Chapter 75 A Morbid Man: He claims to hate her, yet he's so infatuated with her...
Almost as soon as she made a slight movement, a sound came from her ankle. Shi Wan looked closely and saw that there was even a small bell hanging on the shackles of her right foot.
She instinctively reached out to touch it; the shackles were extremely cold, locked around her ankles, their pure black-gray color contrasting with her fair skin, creating a contradictory sense of unease.
The shackles were heavy. Shi Wan mustered all her strength to get up, but after only a few steps, the skin on her ankles began to rub uncomfortably.
Seemingly hearing the commotion inside, Jiang Xu strode in from outside. Their eyes met, and he smiled at Shi Wan as usual, "Awake?"
Shi Wan instantly looked away, her tone extremely cold, even her usual gentleness gone, "What are you trying to do?"
They went to such lengths, even locking her up?
Her tone was filled with resentment, desperately trying to mask the growing unease she felt, as she questioned, "You, the powerful ruler of this place, don't you find this behavior ridiculous?"
“Ridiculous?” Jiang Xu stepped forward and saw that Shi Wan looked wary as he approached. He was quite surprised and even more delighted. “Look, your expression is so lively now, so none of this is ridiculous.”
"I think it's wonderful." After saying that, he leaned forward, as if to kiss her.
Shi Wan almost reflexively turned her head to dodge.
Noticing her stiffness, Jiang Xu stopped, gently pinched her wrist, tightened his grip instantly, then silently loosened it, and after a moment, tightened it again. "What would you like for breakfast?"
In early autumn, the sunlight was still bright. It filtered through the warm color of Jiang Xu's moon-white round-necked robe, with most of the light being filtered out, and finally fell on the slightly panting person. His inner garment, also in a plain white color, was clean and flawless.
Shi Wan shouldn't have been paying attention to what Jiang Xu was wearing at the moment, but the man stood in front of her and asked her what she wanted to eat in such casual words, as if nothing had happened.
How could she possibly eat that much?
"Your sarcasm is getting more and more outrageous," Shi Wan scoffed. "Or have you gone so mad that you can't even wait a few days or months?"
Almost as soon as she finished speaking, the person who had been a little distance away suddenly lunged forward, as if their sore spot had been touched. Their voice was hoarse, and their eyes were like arrows. "You still dare to bring this up?" But after saying that, Jiang Xu became strangely calm. Yes, she couldn't move now, so it was all just talk.
He has her now.
She...cannot leave him.
This realization immediately and strangely smoothed out all the wrinkles in Jiang Xu's heart, past and present. The two were quite different in stature, and seeing Shi Wan's eyes filled with tears and her stubborn expression, he felt his whole body temperature rise.
The boiling blood, and even the bottomless hatred in my heart, were filled in an instant.
His gaze swept over the shackles, and he asked, "Do you like them?"
Shi Wan's face was drained of color. She had only felt a strange sensation in her ankle when she woke up that morning. Now, realizing that the surroundings were not right, she was completely at a loss. "...Where am I?"
Jiang Xu was taken aback, then smiled and said, "How's the new gift I prepared for you?" He seemed completely oblivious to the unease in Shi Wan's voice, and like a child, he teased her with a hint of self-satisfaction, insisting on asking again, "Do you like it?"
After speaking, she gently stroked her wrist, moving it gradually from her wrist to her slender, white knuckles.
Before he could continue his groping, she bumped into him forcefully. The faint fragrance vanished in an instant. Jiang Xu subconsciously took a half step back, and Shi Wan seized the opportunity to run straight out.
Outside, the long road stretched endlessly, and the exits and places with light within sight were guarded by a group of soldiers standing solemnly in black.
A sense of despair crept into her heart, and the shackles chafed her skin raw, causing the pain to intensify in no time.
Shi Wan's heart was pounding, and her breathing became heavier. After running a short distance, she stopped and looked back.
Jiang Xu stood tall and elegant in front of the door she had left through, gazing at her silently.
The dim light in the basement reflected his dark eyes, his eerie and indifferent gaze like that of a wild beast hunting its prey. Shi Wan felt her blood run cold and unconsciously took a half step back.
