Jiang Luxi’s eyes sparkled as she dug the hole, but she suddenly felt a chilling, sinister gaze fixed on her.
Huo Jin Ge looked at the pit in front of him and nodded in satisfaction. “Alright, stop.”
Jiang Luxi trembled again, her gaze now level with the man’s leather shoes.
She flashed a smile with all eight teeth visible at Huo Jin Ge. “This hole isn’t big enough, let me dig a bit more… dig a bit more…”
Huo Jin Ge furrowed his brows, his voice dropping two degrees colder as he patiently emphasized the word: “Stop!”
Jiang Luxi didn’t dare look at the man behind her, but her hands kept moving.
If she stopped now, wouldn’t the next step be to make her fill the hole and bury herself…
Huo Jin Ge pinched the bridge of his nose and gestured to Jiang Feng and Yu Yi beside him.
Without a word, the two walked to the pit, bent down, each grabbing one of her arms, and hauled her out of the hole, giving her a couple of shakes for good measure.
The shaking sent her high heels flying off.
Huo Jin Ge let out a long sigh, his entire demeanor radiating impatience.
Why is raising a woman so troublesome.
Seeing Jiang Luxi still struggling, he strode over to her.
Jiang Luxi looked at the man before her, the sunlight falling perfectly on his brow. Dazzled by the light, she gradually stopped resisting.
Huo Jin Ge raised a hand to pinch his brow, an unusual patience on his face. “Like digging holes?”
Jiang Luxi seemed to have found a way to survive, nodding like a woodpecker.
Huo Jin Ge glanced toward the manor’s backyard. If she liked digging holes, that was simple enough—the entire yard was hers to dig up.
Jiang Luxi watched as Huo Jin Ge lifted his hand and pointed to a large empty space beside them.
He said slowly, “I’ll save this for you.”
Save it for her…
The implication being that eventually, one of these pits would be her final resting place.
She didn’t understand this madman’s twisted sense of humor…
The world around Jiang Luxi grew increasingly blurry, her gaze drifting slowly from the man’s jaw upward until her eyes rolled back, and she passed out.
Jiang Feng frowned, his face full of disdain. “What’s wrong with this woman? She’s unconscious more often than she’s awake.”
Yu Yi wiped the red paint off his hands again. “Master Ho, should we take her back?”
Huo Jin Ge stared at the woman’s delicate face and jerked his chin. “Give her to me.”
The two exchanged a glance and handed the limp Jiang Luxi over to Huo Jin Ge.
His large hand wrapped around the woman’s soft waist, pulling her firmly against his chest.
He bent down and sniffed the crook of her neck—only the faint, clean scent of a woman after a bath, somewhat like chamomile.
But it wasn’t the fragrance he had smelled when his headache struck yesterday.
Huo Jin Ge narrowed his dark eyes and looked up at Jiang Feng, who was directing the tree planting.
Holding the woman, he asked Yu Yi beside him, “When we were heading out yesterday, besides her, there was no one else around?”
Yu Yi nodded solemnly. “Master, it was really only her.”
After all, everyone in the entire capital knew how you looked when your illness flared up—only this fool would stick around.
Yu Yi silently lit a metaphorical incense stick for Jiang Luxi in his heart.
Huo Jin Ge bent down and picked up the woman in his arms, striding forward. “Later, come with me to the laboratory.”
****Jiang Luxi had a very restless sleep, as if haunted by a nightmare. Her chest felt heavy, as though weighed down by a large rock, her entire body stiff and numb. She wanted to wake up but couldn’t.
Was that madman starting to bury her with soil?
Huo Jin Ge hadn’t noticed any signs of the woman on the experimental bed waking up. With his legs slightly apart, he lounged lazily in the sofa, his eyes closed as he recalled the fragrance that had pulled his thoughts back during his episode.
“It smells a bit like the rainforest—rich, fresh with a hint of sweetness, soothing to the mind.”
The man in the white coat across from him diligently recorded each detail, pausing his pen abruptly. Behind his protective goggles, dark eyes fixed on Huo Jin Ge. “How often are the episodes occurring now?”
In the next moment, Huo Jin Ge’s closed eyes snapped open. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, palms supporting his chin.
Three years ago, he had suddenly developed severe headaches. When they struck, the pain was so intense it felt as if his head would explode. No matter how many doctors he consulted or how much Elixir he took, the headaches showed no sign of relief, only growing worse.
From occasional episodes every few months at the beginning, to once a month, then once every half-month… until now.
“Five days.”
Huo Jin Ge’s tone was as calm as if he had accepted this reality. He sank back into the sofa, his gaze heavy.
Dr. Lin nodded and continued writing on the medical record, regretfully informing Huo Jin Ge, “If we can’t find a solution, you might be driven to lose your sanity within a year.”
Jiang Luxi finally opened her eyes, blinking her shimmering, watery orbs. The air was thick with the strong smell of disinfectant. Faintly, she could hear men’s voices.
Dr. Lin placed the medical record on the experimental table. “Why not keep a little pet now? It might help distract you.”
Huo Jin Ge scoffed.
Keeping a pet would be both mentally and physically draining. If it ran away one day and died outside, he’d have to bother retrieving its corpse.
Dr. Lin tidied the bottles and jars beside him, handing a small vial to Huo Jin Ge. In a doctor’s reassuring tone, he said, “It’s alright. If you’re worried about not taking good care of it, you can always bring it to me. After all, I never have enough experimental subjects.”
Jiang Luxi felt her blood run cold.
Sure enough, the pervert and the eccentric were cut from the same cloth. Had Huo Jin Ge already found her a next handler?
Huo Jin Ge took the glass vial and casually stuffed it into his pocket. Rising from the sofa, his 1.The 87-meter frame exuded an intangible sense of oppression. He tilted his head, looking at Jiang Luxi with her wide-open eyes, and said in a chilling tone, “Since you’re awake, come here.”
Jiang Luxi stepped down from the experimental bed and accidentally knocked over a nearby human skeleton. She reached out instinctively to grab it.
Dr. Lin quickly intervened, “Hey, it’s fresh—very fragile.”
Jiang Luxi: …
Fresh… and fragile…
Terrified, Jiang Luxi covered her head and scurried to the side, trembling all over.
Had she touched bloody human bones? Could it be from the person he had disposed of that morning?
How horrifying!
Dr. Lin hurriedly caught the nearly fallen human skeleton, glanced at the cypress branch hanging behind it, breathed a sigh of relief, and set the freshly picked cypress branch aside.
Such a fresh cypress branch—it almost broke.Turning to look at the woman crouching on the ground trembling like a frightened kitten, her pitch-black eyes wide with terror and panic, the way she stared at him was as if she had seen an executioner.
Was his appearance really that disappointing?
Dr. Lin tentatively reached out his hand: “Miss, may I help you up?”