ASFTB 24: Li Lingfeng Isn’t Going to Beat Me to Death, Right?

The dust had settled. On the street scattered with ashes and dirt stood nothing but broken walls and ruins.

The man’s slender hand was chillingly cold. Jian Chengxi’s eyes widened in shock, his lashes still clinging to beads of tears. As they trembled, the tears slipped free, falling onto Li Lingfeng’s rough yet broad and elegant hand. Those hands, accustomed to gripping weapons, were forever stained with the blood of his enemies. Yet this time, what fell upon them were the warm tears of his seemingly fragile, delicate little wife.

Li Lingfeng lifted his eyelids to look at him, his voice steady and powerful, “Why are you crying? Are you that disappointed to see me?”

The tone was calm, distant, almost indifferent. Yet when it reached Jian Chengxi’s ears, his heart pounded wildly, blood seeming to boil in an instant, while a chill spread endlessly down his spine, making his skin crawl.

Clearly, this was supposed to be their very first meeting.

Jian Chengxi seemed to summon all his strength just to find his voice again. Slowly, trembling, he spoke, “Feng… Feng… are you… Li Lingfeng…?”

He looked like a frightened little creature.

When his tear-filled eyes met Li Lingfeng’s, an odd daze washed over him. It was as if, years ago, in the ruins of the underground city, when he had picked up that weak and helpless little spirit, the pitiful child with a face smeared in tears and mud had looked at him in the very same way—clutching his hand with unclear words, repeating his own name over and over.

Li Lingfeng, who had always been stone-hearted and numb to emotions since childhood, suddenly found himself rooted in place, unable to move.

That had been the one and only moment of softness in his entire life, saving someone.

Yet he never imagined it would become the beginning of every mistake.

Because of that rare moment of distraction, Jian Chengxi seized the chance to shove him away, breaking free from his grasp. He stumbled back a few steps, pulling distance between himself and Li Lingfeng.

Li Lingfeng’s gaze suddenly darkened, his empty hand slowly lowering. Watching Jian Chengxi’s wary, distant movements, the shadows long buried in his heart surged up.

Heh.

So eager to get away from him, was he?

Tears streamed down Jian Chengxi’s face. On his fair, delicate features, the spot where his skin had been pinched was already flushed red. He rubbed at his eyes with the back of his hand, choking back sobs, his voice trembling with grievance. “Why are you so strong… can’t you hold back a little? My face hurts so much…”

“…”

Li Lingfeng froze for an instant.

So was he only trying to get away because it hurt…

Not because he hated him?

As the two spoke, beneath the collapsed wall not far away, the rampaging beastman slowly began to rise again. It leapt up, shaking the rubble from its body, and its massive frame thundered forward, trampling over bricks as it charged toward the nearby village where countless more villagers lived. With its heavy movement, yet another wall crumbled beneath its feet.

Li Lingfeng’s brows knit tightly in an instant.

Jian Chengxi, standing frozen in place, couldn’t even make out how the man had moved. All he knew was that, in the blink of an eye, the beastman’s charge had been cut off. Silver armor glinted with a chilling light under the dusk sky, and a sharp energy blade sliced into the creature’s arm, cutting so deep the bone showed. The wounded beast let out a howl of agony, its scarlet eyes blazing with mindless fury as it lunged at Li Lingfeng.

Li Lingfeng’s reaction was swift as lightning. In the space of a heartbeat, he shifted, narrowly evading the deadly claws.

And it was at that very moment—

Jian Chengxi suddenly saw it. In the path of the beastman’s charge, just behind the medical hall’s banner, a child was hiding. The little one looked completely terrified, frozen stiff, hands clamped over his ears as he crouched behind a crate. A child that young could never withstand the attack of a frenzied beast. They were only a few meters apart.

“Watch out!!”

Jian Chengxi cried out in shock, his mind blanking as he instinctively rushed toward the child to save him.

It all happened in an instant. Just as the werewolf’s massive body was about to come crashing down with no chance of stopping it, a snow-white leopard, nearly twice its size, burst onto the scene. With overwhelming strength, it rammed the werewolf aside. Its sharp fangs sank deep into the werewolf’s shoulder, snapping bone with sheer force. Blood dripped to the ground as the snow leopard loomed like a mountain, shielding Jian Chengxi.

