Beneath the Golden Fox Maple

"They all had pretty eyes like yours. Too bad they didn't look more like you…you're the one that looks most like him."

This rambling was common and Li Zhengyu was well past trying to decipher them anymore. He knew the man was referencing the men and boys that had been killed. A string of indiscriminate murders plagued the Capital for five years now, and those were the crimes that were pinned on him. That was another reason it was useless to try and escape: he'd been branded a murderer. How could he survive anywhere?

"What should I do to you today?" The man's tone shifted, becoming soft and tender.

Like a lover's. Li Zhengyu's stomach roiled.

The man took away the hilt of his sword, which had been supporting Li Zhengyu's head, away. His hand replaced it by cupping Li Zhengyu's chin and his thumb brushed gently against Li Zhengyu's cheek. The act made Li Zhengyu shudder, and the man tightened his grip.