Chapter 2: A Heart-Wrenching Betrayal!

Yun Jin's gaze toward that figure grew increasingly frigid. She struggled slightly, attempting to rise from Qin Lin's embrace.

The hand holding her tightened, stiffening for a moment before struggling against her. It was as if the moment he let go, he would never be able to grasp her again. Then, she heard the person in his arms let out a soft sigh and ask, "Lin, do you love me?"

Qin Lin froze, a strange flicker passing through his eyes. "Silly girl, does that question even need an answer?"

"Then, let us kill him together. Then, we will be free."

Yun Jin left his embrace and stood before him. She turned back to give him a radiant smile, drew a dagger from her bosom, and stared coldly at the person seated in the high chair. "Die, or let us leave."

"Hehehe." The person in the seat let out a strange laugh. "So, you have indeed decided to betray me, my dear child."

The hoarse voice echoed through the empty hall, seemingly swirling in from all directions, carrying an indescribable chill and mockery. "Then, are you prepared to accept your punishment?"

Before the words had even finished falling, Yun Jin's entire body suddenly stiffened. The dagger fell from her hand, hitting the floor with a crisp metallic clang.

Her eyes widened, filled with utter disbelief and agonizing pain, as she turned her head to look at the person behind her.

Qin Lin withdrew the dagger and pulled a clean handkerchief from his pocket, wiping it meticulously.

He often carried a handkerchief because she loathed blood-stained hands; every time he returned from a mission, he would use it to wipe them clean.

Now, however, he was using the handkerchief to wipe away her blood. The movement was gentle and elegant, as if it were his most precious treasure, his most cherished lover.

In an instant, despair, pain, shock, and disbelief surged into her heart like a tide, overflowing from her eyes. She stumbled backward, wanting to get away from him—further and further away.

Blood flooded her back, having long since soaked through her combat gear, but since her clothes were black, the difference was impossible to see.

Qin Lin bowed toward the person in the seat. "Master, the traitor has been dealt with." His voice sounded as calm as ever.

"Hehehehehe..." The sinister laughter echoed through the hall. The person walked up to her, clapping their hands. "What a magnificent curtain call! My dear Yun Jin, this is the Gu I planted within you."

Yun Jin remembered. Back when they had just passed the trials to join the organization, that person had said with a smile: *I have planted a Gu inside each of your bodies. "So, never even think of betraying me."*

Gu. It was truly a Gu. Like a parasite, it had subtly seeped into her very marrow, waiting for the most critical moment to deliver a fatal blow from her softest spot.

Before her eyes, the image of that youth seemed to reappear—the one who had reached out his hand to her amidst a field of severed limbs and wreckage; the one who, when they faced a dead end, had disregarded his own safety to give her the hope of survival.

All of it had been an illusion.

She could no longer stand; she stumbled and collapsed onto the cold ground.

Qin Lin took a step forward. "Yun Jin."

Heh. Yun Jin looked at Qin Lin, a self-mocking smile spreading across her lips. On her paper-pale face, a speck of blood clung to the corner of her mouth, like a Manjusaka flower blooming quietly in the underworld.

She reached out to stop him. There was no love, no hatred, and no pain in her eyes—only coldness.

Qin Lin stood rooted to the spot, unable to take even another step.

Lying on the cold marble floor, Yun Jin closed her eyes. As the chill beneath her grew increasingly faint, the smile at the corners of her mouth became even more vivid.

"You saved my life once; now, I am returning it to you. From this moment on, you and I have nothing to do with one another!"