DTTM 21

Chapter 21: Mm, I’m so bad

What is “justice”?

Our philosophy teacher, who taught me and Zong Yanlei, told us that “justice” is achieved when the majority of people feel it is fair and just. Similarly, if happiness outweighs suffering, then the whole is “happy.”

This teacher was a typical “utilitarian,” who was accustomed to valuing “results” while ignoring individual rights.

By observing this seemingly minor detail, it was easy to see that the powerful and wealthy likely share a similar mindset regarding the current social system of Penglai.

But is the suffering of a small number of people not suffering? Can a small amount of injustice cover up injustice?

As a Wo, these questions kept coming to me as I listened to lectures.

These questions were answered, or at least partially answered, when I was fourteen.

When Zong Yanlei and I were fourteen years old, we were kidnapped.

Due to health reasons, Zong Yanlei needed to regularly visit a medical institution for relevant check-ups. The institution was called “Bazel,” headquartersed overseas with a branch located in the Shangcheng District of Baiyujing. It was a renowned and authoritative institution in the global medical field.

Since Zong Yanlei fell ill at the age of three, this institution took care of all his treatment plans. However, despite taking large amounts of medication every day and even using blood transfusions, his health deteriorated year by year.

By the time he was fourteen, the disease had spread to his feet.

The pain made even walking from his bedroom to his study a torment, but his pride wouldn’t allow him to show his weakness. As a result, his temper worsened, and he increasingly avoided leaving his living space unless absolutely necessary, except when attending classes.

Going to Bazel for checkups was one of his rare opportunities to leave the Zong family mansion. He disliked attracting attention and hated showing weakness in front of those who knew his identity, so we always went with only one bodyguard. We thought the security in Shangcheng District would be fine, but unexpectedly, it gave those with ulterior motives an opportunity.

The four men, with brown hair and brown eyes, of medium build, all wearing white lab coats, could easily be mistaken for researchers from Daiyu within the organization as they walked towards us in the parking lot.

In the instant we met, I didn’t even see how they attacked. By the time I reacted, my mouth and nose were already covered with a towel soaked in the medicine. The last thing I saw in my blurred vision was the bodyguard being electrocuted and falling to the ground.

When I woke up again, my mouth was stuffed with a gag, my head was covered with a sack, and my hands and feet were tied up.

I didn’t struggle or make a sound. I just continued to pretend to be unconscious, feeling the vehicle beneath me change from a car to a speedboat. After about half an hour, we finally stopped.

Two people, one at each end, carried me and placed me on a dusty wooden floor.

I could smell a strong, fishy odor, and also heard the sound of water outside.

Still on the water?

The sack was removed from my head, and after a while, the footsteps coming and going stopped. The people stopped moving and seemed to have sat down.

“Lao Si (Old Fourth), we agreed to only kidnap that Penglai brat, why did you bring the other one back?”

I opened my eyes and found myself in a dark and dilapidated wooden cabin. Four men were sitting around a low round table, talking and eating something.

I turned my neck, searching for Zong Yanlei, and finally found him just above my head. He was leaning against the wooden wall, his mouth stuffed with a gag like mine, he was already awake.

He lowered his gaze and his eyes met mine. His eyes, which had been filled with indifference and disdain just a moment ago, were now tinged with more complex emotions. I couldn’t discern everything, but I could tell he felt guilty for dragging me into this mess.

“Kill him, it’s useless to keep him alive.”

“But he is a Wo. Think about it, how could a noble family from Penglai have a Wo by their side?”

“Your old soft-heartedness has struck again. If you won’t kill him, I will.”

During the conversation, one of the people stood up from the round table and walked towards us.

Forget about pretending to be unconscious, Zong Yanlei suddenly raised his eyes, staring at the newcomer with anger and disbelief. He tried to say something or curse, but because of the gag in his mouth, he could only make some indistinct “mmm” sounds.

At such a critical moment of life and death, I couldn’t help but struggle to sit up straight.

“Oh, everyone’s awake.”

The indoor lighting was poor; apart from a little moonlight streaming in from the window, there was only a dim yellow light from a single bulb overhead. Even so, when I looked up at the kidnapper’s unobstructed face, I could still clearly see his fiery red eyes, which were remarkably similar to my own.

It was a Wo.

The man, holding a sharp, three-edged dagger upside down, slowly squatted down in front of me. He roughly scratched his head as he looked at me, and turned to his accomplice at the table, saying, “Why the hell did you bring him back? You’re just causing me trouble!”

