Xie Chi hadn’t eaten all day. Fujita Kiyono personally brought food and sat beside her, holding a bowl in front of her. “Eat.”

Xie Chi sat hugging her legs, motionless, her face turned toward the window, not looking at him once.

“Are you afraid I’ve drugged it to make you miscarry?” Fujita Kiyono lowered his hand. “I could force the child’s death—I don’t need such despicable methods. If you won’t abort, I won’t harm you.”

Seeing that Xie Chi remained completely unmoved, he felt sorry that she hadn’t eaten for so long and could only coax her gently. “If you eat properly, I can release one of your comrades.”

Xie Chi looked up at him.

“I’ll release that severely wounded female Communist first. If she doesn’t receive medical treatment soon, her wound will become infected and she won’t live much longer.” Fujita Kiyono lifted the porridge again. “There’s no drug in it, don’t worry.”

Xie Chi took the porridge and drank it in large gulps.

“Drink slowly. There are also pastries you like.” Fujita Kiyono picked up a small piece of pastry and held it to her lips. Xie Chi took it directly with her hands and ate.

He looked pleased and said with satisfaction, “Tell me whatever you want to eat and I’ll buy it for you.”

Xie Chi quickly finished the pastry and a bowl of porridge, swallowing everything hastily. “Alright, release someone.”

“Don’t rush.” Fujita Kiyono gazed at her affectionately. “Kiss me once, and I’ll release another one.”

Xie Chi remained silent.

“Afraid I won’t keep my word? Wanzhi, I do what I say.”

Xie Chi leaned over and kissed his shoulder, then quickly drew back. “You didn’t specify where to kiss.”

Fujita Kiyono laughed. “Fine.”

There was a phone in the room. He called the Red Mansion directly. “Release the two women and the child too. Send them home.”

He hung up and returned to sit beside Xie Chi. “This is a reward for you. As long as you obey and stay by my side, I can give you anything.”

“What about Koike—”

“Except him.” Fujita Kiyono didn’t want to hear that name from her mouth. He gripped her hand. “Don’t let him ruin this beautiful night.”

Xie Chi broke free from his grasp and continued sitting with her knees hugged.

“You don’t need to make such defensive gestures. I said I wouldn’t harm you.” Fujita Kiyono took out keys and unlocked her leg shackles. “There are still three people in prison. Do you want to save them?”

“What do you want me to do now?”

“Sleep with me tonight.”

“Impossible.”

“Just sleep—I’ll be on this side, you on that side.” Fujita Kiyono walked out, returning with a gun. “If you’re worried, you can keep this under your pillow.”

Fujita Kiyono stayed in Xie Chi’s room, lying obediently on the other side of the bed, staring intently at her back. In the middle of the night, he suddenly moved closer, wanting to hold her waist.

With a madman lying beside her, Xie Chi couldn’t sleep. At the slightest movement, she was ready to get up immediately.

Fujita Kiyono held her firmly.

Xie Chi reached under her pillow for the gun.

“Don’t move. Let me hold you for a while.”

“Release another person.”

Fujita Kiyono laughed softly. “Alright.”

Xie Chi stopped struggling and let him hold her.

Fujita Kiyono rested his face gently against her hair. “I can let you keep the child, but it must take my surname.”

“You’re dreaming.”

He wasn’t angry and kissed her hair. “Sleep. I’m going to dream now.”

…

At dawn, Fujita Kiyono went to the dungeon to check on He Feng. He hadn’t slept all night—his eyes were dark-rimmed and he looked listless.

He brought breakfast—two bags of pan-fried buns, still steaming hot.

He Feng had been hanging by his hands in chains all along. His wrists were now worn bloody and raw.

Fujita Kiyono took out a pan-fried bun and held it to He Feng’s lips. “You haven’t been given food, right? Very hungry, aren’t you?”

He Feng closed his eyes and didn’t move at all.

Fujita Kiyono withdrew his hand and ate it himself. “Before you starve to death, you’ll probably already be beaten to death by me, so hunger strikes are meaningless.” He swallowed the food and walked to the table to wipe his hands clean. Seeing a row of silver needles on the table, he said, “Wanzhi is a seamstress. Did she make clothes for you?”

He Feng didn’t respond at all.

Fujita Kiyono turned to look at him and casually picked up a needle, walking toward him. “Last night we slept together. She smells so good.”

He Feng’s jaw muscles tensed momentarily as he slowly opened his eyes.

