It was too late, so he looked down—his hands were stained with a glaring crimson blood…

The distant sirens finally sounded, giving Yu Tang a glimmer of hope, which quickly faded. She heard Chen Diao on the phone, "...Of course, I thank the police chief for his help. Keep the money for drinks, and I'll personally pay him a visit another day..."

Yu Tang suddenly remembered Yu Chaoxian's words: Taicheng belongs to the Yu family.

Rather than having no hope at all, Yu Tang, who was like a walking corpse, was pulled back into the car by Yu Chaoxian.

A-Jin saw her staggering figure, soaked to the bone, her slender body trembling. He wanted to drape a blanket from the car over her, but Chen Tiaoshi stopped him. Trying to go to her now? Was he crazy? Even romantic thoughts have their limits!

Yu Chaoxian grabbed the person and got into the car, then drove at high speed all the way to the base.

Just as Chen Diao was moving Viktor's body into the car, the boss's car was already out of sight.

Ivan, who was in mid-air, witnessed the whole thing. He asked Mingming in confusion, "This Viktor wanted to be the boss's uncle, but the boss disagreed, so the boss killed him? The boss did the right thing. I think Viktor was worse than the boss."

He was clearly speechless; given Ivan's emotional intelligence...

Chen Diao said speechlessly, "Let's go home, kid. Let's go home, okay? The world is too complicated for your brain."

In the base's office, Yu Chao first threw a blanket over Yu Tang. He sat on the sofa and looked at her.

Yu Tang deserved to be taught a lesson for running away, otherwise it would never end. There's a limit to how much can happen, and this was the second time. He should make her feel pain, make her afraid, and make her never dare to have even the slightest rebellious thought again. But when she stood there soaking wet, her face as pale as paper, raindrops still clinging to her eyelashes, the anger surging in his chest suddenly froze.

Give her another chance. She's always been soft-hearted; she must have been bewitched by Viktor to want to run away.

"I'll give you one last chance. Come here now, and we'll be the same as before." Yu Chaoxian slightly raised his eyes to look at her, his gaze cold and arrogant, as if he were bestowing a great favor upon Yu Tang.

He wouldn't mind as long as she was in his arms.

Yu Tang looked like she was asking for death, threw the blanket on the ground, completely disregarding his concern and not deigning to say a single word to him.

She had already given up all hope; the worst outcome would be for him to kill her anyway.

Yu Chaoxian sneered. Fine, she's soft-hearted to others, but heartless towards him. What kind of ungrateful wretch has he raised? She's willing to die for an outsider and even leaked his itinerary. Does she really want him dead? Does she think she'll be better off without him? From the moment she was born into the Yu family, she was destined to be inseparable from him.

This gold-threaded cage isn't for show; it's to save her life!

If no one in the Yu family protects her, Yu Tang will be the first to be devoured, leaving not even bones. From the moment she arrived at the Yu family, she was destined to be inextricably linked to everything within the Yu family, for better or for worse. She thought Viktor was protecting her, but being kidnapped to Russia or America meant being imprisoned!

But in her heart, that shameless Viktor was perfect in every way.

"They're all better than me, huh?" Yu Chaoxian was furious when he remembered what she had said, and seeing her indifferent expression as if she wanted to die, his patience had completely worn out.

Yu Chaoxian grabbed her wrist and led her to the basement level, causing Yu Tang to stumble.

The underground prison corridors were deep and narrow, filled with a damp atmosphere and a strong stench of blood and rust. With each step, Yu Tang could hear the sticky, wet sound underfoot, as if she were walking on a pool of blood that hadn't dried.

Behind the iron fences on both sides, the faint sound of barking could be heard. It was not the barking of an ordinary dog, but the roar squeezed out from the depths of the throat of a starving beast.

Suddenly, pairs of gleaming eyes appeared in the darkness. A huge, vicious dog slowly approached, dragging its chain, drool dripping from between its sharp teeth, forming a small puddle of blood on the ground.

Yu Tang stopped almost immediately; she was afraid of dogs like that.