His face darkened like rain clouds as he finished cursing. His iron-like hand pressed down on my shoulder, while his other hand was raised high.

The three-edged dagger gleamed, it was about to pierce my neck. I blinked to force out two tears, shook my head, and stared at the other person, magnifying fear, pleading, helplessness, and all the emotions that could evoke pity on my face to the extreme.

It was a life-or-death struggle. I had no better way to survive, and the only thing I could rely on was the other party’s conscience.

“San-ge!” (Third Brother)

As another man at the round table suddenly stood up, the dagger plunged towards me, only to stop mid-air.

The man called San-ge cursed, removed the gag from my mouth, and asked in a gruff voice, “Tell me, why should I spare your life? If you answer well, I won’t kill you.”

He was the one who wanted to kill me, and he was also the one who wanted to let me go. What a strange person. But judging from the brief exchange just now, these people, despite being kidnappers, weren’t vicious criminals.

“Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! Uncle, I’m a Wo too, we’re all in this together…” I cried and sniffled as I spoke. I told them I was a pitiful child sold to the Zong family by my beastly father, that I had long loathed these Penglai nobles and wished them dead. I begged them to spare my life, promising to leave Baiyujing on my own and never return, never to say a single word of what happened tonight for the rest of my life.

To gain the trust of the person before me, I spoke of the Zong family members in the most despicable terms, Zong Shen’an was an old lecherous man who only knew how to indulge in sensual pleasures; Wuxi Lu was a heartless royal lackey; and Zong Yanlei… he was the retribution for the Zong family, his illness and short life were all curses they had suffered for their many evil deeds.

“Ugh!” Upon hearing what I said, Zong Yanlei suddenly began to struggle, his eyes widening in anger, the skin at the corners of his eyes cracked and bled from the excessive force.

His reaction, as if he had been hit where it hurt and was now angry and embarrassed, only confirmed what I had said.

“Quiet down!” San-ge yelled at Zong Yanlei, then rolled up my sleeve to check. When he saw the purplish needle marks on my arm, he immediately believed that I had been sold to the Zong family as a blood bag. He cursed my father, “What a scoundrel! Even tigers don’t eat their cubs! This dog actually sold his own son to a nobleman as a blood bag!”

“The worst of them are those nobles from Penglai,” Lao Si chimed in. “If it weren’t for their coveting of the mineral resources of the Kingdom of Wo and their collusion with that scoundrel Bondor, how could the Kingdom of Wo have fallen? How could we have become the lowly people of Penglai?”

He was the youngest of the four, looking only in his early twenties, with a youthful face and an appearance that suggested he wasn’t very bright.

Not smart, soft-hearted, and very kind…

“Ge, I still have a grandmother. She’s over sixty and in poor health. If I die, there will be no one to take care of her. Please don’t kill me…” As I spoke, I cried even more pitifully.

“San-ge, he’s still a child!” Lao Si walked over and grabbed San-ge.

San-ge glared at him, then looked at me, and finally sighed and sat back down at the table.

The two oldest people at the table exchanged a glance, told Lao Si to go back, and then had a long discussion about whether I should live or die.

They couldn’t bring themselves to kill me, but they also couldn’t let me go. After discussing it, they decided to put shackles on me, and then remove them after receiving the ransom, allowing me to leave.

Perhaps because I was young and a fellow countryman, they weren’t very wary of me, and I managed to get a lot of information out of them in just two days.

For example, our location at the time was Wo Village.

Wo Village was located on a body of water outside the lower city of Baiyujing. It was formed when the Wo people were still refugees and had no identity, so they could not enter Baiyujing and could only set up camp on the water and live temporarily.

Even after the Kingdom of Wo was incorporated into Penglai, the people of Wo had long been accustomed to life on the water and were unwilling to leave, so the Wo village was preserved.

Because this place covered a vast area with a complex network of waterways and layered buildings, resembling a 3D real-world maze, few people could navigate it alone without a guide, hence it was also known as a “hotbed for criminals”.

These four were not brothers blood, but they all have similar experiences, oppressed by the people of Penglai and imprisoned for various injustices.

They met in prison and, led by the eldest, became sworn brothers. Two years ago, they began plotting a big heist, trying to make Penglai hear their voice and make the nobles regret their disrespect.

They had no enmity with the Zong family; they just happened to have chosen Zong Yanlei.

This kidnapping was far from an ordinary act of financial gain; it resembled a long-planned revenge against the ruling class of Penglai. From beginning to end, they never intended to release Zong Yanlei. Once the ransom was received, they would execute him live in front of the entire world, using this extreme and violent method to denounce the oppression and bullying of the Wo people by the people of Penglai.

