Wu Qiong closed his eyes painfully. Just a minute ago, he still harbored a sliver of hope—he wished those phantoms of old friends were truly souls returned from the dead.
But now, he had to face reality. The Titan before him was a fake. The real Titan never knew this shameful secret until his death.
Wu Qiong had used his own flesh and blood as a price to bribe the Grand Judge, then pulled Titan out from the international war criminals' prison.
He hoped Titan would never know this dirty secret, would never feel guilt.
If the Titan before him were the real one, he would either be unaware of the truth or tormented by remorse.
Unfortunately, this fake Titan only mimicked the appearance—the tone and manner of speech did not match the original at all.
"Professor," a rough, giant hand caressed Wu Qiong's cheek, "I am your dual-cultivation partner. Why don't you open your eyes and look at me?"
Wu Qiong slowly opened his eyes and suddenly saw a huge face looming over him!
"You are insolent!" Wu Qiong pushed the fake Titan's shoulder with a palm, but his own limbs were weak; how could he contend with a robot?
"The real Titan would never do such a thing to me!"
The Zero Player couldn't care about that. Recently, it had been trying every trick to get close to Wu Qiong. Unfortunately, Wu Qiong's sleep had been poor lately, waking too quickly—wholly awake Wu Qiong would never let it gain any advantage.
So now, taking this chance, it would drain the little immortal dry, and deal with the rest later!
At the critical moment, the door was slammed open violently!
This time, two people appeared at the doorway!
Bai Shuang had returned to her petite and cute form, pointing into the room where the two were struggling, shouting, "Xiao Hei Ge, catch the villain who's bullying my father!"
Zhuang Mo had seen many things in his life, but this kind of carnage was truly his first.
Wu Qiong's shoulder garment was torn and disheveled, but the giant who was pressing on Wu Qiong showed no mercy.
Zhuang Mo steadied his mind, jumped up and kicked toward the fierce giant's wide-open eyes.
Unexpectedly, just as his kick was about to hit the mark, the giant suddenly disappeared. Zhuang Mo kicked air, then leapt across Wu Qiong to the other side of the room.
"Dad!" Bai Shuang hurried inside, not pretending this time—she was genuinely anxious.
Seeing her own father humiliated by a savage villain, no one could calmly endure such disgrace.
Zhuang Mo also came back beside Wu Qiong, anxiously asking, "Daoist Master, are you alright?"
"How could I be alright?" Bai Shuang regretted bringing Zhuang Mo to the scene.
She originally wanted to tell him that Whale Fall Decision had been hacked, but instead he witnessed this humiliating spectacle!
Now, Bai Shuang could only push Zhuang Mo toward the door: "Xiao Hei Ge, family shame shouldn't be spread. Why don't you wait outside for a while? I'll help my father settle this before you come back in."
"Oh!" Zhuang Mo agreed and stood guard outside.
Bai Shuang closed the door, her mind still stuck on the cruel scene.
"Dad?" Bai Shuang turned around, "Are you alright? That man just now—could he be an old friend of yours?"
Wu Qiong, no surprise for a centuries-old man, quickly calmed despite the assault.
He nodded faintly, sighed, and said, "He was my former bodyguard."
"Bodyguard?" Bai Shuang was baffled. "That guy looks more like a walking fortress than a bodyguard! Just by standing on the street, he could scare away every passerby. But why have you never mentioned this bodyguard before?"
Wu Qiong: "Your father didn't want to talk about him, so I never told you."
"My dad?" Bai Shuang's eyes darkened slightly. "Dad, I know you used to be… well, promiscuous, but you didn't… mess with your bodyguard too, did you? Or am I just interrupting something?"
"No way!" Wu Qiong gave Bai Shuang a reproachful look. "We only had a contractual relationship. Don't jump to conclusions."
"Oh!" Bai Shuang never believed half of what Wu Qiong said—sometimes not even half of half.
Not that Bai Shuang was disrespectful, but Wu Qiong had done too many unscrupulous things centuries ago. Even if he now called himself a reformed rake, Bai Shuang thought he just hadn't found the right criminal environment yet.
Bai Shuang deliberately hit a sore spot: "Why didn't Dad want to talk about this bodyguard?"
Wu Qiong helplessly rubbed his forehead: "I've hired many bodyguards before. This one's name is Titan. He's stayed with me the longest—his whole life."
"A lifetime!" Bai Shuang switched to a gossiping tone. "What did you promise him to keep him loyal all these years?"
Wu Qiong gave her another sharp look: "The Bai family's heads are modest and upright. How did I end up raising a hooligan like you?"
"Like father, like daughter!" Bai Shuang threw the blame right back. "Stop dodging—tell me, why would a person like this follow you for a lifetime?"
Wu Qiong's mind softened, memories flooding back to long ago:
Long ago, in the North African desert, there was a brutally bloody real-life war.
The battle raged for three days and nights, both sides blinded by fury. Soldiers no longer cared about winning or losing—only about killing the enemy.
Millions lay dead, blood staining the yellow sands.
On that day, Titan realized he was born for slaughter.
He charged forward through hailstorms of bullets—the enemy's shots seemed unable to hit him.
Titan ran beneath the enemy's guns—if they fired one more shot, he would surely die.
But at that critical moment, commanders on both sides simultaneously ordered a ceasefire. No one knew why or what had happened.
Titan still wanted to kill. Since the enemy hadn't killed him, as long as he pulled the trigger, blood would stain the battlefield again.
But then, the enemies in front of him suddenly dropped to their knees!
More and more followed.
At first confused, Titan realized they were not kneeling to him—but to someone else.
The entire battlefield fell silent—soldiers on both sides knelt all over the blood-soaked desert.
In the distance, the sound of camel bells approached, a camel slowly crossing into the heart of the battlefield.
On the camel sat a young man in strange religious attire.
He walked slowly across the field. Everyone knelt and bowed to him, offering devout prayers.
Only then did Titan awaken—he had met a true god.
His previous beliefs were nothing but a joke.
Money, power, war, desert.
The things those bandits had pursued their whole lives were insignificant before this deity.
Everyone knelt except Titan, standing alone on the blood-dyed sand.
As the camel passed, the man turned and smiled at him.
That smile was more beautiful than all men and women in the world combined.
Titan finally understood—his salvation had descended to the mortal realm.