She turned to run, instinctively fearing the unknown torment. Yu Chaoxian grabbed her and pulled her close, trapping her between his chest and the viewing platform.

Yu Tang was both cold and hot, and her lower abdomen was cramping. She already had little strength, and now she was more like a puppet being manipulated by Yu Chaoxian at will, with no strength to fight back.

She was now really disgusted by being so close to him, and although she had no strength, she still subconsciously struggled to pull her hand away and leave.

Everything here made her uncomfortable; the smell of blood made her nauseous.

With a snap, Yu Chaoxian turned on the light, pointed with his finger, and his lips lightly touched her earlobe, "Tangtang, look across the street."

Light instantly filled the entire underground prison. Yu Tang subconsciously raised her hand to shield her eyes. Once her eyes adjusted to the light, she looked in the direction Yu Chaoxian was pointing.

Upon seeing the person tied to the chair in the cage, Yu Tang's eyes widened in shock.

Guan Zhongpeng and the old lady who showed her the video were both tied to rusty chairs—their mouths and ears were plugged, and their limbs were bound, so they had no idea that there were man-eating dogs right next to them.

As for Victor's body, it was hanging above the hound's cage; if it fell...

Yu Tang didn't even dare to think about it.

Yu Tang, who had previously given up entirely, suddenly ran towards the cage like a madwoman. She knew what Yu Chaoxian was capable of. Just moments before, she had been determined to fight to the death, but now, as long as she could save these people, she would do anything he asked.

"Running away from me again?" Yu Chaoxian pulled her back into his arms with little effort. "Why doesn't my little aunt learn her lesson?"

Seeing that she couldn't escape, Yu Tang begged incoherently, "I... I won't run away, I remember, so please let them go, okay? I'll never run away again, please, I'll do whatever you tell me to do, as long as you don't hurt them, I promise I'll listen to you from now on, please, Xiao Xian..."

Xiao Xian? It's been so long since I called him Xiao Xian. This time, it's only because someone else called him that.

The man remained unmoved. He thought about it carefully, realizing he had almost won Yu Tang's heart. Yu Chaoxian began to meticulously recall each and every incident, much like a post-mortem analysis after every life-threatening mission.

But no mission has ever been easier to kill him than Yu Tang.

“Auntie, we were so close before, when did things start to go wrong? I've been thinking, it started after that old lady showed you the video, right? No wonder you threw a tantrum and refused to eat that night; as for your thoughts of running away, that started with that phone call Guan Zhongpeng made to you, Guan Zhongpeng said some ambiguous things to you. Speaking of which, you were quite bold to take the phone in front of me. What's so surprising?” Yu Chaoxian looked down at her shocked expression, she really couldn't keep a straight face, “Didn't expect me to find out so quickly? It's a pity, I found out about you saving Victor and taking him to the hospital that night, otherwise why would Mickey's support have arrived so quickly when they ambushed me this time? The most serious problem is that you ran into your brother Daniel again, and you immediately wanted to run away with him, and you even leaked my whereabouts without distinguishing between close and distant relatives…”

Yu Tang couldn't remember when they had ever been close, nor had she intentionally revealed his whereabouts, but now she dared not disobey him at all. The worst thing is realizing something too late; Yu Tang suddenly realized what Mickey meant when he warned her that morning not to go against Yu Chaoxian, otherwise there would be no turning back.

She looked at the person in the cage opposite her. This was already the limit of her mental endurance. She couldn't bear any more. She even had the illusion that her blood was draining from her body and she was about to die.

"Please, don't hurt them, the old lady doesn't know anything..." Her voice was broken, mixed with sobs and trembling, "I will listen to you from now on, please give me one last chance, I will do whatever you want, I will do whatever you ask."

Yu Chaoxian looked at her, her hair streaked with tears and crisscrossing her pale cheeks. He stroked her face tenderly and said, "What a pity, Yu Tang. Didn't I just say it was the last chance for you to come here?"

Yu Chaoxian remained unmoved, even taking her hand and holding the pistol. This immediately reminded Yu Tang of how Liang Jiaqi had died tragically under the gun he held in her hand.