Therefore, the teacher was wrong, the suffering of a small number of people would continue, and even a small amount of injustice would still provoke fierce resistance.

The eldest and second eldest brothers were often away, leaving the third and fourth to look after the house. They probably couldn’t cook, and usually ate dry bread with strong liquor, both of them looking miserable as they ate. So, I offered to cook for them.

Having spent a lot of time with nobles, I’ve become quite adept at ingratiating myself with them. They were quickly persuaded and agreed to let me give it a try.

Before I was ten years old, I often helped my grandmother cook. I didn’t know how to cook big fish and meat dishes, but I had no problem with a hot meal.

“He who takes a man’s gift is bound to him; he who eats a man’s food is bound to him.” After eating my cooking, they were less wary of me, and when I asked them how they managed to hide their red eyes, they told me the truth.

More than a decade ago, it was no easy feat for a Wo to enter Shangcheng District. Not only did they have to undergo a rigorous body search, but they also had to have a legitimate reason. Every time I left Baiyujing to return home, I had to carry a document bearing the Zong family’s seal so that I could hand it to the guards for inspection upon returning to Shangcheng.

This cumbersome rule was not abolished until three years after I left the Zong family, thanks to Princess Chu Luo’s active objections.

Only after that were the people of Wo finally able to freely enter and leave Shangcheng District.

“It’s a kind of medicine.” Lao Si gestured with his hands. “It’s like a pen, with a very thin and short needle. You can’t feel it when it’s stuck in your body. It’s very similar to insulin. After you get it, your eyes will turn brown in no time. It can last up to 48 hours. If you want it to last longer, you can get another injection before the effects wear off.”

Upon hearing this, San-ge, who was drinking noodle soup, added, “They’re very expensive. A single pen costs tens of thousands. We had to resort to robbery and theft to scrape together the money.”

He was quite proud.

“By the way, who’s going to feed that brat later? It was me yesterday, it’s your turn today, San-ge.” After a moment of silence, Lao Si suddenly spoke up.

San-ge frowned upon hearing this: “You’re the youngest, you go feed him. I’m afraid I might accidentally feed him to death.”

“Why is it me again!”

Although they relaxed their vigilance towards me during those few days, there was one thing they always insisted on: preventing me from having contact with Zong Yanlei.

Zong Yanlei was locked in a cabin next to the main house. Only San-ge and Lao Si were allowed in. The key to the door was carried by San-ge, who never took it off, even when he slept. The key to the shackles on my body was carried by the eldest brother.

Stealing the key and escaping won’t be easy, but… it wasn’t entirely without a chance.

On the fourth night after we were kidnapped, the eldest and second eldest brothers returned, bringing with them a pheasant that had been shot to death with steel balls as an extra meal.

“This pheasant is really good. How about I make you a family recipe that my grandma taught me?” I suggested, taking the plump pheasant.

“Whatever, just don’t waste it.” The eldest brother was in his fifties, with dark skin. It was said that he used to be a hunter, with first-rate hunting skills. Within a hundred meters, as long as there was no cover, he could kill his prey with a single steel ball using his modified hunting bow.

“I’ll go up and keep watch. Call me when you’re done,” the second brother said as he climbed the stairs to the rooftop lookout. He was over forty and served as the strategist among the four. He was usually quiet and cautious, and seemed to have been a doctor before. The anesthetics and eye-coloring drugs they used were all obtained through his connections.

Carrying the pheasant to the kitchen, I carefully processed it, then cut it into pieces and added cheese, Sichuan peppercorns, chili powder, potatoes, and vegetables to make a complex braised chicken dish.

As far back as I could remember, the number of times my family ate meat could be counted on one hand. Where did this so-called family recipe come from?

I took a sip of the broth; it was numbing and spicy, with a cheesy, pungent smell. Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad.

I put down the spoon and walked out of the kitchen. From the gap between the wooden planks, I pulled up a plant with small purple flowers.

Two days ago, I happened to see a cat rubbing against this plant, so I took a closer look and discovered that it was actually valerian.

I once read about this herb in a book. It likes to grow near water, and its roots, when soaked in water, have a calming and hypnotic effect, but it has a strong bitter odor. If this bitter odor could be masked, it was very suitable for use as medicine.

The valuable parts were mainly concentrated in the roots and stems. I removed the leaves, chopped the roots and stems into small pieces, added them to the chicken, stewed for half an hour, and then served it on the table.

