Chapter 69 – When the Past Hunts the Present
Xu Yanshang stood in the center of the Oracle facility's abandoned courtyard. Rain drizzled from the open sky, soaking the cracks between stones worn by time and torture.
He flexed his hand, watching the way water slid across his palm like blood. His memories came in flashes—Xueqing's laughter in the gardens, her sword against his during midnight training, her final command before he burned alive: Protect the future, even if I'm not in it.
Now she was here. Alive. Reborn.
And someone else was standing beside her.
"Mo Chen," he murmured the name as if it were a wound.
Behind him, Qiao Lan stood trembling beneath the edge of the overhang. "I told you everything I know. Please, I did what they made me do—"
Xu Yanshang turned to her, his expression unreadable. "You did more than that. You watched her every day. You could've warned her."
"I couldn't!" she cried. "He would've killed my brother!"
"Then you chose fear over loyalty."
Qiao Lan looked like she might collapse. But he didn't strike. Instead, he walked past her, rain slicking across his bare arms.
"I don't kill cowards," he said over his shoulder. "They die on their own anyway."
---
At Bai Corp, Xueqing sat quietly in her private suite as Lin Nuo projected a 3D model of the Oracle underground structure.
"There's movement here," Lin said, pointing at a flickering dot. "Pinged half an hour ago. Internal badge scan. It matches Qiao Lan's."
Xueqing's eyes narrowed. "So she went back."
Mo Chen, lounging against the door, smirked. "Told you she wasn't clean. Rats always return to the nest."
"She's being used. That doesn't mean she's lying."
Mo Chen straightened, his tone turning serious. "Xueqing, you know what this means. Xu Yanshang is alive. The real question is—how much of him is still him?"
Xueqing looked away. "If he's been twisted by the Oracle…"
"Then I'll handle it."
Her gaze snapped back. "He once died for me, Mo Chen. You don't get to just handle that."
"I'm not asking for permission," he said, walking toward her. "I'm promising protection. Whether he's a friend, a ghost, or a weapon—he won't hurt you. Not again."
---
Back in the shadows of Oracle's research wing, Xu Yanshang stood before a sealed chamber lined with cryo-units. A row of frozen bodies lined the walls—others like him, failed or forgotten.
He stared at one with hollow eyes: a woman with a striking resemblance to Xueqing. The tag read: Phoenix Class - Clone Deviation 3B.
His fists clenched.
"They tried to copy her," he growled.
A voice behind him clicked into life through the ceiling speaker. The same distorted male tone Qiao Lan had heard.
"Ah, Sentinel. Welcome back."
Xu Yanshang didn't flinch. "Who are you?"
"I'm the one who woke you."
"Then you've made a mistake."
The voice chuckled. "You were designed to protect her. I want the same thing. Join me—and she'll never fall again."
Yanshang's eyes narrowed. "What makes you think I'd let her fall for you?"
There was a pause. "Interesting."
And then the speaker went silent.