Chapter 5

Chapter 5

The familiar face outside the peephole wore a smile for only a second before it began to contort.

Shen Wu took two steps back and grabbed the Silver Dagger her grandmother had left behind. The door lock turned softly from the outside and, inexplicably, opened. The woman wearing Song Zhilan’s face walked in, the skin on the side of her neck cracking open to reveal dark red patterns beneath.

“Don’t be nervous,” she said, still using Song Zhilan’s voice. “Lord Changye simply wishes to see you.”

Shen Wu didn’t waste words on her. She raised her hand and hurled the Silver Dagger.

The blade grazed the woman’s cheek, slicing a wound into her flesh that instantly charred black. The creature shrieked, finally revealing its true form as its teeth grew into jagged fangs. It lunged at her, but Shen Wu turned and ran. Just as she reached the stairwell, a powerful gust of wind swept in through the window.

A dark shadow landed, snapping the monster’s neck with a single kick.

Wen Jin stood before the shattered window frame. His suit jacket was still chilled by the morning air that had yet to thaw, making it clear he had rushed here the moment he woke up. When he looked back and saw that Shen Wu was unharmed, the coldness in his eyes dissipated slightly.

“I only slept for three hours,” he said. “And in that time, you managed to deliver yourself to Lu Changye’s doorstep.”

Before she could even catch her breath, Shen Wu slapped the diary against his chest. “You knew my family had these things all along, didn’t you?”

Wen Jin flipped through a few pages, his expression showing no surprise whatsoever.

“I knew.”

“Then why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because in every life, what you hate most is having others make decisions for you.”

Shen Wu choked on her words, momentarily silenced. Suddenly, Wen Jin reached out and lifted her scratched wrist. The cut wasn’t deep, but beads of blood rolled down the lines of her palm, excessively vivid. His eyes darkened instantly, and his Adam’s apple bobbed slowly.

“Don’t move,” he said.

Yet the more he suppressed his emotions, the more Shen Wu could sense the danger. The very air seemed to tighten. She suddenly thought of the line in her grandmother’s diary-‘He has never touched your blood’-and asked on a strange impulse, “Wen Jin, have you really never bitten me? Not even once?”

Wen Jin looked up. After a few seconds of silence, he suddenly pinned her against the wall.

His hand braced beside her ear, and when he leaned down, his nose nearly brushed against her neck. Shen Wu could hear her own heart racing erratically, and for the first time, she heard his breathing show signs of losing control.

“I have,” he said, his voice raspy. “A long time ago.”

“And then?”

“And then you died in my arms. I nearly burned the entire city to the ground.”

As soon as he said this, he seemed to be yanked back to his senses by something. He recoiled half a step and turned to leave. Before Shen Wu could react, she saw him gripping the window ledge, his knuckles white from the force-as if he were enduring a desire far more ferocious than pain.

For the first time, she understood. Wen Jin didn’t avoid touching her because he didn’t want to.

On the contrary, it was because he wanted to far too much.

And he was afraid that once he crossed that line, he would never be able to stop.