“Wow… what a unique flavor!” San-ge exclaimed in surprise when he saw the red and white contents of the pot, which smelled both pungent and fragrant.

To avoid arousing their suspicion, I ate some too, but very little; I mostly ate the flatbread in my hand.

The second brother came down halfway through, and went back up after taking a flatbread, perhaps because he wasn’t interested in what I made.

“Tomorrow is the day to pay the ransom, Lao Si, is everything ready?” the eldest brother asked as he dipped a piece of bread in the stew.

Lao Si had three cell phones in front of him and was holding another one in his hand. He was chewing food and typing rapidly on the keyboard. Hearing this, he nodded and mumbled, “It’s ready. I’m just waiting for the family to transfer the cryptocurrency to my account.”

“Are you sure your method won’t be traceable?” San-ge asked.

“No, I’ve implemented a three-tiered split. The first tier uses a temporary wallet as a ‘stepping stone.’ As soon as the ransom arrives, it’s immediately split into hundreds of small transactions and sent to a coin mixer. Once these funds are so well mixed that they’re indistinguishable from one another, they move to the second tier and are sent to different relay wallets. Then comes the third tier, where the relay wallets aggregate the funds into a final receiving wallet.”

Although he didn’t seem very bright, Lao Si was a hacker who was arrested and imprisoned at a young age for hacking into the Penglai Central Bank and transferring 200 million yuan.

“I don’t understand, speak like a human.”

“I’m speaking like a human being…”

After finishing the chicken, the three of them continued drinking. I obediently cleared the table, and while washing the dishes, I threw up everything I had eaten.

Although valerian has a calming and hypnotic effect, it will not cause a sudden loss of consciousness. I patiently waited until three or four in the morning, when they were sleeping soundly. Seeing them slumped over and starting to snore, I made my move.

I took two small keys from the eldest brother’s pocket, quickly unlocked my shackles, and then squatted down next to San-ge, carefully removing the dagger and the key to the cabin from his waist.

They might be sleeping soundly, but that didn’t mean they wouldn’t wake up. I knew I had to be quick, or death would be the only thing waiting for Zong Yanlei and me.

I stepped into the cabin with a flashlight in hand. Without saying a word, I used the three-edged dagger to cut the ropes binding Zong Yanlei. However, before I could remove the gag from his mouth, I was suddenly tackled to the ground.

The flashlight fell to the side, and in the dim light, Zong Yanlei was like a wild beast blinded by anger and fear. He grabbed my neck and tried to kill me.

Unfortunately, he was already physically weak and hadn’t eaten or slept well for several days, so his strength was limited. I grabbed his wrist and gently lifted him off me.

He tried to get up again, but I pinned him down with my entire weight.

“Shh!” I put my index finger to my lips and whispered to reassure him, “Young Master, I’m here to save you.”

He froze for a moment, anger still burning in his eyes, and his struggle gradually weakened.

“Let’s go, I’ll help you escape.” I took the gag out of Zong Yanlei’s mouth and smiled slightly at him.

It was summer, a season prone to thunderstorms. The daytime was sunny and bright, but at night, there was lightning and thunder, and wind and rain.

However, the storm provided good cover for our escape.

In Wo Village, people mostly travel by small boats and rubber dinghies. Since small boats weren’t suitable for escape, Zong Yanlei and I were left with only a rubber dinghy. Fortunately, the kidnappers’ rubber dinghy used an external engine, so we didn’t need a key; it could be started simply by pulling a rope.

As we untied the raft’s mooring lines, the moment the thick ropes hit the water, the sky suddenly split open. A bolt of lightning struck, illuminating the surroundings in a blinding white light. Even before the echo of the thunder had faded, Zong Yanlei had already fumbled to start the engine at the rear of the raft.

The thunder and engine noise mingled, and unsurprisingly, this sudden loud noise immediately caught the attention of the doctor on the roof.

“Young Master, can you drive a rubber boat?” Zong Yanlei had always been very good at mechanical things, while I, on the other hand, knew nothing about mechanics.

Zong Yanlei thought for a moment and nodded, saying, “I’ve seen a video.”

“Alri…”

Before I could even finish saying “Alright,” Zong Yanlei sat down at the stern of the rubber boat, adjusted the handle to steer it out of the berth, and, using the light of dawn, headed towards the dark and uncertain waterway ahead.

“Go forward 100 meters, turn left at the second intersection…”

The Wo Village waterways were intricate and complex; for someone unfamiliar with the area, navigating them would be like a blind man crossing a river. However, for someone like me with an excellent memory and sense of direction, finding my way out was not difficult.

