Nine Provinces Token and the Fear in Her Heart

"You're overthinking it. She doesn't have that kind of ability yet. She must've heard something and came here to look for information. The House of Duke Zhen has been under heavy pressure lately—they can't take it anymore, so they've sought reconciliation with Serena Feng.

But the attitude of the House of Duke Zhen definitely won't be pleasant. Serena Feng probably got snubbed—she agreed on the surface, but deep down she's even angrier. She must've heard something and came here hoping to get lucky.

She's clever, knows to strike where it hurts most, but her judgment isn't great—she keeps an unruly person by her side, and sooner or later she'll pay for it." Lance Quinn's words were hard to tell if mocking or praising.

Lance Quinn's words weren't direct, but Storm Cloud Bu understood: "You don't want me to kill her?"

"Kill her? For what? If she really has the skill to uncover your identity, then she'd actually deserve the token I gave her. Storm, don't forget—she also has a Nine Provinces Token. She's one of us now." At this moment, Lance Quinn was deeply glad he'd given Serena Feng the Nine Provinces Token early on; otherwise, with Storm's temperament, he would've never let Serena live.

Without absolute certainty, Storm Cloud Bu would never allow his identity to be exposed—not even the slightest chance.

If that time really came, not even Lance Quinn could stop Storm from acting. His identity was the greatest pain of Storm's life, a grudge he could never let go.

Storm Cloud Bu shot Lance Quinn a look of contempt—this man never said a word, but had already prepared such a move, making it impossible for Storm to act against Serena Feng easily.

Storm Cloud Bu was thoroughly frustrated. Seeing Serena Feng's pale face and hair frozen with ice, he sneered, "So if I can't kill her, are you going to save her? If she stays any longer, she'll either die or go mad. Someone's going to be heartbroken then."

Mental torment is the worst kind. That formation—forget Serena Feng, even he himself could barely endure it.

"No need. If she can't even handle this kind of lesson, then she's not worthy of the Nine Provinces Token I gave her." Lance Quinn refused coldly, staring at Serena Feng without blinking.

He wanted to see what Serena Feng feared most deep down. This woman seemed to have no weaknesses except Nolan Dongling, and after last time, even Nolan's influence on her had faded.

A person with no weaknesses—whether enemy or ally—is a terrifying thing.

So cold. So cold.

Serena Feng's lips turned purple, her body shivering uncontrollably; all ten fingers were frozen stiff. The gun in her hand dropped to the ground with a snap, and her legs felt numb and wouldn't move. She looked up at the sky—clear sunshine, yet why was it so unbearably cold?

Serena Feng staggered in the forest, unable to take another step, and with a thud, collapsed to the ground.

This time, it was really over.

She hadn't died at the hands of Southern Lyn's Third Prince Damien, nor at the hands of the Emperor or Empress, but because of some stupid mess with the House of Duke Zhen. What a damn waste.

Serena Feng's lips moved faintly—she wanted to call for help.

Ah...

Serena Feng suddenly let out a piercing scream, clutching her head with both hands as her whole body trembled.

No, no, don't come near me, don't come near...

A dozen Black men surrounded her, trapping her in a narrow alley, grinning at her with lewd smiles.

"No, no, please! Help me, someone help me!"

Serena Feng cried out loudly, her mind in chaos. In rare moments of clarity, a thought flashed through her head.

What's happening? This was what happened to her at age twenty-two—she'd almost forgotten, so why was she reliving that day again?

That year was pure darkness for Serena Feng. At twenty-two, she represented her school at an international exchange and met a European count who fell for her at first sight and started pursuing her.

She had no interest in dating a foreign man and rejected him outright, but her refusal did nothing to stop his advances.

She never expected that the count's obsessive pursuit would spark his fiancée's jealousy. The fiancée paid a group of HIV-positive Black men to rape Serena—rape her to death.

That day was the darkest, most helpless day of her life. It was also the day the kind, naïve Serena disappeared. From then on, she stopped believing in fairness, stopped believing that everyone was equal before the law.

When those men attacked, Serena Feng knew she had no chance. She didn't want to be humiliated, so she thought of suicide. As a doctor, she knew exactly where to strike to end her life quickly and painlessly.

But just then, a man in black appeared. He knocked the attackers down and told her, "If you want revenge, do it yourself—kill them."

Still in shock, Serena gripped the knife tightly, closed her eyes, and slit the attackers' throats—killing those who tried to violate her.

It was her first time killing, but she felt no fear or guilt—she knew that if she didn't kill them, she would die.

Afterward, she found evidence that the count's fiancée had hired the men to rape her, but the local authorities accused her of slander and demanded she drop the charges—or they'd arrest her for defamation.

She believed in justice, but the law slapped her in the face. She fled home in disgrace, and the world of law grew more and more distant from her.

