“How long are you going to keep pestering me?” Mi Xiaobao looked at Zhelang, who was lazily leaning against the sofa in front of him. His fists were tightly clenched as he suppressed the fear in his heart.
Zhelang clasped his hands together and narrowed his eyes, sizing up Mi Xiaobao’s expression from top to bottom. The fear in Mi Xiaobao’s eyes inexplicably irritated him. He almost wanted to pin him onto the bed and teach him a harsh lesson, imprisoning him by his side for the rest of his life so that he could never escape.
But…
Looking at Mi Xiaobao’s stubborn little face and increasingly thin body, Zhelang only felt extremely agitated. His heart was full of anger, yet there was nowhere to vent it, and in the end, it all turned into helplessness.
Suppressing the anger in his heart, Zhelang extended one hand toward Mi Xiaobao.
“Come here.”
Looking at the hand Zhelang held out, Mi Xiaobao could not help shrinking back slightly, his face paling.
Zhelang frowned, a chill flashing through his eyes.
“Come here. Don’t make me repeat myself.”
Seeing Zhelang’s anger, Mi Xiaobao bit his lip. His body stiff, he slowly shuffled toward Zhelang. Apparently dissatisfied with Mi Xiaobao’s sluggishness, the moment Mi Xiaobao approached, Zhelang suddenly reached out, grabbed his arm, and pulled him over.
Mi Xiaobao let out a startled cry. Caught off guard, he fell into Zhelang’s arms.
“Are you afraid of me?” Holding Mi Xiaobao’s stiff body, Zhelang’s fingers brushed past his ear, his low voice carrying a hint of coldness.
“Otherwise?” Mi Xiaobao sneered. “What else do you want me to think of you?”
“Baby, have I been too good to you lately?” Zhelang’s kiss landed against Mi Xiaobao’s neck, making him tremble slightly. “So good that you think you can do whatever you want? And that I won’t punish you, hm?”
“Do whatever I want?” Mi Xiaobao raised his head and stared blankly at the ceiling, murmuring to himself. “If I really could do whatever I wanted, I would kill you.”
“You really are disobedient.” Zhelang shook his head. His cold fingers slowly traced over Mi Xiaobao’s body, carefully outlining the curves beneath his hand.
Mi Xiaobao grabbed the hand that was about to move lower and looked indifferently into Zhelang’s eyes.
“Kill me, or… let me go.”
Looking at Mi Xiaobao’s indifferent eyes, as though he were looking at a complete stranger, Zhelang’s expression darkened slightly.
“Baby, isn’t it good to stay with me?”
“…”
“If you stay with me, I can give you everything you want. Isn’t that good?”
“Do you love me?” Facing Zhelang’s question, Mi Xiaobao gave a pale smile.
Zhelang froze slightly, and the movement of his hand paused as well.
Mi Xiaobao turned his face away, his eyes filled with mockery.
“To you, I’m nothing more than one of your former playthings. Facing your torment, my resistance and struggle awakened some kind of perverse desire to conquer me. You want to see me cry, beg, and submit before you.”
“Baby…”
“If I had been obedient and submissive to you from the very beginning, just like all those people you had beneath you before, you probably would have forgotten who I was long ago, wouldn’t you?”
“Baby!!”
As if enraged, Zhelang shouted coldly and flipped Mi Xiaobao onto the sofa, pinning him beneath him. His phoenix eyes stared coldly at Mi Xiaobao’s face, as though suppressing something.
Faced with Zhelang’s anger, Mi Xiaobao remained silent.
Being pinned beneath this man once again, Mi Xiaobao no longer wanted to resist—or rather, he no longer had the strength to resist.
Mi Xiaobao turned his face away, moving his gaze from Zhelang, and despairingly closed his eyes.
Mi Xiaobao’s feeble reaction caused Zhelang’s grip on his wrist to tighten slightly. This lifeless, soulless-looking doll suddenly made Zhelang feel an emptiness and helplessness in his heart.
This was not what he wanted.
What he wanted was for the child before him to glare at him with bright, shining eyes, chattering incessantly while waving his little fists at him, as though he would never run out of energy.
What he wanted was a sun that would never go out, not a doll that could move and speak.
In an instant, Zhelang seemed to lose all his strength. He silently lay down and gently pulled Mi Xiaobao into his arms.
“Baby, don’t provoke me. I don’t want to treat you like this.”
Zhelang’s rare sigh made Mi Xiaobao stir slightly, but he still did not open his eyes.
“Baby, as long as you listen to me, I’ll treat you well. As long as you’re willing to call my name and tell me that you’re willing to stay by my side, I promise I won’t treat you like this again. I promise.”
Zhelang held Mi Xiaobao tightly and whispered softly into his ear, the usual unyielding chill in his voice somewhat diminished.
Mi Xiaobao kept his eyes closed, allowing Zhelang to hold him. He neither heard nor understood him. The corners of his lips curved slightly, filled with bitterness and ridicule.
Qingdi Military Academy
Under the gazes of the layers of onlookers, Lian Qiguang carried a pile of gifts and followed Xiahou Shaoxuan to the dean’s office with an expressionless face.
