Jin Yuan x Xie Zheng ②

Jin Yuan was jolted awake as vague childhood memories flashed through his mind.

"You are... Azheng?"

The quiet, unassuming page who always followed behind him, reciting his lessons and picking wild fruits for him.

Ten years have passed, and the other party has changed a lot.

"Finally remembered? It's too late." Xie Zheng released her hand expressionlessly and pushed Jin Yuan aside.

Jin Yuan staggered and fell onto the bed. Before he could even get up, a chill ran through his wrists and ankles. Xie Zheng pulled out two shackles from somewhere and locked them around his hands and feet.

"Listen to me..." Jin Yuan hurriedly began to speak, but his words were cut off.

Xie Zheng pulled a plain white handkerchief from her sleeve, stuffed it directly into his mouth, and then tied it tightly behind his head.

With the cloth tightly blocking his throat, Jin Yuan could only make "woo-woo" sounds as he struggled. He watched Xie Zheng sit down beside him, her fingertips tracing through his disheveled hair.

"How do you think I should get revenge on you?" Xie Zheng's gaze fell on Jin Yuan's pupils, which were dilated with fear, and a cruel smile curled at the corner of her lips. "I'll rape you first, then kill you, okay?"

Jin Yuan's body trembled violently. He shook his head desperately, tears streaming uncontrollably down his face, the shackles on his ankles rattling as he struggled.

Xie Zheng looked at him without a trace of pity. He reached into his wide sleeve and pulled his hand out, revealing a brass ring in his palm, its inner circle densely inlaid with inch-long spikes that gleamed coldly in the candlelight.

Jin Yuan let out even more rapid sobs, his body instinctively shrinking deeper into the bed, ignoring the sharp pain in his ankles from the shackles. The barbed copper rings were chilling to look at; he knew without a doubt what they were for.

Xie Zheng twirled the copper ring in his hand, then leaned closer to Jin Yuan, his voice as soft as a whisper: "When you abandoned me in the mountains to feed the snakes back then, did you ever imagine that this day would come?"

The cold touch of the copper ring brushed against Jin Yuan's cheek, the sharp spikes almost piercing his flesh. Jin Yuan trembled with fear, tears mixed with cold sweat streaming down his face, and he could only shake his head desperately.

The next instant, he felt a sudden chill beneath him as Xie Zheng's hand gently stroked him and slowly slipped the copper ring onto his body.