I blacked out completely.

15

Wen Yingjue had all sorts of methods for taming me like a dog.

At my lowest point, I even wondered if I had truly become a tail-wagging, begging dog.

Then, one day, on a whim, he said he wanted to take me to “broaden my horizons.”

We went into the mountains.

There was a patch of overgrown, barren land.

He asked if I knew what kind of place this was.

Seeing my confusion, he chuckled softly and then told me.

It was a graveyard for traitors buried alive by the Wen family.

In shock, I was speechless, just staring at the lush vegetation growing on the ground.

I thought to myself, This is insane.

Then he added:

“Did you really think there were bodies buried underneath?”

“I was just teasing you.”

Just as I was about to withdraw my shocked expression, he continued calmly:

“The traitors of the Wen family wouldn’t get such a good treatment.”

“Traitors only deserve—”

“To be chopped up and fed to the dogs, or cut into pieces and thrown into the sea for the fish.”

This time, he didn’t care about my reaction.

He tugged on the leash and pulled me along.

We walked in silence.

Until we came upon a small mound of earth.

In front of it, a small, nameless memorial plaque stood.

Wen Yingjue led me over and spoke:

“Come, see your savior.”

The owner of this grave was Jiang Ying.

Wen Yingjue told me that Jiang Ying had originally been a servant his mother had brought from the Jiang family, but he secretly served as a dog for Wen Qingshan.

As he spoke, he lit a cigarette and placed it into the earth in front of the grave.

The grayish smoke rose from the cigarette and was soon blown away by the wind.

“But dogs who don’t listen to their masters don’t live long.”

Wen Yingjue told me that after Jiang Ying helped Wen Qingshan rise to power, he started having ambitions of his own.

He was no longer content to just be a dog.

He stopped obeying Wen Qingshan’s orders.

“Do you know how he died?”

Wen Yingjue tilted his chin toward me, and his underlings forced me to kneel on the ground.

He took a gun and clicked off the safety.

The muzzle was pointed right at my forehead.

“Like this—”

With a bang, a gunshot rang out.

“His head exploded, just like that.”

The bullet flew past the side of my temple in an instant.

And after that shot, it wasn’t long before everyone in the Wen family knew one thing.

Wen Yingjue had once again successfully trained a well-behaved dog.

16

After we returned from the safe house, Wen Yingjue made me move into his villa.

Our relationship became ambiguous.

During the day, I was still his lackey, his minion.

At night, it was more than that.

But he didn’t come back to the villa often.

When he wasn’t there, I slept in the guest room.

That night was no different.

However, I was woken up in the middle of the night.

Wen Yingjue had returned.

The noise wasn’t loud, but I was a light sleeper.

He was downstairs discussing matters with his confidants, and I was eavesdropping behind the door.

After a while, when there didn’t seem to be anything important being said, I got bored and crawled back into bed.

I started pretending to sleep.

I knew he would come to find me himself.

Half an hour later.

He opened the door to my room.

Soon, the scent of body wash wafted into the air.

Something warm and damp gently brushed against my lips.

I stayed completely still, continuing to feign sleep.

He was patient, but also mischievous.

A hand lightly traced along my cheek.

Then slowly moved down my neck.

Finally, it lingered at my collarbone.

His calloused fingers roamed there.

It tickled a bit.

Suddenly, he leaned close to my ear.

His breath was hot, and my ears started to burn.

“Little fool.”

He chuckled smugly.

“Still pretending?”

I opened my eyes, pushing him away with my right hand, complaining that he had disturbed my sleep.

But he grabbed my wrist.

He said, naughty dogs need to be punished.

I saw the belt he was holding in his other hand.

So, I obediently stretched out my left hand as well.

I said, “Brother, then punish me.”

His eyes darkened, and his smile deepened.

I thought he was going to tie my hands.

But he didn’t.

In a hoarse voice, he said:

“Not your hands tonight.”

“Tonight, brother wants to see—”

“How well a dog with bound legs can behave.”

17

The night was long.

The night wind blew through the curtains, and the deep blue sky slowly unfolded.

Stars dotted the sky.

I looked at them, thousands of stars swaying, filling my eyes.

The whole world seemed to be sinking into a stormy sea of stars.

The waves surged, lifting me high and then throwing me down hard.

I thought I was going to drown in that sea.

But someone wouldn’t let me escape.

He kissed the back of my neck, mischievously silencing me.

He said, “Beg me, and I’ll let you go.”

But I knew that begging him wouldn’t work.

Wen Yingjue was a liar through and through.

He liked to trick people into begging him, only to make things worse.

I had learned that well enough during the three months in the safe house.

I turned my head and called him a liar.

He covered my mouth with his hand, scolding me in a low voice, saying that good dogs don’t curse.

When the tears fell, he pulled me into his arms, holding me tightly.

His warm breath was quick and hot against my ear.

He asked me in a low voice, “Are you about to die?”

I bit my lower lip, refusing to answer him.

At that moment, my soul was struggling in the abyss.

I was about to die.

A painful death.

18

Sometimes, human emotions get confused and distorted.

Physical pleasure, accompanied by a thousandfold spiritual torment.

Pleasure and pain are both forms of torture.

In the end, they drive you mad or destroy you.

But there was no turning back for me.

I could only walk this dark path to the end.

19

Under Wen Yingjue’s control, I started out as a watchdog.

At first, he dumped me in some godforsaken place, making me guard the door.

I stayed there for almost six months.

I played my part as a loyal watchdog for half a year.

He was pleased.

So, he promoted me to be his lackey.

But he never let me handle important tasks. The people and matters I could get close to were limited.

My original plan was to work my way up from a lackey.

To slowly rise to the rank of his trusted confidant.

I never thought this path would veer so far off course.

After spending so much time with him, I more or less understood that Wen Yingjue’s preference wasn’t for women.