The Mad Villain Driven to Death - Chapter 30

“You…” the man’s voice was somewhat parched. “What do you want me to do?”

Wan Shenghan’s gaze remained fixed on the youth’s pupils. Those eyes, though red from weeping, were now as calm and stagnant as dead water. If not for the lingering tear tracks, it would be impossible to tell that he had just reached a point of mental collapse.

Shen Zhaoxue shifted his body, and Wan Shenghan’s eyes moved with him, sticking to him like glue. Unaware, Shen Zhaoxue merely let out a light cough and bowed his head slightly to touch his forehead.

It was burning hot. No wonder his head felt heavy and his thoughts were muddled. After catching his breath, he spoke tonelessly, “I must trouble you to go into town and find a man for me. One without a romantic history or an engagement will do. Have him cover his eyes and come to my room.”

Something was surely wrong with his physical shell; his body had begun to crave Wan Shenghan’s embrace and conquest again, leaving him no peace. He wanted to suppress this sudden surge of desire, and he wanted to prove that he could survive without Wan Shenghan.

But after waiting a long while, the man before him offered no response.

Shen Zhaoxue’s mind cleared slightly. Impatient, he added, “I will pay whatever amount you desire.”

His bones felt as if they were being gnawed by insects, a mixture of sharp pain and maddening itch. He gripped the doorframe until his knuckles turned white. Finally, the man called Li Mu spoke.

“What do you want with a man?” he asked.

“My affairs are best left out of your concerns.” Shen Zhaoxue’s face darkened. “Do not ask what should not be asked; simply do as you are told. If you say another word, be careful you don’t lose your head ugh!”

He was suddenly shoved backward with great force. He tumbled into the room, losing his bearings until his back and waist slammed against the table. The impact snapped his consciousness back to the present, and he began to struggle, shouting, “What are you doing?”

“You want a man? Am I not right here?” Wan Shenghan was nearly driven to a cold laugh. He didn’t even bother to disguise his voice anymore, hissing through gritted teeth, “I can stay and grind through the night with you to see just what it is you want to do.”

Shen Zhaoxue froze. In that moment of daze, he was hoisted onto Wan Shenghan’s shoulder. After a few steps toward the bed, he was thrown to the floor, and Wan Shenghan lunged down to pin him against the bedside.

His struggle was futile. Finally, Shen Zhaoxue shouted in fury, “Wan Shenghan! You dare humiliate me!”

His rage was a blazing fire with no outlet. It was because he missed Wan Shenghan that he had resorted to such a desperate tactic to find an outlet, yet all along, Wan Shenghan had been by his side. He had always been suspicious of Li Mu’s identity and had considered the possibility, but in the end, he had still fallen for the ruse.

Melancholy and frustration washed over him. He lay slumped by the bed, his upper body pressed down by the man’s chest. Still feverish, his arms lacked any strength to push back; there was no escape. He opened his mouth to curse again, but before he could speak, the man seized his chin, tilted his face, and bit his lips.

The kiss lasted until his breath was completely stripped away. His mind went hazy, and he drifted into a daze, his mouth hanging open as he panted. Occasionally, his parched throat would itch, causing him to cough.

Shen Zhaoxue struggled to keep a sliver of clarity. He remembered that the bedroom door hadn’t been closed tightly when they entered. The manor was different now; the woman called A-Wu was living there. If she heard anything, his dignity would be utterly destroyed.

Panic flared in his sightless eyes as he pressed his cheek into the bedding. “Wan Shenghan… the door is not closed,” he whispered frantically.

In response, he was yanked up. His loose robe fell away, revealing glimpses of pale, porcelain skin. Barefoot and stumbling, he was dragged out of the bedroom by Wan Shenghan.

The rain fitfully continued outside. The autumn night air was cold enough to bite through the skin. Shen Zhaoxue shivered, gripping Wan Shenghan’s wrist in resistance. “Let go of me! What madness has taken you?”

They crossed the corridor and reached the small pavilion by the pond in the courtyard. Shen Zhaoxue’s body was stiff and numb from the cold, and his wrist ached from the grip. He tried to pull his hand away, but Wan Shenghan used his strength to yank him forward, lifting the youth’s hem and pressing him down onto the stone table.

Perhaps Shen Zhaoxue’s shouting was too loud; after a short while, he heard A-Wu’s voice from nearby. “Is something happening?” she asked.

Shen Zhaoxue snapped into focus, a jolt of terror running through him. He heard Wan Shenghan let out a sharp, indrawn breath behind him. The man covered Shen Zhaoxue’s mouth, using his own body to shield the youth completely.

“If you don’t want to be seen, stay silent,” Wan Shenghan whispered. After a pause, he added, “Relax.”

How can I relax? Shen Zhaoxue thought. This was a private matter; if A-Wu truly saw them, he would have to tear Wan Shenghan into a thousand pieces. His heart was beating so fast he felt he might suffocate. He squeezed his eyes shut, listening to the footsteps approaching through the sound of the rain.

“Young Master… why are you here on a rainy night?” A-Wu stopped a distance away, seeing only Wan Shenghan’s back in the pavilion as he leaned over, occupied with something.

