Black vortex
"Why did you choose me in the first place? Which of my features best suited your needs? Your voice? Or that police uniform?"
—'Every time you say you need me, are you thinking of loving me, or are you afraid of having an attack?'
"If I weren't sick, would Young Master Yu even give me a second glance?"
"What you did for me, was it out of love, or just to pay for my medical bills?"
At three in the morning, Yu Sheng lay on the clean bed, her consciousness fluctuating between lucidity and confusion. The familiar scent of cologne and shower gel filled the air, as if all the intense and disheveled smells from before had been completely washed away and replaced.
But Lu Chenyang's whisper in his ear an hour ago was like a broken record player, constantly scraping against his mind.
Yu Sheng tried to move her stiff wrists, but she couldn't feel them at all, as if they were no longer part of her body. The lingering pain from the feeling of the tie tightening so much that it almost embedded itself in her bones still lingered. She couldn't break free, couldn't escape, and in the end, she was even deprived of the right to speak.
"Honey, compared to Lan Yi, is my treatment more effective?"
"But darling, taking too much medicine can have side effects, cause dependence, and even poisoning. You can't live without me now, can you?"
"It's alright, it's fine if you can't live without me. Since you've chosen me as your medicine, then keep taking it, take it for the rest of your life, until you die from the poison. You're not allowed to switch, and you're not allowed to stop."
"I am your medicine, so your life must belong to me, inside and out, from the past to the future, every inch of it belongs to me. Those inappropriate thoughts shouldn't exist; they will make me very unhappy."
Lu Chenyang's words were all so gentle, like those of a deeply beloved lover. Yet his actions were terrifyingly horrifying, and Yu Sheng still shudders at the memory.
Without physical pain, even when Lu Chenyang was furious, he would never let him suffer in that way. But the psychological and mental punishment was more chilling than pure violence, like a long, drawn-out torture, stripping away all pretense to expose the most unbearable interior. Yu Sheng didn't dare to relive it.
Begging for mercy was useless; he gave in and even stopped struggling. He watched helplessly as madness and distortion spread across Lu Chenyang's face, which always exuded righteousness and gentleness.
He had never seen Lu Chenyang like this before, and he was afraid.
In a daze, Yu Sheng thought she had returned to the mental hospital on that island. She had returned to the day when she was locked in the closet for dozens of hours, then dragged out and locked on the bed, stripped naked and left to be at the mercy of others.
He was truly terrified. The safe haven he once relied on for survival, the only voice that allowed him to sleep peacefully, had now become a hellish demon that tormented, humiliated, and invaded him.
Resistance was futile, and begging for mercy was useless. He was plunged back into the "water," and this time no one could save him.
It turns out that the words he uttered at Yaoguang Hospital, "We're both crazy, we're a match made in heaven," were true. He really was crazy. When Lu Chenyang shed all his gentle protective shell, what was revealed before him were countless soft thorns that pierced him, leaving him battered and bleeding.
During the most agonizing punishment, Yu Sheng was in a daze, wondering if Lu Chenyang wanted him to die there. In the final moment of incontinence, he truly wished he could die there, and he prayed for such relief.
But instead of another round of punishment, he was greeted with a kiss. A gentle yet bitter kiss covered his numb lips.
"Ah Sheng, please don't leave me, okay?"
A wave of overwhelming sorrow gripped his heart. He couldn't tell whether he should feel sorry for himself or for the person who started it all.
Lu Chenyang's tears fell one after another, hitting his eyes and burning his heart with pain.
"Bai Hua once said that there's no cure for mental illness; it requires lifelong care. Since I'm effective for you, please keep me, okay? I beg you."
Yu Sheng couldn't make a sound; her eyes were brimming with too many of Lu Chenyang's tears, and finally, they burst forth.
The washing machine, wrapped in a bed sheet, was spinning. Lu Chenyang sat on the bathroom floor, lost in thought, his eyes filled with an unnatural grayness, like the deepest trench, reflecting no light.
—'Lu Chenyang! Are you fucking crazy?'
—"Stop! I said stop!!"
"Please, Chenyang, stop, please, I was wrong..."
—'Don't do this... Ah!!!'
