Be a Little Obedient…
The blood relative of a monster.
This,
The blood relative of a monster.
Ever since the confrontation in the courtyard that day, this phrase had lingered in Zhang Lu’s mind like an unremovable sliver, impossible to shake off.
As the gestational age grew longer, the tumultuous nausea and retching from before did gradually ease.
However, his suffering had not decreased by a single bit.
With no space naturally designed to accommodate a fetus, the tiny life forcefully took root and quietly grew inside his abdominal cavity, pressing against his organs day and night, pulling at his fascia, and turning into a continuous, dull ache, a heavy dragging sensation, and an unceasing soreness and stiffness in his lower back.
It wasn’t a heart-wrenching pain; it was an irritating, unshakeable discomfort that wore you down, pent-up deep within the bones.
He had always been tough, refusing to utter a single sound no matter how uncomfortable he felt, only curling up tightly in bed at night and gritting his teeth to endure it.
The care provided by Jin Yuan was meticulous and allowed for no refusal.
His meals were carefully adjusted for pregnancy, his daily life was looked after, and he was never allowed to tire himself in the slightest, with a dominance that felt like captivity.
Every day or two, Jin Yuan would press the probe of a fetal heart monitor against his lower abdomen.
The instrument would soon emit the steady and powerful sound of a tiny heartbeat: thump, thump, thump.
Regular.
Powerful.
It struck against the quiet air with every beat, and struck against Zhang Lu’s heart as well.
Each time, he would close his eyes tightly and clench his teeth.
Yet Jin Yuan would not let him off.
That damned man acted like a genuine, ordinary father, filled with anticipation.
This time was no exception.
He leaned down, pressed against his slightly bulging lower abdomen, and whispered softly to the life growing inside Zhang Lu’s body.
“Xiao Xiao,” Jin Yuan said with a smile, his tone so soft it bordered on doting. “Be a good boy and grow up strong and healthy.”
To Zhang Lu, who was currently undergoing physical torture, this gentleness was far more terrifying than any beating or kicking.
Every single word was a slow flaying of his nerves.
“Xiao Xiao is getting bigger and bigger now,” Jin Yuan raised his eyes to look at Zhang Lu. “The medication dosage needs to be increased.”
Zhang Lu remained silent.
He didn’t want to ask what kind of medication it was; he only knew that he had lost almost all control over his own body.
“You are too tight.”
Jin Yuan’s palm did not pull away; instead, following the slightly protruding curve, he pressed down extremely slowly, bit by bit.
This was not the soft belly of an ordinary pregnant woman, but rather male abdominal muscles that had spent years in high alert and were trained to be as hard as an iron plate.
Even though Jin Yuan’s movements were already gentle to the point of being cautious, a fine layer of cold sweat instantly popped up on Zhang Lu’s forehead, and he instinctively held his breath.
Too narrow.
For an adult, hardened man whose bone structure had long since fully set, there was simply no spare room in his abdominal cavity for this foreign little life; every single inch of space was already packed to the brim with his original organs.
As Xiao Xiao grew larger day by day, even the slightest breath Zhang Lu took allowed him to clearly feel his tightly knit rectus abdominis muscles being forcefully stretched and torn apart from the inside out by a brutal, overwhelming force.
That bloated, dull ache of skin and muscle being pulled spread along his nerves to all four limbs, refusing to fade.
What was even worse was his naturally narrow pelvis. The heavy dragging sensation pressed ceaselessly against his sciatic nerve, and several times, when he merely stood up from a chair, his right leg went violently numb, almost causing him to drop clumsily to his knees.
“A male body naturally lacks the conditions for gestation.”
Jin Yuan’s voice slowly sounded. His slender fingertips gently brushed across Zhang Lu’s side waist, where muscles were strained tight from endurance, his tone cruel yet wrapped in a bizarre trace of pity: “Your abdominal wall muscles are far too tough. If we do not double the injections of muscle relaxants and high-concentration hormones to soften your pelvic ligaments, your body, out of sheer instinct, will literally crush Xiao Xiao to pieces inside.”
