Xu Yinsheng mustered his courage, gripping the reinforced baseball bat tightly as he peered through the peephole.
The owner of those brown eyes seemed to sense his gaze and took a deliberate step back.
Only then did Xu Yinsheng get a clear view of the man outside.
Dressed in a tailored suit, the man’s pores practically oozed manic energy.
A fire axe hung at his side, his eyes bulging like bells, a grotesque smile twisting his lips.
This wasn’t a criminal gang.
Not a lunatic.
Not even some Ring-style ghost.
It was someone Xu Yinsheng knew all too well.
Zhao Yicheng’s lips curled into a deranged arc, his entire demeanor transformed.
His expression was feverish, his grin bordering on monstrous—like a devil crawled straight out of hell.
Slowly, he raised the fire axe.
A bolt of lightning split the sky, its ghastly glow illuminating his face, twisting his once-handsome features into something horrifying.
“Little kitten.”
A thunderclap roared.
Xu Yinsheng’s vision blurred as the peephole shattered.
The door exploded inward with a deafening crash, the impact stinging his face.
Thunk.
Thunk.
Thunk.
The axe bit into the reinforced steel door, each strike screeching through the air.
Silent.
Urgent.
Terrifying.
Xu Yinsheng’s breath came in ragged gasps, his heart hammering wildly.
In an instant, he became “Xu Ying,” teeth chattering as he forced out a trembling plea:
“L-Lao Zhao—no, Master, p-please calm down! Breaking into someone’s home is illegal—”
“You—you can’t do this, we can’t break the law—”
CRACK.
The axe cleaved through the door.
Xu Yinsheng shrieked.
Hearing his cry, the axe-wielder only laughed harder, the sound bordering on hysterical.
A face—twisted, unhinged—appeared through the splintered gap.
Zhao Yicheng shoved his head inside, grinning down at “Xu Ying.”
“Master’s here.”
With a final swing, the axe sheared off the door handle.
The mangled door swung open silently, moonlight spilling over Zhao Yicheng’s contorted features and into the Xu family villa.
A curvaceous young woman cowered on the floor, her eyes wide with terror.
“M-Master, I was wrong—”
Xu Yinsheng whimpered, trembling.
This wasn’t how the game was supposed to go!
A little trash talk didn’t warrant axe murder!
“I-I can explain!”
Tears welled in his eyes.
“Xiao Yin isn’t coming home tonight,” Zhao Yicheng suddenly murmured, his tone eerily detached.
“Y-Yes! He’s not, he’s definitely not!”
Xu Yinsheng nodded frantically, clinging to the words like a lifeline.
“You—you could invite me out instead! We could go shopping, eat together, just like a couple—I know you like me—”
“Heh.”
Zhao Yicheng crouched beside him, resting the razor-sharp axe against Xu Yinsheng’s throat.
His voice was soft, almost tender:
“Little kitten, your only value is staying by Xiao Yin’s side… making sure no other woman steals his heart.”
The man’s grin widened, revealing a perfect row of white teeth.
“Do you know how much a human life costs in the Huayuan Federation?”
The smile was undeniably bloodthirsty and deranged.
Xu Yinsheng shuddered in fear, nearly collapsing to the ground as she shook her head in despair.
“I truly know I was wrong,” she pleaded.
The cold gleam of the axe blade brushed against the fine hairs on her face, sending sharp pricks of pain across her skin.
A tear rolled down from the corner of her eye.
“Eight hundred thousand,” he whispered, like a demon chuckling darkly.
“I know I was wrong, I’ll never dare do it again,” Xu Yinsheng begged through her tears.
Was it really necessary to punish her so severely just for some reckless trash talk?
Couldn’t society be a little more forgiving these days?
Zhao Yicheng slowly stood up and tossed the fire axe aside.
Just as Xu Yinsheng thought it was all over—
The man’s voice sent chills down her spine.
Trembling, she lifted her head.
Zhao Yicheng stood less than a meter away, impeccably dressed in a tailored black suit, wearing the composed smile of a successful businessman.
“When a kitten misbehaves,” he said smoothly, “its master must punish it.”
Somehow, the scene shifted to the third-floor stargazing room of the villa.
Originally just a small storage space, the room had been renovated by Xu Yinsheng after hiring construction workers to tear down walls and rebuild.
Now, it spanned about 20 square meters.
At its center stood a small bed supported by four thick posts, each as wide as a fist.
The room was otherwise empty—clean, minimalist.
Instead of concrete, the walls, floor, and ceiling were made of a transparent, durable glass.
Lying on the bed, one could gaze up at the starry sky, unobstructed by the city’s light pollution. The view was breathtaking, almost otherworldly.
Thrown onto the soft bed, Xu Yinsheng felt momentarily dizzy.
The azure glass ceiling dazzled her eyes.
Zhao Yicheng leaned over her, methodically undoing the buttons of her outer shirt, peeling it off her body.
Fear surged through her—his predatory gaze, the violence simmering beneath his calm.
She rolled over, scrambling on hands and knees toward the door.
With a cold laugh, Zhao Yicheng grabbed her ankle and dragged her back.
In one swift motion, he tore her discarded shirt into strips, using them to bind her wrists to the bedposts.
Now clad only in her undergarments, the curves of her body were faintly visible beneath the delicate fabric.
“Lao Zhao, rape is illegal!”
Xu Yinsheng cried out.
“Even if you succeed, you’ll only have my body—not my heart!”
Zhao Yicheng leaned closer, his grin menacing.
“Kitten, mind your address.”
“Master… you’ll never win Kitty’s heart like this,” she forced out, cheeks burning with humiliation.
“I won’t lay a hand on you,” he murmured, his voice deceptively tender—before turning glacial.
“I’ll just teach you a lesson you’ll never forget.”
Her gray trousers were yanked off, exposing her long, slender legs.
She instinctively curled up, but he seized her ankles, holding them firmly.
Her feet were like delicate works of art—pale, smooth, perfectly shaped, tempting enough to caress.
The same treatment followed.
Her legs were bound tightly with dark blue fabric, each tied to a bedpost.
The restraints were uncomfortably restrictive, a psychological torment as much as a physical one.