Ice skates forward, regardless of east or west.

1

pain.

It wasn't a dull ache, nor a sharp pain.

It was a bloody, excruciating pain, as if the bones were being ripped apart from the depths.

Gu Xidong clenched a tattered towel tightly, his eyes were bloodshot, veins bulged on his forehead, and cold sweat streamed down his hairline like a small stream.

His left leg was forcibly pried open and pressed onto the ice at an extremely cruel angle by Ling Wuwen.

"Your hip and knee joints are almost stuck together."

Ling Wuwen's voice was as calm as an emotionless surgical machine, and her slender, fair hands were pressing on Gu Xidong's most vulnerable wound with astonishing force.

"If we don't force it open, you can forget about ever doing a spinning motion again in your life."

"Uh..." Gu Xidong let out a beast-like growl from deep in his throat.

He wanted to kick the woman away, but all his strength had been drained by the tearing pain he had just experienced.

He looked at her.

The woman knelt on the ice, still wearing her expensive beige coat, which was now covered in icy water and blood.

Her face was expressionless, her focus so intense it was as if she were repairing not a person but a shattered piece of porcelain.

That kind of focus sent a chill down Gu Xidong's spine.

This is not the mindset a normal person should have. Even the most dedicated doctor would hesitate for a moment when faced with a patient's screams.

But she didn't. She even enjoyed the process, enjoying the power to control his pain.

"You... are a madman." Gu Xidong spat out the towel from his mouth, his voice hoarse.

"Likewise." Ling Wuwen didn't even raise his head, but suddenly pulled hard with his fingers.

"ah--!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the empty factory building.

Gu Xidong felt as if his leg bones had been forcibly ripped off.

He suddenly threw a punch that whistled through the air, striking Ling Wuwen's temple.

He used all his strength without holding back.

However, Ling Wuwen didn't even blink.

Just as the fist was about to touch her skin, she merely tilted her head slightly, and the powerful punch, enough to knock down a bull, grazed her cheek and slammed into the ice.

She didn't even look at the punch; she was only looking at the results of her own work.

"Okay." She released her hand as if she had completed a trivial task. "Let's stretch a bit."

Gu Xidong lay sprawled on the ice, panting heavily, his body drenched in cold sweat. He tried to move his left leg.

The excruciating pain persisted, but the despairing stiffness had vanished. A long-lost tingling sensation of blood circulation returned from my legs.

This shocked him even more.

For the first time, his eyes held genuine curiosity as he looked at the woman.

This woman is not only skilled in medicine but also in martial arts.

Her dodge was clean and precise, a reaction that could only be achieved through long-term professional training.

Who is she?

"Take off your clothes," Ling Wuwen suddenly ordered.

"What did you say?" Gu Xidong thought he had misheard.

"I said take off your clothes."

Ling Wuwen stood up and walked to the black leather suitcase, taking out a set of thinner silver needles and a bottle of clear medicinal wine. "Next is to promote blood circulation and remove blood stasis. Your muscles have severely atrophied, acupuncture alone is not enough, you need to rub them open with medicinal wine."

Her tone was flat, as if she were saying, "The weather is nice today."

Gu Xidong squinted. He sat up slowly, checking the buttons on his soaked shirt. His movements were slow, but his eyes never left Lin Wuwen's face.

He was testing her limits.

However, Ling Wuwen's performance disappointed him. Or rather, it made him more wary.

Facing a muscular, shirtless man with a well-defined physique, her gaze remained as calm as a stagnant pool, devoid of any emotion or even the slightest embarrassment. She simply stared coldly at him as if he were a lifeless piece of wood.

"Have you seen enough, Dr. Ling?" Gu Xidong unbuttoned the last button and threw his shirt aside, revealing a body full of explosive power yet covered in scars.

"If you feel awkward, you can turn around first," he provocatively said.

Ling Wuwen picked up a cotton ball, soaked it in medicinal wine, and walked behind him without answering.

The next second, she slapped the medicinal wine, which carried a chilling and spicy smell, hard onto his back.

"Hiss..." Gu Xidong gasped.

Then, her seemingly delicate hands began to rub his stiff back muscles with tremendous force.

That's not a massage, that's "scraping the bone".

The spiciness of the medicinal wine, combined with her rough handling, made Gu Xidong feel as if his back was being roasted on a fire or gnawed by countless ants.

"You used to be a veterinarian?" Gu Xidong gritted his teeth and squeezed out the question.

"A bit more advanced than this." Ling Wuwen's technique didn't stop; in fact, the force increased. "I specialize in handling 'scrap'."

2

Scrapped goods.

This word felt like a needle pricking Gu Xidong's heart.

He suddenly grabbed her wrist from behind.

Her wrists were thin and her bones were soft, but her pulse beat exceptionally strong.

"What exactly do you want from me?" Gu Xidong turned his head and stared intently into her eyes. "You think you can make me submit with these kinds of methods? Ling Wuwen told me what kind of suffering I, Gu Xidong, haven't endured during my three years of hardship. What is this?"

Ling Wuwen leaned forward slightly as his wrist was grabbed, instantly closing the distance between them.

She didn't struggle, but just looked down at the hand that was gripping her wrist.

The hand had distinct knuckles, bulging veins on the back of the hand, and ice chips and bloodstains remained under the fingernails.

Then she did something that Gu Xidong didn't expect.

She reached out her other hand and gently placed it on the back of his hand.

