༺ 𓆩 Chapter 2 𓆪 ༻
「Translator — Creator」
᠃ ⚘᠂ ⚘ ˚ ⚘ ᠂ ⚘ ᠃
"Xiao Yu... Xiao Yu?"
The tender voice drifted through the void, becoming Su Yu’s only anchor as he fought against the darkness. He clung to that familiar call, hurling himself toward it in a desperate bid to shatter the suffocating void.
Am I... still not awake?
Confusion crept into his hazy mind. He could feel the parched ache inside his mouth, every cell in his body screaming—yearning. They needed water.
“Water... I need water…”
To his surprise, he could hear the coarse, rasping edge of his own voice. But before he could process the sound, something soft pressed against his lips. He instinctively tried to pull away, but then, like a slender stream breaking through stone, a trickle of water slid through the crack between his lips and down his throat, soothing his cracked and dried mouth.
The impulse to resist faded instantly.
He yielded to the gentle touch, drinking eagerly, driven by instinct—the primal hunger to survive. There was no room for pride, no thought beyond the thirst that consumed him. Without water... he would die.
After what felt like an eternity, the flow slowed, then stopped; the softness that had pressed against his lips quietly withdrew.
“Hehe...”
...
...
A laugh drifted into Su Yu’s ears—familiar, yet laced with a foreign madness. He recognized the voice, the cadence of her tone… but buried within the laughter was a chilling lunacy that sent a shiver down his spine.
The class reunion… It was her.
A shard of memory detonated in his mind with such force it left his head ringing with pain.
"Figured it out, didn’t you?"
Scorching breath brushed against his earlobe. The voice was so close, each inhalation and exhalation distinct in its intimacy.
“So clever. But being too clever isn’t always a good thing, you know.”
Panic surged.
Su Yu thrashed, limbs straining against invisible bonds. He fought to free himself, to rip away the restraints that held him down—but it was no use.
His body had been utterly immobilized. Even his vision was robbed from him, shrouded in something heavy and dark. It felt like he had been sealed within a coffin—cold, unyielding wood pressing against him—and every act of resistance was futile. Death loomed closer than ever.
Still, he struggled.
The water he had consumed moments ago was already burning through his system, fueling his frenzy.
The thirst returned. Reflexively, he pressed his parched lips together, trying in vain to draw out some fleeting moisture.
"Let me help you…"
The voice murmured beside his ear. And then, without warning, that soft touch returned. Her lips. Xia Qiange… was that her? Were they kissing?
Su Yu flinched, twisting his head to the side in revulsion.
He couldn’t—he shouldn’t. His mind screamed in protest. Why? Why, on the brink of death, would he still be drawn to such a carnal indulgence?
This isn’t Xia Qiange.
This isn’t the girl I remember.
It can’t be her.
But soon, Su Yu's jaw was gripped by an immense force. It was a pair of slender hands, yet they completely prevented him from struggling.
Even the simple act of turning away was stripped from him.
"Heh, that's more like it."
The woman chuckled, a note of cruel satisfaction in her voice.
She relished this—possession, control. What was hers, she would never allow anyone else to touch.
And then, she kissed him again.
It wasn’t gentle. It wasn’t tender. It was a violent, consuming thing—more a bite than a kiss. She had waited too long for this. Now that he was awake, she was through pretending.
Su Yu groaned—a muffled, broken sound of pain and disorientation.
He only felt his body beginning to lose control as an aggressive softness invaded his mouth without restraint.
He wasn’t even sure he still owned his body.
Vaguely, he could even hear the delicate sounds of saliva being frantically secreted between their teeth, compressed by a pink tongue.
After a long while, when oxygen was nearly depleted, Su Yu's breath came in faster, sharper bursts. Only when a pill, concealed beneath the woman’s tongue, was forced past his lips and into his throat did the storm of her assault finally begin to subside.
His mind, fogged by hypoxia, barely registered the intrusion. Before he could stop it, his throat had already reflexively swallowed the capsule. He broke into violent coughs—sharp, gasping spasms—but it was too late.
“What did you make me swallow?” Su Yu demanded coldly. “You’re not Xia Qiange. Who the hell are you?”
“Not her? Then why don’t you see for yourself?”
With a sudden clink, the restraints around his wrists sprang open.
Su Yu twisted his arms, feeling as if reborn.
His first action was to remove the blindfold obscuring his vision. What came into view were those bright eyes, rippling like spring water—familiar eyes. The person before him... was indeed Xia Qiange.
“Am I beautiful?”
Her lips curved into a dangerous arc, as intoxicating and perilous as a rose blooming at midnight; the faintest trace of fragrance drifted from her skin—heady and warm.