The day I entered Wo Village, I had already memorized the entire route. For four days, I had repeatedly rehearsed it, all for this moment of escape.

At dawn, just before daybreak, the only sounds in Wo Village were from our rubber boat. But soon, the sound of a second engine came from behind us.

The sound ripped through the waves and chased after us.

“They’re catching up.” Zong Yanlei looked back. His face, where the bandages weren’t wrapped, appeared even paler from the rain.

“Turn right, then immediately turn left, go straight ahead to the left after fifty meters… It’s okay, they can’t catch up.”

I said that, but I knew they would catch up; they would catch up sooner or later.

Like a swimming fish, the rubber boat nimbly navigated the complex waterways. After about half an hour, it finally left Wo Village and came into view of the riverbank.

I directed Zong Yanlei to drive the rubber boat to a mudflat covered by huge pebbles, then grabbed his hand and jumped off the boat, running towards the woods on the side.

The mudflats weren’t sandy, but covered in tiny pebbles. After running only a few dozen meters, Zong Yanlei’s speed slowed down, and his arms felt heavier and heavier. I looked back in confusion and saw that he wasn’t wearing shoes. In that short distance, the soles of his feet had already been worn raw by the pebbles, and bright red blood was seeping from under the bandages.

“What are you looking at? Let’s go!” He tightened his grip on my hand and urged me on.

How can we leave now?

I gritted my teeth, pulled him into the woods, and made him squat down: “You can’t walk anymore.”

Our shoe sizes were too different; even if I gave him my shoes, he couldn’t fit into them.

“Are you going to abandon me?” His face went blank for a moment, then his other hand instinctively grabbed my clothes, and resentment instantly welled up in his eyes.

I pulled my hand away from his and laughed when I heard him say that: “Yes, I’m going to leave you behind.”

On the distant mudflats, the second rubber boat docked, and four figures disembarked one after another.

I shoved the dagger into his arms and said quickly, “I’ll distract them. Just keep running forward, don’t stop, and don’t look back. If I die, you’ll have to take care of my grandmother, or I’ll haunt you as a ghost.”

He stood there, still holding the dagger, perhaps not quite recovered from his shock. As I stood up, he continued to tug at my sleeve.

I forcefully pulled my hand back, gave him one last look, and ran in the opposite direction.

“Young Master, quick, over here!” I deliberately made a lot of noise, weaving through the shadows of the trees, so that the four people could spot me but not see me clearly.

As expected, they fell for the trap and chased after me in unison.

Although I appeared ready to die at any moment in front of Zong Yanlei, I actually didn’t want to die like that.

Such a sacrifice would be worthless.

After leading those people far enough away, I passed through a wetland consisting of several reed beds of varying sizes. Without hesitation, I used the hollow reed stalks as breathing ports for diving and chose one of the reed beds to dive into.

A moment later, I heard muffled human voices across the water.

“Where are they?”

“I don’t know, they just suddenly disappeared…”

“Keep searching. If you catch them this time, kill them on the spot!”

“Damn it, I should have killed those two brats on the first day!”

As they spoke, the water’s surface was pierced by what I couldn’t tell was steel balls or bullets; one even narrowly missed me. After firing across the water, they gradually disappeared into the distance. I dared not be careless and remained quietly underwater. I waited like this for about ten minutes, then I heard voices again from the shore.

“They haven’t come out for so long, they probably aren’t in this area anymore.”

“Damn, they actually got away!”

“Let’s go, it’ll be too late if we don’t leave now…”

I was horrified. If I hadn’t been able to resist peeking out just now, I’d probably be reunited with my father on the other side right now.

Because of this incident, I hid under that clump of reeds for a whole day. When I finally came ashore, it was already dusk. I knelt on the bank, trembling all over, my skin wrinkled from being soaked in water.

I laboriously mustered my strength, looked around to find my way, and headed towards Shangcheng District, soaking wet.

Not far along, about two kilometers, I saw a row of police cars parked on the riverbank.

The presence of so many police cars in this place suggested only one possibility, Zong Yanlei had been rescued.

I quickly stepped forward and identified myself to the police officers waiting by the police car. They looked at each other, their faces full of suspicion and vigilance.

“I haven’t heard of a Wo hostage.” One of the officers gestured with his chin to his colleague and said, “Check with headquarters.”

