Chapter 13: Ningning, Come Here

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Lu Jingchen gave a faint smile. The upward curve of his lips was filled with the confidence and arrogance of a man in power, as though he stood atop the world, looking down upon all living things.

In his eyes, Jiang Wanning—and everyone else, for that matter—seemed no more than insignificant ants. Their struggles and clamors were nothing but fleeting specks of dust before him.

Jiang Wanning fell silent for a moment. Apparently, even when she put on airs, she still could not match someone of his caliber. Her presence was slightly lacking by comparison. She still had much to learn.

“The weak have no right to negotiate.”

“Oh? It’s not certain who the weak one is yet.” Jiang Wanning raised a brow, a smile of utter disdain curling at the corner of her lips.

Slowly and calmly, she parted her vermilion lips.

“Little Thunder, strike him.”

The wind began to blow of its own accord. The curtains whipped and fluttered wildly, as though a whirlwind were pounding against the windows, producing an unsettling racket. A priceless vase in the room suddenly shattered out of nowhere. Like silver bursting and water exploding forth, chrysanthemums were scattered across the floor…

A storm was brewing, and the wind already filled the tower…

And then…

There was no then.

The wind stopped. The curtains fell still. Everything returned to silence.

It all came to an abrupt halt.

Er…

“Tch.” Gu Qiyu gave a cold snort. “I thought you were actually capable of something.”

Jiang Wanning stared at the bright ceiling, its glare hurting her eyes.

Where was the lightning?

Where was the thunder?

Why had it failed against Lu Jingchen?

“If you have the nerve, come outside with me.” It had to be the ceiling’s fault. It was difficult to use her power indoors, and the lightning simply had not heard her summons. She refused to believe it and was determined to try again.

“Fuck your mother…” Young Master Gu swore.

Lu Jingchen restrained the flailing Gu Qiyu, still as immovable as a mountain, dignified and self-possessed, as though everything in the world lay within his control.

“Very well.” His subordinate had reported that Jiang Wanning could summon lightning to strike people. He was rather curious to see it for himself. After all, the last person who had tried to play the mystic in front of him already had a grave three feet high.

The courtyard was filled with blooming gardenias, their delicate fragrance drifting through the air. Above, white clouds floated across a clear and boundless sky.

A row of bodyguards stood behind Lu Jingchen. Gu Qiyu stood with his arms crossed, the corners of his jade-like face twitching from time to time, his expression full of disdain and contempt.

He looked as though he were having some kind of seizure.

Jiang Wanning could not be bothered to look at that lunatic.

She raised her head and glanced at the sky. The weather was bright and fair; however she looked at it, it did not seem capable of producing thunder out of nowhere. If she wanted to confirm her theory, she had to try at least once.

If it worked, everything would be fine.

If it failed… she would worry about that later.

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Jiang Wanning lacked confidence at that moment, but she absolutely could not show weakness in front of outsiders.

She was just about to summon the lightning when she suddenly noticed someone sprinting toward her as though competing in a hundred-meter dash.

He came rolling along like a small, round fireball.

Er… he had rolled too far and ended up beside Lu Jingchen.

Lu Jingchen looked at the ball-shaped object that had rolled to his side.

“…”

Was his home now open to every stray cat and dog?

The little landlord had been charging forward with his head down. At long last, he saw a person and blinked in confusion. Why had Jiang Wanning suddenly become so tall?

He looked up…

What a towering figure.

What a handsome face.

He slowly edged his way back toward Jiang Wanning, inch by inch. As long as he did not make a sound, surely no one would notice him.

Jiang Wanning: “…”

“What are you doing here?”

“After thinking it over, I still couldn’t feel at ease about you. Don’t worry—I won’t let you face these criminals alone. Once I graduate, I’ll apply to police academy. I’ll advance and retreat with you, and share every hardship.”

“And who exactly are you planning to advance and retreat with, and share hardships with?”

A cold voice laced with killing intent came from behind them.

The ornate wrought-iron gate slowly opened by itself. Ji Chen made a striking entrance in a perfectly tailored black suit, looking like a top male model who had stepped straight off the cover of a fashion magazine. Yet he also radiated an imposing authority that was impossible to resist.

His features were cool and austere. His thin lips were habitually pressed into a faint, severe line.

“Ningning, come here.”

He crooked his index and middle fingers, beckoning lightly.

What was he doing, calling a dog over? She might be a dog, but she was not his dog.

Her response was a tremendous roll of the eyes.

“I’ll say it one more time. Come here.” Ji Chen was clearly becoming angry.

He felt that Jiang Wanning had changed—she had become impossible to control. In the past, he had never needed to summon her. Whenever he appeared, she would come running over on her own and cling to his side. Now, however, she met him with a cold face and was always thinking of ways to escape him.

