The intense sensation of weightlessness seized Yun Che's heart like an icy, giant hand! Blood rushed to his head one moment, then plummeted to his feet the next! Cold sweat instantly soaked his back! Instinct for survival overwhelmed everything else; raw fear was etched clearly on his face! His mind went blank. Instinctively, he released his grip on the pistol, his hand stretching out towards Ye Jin like a drowning man, a silent scream echoing: Save me!
Then, a flash of silver-white! A burning, solid force clamped onto his wrist! Ye Jin had caught Yun Che's arm! He knelt on the shattered window ledge, his silver-white hair whipping wildly in the gale. Yun Che's entire body dangled outside in the void, suspended over a chasm dozens of meters deep. The icy night wind tore at him like giant hands, leaving him swaying precariously like a leaf in a storm!
Despite the extreme peril, Ye Jin showed no hurry to pull him up. He looked down at Yun Che, a hint of playful amusement in his rose-colored eyes, a seductive curve on his lips. "How does that saying go? 'A life-saving grace, beyond repayment'..." He deliberately drew out the last syllable, his voice low and enticing. "...So... could you offer yourself to me?"
Yun Che froze! The words slammed into his mind like a meteorite, so abrupt and absurd his thoughts screeched to a halt! His eyes were blank, even a bit dazed and foolish, as if unable to process this surreal line.
This expression greatly pleased Ye Jin. He gently rubbed Yun Che's cold wrist with his thumb, deliberately slowing his speech, his tone coaxing and manipulative: "Well? Just say the words 'I offer myself to you,' and I'll pull you up immediately."
Yun Che finally snapped out of his shock! Rage erupted like a volcano in his chest! Fire blazed in his eyes, his teeth grinding audibly: "Are you fucking mocking me?! I'm a man!!"
Ye Jin chuckled softly, but the laughter didn't reach his eyes, carrying instead a thread of icy threat: "No. I should say... I'm giving you a choice." He leaned slightly closer, his rose-colored eyes boring into Yun Che like abysses. "If you refuse... I let go."
That familiar coercion struck Yun Che like lightning! Memory sliced through the chaos, dragging him back to that humiliating, blindfolded night of violation! He finally understood! The bastard from that night... was this Demon King before him!
"That night... it was you?!" Yun Che's voice trembled with utter fury!
Ye Jin didn't confirm directly, only murmured ambiguously, his fingertip tracing Yun Che's wrist suggestively: "Your lips were so soft... never expected you to bite so fiercely." His tone held a teasing, reminiscent quality.
Those words ignited the powder keg! Yun Che's face instantly turned livid! Blinding fury surged through him! Without hesitation, he clenched the dagger in his left hand, summoning all his strength, driven by suicidal fury, and slashed viciously towards the arm Ye Jin used to hold him!
He was all in! Reason burned away by rage! Hurt the enemy, even if it destroyed himself? Even dying, he would leave a scar on this bastard!
Deep down, Yun Che remained impulsive. Five years undercover, he must have slipped up before due to hot-headedness. It was only because Ye Jin viewed him through some strange filter, overlooking details deliberately or not, that he had managed to stay hidden safely until now.
Swish—! The dagger sliced through the air! Ye Jin deftly jerked his wrist back! The sharp blade grazed the sleeve of his expensive shirt!
A faint snap of a thread was lost in the wind.
The platinum cufflink Ye Jin treasured above all else tore free from his sleeve. It caught a fleeting glint of moonlight, tracing a faint metallic arc before vanishing soundlessly into the dark garden below.
Yun Che's focus was entirely on Ye Jin's arm. Missing the strike only fueled his rage; he remained oblivious to the small event. He hadn't even cut the hand! This infuriated him further!
Ye Jin lowered his gaze, scanning the torn sleeve. When he looked up again, the warmth and teasing in his rose-colored eyes had frozen solid, replaced by a cold, piercing glare of utter fury! His voice dropped to a low, abyssal murmur: "That... was the only thing you ever gave me."
His voice was too soft, torn apart by the wind. But Yun Che keenly sensed the sudden eruption of icy killing intent radiating from him, like an arctic blast! Deep within those beautiful eyes flickered a shadow of malice and venom!
Before Yun Che could react—
Ye Jin's hand gripping him—opened!!