The word crush caused Zhang Lu’s pupils to constrict sharply, his hands uncontrollably clenching into fists.
Jin Yuan was sharp enough to instantly detect the stiffening of his body, a trace of imperceptible darkness flashing through his eyes.
He called out toward the door, and a servant immediately walked in carrying a silver tray.
On the tray lay a syringe, a small bottle of transparent medication, and an alcohol swab.
Staring at the tray gleaming with a cold light, Zhang Lu unconsciously held his breath.
“Don’t be afraid.” Jin Yuan smiled gently, picked up the medication from the tray, skillfully drew the liquid into the syringe, and spoke with a hint of pacification in his tone: “It’s just a temporary increase; it won’t have to be like this all the time.”
Zhang Lu turned his face away without a word.
He didn’t want to let Jin Yuan see the fear and struggle in his heart.
Was this truly temporary?
When all of this was over, would he still be himself?
Would he still be the fearless man who dared to fight and brawl?
The liquid in the syringe was slowly pushed to the top, expelling tiny air bubbles.
Jin Yuan leaned down, his warm breath brushing past Zhang Lu’s earlobe as he murmured with a seductive gentleness: “Don’t be afraid, I won’t turn you into a woman.”
Zhang Lu’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and he couldn’t help but turn his head to shoot him a swift glance.
His upper arm felt slightly itchy as Jin Yuan wiped an alcohol swab over it, his movements still gentle, his expression focused.
The next second, the cold needle pierced his skin, and the medication was slowly pushed into his vein, carrying a trace of biting coldness.
Zhang Lu bit down hard, refusing to let a single sound escape his lips.
The cold sweat on his forehead had yet to dry when a fresh batch welled up, sliding down along his jawline.
Humiliation blocked his throat.
His body, his will, from start to finish, were completely beyond his control.
Jin Yuan pulled out the needle, gently pressed a cotton pad over the puncture site, and massaged it softly: “Bear with it. Once the medication takes effect, you won’t feel so uncomfortable, and Xiao Xiao will be safe.”
Zhang Lu closed his eyes and ignored him.
He thought Jin Yuan would leave after administering the medicine, but after waiting and waiting, the edge of the bed beside him remained sunken, and the man showed not the slightest intention of getting up.
Amidst the heavy, dragging sensation in his lower abdomen, an urge to urinate arose, growing more urgent by the second and burning from the inside out.
Zhang Lu endured and endured until he finally took the initiative to speak to Jin Yuan: “Why haven’t you gotten lost yet?”
Jin Yuan leaned against the headboard, his tone calm: “I’m worried you aren’t feeling well. Until the medicine takes full effect, I will stay here to take care of you.”
Zhang Lu glared fiercely at him, reaching out to push him away, but the sudden movement pulled at a wave of pain inside his body, causing him to instantly frown.
“Stop acting out,” Jin Yuan gently stroked his shoulder. “Be a little obedient.”
Zhang Lu was choked with anger yet felt entirely helpless.
However, after being tossed about like this, his bladder felt as though it was about to burst.
Unable to endure any longer, ignoring Jin Yuan, he grabbed the headboard, gritted his teeth, and sat upright. He abruptly threw off the blanket and prepared to get out of bed, but the movement was too rushed; a dragging pain ripped through his lower abdomen, his right leg went numb again, and his body listed sideways, almost causing him straight-up to collapse.
His wrist was caught instantly, the force was light, yet it steadied him firmly.
Immediately followed by Jin Yuan’s low voice: “What’s the rush?”
“Let go!” Sweat covered Zhang Lu’s forehead. “I need to go to the bathroom!”
The moment the words left his mouth, he felt his body suddenly suspended in mid-air.
Stunned into complete bewilderment, Zhang Lu realized he was actually being picked up entirely in Jin Yuan’s arms.
“You, you, pervert! Put me down!”
Zhang Lu’s voice even warped out of shape. In his entire life, he had never felt such intense humiliation.
