Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Cause of Her Illness

The moment Su Muci's gaze fell upon that text message, her blood seemed to freeze instantly.

His lips twitched uncontrollably, and the last trace of color drained from his face.

"Does your stomach still hurt?"

Huo Zhan's deep voice sounded from behind him.

He had already tidied up the master bedroom and came over specifically to pick her up.

Seeing her sitting at the desk, her face pale, he stretched out his long arm and pulled her into his arms.

He was only wearing a thin silk nightgown, and Su Muchi was held tightly against his chest. Through the two thin layers of fabric, she could clearly feel the firm and hard muscle lines of his chest, which were full of power and reassuring warmth.

If she hadn't seen Zhou Mengying's message, she might have already snuggled into his arms.

But at this moment, her body was as stiff as a stone.

The scene of Zhou Mengying and her gang grinning as they poured her mother's ashes down the toilet uncontrollably flashed through her mind...

My eyes instantly welled up with tears, and a surge of soreness welled up inside me.

“Mr. Huo, you shouldn’t be so good to me… I don’t deserve it.”

He spent so much money on her live stream to support her, but she wants to use that money to exchange for her mother's ashes.

She hadn't been able to hold onto his kindness, and was consumed by self-blame, her heart aching constantly.

Huo Zhan frowned when he heard her say those words out of the blue, but his gaze fell on her lit phone screen.

The contents of that text message were right under his nose.

He finally understood why she said that.

"You plan to withdraw the money from the live stream and use it to buy your mother's ashes?"

"……yes."

Thinking of the despicable behavior of Zhou Mengying and her group, Su Muci felt as if her heart was being torn apart; she dared not take the risk.

Huo Zhan narrowed his eyes and said in a deep voice, "What if she gets the money this time but doesn't give you all the ashes, keeping some as leverage for future blackmail? Or what if she just gives you something else to appease you while still holding onto the real ashes? What are you going to do then?"

Su Muci's heart skipped a beat. Given Zhou Mengying's character, she was indeed capable of doing such a thing!

“Cici,” Huo Zhan cupped her face, forcing her to look at him, his gaze deep and resolute, “because it involves your mother, you’re prone to getting caught up in things that make you lose sight of the bigger picture. Leave it to me, okay? I promise I’ll get it back in its entirety.”

Su Muci looked up at him. His serious expression and handsome features moved her, but after all, he was her mother. She couldn't entrust her mother's safety to anyone, not even Huo Zhan.

"Mr. Huo, thank you, but I don't want to hide behind you forever."

Huo Zhan stared at her for a moment, seeing the stubbornness in her eyes, but did not force her.

He lowered his head and placed a gentle kiss on her cool forehead with his warm lips, his voice low and husky: "Okay, whatever you want. Whatever you plan to do, go to sleep now."

As soon as he finished speaking, he scooped her up in his arms without giving her a chance to say anything more.

As soon as she stepped out of the study, Su Muci realized she was going the wrong way and whispered, "Mr. Huo, you've gone to the wrong place. My room is on the other side..."

"I've already emptied your room, what are you going there for?"

"ah???"

Empty?

Seeing her wide-eyed surprise, Huo Zhan's Adam's apple bobbed, and his voice became a little hoarse: "Mrs. Huo, do you really expect me to climb onto the balcony in the middle of the night?"

"..."

Su Muci's cheeks instantly turned bright red. Feeling overwhelmed by his burning gaze, she instinctively buried her flushed face in his neck, letting him hold her as they walked step by step toward the master bedroom.

She was still on her period, so he wouldn't do anything inappropriate.

The two lay close together in the same bed, and Su Muci quickly fell asleep in his warm embrace.

However, the calm did not last long.

Late at night, Huo Zhan was awakened by the unusual movements of the person in his arms.

Su Muchi's forehead was soaked with cold sweat, her body twitched slightly, and her jaw was clenched, clearly trapped in a deep nightmare.

"Cici? Su Muchi?"

He couldn't wake her no matter how he called her, and his face darkened. Could it be that the text message from the night before had upset her?

After the visiting doctor confirmed that she had no symptoms, Huo Zhan called Cheng Siyu.

Cheng Siyu rushed to the villa in the middle of the night.

He glanced at Su Muci, who was lying on the large bed, deep in a nightmare and pale-faced, and frowned.

"Mr. Huo, is she the skin hunger syndrome patient you consulted before?"

Huo Zhan, radiating a chilling aura, nodded.

"Dr. Cheng, you're skilled in dream interpretation. Give it a try. I need to know what kind of poisonous insects and ferocious beasts are in her dream!"

Upon hearing this, Cheng Siyu frowned even more deeply.

Huo Zhan is inherently emotionally unstable and could explode at any moment... Now, the woman in front of him, whom he cherishes like a precious gem, is clearly suffering from some kind of psychological trauma and is trapped in a nightmare. A guided dream? I really don't know what the consequences will be!

