Li Yan was put under strict control and confined to his bedroom without permission to leave. Staff members came in only to check his wounds and deliver his meals.
Moreover, he couldn’t see Lu Lianning. He had tried speaking to those who brought him food, hoping to have a proper conversation with Lu Lianning. But none of them ever responded. They kept their heads down, completing their tasks swiftly and leaving as soon as possible.
Around half a month later, someone came to check the wound on his shoulder. After examining it, the man gave a nod to someone at the door.
Before Li Yan could comprehend what was happening, a group of people pulled him to his feet. He thought he might finally be allowed to leave or that Lu Lianning was finally willing to see him.
The drug labeled No. 0937 was a translucent liquid with an icy crystal core and a faint pinkish hue at the edges. Just six milliliters of it could trigger an uncontrollable desire in both Alphas and Betas, mimicking the effects of a forced heat.
Li Yan was escorted out of his room and brought to the third room on the second floor.
This room was different. It looked freshly renovated or modified, with an overwhelming whiteness dominating every surface. There were no tables, no chairs, just a bed and a bathroom. Apart from these, nothing else could be seen.
He barely had a moment to take it all in before a sense of dread hit him.
He spun around and tried to make a run for the door, struggling as he shouted, “No! I want to see Lu Lianning! Let me talk to him!”
But four Alphas stood in his way, dragging him to the bed. They pinned him down, securing his limbs in place with restraints.
The metallic clink of the locks echoed in his head. His arms and legs were tightly bound, filling him with apprehension. Breathing heavily, he fixed his gaze on the stark white ceiling. Just as he opened his mouth to speak, a sudden chill spread across his arm.
Goosebumps ran up his spine as he looked down. The middle-aged man who had sedated him before was there, rubbing his arm with an alcohol pad.
As Li Yan’s pupils shrank in fear, the man expertly pulled out a pink glass vial, broke it, and inserted a syringe.
“No! What are you injecting me with!? I don’t want any injections!” Li Yan’s emotions were frantic, and he struggled violently, making it difficult to administer the injection. The butler nodded at a bodyguard, who immediately stepped forward to restrain Li Yan’s arm.
The needle pierced his vein, and under the light, the lustrous liquid flowed into his body.
Lu Lianning held an object resembling a mask, but it was more than that. It covered the eyes, and beneath the opaque black fabric was a metal piece attached to a clamp that fit under the chin, inserted into the mouth to suppress the tongue.
Qi Zhen had sent over a large box filled with strange instruments, calling them “complimentary gifts.”
Lu Lianning had thrown the box aside but had kept this particular item on top. Glancing at the monitor, he watched as Li Yan flailed, drenched in sweat, seemingly on the edge of a breakdown.
He tossed the object to one of his men. “Put it on him. Don’t let him bite himself.”
If Li Yan were to describe this period, his memories would have been hazy at best.
Yet his body remembered every detail with startling clarity.
It was a heat that burned away reason, an unbearable itch gnawing at his insides like a swarm of insects, as though he were being consumed by molten lava. Each exhaled breath felt searingly hot.
He struggled in vain, twisting and turning for relief that never came. In the darkness, there was nothing but the sound of his own ragged, heavy breathing.
As his mind grew clouded and his limbs weakened, he would hear the sound of footsteps. Lu Lianning would enter, his hand cool to the touch as it teasingly brushed over Li Yan’s sweat-drenched, burning body, tormented by desire.
Li Yan craved that touch, yearning desperately for just a little more.
His weakened body instinctively arched, trying to chase after Lu Lianning’s caress.
Time stretched endlessly as Lu Lianning always waited until Li Yan was teetering on the brink of collapse before granting him release.
The room was thick with the overpowering scent of Lu Lianning’s aggressive Alpha pheromones.
Li Yan’s wrists bore deep marks from the restraints, his feet kicking the sheets into disarray. Whimpers, almost like sobs, escaped from his throat.
He could hear the sound of Lu Lianning sitting across the room, flipping through a book or newspaper.
Li Yan could picture Lu Lianning watching his pathetic, humiliating state with cold detachment.
Li Yan had no sense of how many days had passed; his mind was a whirlwind of chaos.
One day, the chains on Li Yan’s wrists were removed, leaving just a cuff around his ankle, giving him limited movement within the room.
When Lu Lianning arrived, the room appeared empty.
He walked slowly to the bedside, reaching down to pull the chain. The crisp sound of metal clinking came from under the bed.
Bending down, Lu Lianning found Li Yan curled up underneath, trembling at the mere sound of his footsteps.
