Otherworldly Affairs Office

Taking advantage of the nurse's absence, Gu Shenghui secretly lit a cigarette for the old friend, got up, opened the window of the ward, and continued helping Xie Chujun arrange the hospital bed while saying, "It's a lie to say I'm not afraid of him. In the old days at the bureau, besides you being able to suppress him, who else could? Oh yes, there was also Mei Simiao and that guy from the military, but overall, they were lacking. Now, I truly acknowledge his strength. The position I have now was originally either yours or his."

Having said this, Gu Shenghui sat back down on the chair and absentmindedly picked up an apple from the table. His fingers lightly brushed the skin, causing layers of apple peel to fall off by themselves. "But who would have known that shortly after the retaliation incident at the Celestial Sword Manor, that situation would arise! I couldn't figure out what happened during that period that changed him so drastically until I met him again. During that time, he must have come across that mysterious power, and something definitely went wrong!"

"Whatever went wrong, it was his doing, and there's no denying that. That's enough!" Xie Chujun said as he extinguished the cigarette in his hand and took the apple Gu Shenghui handed over, speaking resolutely.

Gu Shenghui picked up the cigarette butt that Xie Chujun had casually thrown away, tossed it out of the window and responded, "That's not how you should put it. The last time we met, he still felt guilty towards you. We still don't know what exactly happened that day. There might be hidden truths behind all of this that need to be resolved…"

"You're still speaking for him now! After the incident, neither of us believed it was his doing. We chased him for three years! Three years! Just meeting him privately took place three times! We painstakingly questioned him, and he admitted it himself! Hidden truths! Hidden truths! It's nonsense! He just couldn't control that sudden power, leading to his powers going berserk and killing Xiaoxuan and Yangyang. I entrusted Xiaoxuan to him personally! And look what happened! Guilt? Shouldn't he feel guilty?"

The pieces of apple Xie Chujun had just chewed sprayed onto Gu Shenghui's face as his emotions ran high. Seeing his friend sitting opposite him silent, head down, Xie Chujun lifted his chin and continued, "I hate him! I don't just hate him for killing my sister, I hate him more for his lack of responsibility! After the incident at the Celestial Sword Manor, we could understand his obsession with power, but even though it led to my sister's death, my heart was filled more with pain and regret!"

"But after that, despite our persuasion, he showed no remorse, refused to take responsibility for his mistakes, only fled, even killing his colleagues and teacher to escape blame. In my eyes, he's no longer my brother-in-law, nor our former friend. He's a coward! A traitor! A murderer!"

By the end of his tirade, he angrily tossed the half-eaten apple towards the trash bin, but due to his weakened state from prolonged illness, his arms lacked strength, and the apple fell short, landing near the wastebasket.

"Can't you control that thing inside you yet?" Gu Shenghui asked casually, watching the apple roll in a circle before coming back to rest at his feet, bending down to pick it up.

"Just a little longer, it won't be long before I can fully control it! Enough about that, my lucid moments are rare, I doubt you came to ask me these things. What's going on?" Xie Chujun said weakly, rubbing his temples, his earlier emotional outburst having drained his energy.

Gu Shenghui tossed the apple accurately into the trash bin and said, "I'm ready to use the last fruit."

"Pei Yan, right? Is that kid worth it!" Xie Chujun recalled the child Gu Shenghui mentioned a while back, frowning as he spoke.

"Of the four fruits we found on the bodies at the Celestial Sword Manor, we used one for initial experiments, and you and I each took one." Gu Shenghui stated, taking a small plum-sized, slightly shriveled but still translucent blood-red fruit from his spatial ring.

This mysterious fruit and the other strange artifact found with Elder Zong's body at the Celestial Sword Manor—despite years of investigation, they still hadn't figured out what these items were or where they came from.

Yet, when Elder Zong was cornered by their team and consumed the fruit, what happened was vivid in their memories. With the fruit, he forcibly absorbed the abilities of his teammate Tong Lei, immediately turning the tide, killing Tong Lei, and severing Mu Haoran's arm. If it weren't for his overzealousness leading to disrupted meridians and unpredictable powers, giving Gu Shenghui and the others a chance to counterattack, the outcome might have been very different.

Thinking of this, Gu Shenghui weighed the fruit in his hand and sighed, "I've consumed my fruit. Mu Haoran took his fruit with him. Do you think he can resist the temptation to eat it?"

In response to Gu Shenghui's question, Xie Chujun sneered dismissively as an answer.

"With the source of power he has, he's already ahead of us. Even if you succeed in nurturing that object, joining forces might not guarantee victory. Given this, I'm willing to stake the remaining fruit on Pei Yan, betting that through him, we can gain the same power as Mu Haoran."

Xie Chujun struggled to lift himself, staring into Gu Shenghui's eyes and asked, "How confident are you?"

"Fifty percent!"

"Let's bet!" Hearing this, Xie Chujun nodded, lifting his hand to Gu Shenghui's holding the fruit, a faint purple glow seeping into his palm, reinvigorating the shriveled mysterious fruit, its places gradually plumping up, the blood-red surface emitting colorful radiance.

"I'll give it another twenty percent chance. Now tell me, are you confident you can completely defeat him!" After everything was done, Xie Chujun fell limply back into the chair, the gleam in his eyes gradually fading away. He gritted his teeth, stubbornly keeping his gaze on Gu Shenghui and asked again.

"Yes!"

"Good, remember, I want to be the one to send him off in the end!" At the moment Gu Shenghui gave his promise, Xie Chujun's eyes turned murky, looking dazed at the familiar yet alien man before him. Sniffling, he turned his head, searching for something, frustration growing on his face when he couldn't find it.

Seeing he was about to cry out, Gu Shenghui approached and knelt down, placing the stone Xie Chujun had been holding back in his hand. The moment he saw the stone, he beamed with joy, clutching it tightly as if afraid someone would take it away again.

Gu Shenghui wiped away tears from the corners of his eyes, stood up, tidied his clothes, and left the ward.