“Yu!” As he failed to grab Mu Yu, Qin Jinhuan immediately sprung forward to stop her.

“Hold it!” Dong Wanqing grasped Mu Yu’s forehead while swiftly pointing the sharp knife at her waist as she loudly ordered Qin Jinhuan, “Move back!”

Upon hearing that, his face turned pale before he hastily halted his steps. “Don’t be rash!”

“If you don’t want that to happen, you’d better move back! Get back!” As she yelled, she swung her hand that was holding the knife, to which Qin Jinhuan nervously retreated.

“Further back! All the way to the door!”

“You promised to let them go once I come over,” Mu Yu warily reminded Dong Wanqing as she glanced at the sharp weapon, showing no signs of resistance while merely straightening her back.

“Quite the heroine, aren’t you? You’re quite the b*tch too!” Dong Wanqing indifferently scoffed.

“You’re breaking your promise!” Although Mu Yu didn’t mind her insults, she furiously spoke. “The child did nothing wrong to you! Why are you doing this to him? Just take everything out on me!”

“Yu!” Fearing that Mu Yu, who was under Dong Wanqing’s control, would get herself hurt if she continued to provoke the latter, Qin Jinhuan gave her a warning.

Meanwhile, Mu Yu looked at him guiltily before she swiftly directed her attention back onto Dong Wanqing and uttered with a pleading tone, “Please let the innocent child go. Just vent all the hate in your heart onto me.”

“Fine. I’ll let the kid go.”

“You have to let Yin Anran go as well.” While Mu Yu spoke, she peeked at the woman who had a blood-stained appearance from the corner of her eye.

Although she disliked Yin Anran very much, she thought she might as well save her since she had already taken the risk. After all, that was her job as a policewoman.

After giving a scornful laugh, Dong Wanqing eventually agreed to it, though she had certainly not forgotten to throw in a sarcastic remark while saying, “Wow, you’re even more heroic than I imagined you to be! I would never have expected you to care about the life of this woman. Aren’t you scared that she might replace you after I get you killed?”

Mu Yu stared at Qin Jinhuan intensely before she calmly answered, “If she can take care of Huan after I die, maybe it’s not such a bad thing after all.”

Qin Jinhuan was enraged upon hearing that, but he couldn’t say anything given the nerve-wracking circumstances. All he could do was purse his lips and gaze at the knife that was being held near Mu Yu’s waist.

Upon listening to Mu Yu’s reply, Dong Wanqing mocked, “You’re even b*tchier than I imagine too! If that’s the case, I shall fulfill your wish.”

When she finished, she saw that Qin Jinhuan and the rest hadn’t retreated to the rooftop entrance as she commanded, to which she thereupon threatened, “If you want to save this precious chick of yours, you better have your men move back to the door now.”

Since he knew that she was referring to Yin Anran, the man grew even more furious. If it weren’t for the fact that Mu Yu was in her hands, he would have taken her down in one move.

“You hear me?” Dong Wanqing suddenly raised her voice and ferociously twisted Mu Yu’s arms.

“Ouch!” Mu Yu blurted out of pain while remaining still as Dong Wanqing’s blade was firmly stuck at her waist.

Although his blood was boiling, Qin Jinhuan didn’t have any other choice and could only helplessly lead his team back to the entrance.

“Stand back and head in!”

Thus, Qin Jinhuan and Rong Jian instructed their men to retreat back to the staircase while the two stood right at the entrance, their eyes fixated on Dong Wanqing all this while.

She was satisfied upon seeing this, so she bent down to pick up the other knife she put on the bench before slowly approaching Yin Anran. Then, she cut the rope that was tying up her arms. At this moment, she was being alert as she would turn to Qin Jinhuan and Rong Jian from time to time while maintaining the knife at Mu Yu’s waist.

Shortly after, she sliced the rope that was constricting the child.

When she saw that the unconscious boy’s body was about to fall off from his seat, Mu Yu instinctively flinched, wanting to grab hold of him as she was scared that he might get hurt if he were to fall on the ground.

“Don’t move!” After swiftly tossing the other knife away, Dong Wanqing clutched Mu Yu and said intimidatingly, “Do anything else and I’ll finish you off.”