Curiosity drove her forward a few more steps until he replied, “The rainy night inspired me to paint. It is late; you should go to rest.” A-Wu was good at reading the room; sensing the dismissal in his tone, she turned and left.

Only then did Shen Zhaoxue breathe a sigh of relief. The prolonged tension left him utterly drained, and he collapsed onto the table. Wan Shenghan tied the youth’s loosened sash and left him there, turning to walk away.

Shen Zhaoxue didn’t even have the strength to stand. He cursed the man in his heart and curled up on the table, lost in thought. A moment later, Wan Shenghan returned. He touched the youth’s forehead and said softly, “Sick again.”

He supported Shen Zhaoxue, dressing him piece by piece in more layers. “Finish up quickly,” he said. “I will find a doctor for you soon.”

“You only want my life anyway,” Shen Zhaoxue said raspy, toneless voice. “Why bother with the hypocrisy of finding a doctor?”

“If I wanted your life, I wouldn’t have chased you into the mountains,” Wan Shenghan whispered into his ear. “Do you even know what you are wearing right now?”

“What else could it be?” Shen Zhaoxue said listlessly. “Surely not the wedding robes you were meant to wear with that A-Wu?”

Wan Shenghan let out a soft laugh. “Are you jealous, Shen Zhaoxue?”

“…” Shen Zhaoxue was silent.

He indeed had a fierce temper. In his previous life, when he heard Wan Shenghan was to marry, he was so enraged he coughed up blood for days and couldn’t sleep. Thinking back, the wife in his past life was also a commoner; could it truly have been this A-Wu?

“The ones getting married are A-Wu and Li Mu. What does that have to do with me, Wan Shenghan?” He adjusted Shen Zhaoxue’s collar. “But you weren’t wrong about one thing does this wedding robe fit well?”

Shen Zhaoxue dazed. A wedding robe? Truly a wedding robe? What madness is this?

He grabbed his collar, trying to pull the robe off. “What nonsense are you playing at? Why should I wear a wedding robe? I—”

Before he could finish, Wan Shenghan seized his wrists and bound them behind his back. “Don’t move. I asked if it fit, and you didn’t answer.”

“Wan Shenghan!” Shen Zhaoxue wished he could slap the man sane. “Let go of me! You’ve played the fool all night; what more do you want? How can a man marry a man? Why waste time on such self-delusion?”

“Whether it is self-delusion or not, I know it in my own heart.” Wan Shenghan’s calloused palm brushed over his face and upward to grab his hair. “It looks like a perfect fit to me. I’ve felt every inch of this body; I didn’t remember the measurements incorrectly.”

He applied pressure, forcing Shen Zhaoxue to tilt his face up like a sacrificial lamb.

“Once you kowtow and drink the nuptial wine, it will be too late to deny this marriage, even if you want to.”

Shen Zhaoxue gnashed his teeth. “Madman. Do you not want your career anymore?”

“I have told you many times, Shen Zhaoxue: I do not care about my career. From start to finish, you were the only one who cared.”

“No one is indifferent to their own interests,” Shen Zhaoxue said flatly. “I don’t believe you would give it up so easily. The entire Wan family relies on your protection. Stop this foolish behavior now; there is still time.”

Furthermore, if Wan Shenghan truly didn’t care about his career, the ten years of hatred from his previous life would make him look like a complete fool.

“You, Wan Shenghan,” Shen Zhaoxue said coldly, “should go be a top scholar and a high official. Never have anything to do with me again.”

As the words left his mouth, a sharp pain flared at the back of his head. Wan Shenghan gripped his hair and leaned down to kiss his Adam’s apple.

“Don’t even think about it.”

Shen Zhaoxue gathered his strength and kicked the man in the chest. Wan Shenghan tumbled backward onto a stone stool, yet he laughed as if he felt no pain. Shen Zhaoxue had sat up on his knees to try and stand, but before he could, Wan Shenghan’s hand pressed against the back of his head, forcing him to bow down.

His forehead thudded against the ground—not too hard, but enough to make him cough. Sensing the grip loosen, he snapped upright. “If you force me like this, be careful you don’t meet a miserable end!”

In the next instant, his hair was grabbed again. Wan Shenghan forced them to kowtow together. “You won’t live much longer anyway,” the man said indifferently. “We might as well be a pair of doomed lovers.”

“Madman!”

The night rain fell, accompanied by the low rumble of thunder. As they bowed a second time, Wan Shenghan said, “May we be husband and wife—dying in the same place, rotting together.”

“Shut up! Who wants to die with you?”

“Rotting and intermingling for all eternity… becoming a single pool of filth.”

“You are disgusting, Wan Shenghan!”

Lightning tore through the dark sky, followed moments later by the rolling thunder. They kowtowed to the black clouds and autumn rain, swore their oaths, and then kissed amidst the storm. The nuptial wine intermingled between their teeth, spilling from the corners of their mouths.

In a state between drunken daze and clarity, Shen Zhaoxue finally felt the restraint on his hands loosen. With a flushed face and an expression of pure fury, he delivered a heavy slap to Wan Shenghan’s face.

Wan Shenghan simply caught his wrist, kissing from his palm to his arm. Feeling the youth’s incessant trembling, he whispered:

“Call me ‘Husband’ once, Ah-Xue.”

Shen Zhaoxue used his other hand and slapped him again.