There was a beat of silence.
You Xu’s palms broke out in cold sweat at being caught red-handed. Her mind went blank.
“I…” She bit her lower lip. Her throat was dry.
She was about to lose control over the scalpel in her hand. The sharp edge was still pressed against the vein of his neck.
Just as You Xu was about to withdraw, Duan Min approached her fearlessly, cutting a red line on his neck. He looked at her quietly.
The distance between them was so close that their breaths intermingled and the tips of their noses touched.
Feeling warm liquid on her fingertips, You Xu froze before seeing the blood flowing down the scalpel to her hand. The vivid crimson contrasted greatly against Duan Min’s cold white skin, like a red plum blooming in the snow.
You Xu was stung by the scene in front of her eyes. Her hands shook along with her voice. “Duan…”
Before she could finish, her next word was covered by warm lips.
He forcefully circled her waist, trapping her hands. He pressed himself against the blade and kissed her frantically.
The scalpel sank further in, and fresh blood wet the back of her hand and flowed down her purlicue to her palm.
Duan Min pried open her teeth and dove straight inside to intertwine with her tongue.
He deepened the kiss, rubbing their lips and teeth together. The blade cut deeper and nicked his vein, causing blood to gush out. It flowed over his collarbone and stained his black and white pajamas.
“Duan… mmh.”
Duan Min did not give her a chance to breathe. It was like he was possessed. His eyes were shrouded in a layer of black fog, and under his gaze were madness and insanity.
You Xu anxiously raised her foot to kick him, but he did not budge and simply pinned her legs.
Unable to move and tortured by the situation, You Xu suddenly broke down. Tears pattered down as she started to cry.
Duan Min froze and let her go.
The blood-red scalpel dropped to the wooden floor with a ‘clang’.
“Are you trying to die…?” You Xu cried in anger, raising her foot to kick him again.
Duan Min’s voice was low and hoarse. “Don’t cry.” He raised his hand to wipe her tears. Just as he was about to touch her face, he noticed the blood on his hand and stopped moving. Then, he bowed his head and leaned over, wanting to kiss away her tears instead.
You Xu thought he was coming for round two and pushed him away in anger. She swiped the back of her hand to wipe her tears away and sobbed, “I-If you want to die, then die by yourself somewhere far away. Don’t do it here. It’s a-an eyesore.”
She glared at him fiercely, thinking that she looked very imposing, but in fact, her almond eyes were brimming with water, and the corners of her eyes were red. She looked like a puffed-up cat, which was to say that she did not look intimidating at all. Duan Min’s heart softened at the sight.
You Xu did not want to care about him and tried to get something to bandage him up, but Duan Min held her wrist and pressed her hand to the wound at his neck.
The artery under his skin pulsed against her palm. Duan Min smiled and looked at her with love in his eyes. “I’m willing to die in your hands.”
Even just now, he was immersed in the fantasy of being killed personally by You Xu. Just thinking about it made his body heat up and his blood boil, almost melting his veins.
The brief period of twenty-five years felt like an eternity to him. He stayed in his room day in and day out, unfettered by the changing of seasons. His only emotion was his dislike for the scent of the living.
There was nothing happening in his life. If his days were a pool of stagnant water, he would be the lifeless monster in the mire at the bottom of the pool. He did not know his purpose for living, but he did not fear death either.
It was only after meeting You Xu that he tasted the joys and sorrows of life. He noticed changes in the temperature because she did not like when it was too hot or too cold. He also noticed the passage of time, because time always flew by in a blink when he was with her.
Because of her, he gradually became rich in emotions. He felt happiness, sadness, frustration, and disappointment.
However, he never rejected any of this. He envied You Xu for her liveliness, and he became a living person instead of a person who was simply alive.
If he had been walking alone in an endless night, then she was the irresistible light of dawn that made him yearn and thirst for her.
He was glad that he found this light, even if it only contrasted how gray his years were in the past.
When a person gained something they could not let go of, they would grow insatiably greedy and worried about losing it. Duan Min was afraid that You Xu would leave. He was even more afraid that she would forget him. However, he would occupy a corner of her heart if he died by her hands. If that was the case, then he would welcome it with open arms.
Morbidly, he wanted to feel the process of dying in her arms.
When You Xu saw his dependent and obsessive gaze, she finally understood what the system meant by the safe range of a trust value above 80. It meant that at that point, the mission target would willingly serve himself up on a platter to her. She could complete the mission as long as she was able to steel her heart.
It was no wonder that a Host did not need a broken skill in order to kill the ‘god’ of the world, who had the halo of the main protagonist.
At that moment, the system prompted her again, “Host, please pick up the prop and complete the elimination task.”
“I don’t want to.” You Xu looked at Duan Min and said word by word, “You have to live on.”
If the mission target was a murderous and inhuman pervert who threatened her life, she might be able to do it.
However, Duan Min was someone who would ask her for two extra spoons of honey when she made milk powder for him. In her eyes, he was just a person with a sweet tooth.
If the reward enticing her for her resurrection in her original world was to kill five people like him, she would rather wander in the endless void of space and time forever.
She could not break through the last line of defense in her heart.