“You brat, why didn’t you give me a heads-up before coming? You caused such a huge commotion at the academy. I thought someone had come to wreck the place!” Qing Mu Rong looked at Lian Qiguang and grumbled irritably. Then he glanced at Lian Qiguang’s round little belly and asked tentatively, “How are you? Feeling better?”
“I can still participate in the competition.” To prove that he was strong and healthy, Lian Qiguang clenched his fist hard and sucked in his little belly.
“Don’t do that!” Xiahou Shaoxuan’s eyebrows twitched as he watched. He reached out and lightly patted Lian Qiguang’s back in warning.
“Why did you come to the Third District?” Qing Mu Rong could not stand Xiahou Shaoxuan’s henpecked-husband appearance. He curled his lips and raised his chin toward Lian Qiguang. “Weren’t you being taken care of in the First District? Your body is different now. Would that old bastard really be at ease letting you run around?”
Old bastard?
Lian Qiguang looked at Xiahou Shaoxuan in confusion.
“Grandpa,” Xiahou Shaoxuan explained.
Lian Qiguang understood and nodded.
“I live in the Third District now.”
“You live in the Third District?” Qing Mu Rong was slightly stunned. He looked questioningly at Xiahou Shaoxuan, who nodded.
“Xiaoguang doesn’t like the First District, so we bought a house in the Third District and moved here.”
“That’s true.” Qing Mu Rong snorted lightly. “With all those rules and restrictions in your First District, everyone practically has to grow eight minds. Staying there too long would drive anyone crazy.”
Faced with this dean who had been fiercely at odds with Xiahou Zhong ever since their school days, Xiahou Shaoxuan simply ignored his taunts and complaints.
“You still haven’t given me gift money.” Remembering the reason they had come, Lian Qiguang stepped forward and held out both hands toward Qing Mu Rong.
“What?” Qing Mu Rong stared blankly at Lian Qiguang’s pale little hands.
“I got married. Give me money.”
“Money?” Qing Mu Rong turned the matter over in his mind. After thinking for a long while, he suddenly exclaimed, “Ah! I remember! I once read in an ancient book that when a junior gets married, the elders are supposed to give money. I think it was called… a red envelope, right?”
Believing that Lian Qiguang already regarded him as an elder, Qing Mu Rong looked at Lian Qiguang’s expressionless face. Seeing that he had no intention of explaining, he happily pulled out a star card and waved it generously.
“Here! No need to give me change.”
“Thank you.”
Lian Qiguang accepted the star card and calmly put it into the little alley inside his space. Then he took out another piece of candy and handed it over.
“Wedding candy.”
Having gained another star card, Lian Qiguang was in an excellent mood. He turned around and walked toward Xiahou Shaoxuan.
But just as Lian Qiguang passed a window, he suddenly froze and stopped.
“What’s wrong?” Sensing that something was strange about Lian Qiguang, Xiahou Shaoxuan frowned and immediately stood up as well.
“I…” Lian Qiguang looked outside the window, his voice hesitant. That sensation just now seemed to be…
“Thump! Thump…”
A beating heart sounded clear yet heavy, pounding against his chest and bringing a dull pressure with every beat. Lian Qiguang’s body tensed. The smell of blood permeating the air suddenly made him feel as though he were suffocating.
“Wifey?” Xiahou Shaoxuan walked over to Lian Qiguang and placed both hands on his shoulders, asking tentatively.
Lian Qiguang suddenly looked up, staring blankly at Xiahou Shaoxuan’s face, unable to conceal his concern.
“What’s wrong? Are you tired?” Xiahou Shaoxuan gently placed a hand against Lian Qiguang’s forehead, somewhat annoyed with himself for bringing him out.
Lian Qiguang stared blankly at Xiahou Shaoxuan. The oppressive sensation in the air grew heavier and heavier, seemingly accompanied by faint sighs.
One after another, like the final gasps before death, they sent chills down the spine.
He could no longer hear what Xiahou Shaoxuan was saying.
His vision grew increasingly dark.
Just like that, Lian Qiguang slowly closed his eyes and went limp in Xiahou Shaoxuan’s arms.
“Wifey!!”
That was Xiahou Shaoxuan’s terrified, desperate roar before Lian Qiguang lost consciousness.
In the Third District, inside an abandoned redevelopment zone, a man dressed in an extravagant blood-red Tang suit stood with his three thousand strands of black hair disheveled by the wind behind him. His pair of bewitching crimson eyes stared coldly into the distance.
Behind the man, Qiu Limox stood with his hands hanging at his sides, silently lowering his head. His cold, clear aura enveloped his entire body, making him seem almost fused with the air, so that it was difficult to notice his presence.
“Teacher.”
The man’s red lips parted slightly. His gentle voice was like a violin being drawn across its strings, carrying intoxicating tenderness.
“Do you still remember what day it is ten days from now? It’s Teacher’s birthday. Such an important day—I’ve always remembered it. I’ve remembered it for Teacher.”
“On your birthday, shall I give you a present?”
“I’ll use the world that Teacher once sacrificed your life to save as a birthday present for you. Would that be all right?”
“Teacher, do you like it?”
The man extended a slender, pale hand and waved it through the air. His fingertip lightly tapped the empty space before him, and faint ripples slowly spread out beneath his finger.
Ring after ring, the ripples expanded in every direction before merging into the air.
“Teacher, without you, this world would have long since had no reason to exist.”