Their Punching Bag Became The Storm novel Chapter 188

Chapter 188 The End.

Chapter 188 The End

Ryan and Whitney exchanged a glance. They sprang into action together. Ryan lunged straight at Xavier. Whitney raised her hand, and countless silver needles shot out from her fingertips.

Purple light shimmered, and a cold, eerie glow filled the air. Silver needles streaked toward the prime bugs, one after another in rapid succession. They kept coming, relentless and unbroken.

“Ryan!” Xavier shouted. With Ryan’s hand lacked tight around his neck, Xavier suddenly realized they had never intended to escape the chamber. His expression darkened

His eyeballs were practically popping out of their sockets, shooting daggers at Ryan. “You actually teamed up with her to betray me?” Xavier spat. “You really think you can escape my control by leaving this chamber?”

He gritted his teeth and instantly commanded the prime bug, sending the bugs on both sides swarming toward them, ready to reduce them to nothing but bones.

With a thought, he tried to command them. But the bugs didn’t obey. Instead, they stayed perfectly still, unmoving. They had been writhing and crawling moments ago.

But now, one by one, they flipped onto their backs, exposing their bellies. Their legs kicked uselessly in the air, their whiskers and antennae twitching in a desperate struggle, but they couldn’t move an inch.

‘My bugs?’ Xavier thought, panic rising in his chest. Xavier’s eyes went wide with shock, his pupils contracting sharply. He didn’t care about Ryan’s grip anymore. He strained his neck, craning it toward Whitney. His gaunt face was turning red under Ryan’s tight grip.

There, Xavier saw all of his prime bugs nailed to the ground, each one pierced by Whitney’s silver needles. Her silver needles were custom-made from rare materials, clearly forged for moments like this. She’d already taken out several of his bugs with those needles before.

“You… You don’t know anything about bugs, do you?” Xavier stammered, his voice trembling with disbelief.

‘How did she manage to spot all the prime bugs in that huge swarm?’ Xavier-thought, his mind spinning. ‘And in a blink, she stabbed every single prime bug with those silver needles. She didn’t miss a single one.’

Whitney’s slender fingers, silver needles poised, struck again with unerring accuracy, pinning down the last few prime bugs. She didn’t answer.

But then, suddenly, the tightly shut chamber door creaked open. A voice, familiar yet long-absent, drifted in from outside. * Because she’s my student.

“The Bugmaster’s student knows a thing or two about bugs. So what? Since when do I have to answer to you for what I teach my students?”

At the entrance of the chamber, several figures stood silhouetted against the light. They were backlit, their forms barely visible in the glare,

Leading them was a man in a flowing white robe, with an air of otherworldly grace, his graying hair tied back in a crown like that of some ancient sage. He really looked like a master straight out of a legend.

Behind him, four tall figures stood, blocking out all the light from the chamber. “Tsk, Whitney, it’s been two years, and you’ve ended up in such a mess, huh?” one of them said.

It was a young man with a mischievous smirk, hands shoved in his pockets, his eyes locked onto Whitney. His tone was clearly full of disdain. But a hint of coldness appeared on his face. Of course, that coldness was aimed straight at Xavier. When Whitney saw who they really were, her body went stiff, her face going blank with shock. She just stared, completely stunned, unable to believe it. Her throat felt tight, her voice hoarse as she whispered, “Galen…”

‘It’s Galen, my mentor, and my four fellow students. Why are they here? Where have they been all this time? Whitney wondered.

Whitney’s emotions were all over the place, shock and joy crashing together inside her. But with bugs everywhere, she couldn’t run over and tell them how much she’d missed them. She had so many questions she wanted to ask them. “Bro… No, Galen!” Xavier shouted, his voice cracking with disbelief. When Xavier saw Galen, his face changed in an instant. His eyes went wide, and his whole body was trembling. “You finally showed up.

“I’ve been searching for you for so long. Why… W from Ryan’s grip. With a wild burst of energy, he

now?” He struggled desperately to break free Successfully unlocked! nentor, Galen.

Honestly, this was the first time Whitney had ever heard her mentor’s real name, and she was completely stunned ‘Galen Whitney thought. ‘No wonder he never wanted to mention his name. Makes sense now.

Chapter 188 The End.

