Chapter 20 - 1#

Clang, clang—

In the cold, silent room, the harsh sound of vibrations echoed from time to time.

It was the sound of iron hitting iron.

On the bed, two figures were entangled in an unusually ambiguous way, but it was not a tender scene at all. It was more like an ongoing slaughter.

A one-on-one suppression.

And the desperate struggle of a weak prey.

Jingzhe’s throat was being choked, the tight grip almost suffocating him.

He grabbed Rong Jiu’s hands, one foot pressing hard against the man’s body, a broken sound struggling out of his throat.

“Rong Jiu… Wake up…”

When a powerful beast hunts, it strikes with a single, fatal blow, either by biting through the prey’s spine or clamping down on its throat, letting the blood flow freely, silencing its cries.

The fact that Jingzhe could still speak meant that Rong Jiu was holding back.

But he could still feel the violence and impulse hidden beneath the restrained grip. The slight tremor, transmitted through the prey’s breathing and speaking, surged into Rong Jiu’s flesh and blood, stirring up an even more tyrannical desire.

Jingzhe couldn’t see himself, so he didn’t know how pitiful he looked.

Blood smeared the corners of his lips, and the corners of his eyes were torn into a malicious red. In his extreme terror, his dark eyes were misty, as if tears could fall at any moment.

But tears did not arouse any pity in Rong Jiu; instead, they ignited a deeper desire for destruction.

Rong Jiu truly wanted to kill Jingzhe.

He could easily suppress Jingzhe’s resistance. Beneath the skin, the thumping heart was so alive. If he were to pierce through that thin chest, into Huo Kai’s thoracic cavity, and hold that ever-beating heart in his hand, perhaps it could soothe the sharp, brutal, and relentless desire.

But Rong Jiu stopped just short, the reason he didn’t act decisively.

“…Rong Jiu, for fuck’s sake, look at me!” Jingzhe hissed, “What you’re doing… it’s not what you want to do…”

Because he was still struggling.

Jingzhe should have been able to feel Rong Jiu’s naked malice. How could he still say such a thing?

Rong Jiu caressed Jingzhe’s brow with seeming tenderness and said softly, “Jingzhe, how can you be so naive?”

His cold voice was now tinged with a fierce heat.

It was like the hard fire that erupts when cold iron is quenched in flames, the molten iron raging in the fire, searing the skin.

“How could this not be what I want?” Rong Jiu curled his lips into a malicious smile. “What if I just want to kill you? What if I am just this vile, violent person?”

If Rong Jiu’s mask were torn away, what kind of person would he be? Did Jingzhe really know?

All he had seen were layers upon layers of a gentle facade.

“That’s all fake.”

Jingzhe’s movements froze. Although it was only for a moment, Rong Jiu, who was almost skin-to-skin with him, immediately sensed that fleeting doubt.

The man’s smile widened, his dark eyes, as if veiled, filled with extreme evil desire. His thin lips paused, as if ready to spit out even more stinging venom.

“So what if it’s fake?” Jingzhe said with difficulty. He could feel the grip on his throat tightening again, making it hard to even breathe.

His fingers, which had been clutching Rong Jiu’s arm, began to tense. His rounded nails dug in unconsciously, leaving glaring bloody marks on the pale skin. “But my feelings are real… When we first met, the time we spent together… your gifts… your help, were all those fake?”

Even if the person Rong Jiu was is fake, those things were real, they existed. Those experiences, those feelings during their time together, were all completely real.

Since those were real, Jingzhe couldn’t completely deny Rong Jiu’s existence as a person.

Even if this person was perhaps a part of someone else, wasn’t a part still real?

Jingzhe was a stubborn person.

As long as you couldn’t convince him, even if you threatened his life, Jingzhe would not change his answer.

People who are too stubborn, too persistent, sometimes end up beating their heads against a wall until they bleed.

“Even if you… strangle me to death, I won’t believe that Rong Jiu is fake.”

Darkness crept into Jingzhe’s vision, and he could barely speak.