Jian Chengxi was dumbstruck.

Was this his ex-husband??

Th-this soft, fluffy fur was basically just a giant kitty! Totally the wrong time for such thoughts, but still…

It was so ridiculously cute, it felt like cheating not to pet it!!

Boom!

The adorable snow leopard’s expression turned ferocious, mercilessly sinking its fangs into the beast’s vital spot. With a savage toss, it flung the werewolf into the nearby rubble, the crash echoing thunderously.

The werewolf, gravely wounded and slipping into unconsciousness, slowly lost the frenzied power that had driven his monstrous form, shrinking back into his human shape.

The snow leopard had just begun to step forward when a child’s piercing cry rang out. Sobbing, the boy stumbled out from behind a crate, shouting, “No—don’t kill my dad…”

Jian Chengxi froze.

The raggedly dressed child, barefoot and sobbing, ran straight toward the ferocious beast.

The snow leopard’s movement faltered, and in the blink of an eye it shifted back into human form. Li Lingfeng stood amidst the smoke and ruin, his gaze cold as he watched the crying child rush to the blood-soaked figure on the ground.

The child seemed unable to understand why his father had become like this. Tears streamed down his face as his frail little hands pressed against the man’s wounded chest. With a desperate yet stubborn voice, he cried out, “Dad… Dad…”

Jian Chengxi stood a short distance away, dumbfounded. Only then did he manage to say, “So this wolf was a person too?”

At some point, a sword had appeared in Li Lingfeng’s hand. The twilight stretched his tall silhouette long against the ground, the slender blade gleaming with a cold, merciless light. His military boots stepped over the broken ruins as he walked, step by step, toward the unconscious werewolf.

The child’s cries were heartrending, echoing through the empty street, yet they still couldn’t halt the man’s advance.

Until—

A pair of hands tugged at the corner of Li Lingfeng’s coat.

Jian Chengxi’s bruised arm trembled as he stood at his side, a full head shorter, with no trace of intimidation. He looked as if he could be brushed aside with ease, kicked away and sent flying several meters. He was terrified himself, yet still he held on.

Li Lingfeng turned his head slightly toward him. From Jian Chengxi’s angle, all he could see was the man’s cold, hard jawline.

“You need something?”

Jian Chengxi glanced at the child sobbing miserably in the distance and spoke softly, “You… you’re going to kill him? That werewolf, he seems to be this child’s father. He’s no longer a beast, he’s back in human form. If he dies, that child will have no father left. Look, he’s still wearing a military uniform. Just like you, he must’ve returned from the battlefield. Even if he wasn’t your soldier, he’s still a pitiful man.”

The world around them fell into a deathly silence.

The light of dusk spilled over the buildings, the air cooling bit by bit, and the wind that blew past carried a chill.

Li Lingfeng’s voice was steady, without the slightest ripple. “Do you understand? Once a beastman’s mental power goes berserk, the uncontrolled psychic force strips him of reason forever. He’ll begin attacking indiscriminately. If I hadn’t been here just now, that child would already be dead.”

Jian Chengxi’s breath caught in an instant.

Li Lingfeng’s gaze remained indifferent, his voice low. “Including you—you wouldn’t have survived either.”

It felt as if something heavy struck Jian Chengxi’s chest, sinking and suffocating him. His breathing quickened, uneven. Even in a moment like this, faced with cutting down what might once have been a comrade, Li Lingfeng showed no emotion at all. Cold, detached, like a machine without feeling. Under that unrelenting gaze, Jian Chengxi slowly let go of his grip.

Li Lingfeng strode toward the werewolf and his child.

The boy’s cries were wretched, and as he saw Li Lingfeng drawing closer, he suddenly threw himself over his father’s body. In a fragile, childish voice he pleaded, “Don’t kill my dad… Dad, don’t die, please, I don’t want you to die…”

His desperate wailing echoed through the street.

From a distance, Jian Chengxi stood frozen, watching the child. His memory seemed to suddenly slip back to a time long, long ago—the same kind of cries. A child at the scene of a car accident, sitting in a pool of blood, desperately clutching at wounds as he sobbed again and again, “Don’t go… Dad, Mom, don’t die… don’t leave me all alone…”

Even after all these years, the image of his parents dying before his eyes still tormented him on countless nights.