Whitney saw her mentor’s face. He looked absolutely livid. Then, with a swift motion, he raised his hand and slapped Xavier across the face so hard it almost sent those bulging eyeballs flying out of their sockets.

Xavier let out a guttural cry and spat out a mouthful of blood. He slurped to the ground. His eyes stayed glued to Galen. “If you’d come out sooner, Lila might still be alive… It’s you. You’re the one who killed her!”

He was almost completely unhinged. He didn’t give a damn about the prime bugs Whitney had killed, or anyone else here. All he could see was Galen. He was desperate to finally get the answers to all those burning questions he’d been dying to ask Galen for years.

“See? That’s exactly why I never wanted to deal with him,” Galen said, turning to his four students behind him and pulling a face.

The four students shot Xavier a look, their faces full of mixed feelings, then all nodded together in total understanding No wonder Galen hauled everyone out of there the second he realized Xavier had found their hideout. He didn’t even bother grabbing their stuff. If that lunatic ever caught up to them, he’d drive them crazy with his relentless pestering Xavier was a real pain in the ass. Even sitting on the ground, he was still ranting like a madman at Galen, completely losing it. He was cursing and yelling, calling Galen cold-blooded and heartless, accusing him of being the one who really killed Lila. Galen didn’t bother with h

ked straight into the chamber and glanced around the room. Seeing all those bugs sprawled out belly-up

en, with a sharp click, he shut the chamber door so none of the bugs could get out. ce shaking with emotion. Her eyes were rimmed with red, and her nose tingled with or after so long apart.

“Mentor!” Whitney

sadness as she

Galen reache

you, and yo

Whitney

here

nair. “Now’s not the time for tears, kiddo. Let’s take care of hirn first. After that, I’ll hold out.” His tone was like coaxing a child.

self to hold back all the questions swirling in her mind. With Galen and her fellow students tely turned.

werless now. He had absolutely no way to fight back. After all, Xavier had the upper hand over idn’t know much about bugs.

enior fellow student, Galen, Xavier was totally out of his league. His advantage was gone. One was while the other had wasted his body by using his own blood and bones to nourish the bugs.

y frail and broken. There was no comparison at all. Xavier watched as Galen waved his hand, and all the in an instant, not a single one left in sight.

y defeated, his face pale as a ghost, slumped on the ground. But his eyes were still blazing with raw

ou never wanted to help me from the start! I did everything for Lila myself. So why did you have to step in and ruja

le?

as this close! Only a little more and I would’ve made it. Why did you stop me from getting revenge for Lila? Back then, n’t you care about her, too?” Xavier shouted, his voice rough with anger

He poured out his bitterness, his voice hoarse and trembling, letting years of pent-up resentment spill out. Galen’s sudden appearance had wrecked everything he’d worked so hard for.

Galen’s gaze was icy as he looked at Xavier. “Lila was always like a sister to me. When she chose love, I didn’t stand in her way. I wanted her to be happy, to live her life the way she wanted.”

“Don’t lie to me. I saw you looking at her with that look in your eyes, full of affection,” Xavier shot back, refusing to buy his excuse. “And aft

as miserable. She wasn’t happy at all.”

He tremble

possibl

Gal

yes. “Lila was like being locked up in a gilded cage. How could she

If you’d stepped in, Lila wouldn’t have died!”

exactly why I’ve been avoiding you all this time.”

When he first learned that Lila would die if she ever left Willowriver, ep her alive.

dea. Still, he was convinced that Galen, as the future leader of Willowriver and the most eneration, had been taught a legendary forbidden technique by his mentor.

nique was rumored to raise the dead. So Xavier had been chasing after Galen all this time, to use that forbidden technique and bring Lila back to life.

him he had no way to bring someone back from the dead, but Xavier refused to believe it

Chapter 188 The End.

“Even if I did, that would be going against God. Would she really still be the Lila we knew if I used bugs to bring her back?” Galen once told Xavier

But Xavier never heard Galen say he couldn’t do it. He only latched onto those words, “Even if I did.” So Xavier became obsessed, convinced that Galen had the power to bring Lila back, but refused to do it.

He went to extreme lengths to harass Galen, even kidnapping Dylan, one of Galen’s students, Whitney’s senior fellow student, to threaten Galen into resurrecting Lila.