He tugged the chain, slowly pulling Li Yan’s foot forward. Panic overwhelmed Li Yan, his eyes widening as he stared at Lu Lianning. “No! …I don’t want…”
Lu Lianning gripped his ankle and dragged him out from under the bed with hardly any effort.
Li Yan let out a scream, but Lu Lianning pulled him into his arms, pressing a hand against his lips. “Shh.”
Terrified from the torment he had endured, Li Yan immediately tensed up, silencing himself.
“From now on, I don’t want to hear a single ‘no’ from your mouth.” Lu Lianning lifted Li Yan’s face, meeting his wide-open eyes filled with unmistakable panic.
Lu Lianning softened his voice. “Do you want to go outside?”
Li Yan hadn’t spoken in so long that his voice came out hoarse when he answered. He glanced at Lu Lianning’s softened expression, hesitated for a moment, and then slowly said, “Yes…”
Lu Lianning continued, “What do you want to do outside?”
Li Yan didn’t respond.
“Do you want to see Chen Yu? His surgery was done a long time ago, and you haven’t been able to see him. Would you like to know how he’s doing now? How he’s recovering? Whether he’s started a new life…?” Lu Lianning seemed extremely understanding at this moment. “By the way, why did you use the surname Chen when you made up that fake name for yourself? Did you want to become part of their family?”
His tone was friendly and gentle, as though he were casually reminiscing with Li Yan.
Li Yan blinked, his long-clouded mind almost convincing him this was a dream. Clinging tightly to Lu Lianning’s hand, a faint glimmer of hope lit up his eyes. “Really? You’re going to let me go? Let me see…”
But Lu Lianning’s smile faded. He shook his head as if deeply disappointed. “No, that’s the wrong answer.”
“You should have said you didn’t want to see Chen Yu.” He sighed as he stood up, placing Li Yan back on the bed and tightening the restraint around his wrist.
“Lu Lianning! Lu Lianning… don’t leave, please don’t do this…” The suffocating silence was driving him insane.
His pleading stopped abruptly when the butler entered, carrying a syringe.
As Lu Lianning walked out, Li Yan’s broken cries spilled through the narrow gap of the closing door.
For a brief moment, Lu Lianning paused, but then he lifted his foot and continued walking away without hesitation.
In the days that followed, Li Yan was asked the same questions over and over again. The day after each injection, Lu Lianning would relentlessly question him.
If Li Yan responded incorrectly, another round of punishment would begin.
Li Yan’s moments in the light were brief. When Lu Lianning wasn’t around, he was often left blindfolded.
Over time, Li Yan began to look forward to Lu Lianning’s visits, yet he couldn’t suppress the instinctive fear that surged within him. His feelings were a tangle of deep conflict.
Little by little, Li Yan’s mistakes were corrected.
Lu Lianning had brought twenty syringes from Qi Zhen. By the time the seventeenth was administered, Li Yan couldn’t take it anymore.
That time, as Lu Lianning was about to leave, Li Yan clung to him, crying and begging him not to go.
Lu Lianning asked again, “Do you want to leave?”
In a panicked voice, Li Yan replied with difficulty, “No… I don’t.”
“Do you want to see Chen Yu?”
It was a question Li Yan had heard too many times. Tears rolled down his cheeks in his eyes as soon as he blinked. “I don’t… I don’t want to see Chen Yu.”
Though his mind struggled to fully grasp the situation, his body had learned to seek safety and avoid danger.
“Will you behave from now on?”
Li Yan lowered his head, clutching tightly to Lu Lianning’s clothes, struggling to breathe through his tears. “I will…”
Finally, Lu Lianning added, “Apologize to me.”
Li Yan froze. This was a new question. He lifted his head abruptly, staring at Lu Lianning.
When he didn’t respond, Lu Lianning seemed to lose patience. His voice rose as he repeated, “Li Yan, apologize to me!”
After a few seconds, just as Lu Lianning was about to leave, Li Yan’s voice trembled like a student who had just realized the correct answer at the last possible moment.
“I’m… sorry… I’m sorry…” Li Yan clung to him, his hoarse voice shaking from deep within his throat.
At last, Lu Lianning was satisfied.
Thirty-four days. Seventeen injections.
Li Yan finally emerged from behind that door, cradled in Lu Lianning’s arms, half his face buried in his chest.
A black leather cuff still circled his left ankle, and his arm, exposed beneath the wide sleeve of his pajamas, was dotted with fresh and fading needle marks.