It even surpassed the fortitude required to endure the forced pregnancy brought on by Jin Yuan.
Yet Jin Yuan simply adjusted his posture to hold him closer, avoiding the pressure point on his lower abdomen, and carried him in silence with long strides toward the bathroom.
The harsh white light of the bathroom was blinding.
Jin Yuan did not place Zhang Lu on the toilet; instead, he let his feet touch the floor while his back pressed against the cold tiled wall.
Even with the wall for support, his legs, having just received a dose of high-efficiency muscle relaxant, remained as soft as two bundles of cotton. Zhang Lu could only arch his back in extreme awkwardness, gasping heavily for breath as his knees uncontrollably trembled.
The heavy dragging sensation in his lower abdomen and the bladder pressure teetering on the brink of explosion made the veins on his forehead throb violently.
“Get out…”
Zhang Lu gritted his teeth, forcing the words out through a tight gap, laced with a hint of blood.
He raised a trembling hand, attempting to undo the waistband of his pants.
Yet those hands, which once easily snapped other people’s bones, were now so weak and numb down to their fingertips.
The more anxious he grew, the less strength he could muster.
Jin Yuan did not get out.
He stood half a step away, taking his time as his gaze insolently swept from top to bottom over Zhang Lu’s sweat-drenched bangs, his blood-red eye-tails, and finally landed on those futilely struggling hands.
“You can’t even stand steadily right now,” he stated calmly, entirely stating a fact. “Let me help.”
As he spoke, he stepped half a step forward, closing in right in front of Zhang Lu.
The cold fragrance carrying extreme oppression instantly overwhelmed him from all directions.
With his vision darkening, Zhang Lu threw another punch right at Jin Yuan.
As Jin Yuan ducked his head to dodge, one of his hands very precisely covered the back of Zhang Lu’s trembling hand.
His other hand grabbed the waistband with equal accuracy.
With a light, casual flick and tug, he opened it.
All of Zhang Lu’s blood rushed straight to his head, and a sense of humiliation wrapped around his heart like a venomous snake: “Jin Yuan! You fucking…”
“Shh.”
Very naturally, one of Jin Yuan’s hands reached inside while the other forcefully wrapped around Zhang Lu’s lower back, half-pulling the staggering, tough man into his arms to support his crumbling weight.
“Stop holding it in; it’s bad for your body.” Jin Yuan’s arm tightened its hold, his chin resting intimately against Zhang Lu’s shoulder as his warm breath sprayed behind Zhang Lu’s ear. His voice lowered into a murmur, resembling lovers whispering sweet nothings: “It’s fine, I’宁 am holding you.”
Physical limits finally shattered his last thread of reason.
Amidst extreme shame, anger, and physical release, Zhang Lu closed his eyes tightly. A droplet of crimson forced its way to the corner of his eye from the profound humiliation, his teeth grinding together with a clicking sound as he bit down on his lower lip hard enough to draw blood, though he remained entirely unaware of the stinging seep.
Not until the pressure and pain completely dissipated did he maintain that rigid posture, eyes closed, as a single scalding tear was squeezed out from the corner of his eye.
The moment it slipped down, he lowered his head and rubbed it away.
Jin Yuan let out a low chuckle, naturally tidying him up before grabbing a warm towel to wipe his hands clean, then running them under the water to rinse and dry them.
Leaning against the sink, he lowered his gaze to look at the tense Zhang Lu, his tone mild: “Shall I carry you out, or support you?”
Zhang Lu gripped the edge of the sink tightly, his knuckles turning white. He kept his head down in silence, breathing heavily and erratically, unwilling to look up and unwilling to speak.
Jin Yuan didn’t force him. Stepping forward, he gently supported Zhang Lu’s sweat-slicked back of the neck and left a light kiss upon his burning temple.
This sudden touch caused Zhang Lu to freeze all over, his eyes snapping open to collide with a gaze full of shock and disbelief.
Jin Yuan lightly brushed his fingertips against Zhang Lu’s damp temples and smiled gently: “Hurry and decide. We have other matters to attend to next.”