He whispered into my ear, saying:

“Little impostor, it’s one thing to fool that old man.
But you won’t survive if you try to fool me.”

His dark eyes bore into mine, and a chill crawled up my spine, settling in my chest. The next words he spoke plunged me into an icy abyss:

“Did you know that Bian Ci has been dead for a long time?
I killed him myself.
Right here, I stabbed him.”

His finger traced small circles over my left chest through my shirt. My eyes widened, and my body began to tremble uncontrollably. Sensing my reaction, he seemed satisfied. He let go of me and turned to pick up a long, thick whip from the rack of torture instruments.

He softly said,
“My dear brother, now guess—will I let you live?”

---

10

Much later, my suspicions were confirmed—
This torture session was Wen Qingshan’s way of testing my identity.
Wen Yingjue was the executioner.
And Wen Qingshan, seated in a hidden chamber in the torture room, silently observed everything.

Even the slightest flaw in my story would have meant I’d never leave that room alive.

At that time, the only way I could survive was to convince him that I truly was Bian Ci.
And I had proof.

There was an old scar on my left chest.
I knew every detail about Bian Ci.
I could describe the entire assassination attempt he survived when he was eighteen.

That night, the target was originally Bian Ci’s mother, but he stumbled upon the scene by chance when he came home early. Cornered, Bian Ci was stabbed in the chest by a masked assassin.

Even professionals would find it difficult to poke holes in my story—I was telling about 90% of the truth.

And every part of my performance was meticulously planned.

But Wen Yingjue wouldn’t believe me that easily.
He wanted to extract the one flaw from my words.

He kept torturing me, using every method at his disposal.
Covered in blood and barely clinging to life, I hung by a thread.

Just before I lost consciousness, he injected me with something, forcing me to stay awake.
He whispered into my ear, trying to coax the truth from me, saying that the pain would stop if I just told him the truth.

My mind was on the verge of collapse.
He mixed up all his questions, repeating them over and over, trying to catch me off guard.

A sharp blade pressed against my throat—
One slip of the tongue, and I’d be dead on the spot.

He asked again, “Who are you?”

With great difficulty, I answered, “I’m Bian Ci.”

He kicked me hard in the stomach, and I swayed like a punching bag.
I thought he would continue, but suddenly, he stopped.

He just stood there, silently watching me.
In the dimly lit torture room, the only sound was my ragged breathing.

This abrupt pause shattered my last ounce of composure.
And then, all the pain I had been suppressing exploded in my body.
My vision blurred with stars, and my ears buzzed as intense pain shot through me.
My thoughts became a chaotic mess.

And at that moment,
He asked me another question.

He asked, “Was the person who saved you Jiang Ying?”

It was a trap, perfectly timed for when I was disoriented.
This question had not come up before, and it was particularly sinister.

According to the insider’s reports, Bian Ci had been saved by Wen Qingshan’s secret subordinate, Jiang Ying.

But in reality—
The information the police received was deliberately leaked by Wen Qingshan himself.

The real informant had been killed before they could send out the message.

Back then, Jiang Ying was using an alias. He had told Bian Ci his name was Zhou Yong.

---

11

I had studied the Wen family’s files in detail.

In his early days, Wen Qingshan was just a debt collector working for Boss Jiang.
But Boss Jiang’s only daughter fell for him.
From then on, Wen Qingshan’s career soared.

After Boss Jiang died, no one could stop Wen Qingshan from rising to power.
He climbed over the corpses of Jiang family members to seize control.

Before she died, Boss Jiang’s daughter sought revenge on Wen Qingshan by sending assassins after Bian Ci’s mother.
When his beloved “white moonlight” died, Wen Qingshan went mad.
That’s when the bloody internal conflict within the Wen family began.

Wen Qingshan was too preoccupied with his power struggle to care about Bian Ci, so he assigned Jiang Ying to guard him—
Partly to protect him, and partly to imprison him.

Jiang Ying had long pledged loyalty to Wen Qingshan.
His assistance gave Wen Qingshan the upper hand in his family’s brutal infighting.

But things went wrong—
Wen Qingshan walked into a trap and was ambushed, forcing Jiang Ying to leave Bian Ci’s side to rescue him.

During his absence, the Jiang family seized the opportunity to abduct Bian Ci.
From that point on, Bian Ci disappeared without a trace.

---

12

Wen Qingshan’s next encounter with Bian Ci was purely coincidental.
At the time, his men intercepted a shipment at sea.
And I was part of that shipment.

My story was rather unfortunate.
After being sold off by the Jiang family at a low price to a scam syndicate, my poor performance almost got me sold for parts.
But thanks to my appearance, I became a part of this shipment.

And fate brought me back into Wen Qingshan’s hands.

But Wen Qingshan wasn’t someone who would easily believe my story.
He always doubted my identity.

He suspected I wasn’t really Bian Ci.
He even suspected I was an undercover cop.

But he couldn’t find any evidence that I was communicating with the police.
Because from the moment I saw Wen Qingshan, I had ceased all contact with my handler.

I was waiting.
Waiting for this test.

---

13

My response still contained some truth.
I told him that the person who saved me was Zhou Yong.

---

14

That answer saved my life.

But the torment had only just begun.

Wen Yingjue held grudges.
During the interrogation, I had cursed him in my delirium.

I had shouted at him, daring him to kill me, and threatening to take his life if he didn’t.

Because of those words, he decided to train me into a dog.

When the torture ended, he gently wiped the blood from my face. As he did, he smiled and said:

“Plenty of people want to kill me—you’ll have to get in line.
But you’ve got a tough spirit.
I’d love to see how long it takes to turn that tough spirit into a loyal dog.”

I wanted to curse him again, but I no longer had the strength.