Chapter 670: Meeting and Showdown
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 670: Meeting and Showdown
"You! You're Yang Yuehan?!"
My answer seemed to hit him like a physical blow, leaving him frozen in place.
"Weren't you just shouting at Sister Bai, accusing her of kidnapping your son? Well, isn't he back now to see his old man? Look at you, trying to get physical the moment we meet. How rude." I released his right hand, which still reeked of cigarettes, and used a Cleaning Spell to scrub myself clean with a look of disgust.
I was a good kid, after all—no smoking, no drinking.
"You... do you think I'm blind?! I know if my own son is a man or a woman! Or are you just some kind of freak!"
"When your wife gave birth to her first child, didn't the two of you fail to tell if it was a boy or a girl then, too?" I asked back with a smile.
Though I hadn't gone to see who I had been swapped with, since Sister Bai said it was a girl, I wondered how they would react when that particular boomerang finally came back to hit them.
But I soon had my answer: they didn't react at all. Perhaps his brain was too simple to grasp my irony?
As expected, insults that require a brain aren't very effective on people who don't have much of one.
"Get out! Get out! It’s none of your business what my child is! Get away from my door! If you don't leave right now, I'm calling the Shi'an Bureau!"
"The Shi'an Bureau..." Sister Bai and I exchanged a look. I had some impression of that organization; though I hadn't dealt with them much, they were essentially the agency responsible for maintaining public order in the society outside the Main World.
I seemed to recall that when I first left with Sister Bai, they were so frantic that they had run to the Shi'an Bureau to ask for help finding me.
As for the Shi'an Bureau itself... it was also composed of graduates from various Transcendent Academies.
Taking the Witch Academy as an example, the personnel of the Shi'an Bureau were theoretically on the same level as the "Witch Discipline Squad." However, one maintained order and discipline within the Witch Academy, while the other maintained the safety of the mortal realm outside.
That said, the Shi'an Bureau was a tier lower than the Discipline Squad. They required a much larger number of personnel, and the authority they represented was worlds apart.
Members of the Discipline Squad could retain their Transcendent powers after graduation, as that was the foundation for enforcing the Academy's rules.
The Shi'an Bureau was different; after all, they dealt with ordinary people.
If they encountered students from an academy, they had the authority to contact and cooperate with that academy's Discipline Squad, as such matters were outside their jurisdiction.
"Fine... I suppose in your eyes, the Shi'an Bureau is the highest level of authority you'll ever encounter in your life." I shrugged helplessly and peered past him into the house. "Aren't you going to invite us in? Sister Bai was your neighbor for so long, yet you never even offered her a cup of tea."
With a wave of my hand, an invisible force shoved him aside. I then led Sister Bai inside, walking in as if I owned the place.
"Get the hell out! This is my house... I didn't give you two b—tches permission to— mmmph! Urgh..."
"Keep your mouth clean and you might live a little longer." I slapped a Silence Spell directly onto him.
I had heard enough profanity for one lifetime. I had let them scream at me over the phone for so long only because I couldn't cast a Silence Spell through a screen. Now that we were face-to-face, I wasn't about to let them pollute my ears any further.
"Oh, I almost forgot. You're a scourge, and 'evil lasts a thousand years.' No wonder your breath stinks so much; you're clearly not afraid of dying."
I walked through the foyer and into the living room. The commotion outside had naturally drawn the attention of those inside.
After all, two "living people" suddenly appearing in the living room was hard to ignore.
But at that moment, the man was clutching his throat in terrified confusion. He didn't know what had happened; he only knew he couldn't speak!
Being unable to speak meant being a mute. For an ordinary person with a fragile psyche, this was nothing short of the sky falling.
"Who are you two? Why are you in our house! You old drunk! Why are there two women in the house! Have you lost your mind?!"
"You're noisy too. Such a temper at your age—be careful of an early grave. You should be quiet as well." I casually tossed another Silence Spell her way and walked past them.
Sister Bai followed behind me, a look of gratification on her face. She had been worried that Xiao Han might hesitate when facing the "parents" who had raised her. After all... Xiao Han tended to let too many unnecessary factors interfere when it came to certain matters of principle.
But it seemed Xiao Han had truly moved on. Her actions were decisive. Even if it was just a simple Silence Spell, it was far better than lingering compromises and messy entanglements.
