172: Embrace the Darkness

"Splash—"

Chu Changqi sat up abruptly from the bathtub, a searing, burning pain in his chest and lungs, as if they could explode at any moment!

But before he could catch his breath, the iron chain around his neck suddenly retracted, pulling him back down to the bottom of the water-filled tub.

Chu Changqi's hands were fixed in place; Shen Lian's "punishment" for him was even more severe than what he had inflicted on Shen Lian.

Shen Lian had developed a high fever, to the point where his hand holding the cigarette trembled slightly as he leaned against the bathtub. However, having reached the peak of his anger, Shen Lian's body and mind were completely detached; meanwhile, the persistent pain in his chest stimulated him to maintain his reason.

Chu Changqi struggled out of the bathtub again, looking as pathetic as a drowned dog. He gasped for air, only to hear Shen Lian say, "When you finally beg for mercy out loud, that's when I'll stop."

"Don't..."

Before Chu Changqi could finish, Shen Lian casually flipped a switch. The iron chain tightened again, and Chu Changqi was nearly killed on the spot by the very masterpiece he had designed.

Shen Lian gave Chu Changqi no chance. What was the point of sitting there and begging? He wanted Chu Changqi's psychological defenses to gradually crumble while hovering between life and death, until he finally cried out, "Let me go," under extreme physical crushing and mental breakdown.

"Let..."

Chu Changqi sat up again, but his survival instinct didn't let him finish; instead, he used the time to greedily breathe in fresh air.

Splashing water landed on Shen Lian's face. He took away his cigarette and wiped it clean with disgust, as if the water were soaked with Chu Changqi's unique stench.

"Let me go! Spare me!!"

This time when Chu Changqi sat up, he screamed the words hysterically.

Shen Lian pressed the pause button as promised.

That "click-clack" sound was like heavenly music. Chu Changqi slumped against the edge of the tub, his violent coughing accompanied by breathing that sounded like a broken bellows, feeling as if he wouldn't last another second.

Shen Lian threw his cigarette butt on the ground and stomped it out. Seeing this, he couldn't help but chuckle. "Can't handle this already?"

Shen Lian had seen through Chu Changqi's wretched body. Once he was certain the Old thing had temporarily lost the ability to resist, Shen Lian began to tinker with a device on the opposite side.

These were all Chu Changqi's own research projects, and he knew their functions all too well. Yet Shen Lian didn't ask a single word, silently squatting there to study them. Once he started a certain device, the whirring sound pricked Chu Changqi's nerves like needles.

Chu Changqi finally realized that when it came to psychological warfare, Shen Lian was also an expert.

"How... how did you avoid the search by my men?" Chu Changqi cared deeply about this; even now, he suspected there was a traitor within his ranks who had sheltered Shen Lian.

Shen Lian didn't even turn his head, speaking as if they were just chatting. "Who said I was inside the yacht?"

Chu Changqi's face changed drastically.

What did that mean?

With lightning, thunder, and crashing waves outside, had Shen Lian been hiding out there the whole time?

Was he joking?!

Shen Lian took a glance. Perhaps because Chu Changqi's expression was so vivid, his smile deepened.

In this life, meeting Chu Yilan had caused Shen Lian to retract many of his thorns. He loved him sincerely and felt they shouldn't be at each other's throats. But what about his previous life? Shen Lian reminisced for a moment.

Born from the bottom, climbing up with great difficulty until he finally became a top-tier best actor—while basking in glory, did he really have no regrets or pain at all? Shen Lian had fallen in love with Chu Yilan at first sight, not just with his appearance but with his soul. He could tolerate Chu Yilan's madness because he was the same kind of person.

High pressure, silence, boredom... sometimes humans are such affected creatures. That was why Shen Lian had pursued many thrills in his previous life.

Feng Yueshan would occasionally mention at the dinner table that he had gone skydiving or racing somewhere. Shen Lian would always just smile and let it pass; it was boring. Shen Lian had a record of opening his parachute at the minimum possible altitude, where his knees scraped the ground for over a dozen meters upon landing. A second later and he would have been gone. At the time, he had just grinned shamelessly, scaring his instructor so much the man was sick.

"When I was clinging to the hull, it felt a bit like the free solo climbing I used to do in the valleys," Shen Lian said. "With just a single rope at my waist, if the angle or posture were wrong, a person could practically fly off like a kite."

Chu Changqi's gaze gradually turned strange, as if he were looking at a monster.

Shen Lian sighed. "Your biggest oversight was being so eager to destroy everything Yilan cherishes. Did you think someone mired in the abyss would yearn for the light?" Shen Lian stepped forward, hauled Chu Changqi out of the bathtub, and dragged him toward the "torture device" he had just finished studying. "There isn't that much redemption from the light. Those in the darkness will only embrace the darkness more tightly."

Shen Lian liked to speak with a smile, which led some people to think he was weak and easily bullied.

Chu Changqi couldn't take in a single word anymore. His voice trembled as he asked, "What are you going to do?"

"This." Shen Lian pressed Chu Changqi into a chair and pulled down a lever. Leather straps on both armrests immediately secured his wrists, while needle-like objects pressed against his temples. As Chu Changqi's pupils dilated in terror, Shen Lian revealed a cold, sinister malice. "You used this on Yilan, didn't you?"

Chu Changqi didn't answer. What escaped him was a scream that instantly changed pitch. His head was thrown back and his body went rigid, shaking violently under the stimulation of a non-lethal electric current.

A slight noise came from behind. Shen Lian turned his head. "Hmm?"

The drunken lackey opened his eyes and thought he was dreaming. Otherwise, why would the former prisoner be the one torturing their boss?

Meeting Shen Lian's amused gaze, he shuddered violently and instinctively tried to shrink back.

But the lackey had long since been tied up like a zongzi by Shen Lian, with a cloth stuffed in his mouth. All he could do now was squirm in place.

Fortunately, Shen Lian had no intention of making things difficult for him, only warning, "There's something here that can turn a man into a eunuch. If you dare disturb me, I'll let you experience it for yourself."

The Drunk Guy nodded frantically in fear.

Shen Lian ran a hand back through his hair. His body felt sticky and uncomfortable, but compared to torturing Chu Changqi, that was nothing.

"The next port of call is in thirty minutes. During this time, I want to see how many of these you can withstand." Shen Lian looked down at Chu Changqi, his eyes devoid of warmth.

*

"Boss, everyone has been brought under control. They said the yacht's next stop is right here." Sun Binghe held an umbrella, shielding Chu Yilan while his own shoulder was mostly soaked. He kept his voice low, as if deliberately avoiding some high-voltage line. "I've checked; there are quite a few people. It shouldn't be false information."

Chu Yilan's black coat was whipped open by the gale. He stared at the surging, hopeless sea, trying his best to hold on, yet a certain emotion in his eyes seemed on the verge of shattering.

From the moment Shen Lian was taken away until now, Chu Yilan hadn't said a single extra word beyond giving decisive orders.

"Binghe," Chu Yilan spoke at this moment.

Sun Binghe simply nodded to show he was listening, without making a sound.

"Shen Lian warned me." Immense regret welled up in Chu Yilan's eyes. "It was my own stubbornness..."

"Boss," Sun Binghe interrupted, "Teacher Shen is waiting for you."

Chu Yilan's eyes flickered at the words, and he suppressed the fear in his heart.