“No, I just—” When she saw that Yin Anran had carried the child away, Mu Yu stopped talking.

Meanwhile, Yin Anran held the child up wordlessly and sprinted toward the rooftop entrance.

“See? That’s a rival for you. No matter how you stick your neck out to save her, she would never show you any gratitude,” Dong Wanqing ridiculed Mu Yu as she brought the latter to the edge of the rooftop and added, “She must be praying for me to stab you—no, not for me to stab you, but for both of us to fall together. After all, I’m in love with the man she too has fallen for, and that makes me her competitor as well. Just imagine how satisfied she’d feel if she were to eliminate two enemies at once!”

Nonetheless, Mu Yu faintly grinned as she disagreed, “Do you think we are her only enemies? I’m sure you’re also aware of the countless women thirsting to become the mighty young mistress of the Qin Family.”

“So it’s hard being the young mistress of the Qin Family, that’s what you’re saying?”

“That’s right, just look at me.” Mu Yu bitterly scoffed. “I can’t even count the number of times I’ve almost lost my life, including right now when my life is flashing before me. This is all thanks to the fact that I’m carrying the title of the Qin Family’s young mistress. If I had the choice, I wouldn’t want to know Huan nor become the highly admired Qin Family’s young mistress.”

“Cut the crap. You don’t have to pretend in front of me. If you really hate the title, why don’t you hand it over?” As if Dong Wanqing had remembered something, she suddenly let out a cold laugh. “Oh, are you going to say that Grandpa and Huan forced you to bear the title? Tsk, tsk! You’re really—wait! What are you doing?”

“Nothing, really.” Yin Anran unexpectedly walked back from the entrance, rubbing the bloodstain off her face with her collar as she gave Mu Yu, who was stupefied by her return, a leer. “I don’t wish to owe her anything, so I’m not getting rescued by her. Tie me up.”

A frustrated Mu Yu was about to speak, but she was intercepted by Dong Wanqing instead. “Are you mental? Tumor in the brain, perhaps?”

“That’s right! I’m brain dead. I’d rather die than be saved by this woman. The mere sight of her disgusts me.” When Yin Anran looked at Mu Yu, there was heavy resentment in her eyes. “Huan used to give me all his attention and cared for me like I was a diamond to him. If it weren’t for your appearance, my life wouldn’t have been shattered this way. This shameless woman charmed Huan and blinded his eyes, telling him to stop giving a sh*t about me. You must be very happy now that he’s given up on me and completely disregards my existence, aren’t you?”

While Qin Jinhuan and the rest were standing by at the entrance, the three women were already at the eastmost guardrail. Furthermore, the women’s conversating volume was rather soft, so the others couldn’t clearly grasp what it was that they were talking about.

Meanwhile, Yin Anran was so agitated that tears were flowing out of her eyes.

“What a poor lady!” Dong Wanqing sighed as she sympathetically stared at Yin Anran before shooting Mu Yu a similarly malicious leer. “If it weren’t for you, Aunt Yueyun would have pronounced me the young mistress, and I don’t even deserve the shunning from her. It’s all because of you, you jinx!”

“Right, she’s a jinx!” As she added fuel to the fire, Yin Anran hatefully expressed, “Everything was perfect before she showed up, and she just had to appear and ruin the balance. If she didn’t go all attention wh*re on Old Master Qin and claimed to be pregnant, he wouldn’t have had the idea of leaving any inheritance for her offspring. If he didn’t have that thought, your relatives wouldn’t have resorted to such a method—sacrificing you to assure their noninvolvement—to eliminate her.”

“That’s bull! You—”

“Shut it! I’m not finished!” Yin Anran frigidly stopped Mu Yu’s speech before turning to Dong Wanqing. She continued, “To be honest, Wanqing, your aunt and uncle still love you. Unfortunately, your sacrifice is their final card. Besides, I’ve heard how they’ve been racking their brains trying to look for a way to pull you out of this, but this woman here just had to wh*re herself out in front of Huan and the old master, saying sh*t about us. Eventually, under their devastating struggles, your relatives were forced to a position where they could barely shield themselves. In the end, they had to selfishly leave An City.”

