After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

The sound of bones dislocating was particularly jarring in the quiet ward.

Xiaobai let out a muffled groan. Her slender right wrist was dislocated, and her entire arm instantly lost all sensation.

Zhu Xun Chuan's eyes were cold and sharp. He didn't waste any words, and his left hand deftly folded and released the five fingers.

The force was controlled with extreme precision. The transparent glass medicine bottle detached from Xiaobai's palm, drew a very short parabola in the air, and landed steadily in Zhu Xunchuan's large left palm.

The deadly cyanide crisis has been averted.

Xiao Bai's beautiful peach blossom eyes were filled with astonishment.

She couldn't understand. This advanced nano-neural blockade agent was the organization's latest forbidden drug, capable of severing neuronal conduction in an adult within three seconds. She was clearly standing above the air vent, watching Zhu Xun Chuan inhale the gas, watching him fall back onto the bed and fall into a deep coma.

Why was he able to wake up? Why was he able to unleash such terrifying power?

There was no time to think. The instinct for survival and combat took over Xiaobai's body.

Despite her right hand being crippled, she didn't hesitate for a moment. Her left hand swiftly reached behind her back, and a completely black tactical dagger appeared in her grasp. The blade flipped, transforming into a streak of dark light, aimed straight for Zhu Xun Chuan's throat.

The movements were ruthless, targeting vital points.

Zhu Xun Chuan did not dodge. His tall and sturdy body was like a boulder rooted to the ground.

His right leg muscles tensed suddenly. The oversized hospital gown burst forth with astonishing power.

A fierce and unparalleled side kick, arriving first despite being behind.

"Bang!"

The instep struck Xiaobai's left wrist, where he was holding the knife, with pinpoint accuracy.

The tactical dagger flew out of his hand. The blade tumbled rapidly in mid-air and, with a "thud," embedded itself firmly in the heavy solid wood door next to him.

The cold weapon penetrated deep into the wood, the blade's end trembling violently and emitting a continuous echo.

Two moves. Xiao Bai lost all fighting power in both arms.

She was just about to use the traction of her tactical boots to pull back and create some distance when Zhu Xun Chuan's large hand, like a steel clamp, firmly locked around her slender neck.

Zhu Xunchuan used one arm to lift it upwards.

Little White's petite body was forcibly lifted up. Her feet were completely detached from the thick wool carpet, dangling helplessly in mid-air.

The tactical bodysuit accentuated her curvaceous figure. At this moment, faced with Zhu Xun Chuan's imposing height and absolute strength, this top female assassin on the dark web was like a rag doll that could be crushed at any moment.

On the cot to the left, Xia Wanying remained fast asleep. On the sofa to the right, Jiang Yao was completely unaware that she had just escaped death.

Inside the ward, only Zhu Xunchuan was standing, and Xiaobai was being held in mid-air.

"Who exactly are you?" Zhu Xun Chuan's voice was icy cold, his eyes flashing with murderous intent. "You've challenged my bottom line time and time again. Not only have you been stalking me, but now you dare to touch my woman right in front of me?"

He didn't give Xiaobai a chance to struggle or answer. He raised his other hand and roughly ripped off the black tactical mask from her face.

The face mask landed on the ground.

The dim, yellowish glow of the nightlight illuminated the face that had been hidden in the darkness.

It was a fair, delicate young face, yet it exuded an extreme sickness and stubbornness. The features were impeccable, especially those signature peach blossom eyes, which, even in the face of death, still carried a captivating allure.

Due to lack of oxygen, the girl's cheeks flushed an unusual red.

Zhu Xun Chuan's grip suddenly froze.

The killing intent in his eyes froze instantly. In its place came immense shock and astonishment.

He recognized that face.

More than just having seen it.

The floodgates of memory deep within the brain suddenly opened.

It was winter during the second semester of my junior year of high school. A blizzard, the worst in ten years, struck the Jiangnan region. The temperature plummeted to below minus ten degrees Celsius.

That evening, after self-study, he walked down a secluded and dilapidated old alley, intending to take a shortcut home.

The snow was falling heavily. Suddenly, a dark figure fell from the roof of a two-story bungalow and crashed heavily into the snowdrift at his feet.

She was a girl covered in blood.

The girl looked only sixteen or seventeen years old. She wore a thin blouse, and her body was covered with deep, bone-revealing knife wounds. The scalding blood almost melted the surrounding snow.

That was the first time Zhu Xun Chuan had meddled in someone else's business. He carried the dying girl to a nearby clinic and spent all his savings to pull her back from the brink of death.

When the girl woke up, she was like a wary lone wolf. Only after they became familiar with each other did she reveal her identity to Zhu Xun Chuan. She was an assassin secretly trained on the dark web. Her codename was White Crane.

That was her first assassination mission. She was betrayed, ambushed, and nearly lost her life.

