Becoming the Caged Canary of a Forced Love - Chapter 27

They walked all the way to the car, with Xiao Yuan hurrying to catch up.

“Wait for me!” Xiao Yuan reached them, panting heavily. “Do you mind giving me a lift? My old man went back on his own. If you don’t take me, I’ll have to walk back.” He looked at them piteously.

“Your father? Didn’t he just return to the country? You’re not staying with him?” Pei Jichuan asked in surprise.

His jacket had already been taken off and draped over Gu Nian’s shoulders. Shortly after stepping outside, Pei Jichuan noticed that the clothes on Gu Nian’s shoulder were soaked through. Without a word, he had immediately provided his own coat.

Gu Nian kept his head down. He had been a bit impulsive today; Qian Minghui’s words had caused him to lose control of his emotions, leading him to strike without considering the consequences. He wondered if Pei Jichuan would be suspicious. It wasn’t until the jacket, warmed by the other man’s body heat, wrapped around him that Gu Nian’s thoughts returned to the present.

He turned toward Pei Jichuan and gave a brilliant smile.

Pei Jichuan’s heart skipped a beat uncontrollably. His Adam’s apple bobbed; he suddenly felt a wave of restless desire.

They climbed into the car heading back to the manor, taking Xiao Yuan along after his persistent pestering. For the banquet, Pei Jichuan had used a stretch Lincoln; the interior was spacious enough to accommodate Xiao Yuan with room to spare.

Xiao Yuan rested his chin on his hand, his gaze shifting back and forth between Pei Jichuan and Gu Nian.

“Jichuan, I didn’t see it before, but now I think your taste is incredible. Just based on that move back there if this little beauty wasn’t yours, I’d definitely be pursuing him myself.”

Pei Jichuan, who was resting with his eyes closed, gave a cold snort at those words. Neither of them showed any significant outward reaction, allowing Gu Nian to breathe a silent sigh of relief.

“But Elder He’s performance just now was a bit off,” Xiao Yuan continued. “He was in full attack mode. What was that all about?”

Xiao Yuan’s eyes turned to Gu Nian.

Gu Nian didn’t respond. He simply lowered his head in silence. There were too many details he couldn’t explain: how he had seen through the attendant’s scheme, how he had incapacitated Qian Minghui, how he had escaped a locked room…

“I will get to the bottom of it,” Pei Jichuan said, squeezing Gu Nian’s hand reassuringly. His tone was slow and serious.

Meanwhile, Xiao Tingbai was on his way back to his residence. He hadn’t gone to the family’s ancestral home; ever since the Old Madam Xiao had drugged him to produce Xiao Yuan, he rarely returned there. He employed even more bodyguards than Pei Jichuan, seemingly guarding against something specific.

The car drove to a remote residence, hidden deep within a mountain peak where few people ever traveled. The bodyguards’ car stopped at the gate, while the vehicle carrying Xiao Tingbai drove straight into the garage.

Xiao Tingbai dialed a number. After three rings, a steady male voice answered from the other end.

“I saw him. I’ve confirmed it’s him. I’ll head over again in a few days to give him the items.”

Xiao Tingbai sat with his back straight against the car seat. He was wearing gold-rimmed glasses today, which added a touch more of a refined, scholarly air to his appearance. His features were soft, yet he remained solemn and unsmiling.

Zhou Yi gave a few more instructions on the other end, all of which Xiao Tingbai accepted. After hanging up, he sat in silence for a while. The driver and bodyguards had already left following his instructions; he was the only one left in the massive garage.

Xiao Tingbai rubbed the bridge of his nose, his slender fingers pushing his glasses up slightly. He stood up and pressed a button on the side.

This car was peculiar; it was very large, allowing a person to stand upright inside, but the back half of the vehicle appeared to be sealed off. From the outside, the interior seats were positioned forward, leaving a large space between the backrests and the end of the car, but from the inside, it looked completely walled off.

After he pressed the button, he stepped back. The seats slowly rotated and moved forward, revealing a passageway. Xiao Tingbai stepped up and pressed another button on the side. The “wall” behind the seats suddenly rose like a rolling shutter.

Behind the door was a massive metal gate, still requiring both fingerprint and iris verification to unlock. Once verified, Xiao Tingbai opened the door.

Perhaps because the outer walls were thick, the space inside wasn’t large, but it was more than enough for a person to lie down. Xiao Tingbai turned on the light, making the interior as bright as day.

The person lying on the floor didn’t react.

Xiao Tingbai dropped to one knee, his fingers gently brushing aside the other man’s crimson hair. The touch caused the person to shudder. He struggled slightly, revealing his face. His eyes were covered by a black blindfold, and a device in his mouth robbed him of his speech, with a heavy shackle firmly fixed behind his head.

“We have arrived in Country Z, A-Nan. I’m sorry for leaving you alone for so long.”

Xiao Tingbai’s tone was gentle. He reached out and lifted the blanket covering the man. Gu Congnan’s hands were cuffed behind his back, and his ankles were also locked. Perhaps because they had left in a hurry, the metal wasn’t wrapped in soft, anti-scratch padding. His wrists and ankles had been rubbed raw from his struggles.

However, these were the only things on his body; even the shirt from Xiao Tingbai was gone.

Xiao Tingbai adjusted the man’s position by the shoulders. Near Gu Congnan’s heart, a conspicuous tattoo was exposed to the air—three ornate letters: ‘XTB’.

Xiao Tingbai unfolded another blanket and wrapped the man in it, pulling it up to cover his face. He then picked him up in a horizontal carry and headed toward the bedroom.

Gu Congnan remained motionless, as if he had lost consciousness.

The layout was familiar; the bedroom was decorated exactly the same as the one in Country F. Xiao Tingbai opened the indestructible door and placed him on the bed. To ensure Gu Congnan slept well, he had ordered the bed and mattress from Country F to be shipped by air.

He picked up the chains anchored to the floor and fastened the locks to the man’s ankles, then released the cuffs on his wrists and ankles. Because he had been in the same position for too long, his arms and legs were sore. Xiao Tingbai placed the man’s arms in front of him, gently rubbing them to restore circulation.

Gu Congnan trembled slightly from the pain.

The shackle behind his head was also removed and tossed aside, still bearing a glint of moisture. Xiao Tingbai dimmed the lights and removed the blindfold. Though only one small lamp remained lit, the sudden light was still piercing.

Gu Congnan’s gaze was vacant. He blinked slowly; under the stimulation of the light, physiological tears slid down his pale skin, only to be immediately wiped away by Xiao Tingbai.

He summoned his strength to look around the room. It was identical to the room in Country F, as if he hadn’t left at all.

From Country F to Country Z, he had stayed in darkness for as long as the journey lasted. From the plane to the car, his senses had been sealed; the long period of sensory deprivation seemed to have robbed him of the ability to think.

He raised an aching arm to pull the blanket around his body and closed his eyes wearily, not wanting to look at Xiao Tingbai at all.

Xiao Tingbai didn’t mind the attitude. He simply began undressing, tossing his luxurious formal wear and expensive watch onto the sofa. He took off his glasses, placed them on the nightstand, and dug the man’s face out from the blanket to press a kiss upon his lips.

Gu Congnan kept his eyes shut, offering no resistance.

But there were always moments that exceeded his threshold of endurance.

After an unknown amount of time, Xiao Tingbai forcefully pinned down a suddenly and violently struggling Gu Congnan, ignoring his pain.

“We will be together forever, A-Nan.”

Behind the handsome, refined skin lurked the madness of a beast.