He had thought those memories would slowly fade with time, but the moment he heard the child’s cries, they surged back, vivid and unshakable.

Before his mind could make any rational choice, Jian Chengxi had already moved. He stepped forward, reached the boy, and pulled the sobbing child into his arms. Holding the small head tightly against his chest, he spoke in a soothing voice. “Don’t look.”

The child’s face was flushed red from crying, his wails filled with pleading as he reached out with small arms, still trying to throw himself forward. “Don’t kill my dad…”

Tears spilled from Jian Chengxi’s eyes in an instant.

As the evening sun sank slowly in the west, he crouched beside the child. To keep him from rushing back, he had no choice but to pry the boy’s tiny hands away from the wounded soldier. His own tears fell, carrying pain and boundless sorrow, while the last rays of sunset bathed them all in a dim, fading glow.

Suddenly—

In the midst of the struggle, the unconscious soldier’s hand suddenly stirred.

Jian Chengxi, being the closest, was the first to notice. His whole body jolted as the werewolf’s eyes slowly opened, and when their gazes met, he let out a startled gasp.

Li Lingfeng moved faster. Before Jian Chengxi could react, he had already pulled him back behind his own figure. The child, however, cried out in joy and rushed forward. “Dad! Dad!”

The werewolf soldier slowly opened his eyes.

The crimson in his eyes gradually faded into clarity. When he saw his child, he froze for a moment, then, with great effort, lifted his wounded arm to gently stroke the boy’s head.

The child collapsed into his father’s embrace, sobbing.

The soldier seemed to be in agony, his body trembling, curling in on itself as though enduring unbearable torment. When his gaze fell on Li Lingfeng’s military armor, a glimmer of hope flickered in his eyes. He raised his arm, reaching out, and with a voice strained and halting, he pleaded, “Commander… kill me…”

Jian Chengxi had never imagined that upon waking, the beastman would say such words.

The child wept, choking out, “Daddy, no… don’t die.”

Agony twisted across the soldier’s face, veins standing out as though they might burst. The torment of a beastman’s mental power running wild was enough to tear a man apart. Trembling, he forced out the words, “Please… I don’t want… to hurt anyone. I can’t hold it back much longer. I beg you…”

Hearing this, an inexplicable grief welled up in Jian Chengxi’s chest.

Everything seemed to happen in an instant.

Li Lingfeng shoved the child into Jian Chengxi’s arms, then raised his own weapon. With swift, decisive motion, he pulled the trigger. The bullet tore through the werewolf’s chest, blood spreading across the ground. It was the end of a life, yet the soldier’s face looked as if he had finally found release. At the edge of death, he gave his child one last glance before slowly collapsing.

The child’s shrill cry ripped through the silence. “Dad!!”

Jian Chengxi stood frozen, staring blankly as the boy flung himself onto the soldier’s body, weeping bitterly. It should have been a scene of pure grief, yet a chill crawled up Jian Chengxi’s spine. For someone who had once lived in a world of peace, facing such a moment for the first time was unbearably overwhelming. His mind felt like it had simply shut down.

Li Lingfeng stepped up to him, his voice low. “Let’s go.”

Jian Chengxi, trembling slightly, forced himself to ask through his fear, “Is… is he dead?”

Li Lingfeng lifted his eyelids to glance at him. In those emotionless eyes, Jian Chengxi’s reflection was faintly mirrored. Seeing the expression on his face because of this beastman’s loss of control, a trace of irony stirred within Li Lingfeng’s heart. If it had been in that other lifetime, when he himself had died from losing control of his own mental power—would this man have shown even a shred of the same unwilling sorrow?

Probably not.

After all, he had only ever thought about eloping with that damned lover so why would he care whether Li Lingfeng lived or died?

A cold stillness spread through Li Lingfeng’s chest, yet when he met Jian Chengxi’s frightened eyes, he finally spoke, his tone flat. “Not dead. It was an anesthetic round.”

Jian Chengxi froze.

Not far away, the crying child froze as well, turning back in disbelief.

