Chapter 188: Since I Cannot Live, the Zhou Family Won’t Either!

In the basement.

Zhou Huai's gaze dimmed once more.

That thread of hope that had just been ignited snapped so abruptly.

In the basement, the dim, yellowish incandescent bulb emitted a "buzzing" current sound, its light flickering uncertainly, stretching the deep shadows on Moria's face into an increasingly distorted shape.

Zhou Huai's consciousness fell into a long silence within Moria's body.

His mind was a complete mess.

Luo Ming's words were like a key opening a long-sealed door.

Yet behind the door lay an even deeper, more despair-inducing darkness.

He needed time to digest and verify it.

Luo Ming looked at the silver-haired man plunged into silence before him.

He spoke tentatively.

"Everything that needed to be said has been said."

"Next, are you planning to kill me, or let me go?"

Zhou Huai's consciousness slowly gathered back.

Controlling Moria, those silver eyes refocused and fell calmly upon Luo Ming's blood-stained face.

"You are a smart person."

Moria's voice rang out, icy and devoid of a shred of warmth.

"You should know that once I voice certain questions."

"It also means you will never be able to leave again."

The muscles on Luo Ming's face twitched, and then he revealed a bitter, as-expected smile.

"I know."

He leaned against the wall, breathing with difficulty.

"You might have some relation to that Zhou Huai and want to avenge him."

"But so what? Your feud with the Zhou Family is none of my business."

"I can keep a secret for you, just pretend nothing happened today."

Moria slowly shook his head.

"You don't look like someone who can keep a secret."

Luo Ming's heart sank bit by bit.

"Therefore, I can only let you continue staying here."

Moria stood up, looking down at him condescendingly.

"I won't kill you."

"But you only have two choices now."

"Either become my person."

"Or stay here until you die."

Hearing this, Luo Ming instead seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.

As long as he didn't die, there was still a chance.

His eyes rolled, and he tested the waters again: "You should be clear that I have a certain relationship with the Dawnbreaker Guild."

"Are you really not afraid of them coming to find trouble with you?"

The corner of Moria's mouth hooked into an extremely faint, almost nonexistent arc.

In that smile was absolute confidence.

"Rest assured."

"By that time, you will find that our Evernight is far more powerful than that Dawnbreaker Guild."

He paused and added a sentence.

"I will have someone treat your injuries."

"Stay here obediently, don't think about sneaking out of here."

As the words fell, Moria's figure stayed no longer, turning into a puddle of flowing ink that silently melted into the shadows of the ground and vanished.

The basement's iron door was locked from the outside with a "clank".

Leaving Luo Ming alone, leaning against the cold corner, looking at those two empty wine bottles with a complex gaze, not knowing what he was thinking.

…

Meanwhile.

Third-floor bedroom.

Zhou Huai's consciousness pulled away from Moria's body, returning to his main body.

That wave of exhaustion originating from the depths of his Soul submerged him once more like a tide.

But he did not sleep.

Nor could he sleep.

He leaned against the head of the bed, opening his eyes wide and staring straight at the ceiling, replaying every word Luo Ming said over and over in his mind.

"Uncle Fu!"

He spoke, his voice terribly hoarse.

Uncle Fu, who was guarding the door, heard the call and immediately pushed the door open to walk in, a look of concern on his face.

"Young Master, what are your orders?"

Zhou Huai slowly turned his head to look at this loyal old butler; those originally gentle eyes were now sharp as a knife.

"In that attack five years ago—"

He asked the heart-stopping question, word by word.

"Did I die once?"

Hearing this, Uncle Fu's body suddenly stiffened.

On that wrinkled old face, all color instantly drained away, and his eyes were filled with undisguised shock and panic.

"You… Young Master! What… what nonsense are you talking about!"

He waved his hands repeatedly, explaining in an urgent tone.

"How could you die? At that time, you were just too heavily injured and fell into a coma for a long time!"

Zhou Huai quietly looked at him.

Without speaking.

Those eyes seemed able to see through the deepest secrets in a person's heart.

Uncle Fu felt thoroughly uncomfortable under his gaze and instinctively avoided his look, his eyes darting away.