However, if you want to cure skin thirst, you really need to understand the cause.

Cheng Siyu took a deep breath and approached Su Muci despite the pressure.

He used music therapy to begin hypnosis, slowly guiding Su Muci into her dream.

"Su Muci, can you hear the music? You're safe around you, you can look around without worry."

Su Muci, lying on the bed, sensed the sounds from outside and murmured anxiously, "...Go away...don't come any closer..."

"Su Muci, I am a doctor. No matter what difficulties you encounter, I can help you. Tell me where you are now?"

"Can you save me? Let me out... They've locked me up..."

Who are they?

"My dad and Zhou Mengying!"

Huo Zhan's eyes narrowed instantly as he stood by the bed.

Cheng Siyu continued to guide him: "Don't be afraid, I'm here to save you. Can you see me?"

"Xiao Qi! What are you doing here! Run! Run!"

Su Muci suddenly panicked and struggled even though Huo Zhan held her tightly in his arms.

Cheng Siyu, fighting off a cold sweat, pressed on, "What happened to Xiao Qi? Why did you make it run away?"

Su Muci's voice was filled with despair, and she cried out, "Zhou Mengying! Please let go of Xiaoqi! It just wanted to save me, please let it go, it's very well-behaved! It doesn't understand anything!"

Cheng Siyu: "Tell me what you saw?"

"Zhou Mengying is holding a knife and peeling Xiaoqi's skin! Xiaoqi is screaming! Ah—! Xiaoqi—"

"...Xiaoqi is dead...The rats are eating its flesh, they're still eating..."

Su Muci's cries went from heart-wrenching at the beginning to utter despair and helplessness at the end, until she finally fainted in Huo Zhan's arms.

Through this musical hypnosis, Huo Zhan and Cheng Siyu heard Su Muchi's narrated dream.

They seemed to travel through time and space, hearing Zhou Mengyao's cruel laughter and seeing Zhou Mengying kicking the mangled corpse of her most beloved silver fox dog into a corner like trash.

It was as if I could see Zhou Mengying opening a cage in the basement, and several rats pounced on Xiao Qi's mangled corpse, frantically gnawing on Xiao Qi's flesh right in front of Su Muci...

One day, two days... nine days.

Su Muci was locked in place, unable to close her eyes or escape, watching day after day as Xiao Qi was devoured, from bloodstained flesh to exposed bones...

Huo Zhan's clenched fists were white at the knuckles, and the veins on the back of his hands bulged.

So that's how it is.

This is the root cause of her skin hunger disorder.

What made Huo Zhan's heart surge with violence was that the culprit was still provoking and jumping around in front of Ci Ci!

That's practically suicide!

A murderous glint flashed in Huo Zhan's eyes.

Cheng Siyu felt the chill in the air.

As Huo Zhan's personal psychologist, he knew all too well the obsession and ruthlessness hidden beneath Huo Zhan's calm exterior.

He had to remind her, "Mr. Huo, patients with skin thirst need absolute security. For her sake, please control your impulses. You may be the person Mrs. Huo trusts the most right now."

"Um."

Huo Zhan responded with a hoarse, rough voice.

His eyes were clearly bloodshot, but he forcibly suppressed it because of Cheng Siyu's words.

He was her support.

Absolutely, absolutely not, can we allow those sinister emotions to consume us!

Only a stable emotional state can give her enough security... Huo Zhan understands this as well.

Cheng Siyu felt a chill run down his spine as he watched Huo Zhan's expression return to calm.

In Cheng Siyu's memory, Huo Zhan's emotions fluctuated greatly, and during his heightened state, he could not control himself except through electrotherapy.

But for Su Muci's sake, he actually suppressed it himself.

At that moment, Cheng Siyu suddenly understood something.

Electrotherapy and hypnosis can only temporarily suppress the dangerous forces hidden in emotions.

Only love can heal everything.

...

When Su Muci opened her eyes, it was already the next morning.

Huo Zhan sat neatly dressed on the edge of the bed, his posture upright, his expression as calm and gentle as ever, as if the man who was on the verge of losing control last night was just an illusion.

She rubbed her eyes, somewhat bewildered: "Mr. Huo?"

Huo Zhan leaned down and placed a soft, warm kiss on her lips, his voice gentle and magnetic, "Mrs. Huo, good morning. Did you sleep well last night?"

Thanks to Cheng Siyu's professional guidance, Su Muci did not retain many nightmare memories, but she felt somewhat tired.

She smiled gently: "It's alright."

Suddenly, her phone screen lit up again, and a new message popped up.

Huo Zhan's gaze swept across the screen almost simultaneously, clearly seeing the line of text on it:

[I gave my sister one night to think it over. Has she made up her mind? Should we come and buy her ashes?]