"Ahhhh…"
A searing pain tears through his abdomen, scorching every nerve. Lu Yan stumbles, mind blank. He doesn't understand what is happening. One moment, he is walking home; the next, the world tilts violently around him.
He looks down at his hand. Bright red. Warm. Flowing steadily.
"What… what's happening?" he whispers, voice trembling.
Cold seeps into his bones. His heart races uncontrollably. His lungs refuse to draw in air. White lights float across his vision, and a piercing buzz invades his ears. His body refuses to obey, as though someone—or something—else controls it.
No enemies in sight. No allies. No lover. No family. Only questions—relentless, screaming questions racing through his mind.
"Why… why is this happening to me?"
He has spent his life hiding, pretending, blending into the shadows of mediocrity. The world has never cared who he truly is. All he wants… all he has ever wanted… is peace.
Peace.
In his cramped apartment, Lu Yan lives in obscurity. His parents reside in another city, indifferent to his struggles. They love him, in their way, but his repeated failures in school have made them leave him behind. Forgotten.
His younger brother, Lu Kun, despises him. Every responsibility and burden has fallen on Lu Kun's shoulders, and hatred festers.
His younger sister doesn't even acknowledge him as her brother, recognizing only Lu Kun. Lu Yan has long since stopped expecting familial love. He is an orphan, in spirit if not in blood.
By the way, he works as a waiter in a small, dingy restaurant, barely scraping by. By night, he returns to the emptiness of his apartment, alone and unnoticed. He has no friends, no one to warn him that death is approaching.
"Madam, the work is done. Any further instructions?" a young man's voice asks over an encrypted line.
Li Shixin leans back in her chair, a small smirk curving her lips. "Are you certain? He is not as foolish as you claim."
"Madam, he will last only a few minutes. Ha ha ha…" the young man replies.
"Good. That bastard is dead… he wanted to marry me. What a dream," Li Shixin murmurs, satisfaction dripping from her tone.
"Miss… are you certain no one can trace this?" the butler asks cautiously.
"Don't be a coward," she snaps. "The man who did this leaves no record. Everything is contracted legally through his brother. I am clean. I have nothing to fear."
"And the marriage contract, young miss? Your family..."
"I don't care. I never liked him or his family. His death is a blessing. Nothing to worry about anymore."
Moments later, more than seventeen men arrive at the scene. Lu Yan's body lies crumpled on the cold pavement. Blood flows freely from the deep gash in his abdomen. His pulse is faint, barely a whisper.
"Young master! Can you hear me? Young master!" one of them shouts, voice cutting through the silent night.
The assassin is gone, vanished without a trace. He had never expected such an easy target to earn such a fortune. Money secured, the mission is done, leaving only chaos behind.
"Wrap the wound. Press with your palm, stop the bleeding," another instructs urgently.
"If the leader discovers who did this, their family will be destroyed," says a third, trembling.
"We'll deal with that later. Right now, the young master comes first. If anything happens, we answer with our lives," the first man asserts firmly.
They lift him, moving swiftly toward the nearest secure hospital. Doctors work frantically, intubating him, administering emergency medication, and preparing him for surgery.
Meanwhile, in a massive, dimly lit room, a man sits on a throne-like chair. Calm. Composed. Radiating a power that demands obedience.
"Who did this?" he asks evenly, detached.
"We… don't know, leader," one of the men replies, swallowing hard. "But we suspect the Lu family or the Li family. Only they could orchestrate such a precise attack for selfish reasons."
"Within one hour," the leader says, eyes narrowing. "I want answers. Fail me, and you will see the consequences. I will punish them personally." He rises and leaves, leaving the room steeped in tense silence.
Across the city, phones ring relentlessly. High-profile figures scramble, nerves fraying. Whispers of fear ripple through the underworld. The Red Blood Gang—the most feared organization in the country—is enraged.
If the young master cannot even be safe in his territory, how can any gang protect their heirs? The city trembles under the weight of that question.
"Foolish girl… what have you done?" Li Jin's voice thunders in the underground room, shattering the silence.
"Father… I did nothing," Li Shixin stammers, hands bound, body shivering. "I only had the information. The assassination was orchestrated by Lu Yan's brother, Lu Kun."
Lu Kun screams, vehemently denying everything. "I didn't do it! She forced me!"
"Oh really…" a calm, silky voice cuts through, terrifyingly smooth. "That makes perfect sense… you two bastards."
The room falls silent. Fear coils in the air like a serpent, tightening its grip around every soul present.
Outside, the city continues, oblivious. Yet the foundations of the underworld tremble. The ripple has begun. The Red Blood Gang will not forget this night. And Lu Yan… he lies bleeding, life hanging by a thread.