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TRIGGER WARNING
This chapter contains slight gore/ sensitive content
Don't read it if you are sensitive!
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Xia Fei woke up groggily, the remnants of last night's drinks still clouding his mind.
He groaned, rubbing his temples as the light from the large window spilled into the room, casting long shadows across the pristine penthouse.
He wasn't surprised to find himself back here againâVein always had a way of bringing him home, one way or another.
As he sat up, his eyes drifted toward the sleek glass dining table. Sitting there neatly was another breakfast, the same as yesterday. Fresh fruit, perfectly folded eggs, and a cup of black coffee still steaming faintly.
A small note lay beside it:
"Eat. Don't overthink last night."
Xia Fei sighed, picking up the note and staring at it for a moment before folding it carefully and placing it aside. He knew he should probably be annoyedâVein tracking him down and dragging him back like a lost pet-but instead, he felt...
thankful.
Despite everything, Vein always made sure he was taken care of. Even when Xia Fei drank himself into oblivion, Vein had been there, ensuring he didn't wake up in some alleyway.
"Guess I owe him one," Xia Fei muttered, sitting down to eat.
The food was perfect, as always. Too perfect. Xia Fei took slow bites, letting his mind wander. A small smile tugged at his lips. For all his cold control, Vein did know him well.
As he was finishing his meal, something strange caught his attention. A sharp, pungent smell wafted through the air, cutting through the usual cleanliness of the penthouse.
Xia Fei wrinkled his nose. The smell was... wrong. Acrid, thick, and unmistakably rotten.
"What the hell..." he mumbled, standing up and sniffing the air.
It was faint, but there was no mistaking itâlike decayed meat left out far too long.
His eyes instinctively darted toward the far end of the penthouse, where the infamous secret room was located.
Normally, it was locked tight, secured with a biometric scanner only Vein could access. Xia Fei had long been curious about what lay behind that door, but Vein always brushed off his questions with vague answers.
Today, however, something was different.
The door was open.
Xia Fei's heart skipped a beat. His pulse quickened as he took slow, cautious steps toward it. Every part of his brain screamed at him to turn back, to leave it alone, but his curiosity was stronger.
With trembling fingers, he pushed the door fully open. The smell hit him like a tidal wave. Xia Fei gagged, his stomach twisting violently as he staggered back a step. The stench of death, thick and overwhelming, curled around him like an invisible hand.
And then he saw it.
Dead Bodies. Everywhere.
The dimly lit room was filled with tables, the surfaces covered in blood-stained sheets, instruments glinting in the low light. Some of the bodies were fresh-too fresh-skin pale and slick with drying blood. Others, however, had begun to decay, their flesh peeling away to reveal sickening glimpses of muscle and bone. Some corpses were torn open, hollowed out, their organs missing entirely.
Xia Fei stumbled forward in horror, his wide eyes scanning the grotesque scene.
Familiar faces stared back at him with frozen expressions of terror. He recognized some of them-Vein's business partners.
People he had met briefly in passing, shaking their hands, exchanging pleasantries.
And now... they were nothing but lifeless husks.
The bile rose in his throat as he staggered closer to one of the tables. The man's torso was slit wide open, ribs cracked apart with surgical precision. The inside was hollow-every organ carefully removed, as if dissected by a skilled hand.
Xia Fei's breath hitched. "Oh... my god..."
His hands trembled violently as he turned his head, his gaze landing on the far wall.
Photos lined the space-some of potential targets, others of people already lying here, their images crossed out with thick red ink. There were diagrams, notes scribbled in Vein's meticulous handwriting, detailing every aspect of their lives.
It wasn't just murder.
It was fucking diabolical.
Suddenly, the pieces clicked together in Xia Fei's mind-the constant surveillance, the way Vein always seemed one step ahead, the strange way his business partners disappeared.
Vein wasn't just a businessman.
He was a monster. A murderer. A psycho. A freak.
A low, ragged breath escaped Xia Fei's lips as his entire body trembled. He staggered backward, his hands gripping the doorframe for support. He felt like he was drowning, his mind reeling with the horrifying realization of what Vein truly was.
"This... this can't be real," he whispered, his vision blurring with panic.
And then, from behind him, a familiar voice broke through the suffocating silence.
"You shouldn't have seen this."
Xia Fei froze. His heart hammered in his chest, his blood running cold as he turned slowly. Vein stood in the doorway, his expression unreadable, though there was something dangerous lurking in his eyes.
Xia Fei swallowed hard. "What... what the hell is this, Vein?"
Vein stepped inside slowly, his gaze never leaving Xia Fei's. "It's exactly what it looks like."
Xia Fei's breath came out in short gasps.
"You-you kill people? Your so-called Business partners? And you- what do you even do with them?"
Vein's lips curved into something that wasn't quite a smile. "They're nothing but other criminals, Xia Fei. Loose ends. And loose ends need to be tied up."
Xia Fei shook his head, stumbling back further. "You're insane...'
Vein tilted his head slightly. "No. I'm careful."
Xia Fei felt like the walls were closing in on him. He looked around the room again, nausea curling in his gut. He had been living under the same roof as a killer. A serial killer. He wanted to run, to scream, to do anything, but his feet wouldn't move. His voice was trapped in his throat.
Vein watched him carefully, his eyes sharp, calculating. "I never wanted you to see this."
Xia Fei forced out a shaky breath. "Why? So you could keep pretending everything was normal? That you weren't a fucking psychopath?"
Vein stepped closer, and Xia Fei instinctively recoiled. But Vein simply sighed. "Because I didn't want you to worry."
Xia Fei let out a bitter laugh, half-crazed. "Too late for that."
Vein regarded him for a moment, then gently reached out, his hand brushing against Xia Fei's wrist. "Come on. Let's get you out of here."
Xia Fei yanked his hand away, eyes still wide with fear. "Don't touch me."
Vein didn't argue. He simply watched, his expression a mask of quiet control. "We'll talk about this later."
Xia Fei didn't want to talk. He wanted to forget. But deep down, he knew that was impossible now.
The truth was out.
And he wasn't sure what terrified him more âthe room full of corpses...
Or the man standing beside him.