It's not about pushing it away, but rather... covering it.

Her fingers were icy cold, and the touch felt like a slippery snake, causing Gu Xidong to subconsciously loosen his grip.

"Gu Xidong," she looked into his eyes, her voice low and seductive, "what you want is the same as what I want."

"We're all waiting for an opportunity, a chance to peel off the filth that's been thrown at us, along with their skin."

"The pain you're experiencing now is so you'll remember how you crawled back from hell, step by step."

"Only pain can keep you alive."

After she finished speaking, she gently withdrew her hand.

Gu Xidong was stunned.

He looked into her eyes, which appeared exceptionally deep under the lamplight, and saw a turmoil of hatred and resentment that mirrored his own.

At that moment, he actually felt a sense of... resonance.

This woman might really understand him.

3

Ling Wuwen ignored her and turned to walk towards the ice skate box placed by the ice rink.

That was the only personal item she brought with her today.

She bent down and opened the somewhat worn-looking black ice skate box.

Gu Xidong's gaze inadvertently swept over them.

Then his breath hitched.

He saw a corner of a yellowed photograph in the inner lining of the ice skate box.

The photo shows a young man wearing a national team uniform making an extremely arrogant gesture in front of the camera.

That was... his senior brother.

He was also the one who introduced him to Ling Wufeng back then.

He was also the "mentor" who was the first to stand up and criticize him after the "black swan event" occurred, and then completely disappeared.

Gu Xidong's eyes instantly sharpened.

He stared intently at the photograph, his heart feeling as if it were being gripped tightly by an invisible hand.

Ling Wuwen seemed oblivious to his odd behavior. She took out a whetstone from the box and began to slowly and methodically sharpen a spare ice knife.

"Click...click..."

The sound of the whetstone rubbing against the ice skates was particularly jarring in the silent ice rink, like the Grim Reaper sharpening his blade.

As Gu Xidong watched her retreating figure, that aloof and slender silhouette appeared to him like a bottomless iceberg.

He always thought she was Ling Wufeng's sister, which is why she came to seek revenge on him.

But he was wrong.

If there's a photo of her senior in her box...

What is her relationship with her senior brother?

Was she approaching him to help her brother get revenge, or for... some other purpose?

An even bolder and more terrifying guess emerged in Gu Xidong's mind.

His Adam's apple bobbed as he looked at the gleaming ice blade in Ling Wuwen's hand.

This woman was a million times more dangerous than he had imagined.

She wasn't there to help him get revenge.

Perhaps she came to offer him as a sacrifice to this larger conspiracy.

Gu Xidong slowly clenched his fist, his nails digging deep into his palm.

Since you want to play...

Let's see who is whose pawn.

4

Ling Wuwen finished sharpening her knife, stood up, and turned around, just in time to meet Gu Xidong's unfathomable eyes.

She seemed pleased with his reaction.

Instead of getting the ice skates, she picked up the acupuncture kit next to her and walked towards him.

She walked up to him, knelt down, and handed him the thickest silver needle.

"Take it," she said.

"What are you doing?" Gu Xidong squinted.

"Next acupoints," Ling Wuwen pointed to a spot on his back, his tone as calm as if discussing the weather, "areas I can't reach. You can apply the acupuncture."

Gu Xidong looked at the silver needle in his hand and then at her face, which appeared particularly unfathomable in the shadows.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment.

She made this "useless man" stick needles into her vital areas.

Is this trust?

Or is it another, more sophisticated form of provocation?

A cold smile slowly curved Gu Xidong's lips.

He stood up, shirtless, and walked step by step behind her.

He looked down at her slender neck, and if he wanted, the silver needle in his hand could pierce her carotid artery in an instant.

She seemed completely unguarded.

Gu Xidong's fingers gently stroked her back, feeling the lines of her spine through her clothes.

"Ling Wuwen," he whispered in her ear, his voice hoarse and dangerous, "aren't you afraid I'll miss the mark with this needle?"

Ling Wuwen's body stiffened slightly, but then she actually chuckled softly.

The laughter was soft, carrying a faint hint of... anticipation.

"If you miss," she said without turning around, simply surrendering her body completely to him, "that means you're even more cowardly than I thought."

cowardly.

These two words struck Gu Xidong's heart like a heavy hammer.

His eyes flickered intensely as he looked at her completely relaxed and unguarded back.

The needle tip gleamed coldly under the light.

The next second—

"what!"

A piercing scream shattered the silence of the ice rink.

With a swift movement, Gu Xidong precisely inserted the silver needle into the acupoints on her back.

However, Ling Wuwen's cries were not due to pain.

The cry carried a strange, liberating pleasure.

She trembled slightly, and then she slowly turned her head to look at him with an extremely intoxicated and crazy gaze, a bewitching smile playing on her lips.

"Yes...that's it..."

"A little deeper..."

"Let me experience that... feeling of being worse than dead..."

Looking at her exquisitely beautiful face, contorted with pain and pleasure, Gu Xidong felt a chill run from the soles of his feet straight to the top of his head.

this woman.

She's not crazy.

She was a drug addict.

She has a morbid fascination with pain.

Gu Xidong looked at the silver needle in his hand and then at her eyes, which were shining with longing in the darkness.

He suddenly realized that he might have opened a door he shouldn't have.

In this game of revenge and redemption, who exactly is the one who... "medicine" for whom?