Chapter 116: The Pitiful Old Man

The old man shook his head.

“If I knew…” General Chen whispered, his voice cracking. “I would have taken his head myself instead of asking for a favor.”

A single tear rolled down his face as he let out a long sigh.

“No wonder he made that stuff so easily. I thought he was just using off-the-books Federation research to fight that cult.”

“Looks like we have a mole in our midst,” Keira said softly.

She looked away from her grandfather, watching as the guards dragged the alchemist toward the door in glowing chains.

Suddenly, Feng Yuan lost it.

He thrashed against the guards, the energy chains burning his skin as he tried to pull away.

The fear on his face turned into pure craziness.

“Let me go, you fools!” he screamed, spitting blood onto the floor. “Curse you all! Curse the Chen family!”

The guards slammed him against the doorframe to hold him down, but he kept kicking.

His bloodshot eyes locked onto Chen Feng and Derrick.

“You think you’ve won?!” Feng Yuan yelled, his voice echoing down the hall. “You’re all blind! The world will burn, and the will of the Hand will be fulfilled!”

SLAM!

The heavy doors shut tight.

His shouting cut off, leaving the room completely quiet.

Chen Feng turned back toward his father.

“I should report this to the Royal Family,” he said.

General Chen gave a weak wave of his hand.

“Do whatever you think is best,” the old man mumbled.

Chen Feng clicked his tongue in frustration.

“We’ll keep him locked up until we decide what to do with him,” he said.

He looked around the room, making sure every guard heard him.

“No one speaks a word of what happened here today outside this estate.”

His eyes landed on Keira, staring right at her as he spoke.

Keira caught him looking and snapped back immediately.

“What are you insinuating with that look?”

She glared at him, her eyes sharp.

“Even I know what to tell others and what not. I wasn’t going to say anything to anyone, even if you hadn’t said a word.”

“As long as you know.” Chen Feng did not care about her outburst and left the room.

Chen Weian stayed for a while longer. He stared at his father without uttering a word.

General Chen could feel his gaze.

“Out with it,” the old man said weakly.

Chen Weian hesitated for a moment. Then he finally asked what was on his mind.

“Did you ever feel like I was worthy of being the family head?”

The room went quiet. General Chen slowly turned his head to look at his son.

“You were always crafty,” the old man whispered. “A quality that’s good for a family head.”

He closed his eyes and let out a tired breath.

“But too much of it can ruin the man… and ruin the family.”

Chen Weian stood frozen for a second.

He didn’t argue. He didn’t say another word.

He just bowed his head slightly, turned around, and walked out.

Now, only General Chen, Keira, and Derrick remained in the quiet room.

General Chen turned his gaze toward Keira.

His hands trembled as he looked at her stiff, guarded posture.

“Keira…” the old man rasped softly. “I’m sorry. I truly am.”

Keira let out a cold, sharp laugh.

“Sorry?” she spat, glaring down at him. “Save it, Grandfather.”

“I never wanted to hurt you,” General Chen tried to explain, his voice weak. “I only wanted—”

“Shut up,” Keira cut him off, her voice dropping into a dangerous quiet.

“You sat right there in that bed every single day, looking me straight in the eye while I tore myself apart trying to save your life.”

Her fists clenched tight at her sides.

“I couldn’t sleep. I ran around trying to find cures. I was sick with worry thinking you were dying.”

She took a sharp breath, her eyes burning with anger and betrayal.

“And all the while, you were lying to my face. You were playing us all like fools just to get your power back.”

General Chen flinched at her words.

“Keira, please…”

“How am I supposed to forgive that?” Keira demanded, her sharp mouth spitting every word like venom. “How do I ever look at you the same way again?”

“You made a joke out of my worry for you.”

She turned her back on him before he could speak another word.

“Don’t waste your breath on cheap apologies. You made your choice, and you have to live with it.”

“What was your end game?” Keira demanded, turning back to face him with cold eyes.

“What did you think was going to happen once you got your power back through a forbidden method like that?”

General Chen stared at her, his lips trembling.

“You would have become an enemy of the entire Federation,” she said, her voice sharp.

“They would have hunted you down like a beast.”

She stepped closer to the bed, pointing a finger at him.

“All that reputation you spent your whole life building… every medal, every ounce of honor… gone. Destroyed for nothing.”

“The Chen family would have been thrown into complete shambles while you ran for your life!”

General Chen opened his mouth, but no words came out.

He couldn’t say a single thing.

The room fell into a heavy, painful silence.

He sat there, looking broken and hollow.

He had been so consumed by the desperation to regain his strength that he had never even thought that far ahead.

“I can’t even believe you’re the same grandfather I grew up loving,” Keira said, her voice trembling with disgust.

She stared down at him with pure coldness.

“You’re no different than your own blood after all.”

She let out a bitter breath.

“It’s no surprise my father and uncle turned out like this. They got it right from you.”

General Chen froze.

The words hit him harder than any blow he had ever taken on a battlefield.

Tears filled his weary eyes once more.

The great General Chen, a warrior who had never shed a tear in his entire life, wept silently.

His shoulders slumped forward.

In a matter of seconds, he looked as if he had aged several years.

Deep down inside him, a part of the old man seemed to die right at that moment.