As soon as I passed them, they frantically pulled out their phones to call for help. When in trouble, calling the Shi'an Bureau was their go-to solution for everything.
This was breaking and entering! And using force against ordinary people!
When the call to the Shi'an Bureau went through, the voice of a customer service lady came from the other end. However, they quickly realized they could only make meaningless "ungh" and "ah" sounds. The operator, sounding frustrated, could only try to use alternative communication methods.
They couldn't tell her what was happening, and they couldn't even give their location!
Sister Bai noticed their little movements, but she didn't care about their attempt to report us.
It was just the Shi'an Bureau. Even if she wasn't here today, Xiao Han's status as a Teaching Assistant alone was enough to pull rank on them!
Meanwhile, I wandered over to the study. I remembered they had hired a new tutor for their precious "only son."
With the College Entrance Exam approaching, student stress was at an all-time high. Their "son's" grades weren't as ideal as they used to be, and while they were anxious, anxiety was useless. They couldn't study for him. If they were capable of studying, they wouldn't be in the state they were in now. So, they chose to hire a tutor.
However... mindlessly hiring a tutor at this stage was truly unwise.
What surprised me even more was that these two had actually managed to find jobs with weekends off. That was unexpected.
But even with weekends off... they only used the time to better "supervise" their child's studies.
When I pushed open the study door, two pairs of eyes looked up in confusion. But in the next instant, both of them were struck with horror!
"Oh my~ I always say life is full of variables. If you don't experience it for yourself, you'll never know how many coincidences this world holds." I looked at the two people in the study: a woman and a boy. One sitting, one kneeling. A tutor and a student.
Both were utterly stunned.
The most shocked was Yang Yunhan. He realized that the girl who had just pushed open the door was the "big shot" surrounded by school officials yesterday. She had been inspecting the school, had lingered outside his classroom for a long time, and had even... mentioned him!
Recalling the embarrassment of being mentioned in public, the meeting after class, and his current kneeling posture, he felt a flicker of relief, as if he were being saved... but that relief vanished instantly.
Why?
Why would someone like her—someone even the Principal bowed and scraped to—appear in his home?
A home visit?
There seemed to be no answer, but he felt that at the very least, nothing could be worse than this!
"You! Who... who are you! Why did you just barge in!" The young "tutor" stood up from her seat in a panic, her previously overbearing attitude vanishing instantly.
"Oh? Do you really not know my name?" At this moment, I was the quickest to accept the reality of this stroke of luck. Looking at this tall, mature woman, even though I was nearly a head shorter than her, my aura didn't lose out in the slightest.
My gaze swept intentionally or otherwise across the Luck Threads floating above her head. Her carefully hidden identity was practically screaming at me.
She was a Player.
"You... how should I know what your name is?"
"Then let me introduce myself. I am the Calamity Witch. I wonder if that sparks any memories?"
The moment I finished speaking, she abandoned all pretense of dignity and turned to leap out the window.
But something reacted faster than her.
My Domain.
With a surge of Power of Knowledge, countless Annotation seals transformed into parasitic entities, latching onto her body.
In an instant, she became a fish on my chopping block, completely at my mercy.
But since this Player had practically delivered herself to me, I didn't want to waste her by just killing her. I would definitely find a way to recycle this trash... provided she didn't log out.
"Your strength is lacking, Miss~ It seems your escape speed can't keep up with my catching speed." I lifted the female player by her collar. She was currently sealed by my Annotation Technique, a branch of Power of Knowledge. Even if the power a Player possessed was on the same level as my Great Spellbook, it was no match for the stability of my sealing arts.
All of this happened in a very short span of time. Yang Yunhan, still kneeling on the side, was staring in absolute shock!
The hammer in his hand slipped and clattered onto the floor.
"You can try to resist. As long as you haven't logged out, you still have value, so I won't kill you. But don't think about running. Or maybe you want to try?" I held her like a little chick. What did it matter if she was a head taller than me when we first met? Her arrogant head was hanging low now, wasn't it?
Once she calmed down, I noticed she hadn't logged out, which surprised me. However... the Player wasn't the only trouble in this study.
I turned to look at the dazed Yang Yunhan.
He was staring at me blankly, his hammer lying on the floor after making a sharp sound upon impact.
I looked at the objects on the floor in front of him and then at the hammer.
I knelt down and picked up the shattered remains. "A game console... a handheld... and a phone? I remember these were things you treated like treasures. You smashed them yourself?"
