POW

It was a hot and humid day, but cold fingers roughly gripped his chin.

"Shut the hell up!" The woman spoke between gritted teeth.

Not that he could speak anyway. He could feel drool escaping from the corner of his numb mouth.

The gun smacked him in the forehead and her blurry face grew near enough for him to distinguish features. Long black hair with strands of silver. Dark gold eyes. A wrinkle between her eyebrows.

Suddenly, darkness descended upon him. A smooth but thick fabric slid over his eyes — the woman's solid grip hadn't changed, meaning that someone else was behind him.

A blow struck the back of his knees and he collapsed to a kneeling position. He was unable to fight back as he was dragged off in darkness by sturdy hands.

After a while, he felt himself being dragged down onto a hard, flat surface. Not cold like metal, it must have been cloth or another material. Cold cuffs chained him tightly. Yep, metal.

The blindfold was ripped from his eyes, and what he saw when he opened his eyes made his heart thud loudly in his chest. He was still in the jungle, but in a cave-like area.

He was strapped to a wooden plank, and on the walls next to him were rows of tools. Not just hammers — saws, screws, knives of many sizes, and more...

Those tools weren't for fixing, they were for breaking. Dark flecks of dried liquid on the walls and on the tools told him everything he needed to know. He was in a torture chamber.

A person stood behind his head, and Xin Tuyong strained his neck to see their face. They wore black from head to toe and didn't say a word. Even their eyes weren't visible. But he could tell they were watching him closely.

The masked person walked slowly along the wall, looking silently at the tools as if trying to decide which one to use. Now they were in plain sight of Xin Tuyong, standing towards his feet.

Time passed with agonizing slowness as they bent down out of sight and picked up a small box. They turned, facing Xin Tuyong as the box clicked open.