Countless horrific ways he might die flashed through Qi Mu’s mind in an instant.
Every single one was gruesome beyond description.
No. I can’t just accept this…
Calm down, hurry up and think of something, hurry…
But Qi Mu could not focus at all.
Because Jiang Shao’s tongue was □□ against the shell of his ear, as though it were even trying to burrow inside and stir his already muddled brain into paste.
All of Qi Mu’s attention was fixed on Jiang Shao’s every movement, as though each nerve in his body were being tugged by a thread. He could think of nothing else and could only endure whatever the other man brought upon him.
He was pinned tightly against the door, the cold surface pressed to his front and Jiang Shao’s burning chest against his back.
The sound of his ear being □□ was so painfully clear that Qi Mu burned with shame, his face red enough to bleed.
And that was not the end of it. One of Jiang Shao’s hands covered his mouth while the other squeezed into the narrow space between him and the door, slowly moving over his chest. Jiang Shao’s palm and fingertips pressed against his ribcage, as though Qi Mu’s heart were beating directly in his hand.
Qi Mu found it hard to breathe.
The fear, unease, and indescribable sensations made him feel as though he were losing control, yet the man behind him remained unsatisfied. Jiang Shao took Qi Mu’s earlobe into his mouth and toyed with it, then from time to time pressed light kisses to the back of his neck and his jaw.
Qi Mu felt as though a giant python had coiled around him.
The pressure against his chest seemed almost enough to make it burst, yet Jiang Shao would loosen his hold at precisely the moment Qi Mu could bear no more, giving him a chance to breathe. The rough texture of Jiang Shao’s fingers was like snake scales as they moved slowly and mockingly over him, as though carefully inspecting every inch of prey…
to see whether it suited his taste.
Qi Mu’s upper body was forced against Jiang Shao’s hand. Everything about it filled him with torment and fear, but Jiang Shao still seemed dissatisfied. After feeling around for a while, in a space where there was already no room left at all, his fingers forcibly curled and began kneading.
It was the final straw.
The violent stimulation shot straight into Qi Mu’s mind.
His whole body jerked forward as he tried to escape, but it was useless. Instead, Jiang Shao deliberately pinched him harder, almost as punishment.
Qi Mu instinctively tried to cry out, but Jiang Shao’s hand covered his mouth so tightly that he could not even release a breath. Only a muffled, almost sobbing sound escaped him, and tears instantly welled in his eyes.
He blinked, physiological tears spilling uncontrollably, as though this were the only response left to him while he was so completely restrained.
Soon his lashes were wet and his vision blurred.
His whole body trembled faintly.
Jiang Shao clearly felt Qi Mu’s reaction. Raising his eyes, he saw Qi Mu’s wet, misted gaze and the tears sliding from the corners of his eyes to fall against the web of Jiang Shao’s hand, the warm trail tickling across his skin.
Those beautiful tear-filled eyes looked pitiful and vulnerable, like brilliant amber gems holding liquid light, countless times more alluring and beautiful than usual.
Jiang Shao yanked Qi Mu’s glasses off and threw them aside.
Then he lowered his head without hesitation and kissed him, licking away the tears at the corners of Qi Mu’s eyes. The warm, faintly salty liquid burst across his tongue and taste buds as though it were the very thing he had been lacking most.
Like a traveler dying of thirst who had finally tasted the sweetest nectar.
He wanted more and more.
Never satisfied.
He wanted to squeeze every drop of liquid from this man’s body and swallow it all.
Jiang Shao grew even more unrestrained. He held Qi Mu’s cheek while his other hand increased the pressure, becoming harsher. Qi Mu was like a fish on a chopping board, making only weak struggles, and every faint attempt to resist brought an even harsher punishment, until the tears kept coming without end.
Jiang Shao sucked the tears from the corners of Qi Mu’s eyes. Terrified that his tongue might touch the eye itself, Qi Mu squeezed his eyes tightly shut, so Jiang Shao licked across the closed lids instead, his tongue brushing trembling lashes and moving back and forth beneath them with a gentleness that was still overbearing.
