Looking at Chǐ Mèng’s expression, Huā Xián immediately sensed danger, but she still obediently walked over. Before she could stand still, Chǐ Mèng abruptly pulled her into her arms.
Their soft bodies collided. Huā Xián distinctly felt herself spring back slightly, and her cheeks instantly flushed with heat. Chǐ Mèng saw her reaction and smiled enigmatically.
“Do you like it?”
Huā Xián: “…Yes, I do.”
The smile on Chǐ Mèng’s face deepened, making Huā Xián even more agitated. She was beautiful, her voice was lovely, and her figure was flawless. How could Huā Xián not like it?
The scorching gaze landed on her, and Chǐ Mèng not only didn’t cover up but instead allowed Huā Xián to admire her more generously. However, the smile on her lips slowly faded, and her eyes were filled with mockery and coldness.
“It seems you are still quite interested in my body.”
Huā Xián was confused. In the next second, Chǐ Mèng forcefully pushed her onto the bed, clamping one hand around her neck. Although the force wasn’t great, it was very uncomfortable.
Huā Xián: “???” What did I do wrong this time?
“You don’t like me, yet you lust after my body. You truly disgust me, as always,” Chǐ Mèng’s eyes were dark and gloomy, and her face was marked by unconcealed loathing.
As expected, everything before was an illusion. How could there be a single truth in this woman’s mouth? In her eyes, I am nothing more than a disposable chess piece. When I was useful, she coaxed me sweetly, and when I was no longer needed, she kicked me away. I was truly a fool to think she might change.
Thinking of her earlier attempt to test her, Chǐ Mèng felt utterly ridiculous.
“A pet must know its place. A pet that fails to serve its master is likely to be beaten.”
Chǐ Mèng increased the force in her hand. Huā Xián immediately struggled to breathe, her face turning red, and she could only make incoherent sounds.
I shouldn’t have rashly come in. I was courting death.
She had thought Chǐ Mèng’s condition had slightly improved. It seemed she had been overthinking it. Even if the Blackening Value had dropped by twenty points, it was still over a thousand, meaning that almost any slight disturbance could become a point of provocation.
I was too careless.
But now, she couldn’t speak; there was no way to explain herself. Even if she could explain, Chǐ Mèng wouldn’t believe her. In Chǐ Mèng’s heart, she was just a lying, heartless, and faithless scumbag, entirely lacking credibility.
With this thought, Huā Xián helplessly closed her eyes. The hand she had placed on Chǐ Mèng’s hand slowly went limp and dropped down powerlessly.
Forget it, let it be. Maybe if I die, I can just go back.
【Warning! Warning! Master’s will to live is too low. Activating automatic protection function.】
The moment Xiǎo Jiǔ’s (小九) voice sounded in her mind, the feeling of suffocation in Huā Xián’s lungs instantly lessened. She didn’t open her eyes, but weakly asked, “This isn’t suicide, so why can’t you let me die naturally?”
In the past, some Taskers, finding a mission too difficult, had forced their return by committing suicide. Later, this method was banned. Taskers are not allowed to commit suicide in the mission world; this is the Quick Transmigration Bureau’s first prohibition.
But this wasn’t suicide. Why is this not allowed? Huā Xián cursed under her breath.
As Chǐ Mèng was consumed by hatred and tightened her grip, a strange feeling also arose in her heart.
On one hand, she was in pain because she couldn’t control herself, and on the other, she felt a sense of relief, as if she was about to be liberated. It wasn’t until the person beneath her became completely still that she snapped back to her senses.
She quickly released Huā Xián. Seeing the red marks on the other woman’s neck, her pupils suddenly widened. After a long moment, she reached out with a trembling hand to check Huā Xián’s breathing.
Thank goodness. She’s alive.
She let out a sigh of relief, followed by a profound fear. What if she had actually strangled Huā Xián just now? Is this the outcome I wanted?
Chǐ Mèng slid weakly to the floor, staring at the hands that had nearly choked Huā Xián. She clenched them tightly, her nails digging into her flesh, yet she didn’t seem to feel the pain, gripping harder and harder.
Huā Xián’s eyes were closed, her face calm, and even her breathing was shallow, as if she were truly dead.
She knew she should comfort Chǐ Mèng at this moment, but having just faced the threat of death, she wasn’t particularly inclined to speak.
