Three days later, the cruise ship slowly pulled into the harbor at Jiangcheng, Country A.
Ling Yi, carrying a folder, arrived outside the luxurious top-floor suite. He raised his hand to knock, but then heard strange sounds coming faintly from inside.
“Go away… Don’t… Ah…”
A crisp smack against skin followed. “Relax.”
“…”
Ling Yi recoiled as if he’d been shocked.
He turned to study the two bodyguards in black standing guard outside the door. Their muscles were taut, sweat beaded at their temples, and they both looked as though they had something they desperately wanted to say but couldn’t.
This job really wasn’t easy.
“How long has Master Xiao been in there?” Ling Yi asked.
“Three days.”
The two bodyguards answered in unison, their voices just as tense.
“?!”
Ling Yi felt as though his brain were about to shatter. “He hasn’t come out at all?”
“Uh…”
The two bodyguards exchanged a glance. After hesitating for a few seconds, one of them answered first. “He’s come out to get food a few times.”
“…”
Damn. As expected of Master Xiao—he’d only just started having sex, and he was already taking it to such a deranged extreme.
Ling Yi tipped his head back and let out a sigh.
Now he finally understood why Master Xiao had told him to wait three days before bringing over Miss Wen’s file.
…
The morning mist gradually lifted, and the early-summer sun scattered flecks of light across the sea.
The door clicked open.
At the sound, Ling Yi turned. His boss emerged at an unhurried pace, dressed neatly in a shirt and slacks, carrying a girl in one arm.
The girl in his arms was a stark contrast: she wore nothing but a white bathrobe and had no shoes on. Her head rested on the man’s shoulder, her long hair was disheveled, her eyes closed, and tear tracks streaked her face… She had clearly passed out.
The air within a ten-meter radius was steeped in languor and lust.
“Why are you standing so far away?” Pei Xiao asked coldly.
“…”
What else could it be…
Knowing he was in the wrong, Ling Yi hurried over and handed him the folder. “Master Xiao, the information you requested on Miss Wen.”
Pei Xiao took the folder and flipped it open with one hand, skimming the contents.
【Wen Yining, twenty years old, from Jiangcheng. A second-year student at Jiangcheng University, majoring in traditional Chinese medicine. Both parents deceased. Raised by her maternal grandfather, who runs a traditional Chinese medicine clinic located at…】
Just a few sparse lines—not even half a page. Pitifully simple.
Pei Xiao’s arm tightened around her.
He was quite satisfied with what little the pitiful sheet of paper contained… and there was plenty of blank space left for him to fill in later.
“Master Xiao, are we heading to the Lu family?” Ling Yi asked.
Today was the day Master Xiao would be formally welcomed back into the family. Most of the Lu family had already set out.
Pei Xiao tossed the folder back to Ling Yi. “Take her back to Mandao Island first.”
With that, he strode outside.
“…”
It was obvious who he meant by her.
“Yes.”
Ling Yi followed behind him.
By chance, he glanced at his boss’s shoulder and spotted a faint reddish stain. His heart lurched.
“Master Xiao! You’re hurt?”
“It’s nothing.”
Pei Xiao cut him off. “We’ll arrive at the Lu family half an hour late. Have someone cause a traffic jam.”
“…”
What an arrogant show of force.
“Yes. I’ll give the orders right away.”
Even after making the arrangements, Ling Yi couldn’t stop worrying about his boss’s shoulder. He kept looking at it from every angle, as if he could stare a flower into bloom.
A glossy black Rolls-Royce was already waiting at the harbor.
Pei Xiao climbed inside and accidentally tugged at the wound on his shoulder, drawing in a sharp breath.
He pinched the girl’s cheek and tugged it outward in punishment, speaking one word at a time. “Sharp teeth.”
“…”
Ling Yi’s hand shook as he shut the car door at the unexpected remark.
He thought he knew what the injury on Master Xiao’s shoulder was now…
Most likely a bite.
Damn.
What a thrill.
…
Mandao Island was famous for the riotously colorful datura flowers that bloomed there in summer and autumn.
Wen Yining sat on the living-room floor with her knees drawn up, staring out through the floor-to-ceiling window at Jiangcheng’s nightscape, lost in thought.
Two maids stood not far away, their voices growing louder and louder as they chatted.
“If they weren’t paying so well, I’d never have come here. Honestly, what sane person would build a house in a place like this?”
“Exactly. I heard these flowers are deadly poisonous. Eat one and you’ll die. And he chose to build right in the middle of a patch of black ones. It’s creepy.”
“Do you think the master of the house is mentally ill?”
“Wouldn’t surprise me. Look at the woman he brought here—she’s not right in the head either. From the moment she woke up, through dinner, and now sitting by the window, she hasn’t said a word. There must be something wrong with her, too.”
“…”
If only he were mentally ill.
Wen Yining looked at the black, trumpet-shaped flowers covering the ground outside and bit her finger.
The black datura, the flower of hell, symbolized the unknowable darkness, death, and a love tossed about by fate.
Legend had it that spirits dwelled within the black datura. If a human watered them with their own blood, the spirits would grant that person’s wish.
The flowers made her think of that man. They gave her exactly the same feeling.
Dark, bloodthirsty, insane…
So insane that she had nearly believed she would really die in his bed.
That man had held her down and had sex with her for three days without using any protection. At dinner, she’d eaten a lot of the carrots she hated most, though she had no idea whether they would help.
That wasn’t even the most important thing. Right now, the most important thing was… she had to escape.
She had no money and no means of communication. As far as she could see, she was on an isolated island, and to make matters worse, it was covered in poisonous flowers and plants. She couldn’t think of any way to get away safely.
Her maternal grandfather must be worried since she hadn’t come home.
The roar of rotor blades sounded overhead. The churning air swept violently across the grounds, pressing the stems and leaves of the flowers and plants to one side.
“The master is back,” one of the maids said, peering out the window curiously.
Wen Yining scrambled to her feet and ran into a guest room. She pulled back the covers, lay down on the bed, and tucked herself in.
Five minutes later, the light in the guest room snapped on.
Wen Yining’s long lashes trembled faintly.
After a while, the man’s voice drifted lazily from the doorway, drawn-out and slow, thick with mockery—
“You either pretend to be dead… or pretend to be asleep. You passed out halfway through in bed. Was that an act too?”
“…”
What a foul-mouthed pervert.
Wen Yining had no choice but to open her eyes. Pei Xiao stood leaning at an angle against the doorframe, dressed in a shirt and slacks, the corners of his lips curled as he looked at her with an amused, unreadable expression.
Without his tactical gear, he looked even more like a thoroughly respectable beast.
Wen Yining sat up and pulled the covers around herself until she was completely wrapped up. “Did you need something?”
“…”
Pei Xiao beckoned to her as if calling his pet. “Come here.”
“…”
Wen Yining didn’t want to move.
But the moment she saw his brow furrow slightly, fear made her swing her legs off the bed.
When she was still a few steps away, Pei Xiao reached out and pulled her straight into his arms. He lowered his head, pressed his lips to the curve of her ear, and spoke in a languid, lingering voice.
“Of course I came to find you… for sex.”
“…”