Qi Mu was on the verge of completely breaking down.
He could neither open his mouth nor his eyes. All he could do was struggle uselessly, like prey waiting to be devoured, knowing the outcome yet still unwilling to surrender to it.
Worse still, he could dimly sense that his fear, his tears, and his struggling were only making Jiang Shao more excited.
The more he resisted, the more he seemed to please Jiang Shao…
The idea should have been utterly absurd, but a certain change in Jiang Shao’s body behind him forced Qi Mu to acknowledge the reality, because something seemed to be pressing uncomfortably against him from behind…
Despair rose like one wave after another,
each higher than the last, crashing over him without mercy.
As a man himself, Qi Mu knew perfectly well what Jiang Shao’s reaction meant, especially when Jiang Shao made no attempt whatsoever to hide his intentions.
He had practically laid his desire and thoughts out in the open.
What would happen next…
did not require any imagination.
Qi Mu could almost foresee the way he was going to die.
Jiang Shao would kill him right here, then someone would find the body. People would see what a miserable state he had died in, and even after death he would become gossip: the man who had been X-ed to death aboard a cruise ship. He might even make the news—no, more likely some trashy tabloid specializing in bizarre scandals…
He truly would die with his eyes open in grievance.
Jumping from the ship would at least be a more dignified way to die!
Qi Mu was already desperate enough, but then, adding insult to injury…
The ear pressed tightly to one side of the door clearly picked up sounds from the hallway. The banquet had just ended. People were talking and laughing as they walked this way; footsteps approached and receded, then more approached. Some people stopped in the hallway to chat, while others opened doors and entered their guest rooms…
Among them were many voices he recognized.
Every sound made his panic sharper and more urgent.
This was no longer an unfounded fantasy of something that might happen. It was a terrifying future close enough to touch.
If the noise inside this room became even slightly louder, someone outside would notice. That meant Qi Mu only had to call for help and he could immediately stop someone in the hallway… Yet not only did he fail to do so, he did not even dare struggle anymore, terrified that the slightest sound might be heard.
Even if Jiang Shao released the hand over his mouth right now,
Qi Mu would not make a sound.
Only one door separated them.
Outside was the glamorous, dazzling world he knew, full of music, dancing, and celebration.
Inside was a dark beast’s den from which there seemed to be no escape, and he was being pulled apart and devoured little by little.
If he was going to die no matter what,
then at least he did not want to die looking quite so awful.
He still had his dignity.
He did not want to die once and then suffer social death too. Dying twice would be absolutely terrible.
His body was held completely under control, and everything Jiang Shao did tugged at every nerve and sense he had.
Yet under such extreme circumstances,
as Qi Mu listened to the sounds beyond the door, his thoughts gradually began to drift instead.
Perhaps he had become so desperate that he had given up completely, abandoning all hope and restraint, because absurd thoughts actually began appearing in his head…
If Jiang Shao is really going to do it, can we at least go to the bed? Not by the door. It’s way too easy for someone to discover us here, and the bed would be more comfortable, wouldn’t it? This hard door is digging into me. If resisting is useless and only makes him treat me worse, wouldn’t it hurt less if I stopped resisting?
People say you suffer just to save face, but if I don’t resist, wouldn’t that mean I don’t have to lose face or suffer as much?
So giving up resistance is actually the best option right now?
Blood had pooled painfully in Jiang Shao’s body, as though that place might burst at any moment. He could no longer continue enduring or restraining himself, and today he did not want to. His fingers slid down to Qi Mu’s waist, his breathing growing heavy and rapid as he tore the button from Qi Mu’s trousers—but at that moment—
Qi Mu suddenly stopped moving.
There was no longer the slightest struggle or resistance. If not for the faint trembling he could not control, he would have looked like a marionette waiting for someone to do whatever they wished with it.
Jiang Shao abruptly froze.
A trace of reason returned to his mind.
His sharp, hawk-like eyes fixed on Qi Mu.
Don’t you know what I’m planning to do? Why aren’t you struggling anymore? Do you understand what submitting now means?
