Chapter 13: Blood Debt

Some debts are written in blood, others in betrayal. But the most dangerous kind? Love.

Zhou didn't tell AiLi where he was going.

He left only a note: "Trust no one until I return."

But he already knew — there was no guarantee he would.

The coordinates led him to the edge of the South China Sea — an abandoned dockyard with rusted cranes and wind that howled like ghosts.

And there, waiting in the fog, stood a man.

Tall. Broad-shouldered. His face aged and worn, but unmistakable.

The man from the photo.

The man behind his nightmares.

The man who once held him when his mother turned away.

"Hello, Zhou."

Zhou didn't flinch.

"Who are you?"

The man stepped forward. "I'm the one your mother tried to erase. The one who knew what she was before you could walk."

He tossed a metal pendant to Zhou — shaped like a broken dragon.

Zhou caught it.

"I was your father's right hand," the man said. "But when he died, your mother cut me loose. Told the world I was dead. And raised you to be her weapon."

Zhou's voice was sharp. "Then why wait twenty years to come back?"

"Because now, she's gone. And now… you can finally see the truth."

Zhou's hand moved to his gun.

But the man smiled.

"I didn't bring you here to fight, Ning Zhou. I brought you here to make a deal."

Zhou narrowed his eyes. "What deal?"

And the man said words that froze his soul.

"I know where AiLi is."

Back in Shanghai, AiLi hadn't heard from Zhou in 30 hours.

She was pacing the penthouse when the power cut.

Again.

But this time — no window shattered.

This time, they walked in through the front door.

Six men.

Dressed in black.

The sigil of the Ash Crown burned into their gloves.

She ran for her weapon.

Too late.

The tranquilizer dart hit before she could scream.

And the last thing she heard was a voice like winter.

"Time to collect what was stolen from the fire."

She woke in chains.

The room smelled like smoke and old incense.

A girl stood in front of her — older, colder, familiar.

Lin Qian.

"Hello, little sister."

AiLi's lip bled where she'd bitten it. "This isn't how families talk."

"We're not a family," Lin Qian said calmly. "We're two branches of a broken sword."

"What do you want?"

Lin Qian smiled.

"I want to know what makes you so precious that Zhou would burn his empire for you."

AiLi's voice shook, but not from fear.

"You want what he gave me? Loyalty? Protection? Love?"

Lin Qian's eyes darkened.

"I want his crown."

Back at the dockyard, Zhou paced.

"She took AiLi?" His voice was near breaking.

The old man nodded. "She wants your attention. She wants your rage. Don't give it to her."

Zhou turned sharply. "Then what should I give her?"

"Her real legacy," the man said, pulling out a second locket — identical to Zhou's.

"She's not just your rival. She's the last daughter of the White Dragon Syndicate."

Zhou stared. "That makes her—"

"—the blood heir to the criminal dynasty that started this war before you were even born."

Silence fell heavy.

Zhou clenched the locket. "Then I won't fight her like a CEO."

The man raised a brow. "Then how?"

Zhou looked up, his eyes like stormlight.

"I'll fight her like the devil they raised me to be."