Li Lingfeng holstered his gun and explained curtly, “Once a beastman’s mental power collapses completely, he can never regain his sanity. If he still has reason, then there’s a chance of recovery. Since he woke just now, there was no need to execute him.”

Jian Chengxi quickly pressed, “So you didn’t kill him.”

Li Lingfeng glanced back at the child clinging joyfully to his father, his voice utterly indifferent as he replied, “I have no reason to kill him.”

Jian Chengxi finally snapped out of his dazed state and quickly asked, “Then what will happen to him now that he’s awake?”

“The guards from your underground city are already on their way—five minutes at most,” Li Lingfeng replied, his spiritual sense unnervingly sharp as he cast him a glance. “When they arrive, he’ll be taken back into custody until he recovers.”

Jian Chengxi let out a small breath of relief, but hurriedly followed up, “And what about the child?”

Li Lingfeng’s voice was flat. “The child is innocent. The underground city’s administrators will take care of the families of beastmen who lose control.”

Though his tone was as cold and detached as ever, Jian Chengxi still felt a wave of relief. Seeing the boy’s face brighten with a smile, his own tense expression softened as well, and he murmured, “I see, that’s wonderful.”

He couldn’t help but feel a quiet joy that the child hadn’t lost his family.

The redemption he had never received in the past—seeing it granted to someone else now, his eyes inexplicably grew red along with them.

Beside him came Li Lingfeng’s voice. “You seem very concerned about that child. Do you know him?”

Jian Chengxi snapped back to himself, suddenly remembering this king of hell was still standing there. For some reason, whenever Li Lingfeng’s gaze fell on him, he always felt as though every inch of his skin was being scrutinized, a dangerous sense that he might be devoured whole. Nervously, he stammered, “N-no, I don’t.”

Li Lingfeng studied him for a long moment before finally speaking in a low, deliberate voice. “What about our child?”

Jian Chengxi froze. Only now did reality truly sink in—this killing god was the original host’s husband, and by extension, his husband too. They had two children together.

It wasn’t as though he hadn’t mentally prepared himself.

He just hadn’t expected the pressure to be this overwhelming.

He wasn’t the original host. All the past sins, the way the original had abused the children, even crippling one of their legs, were now his burden to bear. If the ex-husband had stayed dead, it might have ended there. But he had returned, and with such a brutal, terrifying temper, this was a disaster waiting to happen.

What if he got angry and beat him up?

Wuwuwu…

It would hurt so much he would die!

For a moment, Jian Chengxi even thought about running. But under Li Lingfeng’s piercing gaze, he shrank back, too cowardly to move. Forcing himself to face the question, he stammered, “A-at home.”

Li Lingfeng’s voice was cold. “Is that so?”

Years of campaigns, a lifetime spent contending with the cunning Zerg, had honed his powers of observation and insight to an unparalleled level. Of course he immediately saw through Jian Chengxi’s guilt and unease. Memories of the past—of betrayal, of elopement with a lover, of children abused and abandoned—rose up like a storm tide within him, leaving only turmoil and a bottomless gloom.

Jian Chengxi nodded, hesitated for a moment, then finally asked in a small voice, “Yes… Do you want to come home with me to see them?”

After all, he was their biological father.

Strictly speaking, Jian Chengxi was the outsider here. He had no right to stop a father from seeing his children.

But…

Jian Chengxi thought for a moment, then quickly added, “But the children have never seen you before. When we get home, let me go in first. I’ll explain things to them, and then you can come in.”

He was still afraid Li Lingfeng might scare the children.

After spending the past half year with them, he had already come to see the two as his own family, caring for them like his own children and thinking of them in everything.

Jian Chengxi stole a cautious glance at Li Lingfeng and murmured weakly, “At the very least, they should know who you are.”

But in Li Lingfeng’s eyes, this timid behavior carried an entirely different meaning.

Heh.

Was he afraid the children might let something slip and might tattle about the past?

In the years they had been apart, he seemed to have gotten a lot more clever.

With that thought, Li Lingfeng chose not to expose him. He only gave a faint nod. “Mn.”

Seeing him agree, Jian Chengxi finally let out a breath of relief. He started forward, but his leg suddenly gave out, and just as he was about to fall, Li Lingfeng caught him firmly. The man’s arm was strong and unyielding. As their bodies brushed close, Jian Chengxi leaned against him, feeling the cold hardness of his armor, yet the heat of his hand burned, almost scalding.