Zhu Xun Chuan initially dismissed her as a rebellious teenager with severe adolescent delusions. It wasn't until a few days later, early one morning, that he found a letter beside his hospital bed. The girl had left without saying goodbye; the letter contained only a few lines, saying she was returning to her organization and going abroad.

This memory is too distant, and it has no connection with those online dating "fishponds" that followed.

This is why, even after searching his mind, Zhu Xun Chuan couldn't connect the code name "Xiao Bai" with the stubborn girl covered in blood from back then.

No wonder she could move freely in and out of the heavily guarded backstage area of ​​Peking University. No wonder she possessed counter-surveillance capabilities that even the Jiang family and Dinghe Group couldn't detect.

Because she's not your average yandere hacker. She's a real professional assassin.

Zhu Xun Chuan subconsciously loosened his grip by a third.

"It's you?" He frowned slightly, his gaze fixed on the familiar yet unfamiliar face. "Back then, you left a letter saying you were going abroad to return to the organization. How did you end up like this?"

The lack of oxygen caused Bai He's chest to heave violently. But when faced with Zhu Xun Chuan's questioning, she showed not the slightest fear.

Her hands, which had been dislocated and hanging limply, were now being forcibly raised at an extremely bizarre angle. Instead of trying to pry open the iron clamps that Zhu Xun Chuan was using to strangle her, she gently placed her hands on the back of Zhu Xun Chuan's hands.

The movements were extremely gentle, even carrying a hint of reverence.

She tilted her head slightly and rubbed her flushed cheeks against Zhu Xun Chuan's cold knuckles with lingering affection.

"Brother Chuan..." Bai He's voice was hoarse from the pressure on his vocal cords, but it was filled with an intense, almost overwhelming, infatuation. "Do you like this surprise?"

This morbid love, unrestrained even on the brink of life and death, instantly made the atmosphere in the ward absurd and eerie.

The trembling sound of a cold weapon piercing through wood still echoed in the silence.

Zhu Xun Chuan's strong chest and imposing physique completely enveloped the suspended white crane. Despite the overwhelming difference in strength, the white crane resembled a mad dog that had finally found its master, its eyes filled with nothing but pure submission and madness.

"I left without saying goodbye back then because I was too weak." Bai He's eyes welled up with tears, and Tao Hua's eyes shimmered with emotion. "If I couldn't even protect myself, how could I deserve to stay by your side?"

She suddenly turned her head, her gaze passing over Zhu Xun Chuan's shoulder, and fixed on Jiang Yao, who was fast asleep on the sofa. Her eyes, which had been tender and affectionate just a moment ago, instantly transformed into an undisguised, chilling killing intent.

"I returned to the organization. I crawled through piles of corpses for three years. I killed all the superiors who betrayed me back then and obtained the organization's highest authority. I finally became the sharpest blade. I thought I was finally qualified to come to you."

Bai He looked at Zhu Xun Chuan again, the murderous intent in her eyes fading, and tears slid down her cheeks, landing on the back of Zhu Xun Chuan's hand.

"But Brother Chuan, why? Why are you surrounded by so much irrelevant trash?" Her tone was as aggrieved as a child whose candy had been taken away. "That female tycoon who throws money around, this gangster girl covered in blood, and that clueless female celebrity... what right do they have to monopolize you?"

She laboriously raised a finger and pointed to the small glass vial containing cyanide on the ground.

"I'll get rid of them all for you, okay? Just one drop, and they'll shut up forever. From now on, you'll only have me in your world. I'll be more obedient than all of them combined."

A morbid possessiveness, accompanied by an extreme logic of violence. This is how the white crane expresses its love.

Zhu Xun Chuan's eyelids twitched as he listened to this explosive confession.

The impact of this top-tier battleground is far more absurd than business wars or shootouts. A ruthless female assassin travels all this way just to "clean house" for him?

He looked at the white crane's face, which was gradually turning purple due to lack of oxygen.

The fingers loosened.

The white crane, having lost its support, instantly collapsed. Zhu Xun Chuan reached out with his left hand, firmly embracing her slender waist and pulling her into his arms.

Bai He fell into that longed-for embrace, greedily inhaling Zhu Xun Chuan's scent. She even buried her face in Zhu Xun Chuan's broad chest, like a docile kitten.

Zhu Xunchuan looked down at the sickly girl in his arms.

"Clean house?" Zhu Xun Chuan rolled his eyes, a cold smile creeping onto his lips.

He grabbed Baihe's chin without hesitation, forcing her to raise her head.

"This isn't a surprise, it's a fucking scare!" Zhu Xun Chuan's tone was seven parts roguish and three parts helpless. "Are you out of your mind? Since you recognized me so early, couldn't you just come out and acknowledge me? Why did you have to go through all that trouble to drug me in the hotel and sleep with me? What were you after?"