——
You Xu was resting with her eyes closed when she heard the alarm clock go off. She took a moment to open her eyes and sit up.
Perhaps it was because of the recent mental stress and the need to take care of You Qi’s physical and mental state, but You Xu had not slept well for the past several days. Napping in the afternoon did not seem to help much. Currently, she only felt dizzy and fatigued.
She rubbed her eyes. “What time is it?”
“4:10 p.m.” Duan Min handed her a cup of tea. “Drink some to moisten your throat.”
Only then did You Xu realize how dry and sandy her throat felt. She took the teacup filled with jasmine tea and drank all of it without a second thought.
Duan Min looked at her quietly.
You Xu put down the cup and asked with some hesitation, “What’s wrong?” She felt that something was off, but she could not pinpoint what the reason was.
“You look very tired,” said Duan Min. “Don’t go out tonight and just rest at home.”
She had to go to Hua’an Hotel tonight to deal with Xu Shaosi and had to be at the hiding place by 6 p.m. Duan Min should be in the dark because You Xu did not tell him anything, but looking at his clear and bright eyes, she had a feeling that he knew something was up.
However, whether or not he knew her plan would not stop her from doing what she wanted to do.
You Xu turned to the side and tried to get out of bed, but her arms and legs suddenly lost all strength. Her body pitched forward uncontrollably.
Duan Min reached out and caught her.
You Xu noticed her body growing sleepier and the surge of tiredness that eroded her consciousness. As her eyelids drooped, she saw the tea cup placed at the side in a daze. “What… did you… Duan Min, why…”
Before she closed her eyes, the last thing she saw was Duan Min’s clear and quiet tea-brown eyes.
Why?
You Xu asked again in her heart, then completely lost consciousness.
Duan Min carried her back to bed, meticulously covered her with the blanket, and sat on the edge of the bed for a while, quietly looking at her sleeping face.
A moment later, he leaned down and pressed a kiss on her brow.
“Sweet dreams, my lady.”
——
Patter, patter. The light rain that fell streaked water marks on the glass windows as the car drove into the parking garage.
After the driver parked the car, Xu Shaosi got out, took the elevator, and headed for the presidential suit he reserved in advance.
At that moment, Lin Lanlan called him. “Where are you?”
Xu Shaosi rubbed his temples. “I just finished a meeting. I’m at the hotel now.”
Lin Lanlan: “The business deal didn’t work out, right? Do you want me to find you a new partner?”
Xu Shaosi used his key card to open the door. “Mm, we’ll talk about it later.”
Lin Lanlan heard his somewhat tired tone and did not say anything else. She bid him good night and hung up the phone.
Xu Shaosi closed the door, turned around, and suddenly found someone standing behind him. The person was completely covered with only a pair of cold eyes exposed.
Xu Shaosi’s breath stuttered as he broke out in cold sweat. “W-Who are you? Guards! Where are my guards?”
——
Boom. The sky rumbled like a thousand drums in unison. Rain fell in an unending torrent, spattering loudly against the window. The jasmine flowers on the windowsill were knocked to the ground, their delicate and tender white petals looking like melting snow.
Lightning streaked across the sky again, illuminating the dim interior for a moment.
You Xu sat up with a jolt. “Duan Min!”
She rolled out of bed, turned on the lights, and looked at the clock in the distance. It was already 3 a.m. She completely missed her pre-prepared plan.
However, she was not that angry. Even if Plan A failed, as long as there was motivation, there would be Plan B and Plan C. Besides, Duan Min did not know what her plan was. Maybe he just wanted her to get a good night’s rest because he saw how tired she was recently.
The drug made by Duan Min was really different. Not only did she no longer feel tired, but she was also full of energy and felt less depressed. Sure enough, a person’s mental state depended on their physical wellness. One’s spirit would feel better when they were in good health. For example, the mood of sick patients was quite different from that of healthy people.
The point that bothered her was that Duan Min drugged her without talking to her. She had to tell him not to do that again.
Another peal of thunder exploded in the sky. You Xu suddenly jolted.
No, it wasn’t just that.
Without even putting on her slippers, she ran to the guest room and knocked on the door. “Duan Min, are you asleep?”
She knocked several times and waited for a long time, but there was no movement, which showed that Duan Min was not inside at all. In the past, he would open the door for her before she got the chance to knock. His five senses were much sharper than normal people’s.
Where did he go?
Where could he have gone at this time of night, in this type of weather?
Was there anything he had to do that could not wait until the morning?
You Xu’s heart felt like it was lit on fire. She was anxious and worried, as well as furious.
“Spend 50 points to locate Duan Min’s position,” she said to the system.
The system always fulfilled her requests without a word when it came to the mission target. It said, “10 meters northwest of you.”
10 meters? That was at home.
She immediately ran over to open the door. As soon as she did, a large black object fell directly in front of her. You Xu was startled and crushed to the ground before she could dodge. Fortunately, the blanket spread behind the door was thick and cushioned her fall.
The sound of heavy, disorderly breathing sounded in her ears, almost burning hot. You Xu looked to the side and noticed that it was Duan Min, dressed in black. He also covered up his face and only revealed his eyes.
However, those usually clean and bright eyes were shut at that moment.
