Soulbound Destiny

Chapter 21: Confrontation and Murderous Intent

Feng Tianyu’s gaze was like a blade of ice, slicing through the dense undergrowth and locking precisely onto Gene.

Gene knew he could no longer hide. He drew a deep, steadying breath, forcing down the fear and the blood surging with adrenaline. Leaning heavily on his longsword, he stepped out slowly from his concealment.

The eyes of hunter and hunted met. Feng Tianyu’s expression was a terrifying blend of disdain, hatred, and a trace of envy that could not be masked.

“Who are you? I don’t know you,” Gene said first, his voice hoarse from weakness yet tinged with stubborn defiance. “Why do you want to kill me?”

Feng Tianyu’s nostrils flared, and a cold laugh escaped him. “At death’s door, why waste time with questions? What have you done to her?”

“What? Who?” Gene blinked, momentarily confused.

“Ling Yue,” Feng spat the name, his voice sharp and possessive, almost bordering on obsession.

Gene’s mind raced. So that was it! It was all because of Ling Yue! Feng Tianyu was clearly her admirer and had misunderstood the nature of Gene’s relationship with her.

“I saved her,” Gene replied calmly, trying to explain, though his voice betrayed the strain of exhaustion and pain.

“Answer me truthfully, and perhaps I might consider sparing your life,” Feng said, his tone heavy, laced with condescending arrogance.

“Don’t lie to yourself,” Gene scoffed, a bitter laugh escaping. “If you truly wanted to leave a survivor, you wouldn’t have let the zombies gnaw those bandits to death to silence them.”

Feng Tianyu’s voice rose, deadly and cold. “What exactly have you done to Ling Yue?!”

“I’ll say it again—I saved her!” Gene’s patience snapped, anger flaring. “If you don’t believe me, go ask her yourself!”

“Has no one taught you that when you lie, your eyes betray you?” Feng Tianyu stepped forward, spiritual energy rippling like a storm, compressing the very air around him. “Two alone in the mountains for days… how could it have been without… intimacy?!”

“I’ve had the worst luck for eight lifetimes!” Gene snapped, finally letting his anger erupt. “She fell into the water with an arrow in her! I dove in to save her! She was too injured to move, so I carried her! That’s intimacy? Should I have just let her drown?!”

“Do you even know who my junior sister is?!” Feng Tianyu bellowed, jealousy devouring all reason.

“Are you out of your mind?!” Gene shouted back. “Saving her was wrong? Carrying her to safety was wrong? Had I known you people of the Zhenhun Sect were such ingrates, I wouldn’t have saved her! Let her die in the temple!”

Gene expected his harsh words to enrage Feng Tianyu further, but instead, the young Daoist’s icy composure only deepened. His eyes narrowed like shards of ice.

“Your junior sister’s concern for you is not without reason,” Feng Tianyu said, his gaze locked on Gene. “Tell me, what truly happened between you?”

“Concern?” Gene laughed bitterly. “After she was saved, she left me in a ruined temple to die. That’s concern?”

“Her injuries were severe, yet she repeatedly urged me to come back for you. Her tone, her expression—this is no ordinary care!” Feng Tianyu’s eyes burned into him. “You truly had no intimacy?”

“None!” Gene shook his head violently, even pulling open his tunic to reveal the scarred and battered wounds across his back. “Look at these injuries! Do I look like someone with the luxury to think of that?”

“No feelings at all?” Feng pursued relentlessly, reading every twitch and hesitation.

“…,” Gene faltered, memories of Ling Yue’s fleeting trust flashing in his mind. But now was not the time for honesty. “You’re absurd! You like her, I saved her, I’m not trying to steal her from you—so why hunt me? Gratitude is what I should get, not this!”

“Hmph, smooth words,” Feng Tianyu spat, disbelief etched in his tone. “Her demeanor towards you—she has clearly feelings for you. I cannot spare you!”

Before Gene could react further, Feng Tianyu struck.

His movements were ghostlike, blurring in the moonlight. A surge of spiritual energy coalesced in his right palm and slammed directly into Gene’s unprepared chest.

“Thud—!” Gene felt an overwhelming force shatter his chest, his organs violently displaced. Blood erupted from his mouth as his body flew backward like a ragdoll, crashing heavily against a tree before collapsing limply onto the ground.

Pain radiated through every nerve, yet his mind raced. He had survived so much already, but now—Feng Tianyu’s wrath had made the true danger unavoidable.