Yuan Luoyi followed Yuan Fa into the room, where her third brother Yuan Yong and fourth brother Yuan Si were already geared up.
Yuan Fa said, "Everyone, she's back."
The two brothers turned their gazes towards Yuan Luoyi, their previously dull eyes brightening a little.
Waiting for their sister had been torturous, as they were forced to coexist peacefully with their blood-related brothers.
Yuan Si suffered the most, as the other two had invaded his territory, eating his food, drinking his drinks, using his possessions, and even ordering him around. Every day, he had to suppress at least three urges to kill them.
Yuan Yong also felt miserable. He had left home very early, and spent little time around his blood relatives.
Before, he didn't know what kind of person his younger brother Yuan Si was, but now he knew, and deeply understood why in the Yuan family, older brothers always wanted to kill their younger brothers.
Yuan Luoyi asked, "Where are you going?"
Yuan Fa said, "We're going to Yuan Rui's place. I've investigated and found that it was him who took your ashes."
As he said this, a surge of anger rose within Yuan Fa.
Among the five Yuan brothers, Yuan Rui had always been insubordinate, independently investigating Yuan Luoyi's death.
His act of taking the ashes had misled Yuan Fa, the second brother, into thinking that his sister had faked her death and that their eldest brother had killed her.
Yuan Fa said, "He has always been fond of corpses, and you were placed on his most beloved exhibition stand. Today, I contacted him, and he seems to have tampered with your ashes, discovering some unusual things. He also needs to meet us."
Hearing that her own ashes had been collected and tampered with by her fifth brother was a strange thing.
Yuan Luoyi still remembered the sight of her fifth brother cradling white bones with a sickly, deranged grin.
In a sense, the fifth brother was truly frightening...
Yuan Luoyi snacked on some food while her brothers prepared their weapons.
Once everything was ready, they set off. It was deep in the night, with a solitary moon hanging in the sky and a chilly wind blowing. Yuan Luoyi shivered from the cold.
Second brother Yuan Fa noticed and took off his windbreaker, draping it over Yuan Luoyi.
He said, "Don't catch a cold."
Yuan Luoyi said, "Thank you, but won't you be cold, second brother?"
Yuan Fa said, "I won't be cold."
He might never reach the level of care that their eldest brother had for the younger siblings, but ensuring that his little sister was well-fed and comfortable was something he could still do.
A car approached from afar, and they got in. In the cramped space, the brothers began repelling each other, killing intent flying wildly...
After a few hours, the car stopped at the entrance of a university. Yuan Rui stood by the roadside, wearing a gold-rimmed pair of glasses and with his hands tucked into his white lab coat, there to greet them.
It was summer break, and most students had returned home, leaving the dorm buildings dark, with only a few rooms illuminated, likely occupied by students preparing for graduate school exams.
Third brother Yuan Yong was the first to get out of the car, silently approaching like a large predator, his long sword gleaming coldly in the moonlight, his eyes fixed on Yuan Rui.
A chilling killing intent pressed down upon them.
Yuan Rui raised both hands in a standard gesture of surrender. "Third brother, put down the sword first. I apologize for taking our sister's ashes without telling you all. It was my mistake."
Second brother Yuan Fa also got out of the car, his gun already loaded.
Fourth brother Yuan Si nonchalantly toyed with a short dagger in his hand.
The price of reaching the pinnacle of human intelligence was that Yuan Rui's emotional intelligence remained steadily below that of ordinary people. He hadn't expected that the Yuan family's reunion would be because all his brothers wanted to kill him.
He hastily added, "I don't have any weapons. If you kill me now, where will you find a brilliant brain like mine?"
Yuan Fa strode forward, suppressing his rage. He had been mentally preparing himself on the way.
Don't be reckless. Don't kill your brother. Finding the real culprit is most important now!
Facing the formidable second brother, Yuan Rui fell silent, seeming to have no choice but to face his doom. He said, "Second brother, for old times' sake, don't hit my head."
And so, Yuan Fa's gun butt struck Yuan Rui's back with vicious force.
"Cough, cough!"
Yuan Rui supported himself against the wall with one hand, coughing painfully. He felt like his lungs were about to be knocked out.
Of the five brothers, he had been hit the least since he mostly stayed in the lab. To suddenly take such a blow, he felt as delicate as his sister.
But unfortunately, his brothers wouldn't care whether he could withstand it or not.
Yuan Si also approached, looking like he wanted Yuan Rui to pay a price as well.
Yuan Rui angrily said, "Fourth brother, I solemnly warn you, it's best you don't come any closer! Otherwise, someone will die!"
Yuan Si sneered coldly, "You still want to kill me?"
"No, it's that if I get hit again, I'll definitely die!"
Yuan Luoyi also got out of the car and ran over. When Yuan Rui saw her, he ignored his murderous brothers and went straight to Yuan Luoyi.
"Wow! It really is our 11-year-old sister!"
He took Yuan Luoyi's small hand, gazing at her in a daze, turning her around and around, like a doll and a teddy bear dancing.
"The details of her appearance match perfectly, identical! This is a masterpiece of nature!"
Yuan Luoyi was somewhat confused. While the other brothers were messed up, the fifth brother was still the same as before.
Yuan Rui hugged Yuan Luoyi tightly. "Although you were dead and in my office, I still missed you being alive."
He quickly released Yuan Luoyi, maintaining a distance.
"Okay, that hug lasted over three seconds, long enough to show my love for you. You know, I'm allergic to living people, so that's my limit."
A large hand suddenly reached out and grabbed Yuan Rui's collar, Yuan Fa glaring at him with murderous intent. "This touching reunion should end. If you can't give a reasonable explanation for your theft..."
The cold muzzle of a gun pressed against Yuan Rui's forehead. Yuan Fa said, "I'll put a bullet through this wrinkled, brilliant brain of yours and blow it to pieces. Understand?"
Yuan Rui stiffened and said, "I understand..."
Yuan Fa released him.
Yuan Rui immediately regained his vigor, happily looking at Yuan Luoyi. "Are you hungry? I cooked some instant noodles, they should be ready now! We can share them!"
The topic had changed so abruptly that Yuan Luoyi didn't know how to respond for a moment.
Yuan Si angrily shoved Yuan Rui. "Hurry up and walk! She's already eaten at my place!"
With no other choice, Yuan Rui had to move forward. His office was on the top floor, and the lights in the surrounding laboratories were all on.
"Why does the school allow you to have so many laboratories open?" Yuan Si asked.
Yuan Rui sighed and said, "Alas, it's the way of the world."
"Do you really understand the meaning of 'the way of the world'?" Yuan Si questioned.
The office door was opened, and Yuan Rui entered first. All the walls had been transformed into bookshelves, piled high with various files and books. In the spaces between, there were bone specimens displayed.
The largest specimen was a whale skeleton hanging from the ceiling—its skull, spine, ribs, and long tail spanning the entire office, presenting a truly awe-inspiring sight. Yuan Luoyi could imagine the massive beast thrashing in the sea when it was alive.
Yuan Yong walked over to a bulletproof glass cabinet and took out a round, water-clear box, cradling it in his hands as he murmured, "Sister, this is your ashes."
He then produced a sealed bag containing a strand of hair. "And this is the hair the real culprit left behind near Mother's body, given to me by my late brother."
"After analyzing them, I discovered something very interesting..."
