Chapter 29

Shen Jianqing had gone mad.

That was the only thought racing through my mind.

Finding strength I didn’t know I had, I shoved his hand away and tried to retreat—but behind me yawned the cavern’s dark abyss, offering nothing to hold onto.

“Don’t come near me! I’ve already refused you!” I croaked, trying to bluff.

Shen Jianqing straightened, his tall frame casting a massive shadow over me. He stood there, face unreadable, and said coldly, “My patience is limited. I’ve spent half a month playing harmless, slightly gentle games with you. You didn’t bite—so now I’ll just have to change my method to keep you.”

He reached for me and lifted me as if I were a chick. My right leg wouldn’t support me; touching the ground sent sharp, searing pain up my leg.

“Ah! My leg!”

Seeing my agony, he glanced down, eyes soft yet entirely devoid of pity. His voice, sultry yet malicious, hissed, “Poor thing, your leg’s broken—serves you right! Weren’t you trying to leave?”

He dragged me relentlessly toward the cave’s exit. I stumbled on my left leg; my right was useless. He was practically pulling me with brute force.

Outside, the daylight burned my eyes; I instinctively shielded them. He let go, and I fell to the ground.

I raised my hands, but he leaned in. In an instant, I realized his intention.

This madman… pervert… he actually intended to—

I grabbed his hand with all my strength, trembling. “You’re insane!”

Shen Jianqing brushed the hair from his face, flipping the silver ornament behind his head. He grinned dazzlingly, his beauty almost blinding—but inside, I shivered with dread.

“I’m not insane. You wanted me to save you, didn’t you? I’m just asking for fairness.”

Ignoring my struggle, he grabbed both my wrists with one hand and yanked the zipper of my jacket with the other.

I had no idea Shen Jianqing was this strong. No matter how I struggled, he didn’t budge. I tried not to cry—books say victims’ cries only fuel the perpetrator—but tears still streamed down my face.

He tore off my jacket roughly, then my shirt, buttons flying everywhere. His eyes caught something on the ground—a moment of distraction. He reached for it.

The scented sachet had fallen from my pocket.

Seizing the opportunity, my hand found something hard. Acting on instinct, I swung it with all my might and struck him squarely on the forehead.

He staggered, and blood gushed from the wound.

My heart pounded. I shoved him away and scrambled two steps forward, only to feel an excruciating pain in my lower back, sending me flying into the grass.

Shen Jianqing twisted my arm from behind and yanked me up.

I glanced back at him. Blood streamed from his forehead, half his face smeared crimson, looking like a demon emerging from hell. The red of the blood made the mole on his eyelid seem even more vibrant and wicked.

I had never seen anything like this in my life. My courage melted away.

He gritted his teeth. “No one’s throwing anything away now, Li Yuze!”

He spat out the last three words as if he wanted to chew my name into pieces.

Shen Jianqing threw me onto my jacket, grabbed a vine hanging from an ancient tree, and bound my wrists tightly.

Both arms throbbed with pain. No matter how I struggled, I couldn’t budge an inch.

He looked down at me, enjoying my helpless thrashing like a wriggling insect, before flipping me over and threading a silver chain through the scented sachet he had picked up, hanging it around my neck.

“According to our rule, accepting a sachet means accepting the feelings attached. You’re keeping my sachet—does that mean you have feelings for me too?”

I shook my head frantically. “Please… let me go. We are both—ah!”

Before I could finish, a wave of searing pain shot through me.

A pain unlike anything I had ever imagined.

I fell backward, as if my body had been split in two. My mind went blank—there was nothing, only pain.

It felt like I was dead.

After a long while, my darkened vision slowly cleared. Shen Jianqing was staring at me with a strange, menacing look. When he saw me looking at him, he leaned in, trying to kiss me.

I turned my head, but he didn’t care—he pressed against the corner of my mouth. I heard his low, hoarse voice, laced with an indescribable satisfaction: “Li Yuze… look at me.”

He seemed to revert to that pure, innocent Shen Jianqing from before, eyes full of tender affection—but now, that version of him only made me feel sick.

Softly, almost coaxing, he said, “Just… get used to this first. It’s my first time too. Next time—next time for sure…”

“Get… lost…” I breathed out, my hands numb from being tied, completely devoid of feeling. My injured leg dragged across the floor with every movement, sending sharp jolts of pain up my body.

Every part of me ached.

But the worst was the mental anguish.

I never imagined anything like today could happen—it was terrifying, far worse than any nightmare.

It was as if an outside force had shattered me, and all the fragments that fell were my dignity. Everything I had been taught, every principle I had learned, screamed that this shouldn’t be happening to me.