He did not believe Qi Mu was doing this willingly.
Jiang Shao’s ears moved slightly. Hearing the voices outside the door, he instantly understood why Qi Mu had become like this.
He was afraid someone would hear him.
He would rather endure anything Jiang Shao did to him than let the people outside hear what was happening, than let Xu Wei Ran see him like this.
That realization struck Jiang Shao’s heart like a heavy hammer, without warning and without any defense. All his excitement, clamor, desire, and craving were smashed into ash in a single blow, leaving behind only endless pain, anger, and jealousy.
It also drained every ounce of strength from him in an instant.
Slowly, he removed the hand covering Qi Mu’s mouth.
But just as he expected,
Qi Mu still made no sound.
He was obedient and docile like a lifeless mannequin.
Jiang Shao stared at him: at the tear tracks across his face, at his tightly closed eyes, at the indifference of someone who seemed to have given up everything. It was not the familiar gentle calm Qi Mu usually carried, but the calm of a heart gone completely cold…
Jiang Shao suddenly stumbled backward one step.
He did not dare look at Qi Mu like this again, as though a single glance would scorch his eyes. Jiang Shao turned his head away in panic.
The reason that had already collapsed and broken apart
returned to him in full at this moment.
What was I doing just now?
Was I really going to drive Qi Mu to his death?
Was I really going to destroy the only person I care about?
Jiang Shao squeezed his eyes shut.
He hated Qi Mu for being so heartless toward him, for refusing to spare him even the smallest scrap of affection or mercy, but the person he truly hated was himself. He hated that he could not control himself, hated the demon inside him, hated that in the end he would destroy everything…
and deserved no affection or mercy from anyone.
Jiang Shao abruptly turned away.
Qi Mu had already prepared himself for the worst and thought his innocence was surely lost, yet Jiang Shao suddenly released him, turned, walked into the bathroom, and slammed the door shut with a bang.
A moment later came the rushing sound of water from inside.
Qi Mu: ?
What happened?
Jiang Shao was acting completely insane just now. How did he suddenly calm down again?
Did the drug wear off?
But if it wore off, why is he taking a cold shower?
Qi Mu knew it was cold water because even through the translucent frosted glass, there was not a trace of steam inside.
Qi Mu had roughly a hundred thousand questions in his head at this point and was still completely bewildered.
He felt like prey that had already been caught in a beast’s mouth and swallowed halfway down, one gulp away from disappearing entirely—only for the beast to suddenly show mercy and spit him back out.
That can happen too?
I’d already given up, and now I suddenly survived by the skin of my teeth?
Qi Mu drew a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. Looking at the blurred figure inside the bathroom, he knew this was the best chance he would get to escape.
But…
Damn it, if you’re done and leaving, why didn’t you untie me first?!
His hands were still bound behind his back!
The button on his trousers had also been torn off. With both hands behind him, Qi Mu hurriedly caught the trousers that kept sliding down, then turned to search for some way to free himself.
The room lights were off.
Only the silvery moonlight outside filtered through the gauzy curtains. Qi Mu’s glasses had been thrown away. His prescription was not particularly strong, but the darkness made his vision worse, and everything looked hazy.
He had no idea which corner his glasses had landed in.
Qi Mu turned around several times without finding them. This was far too inconvenient, so freeing his hands had to come first. He took a few steps and leaned the small of his back against the edge of the bar to keep his trousers from falling, then twisted his wrists and tried to loosen the jacket binding his hands.
He had no idea how Jiang Shao had tied it, but it was unbearably tight. After so long, Qi Mu’s wrists were nearly numb. Sweat covered his forehead as he struggled for ages without making it budge at all. Had Jiang Shao tied a dead knot?
Qi Mu’s mind raced.
In movies and television, whenever the protagonist was kidnapped, they always managed to free themselves while the villain was distracted—for example, by finding something sharp enough to cut the ropes…
There was nothing sharp to use in the cruise-ship guest room, but when Qi Mu swept his gaze around, he spotted a drinking glass on the bar. Glasses were common props in television too. If he smashed one, he would have shards of glass, and shards could cut through restraints.