"It... it was her... she made me smash them! She... she made me choose between these... or my grades..."
At that moment, Yang Yunhan's emotions finally collapsed. If, not long ago, his heart had shattered along with the things he cherished when he was forced to smash them... then remembering it now caused his aggrieved heart to finally break down completely.
"She told you to smash them, so you did? If she told you to kill yourself, would you do that too?" I looked down at the sobbing Yang Yunhan and questioned him in a heavy voice.
If it were me, and someone handed me a hammer and told me to destroy what I cherished...
Heh... what a joke.
The hammer would be in my hand. The moment I raised it, whether it landed on my treasures or the other person's head... that would be decided in a single heartbeat.
"You're as cowardly as ever," I said bluntly.
In the past, he would always try to make his presence felt in front of me. The moment he cried, his parents would back him up. Because he knew they hated me, in his mind, he had never lost. But the "winning" he knew was just an illusion created by his parents; he himself had never won anything.
Once I disappeared from their sight, he became the outlet for this family's failures. Without me to serve as a foil, his flaws were exposed for all to see.
He never knew what strength was. His growth in life was a perfect performance of cowardice.
At this point, the weeping Yang Yunhan realized something was wrong. In the past?
He forced himself to suppress the sobs and tremors—perhaps in his eyes, this was an act of strength.
"Still haven't recognized me? My foolish little brother... I am the older brother you never once called by that title, Yang Yuehan. Though, you should call me 'Sister' now."
"Yang... Yang Yuehan?!" It was as if he had heard the greatest lie of his life. The shock on his face couldn't even begin to describe the turmoil and collapse within him.
"No! Impossible! You can't be Yang Yuehan! Impossible!"
In an instant, his sobbing turned into hysterics. He refused to accept that his brother possessed such great strength, such terrifying methods, and... that terrifying status. Even the Principal had... had...
His world was only so big, and it had been completely destroyed in an instant. This extreme disparity was more than he could handle!
But in his heart, even subconsciously, he didn't deny that his "brother" had actually become a woman... because in his understanding, that part was actually irrelevant...
"Accept it. I am your former brother, your current sister. Not that it matters." I gave a light chuckle, showing no reaction to his breakdown.
"Don't worry, I won't do anything to you. I only came here to settle some old scores, not to settle you. But don't worry about this one; she's someone you have no right to deal with." I shook the Player in my hand. She seemed unwilling to log out, and she appeared to have turned off her pain synchronization to watch the show.
I didn't mind her watching.
After giving these warnings to my foolish "nominal" brother, I left the room.
Now, it was time to handle the grudge between me and those two.
In truth, this relationship was incredibly fragile—so fragile it would break at a touch. And for me to completely sever the connection from within my own heart was just as easy.
Walking out of the study, I handed the Player to Sister Bai to carry, while I sat down lazily on the sofa.
"Alright, you two sit down as well." I looked at the two disheveled people—the ones who had "reared" me, rather than "raised" me. My heart still felt a bit... heh... nostalgic?
I just didn't know what kind of "feeling" it was. Was it a positive sentiment or a negative one? Either way, it certainly wasn't familial love.
At that moment, the two of them were forced onto the sofa opposite me by an irresistible, invisible force.
The arrogance they had shown earlier had vanished, replaced by the trembling fear of those facing Transcendent power.
Bullies who fear the strong—nothing more.
"I assume you two are clear on my identity now? I am Yang Yuehan, the 'crazy son' you personally swapped your daughter for." I chuckled as I spoke the words that turned their faces pale with terror. But I wasn't finished. I pulled out my phone. "I wonder, in your eyes, how much our current 'relationship' is worth? Was the fifty thousand the Lesser Demon Academy paid... enough?"
As I finished speaking, their phones chimed with a notification.
"Transfer... fifty thousand yuan... received."
The notification sound, which usually signaled a happy payday, was exceptionally piercing!
"It seems that wasn't enough. Heh~ understandable. After all, we lived together for so long; how could I not know your appetites?" I continued tapping on my phone.
Ordinary currency held little value to me now.
But when dealing with people of a certain level, using something I didn't care about to accomplish something I did care about was worth it from any angle.
I wasn't satisfying their greed; I was severing the last tiny threads of connection in my heart. Since I was doing this for myself, why would I be stingy?
"How about a million?" I continued to raise the stakes.