After that, she understood the world wasn't as clean as she'd imagined. There was so much darkness—some things even the state couldn't control. All she could do was make sure injustice never happened to her again.

Serena Feng hugged her head tightly, the images flashing before her eyes completely different from what really happened that day.

That day, those men never even touched her. But now, in front of her eyes, her suicide failed, no one came to save her, and the attackers pinned her down...

How could this be? How could this happen? None of this ever happened—on that day, she wasn't harmed, she was only frightened.

Serena Feng told herself not to think about it, not to dwell on it—it was all fake, just her mind playing tricks. But she couldn't stop herself.

[This chapter isn't finished yet~ Please click next page for more!]

Serena Feng knew—her greatest fear was: what if that man in black hadn't saved her that day? What would have happened to her?

Even if she died, those men wouldn't have let her go. She couldn't imagine what she'd become, how far she'd fall.

"No! I won't accept it—I won't accept a life like that! That's not Serena Feng, that's not me, not me!"

Serena screamed in agony. She couldn't accept that kind of life—if it really came to that, she'd rather die. She'd rather die.

Serena's eyes were bloodshot, wild and frantic. When she saw the gun on the ground, she picked it up without thinking and pressed it to her temple.

She refused to accept a life like that...

Serena closed her eyes, her face filled with despair!

"No! She's going to kill herself!" Bu Jingyun cried out in alarm.

Everyone trapped in the array is always tormented and driven mad by their own fears, sometimes even tortured to death—but never has anyone actually committed suicide.

"Damn it!" Lance Quinn cursed, his figure flashing as he darted into the bamboo grove. At the instant Serena Feng pulled the trigger, he knocked her unconscious.

The handgun fell to the ground, and Serena Feng's face was streaked with tears, her expression frozen in terror and helplessness—a sight that wrenched the heart.

What could possibly have happened to drive someone like Serena Feng—who cherishes life so much—to attempt suicide?

But from the words Serena Feng muttered, Lance Quinn couldn’t glean anything useful.

"Lance, is she all right?" Storm Cloud Bu arrived a step behind, hurriedly wiping sweat from his brow.

He was sweating—Lance Quinn’s speed was incredible. If he’d been even a second later, Serena Feng would have died.

Storm Cloud Bu was scared out of his wits.

"Yin energy has invaded her body, her vital essence is severely depleted, and she’s suffered extreme fright." Lance Quinn spoke impassively, but inwardly he regretted what had happened.

"At least she’s alive. But from what she said, I still can’t figure out what she fears most—what could terrify her so much she’d try to kill herself? Plenty of people have entered the bamboo grove over the years, but none have ever been scared into suicide. I always thought she was brave; turns out she’s not so tough after all."

Storm Cloud Bu was burning with curiosity, but seeing Serena Feng’s condition and Lance Quinn’s obvious concern, he knew he wouldn’t get any answers now.

"Let’s get out of here first." Lance Quinn picked up the handgun from the ground and, without a word, tucked it into his own sleeve.

He’d always been curious about this thing. Now, finally, he had the chance to study it—if it could be produced on a large scale, then this world...

Lance Quinn pushed his thoughts aside and carried Serena Feng into a small wooden hut at Thunderclap Monastery.

Serena Feng’s complexion was ashen, almost corpse-like. Lance Quinn knew that with yin energy invading her body, natural recovery would take at least a year. But since his master could set up the Ninefold Death-Chill Array, he surely had something to restore yang energy as well.

Lance Quinn took a jade bead from around his own neck and hung it on Serena Feng.

Calling it a jade bead was no exaggeration—it was only the size of a pinky, ugly and of average quality. But the moment Serena Feng wore it, warmth spread through her body.

When Storm Cloud Bu brought over the medicine, he saw the chill fading from Serena Feng’s body. "Lance, did you give her your soul artifact?"

Don’t underestimate that jade bead—it was painstakingly crafted by Lance Quinn’s master as a soul artifact. More than once, Lance had relied on it to survive danger.

"Her body’s far too weak," Lance Quinn replied, not offering further explanation. He took the medicine from Storm Cloud Bu and gestured for him to leave.

With yin energy invading her body, Serena Feng was unconscious. Storm Cloud Bu knew how to feed her medicine, so he cooperated and left—but not before waggling his brows at Lance Quinn, full of teasing intent.

Even though Lance Quinn was usually calm and composed, this time his ears couldn’t help but turn red. He threatened, "If you don’t leave, I’ll tell Serena Feng who you really are and let House of Duke Zhen hunt you down."

"Lance Quinn, seriously? You’d stab your brother twice over a woman?" Storm Cloud Bu wailed, knowing Lance was joking, but even so, he’d never have said something like that before.

Ahhh... His brother had completely fallen—joking or not, Lance Quinn would never have said such things in the past.