Chapter 158: What did you do?

"What did you do?"

The words tore from Li Jun’s throat, but it felt as if his soul had already fled his body, leaving him hollow. His fingers trembled as they closed around the dagger’s hilt, knuckles whitening with the strain. He didn’t need an answer. His gut already knew, and the knowledge burned like acid.

His mother’s death was deemed natural, though his father never believed it. He turned Aurelia upside down, investigating and insisting on four autopsies, but the result was the same.

Years later his father, a once sane man who was wise beyond his years, suddenly descended into madness with episodes that no doctor could explain. Li Jun once asked himself why. Why had he suffered such a great loss? Was he just unlucky? Was it predestined? No, it was premeditated.

"You killed my parents, didn’t you?" he asked, his voice low yet threatening.

Kai Jing’s nod was casual, almost smug. "Yes, but not by my own hand. It was all Xiu Ying. I just had to tell her what to do, and she would do it. If only she could strangle you in your crib, but she couldn’t get close enough to-."

Before he could finish his sentence, Li Jun drove the dagger into the wound from the plasma gun. Kai Jing cried in anguish. He reached for his arm to pull the dagger out, but Li Jun twisted the blade deeper, his bloodshot eyes blazing with a fury that was more than human.

His jaw clenched, his breath ragged, every muscle taut with vengeance. In that moment, his grief, his rage, and his resolve fused into one expression: merciless retribution.

Kai Jing’s bravado crumbled. His voice broke, stuttering through the agony that wracked his body. "Ju-just kill me," he pleaded, the words trembling with fear, his face pale and slick with sweat. His hands shook as he tried to clutch the wound, but the dagger’s cruel twist kept him pinned in torment.

Li Jun leaned in, his shadow swallowing Kai Jing’s trembling form. His whisper was cold, deliberate, each syllable dripping with venom. "Now why would I do that?... I want you to watch your father’s empire burn to the ground. You will watch Helion turn to ashes by my hand. Death is too easy for you,... Kai Jing."

Kai Jing’s eyes widened, the terror he felt overshadowing his pain. He realized he had miscalculated. Li Jun wasn’t as emotional as he thought. He wasn’t going to kill him. Instead, he was going to keep him alive to watch everything he valued destroyed.

Li Jun wasn’t only going to keep him alive. He was going to torture him every single day and make him beg for death. "Make sure he doesn’t die," he ordered before walking out. Yan Jia, who had just heard that Li Jun was here, met him in the hallway.

"Your Highness," she called out. She could see from his expression that something was wrong.

"Keep him alive for me. I only trust you," he said, his tone clipped. He didn’t dare look at her when he spoke. He walked past her without pause, his shoulders rigid, his stride heavy.

Yan Jia wanted to stop him, but even she knew that this wouldn’t be the best time. When Li Jun was in this state, it was best to give him space. Now she wanted to know what Kai Jing said to him that made him that way. Her strides long, she entered the room.

Meanwhile, Li Jun walked into his cabin, and as soon as those doors shut, the mask shattered. He clutched his chest tightly as though trying to hold himself together. He let out a raw and jagged cry that was heartbreaking to hear as he slid down to the ground, his body shaking with grief.

It had been years, but the pain lingered. Kai Jing’s words had dug the wound that hadn’t healed properly. His hot tears splattered on the floor. His face was twisted with anguish, his breath hitching, and his eyes squeezed shut against the unbearable grief.

There was a reason why he gave Yan Jia the task to keep Kai Jing alive. It was because he knew that once Damian found out, he would beat the man to death. Sure enough, when Damian heard what Kai Jing had confessed to, he almost killed Kai Jing.

His sister’s death, which he thought was an unfortunate fate, was orchestrated by this monster. At the time, he even fought with Li Mingze when he kept ordering so many autopsies. It turns out that he was right. He was just unaware that the drug used was from Helion, which made it appear as though she had died of natural causes.

When Damian was angry, he moved like a violent storm. What Li Jun did to Kai Jing was nothing compared to what Damian did to him before Princeton wrestled him to the ground. That was the only way they could stop him.

It was only when he calmed down that he thought of Li Jun. Panicked, he rushed out to find him. He wanted to check if he was okay and comfort him, but Li Jun refused to see anyone. No matter how many times he knocked or called, Li Jun didn’t answer. It took Yan Jia explaining to him that he needed space for him to leave Li Jun alone.

When the news reached Draco, he was so angry that he wanted to head to the imperial capital and blow up the imperial palace with Xiu Ying in it. Right after that, he would turn his cannons at Helion and blow up the entire planet.

He not only thought it, he did it. He ordered all of Blue Sapphire to head towards the Imperial capital. He was going to get Xiu Ying, and if anyone dared to stop him, then Aurelia was going to war. He had to bring his mech out of retirement.

***

Yu Wen had no idea that a major fight was about to break out at the heart of Aurelia. He was discussing their next move. He hoped to end this as soon as possible so he could go and find Li Jun.

Just then, General Vane walked in with his group of minions. "To what do we owe this pleasure?" asked Alex, clearly aware of where their hands were resting. This was not a casual visit but rather a hostile one.