"Ah—!!!" Yun Che's scream tore free, instantly stretched thin by the gale! His body plummeted into weightlessness again! The immense shadow of death and the primal instinct to survive instantly seized all thought! In the fraction of a second his lifeline snapped, his dangling left hand clawed frantically upwards by pure instinct, like a drowning man grasping for the last reed!
He succeeded!
His nearly numb left hand, in that split second, exploded with strength beyond its limits, clamping onto Ye Jin's wrist with a death grip! Five fingers dug in as if trying to pierce flesh! His entire weight hung from that grip! His arm joint screamed in agony, nearly dislocated! He hung like a guttering candle from the Demon King's wrist, gasping violently, terror-stricken, face devoid of color, only large beads of sweat rolling down.
Cold mockery, like a poisoned arrow, shot down from above: "Holding on so tight... seems you are afraid to die."
Yun Che bit his lower lip hard. A sense of trampled pride churned in his chest! He truly wanted to let go, to defend his final dignity with death!
Sensing the sudden slackening in Yun Che's grip, a cold light flashed in Ye Jin's eyes! His wrist snapped back with brutal force! The power was immense, nearly lifting Yun Che's slender frame entirely off the ledge! Like flinging a retrieved toy, Ye Jin hauled him violently back into the shattered office!
Yun Che's back slammed onto the floor, tumbling twice before stopping. Every bone felt shattered. The air was crushed from his lungs. Darkness swam before his eyes as he coughed violently.
But the danger wasn't over! He struggled to rise! Ye Jin was already upon him like a phantom! He seized Yun Che's dagger-wielding wrist, wrenching it down viciously! Simultaneously, his knee pressed down, pinning Yun Che instantly to the cold floor!
"Urgh—!" Agony from his twisted wrist bone wrenched a pained groan from Yun Che. The dagger clattered away.
The cold floor pressed against his cheek. Ye Jin's heavy body, an immovable mountain, pressed down from behind. Suffocation and despair crashed over him. Ye Jin leaned close, his hot breath hitting Yun Che's ear, his voice cold as forged iron: "Face reality, little deer. Meaningless stubbornness, before absolute power, is just foolishness that invites mockery."
The free hand touched the nape of Yun Che's neck, trembling with pain and fury. The icy fingertip contact made Yun Che stiffen. Ye Jin's voice suddenly softened again, unnervingly, laced with an indescribable weariness: "Had enough? It's late..."
A sharp, tiny prick jabbed the back of his neck! Like the bite of a minuscule insect. Numbness shot up his spine, exploding in his skull! Yun Che opened his mouth, but no sound emerged. Darkness surged over him like a tidal wave, swallowing him whole.
The last image before consciousness drowned was Ye Jin looking down at his unfocused eyes, like gazing upon a retrieved yet damaged treasure, emotions complex and unreadable in his own. He straightened up, his voice cold as he ordered Cang Ming beside him: "Take him back. Guard him closely."
Cang Ming bowed deeply. "Yes, Master."
Ye Jin dismissed all subordinates and walked alone into the garden below, littered with glass shards. The deep night wind carried a biting chill, stirring his silver-white hair. Leaves rustled like conspiratorial whispers. With a wave of his hand, the ornate landscape lights lining the paths flickered on one by one, their orange-yellow glow pushing back some of the darkness.
His gaze swept like a precision scanner, slow and meticulous, over the scattered glass fragments, the flattened grass, and the shadows beneath the sycamore trees. Time ticked by.
About fifteen minutes later, his steps halted beneath a tall sycamore. He bent down and picked up the platinum cufflink from a curled, yellowing dead leaf. It was smudged with a little dirt, its gleam dulled under the light.
The cufflink lay quietly in his broad palm. He lowered his eyelids, his rose-colored pupils reflecting the small metal ornament, turbulent with incomprehensible emotions. Anger? Disappointment? Cold possessiveness? Or perhaps a trace of imperceptible... regret? Finally, all emotions sank into a deeper, colder abyss.
He slowly closed his fingers, crushing the cold cufflink into his palm! His knuckles whitened with the force! As if trying to shatter it, along with that stubborn soul, within the cage of his absolute control!
The wind seemed to die. The moonlight turned cold and clear. A dead calm before the storm settled over every corner of Rosewood Manor.