Run!
Jiang Xu's voice was almost soft, just like many times before. In the dim light, with only a few rays of morning light outside, Shi Wan couldn't see his expression at all.
However, those cold eyes held a desire to devour her alive, so much so that even though there was some distance between them, she still felt a chill run down her spine.
"Why did you stop running?"
Shi Wan trembled all over. The armor she had woven with words just moments before was no longer enough to resist the fear and trepidation that was spreading throughout her body.
Her voice was filled with disbelief, "You're crazy..." Intertwined with clear fear, "Where is this?"
Jiang Xu kept his eyes gently closed, his expression unchanged, but there was a kind of unyielding obsession in his eyes. "I just did it, I should have done it a long time ago." As he spoke, he strode forward. "Besides, you don't need to care where you are."
Ultimately, I'm by his side, and can only be by his side.
As the person drew closer, Shi Wan subconsciously wanted to back away, but there seemed to be nowhere for her to go. In an instant, she stopped in her tracks.
The distance between the two suddenly closed. Jiang Xu's steps were extremely steady, and his voice was like fine needles, pricking every nerve in her body.
He smiled and said, "If you're this obedient so early on, perhaps we'll remain the same as before."
Before she could finish speaking, her collar was suddenly grabbed, and Jiang Xu's body leaned forward. He stared unblinkingly at the person opposite him. His sharp and somewhat fierce face was now full of pleasure, leisurely and playful. But even at such close range, Shi Wan felt a chill in her heart that lingered for a long time.
Jiang Xu held her tightly around the lower back, preventing her from moving.
Coming to her senses, Shi Wan gripped his collar with her slender white fingers, "Where are my two little maids?"
Jiang Xu paused for a moment, looking puzzled, but then realized, "You're worried about this?" He seemed to be sighing, but the jealousy in his words was hard to hide, "Even now, these insignificant people still catch your eye."
Even when facing him, after Zhang Yiwen left, countless others would come to get her attention. The only thing she could spare for Jiang Xu was, from the very beginning, her peripheral vision.
It was an unavoidable hardship, a torment.
He murmured unconsciously, "How kind of them..."
Unfortunately, this heart was never given to him.
Not even a trace.
Shi Wan released her grip, ignoring the threat at her waist. Her cool knuckles moved upwards, reaching Jiang Xu's Adam's apple. "You've made up your mind, haven't you?"
"Once a decision has been made, how can it be changed by external forces?"
His expression was unreadable, neither happy nor angry. "How do you know it's impossible?"
“I knew it!” Shi Wan stared at his indifferent expression, her words sharp and meaningful. “If it could be changed, if you really changed it, you wouldn’t have put something like this on my ankle!”
She knew in her heart that Jiang Xu had only broken her pride.
He simply felt that she was ungrateful for having such an outstanding man like him and all the charity that had almost changed her life, and that she still refused to bow her head.
Just like the matter of offspring, just like the truths that were revealed countless times before under the guise of jokes and heart-to-heart talks.
He never asked her.
Ask her sincerely and thoroughly whether she wants to and is willing to do so.
Never.
"You say I don't ask, but you won't even tell me where the two maids are."
She scoffed, "You just want to see everyone around me leave me, so that I can only talk to you and care about you, right?"
"Unfortunately..." She paused slightly, unsure whether she was admonishing Jiang Xu or convincing herself, "You can't force matters of the heart."
There is always a sequence to everything.
First and last? He stared intently at her, not missing a single subtle change in Shi Wan's expression, until she frowned in disgust, then he whispered, "You really understand me."
"Indeed, you understand perfectly well, but you just refuse to act on it."
He sighed deeply, "In that case, I was wrong too."
"You're wrong?"
"How could you be the only one who's wrong?" Shi Wan's voice was also filled with tears. "I'm the one who's terribly wrong!"
My mistake was meeting you, my mistake was falling in love with you.
The mistake was... hating you, loathing you.
Jiang Xu stared at her, the dim light of the passageway making it seem like their first meeting, his tone sharp as a knife, "Shi Wan, don't be presumptuous."
Do you know what you're saying?