Fujita Kiyono enjoyed his sinister gaze—it gave him particular satisfaction. He raised his hand to stick the needle toward his eye. He Feng stared at him without even blinking.

The needle tip stopped in front of his eyeball. Fujita Kiyono smiled. “You really aren’t afraid at all.” He lowered his hand. “Never mind, I won’t blind you yet. I need to keep your eyes to watch me being affectionate with her, watch me marry her, watch your bastard child call me father.”

“She won’t marry you.”

“Then let’s make a bet.” Fujita Kiyono tugged at the scarf covering his shoulders. “Your mother came to beg me last night. She’s an elder after all—I should show some respect. But she came too late. The surveillance personnel weren’t there, but the guards outside heard you shout ‘I am Chinese.'” Fujita Kiyono frowned slightly. “My people have been investigating you. Your nearly twenty years in China have been too clean. And I’ve discovered that wherever you appear, there are always intelligence leaks of various sizes. I’ve been wondering—perhaps you’re not Koike Ryuji at all. After so many years apart, maybe even Mrs. Koike can’t tell for sure, or perhaps she’s helping you conceal something.”

“I’m your father.”

Fujita Kiyono shook his head and laughed, walking to He Feng’s side to look at his suspended slender hands. “This attitude is good too. If you confessed easily, how could I torture you?” He gripped He Feng’s middle finger and thrust the needle straight through. He Feng curled his hand in pain. Fujita Kiyono excitedly straightened it out. “You’re still afraid of pain! They say ten fingers are connected to the heart—how does this feel?”

…

After Fujita Kiyono left, Xie Chi finally dozed off for a while. She’d only been asleep briefly when he stumbled back through the door. Just as he was about to lie on top of her, Xie Chi dodged away, seeing blood on his sleeves. “What did you go do?”

Fujita Kiyono lay on the bed, staring eerily at the ceiling. “Who is A’Zhi?”

Xie Chi’s heart trembled.

“I gave him hallucinogens.” Fujita Kiyono looked at her. “He called A’Zhi eleven times, and He Shan three times.”

He gripped her wrist. “A’Zhi is you, isn’t it?”

Xie Chi forcefully shook off his hand.

Fujita Kiyono grabbed her neck and pressed her onto the bed. “Then who is He Shan? Who is He Shan?”

“You’ll never know who he is in this lifetime.”

…

A bucket of cold water was poured down, and He Feng regained consciousness again.

Fujita Kiyono dragged Xie Chi in front of him. “Look, Wanzhi, look at your sweetheart. In this condition, do you still like him?”

He Feng’s hands and feet were chained, his body covered in wounds, his head hanging low. Xie Chi couldn’t describe him as wretched—on the contrary, he stood tall and proud, supremely dignified.

Xie Chi broke free from Fujita Kiyono and rushed over, but afraid of touching his wounds, she dared not embrace him.

He Feng looked at her with drooping eyes, his voice hoarse and exhausted. “Fool, you were finally rescued—how did you get captured again?”

Xie Chi used her sleeve to wipe the cold water drops from his face. “You shouldn’t have saved me.”

Fujita Kiyono couldn’t stand their tender display. He had people pull Xie Chi away and press her into a chair behind them.

He Feng stared fiercely at the two men restraining her. “I’ll kill you all.”

Fujita Kiyono sneered. “What will you kill with? You can barely save yourself.” He sat to one side playing with pliers. “I’ll ask you once more—when did you collude with the Communists? What’s your relationship with Asparagus?”

He Feng looked straight at Xie Chi, his eyes full of laughter. “I am Asparagus. I was the one transmitting that night, but when I was discovered, we found a human trafficker as a scapegoat to give to you.”

“No, no!”

Fujita Kiyono signaled for one of the ruffians to gag her. Xie Chi’s mouth was covered, unable to speak a word.

“What about Cuckoo?”

“Cuckoo?” He Feng snorted with laughter. “The one you knocked down the slope the day before yesterday—he was Cuckoo.”

Fujita Kiyono knew he was talking nonsense. “Fine, you won’t live anyway. All I want is your life, regardless of who you are.” He glanced at Xie Chi. “When did you get together with her?”

“Summer.” He Feng answered honestly. “Once when she was drunk, I forced myself on her and took some photos.”

Though Fujita Kiyono didn’t believe him, he still angrily punched him in the face.

He Feng spat out blood and laughed mockingly. “She was afraid of the photos being leaked and losing face, so under my coercion, she slept with me several more times. Didn’t expect her to get pregnant.” He Feng looked provocatively at his face. “Your girlfriend is really something—after sleeping with her once, I wanted a second time.”