As a result, he wanted even more desperately to keep her in his grasp. Even if the woman he loved was Jiang Wanyue, Jiang Wanning still had to belong to him.

“Come here, my ass. You’re the one looking for me, so shouldn’t you drag yourself over here? You’ve got two long legs for nothing. Are they crippled or useless? If you don’t want them, donate them to a hospital. At least they can be put to some use.”

Jiang Wanning rattled off a torrent of abuse, her little mouth never stopping.

Ji Chen’s expression turned even darker.

Jiang Wanning took one look at him.

Well, look at that. All three male leads were here. Why not give it another try?

Ji Chen was about to walk over and grab her when Jiang Wanning suddenly flung open her arms and shouted at the heavens as though possessed:

“Heavens above, send down a few bolts of lightning and strike these three bastards dead!”

The white clouds drifted lazily by. The sun shone brilliantly, its golden light dazzling to the eyes. Deep within the clouds, the faint rumble of thunder seemed to echo.

It was coming.

It was coming.

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A streak of white light flashed brilliantly within the clouds, but it only flashed once before vanishing in the blink of an eye. It was as though it had gathered the full might of heaven and earth, only to stop abruptly out of fear of something.

“How could this happen?” the little landlord exclaimed. He had clearly witnessed Jiang Wanning’s power before. How had it failed now?

“Hahaha! You really thought you could summon lightning? How ridiculous. This isn’t some mythological play.” Gu Qiyu mocked her without the slightest mercy.

Jiang Wanning lowered her eyes. The ominous suspicion in her heart had been confirmed.

This was a world inside a book. The author was a god who controlled everyone’s fate. In this world, there were protagonists, supporting characters, and nameless passersby. She was cannon fodder, written by the author to donate a kidney to the heroine. No matter how hard she struggled to break free, she would ultimately circle back to the same starting point.

The protagonists, meanwhile, were the center of the world. They possessed the combined fortune of everyone and stood above all others, protected by the author. Even when they encountered setbacks, those were merely trials meant to temper them. In the end, they were destined to stand at the pinnacle of the world and receive the worship of all.

They were the chosen children of heaven spoken of in legend.

Everyone wanted to become such a chosen one, but among the countless ordinary people, most were little more than beasts of burden—or even stepping stones beneath the protagonists’ feet.

Jiang Wanning did not know why she possessed the ability to call down lightning. Perhaps her resistance had caused a bug to appear in this realm. Yet these cheat abilities worked against everyone else and failed against the protagonists. Even heaven itself did not dare send lightning down to strike them.

Gu Qiyu noticed that she kept her head lowered and cautiously glanced at her.

She was not crying, was she? He was used to seeing Jiang Wanning bare her fangs and wave her claws. Seeing her like this so suddenly left him slightly uncomfortable.

“Had enough? Given up?” Lu Jingchen’s tone was flat, yet it seemed to carry an invisible force, bringing with it a suffocating pressure.

He lifted his chin slightly. The bodyguards behind him immediately stepped forward and reached out to seize Jiang Wanning.

Jiang Wanning watched the hand reaching toward her without trying to flee. In a soft voice, she said:

“Thunder, strike him.”

The moment her words fell, a bolt of lightning came in response like a specter. Its light was blindingly bright, piercing through the bodyguard’s palm with radar-like precision. Amid the bodyguard’s agonized scream, his hand was instantly seared black, while the pungent smell of charred flesh quickly filled the air.

It…

It really could strike people.

Everyone was so terrified by the horrifying sight that they stood rooted to the spot, unable to recover for a long while.

Jiang Wanning sighed inwardly.

So it really was like this.

She had wondered whether the problem might not be the protagonists at all, but rather a limit on the number of times she could use her ability. Perhaps that was why it had failed just now. Well, now the last thread of hope hanging in her heart could finally be severed.

The protagonist group wanted her dead.

Her cheat ability was ineffective against the protagonist group.

A dead end.

“Holy shit!” Gu Qiyu’s eyes widened as he hastily covered his most vital parts. So Jiang Wanning had merely torn off his clothes earlier because she had shown mercy? If she had struck him with lightning, wouldn’t he have lost all hope of happiness for the rest of his life?

All of a sudden, Gu Qiyu felt that more than half of his anger had vanished.

For the first time—truly, for the very first time—Lu Jingchen looked directly at Jiang Wanning. A ripple appeared in his usually indifferent eyes, only to vanish almost immediately as his expression returned to calm.

“Qiyu, seize her.”

Lu Jingchen’s tone remained as indifferent as ever.

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