The other person got into the police car, confirmed with someone, and came out a short while later, beckoning me with his finger and saying, “It’s been confirmed, he is indeed a servant of the Zong family. Come on, kid, sit in the back seat, we’ll take you back to the Zong family.”

When I returned to the Zong family home that day, it was already dark. I was wearing clothes that were half-dry from my body heat when I walked to Zong Yanlei’s bedroom and overheard him arguing with Wuxi Li.

Zong Yanlei asked why I hadn’t returned yet, but Wuxi Li avoided the question and told him to take his medicine. Zong Yanlei continued to ask her if she hadn’t sent anyone to rescue me. Wuxi Li calmly replied with three words: “It is unnecessary.”

There was silence inside the door, and after a long while, the sound of porcelain shattering could be heard.

“What do you mean ‘unnecessary’? He saved me. Without him, I would be dead. Are you even listening to me?”

“If you keep talking to me like that, I’ll have the doctor give you a sedative.”

Before the situation escalated further, I pushed the door open and entered, interrupting the standoff between the two.

“I’m back, young master!”

Zong Yanlei leaned against the headboard, his face still contorted with anger. Blood was being transfused into his hand, and pills were scattered all over the floor. When he saw me, he paused, and after a moment, as if confirming that I wasn’t a hallucination, he straightened up and reached out his hand to me.

“Jiang Man…”

When Wuxi Li saw me approaching, she frowned and took a step back, as if afraid that the stains on my body would get on her skirt.

“I said it wasn’t necessary because he’s already back.” With that, she turned and left Zong Yanlei’s bedroom.

“You’re really back.” Zong Yanlei ignored her. He simply held my hand and stared at my face.

My hands had returned to normal temperature, but Zong Yanlei’s hands were frighteningly hot.

He had a fever.

“Why aren’t you taking your medicine properly?” I looked down at the mess on the floor.

“I…” Zong Yanlei pursed his dry lips, withdrew his hand, and also suppressed his overly expressive emotions. “I’ll take it now, you can prepare it for me again.”

In the blink of an eye, he transformed back into the arrogant young master of the Zong family who never spoke a kind word.

The four kidnappers were never caught, and Zong Yanlei’s legs were unable to walk after the kidnapping.

I later learned that he had walked a long way before a hovercar stopped for him. By then, his feet were bleeding profusely, and every step felt like walking on a knife’s edge.

Changing the dressing for such a wound was bound to be a disaster.

At first, it was indeed very difficult. Zong Yanlei struggled too fiercely, and when he got angry, he would even hit people with things. The servants responsible for changing the dressing were at a loss and even thought of suggesting to Butler Li that they inject Zong Yanlei with anesthesia to knock him out before changing the dressing.

How could they even suggest that? The dressing changes would last a month, were they supposed to keep Zong Yanlei unconscious for thirty days?

“Let me help.” So I suggested that I take control of Zong Yanlei to prevent him from smashing things and make it easier for the others to change their medicine.

Upon hearing this, the other party readily agreed, and that very day we began our first collaboration, Zong Yanlei sat on the bed, and I held him from the side to prevent him from moving around so that they could change the dressing.

The first few days went relatively smoothly. Zong Yanlei probably didn’t want to show weakness in front of me, so he didn’t lose his temper much, enduring until he was covered in cold sweat and his face turned pale. But one day, perhaps the servant wanted to finish quickly and leave, so his technique was a bit rough, and Zong Yanlei was in a lot of pain. He couldn’t help but lose his temper and wouldn’t let him touch him anymore.

I quickly restrained him and let the servant continue.

Zong Yanlei struggled even more violently, the pain driving him to madness, and he blurted out incoherently, “It hurts so much… Let me go, it’s all your fault… I’m going to kill them…”

“It won’t hurt for long, just bear with it a little longer…” I hugged his trembling body tightly and gently stroked his back.

“You lied to me… Let go of me, don’t touch me!” Zong Yanlei kept telling me to let go of him, but when he realized it was no use, his voice gradually turned hateful. “I hate you… I despise you…”

I remained unmoved, patted him on the back, and accepted all his accusations.

“Mm, I’m bad… ugh…”

Before I could finish speaking, he bit my shoulder. I was wearing thin summer clothes, and his canines were sharp, so my shoulder immediately bled.

Now, it was my turn to push him away.

He seemed determined to make me experience pain, binding me with his arms and biting even harder.

The servant kept changing the dressing for as long as he kept biting me. By the time the dressing was finished, both of us were drenched in sweat.

After that, I had a bite mark on my shoulder belonging to Zong Yanlei, which remained clear and distinct even after many years.