After a long time, Huā Xián opened her eyes and said in a hoarse voice, “If you want me to die, I can give you my life.”
Having said this, Huā Xián suddenly remembered that she should probably have said it with crimson-red eyes, but she was genuinely too tired, both physically and mentally, to bother with such theatrics.
Chǐ Mèng remained silent, only hanging her head lower. Huā Xián swallowed, her throat aching with a sharp pain. She squatted down beside Chǐ Mèng and pulled her into a hug.
“I’m not lying to you. If you genuinely hate me enough to want me dead, then kill me. I won’t have any complaints.” After all, I owe you this.
Huā Xián said this partly from the heart and partly as a test. She was gambling, betting that Chǐ Mèng wouldn’t dare to kill her, or rather, that she couldn’t bear to kill her.
Chǐ Mèng didn’t speak for a long time, but Huā Xián knew she was crying because her chest was damp.
“Why… won’t you just love me for a little while?”
Chǐ Mèng’s voice contained immense sorrow. Huā Xián’s heart trembled, and she held her tighter.
Anything said at this moment would be redundant. Chǐ Mèng didn’t believe her, and even if she were to cut out her heart, it would be useless.
Of course, cutting out her heart was impossible, utterly impossible. Since she couldn’t use death to escape, she had to face the difficulty head-on and find a solution to the problem. As long as Chǐ Mèng didn’t genuinely want her dead, there was still a chance for things to turn around.
After a while, Chǐ Mèng pushed Huā Xián away and shakily stood up. Huā Xián reached out to help, but Chǐ Mèng slapped her hand away.
“Stay away from me! Don’t enter my room without my permission from now on!”
“Yes, yes, of course!” Huā Xián nodded frantically like a chicken pecking rice. She paused, then asked cautiously, “Then, are you still going down to eat? I made your favorite braised fish and spicy shrimp.”
Chǐ Mèng gave her a cold look. Huā Xián immediately shrank her neck and sullenly backed out.
The moment the door closed, Chǐ Mèng collapsed onto the bed. Her head spun with dizziness, and her vision became increasingly blurry.
The food had all grown cold. Huā Xián sat at the dining table with no appetite whatsoever. Finally, she sighed, put all the dishes into the refrigerator, and then walked upstairs.
The master bedroom door was ajar. Huā Xián glanced inside and saw Chǐ Mèng collapsed on the bed. She quickly pushed the door open and entered, calling Chǐ Mèng’s name several times, but she didn’t respond.
Huā Xián reached out and felt her forehead. Her temperature was alarmingly high.
“Mèng Mèng, come, reach out and put on your clothes. I’ll take you to the hospital.”
Chǐ Mèng seemed to have heard her words but refused to cooperate, twisting and turning her body, frowning and mumbling something.
Huā Xián leaned closer and heard her say, “No hospital,” and “I don’t want to go to the hospital.”
Huā Xián gently stroked her head and said softly, “You’re sick, and you must go to the hospital. Don’t be difficult, okay?”
It was only a kind reassurance, but hearing this, Chǐ Mèng struggled to open her eyes, fiercely pushed Huā Xián away, and angrily shouted, “I said I’m not going! Can’t you understand human language?!”
Huā Xián fell onto the floor with a thud, a dull pain shooting through her tailbone. She didn’t know where Chǐ Mèng got such strength, considering she was already delirious from the fever.
“Alright, alright, if you don’t want to go, then we won’t. I won’t force you,” Huā Xián quickly said.
Chǐ Mèng glanced at her, closed her eyes, and muttered, “Just assume I’m throwing a tantrum. In your eyes, I’ve always been a disobedient child, anyway.”
Hearing her words, Huā Xián felt very unhappy. She stroked Chǐ Mèng’s pale cheek, her voice carrying an apology: “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said those words to hurt you. …In my heart, you are always the best-behaved.”
Chǐ Mèng tightly furrowed her brows and impatiently burrowed under the covers.
“I don’t need your pity. Get out!”
Huā Xián sighed silently. After Chǐ Mèng had completely fallen asleep, she carefully pulled down the covers, used a damp towel to wipe the sweat from her forehead, then rummaged through the first-aid kit in the corner. She found antipyretic medicine, poured the capsule’s powder into water, and attempted to feed it to her.
Initially, Chǐ Mèng cooperated and opened her mouth, but after tasting the medicine in the water, she refused to drink it, clamping her jaw shut. The medicinal water all flowed down the corners of her lips onto the pillow.
