slam.

He gasped, laughing faintly, though it hurt to breathe.

"You still talk like a soldier.." he rasped. "Still pretending you’re not the one with more blood on her hands than anyone else in this building."

"You came here using a corpse."

"Not quite a corpse." His grin returned. "You’d be surprised how easy it is to break the mind before the body follows."

Her stomach churned.

"You were always good at that.." she muttered. "Killing someone slowly, from the inside out."

He smiled, eyes dreamy. "Poetic."

"You haven’t changed."

He coughed. "Neither have you."

Qingran released his shirt and stood slowly, the tension in her shoulders iron-hard.

Her fingers brushed her waist. She retrieved a short, jagged blade from her belt not to threaten, but to keep herself grounded.

She was teetering too close to old rage.

Too close to memories that still clawed when she closed her eyes.

"Why her?" she asked quietly.

Boran didn’t answer right away. He sat up slightly, back still pressed against the wall, blood streaked down his throat.

"You wouldn’t understand.." he said finally.

"Try me."

He chuckled. "What do you want me to say? That she’s special? That she’s rare? You already know that. You knew it before she did."

Qingran’s fingers tightened on the hilt of the blade.

"And you.." she said, "want her because of that."

"I don’t want her," he corrected gently. "I just need her."

She froze.

Boran watched her reaction closely, then leaned his head back against the wall, sighing through a smile.

"You always were faster than the rest. That’s why they were scared of you."

"Tell me what for."

"No."

"Tell me or I’ll cut it out of you."

He laughed, but it was quieter now, the edge dulled.

"I love you Qingran, more than you can ever imagine. And that’s why I want to break you, you can only love me when you’re broken or you’ll always want to run from my clutches.."

Qingran chuckled as she raised her fists "I did fucking love you. But your twisted way of thinking pushed me away. The next time I come back here, you better map out where the real Wei Sheng is or I’ll personally come to find you myself.."

She stepped out of the room and slammed the door behind her.

Ruihuang was waiting nearby, hands playing with the dagger in his hands.

He raised a brow at her expression but didn’t comment.

"Did you hear it??"

"Most of it..."

Qingran frowned as she walked close to him. Her finger tapping on his chest "I said no one should come here, didn’t you hear that?!"

Ruihuang brought out a small cloth to clean her hands. "Why would you punch someone until your knuckles bleed? You’re so dumb.."

-_-

"You should take better care of yourself. If you make me worry, I might fall in love with you.."

-_-

"I don’t need your love, I already have a crazy man I like.." she retrieved and her hands and turned to walk away.

"No one enters, that room you hear me? No one.."

Ruihuang stared at his hands, what did she see in Feng Yizhou? He get it that he was handsome, but why did she actually like him?

He stared at the door before walking away himself.

She wasn’t wrong when she said, she liked crazy people.