A buzzing sound seemed to ring in his ears, harsh and piercing. But the darkness of impending death had almost consumed him. At that last moment, Jingzhe couldn’t even hear himself… as if he had said something else…

With almost all his strength, at the last moment, a pain like a torn throat burned in his windpipe.

But the words still squeezed out.

…

“Cough, cough, cough…”

As soon as Jingzhe woke up, he couldn’t help but cough.

The madness of that final moment before he passed out still lingered in his memory.

It was the first time he had truly experienced what it felt like for death to descend. A belated fear took hold of Jingzhe’s heart.

He was a little upset to find that Rong Jiu hadn’t been lying.

In that instant, he had really wanted to kill him.

Jingzhe clutched his throat, looked around the room, and spotted the bronze mirror on the table. He fumbled out of bed and shuffled over, trying his best to ignore the clanking of the iron shackles.

He stood before the bronze mirror, frowning slightly at his reflection.

He had a similar bronze mirror at home when he was a child, a gift his father had bought especially for his mother. After so many years, Jingzhe could still remember that day, how his father had carefully brought the mirror home, holding it close to his chest, and then proudly presented it to his mother.

It was a gift he had bought for his mother with more than half a month’s salary.

Jingzhe had later looked at himself in the bronze mirror, and it could show his face quite clearly.

But the bronze mirror in this room was even smoother and clearer than the one in his memory.

Jingzhe rubbed the conspicuous finger marks on his throat. Like a chain wrapped around his neck, it was another form of restraint.

His expression was not good.

Jingzhe had long known that the punishment buff would affect others, but the buff’s effect was completely different on different people.

Even if, as the system said, the buff was to some extent meant to increase the host’s popularity and attractiveness, there is no hate without reason in this world, and naturally, no love without reason. When the passive effect of the buff was to stimulate others’ affection for the host, their will and thoughts would inevitably be twisted.

In Jingzhe’s opinion, Rong Jiu’s malicious nature could indeed be seen at times.

But one should judge a person by their actions, not their words.

No matter how much violent darkness was hidden in a person’s heart, as long as they could control it, as long as they could suppress it and be a good person, then no matter how much darkness there was, they couldn’t be called a bad person.

[But Host, he really wanted to kill you.]

Jingzhe said coldly, “He wanted to kill me, what was the reason?”

The system, the system couldn’t squeeze out a single fart.

If it weren’t for the system, would there be so much trouble?

Jingzhe didn’t want to look at his tattered appearance. He turned the mirror face down, and as he turned, he bumped right into Rong Jiu’s chest, which was as hard as a block of iron.

The sting in his nose made tears fall from Jingzhe’s eyes like a fine rain.

He covered his nose and said in a muffled voice, “Why are you suddenly standing behind me? No, wait, how come you don’t make any sound when you walk!”

Rong Jiu’s hands were behind his back as he looked down at Jingzhe, who was rubbing his nose. “If you want to learn martial arts, it’s not too late to start now.”

Jingzhe: “How many years would it take to train to the point where I can ambush you when you make a move?”

Rong Jiu pondered for a long time without answering.

Only when Jingzhe looked up at him did Rong Jiu slowly say, “Not even in a hundred years.”

Jingzhe: “…Never mind.”

He moved around the human wall that was Rong Jiu and continued to shuffle towards the bed. But a rich aroma wafted over, stirring the hunger in Jingzhe’s stomach. He covered his rumbling stomach in embarrassment, feeling deeply ashamed.

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious, but judging from the discomfort in his stomach, it had been at least four hours.

So he had just taken a nap.

“Come and eat,” Rong Jiu said. “Go rinse your mouth first.”

He raised his hand and pointed to the washing area.

Jingzhe didn’t really want to walk back and forth in front of Rong Jiu. He paused, looked down at the iron ring on his ankle, “Can’t you take this off?”

Rong Jiu didn’t answer, but instead picked Jingzhe up.

The moment Rong Jiu approached, Jingzhe’s whole body tensed and stiffened, showing obvious resistance. That subconscious reaction was something Jingzhe couldn’t fake or hide.

The scent of terror emanated from his body, revealing a clear fear whenever Rong Jiu came near.

