“Your scent…” Lu Zhanye suddenly lowered his head, pressing the tip of his nose against her neck and inhaling deeply. “The way you smell… it’s the same as in my dreams…”
It was the scent of soap pods mixed with a faint herbal fragrance.
Every household in Sujia Village used soap pods for washing clothes, but because Su Wantang had always been frail, her mother often brewed calming herbal remedies for her. Over time, her clothes absorbed that subtle, bitter herbal scent.
Lu Zhanye’s breathing grew heavier.
The drug had clearly reached its peak effect. Veins bulged at his temples, and sweat rolled down his jawline, dripping into the hollow of Su Wantang’s collarbone. The droplets were so hot that she shuddered.
The arm around her waist tightened abruptly.
Su Wantang was pressed deeper into the haystack. The sharp stalks dug into her back, and the stinging pain made her gasp.
“No—” she cried out, pushing against his chest. Her fingertips brushed the edge of that vicious wound. Sticky blood smeared across her hand. “You’re injured… Comrade Lu, calm down…”
“Calm down…” Lu Zhanye let out a hoarse laugh. “How am I supposed to calm down?”
He caught the hand pressed against his chest and guided her palm slowly across the scar on his abdomen.
The scar stretched from beneath his left ribs all the way to the top of his right hip.
There was no way this wound had been caused by his recent fall into the water.
It had been there for a long time.
So long that… perhaps it had existed as long as her dreams.
“This scar was in the dream too…” Lu Zhanye panted. His other hand clasped the back of her neck, forcing her to meet his gaze. “You touched it… in the dream… every single time…”
Their eyes locked.
In those bloodshot eyes, Su Wantang saw madness and reason locked in fierce combat.
The drug was making him lose control, but something deeper—perhaps a soldier’s willpower, perhaps the traces left behind by those recurring dreams—was struggling to break through.
“Who are you?” Lu Zhanye demanded through gritted teeth, each word forced out painfully. “Why… are you in my dreams?”
Su Wantang opened her mouth, but no sound came out.
What could she possibly say?
That she was the story’s villainous supporting character?
That she had a system forcing her to become pregnant with his child within seventy-two hours?
That her sister was a reborn heroine who was perhaps waiting anxiously at the clinic for the drug to take effect?
“I…” Tears slid down her cheeks, mixing with sweat before falling into the hay.
Lu Zhanye’s thumb brushed away the tears from the corner of her eye.
The gesture was suddenly gentle.
That gentleness seemed strangely out of place amid his feverish loss of control—like the last calm before a storm.
“Don’t cry…” he murmured, lowering his head to kiss away her tears.
The moment their lips touched, Su Wantang froze.
It wasn’t like the rough, possessive kisses from her dreams.
This kiss was light—so light it felt like a feather brushing against her skin. Yet every place it touched seemed to ignite, heat spreading from her lips straight into her heart.
[Warning: Bloodline Attraction Program entering critical phase. Please maintain physical contact.]
The system notification hit her like a bucket of cold water.
Su Wantang suddenly came to her senses.
She wasn’t here to fall in love.
She was here to survive.
To complete that absurd mission.
And yet…
Lu Zhanye’s kisses began to trail downward.
His burning lips moved along her jawline to her neck, lingering there. The rough stubble on his chin grazed her delicate skin, bringing both faint pain and a deeper tremor.
“Wanwan…” he mumbled, calling her by the nickname from his dreams. His lips brushed the small red mole near her collarbone. “You’re mine… you were in the dream… and you are now…”
Su Wantang closed her eyes and dug her fingernails into her palms.
Outside the haystack, insects chirped. Autumn cicadas screamed from distant trees, their cries sharp and lonely. The wind grew stronger, carrying more bits of straw. The scent in the air became almost suffocating.
And beneath all those sounds, the clearest were the man’s ragged breathing and her own racing heartbeat.
[Life Remaining: 69 Hours 22 Minutes]
The countdown ticked relentlessly in her mind like a funeral bell.
Su Wantang took a deep breath and, trembling, raised her arms to wrap them around Lu Zhanye’s neck.
The gesture made him go completely still.
He lifted his head. A flicker of disbelief and clarity appeared in his reddened eyes.
“You…”
“Comrade Lu,” Su Wantang said, her voice shaking uncontrollably, forcing herself to look at him. “My name… I…”
She never finished.
Her body trembled violently.
The last clear thought in her mind was:
What is my sister doing right now? Waiting at the clinic? Or rushing toward the threshing ground?
The thought was quickly crushed.
“Wanwan…” he whispered over and over, like a spell, like a brand burned into her soul.
Su Wantang struggled on the edge of losing control.
She should push him away.
She should scream, run, do everything an ordinary young woman ought to do.
But the system’s countdown ticked coldly in her mind, and the threat of her life reaching zero hung over her like the sword of Damocles.
Even more terrifying was the fact that…
Her body was responding.
She didn’t know why.
Was it the system manipulating her?
Or were the countless entanglements from those dreams etched into her body as memory?
“Lu…” Her fingers unconsciously tightened against his sweat-damp back, sinking into the tense muscles beneath.
The gesture seemed like some kind of signal.
A suppressed growl escaped Lu Zhanye’s throat. The strength in his arms suddenly increased—
“Wait!” Su Wantang shouted with the last of her strength.
He stopped.
His bloodshot eyes fixed on her.
Sweat dripped from his forehead onto her face, scalding hot.
The insects suddenly fell silent.
The threshing ground sank into complete stillness. Only the wind rustling through the hay remained, along with the sound of the two of them…
Moonlight filtered through the gaps in the haystack, illuminating Lu Zhanye’s face.
His short hair, soaked with sweat, clung to his forehead. Thick lashes cast deep shadows beneath his eyes. A smear of dried blood still stained the side of his high nose bridge.
And those eyes—
The redness slowly receded, revealing dark brown irises beneath.
Within them churned pain, desire, confusion, and a faint trace of clarity struggling to emerge.
“You…” Lu Zhanye began, his voice so hoarse it was nearly inaudible. “What’s your name?”
Su Wantang’s heart nearly stopped.
She stared into his eyes and saw her own pale, disheveled reflection staring back.
Her trembling lips parted.
“Su…”
The rest never came out.
Not because Lu Zhanye interrupted her.
But because she herself—without knowing where she found the courage—suddenly lifted her head and took the initiative…
The action was like a spark thrown into boiling oil.
Lu Zhanye’s entire body shuddered.
The last trace of clarity vanished completely.
Deep within the haystack, in the shadows where moonlight could not reach, the insects began chirping again—sharper, faster than before.
The wind carried the scent of wheat, and all other sounds were swallowed by the endless night.
Su Wantang curled up in Lu Zhanye’s arms, trembling from head to toe.
Moonlight filtered through the cracks in the haystack, falling in scattered patches across her shoulders.
Her back burned where the straw had scratched and pierced her skin.
Yet those physical pains were nothing compared to the shame and panic surging inside her heart.
Lu Zhanye’s breathing gradually steadied.
The drug seemed to have mostly worn off after his earlier frenzy.
He still held her tightly.
His burning chest pressed against her back. One arm lay across her waist.
The long scar on his torso rested against her skin, its rough edges brushing her gently and creating a strange, heart-stirring sensation.
[Bloodline Attraction Program Completion: 100%]
[Beginner Mission “Become Pregnant” Completed]
[Reward Granted: Life Extended by 30 Days; Beginner Spirit Spring Space (1 Cubic Meter) Unlocked]
[Pregnancy Confirmation Countdown: 21 Hours 03 Minutes (Note: Embryo implantation requires a 24-hour confirmation period)]