After Failing to Reverse the Plot, I Made My Escape - Chapter 1

Escape! He had to escape!

In an instant, the sky turned utterly dark. Dark clouds, resembling overturned ink, swallowed the entire firmament as the gale let out a sharp, piercing howl.

In this place, even the trees were twisted. They grew strangely tall, making it easy for one to accidentally tumble through the gaps between them.

The sky grew increasingly gloomier. What began as a sparse pitter-patter quickly merged into a torrent, splashing water half a meter high.

Boom!

Lightning illuminated the figure running through the dark night.

“Escape.”

“I must escape!”

The sudden snap of a dry branch anywhere was enough to startle this figure.

Under the thunderous sky, his face was strikingly beautiful, though covered in bloody scratches from darting through the underbrush. Despite it being late autumn, he wore only a thin, ill-fitting white shirt. Soaked to the bone by the rain, the fabric clung to him, revealing a faint glimpse of his waistline.

The oversized shirt only served to emphasize how thin and frail he was.

Though the branches were clearly right in front of him, he seemed not to see them, running headlong in their direction.

“Ugh!”

Yu Fuqiu was knocked down, rolling all the way to the foot of the hill. Ignoring the searing pain in his body, he crawled back up and continued to trek forward frantically.

He ran because someone was chasing him.

Thunder roared across the sky once more. Yu Fuqiu’s body recoiled; he pursed his lips and continued running blindly through the dark.

The silver light of the lightning illuminated a pair of beautiful eyes, but they were vacant and unfocused.

He was blind.

After falling yet again, Yu Fuqiu clearly heard the sound of a bone cracking in his calf. A piercing pain climbed up his spine. He curled up, looking as if he wanted to bury himself beneath the mud.

The dryness in his throat and the metallic sweetness of blood rising in his chest told him he had been running for a very, very long time.

He had not had a single drop of water or a grain of rice.

Yu Fuqiu did not care about anything else. Following the sound of the rain, he tried to widen his eyes to see his surroundings, but alas, his eyes were completely blind.

Yu Fuqiu lowered his head and extended his tongue to lick the muddy, turbid rainwater, kneeling like a dying animal. Perhaps there was his own blood in this puddle, or even the carcasses of animals.

But Yu Fuqiu could not care less.

The cold, earthy taste touched his tongue, yet he felt as if he were tasting heavenly nectar, licking it up urgently and greedily. Muddy water slid down his chin, staining his thin clothes.

“Retch!”

A surge of crimson suddenly welled up. He was forced to lean against the ground, vomiting out the swallowed muddy water along with stomach acid. His body curled into a ball, trembling uncontrollably from the violent coughing and gagging.

It was so cold.

His long, curled eyelashes trembled slightly. His face had lost all color, and he was forced to hug himself tightly.

He clutched his twisted, fractured calf.

He stared wide-eyed with those vacant orbs, but his vision remained a void of darkness.

He should never have provoked Chang Tingzhi.

That man was not his lover at all.

Why, after all his hard work, did his true lover eventually vanish completely from this world?

It probably did not matter, Yu Fuqiu thought shiveringly. He was already ruined. Even Chunchun had started calling that other person “New Mommy.”

He was no longer important. No one would care if he ran away.

That person was the fated “Protagonist-Shou” of Chang Tingzhi’s life, and Chang Tingzhi now knew that Yu Fuqiu was merely a clumsy fraud. He had “picked up” Chang Tingzhi only because he knew the man was the “Protagonist-Gong” who would bring him a good life and allow him to reap many benefits.

Otherwise, why would an undocumented person who could not even feed himself take a seven- or eight-year-old child home?

Yu Fuqiu had explained countless times that it was love.

He loved Chang Tingzhi.

But what was the ending?

He saw the mockery in Chang Tingzhi’s eyes.

Chang Tingzhi said that Yu Fuqiu had deceived him for so long, taking everything he could, and asked how much longer he intended to use such “cheap emotions” to perform this act of self-pity.

Yes.

Chang Tingzhi was the Protagonist-Gong of this book. He was born to be saved by the Protagonist-Shou, but Yu Fuqiu had snatched him away. He greedily wanted to replace the Protagonist-Shou and become Chang Tingzhi’s lover.

This beautiful dream had lasted barely fifteen years.

What more could he be dissatisfied with?

He only wanted to see his lover one more time.

The icy rain seemed to pause temporarily, but a chill colder than the rain surged from the depths of his memory.

Yu Fuqiu’s hand moved cautiously and extremely slowly to touch his lower abdomen.

Through the soaked fabric, his fingertips brushed against a scar, one that had long since healed but remained clearly present as a slight protrusion.

He had been pushed down the stairs by that person.

The blinding, winding trails of bright red had flowed uncontrollably, quickly staining the light-colored carpet.

In that moment, he realized with agonizing hindsight that a tiny, fragile life had once been quietly nurturing inside him.

And he had not even had the chance to sense its existence.

Yu Fuqiu had looked at Chang Tingzhi, pleading for help.

He opened his mouth, wanting to beg for help, wanting to tell him that their child was there, and wanting him to catch the culprit.

But what did he see?

Chang Tingzhi was comforting that other person with his hands, as if that person were the one who had been frightened.

He merely cast a cold, indifferent glance at Yu Fuqiu lying in a pool of blood.

He even heard Chang Tingzhi say to that person in a gentle tone, “It is okay, I am here.”