Li Lingfeng lowered his head and asked, “What’s wrong?”

At such close distance, he could catch the faint trace of fragrance clinging to Jian Chengxi.

The frail elf’s body felt soft all over, so delicate it seemed as though the slightest pressure might crush him.

Leaning against Li Lingfeng, Jian Chengxi paused, then admitted a little awkwardly, “My legs just gave out from fright, I just need a moment to recover.”

“…”

On the road back to the village, the two of them walked side by side.

All along the way, Jian Chengxi remained unusually silent, screaming inwardly at the system, demanding it quickly arrange an escape route. If Li Lingfeng decided to hit him later, would that count as a workplace injury? And did he still have any resurrection cards left?

The system played dead, replying: 【Host, don’t be nervous. Your HP hasn’t dropped.】

Jian Chengxi’s frantic mind spun with escape plans, even going so far as to consider where he’d be buried. “How could I not be nervous? Are you blind? You saw him in the Zerg base, he even killed that archangel for revenge! Now with everything the original did, how could he possibly forgive me?”

The system tried to comfort him: 【Archangel Aike was his enemy. You’re his wife. That’s different.】

Jian Chengxi was on the verge of tears. “Don’t joke about something like this, okay?!”

The system promptly chose to play dead.

What Jian Chengxi didn’t realize was that his guilty, timid demeanor looked to Li Lingfeng exactly like someone who had done wrong—regretful only because he hadn’t managed to run away with his lover in time. The closer they drew to the familiar house, the more vividly Li Lingfeng’s memories from his past life came flooding back.

In his past life, he had returned in triumph, walking the road home with the same eager anticipation.

Yet all that hope had been utterly crushed.

The shabby treehouse was empty, not a soul inside. Even the furniture had been stripped away. His wife and children were nowhere to be found, leaving behind only a house steeped in desolation. Later, in the lowest, filthiest slums of the underground city, he finally found his two children—emaciated, barely clinging to life. The sound of their cries upon seeing him lingered with him for a long, long time.

Just as he was lost in thought—

A tearful voice rang out from not far away. “Daddy!!”

Li Lingfeng snapped out of his memories, only to see a healthy, lively little girl running toward them. Her hair was tied in a ponytail, and she threw herself straight into Jian Chengxi’s arms, sobbing, “Daddy!”

Jian Chengxi was dumbfounded. Looking at his tear-streaked daughter, he hurriedly asked, “Why are you crying?”

The child’s cries fell into Li Lingfeng’s ears, overlapping with the echoes of his past life.

So it was true…

Even in this life, even returning earlier, was he still powerless to change certain things?

Endless resentment and regret spread like shadows, growing darker and heavier in his heart.

A dark, formless hostility wrapped itself around Li Lingfeng, and he was just about to speak when he heard Li Sui­sui clinging to Jian Chengxi, sobbing softly. The little girl’s tender voice, tinged with reliance and almost coquettish, whimpered, “A-Hu stole the fruit Daddy planted for us. When we wouldn’t let him, he got mad. He didn’t dare hit us, so he brought their family’s dog to our gate to scare us. The dog was huge and fierce, running circles around the yard. It was so scary.”

“What!?” Jian Chengxi was stunned. “Is A-Hu still there?”

Li Suisui nodded hard, tattling, “Mm! Suisui climbed out through the back window, Gege is still at home.”

Jian Chengxi was furious, rolling up his sleeves. “Outrageous! That brat A-Hu and his dog are bullying us too much. Don’t be afraid, Suisui, it’s just a dog. Daddy brought your Father back today, and General Li is amazing at catching dogs. In a moment, he’ll make both the dog and A-Hu apologize properly!”

And with that—

Jian Chengxi turned back, eyes practically sparkling. “Right?”

The god of war who had triumphed in a hundred battles, who had slain countless enemies on the field, Li Lingfeng, found himself facing the expectant, adoring gazes of his wife and child. The great general who hadn’t even blinked when killing the Zerg King fell into a brief silence.

“…”

No one had ever told him that after coming home, this would be part of his duties.