When the purity of love is tainted, his deepest fears become reality. He is not Yu Sheng's only choice, nor is this choice based on what he believes to be love. Rather, it is mixed with utilitarianism, calculation, compensation, and habit.
It was once an illusion under Lan Yi's "redemption," and now it has become a dependence under its own "therapeutic effect."
Lu Chenyang frantically searched for the essential difference between the two, trying to convince himself that they were different, only to discover in despair that perhaps they really were no different. He was merely settling for second best, a desperate measure.
That's why he was so eager to confirm his uniqueness, even resorting to such a destructive method. He just wanted Yu Sheng to treat him differently.
Even if it can only be used as one medicine, it must be the most effective one, the one that needs to be taken for life, until it becomes addictive and difficult to quit.
He leaned against the wall and stood up. All the boiling emotions within him vanished, leaving only a chilling emptiness and exhaustion. He moved step by step toward the bedroom, a short distance that seemed to stretch on forever.
"...Ah Sheng." He bent one leg, knelt on the edge of the bed, and reached out to grab the lifeless figure buried in the soft bedding.
The fingertips touched noticeably thin bones, with prominent, jagged shoulder blades covered in messy bruises, all left by his own hands.
Yu Sheng lay quietly, like a rag doll that had been played with and then discarded.
His breathing was so light it was almost imperceptible, but the moment Lu Chenyang's fingertips touched him, his body trembled uncontrollably.
He's gone mad. I terrified him. Lu Chenyang's lips trembled. But what could he do? The words "medicinal catalyst" were like a curse; he had to grasp onto something, even if it meant falling into hell together.
He lay down and carefully pulled the person into his arms, his voice dry and hoarse: "I was angry, and I was scared... but I was wrong. But I don't regret it."
The person in his arms didn't respond or struggle. After a long while, Yu Sheng slowly sat up. His eyes were half-closed, and as if driven by instinct, his lips groped for Lu Chenyang's shoulder, then he opened his mouth and bit down fiercely!
The canine teeth pierced through the flesh without mercy, sending a sharp, intense pain through Yu Sheng. She used all her strength, causing the back of her neck to tremble slightly.
Lu Chenyang, however, breathed a sigh of relief amidst the excruciating pain. Bite. This sharp pain brought a twisted sense of peace, a tangible connection and proof of existence.
He closed his eyes, gently placed his hand on Yu Sheng's sweaty nape, and even curled his lips into a satisfied smile, as if he had survived a disaster.
However, this brief moment of peace of mind was fleeting.
He heard Yu Sheng's voice, ringing against his bleeding wound. There was no emotion in her voice, only the breath of someone who had exhausted everything. It was as light as smoke, yet heavy enough to crush him completely. "Lu Chenyang... I hate you."
Yu Sheng did not stay at Lu Chenyang's apartment. Her driver, Lao Hao, arrived shortly afterward and picked her up.
Yu Sheng's limbs felt as if they had been broken and then barely reattached, so weak and aching that he couldn't muster any strength. But he refused any touch from Lu Chenyang. He knelt down and crawled little by little to the wardrobe, using his last bit of willpower to get dressed.
From beginning to end, he didn't look at Lu Chenyang again, didn't leave a single word, and didn't cry. Even though his involuntary tears allowed him to shed tears easily, he had already cried all his tears long ago.
Since then, Lu Chenyang has never seen Yu Sheng again. He only heard from A Jiang that the next day, Yu Sheng and Lan Zhong, along with the core design team of Shuye, flew directly to the island of Koyali in Australia.
Three days later, Lu Chenyang finally got through to Yu Sheng's phone, using A Jiang's cell phone number.
"Hello? Ah Sheng?"
"Sheng, sheng, sheng, what sheng? I'm your ancestor. Looking for Ah Sheng? You dare to challenge me? He still has those 'things' on him, what, checking up on him over the phone to confirm his achievements? Lu Chenyang, are you a dog? Do you have to go back and sniff the leftover bones?"
Lu Chenyang's tone turned serious, and he recognized Lan Zhong's voice from it. "President Lan, please let Asheng answer the phone. This is between us."