Qi Mu shifted his body and bent awkwardly, reaching for a long time before he finally managed to push one glass off the bar.
It rolled over the thick carpet and eventually stopped.
It did not look even remotely close to breaking.
Qi Mu stared at it in disbelief.
Don’t glasses always shatter when you drop them? How can this one refuse to break? Is the glass too sturdy, or is the carpet too thick?
Whichever it was, the trick clearly would not work now.
Except for the bathroom, the entire guest room was covered in soft carpet. There was nowhere suitable to smash the glass, and with his hands bound, Qi Mu could not put much force behind it anyway.
His head began to ache faintly.
Isn’t this what protagonists always do in movies? It looks so easy, and the success rate is so high. Why is heaven fighting me over something this simple?
Wait…
Qi Mu seemed to have discovered the key point.
He was not the protagonist at all. He was villain cannon fodder.
Jiang Shao was the protagonist.
So of course heaven would not be on Qi Mu’s side.
Qi Mu: absolutely unable to laugh.
The landline cord in the guest room had been torn out by Jiang Shao long ago. His phone had been smashed in the bathroom, so there was no way to go in and retrieve it, and it looked ruined anyway.
Of course, even if he had a way to contact the outside world, Qi Mu did not want to. If someone saw him like this, he would rather jump straight into the sea.
Qi Mu frowned in thought and rapidly weighed the advantages and disadvantages.
Jiang Shao had acted that way because the drug had been controlling him. Now, no matter what else was true, he appeared to have regained some of his reason, so he probably would not attack Qi Mu again for the time being…
Qi Mu had struggled with the binding for ages without loosening it, so continuing would only be useless. If Jiang Shao could recover his senses, perhaps he would untie him?
After all, there was no urgent need for Jiang Shao to kill him this very moment. Jiang Shao and Qi Mu were alone together in a locked room; if he actually killed him here, it would become a classic locked-room murder, and he would be easy to identify. As long as Jiang Shao had even a shred of reason, he would not choose to do it now.
After turning it over again and again,
Qi Mu realized he had no other choice. His best option was to gamble that by the time Jiang Shao came out, he would have calmed down.
He needed to survive tonight first.
He could worry about what came afterward later.
Qi Mu let out a long breath. Only after everything quieted down did he realize how uncomfortable his whole body felt. The places Jiang Shao had kissed seemed to retain strange sensations, while his face was sticky with a mixture of tears and saliva, the dried residue leaving his skin taut. Most of all, somewhere on the front of his body where Jiang Shao had kneaded and pinched him harshly still carried a faint, fine ache, reminding him of everything that had happened…
Stop thinking about it.
Think about something else. Distract yourself.
But the human mind was something that refused to be controlled.
The more desperately you tried not to think about something, the more violently it forced its way into your head.
As though determined to make you remember every detail.
Now that everything was quiet, it replayed over and over, leaving him no chance to escape it.
Jiang Shao was clearly no longer in front of him,
yet Qi Mu still felt unbearably hot all over, his face burning, without the slightest sense of relaxation. Jiang Shao’s presence and the sensations he had brought remained branded deeply into him, like a lingering nightmare he could not shake…
Stop thinking about it.
Qi Mu abruptly stood, trying to find something to do.
Maybe I should try freeing my hands again…
Qi Mu stared fixedly at the glass lying quietly in the corner. He slowly shuffled over, nudged it with the tip of his shoe into a slightly more open patch of floor, held his breath, gathered his strength, and stomped down on it!
Ngh—
Pain instantly brought tears to the corners of Qi Mu’s eyes.
But the glass remained completely unmoved, as though mocking his stupidity.
Qi Mu was so angry he wanted to kick it across the room, but he was afraid the noise would be too loud. Just as he stood there helplessly, he suddenly heard a faint creak. The bathroom door opened.
He looked up and abruptly met Jiang Shao’s dark eyes.
Caught completely off guard, Qi Mu stumbled backward and fell onto the bed. Because he forgot to hold up his trousers, they slid straight down around his ankles.
Qi Mu: …
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