The world spun. My stomach convulsed. My whole body felt icy.

And yet, Shen Jianqing was still on top of me like some kind of beast. No. I tilted my head back. My vision blurred. My consciousness drifted away. Even in that haze, I maliciously thought—he’s just a beast.

I slept for a long, long time. But even the longest sleep has to end.

When I opened my eyes again, I was in a familiar room.

Shen Jianqing’s stilted house.

Everything felt like a dream. The abrupt departure, the cave—it was all gone. Nothing had happened.

I moved slightly—and every pain returned at once.

“Ugh—”

My waist hurt. My legs hurt. My forehead hurt. My whole body was raw and bruised. It felt as if a giant truck had repeatedly rolled over me, crushing flesh and bone into dust.

“Damn you, Shen Jianqing.”

I cursed inwardly, though it didn’t ease my anger one bit. The person I hated most, however, was myself. We had been so naïve—if we hadn’t let our guard down, believed his fake, sweet façade, we wouldn’t be in this mess.

Had I known, I would rather have gotten lost and died in the Shidi Mountains than come to this Miao village with him!

At that moment, there came the sound of footsteps outside the door—unhurried, deliberate. Panic rose in my chest. I lay back down, pretending to sleep.

Soon, I heard a lock click, then the door opening. Step by step, Shen Jianqing approached my bed.

I shut my eyes tightly, unwilling to face him.

I didn’t know what to do. Should I lunge and fight? With my current strength, I’d probably only get beaten. Should I scream and accuse him? I couldn’t even bring myself to yell.

A lump of anger lodged in my chest, stuck like a thorn—unable to rise or fall, sharp and painful.

I had always dismissed the cliché comfort phrases—“Just pretend you got bitten by a dog,” “Just think of it as a dream”—thinking I’d defend myself. But now, given the situation and my environment, that was all I had to console myself.

Yet I hated this powerless version of myself, relying on mental tricks like some feeble Altruist.

Shen Jianqing sat at my bedside. Goosebumps prickled my skin. He spoke softly: “You don’t look like you’re pretending to sleep at all.”

My heart sank. Slowly, I felt myself sinking into the water. He wouldn’t even give me the space to avoid him.

Helpless, I opened my eyes, meeting his gaze.

For a second, all my mental defenses collapsed. If I had Xu Zirong’s physique, or even better health, I would have charged at Shen Jianqing with everything I had. But I wasn’t athletic, and I was still weak from illness.

Under his roof, resistance was pointless. I didn’t want to make my situation worse.

I could only endure.

Shen Jianqing’s forehead wound wasn’t bandaged but had scabbed over, no longer looking like the bloodied monster from before.

But my forehead was wrapped in herbal dressing.

Meeting my hesitant gaze, he smiled and said, “This is the first gift you gave me. Of course I want to keep it forever, never let it disappear.”

I choked on my breath. Did he just say… gift? Was he insane?

He added, as if casually: “Oh, I wanted to keep your forehead wound too, make a matching pair. But I was afraid you’d hate the scar, so I wrapped it for you. But I’ll collect my due later.”

I was dumbfounded. “Due…?”

“Yeah. That incident before…” Shen Jianqing said, smiling shyly like a lovesick teenager. “That was to pay me back for rescuing you. Wrapping it up is extra.”

I was on the verge of losing my mind.

What on earth was going on in his head?

This was his true face—a pervert, a madman. And I realized it too late.

I gritted my teeth and painfully forced myself up. Finally, I snapped: “Shen Jianqing, stop! I’m a man!”

He nodded seriously. “I know. I verified it myself.”

I seethed: “If you like men, fine, find one—but don’t bother me. I have a normal life. I’m not going to waste it with you! You’ve had your fun—leave me alone. I can pretend this never happened. I won’t tell anyone the village’s secrets. Just let me go!”

His expression darkened instantly. He sneered: “You’re delirious from fever, talking nonsense. You think you can leave now?”

I glared at him.

But then, as if he’d just remembered something, the dark shadow on his face vanished, replaced by a mischievous, sinister smile. “Oh, and your three friends. You think they’re safe?”

“What do you mean?”

“The Miao worms have already been planted. Maybe by now, they’re having their brains eaten by the parasites, turning into mindless puppets. No one will be able to reveal the secrets of this place.”

He finished speaking and playfully tapped my cheek. I felt as if I’d fallen into an icy pit. Only now did I understand why Qiu Lu and Xu Zirong had fallen ill one after another.

Those nights when they suddenly spiked fevers, only to be mysteriously fine the next day—we hadn’t paid it much attention, or even if we had, there was nothing we could do.

It turned out we had long been trapped in quicksand.