Chapter 2: He Walked Toward Me Against the Light

A gaping wound had opened on her chest—blood streamed out as the bullet tore through her body.

“Move in.”

Atop an abandoned high-rise, Lu Yunzhou pressed his lips together, his chilly aura unmistakable, and issued his command in a deep voice. The moment his finger squeezed the trigger, frantic shouts echoed from the dilapidated building across the way.

“Protect the young mistress!”

“Hurry! Protect the young mistress!”

“There’s a sniper—!”

Heh... Shen Chaoxi sneered inwardly. Damn you.

Her face blanched. A dull, throbbing pain radiated from her wounded chest.

She looked up. The light above seemed blindingly harsh. The taste of blood spread through her throat, and the air was thick with the pungent scent of gunpowder.

Flames roared toward her, swift and merciless.

With a thunderous blast, a grenade exploded at her side.

The shock left her ears ringing, her mind reeling. That first shot had merely signaled the beginning—gunfire erupted within the abandoned building as both sides clashed in a brutal firefight.

The once stiflingly tense corridors plunged into chaos—shouts, grappling, close-quarters combat, a frenzied exchange of bullets.

But soon, footsteps sounded, drawing ever closer. Her people were falling, one by one, amidst the hail of bullets—bodies crumpled in grotesque shapes all around.

Shen Chaoxi stayed where she was, unease gnawing at her. Just who were these people? Their speed, their strength—could any force in this city rival them? Not even the hundred guards stationed at the heart of the Shacheng experimental base could hold them back.

In no time, they had her surrounded.

“Trying to run?”

A man lunged at her, gun raised, and drove his boot hard into her abdomen. She staggered back, pain stabbing through her wounded chest.

Hemmed into a corner.

“Don’t move!”

In the next instant, a cold black muzzle was pressed to her temple.

Impressive. Perhaps it was time she took a break.

Clutching her chest, blood oozed steadily through her fingers—more and more. She leaned back against the wall, her face as pale as paper, eyes fluttering shut in exhaustion.

After the explosion, smoke drifted thickly through the silence. Out of the swirling haze, a man strode toward her, framed by the light.

He was the first to reach her.

A metallic tang welled up in Shen Chaoxi’s throat as she gave a soft cough. Half-lidded, she suddenly sensed a tall, imposing figure block the light before her.

Lu Yunzhou gripped his sniper rifle, his gaze icy, fixed on the woman he had gravely wounded.

“Captain! She—she’s still alive?” Chen Yu, trailing behind Lu Yunzhou, was momentarily stunned to see Shen Chaoxi still breathing despite taking a bullet. He’d never expected their captain’s shot to miss its mark.

Lu Yunzhou said nothing. His thin lips pressed tight, his dark, deep-set eyes lowered as his gaze settled on Shen Chaoxi. The sharp lines of his brow betrayed nothing but a chill indifference, the black-and-white clarity of his pupils utterly calm.

The sun blazed down, the air stifling and hot—especially here in Shacheng. Sunlight scorched the abandoned ruins, and yet, a biting chill pervaded this place.

Silence blanketed the deserted floors, broken only by the acrid stench of blood.

All of it a grim reminder: everyone who’d been with her was now dead.

She had fallen into their hands.

She looked up—and met the fathomless darkness of his gaze.

The man wore a black tactical uniform, an insignia on his arm. Broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted, his black shirt tucked into sharply cut utility trousers that hugged his long legs. He stood tall and commanding, his expression cold.

From her vantage, he seemed almost submerged in light; beneath tousled black hair, his face was striking—elegant as a fallen immortal, with a sculpted nose and eyes of startling depth.

His lips pressed in a chill line, but when he looked down at her, there was a wicked glint in his eye, a hint of a mocking smile at the corners. He exuded an aloofness both ascetic and oppressive.

Shen Chaoxi met his gaze, brow faintly drawn. There was something wild, dangerous, almost feral about this man. It was clear at a glance—he was not to be trifled with.

“Blissful as a god, are you?” The voice was ice-cold.

Who would have thought that Lu Yunzhou’s first words would echo what she’d said moments earlier?

His eyes narrowed, their depths unreadable. His lips parted in a lazy, insolent smile, yet behind it was a composure that brooked no challenge.

So, he had come to avenge his teammates. Shen Chaoxi had known as much already. The man who had hurled insults at her earlier was one of their special operations unit. The insignia on this man’s arm matched theirs—only he hadn’t bothered to remove it.

He wasn’t afraid of being recognized? How arrogant.

Few dared reveal their identity so openly in Shacheng.

Her tone was hostile: “What do you want?”

Was he here because she had ordered her men to inject his captured teammates with drugs, seeking revenge?

“The antidote—where is it?”

Lu Yunzhou’s voice was low and magnetic, his long, pale fingers resting on his bent knee, the glaring sunlight glinting off the knuckles. He studied her with a detached, clinical air.

“Captain? We still can’t figure out what she injected into Deputy Captain and Qin Hu,” Chen Yu reported, having examined the two captured teammates—one had been tortured nearly to death, the other had a knife wound to the ribs, but both had also been given an unknown substance.

“Their injuries can be treated, but no one knows what poison she used.”

“What did you inject them with?” Lu Yunzhou’s eyes were like an unfathomable abyss as they fell upon Shen Chaoxi’s deathly pale face.

He stared at her, as if willing an answer from her lips.

“I don’t know,” Shen Chaoxi answered with a cold laugh, lifting her chin.

“And even if I did, why should I tell you?”

“I’ve long heard of the infamous young mistress of W International—cruel, ruthless, shameless,” someone in the squad muttered. “After all she’s done, why would she ever give us the antidote?”

“Bah! Such a beautiful face, yet a heart as venomous as a snake’s,” another spat.

Shen Chaoxi remained unmoved. Given her status, now that she was in their hands, they would not kill her. She was still valuable. As the heiress of W International, she knew too many secrets.

Seeing her arrogance, her refusal to speak, Lu Yunzhou did not press her. Instead, he gave a subtle signal to his men.

At once, someone stepped forward with a silver case.

Shen Chaoxi’s eyes flickered. That case—

“Captain, why didn’t we think of that?” someone exclaimed.

“The drug she injected into our deputy captain is in that silver case. Maybe if we give her a dose, she’ll be willing to talk!”

Clever, she thought. They knew she would reveal nothing willingly—so they brought the same thing back.

If they injected her with the same substance, perhaps she would finally confess.

Her arm was seized, held fast. There was no escape. A long needle pierced her skin, drawing a bead of blood. In an instant, icy liquid flooded her veins.

The rough grip on her arm made her wince and close her eyes in pain.

A sharp hiss escaped her lips.

Lu Yunzhou’s eyes narrowed dangerously.