But no matter how awkward Jingzhe felt, when Rong Jiu lifted him high and sat him on his arm, his mind was filled with shock.

Where am I?

What am I doing?

Hahaha, I’m so high up… Help!

It had probably been fifteen or sixteen years since Jingzhe had been held like this. Afraid of falling, he nervously grabbed Rong Jiu’s shoulders, almost hugging the man’s head to his chest. “Let me down, Rong Jiu!”

He was so embarrassed.

He was gripping Rong Jiu’s shoulders so tightly he was about to dig his flesh out.

Rong Jiu: “Why can’t I do this?”

Jingzhe: “This is how adults hold children. I’m not a child anymore, you can’t hold me like this.”

He forced down his shame and tried desperately to explain.

Rong Jiu was very strong, his muscles were tight. His arms imprisoned Jingzhe’s waist and thighs, making it impossible for him to get down no matter how much he struggled.

The hot breath on Jingzhe’s lower abdomen triggered a strange reaction.

Jingzhe was startled, and even his struggles slowed down.

Rong Jiu carried Jingzhe to the washing area and put him down, saying calmly, “I want to hold you like this.”

He pointed to the bronze basin.

“Rinse your mouth.”

Jingzhe: “…”

Fine.

At this moment, he could vaguely feel the normal effects of the buff again.

Jingzhe muttered, hoping that Rong Jiu wouldn’t regret it when he came to his senses.

He scooped up some water with both hands, first bending over to wash his face, cleaning it carefully. As he bent over, some of his already messy hair fell down, revealing the clearly visible handprint on his neck.

Those distinct finger marks had already become bruised and swollen.

Jingzhe’s voice was hoarser than usual.

But apart from the uncontrollable physical resistance when Rong Jiu got too close, there was no difference in how Jingzhe acted towards him.

It was as if in that slaughter that had almost torn him apart, Jingzhe had only suffered a minor flesh wound, with no hard feelings at all.

But how could a person truly be left without a trace?

Rong Jiu’s deep, dark eyes stared quietly at Jingzhe’s back. That gaze was like strange tentacles, wrapping around Jingzhe’s body, like an inescapable quagmire, from which he could only be dragged down and submerged in the overwhelming darkness.

Jingzhe’s back tensed slightly. For some reason, he could feel it, a gaze.

Rong Jiu was watching him.

Always watching him.

That gaze was like an entangling rope, making Jingzhe constantly aware of Rong Jiu’s presence.

And the violent emotions beneath the restraint.

He suddenly remembered what he had said before he passed out.

What did he say then…

“…This isn’t your… fault, I… won’t blame you… even if I really… die…”

Honestly, looking back, Jingzhe didn’t know how he could have said that.

No matter how kind a person was, they couldn’t possibly say something like that after almost being killed. If it were someone else, Jingzhe would even say a few words about not being a bleeding heart.

But when it was his turn to be such a bleeding heart, he felt very awkward.

It wasn’t until after he had washed up and been carried back by Rong Jiu, unable to resist, and sat down before a table full of food (by the way, when did all this food appear?), that Jingzhe, looking at Rong Jiu sitting opposite him through the steam rising from the food, had a sudden realization.

This really wasn’t Rong Jiu’s fault.

It was all controlled by the buff.

If it weren’t for this buff, the darkness in Rong Jiu’s heart would not have been stirred up, completely twisting his true nature.

But people are not without their bottom lines. The reason why, in that instant, Jingzhe still sincerely hoped that Rong Jiu would not blame himself after waking up from his wrongdoing, was of course for one very clear reason.

Jingzhe, you idiot.

You’ve actually fallen for Rong Jiu.

Not just for his face, but truly, for him as a person.

…

Not long after dinner, it got dark outside.

Jingzhe sat on the bed, watching Rong Jiu hold a candlestick and light the candles one by one. The candlelight dispelled the darkness in the room.

He had wanted to help, but for some reason, after holding Jingzhe once, Rong Jiu refused to let him touch the ground.

Whether it was to change clothes or go back to bed, he was carried by Rong Jiu.