"Oh my god~" Lan Zhong said in his usual sarcastic tone, "What a nonchalant 'between us,' anyone who didn't know better would think you two were acting in an idol drama! Let me tell you, Asheng is here with me now, take good care of her, and you scumbag, get the hell out of here!"
"That was an accident... I didn't expect... you made Ah Sheng—" Lu Chenyang's explanation was weak and unconvincing, even to himself.
"An accident?" Lan Zhong sneered, cutting him off. "Your 'accident' is quite unique, isn't it? Should I go to your house and set it on fire right now, creating an 'accident' too? Lu Chenyang, I don't care what kind of twisted love-hate game you two are playing, but Asheng is under my protection now. If I see you dragging him out of a crime scene again, I'll make sure you can't stay in Xinghua, no, in the entire entertainment industry—hey! What the hell are you doing! Damn it! Don't grab the phone!!"
A chaotic struggle could be heard from the other end of the phone. Lu Chenyang held his breath, his heart pounding in his chest, cold sweat soaking his trouser seams. Every second of waiting felt like torture.
Finally, the voice he had been longing for came through the distant radio waves, clear yet distant.
“Lu Chenyang,” Yu Sheng’s voice was calm. “I don’t want to see you, and don’t come looking for me. I’ll be back in China in a month, and then… we can have a proper talk.”
"Ah Sheng, I was wrong! I'm sorry, I—" Lu Chenyang apologized urgently, his words rushing out as he tried to grasp at the last straw.
However, the only response he received was a crisp and resolute "click".
The call was disconnected, and the dial tone echoed hollowly in my ears: "Beep—beep—beep—"
Lu Chenyang sat stiffly in the empty waiting hall, head bowed, as if all his strength had been drained away. His boarding pass slipped from his hand and fell to the ground, but he didn't even notice.
As darkness fell outside the window, a light drizzle began to fall, its sound echoing the raindrops on the glass and striking his desolate heart.
He didn't know how long he sat there until his limbs were cold and numb. Only then did he stand up like a walking corpse, dragging his numb body into the car and back to the apartment that still held Yu Sheng's presence.
For the next two weeks, Lan Zhong did not make it impossible for Lu Chenyang to gain a foothold in Xinghua as he had promised. On the contrary, Lu Chenyang personally asked Sister Zhou to increase his workload to the limit.
His daily schedule was packed, rushing from one film set to another, from one interview to the next event. He turned himself into a machine that worked non-stop, trying to numb his nerves with endless fatigue and busyness, to escape the fact that Yu Sheng had already left, and to escape the irreparable damage he had caused that night.
He had no one to confide in, and dared not visit his grandmother, fearing that the old woman would notice something was wrong and add to his worries.
The night was the real torment. When the world's clamor subsided, every detail of that night played out in his mind frame by frame, like a high-definition replay: Yu Sheng's initial resentment and struggle, to her incredulous, terrified outbursts, to her final helpless surrender and tearful pleas for mercy… and finally, that light, yet utterly devastating sentence: 'Lu Chenyang, I hate you.'
These words, along with Yu Sheng's eyes filled with disappointment and pain at that time, echoed in his ears night after night, without end.
They relentlessly ravaged his already taut nerves, eroding every corner of his brain. If people have souls, Lu Chenyang felt his must be gray and white, shattered beyond repair.
He began to habitually follow all news from Australia: weather forecasts, news briefings, and even sporadic updates on the Kuyari Island project from the official website of the Kanameno government.
He longed for the month to end quickly, yet he also feared its inevitable conclusion. He didn't know what lay ahead; his former confidence was gone, replaced only by panic.
That afternoon, a news flash suddenly popped up.
Super Typhoon Ocia has made landfall in northeastern Queensland, Australia, with maximum sustained winds near its center exceeding Category 17. It is expected to cause devastating damage! All areas along the typhoon's path are currently without communication signals, and all transportation, including ships and aircraft, has been suspended…!
The accompanying image shows a massive and terrifying vortex on a satellite cloud image, along with blurry images from the scene: towering waves, torn buildings, and an apocalyptic landscape.
Lu Chenyang stared at his phone screen, his pupils contracted, and his blood froze.
Australia... Kouyari Island... Yu Sheng is there!
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