Don't You like Little Dogs? Now that I'm Taking Liberties, You're Suddenly Reluctant? - Chapter 34

Outside the highest-level intensive care unit of the organization’s medical center, Jiang Si stood behind the cold glass wall. He watched Pei Ye, who was covered in tubes and kept alive only by the rhythmic hum of precision instruments.

The surgery had lasted several hours. Doctors had emerged a few times, each time delivering grim phrases like “critical condition,” “massive blood loss,” “organ damage,” and “waiting to see if he survives the danger zone.”

The adjutant stood a few paces behind him, keeping a silent watch. He could feel an extremely suppressed, almost suffocating aura emanating from Jiang Si. Since returning from the pier, Jiang Si had not uttered a single word. He had not even changed out of his blood-stained clothes. He simply stood there like a frigid statue.

The adjutant had never seen his leader like this. Even after the most brutal slaughters in the past, Jiang Si remained calm and in control. He was never like this. He was outwardly still, yet he harbored a catastrophic storm beneath the surface.

Time bled away. Finally, the chief surgeon stepped out again, exhaustion etched on his face, though his expression had softened slightly. “Master, the situation has temporarily stabilized. We removed the bullet, but it damaged the lung lobes and the area near the spine. The blood loss was far beyond the limit. It is a miracle he was resuscitated at all. The next twenty-four hours are critical. If he wakes up, the recovery will still take a very long time.”

Jiang Si finally shifted his gaze from Pei Ye to the doctor. His voice was raspy. “He will wake up.”

It was not a question, but a statement.

The doctor startled, then nodded quickly. “Yes, we will do our absolute best.”

“Use the best medicine and the best equipment,” Jiang Si interrupted. “I want him alive and restored to his original state.”

“Yes, understood.”

Once the doctor left, Jiang Si turned to the adjutant. “Double the guard here. No one is allowed to approach without my permission.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jiang Si took one last look at the man inside who was pale enough to be translucent before turning to leave. His steps were steady, yet each one felt as though it landed on an invisible blade.

He did not return to his residence. Instead, he went to the private lounge on the top floor of the headquarters. It was a place with a bedroom that no one else was allowed to enter. He dismissed all his subordinates and locked the door.

The room still held a faint trace of Pei Ye’s scent. Before his injury, Pei Ye would sometimes wait here for assignments or, very rarely and with permission, rest briefly on the corner sofa.

Jiang Si walked to the bathroom mirror and looked at himself. His white shirt was soaked in large patches of dark red blood that had already dried and hardened. His face still bore traces of blood he had not completely wiped away. With an expressionless face, he stripped off the shirt, threw it into the trash, and turned on the cold water, violently scrubbing his face and arms.

The sound of rushing water filled the room. He closed his eyes, but his mind was flooded with images from the warehouse: the look of absolute resolve in Pei Ye’s eyes as he lunged, the dull thud of the bullet hitting flesh, the heavy weight of the man falling against him, the warmth of the blood, and that dying gaze that begged him not to leave.

Your life is mine. I do not allow any mishaps to befall you. Who gave you permission to break my property to this extent? Do you think you have the right to die?

Cold water slid down the sharp contours of his face.

He suddenly slammed a fist into the cold tiled wall. His knuckles split instantly, seeping blood, but he seemed to feel nothing. An extremely foreign, uncontrollable emotion was thrashing in his chest. It was anger. It was the anger of a possession slipping out of control and the anger of such a tragic act of defiance. Yet, it seemed to be more than just anger.

There was something deeper that he refused to acknowledge or name because to do so would mean admitting a weakness.

He turned off the faucet, picked up a towel, and mechanically dried his body and hair before changing into clean black clothing. He walked to the bar and poured a glass of strong whiskey but did not drink it. He simply watched the amber liquid swirl against the glass. He stood in the silent room for a long time until the sky outside began to turn gray with dawn.

Pei Ye felt as though he were sinking into dark, freezing seawater. Silence and bone-chilling cold surrounded him along with a pervasive, agonizing pain. He struggled to float up but lacked the strength. The only light was the cold, handsome face above him. It was his Master’s face. Jiang Si was looking at him with undisguised rage and disappointment.

