Chapter 25 "Xie Linyuan, you can never compare to..."
When Xie Linyuan said this, Lin Xiuyuan was stunned, and he almost dropped the medicinal herbs in his hand.
The room remained silent for a while. While Lin Xiuyuan was still in shock from what he had just heard, Xie Linyuan spoke again:
"Give me."
His tone was harsh and chilling, as if he were speaking through clenched teeth, with a slight tremor in his voice.
It exudes an extraordinary, obsessive madness.
It seems we absolutely must obtain this poison.
Lin Xiuyuan looked at Xie Linyuan, who appeared like a lost soul, and then thought about recent events...
His elder brother, Xie Lin'an, met with misfortune, leaving behind a widowed sister-in-law who was not yet married to him. It is said that for the sake of this widowed sister-in-law, he actually killed the son of the Marquis of Changping in public at a banquet held by the Princess, cleaving the man in two...
And now, he's asking him for this kind of poison again...
Can you control a person's mind and make them addicted to sex?
Could it be that... he gave this medicine to his widowed sister-in-law?
How could he become so obsessed with a woman?
She was also his sister-in-law, his brother's fiancée.
Lin Xiuyuan was truly shocked by his own conjecture. He immediately asked, "This is an evil medicine. What do you want it for? For your sister-in-law?"
“What are you doing, ha…” Xie Linyuan sighed, his tone drawn out.
The sky was overcast and cold. This spring day seemed to be filled with continuous rain. Xie Linyuan looked at the gloomy sky outside the window and thought of the girl in the corridor after the rain.
She truly became his inner demon.
A gust of cold wind blew in, ruffling his dark hair. Xie Linyuan suddenly laughed. He lowered his head, looking at his empty hands, still laughing, his expression dazed.
"She doesn't like me, what can I do?"
"Why can't she like me? Why..."
"My brother, just how good is he... Why can't she look at me?"
Having not slept all night, his eyes were bloodshot, and those once captivating and amorous peach blossom eyes were now filled with emptiness, which was soon replaced by intense and twisted desire.
"She has to be mine."
“If not, I will make her be.”
Lin Xiuyuan was completely bewildered by Xie Linyuan's ramblings.
Are all military generals so arrogant and fond of plundering and seizing by force?
Lin Xiuyuan frowned. As a doctor, he could tell at a glance that Xie Linyuan was restless and unsettled. He said, "Brother Xie, how about this? I'll prescribe some calming medicine for you. You can go back, decoct it, and drink it. After a few days, these troubles will be gone."
Lin Xiuyuan's words implied a polite refusal.
"I am perfectly sober."
Xie Linyuan sneered. He raised his head, unmoved, and said, "You just need to give me the medicine, Lin Xiuyuan."
Lin Xiuyuan was a doctor who only wanted to treat patients and save lives, and he didn't want to do such a heinous thing. He shook his head.
Xie Linyuan seemed to have anticipated this outcome. He said calmly, "You once said you owed me a life. Now is the time to repay that debt."
Upon hearing this, Lin Xiuyuan sighed: "Never mind, Brother Xie, there is indeed such a Gu in the Western Regions. It makes people lose their minds and become addicted to the person who cast the Gu, seeking pleasure from them. When it takes effect, only the person who cast the Gu can relieve it."
"However, this kind of Gu is poisonous, and using it directly will kill people. I can supplement it with medicinal herbs to make a milder Gu medicine for you."
Lin Xiuyuan still felt it was a terrible mistake and advised, "Once this medicine is used, your sister-in-law will definitely hate you when she wakes up. You won't be able to turn back. Moreover, this poison will definitely affect your mind, making you confused and turning you into a mindless puppet, even worse than a child..."
"Why bother? She's just a weak woman. What has she done to offend you? Let her go. Besides, isn't she your brother's widow? What if your brother finds out..."
Lin Xiuyuan was naturally unaware of the extent of Xie Linyuan's madness, nor did he know that in his dreams... he had already murdered his brother countless times.
It would have been better if he hadn't said those words; his words plunged Xie Linyuan into an abyss of jealousy and resentment.
"Turn back?"
The sky outside had turned completely dark. Xie Linyuan's face was hidden in the shadows, revealing no emotion, but his voice sounded like he was laughing: "I can't turn back now."
"If I let her go, who will let me go?"
"Let's just die together, hahahaha—"
In this way, she would belong to Xie Linyuan completely and forever.
She would no longer remember Xie Lin'an, nor his brother.
She can only love him.
"How long will the effects of this medicine last?" Xie Linyuan suddenly asked this question.
About half a month.
Xie Linyuan added, "Not enough."
"I want a permanent, indelible effect."
Lin Xiuyuan slowly opened his mouth wide.
——
Spending so much time here, in the darkness, made Su Muying extremely sensitive, irritable, and short-tempered; her gentle, water-like nature had completely vanished.
Here, time seemed to pass very slowly, and her mind was foggy, making it impossible for her to distinguish between night and day.
Her father, mother, and Xie Lin'an would always appear before her in turn... Sometimes she would see raging fires, and sometimes she would see Xie Lin'an being attacked, lying in a pool of blood, still looking at her before he died...
Su Muying couldn't tell whether she was dreaming or awake.
She felt scared and terrified, and kept crying. She wanted to leave this place, to go to Anzhou to see her parents, to prepare a tombstone for their graves and offer incense. She wanted to eat the locust flower cakes from Anzhou...
However, whenever Su Muying struggled out of her fear and opened her eyes, all she could see was darkness; she couldn't see anything.