“Cut the crap! I’ve never done that…”

“Seriously? They’ve really been trying to get me out?” As she ignored Mu Yu, Dong Wanqing turned to Yin Anran with a face so expectant yet so suspicious.

“Now that it has come to this, is there a reason for me to lie to you?” Yin Anran boastfully assured while saying, “It’s only natural for you to know nothing of this being inside all the time, but I’ve been witnessing every passing occurrence—it’s all crystal clear to me.”

“I’ve been misunderstanding my aunt and uncle all this while?” Dong Wanqing muttered to herself as she stuttered.

“Indeed! You’ve misunderstood them. You should know that Qin Jinhuan’s power in An City is formidable, and with what your relatives have, they couldn’t even lift a finger on him. They truly wished to help, but they couldn’t do so.”

“I knew that Aunt Yueyun wouldn’t have abandoned me this brutally!” Dong Wanqing was filled with remorse as she started crying. “She gave all she had just to raise me. I doubted her, and I even mistreated her… I’m such a—”

“It’s not your fault, Wanqing. The person who should be carrying the blame is before us!”

“Yes, it’s her!” As she clutched Mu Yu’s arm, Dong Wanqing painfully yelled, “You’re the source of all our agony. I must bring you your demise, or I can never forgive myself!”

“Don’t listen to her crap! I’ve got nothing to do with your aunt!”

At that moment, Mu Yu finally realized the reason why Yin Anran headed back. Nevertheless, given the urgent situation, she couldn’t afford to pay her the attention and proceeded to defend herself as she felt the storming emotions from Dong Wanqing.

“You think I’m a mindless donkey who’d listen to every word you say like Qin Xiaozhi and Qin Jinhuan?” Dong Wanqing forcefully wiped her tears away and quickly dragged Mu Yu’s arm, simultaneously pressing her knife against the woman’s waist.

Although her garments weren’t thin, Mu Yu felt the tingle on her back and instinctively reached out her hand to grab the knife. The pressure on her back suddenly diminished as a sudden smack struck her hand. That calculated move of hers was stopped by Dong Wanqing. “One more move and I’ll stab the sh*t out of you!”

“Wanqing, you—” Instantly, Yin Anran covered her mouth and stopped talking.

“Don’t you loathe her as well, Anran?”

“Yes, from the bottom of my heart!” Clueless to the nature of the question, Yin Anran curiously answered as she skeptically stared at Dong Wanqing.

“Is that so? Why don’t you go grab a knife over?”

“Sure.” Yin Anran, who was perturbed by these questions, went over and picked up the other blade.

“Since you hate her that much, I’ll allow you a chance to vent your frustration.” Dong Wanqing got the woman to come over.

At that moment, Yin Anran acknowledged the meaning in her words. Her face immediately turned pale, and her hands that were holding the blade started trembling.

“Your dearest Huan no longer cares about you, so you should do the same to him. He’s nothing good as you expected. Your sister died for his sake too. If he had the heart, he would have loved you and cared for you for an eternity. However, apart from the hurt he’s caused you, what else did he give you? Rather than having to endure watching the others enjoying their happiness, why don’t we finish this one last dance more satisfyingly? What’s the best way to get back at that trash of a man if not her death?” The more Dong Wanqing spoke, the more exhilarated she became. As her eyes reddened, she was completely drowned in vengeance. “Come on! Do it!”

Obviously convinced by the former’s words, Yin Anran grabbed the knife firmly as her eyes were locked on Mu Yu. With that, she slowly stepped toward the woman.

“Kill her! Once she dies, Qin Jinhuan can only dream about being happy!” Dong Wanqing chortled madly as she shoved Mu Yu forward.

Despite profusely sweating on her palms and waist, Mu Yu didn’t dare to make a twitch as one minor move would get the knife in Dong Wanqing’s hand to enter her body. As she panicked, she looked at Yin Anran while the woman slowly approached her with a knife in her hands, but she couldn’t come up with a way to rescue herself.

“Don’t blame me, Mu Yu. Only your death can banish this resentment dwelling inside of me!”

With an expression full of abhorrence, Yin Anran gave Mu Yu a excruciating leer as she lifted the sharp blade before the latter’s chest.