The price of defying me is far more terrifying than death.

No, do not do it. Master, do not leave me.

He used every ounce of strength to struggle upward, chasing that point of light and that face. The intense pain jerked him back to reality.

He opened his eyes with difficulty. His vision remained blurred for a long time before finally focusing. He was met with a strange, cold ceiling, and the air was thick with the scent of disinfectant. His body felt as if it had been completely crushed and reconstructed. Every nerve shrieked in pain, especially his back, which hurt so much he could hardly breathe.

It took him a long time to realize he was alive. Then, memories flooded back like a tide: the pier, the gunfight, the sniper, lunging forward, the bullet, and his Master’s cold interrogation.

“Master!”

He startled, wanting to get up, but the movement pulled at his wound. A heart-wrenching pain caused his vision to go black, and he fell heavily back onto the bed, gasping in agony.

“If you do not want to die faster, do not move.”

A cold, familiar voice came from the side. Pei Ye froze and turned his head with great effort.

Jiang Si was sitting in a single sofa not far from the bed with his legs crossed, holding a file as if he were reviewing it. He had changed into black casual clothes. His expression was indifferent, making his mood impossible to read, though a faint, nearly imperceptible shadow under his eyes suggested he had not rested well. He sat there as if he were simply handling business in an ordinary office rather than a room for the critically injured.

“Master.”

Pei Ye’s voice was parched and rasping. Every word he spoke tore at the pain in his chest. Seeing Jiang Si sitting there unharmed allowed his racing heart to finally settle, but it was immediately replaced by a deeper fear and a desire to beg for forgiveness.

“I disobeyed orders. Please, Master, punish me.”

He tried to struggle into a sitting position to show respect, but he failed again due to the intense pain. Cold sweat instantly broke out on his forehead, and his face grew even paler.

Jiang Si set down the file and looked up, his cold gaze sweeping over him. “It seems you are very clear about what you have done.” He stood up and walked to the bedside, looking down at Pei Ye, who was unable to move due to weakness and pain. A shadow fell over him, bringing an invisible pressure.

Pei Ye’s body began to tremble slightly, not from the pain of the wound, but from a fear rooted deep in his heart. He closed his eyes, waiting for judgment.

“I am willing to be punished.”

“Punishment?” Jiang Si’s voice was devoid of emotion. “Of course, you will be punished.”

He reached out, his cool fingertips lightly touching the bandage wrapped around Pei Ye’s neck. The skin there could still feel a faint pulse. His movement was light, yet it made Pei Ye flinch instinctively.

“But before that,” Jiang Si’s fingertips slid slowly downward, stopping over Pei Ye’s left chest where his heart was, exactly where the name was tattooed. “Tell me first, why?”

Pei Ye opened his eyes, which were filled with confusion and pain. “Master?”

“Why did you defy my order?” Jiang Si’s gaze locked onto him like a physical weight. “I stated clearly that your life is mine and that I do not allow any mishaps. Why did you still do it?”

His voice was calm, yet it carried an unavoidable interrogation. Pei Ye’s lips trembled as tears gathered in his eyes.

Why? Because he was his Master. The very meaning of his existence was his Master. Protecting him was an instinct that was higher than any order and more important than his own life.

“Because you are my Master,” he answered with difficulty, his voice breaking into a sob. “I could not watch you get hurt. Even if there was a one-in-ten-thousand chance, I could not.”

“Just that?” Jiang Si stepped closer, his gaze becoming deeper and sharper. “Because I am your Master, you could not watch me get hurt? Like a knife instinctively protecting the hand that holds it?”

Pei Ye was stunned by the question. He looked into Jiang Si’s eyes where something he could not understand was churning. He felt an unprecedented panic and urgency. He felt he had not given the answer his Master wanted. But what else could it be?

The intense emotional agitation and physical weakness caused his consciousness to blur again. The pain from the wound was so great he almost fainted. Despair and a long-buried obsession that he never dared to voice broke through the dam of his reason.