She immediately began to struggle frantically, throwing away the gun in extreme fear, crying out, "No, no, I don't want to... You might as well let me die!"

These words made the man frown again. Yu Tang felt weak, all her strength was focused on pressing down on the pistol.

She suddenly remembered the instructions Yu Chaoxian had given her before, which had given her the opportunity.

In her panic, she tiptoed and kissed the corner of his lips, "Can we do this so we won't hurt them?"

The long-lost soft touch made Yu Chaoxian look down at Yu Tang with haughty eyes and throw out a series of questions.

"Will you be obedient?"

"obedient."

Yu Tang mechanically gave the answer that Yu Chaoxian wanted to hear.

Yu Chaoxian smiled with satisfaction, intending to teach her a lesson so that she would never dare to have the slightest thought of leaving him again.

But that wasn't enough. He grabbed Yu Tang's wrist and whispered seductively, "Auntie, didn't I remind you a long time ago who you should like so that they wouldn't have to die?"

“I like you, Yu Chaoxian.” Yu Tang said without hesitation.

Yu Chaoxian turned Yu Tang's face towards him, which was covered in tear stains, and said that he liked him the most, but his eyes kept glancing at Viktor's corpse.

This is what you call blatant lying. He frowned; Yu Tang was openly deceiving and placating him.

Yu Tang felt the pressure on her hand loosen, and she took a breath. Taking advantage of his hesitation, she snatched the gun from her hand and threw it into the cage. The vicious dog mistook it for food and began to tear at it frantically. This way, he wouldn't be able to pick up the gun.

Just as she relaxed, Yu Chaoxian suddenly gripped her hand tightly, and with a heavy thud, he pulled her hand and loosened the cage's partition.

Guan Zhongpeng and the old lady, whose ears and eyes were covered, didn't even know what was happening.

"No...no—!"

Her screams stopped abruptly. Yu Tang cried until she lost her voice, her vision went dark, and the whole world lost its color. Yu Chaoxian covered her eyes, and all she could hear was the buzzing of the shaking iron bars. Strangely, the excited barking of the dogs in the cage and the sound of bones tearing were so clear.

Yu Tang's face was completely drained of color, as if all her life force had been drained away, leaving only a crumbling, empty shell. Her collapsing sobs choked in her throat, turning into spasmodic gagging, and her limp body was easily lifted up by the man.

Yu Tang couldn't stand steadily, but he only needed to lift his fallen hair to elegantly meet her gaze in her disheveled state.

Chen Diao hesitated whether to come in, his phone clutched in his hand, his footsteps echoing repeatedly. Yu Chaoxian didn't even glance at him, his tone clearly impatient: "Speak."

Chen Diao glanced at the distraught Yu Tang and continued, "Boss, the sanatorium just called. Uncle Yu... has lost all vital signs."

Without vital signs, Yu Tang, being a medical student, would surely understand the meaning of this sentence.

He's gone. Her beloved brother is gone.

“Your brother is your father, how could you, how could you…” Her body trembled in his arms.

"How can you treat Yu Yanting like this?" Yu Chaoxian laughed with extreme disdain. "He killed my mother and made her suffer for half her life. Why can't I do the same?"

Yu Tang was stunned by Yu Chaoxian's question, her tears still flowing. She hated Yu Chaoxian for harming her brother, just as Yu Chaoxian hated her brother for hurting his mother's heart.

So why can't he?

“Yu Tang, you keep calling him ‘brother,’ have you ever questioned why your blood type is different from Yu Yanting’s and Shen Wangshu’s?” The rain outside the window grew louder, making his voice sound even colder. He held her, “What do you think your brother is? He forced Shen Wangshu to have a child, but the child died after birth. Yu Yanting brought you back from the orphanage to comfort Shen Wangshu. You were just a tool Yu Yanting used to control Shen Wangshu. His taking care of you was Shen Wangshu’s last wish.”