When will she finally find a chance to leave this place?
Su Muying had been waiting.
Xie Linyuan did come every day. Only when he came would the room be lit up, and it wouldn't be a deathly silence that threatened to engulf her completely.
She longed for his arrival, yet she also feared it.
She was afraid of him.
He locked her up here and always liked to do some very strange things.
For example, he would personally help her dress, comb her hair, feed her bite by bite, give her water, and even hold her in his arms like a baby being potty trained, so that she...
She cried out in shame, begging him, but it was no use.
If she did these things herself, he would look at her with a smile, a gentle yet eerily tender gaze.
Those peach blossom eyes were undeniably beautiful, and his face was undeniably handsome and radiant, but when Su Muying was looked at like that, she felt an overwhelming sense of fear...
It was as if what was looking at her was a huge monster, or a wild beast panting in the darkness, waiting for its chance to strike.
He will seize any opportunity to completely devour her.
She was afraid of him, terribly afraid of him, and she hated him.
Whenever Su Muying was looked at by him, by those eyes, all she wanted to do was curl up into a ball, then glare at him fiercely, trying to scare him away.
But it didn't work.
This time, after he fed her by hand again, Su Muying couldn't take it anymore; the strange feeling made her scalp tingle.
What exactly does he want to do?
Su Muying didn't eat.
Not only did he not eat it, but he also waved his hand and threw all the food on the ground.
With a loud crash, shards of porcelain littered the floor.
She saw him pause for a moment.
Su Muying suddenly felt afraid; she didn't know what he would do next...
After a moment of stunned silence, Xie Linyuan picked up all the broken porcelain shards and cleaned the floor.
Then, he walked to the only lamp lit in this windowless room. Su Muying watched as he removed the glass lampshade, and then she saw him... extinguish the wick with one hand.
The room was plunged back into endless, suffocating darkness.
Su Muying's heart sank. She pleaded frantically, "Don't turn off the light, please, I'm afraid of the dark..."
She couldn't see his expression in the darkness, but she felt that it must be extremely cruel.
Seeing her in such a sorry state, tormented so much by him, he would surely be extremely pleased.
He'll definitely be laughing.
In the darkness, one cannot see a person's face clearly, nor can one see the smile on Xie Linyuan's face. At the same time, Su Muying would not see the tear that slid down from the corner of his eye.
"No, sister-in-law is not obedient enough."
"Not only did I not eat today, but I also spilled the food. This is my punishment for my sister-in-law."
He seemed to understand perfectly what she feared and was afraid of, and he knew how to torment her.
Su Muying stopped talking. Even in the darkness, she kept her eyes wide open, staring at him until the door opened and closed again.
She was all alone in the darkness again.
She waited a long time, waiting for the door to open again, for the punishment to end, and for him to light the lamp.
This time it seems to have taken longer than last time.
Su Muying felt as if she had been waiting in the darkness for a very long time before the door opened again and light shone in.
The girl huddled in the corner slowly raised her head, opened her lifeless eyes, and looked toward the light.
Having been in darkness for so long, the sudden appearance of light inevitably stung her eyes, yet she couldn't bear to close them, keeping them wide open.
Xie Linyuan turned on the room light, closed the door, and walked towards the girl.
He bent down, picked her up from the corner, put her back on the bed, covered her with the blanket and tucked her in.
Xie Linyuan looked down at Su Muying, and involuntarily reached out, his knuckles curling, and gently rubbed her cheek.
After being locked up here for four days, her life was rapidly slipping away.
Like a flower that is about to wither.
But it's clearly still spring.
How can flowers wither and fade?
Su Muying gripped the edge of the blanket with both hands, still glaring at him.
"Su Muying, do you hate me a lot?" Xie Linyuan asked with a smile after she bit his finger hard as his finger gently brushed against her lips.
After she bit her finger until it bled and tasted blood in her mouth, Su Muying released her grip.
She swallowed hard, then furrowed her delicate brows and looked at him with a particularly confused expression.
It's as if it's saying: Shouldn't I hate you?
Xie Linyuan, shouldn't I hate you?
Xie Linyuan rubbed the bloody teeth marks on his finger bones where the girl had bitten him, then raised his hand and put the finger with the marks in his mouth and licked it.
In an instant, Su Muying's eyes widened considerably, as could be seen with the naked eye.
After licking the blood off his fingers, a small white porcelain bottle suddenly appeared in Xie Linyuan's hand, out of Su Muying's sight.
He lowered his head, looked at the small white porcelain bottle in his hand, and asked in a low voice, "What's so good about my brother?" His voice was hoarse and deep.
He finally asked her the question in person.
But he also knew that the girl in front of him would not give him the answer he wanted.
Xie Linyuan gripped the small white porcelain bottle tightly in his hand.
Upon hearing his question, Su Muying's brows furrowed even more deeply.
She looked up at him, and he looked at her. The dim light seemed to envelop them in a secret world that belonged only to them, but their eyes could not meet.
Su Muying was initially puzzled when she heard this, wondering why he asked such a question. But at this moment, when she looked up and saw the light in his dark eyes that seemed to contain a hint of expectation, a wicked thought of revenge suddenly arose in Su Muying's heart.
In that instant, she grasped the knife that could stab him, knowing full well that it could pierce deeply and inflict serious wounds.
Then, a hint of surprise appeared in Su Muying's almond-shaped eyes at just the right moment, as if she were asking about something that was common knowledge and whose answer she already knew.
"He's perfect in every way."
"Xie Linyuan, you will never be as good as him."
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