The scent of blood was thick in the air.
Bai Ling knelt on the cold stone floor, her body broken, her spirit shattered.
Jin Xiao loomed over her, his expression calm, unreadable.
This was not an interrogation.
It was a lesson.
"Stand."
His voice was soft, almost gentle.
But Bai Ling knew better.
This was a man who did not raise his voice—because he never needed to.
Her arms trembled as she pushed herself up. Pain lanced through her ribs. She was certain at least two were cracked.
She had been trained in endurance. Pain was nothing.
And yet, this was different.
This was not physical suffering.
This was annihilation.
"You thought you were hunting me," Jin Xiao said, pacing slowly around her.
"But tell me… when did you realize you were already caged?"
Bai Ling clenched her jaw.
The chains around her wrists were gone.
But the real shackles were still there.
She had spent years learning how to break men.
Now, for the first time…
She was the one being broken.
Jin Xiao's footsteps stopped behind her.
She felt his presence looming over her, oppressive and absolute.
Then—
A single finger, tracing down her neck.
She flinched before she could stop herself.
Jin Xiao chuckled.
"See?"
"You are already mine."
Bai Ling felt her nails bite into her palms.
She hated him.
She hated herself more.
"Kill me," she whispered.
Jin Xiao leaned down, his breath cold against her ear.
"Kill you?"
A chuckle.
"Oh, Bai Ling."
"That would be too kind."
A hand gripped her chin, tilting her face up.
For the first time, she met his eyes.
And what she saw… terrified her.
There was nothing there.
No anger.
No satisfaction.
Just calculated amusement.
Like a child disassembling a toy to see how it worked.
And she was the toy.
"Do you know why you're still alive?"
Bai Ling swallowed.
"Because I interest you?"
"Wrong."
Jin Xiao's grip tightened just slightly. Not enough to hurt.
But enough to remind her.
She was powerless.
"You live because you have one use left."
He released her, stepping back.
"Your sect."
Bai Ling's breath hitched.
She had spent years serving the Black Lotus Sect.
They had raised her. Trained her.
Made her into a weapon.
Jin Xiao smiled.
"And now, you will destroy them for me."
Her lips parted in shock.
"You're insane."
Jin Xiao tilted his head.
"And you're still pretending you have a choice."
She did have a choice.
She could refuse.
She could die with dignity.
And yet…
The memory rose in her mind, unbidden.
The moment she first faced him.
How he had dismantled her techniques—like they were nothing.
How he had read her thoughts before she even spoke.
She had been proud of her skills.
She had thought herself above the world.
Jin Xiao had proved her wrong.
And now, standing before him, she realized the truth.
There was no dignity left in her.
She had already fallen.
She looked up at him.
"What do you want me to do?"
Jin Xiao's smile widened.
"Good girl."
His fingers brushed against her cheek.
"Now listen carefully."
"Because tomorrow, your sect will begin to rot from within."
And the game truly began.