He gazed at Jiang Si, his tears finally falling uncontrollably. Mixed with pain and the twisted, burning emotion he had suppressed for far too long, he used the last of his strength to speak. His voice was broken, yet exceptionally clear as he said each word:

“Because I love you, Master.”

After saying those words, he felt as if all his strength had been drained. His gaze lost focus, and he nearly fell back into a coma.

Jiang Si’s body froze. Those always bottomless, calm eyes finally showed a clear and violent tremor. It was as if a massive stone had been thrown onto a sheet of ice, creating countless cracks.

He looked at Pei Ye’s face, which was as pale as paper and streaked with tears. He saw eyes that had lost focus due to pain and the revelation of true feelings, yet were filled with unreserved, desperate love.

Time seemed to stand still again. The only sounds in the room were the rhythmic beeps of the medical equipment and Pei Ye’s weak, pained breathing. The cold mask on Jiang Si’s face developed a crack. He remained leaned over, motionless.

Love?

Since the day he had picked up this little creature, that word had never appeared in the definition of their relationship. What he needed was a knife, a tool that was absolutely loyal and useful. What he gave was taming, control, a chance at survival, and rigorous training. He enjoyed this total possession and dominance. And Pei Ye was supposed to repay him with absolute obedience and fealty.

It could be dependence, it could be fear, it could be worship, but it was not supposed to be love. That emotion was too complex, too dangerous, and too personal. It exceeded the boundaries between a master and his possession. It went beyond the scope of a controller and his weapon.

This was not in his plan. It was something he had subconsciously avoided examining closely. That was why he would be displeased by the possibility of Pei Ye becoming a weakness, and why he used harsher methods to confirm and restate his ownership.

But now, that word had been presented to him by Pei Ye in such a tragic, near-death, and unreserved way, soaked in blood. It came with a defied order and a nearly fatal price.

It was absurd. It was out of control. Yet, it was impossible to ignore.

Jiang Si’s fingertips were still pressed lightly against Pei Ye’s chest. He could feel the heart beating weakly and rapidly beneath his hand. It was beating for him, even willing to stop beating for him.

After a long time, Jiang Si slowly straightened his body. All the emotional fluctuations on his face had been reined in, returning to his unfathomable calm. However, the way he looked at Pei Ye had undergone a minute change. It was no longer the look one gave a mere knife or a possession. It was mixed with something more complex and dark.

He did not respond to that earth-shattering word. He simply reached out and used his thumb to very slowly, almost clumsily, wipe away the remaining tears from the corner of Pei Ye’s eye. The movement was not gentle and was even somewhat stiff, but it was an unprecedented, singular touch.

In his semi-conscious state, Pei Ye seemed to feel that cold touch. He instinctively tilted his head, leaning weakly and dependently against those fingers.

Jiang Si’s hand paused. Then, he withdrew it. His voice returned to its usual cold tone, though it sounded a bit deeper and raspier than usual.

“Live well. Your life and your punishment still belong to me. Without my permission, do not let your mind wander again.”

Having said that, he turned and strode out of the room without looking at Pei Ye again. The door closed softly.

Inside the room, only the rhythmic sound of the medical equipment remained. On the bed, Pei Ye seemed to relax his brow slightly due to that command to live well and that rare moment of contact, falling into a more peaceful sleep.

Outside the room, Jiang Si stood at the end of the corridor and lit a cigarette. The cold scent of cedar spread, but he did not take a puff for a long time. He simply watched the sky gradually brighten outside the window, his eyes as deep as a bottomless pool.

That sentence, “Because I love you, Master,” seemed to echo in the air, carrying the scent of blood and the warmth of tears, stubbornly drilling into his ears and striking the cold, fortified walls of the heart he had guarded for over twenty years.

Love? Loving him? Loving someone who viewed him as a tool?

This was not the instinctive adoration and dependence a pet felt for a master. It was a love that belonged entirely to Pei Ye.

What a joke. This was truly absurd.