Chapter 99 Outbreak

The man's embrace was burning hot, and Fu Jingchen's heartbeat could be heard through his chest.

The last bit of sharp pain in Ruan Yi's mind was also dispelled.

The girl closed her eyes, took a few deep breaths, and tried to suppress the turbulent waves in her heart.

As her chaotic thoughts gradually settled, an utterly absurd idea came to her...

Ruan Yi slowly opened her eyes, her gaze passing over Fu Jingchen's shoulder and landing on Gu Zhi, whose collar was being pulled.

Blood trickled from the corner of the man's mouth, but he showed no sign of pain, not even a furrow of his brow.

Gu Zhi stared at her intently, his eyes as dark as a bottomless pool, eerily so.

"Chen Xun, stop." The girl's voice was still trembling.

The heavy fist was still hanging in mid-air when it heard the sound and its movement suddenly stopped.

He turned his head, his anger still burning, mixed with disbelief and anxiety. "You're heartbroken?"

When will you be able to change your habit of always interrogating people the moment you open your mouth?

As soon as the girl spoke, Chen Xun deflated, realizing just how frequently he had a habit of being sarcastic.

"I want to find out from him what really happened."

It's absurd, it's like a dream.

What was Ah Zhi's purpose? With him interfering like this, she was completely confused about the real plot.

“I need to talk to him,” the girl said softly.

Shen Xun tightened his grip on Gu Zhi's collar, his Adam's apple bobbing, clearly wanting to say something more.

“I said let him go.” Ruan Yi turned her gaze to Chen Xun, her words clear and distinct.

The man met the girl's eyes, swallowed the words that were on the tip of his tongue, and suddenly let go.

Gu Zhi simply raised his hand to wipe the blood from the corner of his mouth.

"You three go out first."

Ruan Yi straightened up from Fu Jingchen's arms, held onto the edge of the tatami mat and sat down, deliberately keeping her distance from Gu Zhi, who was a few steps away.

“I need to talk to him alone.”

"No way!" Shen Xun immediately bristled, taking a step forward to object. "Are you crazy? You want to be alone with him?"

"Xiaoyi, please don't leave her alone, okay?" Fu Jingchen frowned, his voice full of worry. He reached out to help her, but the girl gently avoided him.

“His mental manipulation of you has created a conditioned reflex in you. If you are alone together, he could use your subconscious to control you at any time, which is very dangerous,” Pei Lian explained.

“I won’t let him near me.”

Ruan Yi raised her head, her gaze sweeping over the three people in turn. Her voice was not loud, but it left no room for rebuttal.

"Besides, with you guys around, do you think he'll tell the truth?"

As long as these three are around, the atmosphere will always be tense, and Gu Zhi will only respond with a deeper disguise.

She had to face Gu Zhi alone and personally expose this baseless hypocrisy.

Silence fell in the room again. The three of them looked at the stubbornness in the girl's eyes, and despite their deep concern, they remained silent.

In the end, he could only nod, but his eyes remained fixed on Gu Zhi, carrying a silent warning.

"Xiaoyi, I'm right outside the door. Call me immediately if you need anything."

The three of them lingered and left the room one after another. Chen Xun insisted on being the last one, and before leaving, he glared at Gu Zhi fiercely, his eyes seeming to want to poke two holes in him.

The door was gently closed, separating the inside from the outside.

Before the three people outside could even stand for a few seconds, a soft "click" came from inside—the sound of the door being locked from the inside.

Pei Lian frowned instantly and tried to press the doorknob.

"Why are you locking the door!" Shen Xun exploded instantly, slamming his large hand on the door panel.

Fu Jingchen immediately leaned closer to the door, his voice filled with worry, "Xiaoyi, did you lock it? Are you alright?"

Inside the room, Ruan Yi watched Gu Zhi stride away and lock the door behind him. Helpless, she could only laugh in exasperation.

What kind of time is this to play such childish tricks?

She called out helplessly toward the door, "I'm fine, you can wait outside."

The three people outside the door eventually had no choice but to give up.

The next second, three tall men, almost as tall as the door frame, pressed themselves against the door panel with remarkable coordination, their ears practically glued to the cracks in the wood.

A staff member carrying a tray passed by at the other end of the corridor. He was so shocked when he saw three tall men crowding together in front of a door to eavesdrop that he almost dropped his cup. He quickly lowered his head and slipped away as fast as he could.

Unfortunately, the soundproofing of this hot spring resort was too good; the owner probably already anticipated that these wealthy people would do some unspeakable things inside.

The door was as thick as a wall; you couldn't even hear a normal conversation. You could only hear muffled noises from outside if someone was arguing inside.

"Damn it." Chen Xun cursed under his breath, scratching his hair in frustration.

Fu Jingchen and Pei Lian's expressions were no better.

This door is practically made for sabotage.

Gu Zhi locked the door, turned around and walked towards the girl.

"Wait, don't come any closer!" Ruan Yi immediately stood up, took half a step back, and pressed her back against the wall.

“You can just stand there and talk.” Ruan Yi raised her hand to indicate that the two of them should be two steps apart, a safe distance that was neither too close nor too far.

She took a deep breath and looked directly at the man.

"Ah Zhi, you...you really drugged me?"

The man stopped, his face expressionless, and simply nodded slightly, saying in a flat tone, "Mm."

Gu Zhi paused, seemingly afraid that the girl might misunderstand, and then added, "But there are no side effects. The headache just now wasn't a problem with the medicine; it was just because my sister couldn't accept it for a moment."

After hearing this, Ruan Yi felt it was even more absurd.

"I don't care about side effects, it's still drugging you." Ruan Yi still couldn't understand, her tone filled with disbelief and frustration.

