Ji Chaoxi stared at him in disbelief for a long moment, unable to say a single word.
Ye Jiming let out a mocking laugh.
“What? Is this your idea of gratitude? Can’t even do such a small thing?”
He sneered again. “I knew it. You’re not really grateful at all. You never treated me like a human. I’m just your dog—”
His words cut off abruptly.
Ji Chaoxi suddenly stood on her tiptoes and kissed the corner of his lips, then immediately pulled away and ran back into the house.
She sat by the fire, staring at the flickering flames, rubbing her slightly numb face and head.
It wasn’t shyness.
It was shock—surviving something that felt like death itself.
Outside the small building, Ye Jiming stood frozen for a long time.
He had not expected her to actually kiss him—and then immediately run away. He hadn’t even been prepared.
He stared at the empty space ahead, his expression growing darker and darker.
Finally, through clenched teeth, he spat out a single word.
“…Fuck.”
The night deepened.
Distant beast roars echoed through the wilderness, occasionally accompanied by the chilling sound of bones being crushed and chewed.
The moon had disappeared somewhere, leaving only the warm glow of the campfire.
Ji Chaoxi didn’t fall asleep in the first half of the night.
In the second half, she was even more restless, unable to relax for even a moment.
Ye Jiming remained seated in his original position, his gaze fixed on her the entire time, like a predator watching its prey. It kept her nerves tightly wound, unable to ease even slightly.
Ji Chaoxi understood clearly—he was retaliating against her.
What frustrated her even more was that she could not beat Ye Jiming, who had only just awakened.
Something was wrong.
She frowned deeply.
She couldn’t sense any fluctuation of energy from him at all. If he hadn’t awakened, then why was her own ability being disrupted?
Her thoughts drifted uncontrollably back to last night’s chaos…
She bit her fingernail absentmindedly and suddenly noticed something off about Ye Jiming.
Ever since the system disappeared and she saved him, he had changed.
Even if he had awakened, what gave him the confidence to act against a Tier-4 ability user like her?
Unless…
He had awakened long ago and had been deliberately hiding it, waiting until he had enough power to resist her.
That explanation made sense.
It explained why her vines were restrained.
It explained why he suddenly “snapped” last night.
Because now—he was strong enough.
And she could not escape.
Ji Chaoxi grabbed her hair tightly, pain spreading across her scalp, and gave a miserable smile toward the fire.
As the system had said, living two extra years in this world was already a gain.
But was a life controlled by a system truly living?
Now that the system was gone… she had fallen into the hands of another dark tyrant.
Out of the wolf’s den and into the tiger’s mouth.
Tears slid down her cold cheeks.
Fine.
If she had to die anyway, so be it.
She had died countless times on the experimental table already. She just didn’t want to die slowly and painfully in someone else’s hands.
She wanted a clean death.
At some point, she was holding a wooden stick, staring blankly at its sharpened tip.
She intended to stab it into her own heart.
That should be quick. That should hurt less…
“What are you doing?”
A cold voice suddenly rang out.
Ji Chaoxi snapped back to reality.
She realized her hands were already gripping the stick, poised to thrust it into her chest.
Ye Jiming grabbed her wrist tightly, veins bulging on his hand.
Ji Chaoxi immediately let go. The stick fell beside her feet.
“I… I was adding firewood.”
She quickly picked it up again and threw it into the fire, then grabbed a few more pieces and tossed them in, as if proving her excuse.
The flames swallowed the dry wood, brightening the surroundings.
Firelight illuminated their faces.
Ye Jiming’s expression was dark and heavy. His chest rose and fell quickly. The grip he had felt earlier told him everything—
She had truly intended to kill herself.
Ji Chaoxi’s face was pale, bloodless. Even sitting by the fire, her hands were ice cold.
“What happened?” Quan Xiaoyi murmured groggily as she woke up, blinking at their interlocked hands.
She immediately regretted speaking. She should have kept pretending to sleep.
Ye Jiming looked at her. “Can you take over watch for a while? She’s exhausted. She needs rest.”
“Oh, sure.” Quan Xiaoyi shuffled closer to the fire, then asked considerately, “Should I wake Liang Zimo and bring another blanket?”
“No need.”
Ye Jiming lifted Ji Chaoxi effortlessly into his arms, returning to his spot and pulling the fallen blanket over her.
Ji Chaoxi lay quietly against his chest, not speaking, not resisting—like a lifeless porcelain doll.
Ye Jiming did not like that.
His eyes narrowed slightly, a dangerous glint flashing within.
His hand slipped under the blanket, into her clothes.
Ji Chaoxi let out a soft sound—barely audible, fragile, like a feather touching still water.
Ye Jiming’s gaze darkened instantly.
She shifted uneasily, pressing his hand down and looking up at him, pleading silently. She didn’t dare speak for fear of waking others.
Her tearful eyes were wet, pitiful, and helpless.
His throat moved.
He squeezed her once, almost like punishment, then withdrew his hand.
His rough fingers brushed her soft skin, sending a shiver through her body.
He smoothed her disheveled hair and lowered his voice.
“Sleep.”
Ji Chaoxi immediately closed her eyes.
Somehow, she actually fell asleep.
Ye Jiming looked at her face, his gaze tracing her brows, eyes, nose, lips—finally settling on her heart.
Why had she suddenly wanted to die?
Even after what he did last night, she endured it without a word.
Unless… she hadn’t been trying to escape?
That didn’t match the Ji Chaoxi he knew.
The Ji Chaoxi who feared pain. Who feared death.
When Ji Chaoxi woke up, she was still in Ye Jiming’s arms.
The light of dawn was dim; they were already on the way back.
“You’re awake?” he asked. “Want something to eat?”
Ji Chaoxi shook her head. “Put me down.”
Ye Jiming tightened his arms.
Meaning: no.
She bit her lip and stopped speaking, letting him carry her.
After sleeping, her tension eased.
Then she suddenly understood something:
In the laboratory, in a world filled with foreign substances, every day could be the last. No one knew when death would come.
Living one more day was already a gain.
She fell silent again.
Ye Jiming frowned. “Talk.”
“What should I say?”
“Anything. Weren’t you always talkative before?”
“Oh.” She paused. “What do you want to hear?”
Ye Jiming sneered.
“You’ll say whatever I want?”
She gave a faint “mm.”
“Then say you’re sorry. Say you’ll be my servant. Say you’ll obey me forever. Say I point east and you never go west. Say you’ll never betray me or die a miserable death. Say I’m your master. Say you like me. Say you love me. Say I’m the only one in your heart. Say you belong to me in life and in death. Go on—say something nice to make me happy…”
He bit his tongue lightly and let out a mocking laugh.
“Ji Chaoxi… can you even say it?”