Chapter Thirty: Vengeance

“Boss?”
The guards standing outside looked puzzled as their leader, Boss Wang, emerged from the room accompanied by a stranger.
“I have something to take care of. You keep guarding here,” Boss Wang said, silencing any questions his men might have had.
No sooner had Boss Wang left than someone rushed over in a hurry, but was stopped by the guards at the door.
“Some brothers at the crossroads have gone mad, attacking anyone they see. They’re heading this way! Our men have managed to restrain them, but we wanted to ask the boss what to do.”
“The boss just left with a mysterious stranger. Wait here for now!”
…
Meanwhile, at Boss Wang’s location:
“This is the place, big brother. I brought you here. Please, let me go!”
Boss Wang pointed ahead, pleading desperately.
Long Yu said nothing, striding forward into a row of ordinary-looking residential buildings, dragging Boss Wang along with him.
“Boss!”
The men stationed there greeted Boss Wang as soon as they saw him.
“I’m fine. Carry on with your duties. I’ll go in with this brother for a look.”
“Yes, sir.” With the boss’s command, the guards dared not interfere and stepped back.
As they crossed into the building, a foul stench assaulted them—a result of the imprisoned people relieving themselves wherever they could.
Each floor of the building had been opened up, then divided into small cells. Every cell held a person, most lying on the ground with vacant expressions, indifferent to the filth around them. On closer inspection, their limbs were clearly broken.
“This is your doing?”
Long Yu’s grip tightened on Boss Wang’s arm, making him cry out for mercy.
Long Yu didn’t waste another word. He knocked Boss Wang unconscious and quickly searched for his sister inside.
She wasn’t on the first floor…
Nor the second…
At last, on the third floor, in a room at the center, Long Yu found the familiar figure.
“Sister…”

Long Yu kicked open the door and, in the reeking room, gathered his sister in his arms.
She was oblivious to everything; she had fainted. If Long Yu had been even a few days later, she might have died.
He carefully examined her—her limbs were broken, her constitution barely at sixty, her breath so weak she could die at any moment.
He took out a crystal core and fed it to her. With the restorative energy of the core, her body began to recover, her broken limbs slowly mending.
After about a minute, she coughed softly, then slowly opened her eyes.
“No, please… don’t hit me anymore… I promise I won’t run… please don’t break my arms and legs again…”
She thought it was still Boss Wang’s men giving her the crystal core, preparing to break her limbs again for easier control once she absorbed it.
“Don’t be afraid, Wanqing. Don’t be afraid. It’s your brother. No bad people will ever hurt you again.”
Long Yu held her close, soothing her.
“Brother…”
Hearing Long Yu’s words, the girl slowly opened her eyes. The person before her was the brother she had longed for, day and night.
“Brother…”
Seeing him, Luo Wanqing couldn’t hold back her tears.
“Brother, I missed you so much! They bullied me, locked me up, and beat me.
They even drove Mom and Dad away. They’re all bad people.”
Little Wanqing sobbed to Long Yu, pouring out her longing for her brother and recounting the abuse she suffered.
But soon, she seemed to remember something.
“Brother, let’s go quickly! If we don’t leave, the bad people will come! They’ll hurt you too.”
Her grimy face was tense with worry, fearing for Long Yu and afraid she’d be beaten again herself.
“It’s alright, it’s alright. We’re leaving now.”
Long Yu opened another portal and, in the blink of an eye, returned to his parents. They were busy cleaning the house, unaware that Long Yu had come back.
“Mom, Dad, I’ve brought my sister home.”
Back at home, his parents rushed over in delight at his words.
But when they saw little Wanqing’s condition—her dirty face, her broken limbs—they couldn’t help but shed tears.
“Mom, Dad, take good care of her. I have one more thing to settle, and I’ll be back soon.”
With those words, Long Yu handed his sister to his parents and, ignoring their objections, returned to Boss Wang.

He had endured for far too long—from the day his parents were driven from their home, to the rescue of his sister, he had suppressed his rage because his family was still in danger.
But now that everything was resolved, it was time to act.
Long Yu had never been a villain, but neither was he a saint who repaid evil with kindness. He was a simple man: virtue for virtue, vengeance for vengeance.
If you respect me by a foot, I’ll respect you by a yard. If you show me disrespect, you’ll feel my fists.
Now, it was time to vent his fury, to avenge his parents and his sister.
He had used his portal several times today, but each trip was short, so only a third of his power was spent.
He opened the portal again. Boss Wang was still lying on the ground—no one had entered, thanks to his orders, and thus no one had discovered him unconscious.
Long Yu slapped Boss Wang awake.
“Tell me what you’re doing here—and who gave you the orders.”
As Boss Wang came to, Long Yu asked in a slow, deliberate voice.
“We raise these people to absorb their crystal cores once they’re mature. It’s our own scheme, no one ordered us. Big brother, please let me go! You can take all these people, all my crystal cores, I’ll give you everything. Just spare me, please!”
Ignoring the pain in his head, Boss Wang begged on the floor.
“Did you spare my parents when you drove them out? Did you spare my sister when you broke her arms and legs?”
“Hurry up and answer my question—who ordered you?”
Long Yu grew more agitated as he spoke, finally crushing the bones in Boss Wang’s right arm, making him scream and drawing the guards outside.
But before they could rush in, Long Yu subdued them.
“Will you talk or not? If not, I’ll break another arm.”
Long Yu pressed again.
Seeing his men restrained and remembering the searing pain, Boss Wang finally gave up his last resistance.
Better to be killed quickly than to suffer like this. All he wanted now was for Long Yu to end it swiftly.
“It was the commander—Commander Li ordered everything. We just work for him, and all the crystal cores we cultivate go to them.”
…