"Ah Zhi...are you crazy? Why would you do something like this? Just to...have physical contact with me every day?"

Although it sounds bizarre, this is the only reason she can think of right now.

She used to think that none of this was real, that Shen Xun and Fu Jingchen were plotting against Gu Zhi, and that it was all Gu Zhi's own doing.

In the girl's memory, apart from always hugging her and rubbing against her neck, her younger brother didn't seem to have done anything out of line.

The so-called mind control is still vague to her now. Could it be that all these years of scheming were just for this little bit of physical intimacy?

"Tell me the truth, do you have some kind of skin hunger disorder? Tell me!"

As Ruan Yi spoke, she felt the argument was getting more and more outrageous, and her voice even grew louder.

"It's not like I disagree, why all this roundabout stuff? Are you crazy?"

Seeing her flustered state, Gu Zhi's eyes suddenly lit up with a smile, and he responded softly.

"Yes, it's just so I can hug my sister."

"Huh?!" Ruan Yi was completely dumbfounded.

"Is that really why? You're my family! If you just told me, I would have done all this for you! Is it really worth it?"

The man smiled, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"No way."

"I've already tried it."

He remembers it clearly; he was only seven years old that year.

The boy watched his sister chasing butterflies in the yard.

Sunlight filtered through the green leaves, casting a dazzling golden glow on the girl's hair. He suddenly looked up and asked.

"Can I be my sister's husband in the future? I want to be with my sister for the rest of my life."

The boy seemed far more mature than his peers; after all, his childhood before she came to the Ruan family...

This prevented him from ever dreaming of the future.

But ever since he met his sister, he's had this idea of ​​staying with her forever; he really wants to.

The girl was bending over, gathering her skirt like a little monkey, preparing to climb the tree, when she heard this and paused, "Idiot."

She smiled and pinched the boy's cheek; her fingertips were soft and warm.

"I'm going to marry Shen Xun when I grow up. Mom said we're engaged, but you'll always be my good little brother. When you grow up, you'll marry someone else too!"

The wind was warm that day, rustling the green leaves, but the boy's heart sank into an ice cellar.

He looked into the complete openness in her eyes, and saw the corners of her mouth unconsciously curving upwards when she mentioned that name.

The boy's small fists were clenched tightly behind his back.

"No, it won't happen," he told himself over and over again.

He would not let his sister marry someone else, and he would not allow himself to be just a younger brother.

In that instant, something seemed to burst forth from the depths of his eyes, not the innocence a child should possess, but a deep darkness incongruous with his age.

Like ink dripping into clear water, it spreads rapidly, drop after drop.

The seed fell into the heart, nourished by jealousy and illuminated by desire, growing wildly in a corner unknown to anyone.

Year after year, its roots intertwined, growing into a towering tree that blocked out the sky, until the shade beneath it became even wider and broader.

He began to weave a fine net, keeping out everyone who might come near her.

His teachers at school once said that he was a rare genius. If that's the case... a genius should have plenty of ways to achieve his goals.

He was capable of any despicable means, as long as he could keep her by his side and make her only have eyes for him.

What he wanted was never just simple contact.

"It's not about possessing, but about having completely."

At first, the girl would just laugh and ruffle his hair, and at most hold his hand like a little kid. How could it have turned out like this?

"Only in this way will she not push him away; only in this way will he be the only one in her eyes."

Inside the private room.

The man looked at Ruan Yi with the same disdainful gaze one might give a sense of morbid unease...

Ruan Yi had no idea that he had done far more than that.

She was completely unaware of the more despicable aspects of his actions, and the girl would only think of these superficial ones as the madness he had committed in his pursuit of intimacy.

"My older sister is so cute."

The man glanced at the tightly closed door, as if he could see through the wood to the three anxious figures outside.

What good would it do to lay everything bare if those three are useless?

After more than a decade of preparation, do you really think a few test results and a few accusations are enough to make her heartlessly push him away?

"Impossible."

"My older sister has the softest heart."

He could have easily continued playing the innocent younger brother, apologizing with red eyes.

He said he was just being immature and too afraid of losing his sister, and that those methods were out of desperation.

He could then use those effortless little tricks to make her protect him again, making those three men once again someone she wanted to avoid at all costs.

He could have endured this childish game until the very end.

But looking at her slightly wary eyes, and at the distance she deliberately kept...

That last shred of reason suddenly snapped.

The emotions surging in his eyes could no longer be contained; they were as thick as ink that could not be dissolved.

The emotion, surging with devastating force, overflowed little by little, almost threatening to devour him.

"I don't want to endure it anymore, and I can't hold back any longer."

Gu Zhi took two steps forward.

"Explain yourself properly! Don't come any closer... ugh!"

The words had barely left his mouth when he was interrupted by a tremendous force.

The man completely ignored her reaction, grabbed her waist with his palm, and lifted her up with a little force.

The moment the feeling of weightlessness washed over him, his body was already pressed tightly against his chest.

Chest to chest, abdomen to abdomen, even their breaths mingled together, without a single gap.

He lowered his head, his hot breath spraying onto her nose. Without giving the girl any chance to react, his lips pressed hard against hers, with an irresistible force, prying open her teeth.

His tongue barbarically invaded, entwining with her softness with a predatory urgency, as if it wanted to devour her breath, her consciousness, and everything about her.

The man gripped the girl's nape with his other hand, so tightly he almost mashed her into his body.

He forced her to tilt her head back and endure the overwhelming kisses.

The violent pounding of my heart, transmitted through our skin, carried a frenzied obsession and longing.

This wasn't a kiss; it was a silent declaration, a complete eruption of desires suppressed for over a decade.

"My sister is mine, and she can only be mine."