Huā Xián had no choice but to take the medicinal water into her own mouth and pass it to Chǐ Mèng. After feeding her everything, she was covered in sweat herself.
“I wonder if the medicine given this way will have any effect. Sigh.”
She placed the cup on the table, removed the towel from Chǐ Mèng’s forehead, re-soaked it in cold water, and placed it back for physical cooling.
Huā Xián didn’t know what Chǐ Mèng was dreaming about. She kept mumbling and crying in her sleep, which made Huā Xián feel distressed.
“Is there any way to alleviate her pain?”
She didn’t need to guess; the dream was certainly about her. Who else but herself could cause Chǐ Mèng such torment?
Xiǎo Jiǔ: 【There is a way, but I don’t recommend that the Host uses it.】
“Tell me,” Huā Xián, worried about Chǐ Mèng, unconsciously let her voice cool down a few degrees.
Xiǎo Jiǔ quickly said: 【She is being affected by her own Blackening Value. The painful scenes are constantly repeating in her mind, which is why she is so miserable. The Host can try to help her using your innate talent.】
“Talent?” Huā Xián quietly repeated, then remembered something, raising her hand to look at the faint light at her fingertips.
This can’t cure sickness.
Maybe during her peak, but now…
Sigh.
Huā Xián bit her wrist and dripped her blood into Chǐ Mèng’s mouth. After drinking the blood, Chǐ Mèng’s mood indeed stabilized, and she fell into a deep sleep.
Xiǎo Jiǔ witnessed the entire process and was too shocked to speak.
【Host, you…】
“I know what you want to say. I don’t want to hear it. Withdraw.”
Xiǎo Jiǔ made a scratchy noise to express its dissatisfaction, but Huā Xián scoffed coldly, and it immediately backed down, silently hiding itself.
Huā Xián fed Chǐ Mèng medicine again in the middle of the night. Only after she was certain that her fever had broken did she finally relax and doze off by the bedside.
Chǐ Mèng had many dreams, all of them bad memories, but later, somehow, something seemed to isolate those memories from her dreamscape, allowing her to finally get a good night’s sleep.
She opened her eyes to the familiar crystal chandelier. Chǐ Mèng rested for a moment, and once her mind was completely clear, she slowly sat up.
Her throat was dry and sore; even swallowing was difficult, but her body felt refreshed, without the sticky feeling of last night.
Just as she was about to get out of bed, the door opened from the outside, and Huā Xián came in with a tray.
“Why are you up? You haven’t fully recovered yet. Lie down quickly.”
Huā Xián placed the tray on the bedside table and gently pushed Chǐ Mèng back onto the bed, pulling the covers over her.
Chǐ Mèng said nothing, her eyes watching Huā Xián intently.
Huā Xián realized she might have crossed a line again and quickly said, “Um, well, you had a fever all night, so it’s best to rest more. I cooked some lean meat congee. Would you like some?”
Chǐ Mèng had no appetite at all; there was only the bitter taste of medicine in her mouth. She recalled fragmented memories and asked Huā Xián, “You fed me medicine?”
“You had a severe fever and wouldn’t go to the hospital, so I fed you some antipyretic medicine,” Huā Xián answered cautiously. Chǐ Mèng hated bitter things, and she hated taking medicine even more. Yet, Huā Xián had forced both on her at once.
Chǐ Mèng slightly frowned, her eyes revealing a cold indifference.
“How did you feed it to me?”
“I… I just used my hand.”
“Is that so? Then feed me again in the manner you used before.”
Huā Xián: …Isn’t that inappropriate?
Chǐ Mèng watched her without blinking, her dark pupils like gemstones, yet containing an ambiguous emotion that made Huā Xián feel completely seen through.
Huā Xián focused her thoughts. Since Chǐ Mèng asked this way, she must have some recollection of last night. Is she trying to test me?
Thinking this, Huā Xián picked up the water from the table, took a mouthful, passed it to Chǐ Mèng’s lips, and then wiped the corner of her mouth, looking at her without changing her expression.
Chǐ Mèng’s eyes darkened further, and her voice was low and hoarse: “You seem very pleased with yourself.”
Huā Xián was about to deny it when Chǐ Mèng suddenly pulled her close and kissed her.
Her mouth was truly bitter, and she needed someone to share the taste with her.