Yu Yanting and Shen Wangshu did have a daughter in Hong Kong, but the child died after birth. Yu Yanting didn't want Shen Wangshu to be sad, so he adopted a baby girl who was born on the same day, who is now Yu Tang.

Shen Wangshu could not accept that Yu Tang was Yu Yanting's child, so he referred to Yu Tang as Yu Yanting's sister to the outside world.

"You're talking nonsense! My brother would never do such a thing. Mom loves me, I'm her daughter! Both my brother and Mom truly love me! It's you who are shameless and slandering the dead!" Yu Tang didn't believe it at all. Her mother loved her very much, and her brother took good care of her. Those happy memories from her childhood were real and could not be erased by Yu Chaoxian's few words!

"You're still lying to me with those words. I'd rather die than stay by your side..." Yu Tang wanted to find a gun. Suicide would be better than living like this. She had no reason to live anymore.

Yu Chaoxian sized up the suicidal Yu Tang, then kissed her lips against her will, laughing, "Yu Tang, don't you understand yet? Whether you're willing or not is not my concern. I can tell you clearly now, I want you by my side until I die. If you still want the people you care about to live well, like that Mo Fei..."

At the mention of Mo Fei's name, Yu Tang's body softened, and she shook her head frantically: "No, no!"

Yu Chaoxian continued to stroke her cheek affectionately, comforting her: "So I'm telling you clearly, if you live well by my side, then they'll all be fine. If you still want to run away or commit suicide, then I'm not sure how those people will die."

"Why?" Yu Tang's eyes were covered, and she felt as if she had fallen into an abyss. Her mind was no longer clear, and she seemed to have cried all her tears. "Why are you doing this to me?"

Why? Yu Chaoxian never thought that the only person who could distract him from his business was Yu Tang, the only person who could make him happy, satisfied, and want to see and hear him all the time was her.

Of all the years I've lived, the one and a half years with Yu Tang are the clearest.

He remembered even Yu Tang's words from a long time ago, "This passage is too narrow for you." Even though she was terrified herself, she still worried that he wouldn't be able to get down. Even though she was so weak and scared, she still stayed with him and cared about his safety.

Yu Chaoxian lovingly held her in his arms, still leaving her room to turn back. He released his hands from her eyes and coaxed, "Alright, I won't touch them. This is just a lesson for you. But if you try to escape again, then who knows what those beasts will eat."

Yu Tang looked across the room through her teary eyes. Guan Zhongpeng, the old lady, and Viktor's body... were all unharmed. She felt as if she had survived a catastrophe.

However, she was too emotionally agitated and unconsciously stumbled forward, burying her face in Yu Chaoxian's arms, struggling twice in a daze.

Yu Chaoxian was taken aback, thinking she was trying to appear weak and coquettish.

He looked down at her, his heart already softened considerably, and he lifted his arm to embrace her. Yu Tang's wet eyelashes trembled slightly at his carotid artery, and this unconscious act of dependence caused the man's hand, which was holding the back of her neck, to suddenly loosen its grip and turn into a gentle caress.

The palm that was supporting Yu Tang's legs touched something warm and sticky. He looked down—his hand was stained with a glaring bright red, which had seeped into his clothes.

But it wasn't his blood.

Yu Tang, nestled in his arms, was deathly pale. The fabric at her waist was soaked with blood, the crimson spreading silently across her clothes. His fingertips touched the red stain, warm and sticky, still carrying the warmth she was losing.

Yu Chaoxian's body suddenly stiffened.

Yu Tang had always assumed the light bleeding was her period, and Yu Chaoxian had never suspected anything. So when he saw the surgical consent form from the doctor, which read "D&C surgery," it was so jarring and unfamiliar.

It must have been on New Year's Eve in England that he didn't take any precautions.

The doctor said that Yu Tang had been showing signs of miscarriage. If it had been discovered earlier, there might have been a chance to save the pregnancy, but now it's too late.

Upon hearing this, Yu Tang's bloodless face only showed a mocking sneer. Her lips moved slightly, and Yu Chaoxian leaned over.

She gripped his arm, speaking haltingly, leaving cold bloodstains on his clothes.