Galen was finally fed up. Galen took all his students and vanished, hiding under new identities. He stopped working with bugs entirely and devoted himself to practicing medicine, helping people instead.

He didn’t want that lunatic chasing after him and putting the people he cared about in danger.

Fourteen years had passed. Xavier was still absolutely convinced that Galen could bring Lila back to life. Galen had given up trying to explain. Xavier was too far gone to listen.

“Hand over the prime bug for my student-in-law,” Galen said, giving Xavier a swift Kick and derhanding the prime bug. ‘Student-in-law?’ Whitney was momentarily stunned. ‘Did he call Ryan his student-in-law? She turned to Ryan. This is a total disaster, Whitney thought, her heart pounding.

‘Did Galen catch Ryan and me hugging earlier? Does he think we’re together now? He even called Ryan his student-in-law But this was definitely not the moment to clear things up.

Meanwhile, when Ryan heard that, his usually cold, almost otherworldly face bloomed like spring, his eyes softening and a gentle, humble smile spreading across his lips. “Thanks, Galen.” He went along with it without the slightest hesitation. ‘Now there’s absolutely no way I can explain this, Whitney thought, totally at a loss.

2

Galen, still clueless about what was really going on, waved his hand with a big grin. “No need to thank me. Whitney’s hubby is my student-in-law. We’re all one big family.”

Ryan’s smile got bigger. But the four fellow students trailing behind Galen didn’t look too happy about it.

“Galen! How can you accept him as Whitney’s husband so soon? If he wants to marry our Whitney, he’s got to go through us first.” Dominick protested.

“That’s right. We’ve spoiled Whitney since she was a kid. She’s not someone any random guy can walk off with!” Marcus chimed in.

“If he wants to go after Whitney, he needs our blessing first,” Julian added.

‘Seriously, is this really the time to be talking about this?’ Whitney thought. She cut them off with a couple of loud coughs. Yeah, hand over the prime bug that’s controlling the bug inside Ryan already!”

Xavier suddenly let out a low, crazed laugh. But soon his laughter got wilder and more unrestrained, filling the room with a sense of madness. “Trying to save Ryan, huh?” Xavier sneered.

He shot Ryan a look, then raised the hand clutching the prime bug. “Even if I hand it over, there’s nothing you can do, about it. I’ve been feeding this prime bug with my own blood and bones.

“And Ryan is my nephew. We share the same blood. Even if you manage to extract the bug from Ryan, so what? It won’t change a damn thing. If I die, Ryan’s dead too!”

Galen’s face went cold as he grabbed Xavier by the collar. “Are you out of your mind?”

Xavier kept laughing, his eyes wild with madness. “I never planned to walk out of here alive. If I’m dying, I’m dragging Ryan to hell with me! Lila loved him, doted on him. So what’s wrong with making him die for Lila?

“In the end, I got revenge for Lila. I did it, I really did it!” Xavier cackled, his maniacal laughter echoing through the chamber.

Galen’s face was stone cold without a flicker of emotion. His fingers dug deeper into Xavier’s collar. His eyes were icy, pure disappointment showing in his gaze.

“Xavier, if Lila could see you now, she’d wish she’d never met you,” Galen said. He threw Xavier to the ground. “Do you get

Lila never liked you? Why did she fall for your brother the moment she met him?”

ords hit Xavier right where it hurt, pushing him closer to the brink. The thing Xavier could never accept was Lila’s

him. He’d tortured himself with that question countless times. But he never found an answer.

oing on about how much you love Lila, but do you know what real love is?” Galen’s voice was icy. He didn’t hold

away all of Xavier’s pretenses and putting every ugly truth out in the open

ing to end, you’ve always shoved your own ideas onto Lila, never once stopping to ask what she actually were always lost in your own drama, thinking your sacrifices made you some kind of hero.

never wanted any of it. She ended up falling for someone else. Everything you did for her was never what Lila

Chapter 188 The End wanted.

When she wanted a simple apple, you kept ignoring her and kept serving up chicken, beef, fish, and all sorts of fancy dishes, stuff you thought was expensive and delicious. But none of it was what she actually wanted.

“And when Lila married into the Pierce family, she never once felt her life was tragic, and she never thought she’d made the wrong choice.

