Doctor Li stomped his foot anxiously.
“Jianguo! This is the clinic! If you want to cause trouble, go home and do it!”
Su Wantang stood at the kitchen doorway, her heartbeat racing as if it would burst out of her chest.
An opportunity…
This was her only chance…
Taking advantage of the chaos, she quietly stepped back and slipped out through the back door of the kitchen.
[System guidance activated.]
A blue arrow appeared before her eyes, pointing toward the western end of the village.
[Detected: The effects of “Spring Breeze Intoxication” will begin in thirty minutes. The target Lu Zhanye will leave the clinic under the influence of the drug and proceed to the marked location.]
The western end of the village…
That was the threshing ground where the village stored stacks of wheat straw.
Su Wantang started running.
Her cloth shoes kicked up dust on the dirt road, and the autumn wind stung her face.
Her thoughts were a complete mess—
Her sister wanted to drug Lu Zhanye.
Zhao Jianguo had suddenly appeared and started causing trouble.
The system was directing her toward the wheat straw stacks…
Everything felt like a net that had been woven long ago, and she was now desperately running toward the center of it.
The sky gradually darkened.
The threshing ground was empty.
After the autumn harvest, the wheat straw stacks were piled up like small mountains, casting eerie shadows in the fading light.
The air still carried the dry fragrance of straw, mixed with the dampness of earth and night dew.
Su Wantang hid behind one of the straw stacks, her chest rising and falling violently.
[Countdown: 3 minutes remaining until drug effects activate.]
She gripped the corner of her clothes tightly, her nails digging into her flesh.
Should she run?
She could still escape now…
But what would happen afterward?
There were less than seventy hours left on her life countdown.
If Lu Zhanye was drugged, what would happen to him?
Would her sister succeed?
If her sister and Lu Zhanye…
“No…”
She shook her head, her throat tightening.
At that moment, staggering footsteps came from a distance.
A tall figure stumbled into the threshing ground.
It was Lu Zhanye.
The bandages around his body had already loosened. The wound at his waist and abdomen was exposed, looking horrifying in the dim light.
His military shirt had been torn open, revealing his tense chest and collarbone, covered with fine beads of sweat.
“Hot…”
The man’s hoarse groan echoed through the empty threshing ground.
Su Wantang covered her mouth and held her breath.
Lu Zhanye’s eyes were bloodshot.
Like a trapped beast, he paced around restlessly.
The drug had clearly taken effect.
He pulled open his collar, his heavy breathing especially clear in the silent night.
The muscles in his powerful arms tightened, blue veins standing out.
[Warning: Target is approaching a state of mental loss of control.]
[Please make a choice:
A. Step forward immediately and complete the beginner mission while the drug is active.
B. Continue hiding and wait for the drug effects to fade naturally.
(Note: This drug may cause permanent neurological damage to the target.)]
Permanent neurological damage?
Su Wantang’s pupils contracted.
She watched as Lu Zhanye painfully fell to his knees, his hands digging tightly into the dirt.
A suppressed growl escaped his throat.
The wound at his waist split open again from the violent movements, blood flowing down his muscular body.
The moon broke through the clouds at that moment.
Its pale light illuminated the man’s sweat-covered profile.
It illuminated his blood-red eyes.
And it also illuminated the straw stack where Su Wantang was hiding.
Lu Zhanye suddenly raised his head.
Their eyes met.
For a moment, time seemed to stop.
Su Wantang saw the madness and pain intertwined in those red eyes.
Then it transformed into something impossible to ignore—
a burning recognition.
“It’s you…”
Lu Zhanye spoke hoarsely.
“The person from my dream…”
He staggered to his feet and walked toward the straw stack.
Su Wantang wanted to escape, but her feet felt nailed to the ground.
The dry scent of wheat straw rushed toward her, mixed with the smell of blood, sweat, and something scorching and dangerous coming from the man.
“I’ve been looking for you for so long…”
Lu Zhanye stopped in front of her.
His tall figure completely covered her.
He raised his hand.
His rough fingertips, with thin calluses, gently brushed across her cheek.
The tenderness of the movement made her heart tremble.
“Every night…”
“I dream of you…”
The drug made his mind hazy.
But the obsession in his eyes was terrifyingly clear.
Su Wantang trembled all over.
She wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
[Final choice countdown: 10, 9, 8…]
The system began counting down.
Lu Zhanye’s hand slid behind her neck.
His burning palm pressed against her skin.
He lowered his head, his hot breath brushing against her ear.
His whisper sounded almost like a spell:
“Wanwan…”
“You are mine…”
Deep inside the wheat straw stack, in the shadows where moonlight could not reach, Su Wantang closed her eyes when his kiss fell.
The countdown reached zero.
[Choice confirmed: Host has made contact with the target. Bloodline Attraction program entering final stage…]
The night wind swept across the threshing ground, carrying fragments of dry straw into the air.
The familiar, heavy scent of wheat straw mixed with the coolness of early autumn and surrounded Su Wantang completely.
She curled up in the shadows deep inside the straw stack.
Her back pressed against the rough straw.
The man’s burning chest was in front of her.
Lu Zhanye’s breathing was heavy, like a broken bellows.
The heat of his breath brushed against the back of her ear.
Every breath carried the burning intensity of the drug.
His bare upper body was tense, his muscles rigid.
The horrifying wound at his waist had begun bleeding again because of the struggle.
Dark red drops slid down his firm muscles and fell onto the straw between them.
“Pain…”
A broken sound escaped Su Wantang’s throat.
She tried to push him away, but her wrist was held firmly.
The man’s burning palm pressed against her skin.
The rough calluses rubbed against the delicate inside of her wrist.
That sensation—
was exactly the same as in her dream.
[Remaining life value: 69 hours 41 minutes]
[Bloodline Attraction program final stage in progress… Pregnancy confirmation countdown: 22 hours 18 minutes]
The cold system notification sounded inside her mind, creating a sharp contrast with the heat of their physical contact.
Su Wantang closed her eyes.
Her eyelashes trembled like a fragile butterfly caught in the wind.
She should have run.
At the moment Lu Zhanye said “the person from my dream…”
At the moment the system gave her those two choices…
She should have turned around and escaped.
But—
“I’ve been looking for you for so long…”
Lu Zhanye’s hoarse voice sounded against her ear.
The drug made his voice unclear, but the obsession behind it pierced through the haze and remained frighteningly distinct.
“Every night…”
“I dream of this wheat straw stack…”
“I dream of you…”
His other hand touched her waist.
His rough fingertips brushed across the soft skin there.
That was exactly the place that had been touched repeatedly in her dreams.
Su Wantang’s entire body stiffened.
She almost screamed.
It wasn’t a dream.
Those burning, humiliating, uncontrollable nights…
Those tiny pains from the sharp straw pricking her back…
Those unfamiliar and overwhelming sensations…
They were not dreams.
Were they a prophecy?
A previous life?
Or the so-called “original storyline” from the system?
“Let go…”
She struggled, her voice carrying tears.
“Comrade Lu, you’ve mistaken me for someone else…”
“I’m Su Wantang…”
“From Su Family Village…”
“Su…”
Lu Zhanye repeated the word.
His blood-red eyes stared at her intensely in the darkness.
Moonlight leaked through the gaps in the straw stack.
A pale beam of light happened to illuminate her sweat-dampened face.
Her almond-shaped eyes were filled with tears.
Her lips had turned pale from biting them.
Her slender neck trembled slightly beneath the man’s burning hand.