Only then did he look at Yu Fuqiu, his eyes icy and his thin lips parting slightly.

“This is the sin you must atone for.”

Yes, he had been greedy.

So he gave up; he wanted to leave.

But why would he not let him go?

Yu Fuqiu cringed. His body was covered in purple hickeys, and he even wore a leather collar around his neck. His wrists and ankles were rubbed raw with deep red marks.

He had finally managed to escape; he must never return to that hellish villa.

But he was also a coward; he was afraid of Chang Tingzhi.

He feared that if this escape failed, Chang Tingzhi would treat him even more cruelly.

He did not want to go back to that nightmare of a house.

Had the rain stopped?

Yu Fuqiu lifted his vacant eyes. The sound of rain seemed to have vanished.

He swallowed hard, dragged his broken leg, bypassed some vines, and slowly moved forward.

Suddenly, the surroundings fell silent.

Yu Fuqiu had lost his sight, but his hearing was exceptionally keen.

He heard the sound of an explosion in the distance, and the sound of barking dogs.

He would be exposed!

Yu Fuqiu dared not delay. He grabbed a random branch and ran forward with all his might.

Someone had told him that if he kept walking west, there would be a river. As long as he followed the river, he could evade Chang Tingzhi and escape his control!

He grit his teeth, using the branch to support his body as he stumbled and struggled toward his chosen direction.

The rain blurred his senses, and the wind masked his hearing. The barking behind him seemed to grow clearer, interspersed with the faint calls of human voices, acting like the beat of a death drum, pounding on Yu Fuqiu’s nerves, which were strained to the limit.

Faster, just a bit faster!

Ahead, through the veil of rain and the gaps in the trees, he faintly heard the sound of rushing water.

It was the river! It really was the river!

A faint spark of hope surged within him. He almost burst into tears, using his last bit of strength to stagger toward the sound of the water.

However, just as his fingertips were about to touch the damp earth of the riverbank and the cold breath of the river water brushed against his face, a dark shadow lunged out as swiftly as a ghost from the side!

A dog pounced on Yu Fuqiu, its hot breath panting against his fair skin.

Mud splashed everywhere.

A large hand, like an iron vice, precisely and coldly grabbed the wrist that was holding the branch for support!

The force was so great that it instantly drained all his strength, and the branch fell from his hand.

Another arm, like a cold iron chain, suddenly wrapped around his waist from behind.

His face was forced upward. Even though he could not see, he could feel that cold, twisted gaze.

Chang Tingzhi hooked the collar on Yu Fuqiu’s neck, looking at the face that had already turned bruised and pale.

What should I do? What should I do? I have been caught.

Yu Fuqiu’s hands pressed against the ground; his knuckles turned a ghostly white from the exertion.

Suddenly, he heard Chang Tingzhi let out a laugh, gently stroking his head. “Baby, you are still so stupid.”

He looked at Yu Fuqiu with pity. “I planted a chip in your body long ago. How did you think you could ever run away?”

Stupid indeed, to actually think he could escape.

Chang Tingzhi’s embrace was warm, but Yu Fuqiu felt a groundless chill. The blood in his entire body seemed to freeze in that instant.

Chang Tingzhi stroked his belly. “It is just one lost child. If you want, you can have as many as you like.”

His fingertips brushed over those vacant eyes, a twisted smile slowly spreading across his face. “Look at you, blind and lame. Where else can you go?”

“You can only stay by my side. You can only see me. Is that not good?”

“I forgive you for lying to me. See how generous I am.”

Chang Tingzhi kissed the corner of his lips. “You are so pitiful, baby.”

“You were only away from me for such a short time, and you have already made yourself look like this.”

His hand tightened around Yu Fuqiu’s neck, his eyes cold and his teeth clenched. “I truly wish I could kill you and turn you into a specimen so you could lie quietly in my arms forever.”

“You are already in this state, and you still ran out! Did you just have to go out and seduce other wild men?”

“What? Zuo Chenshuang, Hu Daoyuan, Yu Zhuo, Kang Ge?” Chang Tingzhi recited several names. His fingertips touched just above Yu Fuqiu’s navel. “Did they all touch you? Do they know how deep you can take it?”

“Or are you just that thirsty? Do you need that many people to satisfy you?”

“Or are you just a glutton for punishment? Do you have to throw yourself at them?”

“Am I not good to you? I gave you everything you wanted. What more are you dissatisfied with?”

Yu Fuqiu’s leg throbbed with excruciating pain. He suddenly felt an overwhelming exhaustion.

“Let me go, Chang Tingzhi.”

“Let you go?” Chang Tingzhi seemed to have heard a joke. “I have already found out who gave you the information and let you out. Tell me, how should I punish that person?”

Thinking of Chang Tingzhi’s methods, Yu Fuqiu’s eyes snapped wide.

“He is innocent! Let him go! Why must you involve innocent people?”

“Anyone who dares to let you leave me deserves to die,” Chang Tingzhi said indifferently.

“You are crazy.”

Yu Fuqiu’s lips trembled, his face turning ashen.

“Heh.” Chang Tingzhi raised his hand, refastening the cold chain to the collar on Yu Fuqiu’s neck and pulling him violently toward himself. “I went crazy a long time ago.”

Yu Fuqiu’s heart turned to ash. The moment he was caught, he knew he would never get out again.

If only he had noticed Chang Tingzhi’s abnormality sooner and divorced him early on, would the plot have changed? Would it still have led to this agonizing end for them both?