“But you kept assuming she was unhappy, kept thinking she regretted her choices, and wanted to avenge her for your own reasons. But all of that was in your head, not what Lile ever felt.”

Xavier’s eyes went wide, his pupils slowly growing larger and larger as the shock hit him. His whole body began to tremble, a slight but uncontrollable shiver running through him,

He lifted his bony, corpse-like hands and clutched his head, hugging it as if he could keep himself from falling apart. “No… No way. Stop lying! You’re making this up,” Xavier choked out.

He couldn’t accept that he’d done anything wrong, and he couldn’t believe that his love for Lila was something she had never wanted.

He loved Lila so much! Everything he did was supposed to be for Lila. No one should ever doubt how much he cared about Lila.

Galen reached into his sleeve, pulled out a letter, and tossed it onto Xavier’s head. “See for yourself.”

Xavier’s hands trembled as he slowly unfolded the letter. The letter wasn’t very long. But Xavier read it painfully slow, as if every word weighed a ton. A minute passed, then two, then five. After ten long minutes of silence, his hands started to tremble.

The letter was from Lila to Galen. She wrote that living in Willowriver made her feel like a bug locked in a cage. Her whole existence was tied to the town, never able to break free.

It felt as if her entire life had been spent chasing the title of saintess, fighting and struggling to fit that role. But that was never her dream. She wanted to live her own life.

Then she met Edward. That was when she finally realized what it really meant to be alive. Every day after she met Edward was carefree and happy. She never regretted her choice.

Though she knew she was burning through her own life to hold onto a fleeting moment of happiness, she never once regretted it.

In her letter, she also mentioned that when Xavier once wanted to take her away from the Pierce family, he asked her a question. “Would you ever regret choosing Edward? Would you ever regret having Ryan?”

Her answer was always the same: no. She never regretted her choices. Her only regret was that, unlike ordinary people, she couldn’t have more time to spend with her husband and son.

And the reason she wrote this letter to Galen was that she knew how possessive Xavier could be. She was afraid that after she was gone, Xavier might target Ryan,

So, she hoped that, for the sake of their bond as fellow students, Gaien would help take care of Ryan in the days to come.

After reading the letter, Xavier felt his beliefs shatter completely. He couldn’t believe that in her final moments, Lila was still afraid of him, worried he might hurt Ryan.

But the truth was, he had indeed hurt Ryan. He really had done things that hurt both Ryan and Lila. He clutched the letter and burst out laughing again. But this time, his laughter was bitter to the core.

Everything he’d stubbornly held onto, all his obsessions, were nothing but his own self-deception. The girl he loved so deeply had feared him as she drew her last breath.

He couldn’t hold it in anymore. With a violent retch, he spat out a mouthful of blood. He clutched the glass vial containing the prime bug, his laughter turning wild and crazed.

“I was wrong… I really was wrong! So Lila never cherished anything I did for her… Even in death, I’m too ashamed to face Lila.” Xavier said.

His laughter twisted into madness. Suddenly, he plunged his hand straight into his own heart. Blood gushed out, splattering across the glass vial in his hand, staining it crimson.

“Xavier!” Galen frowned, seeing what Xavier was about to do, and tried to stop him.

But Xavier gave a faint shake of his head. “This is my last chance to atone… I only want to do something for Lila, even if all of this is my fault,” Xavier said, his voice growing weaker.

With a sudden, desperate force, he crushed the glass vial in his hand. The glass shattered. He gripped the prime bug and

Chapter 188 The End,

jammed it straight into the gaping, blood-soaked hole in his heart.

At the same time, Ryan suddenly let out a muffled groan. His body went limp.

Whitney quickly reached out to steady him. “What’s wrong? Did he use the prime bug to drag you down with him?”

“No. It’s not that…” Leaning against Whitney, Ryan pressed a hand to his chest, “I feel like that thing that’s been weighing on my chest is finally gone

‘Gone? Did the bug inside Ryan really disappear?’ Whitney couldn’t help but wonder.

“He used his own heart’s blood to break the connection between him and Ryan,” Galen said, his voice heavy. “By hurting himself, he killed the bug in Ryan and the prime bug together.”