She bent closer, nestling her face against the crook of Su Yu’s neck, breathing him in, lips brushing his skin as if to taste the scent of his soul.
Su Yu tilted his head slightly downward—and saw it.
Xia Qiange’s porcelain neck, once flawless, now marred by an eerie transformation. Blue-white veins pulsed just beneath the surface of her skin, stretched taut with fevered excitement.
They horribly manifested on her fair, jade-like skin, destroying what should have been harmonious beauty, yet adding a morbidly desolate quality.
“Qiange… No. You’re not Xia Qiange.”
Even though she wore the same face—his Qiange’s face—Su Yu refused to believe it. This wasn’t the woman he had pursued for years, the one he had shared so many quiet mornings and fading twilights with.
“Qiange would never be like this. You’re sick. Go turn yourself in to the police, or get help at a hospital!”
“Haha… Sick, am I?”
The woman laughed, a wild, brittle sound that cracked through the room like breaking glass. Her voice, once sweet, now rang in Su Yu’s ears like a siren call from hell.
Reason had long been devoured, leaving only insatiable desire.
“Yes, I’m sick—incurably sick. Beyond help. And all of it…”
The woman's pearly teeth sank into Su Yu’s shoulder, like a brand seared into his flesh. Her words tumbled from her throat, thick with rage and desperation.
“...is all thanks to you!”
“You’re insane! Get away from me—!”
The pain shot through him like electricity, nerves flaring in raw agony.
Su Yu gritted his teeth to endure it, but a guttural cry still escaped his lips.
“As punishment…”
She finally let go, her breath ragged with pleasure as she licked the blood from her lips; the crimson shimmered on her teeth, and the way she tasted it—savoring it—was like a connoisseur sampling aged wine.
Her eyes, tinged pink at the corners, sparkled with intoxicated satisfaction.
She looked at the deep circle of teeth marks on Su Yu's shoulder with satisfaction, "I will leave my mark on your body."
“Why…” Su Yu turned his face away, unable to bear looking at her. “Why are you doing this? You’ve changed… You weren’t like this before.”
“What’s wrong? You don’t like it anymore? But didn’t you say you’d love me forever? No matter how old I became… no matter how I looked… You said you’d love me.”
Her hands clamped down on his face, forcing his head back toward her.
She wanted his gaze—needed it.
She wanted to be the only reflection in those beautiful eyes, the only image his soul could recognize.
“I loved the old Xia Qiange… the one as pure and clear as spring water, Not you. You’re just a madwoman who’s lost all reason.”
Su Yu seemed resigned to his fate. He no longer avoided her gaze; his eyes were like mirrors, reflecting the woman's obsessive appearance. His tone was flat, but his expression etched with deep disgust.
And somehow… it worked.
The words hit her like a slap.
Her smile faltered, then vanished.
Her nails dug deep into her palms, breaking skin; the flesh turned pale with blood loss.
Neither spoke, the sudden silence plunging the room into a deathly stillness.
After what felt like an eternity, the woman seemed to regain her composure. She smiled again, but this time the smile hung superficially on her eyes, her voice cold enough to make Su Yu's nerves tense.
“Maybe I was too kind to you before… so kind you really thought I didn’t care about anything.”
She lifted his chin, her elegant face now shrouded in a sinister air. That gentleness—so familiar once—had twisted into something razor-sharp.
“I gave you freedom. I gave you dignity. I gave you everything you ever wanted. And you—” she sneered, “—you threw it all away. So now, I’m taking it all back. Every last piece. And even if you crawled at my feet like a dog, whimpering for my mercy, it would not soften my resolve."
The woman suddenly sat up, stripping off her clothes piece by piece before Su Yu's eyes - one garment... two garments... until she stood completely naked like him.
She lowered herself onto him, her body pressing flush against his, skin to skin, warm and terrifying. The contact sent a wave of heat through them, their combined body temperature rising like a fire stoked from within.
"Actually... I've always wanted to do this—to play with you like a toy. You're mine, and what I gave you. Since you didn't cherish it, I'll take it back. Now... you have no choice."
She reached out and turned off the lamp beside the bed.
Darkness devoured the room.
Su Yu's breathing quickened in the unknown fear, uncertain of what awaited him.
"Xiao Yu, it's been a year... I can't endure anymore. It hurts so much... Give me... I need..."
He heard the woman's teeth grinding together, her hands roaming over his body—from his chest down to his thighs...
"Su Yu, I love you so much. You're my cure."
Her body writhed against his waist, the honeyed words stirring primal desires in his core.
“So please… give yourself to me. Please… Save me.”
END of CHAPTER