Shi Wan met his bloodshot eyes directly, her lips tightened, and she stared intently. Her breathing grew heavier, and after a long while, she said softly, "Insolence? You won't allow me to be insolent, but I've been insolent many times already."
“Jiang Xu.” Her soft, boneless hand teased his Adam’s apple, and as expected, it bobbed slightly. “This is a privilege you’ve granted me.”
He clearly loathed her behavior, and the sarcasm in his words seemed genuine, but she managed to provoke him into this state.
On the bed, he was also extremely infatuated with her body.
For a moment, Shi Wan felt that this person was sick and divided. On one hand, he said he hated her, but on the other hand, he had indulged her like this, waiting for her step by step. And now, she was probably not quite normal either.
Her heart swayed wildly, and over time, she couldn't even tell whether she hated him or loved him, or perhaps, she actually hated herself now.
If I had been more decisive, had a broader perspective, and used more skillful methods, wouldn't I have gotten rid of this person long ago? Would I have avoided all this suffering?
Suddenly, the thought of "death" resurfaced in my mind.
Shi Wan was somewhat stunned, biting her lip tightly until blood seeped from her lower lip, just like from her ankle, and she felt pain with the slightest movement.
Upon hearing this, Jiang Xu's expression remained unchanged; instead, he smiled.
"So that's what you were thinking."
The next moment, Shi Wan felt dizzy and the world spun before her eyes. Jiang Xu carried her and walked step by step back to the room they had just left. In that corner of the world, there were only the two of them.
The scattered light from outside shone into the room again, illuminating Shi Wan's slender ankles. The glaring redness and bloodstains caught Jiang Xu's eye, and then the man's tall figure loomed over her in an instant.
He didn't speak. The hem of his brocade robe brushed against the ground, making a soft sound. Shi Wan was on guard. She sat on the couch, squinting at him. "What are you going to do?" Her tone was just like it had been at some point in the past. It was cold, sharp, and undisguisedly aggressive. She was always contradicting him.
Jiang Xu knelt on one knee, holding her ankle. This posture seemed like submission, but when he did it, it was more like a domineering and unquestionable control from above.
"Behave yourself." The cold shackles in Jiang Xu's hands felt more like props with a touch of sensuality, producing dull thuds. "Was I too lenient in the past, giving you the wrong impression?"
"Shi Wan, do you really think I've always been this easy to talk to?"
As he spoke, he lifted her ankle, intentionally or unintentionally brushing against her injured area. Seeing this, Shi Wan could only bite her lower lip tightly, suppressing the sob that was about to burst out, and said in a fierce but weak voice, "If you can keep up this act for longer, I might think more highly of you."
"Hmm..."
Before she could finish speaking, Jiang Xu suddenly leaned down and kissed her, licking away the bloodstains on her ankle inch by inch.
Shi Wan trembled all over, her amber eyes wide open. A faint smell of rust filled the air, mingling with the familiar scent of herbs and trees around Jiang Xu.
He cleaned meticulously, and after a while, he smoothed out Shi Wan's tense instep. "I remember everything from the past."
"You can return it to me later."
His tone was extremely slow, but Shi Wan couldn't hear him at all. The instep of her foot, touched by Jiang Xu, twitched slightly, and her fingertips sank into the softness of the couch. But no matter how she tried to restrain herself, it was to little avail.
Pain, humiliation, and a tenderness she resisted, a tenderness that should not have been given to her.
He performed it with extreme care, even devotion, as if he were not the one who started it all, and that it was not a punishment, but a ritual about "love," after which everything could be accomplished.
"Today is the Mid-Autumn Festival, a rare and joyous occasion..." Jiang Xu raised his eyes, his lips glistening with a gentle sheen, his dark eyes fixed on Shi Wan's unspeakable lapse in composure, and he blinked slowly.
“The night is long.” He fiddled with the small bell on the shackles, and instantly, a crisp sound filled the room, accompanied by the man’s hot breath spraying onto her cheek. “When it’s time to cash out, collect some interest.”
It shot straight up from her ankles, shattering her thoughts.
His tone was like a demon seizing a moth, filled with intense hatred and unbridled joy: "...Don't you dare betray me after you've served your purpose."
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