Galen stared at Xavier, who had collapsed on the ground his body drenched in blood. His expression was a tangled mix of emotions. He never imagined Xavier would use such a drastic method to break the bond of the bug inside Ryan.

But honestly, this was the kind of crazy thing that a lunatic would do. Xavier’s faith was completely shattered. Even if he was left alive. He’d rather be dead.

“Xavier…” Ryan said softly, his eyes filled with conflicted emotions as he looked at Xavier. For Xavier, Ryan’s feelings were deeply conflicted.

“Ryan” Xavier called out, his voice barely more than a whisper. “I’m sorry… Please, forgive me…” As soon as the words left his lips, he coughed up another mouthful of blood.

Then, his body went limp and crumpled to the ground. He was gone. This was how he brought his story to an end. After they left the secret chamber, a sudden fire broke out. The blaze consumed the entire villa, erasing every trace. When Ryan got the news, he was completely stunned. From the very start, Xavier never meant to make it out alive. He’d never planned on surviving this. Ever since they stormed that villa, he’d already decided his own fate.

“It’s okay. You still have me, don’t you?” Whitney said softly. She couldn’t stand seeing Ryan look like he’d lost everything, like a little puppy left out in the cold. It made her heart ache for him.

Ryan rested his head on Whitney’s slender shoulder, her cool, elegant scent surrounding him. “Really?” he whispered. “Will you stay with me always?” His voice was so vulnerable, it tugged at Whitney’s heart.

Whitney softly ruffled his hair. “Of course. If I don’t stick with you, who else will?”

“You promised, forever,” Ryan said, his voice soft but resolute. Suddenly, Ryan lifted his head. His cold, ethereal face was suddenly right in front of Whitney, filling her view.

The next moment, something soft touched Whitney’s lips. Ryan kissed her, gentle and unexpected.

Ryan had kissed her. Whitney’s eyes went wide. ‘Well, aren’t you bold?’ she thought, a little stunned. ‘Seriously, the nerve on this guy.’ She raised her hand, ready to smack him on the head.

Ryan suddenly opened his eyes. His eyes were wet and shining, that usual noble look now mixed with a helpless, puppy- like vulnerability.

Whitney was speechless. ‘Seriously?’She couldn’t bring herself to do it. ‘Forget it, she thought, letting it go. Truth be told, she didn’t really mind him kissing her.

Γ

******

After they returned to Prestige Manor, Galen personally examined Ryan again. He confirmed that the bug inside Ryan was completely gone. But Ryan had lived with that bug inside him for over a decade.

Galen prescribed three months’ worth of medicine for Ryan. He told Whitney to brew it to clear out any remaining toxins in Ryan’s body. After that, Ryan would be fine, just like any other normal person.

Whitney looked at her mentor, who was acting all mystical and wise, like Davis from the Medical Association. What a show -off, she thought

She glared at Galen, cheeks puffed up in annoyance. “Why didn’t you tell me you were leaving? If I hadn’t come back to our place, I wouldn’t have known you guys had vanished!”

Galen turned his head away, pretending not to hear. Whitney shot a glare at her fellow students.

Dylan adjusted his glasses, looking chill and distant. “We didn’t want to mess up your sweet reunion with your folks.” Marcus quickly nodded. “Yeah, exactly! Before you went back, we checked out the Anderson family. They’re rich and influential, so we figured you’d be living it up as the Anderson heiress, enjoying all the good stuff. We didn’t dare bother you Julian slung an arm around Whitney’s shoulders, sighing dramatically. “Honestly, we never thought you’d have it so rough in your own home.

Chapter 188 The End,

“If we hadn’t caught that live broadcast of your show on TV, we wouldn’t have known you’d been through all that hardship these past two years.”

“Whitney.” Dominick’s gentle voice cut through the others, soft but firm. He walked over, gently pushed Julian aside, and ruffled Whitney’s hair. “When we heard you’d cut ties with the Anderson farmily, we figured you’d probably come back home

to us.

“I went to check and saw you’d gone through and tidied up everything. We guessed you must have met Xavier. Galen was worried Xavier might come after you to get to him, so we rushed to Roynfort.

“But instead of Xavier coming for you, you threw yourself right into trouble for that guy.” As he said this, Dominick shot Ryan a glare.