Zhou Huai took a deep breath, his tone becoming much softer.

"Uncle Fu."

"You are the person I trust the most in this world."

"I hope you will tell me the truth."

Uncle Fu's figure completely froze.

He stood in place, lowering his head, his aged body trembling slightly.

Silence.

Death-like silence.

For a long, long time.

He finally slowly raised his head, those turbid old eyes already brimming with tears.

"I'm sorry, Young Master."

His voice choked with sobs.

"This old servant… this old servant shouldn't have kept it from you."

He stretched out his withered hand and wiped the tears from the corners of his eyes.

"Five years ago… you… you indeed…"

"Indeed died in that attack."

"It was… it was this old servant who personally wiped your remains and changed you into your burial clothes."

Uncle Fu's voice trembled unceasingly from pain.

"Originally, you were to be buried the next day."

"Yet… yet never did I expect that you were blessed with your own natural fortune; that very night, you… you woke up on your own."

"At that time, the entire Zhou Family was in an uproar."

"Ever since then, the people in the Family looked at you with strange expressions."

"This old servant… this old servant was also afraid you would overthink things, so I kept it from you all this time and didn't dare tell the truth."

After listening to Uncle Fu's words.

Zhou Huai slumped back against the bed dejectedly.

His chest felt as if it were tightly pressed down by a giant boulder, making even breathing difficult.

It was true.

Everything Luo Ming said was completely true.

Turns out the original owner of this body had already died five years ago.

He might not even have died of melancholy due to the bullying by Liu Yuru and her son.

But rather because the power of his Soul within him was exhausted and unsustainable, causing it to completely dissipate.

Now, it was his turn.

This lonely ghost that popped up from nowhere.

Occupied this shell that should have decayed long ago.

Yet it also inherited this destiny destined to perish.

The Art of Confinement was just like an hourglass.

The sand was flowing away bit by bit.

When the day it ran out arrived.

Would he too vanish into thin air just like the original owner?

"Young Master, are… are you alright?"

Uncle Fu looked at Zhou Huai's pale complexion and asked with concern.

Zhou Huai slowly shook his head.

"I'm fine."

He waved his hand, his voice full of exhaustion.

"Uncle Fu, you go out first."

"I want to be quiet by myself."

Uncle Fu opened his mouth, wanting to say something more, but in the end it turned into a helpless sigh. He silently retreated and gently closed the room door.

The room returned to a death-like silence once more.

This night, Zhou Huai was sleepless.

He just leaned against the head of the bed, wide-eyed, sitting motionlessly for the entire night.

He tried to search his mind, the internet, and every accessible knowledge base for any information regarding the "Art of Confinement".

The result was nothing.

This crooked secret art had long exceeded the scope of worldly cognition.

A bold idea also popped into Zhou Huai's mind.

What if he completely transferred his consciousness onto his Clone?

What would happen if he used the Clone to replace the main body?

This move was obviously impossible.

Because Zhou Huai quickly discovered that his consciousness could not rest inside the Clone's body.

Even if he wanted to force himself to sleep, he couldn't do it.

It would only make him more and more exhausted.

Only on the main body could he get the best rest.

This was obviously an unsolvable game.

Day was gradually breaking.

A wisp of morning light shone through the window onto his face, yet it couldn't bring a shred of warmth.

Zhou Huai was not a person who worried needlessly.

Even less was he a person who would sit and wait for death.

Despair would only breed even more crazy thoughts.

He slowly turned his head, his gaze piercing through the bedroom window, looking far into the distance at that luxurious yet cold villa hidden in the morning mist.

The Zhou Family.

Since you refuse to let me live.

Since you personally pushed me into this irrecoverable abyss.

Then before falling.

I will also drag you all down to be buried with me!

On Zhou Huai's face, slowly, a grim and icy smile curled up.

In those black eyes, there was not a shred of warmth left.

Only endless madness and murderous intent remained, enough to freeze the entire world.

"Since I cannot live…"

He murmured softly, his voice not loud, but every word was like a knife.

"Then the Zhou Family won't think about living either!"