Fujita Kiyono exhaled heavily. “Someone come.”

Two ruffians walked in.

“I heard you Chinese have a profession called eunuch.” He rubbed his face hard, looking at him numbly. “Castrate him.”

The two ruffians immediately walked over—one held a knife, the other went to undo his pants.

Xie Chi struggled desperately, biting the hand covering her mouth. When the man loosened his grip in pain, she broke free and stumbled forward, kneeling before Fujita Kiyono. “Just kill him—kill him.”

Fujita Kiyono looked down at her. “You’re afraid.”

“Don’t beg him.” He Feng’s pants had fallen down, exposing his loose boxer shorts underneath. “Even if I lose my manhood, I’m still a real man.”

Unable to get through with pleading, Xie Chi rushed over and pushed the two men away, holding He Feng tightly. “Get away, get—”

Fujita Kiyono gritted his teeth. “Pull her away.”

“Yes.”

The two ruffians immediately went to drag her.

Xie Chi used all her strength to cling to He Feng, even biting his clothes with her teeth. Tears fell uncontrollably, mixing with the blood on his clothes, smearing her face with dark red blood.

The wounds on his body were rubbed to piercing pain. Just as she was about to be pulled away, He Feng used his last strength to ignore the excruciating pain and violently yanked down the right hand chain. The nail fastened to the iron plate fell off directly, and the chain hung down with his hand, swaying at her lower back.

They were clinging too tightly—the two Japanese ruffians couldn’t separate them no matter what, breaking out in sweat from the effort.

In the dragging and pulling, He Feng looked at the woman crying in his arms. “Don’t cry, especially not in front of devils. What did I tell you—Chinese people can shed blood but not tears. Did you forget?” He Feng roared fiercely, “Don’t cry!”

Xie Chi immediately stopped her tears and gasped heavily in his arms.

He Feng kissed the tip of her ear and whispered, “I won’t survive. Find a chance to kill me.”

“Move aside.” Fujita Kiyono had reached the peak of rage. He picked up a whip and lashed it at them. He Feng turned around, shielding Xie Chi behind him, taking the whip solidly on his back, immediately tearing flesh from bone.

Another lash fell. He Feng couldn’t hold up and collapsed directly on top of her.

Fujita Kiyono held the whip, walking in circles helplessly with his face tilted up. After calming down, he drew a knife from one of the Japanese ruffians’ waists, about to slash at He Feng.

“Stop!”

A deep, powerful voice came from outside. Then a military officer who appeared to be about forty entered—upright in stature, wearing a yellow robe, with commanding presence.

Seeing him, Fujita Kiyono immediately stood at attention and saluted. “General Koike.”

It was Koike Taichi. His military rank demanded Fujita Kiyono’s deference.

Koike Taichi pressed his lips tightly, looking at his younger brother’s bloody back, his expression dark. “Internal strife between our own people over a Chinese woman—if word gets out, it’s not just embarrassing for our two families! Since it started because of her, then kill her.” Koike Taichi drew his gun. “Ryuji, move aside.”

He Feng certainly wouldn’t move.

Fujita Kiyono knew this major general’s ruthlessness and feared he might do something harmful to Xie Chi. “General, there’s been a misunderstanding.”

“What misunderstanding? Even if it’s treason, it should be judged by a court. You’ve set up private punishment and beaten him like this—are you seeking personal revenge or forcing a confession? Then I must ask Colonel Fujita, what have you learned from your interrogation?” Koike Taichi walked two steps inward. “After such a beating, any personal grudge should be settled. Colonel Fujita, you’ve abused your military authority too much…”

Xie Chi saw Koike Taichi through his shoulder, as well as Fujita Kiyono with his head deeply bowed under the scolding. She said hoarsely to He Feng, “Someone has come to save you.”

He Feng was already running a fever, and after taking several heavy lashes, his mind was somewhat unclear. His chin rested against Xie Chi’s neck, still holding her tightly.

“You told me to try hard to live, not to give up the last hope. Alright?”

After finishing his lecture to Fujita Kiyono, Koike Taichi walked over and pointed his gun at Xie Chi. He Feng covered her head, hiding her deeper.

“Ryuji! If you don’t release this woman now, I’ll throw her into a comfort station.”

Only then did He Feng recognize Koike Taichi’s voice. He turned his face toward him. “You wouldn’t dare!”

“See if I dare!”

…