The Protagonist and the Villain Both Kissed Me [Quick Transmigration] - Chapter 25

Su Xi grew even angrier. Duan Cheng actually had the nerve to ask him why he was so upset.

He looked at the man with a gaze full of indignation, attempting to get off the bed only to find that his legs wouldn’t move. Even his voice trembled as he spoke: “Duan Cheng, what is the meaning of this?”

He had known for a long time that although Duan Cheng had appeared to be bullied and pathetic before, he was actually a paranoid and dark soul beneath the surface. As soon as you exposed a single weakness or vulnerability to him, he would sink his teeth in and never let go.

Duan Cheng’s expression remained unchanged. Following the boy’s gaze, he saw the exceptionally beautiful but frail youth, his face flushed a pale red with anger. A few buttons of his shirt were haphazardly undone, revealing snow-white skin and the faint blue veins beneath that emitted a delicate fragrance.

Bound around his slender ankle was a fine golden chain adorned with several tiny bells. With every movement, they emitted a soft tinkling sound. Despite appearing like something easily destroyed, Su Xi found he could not break it no matter how hard he pulled.

“Do you not like it?” Duan Cheng’s eyebrows arched playfully, acting as if he hadn’t noticed the reason for Su Xi’s anger.

Su Xi met those pitch-black, deep eyes and lowered his eyelashes, his fingertips gripping the bedding with force. He let out a low hiss of disgust and turned his head away: “Psychopath.”

His voice was very faint, but Duan Cheng heard him anyway. Duan Cheng sat unhurriedly on the edge of the bed, gripped the boy’s wrist, and pulled him forcibly into his arms. He brushed maliciously against the boy’s already sensitive areas, and his words were blunt and cruel: “In this place, no one is coming to save you.”

The room fell into a dead silence for a moment. Su Xi frowned and struggled with all his might, speaking through gritted teeth: “You have no right to keep me locked up.”

Hearing this, Duan Cheng merely let out a scoff. His tone was gentle yet wicked: “But your parents are gone. You can only rely on me now, baby.”

The information coming from Duan Cheng’s mouth was overwhelming. Once the man completely abandoned his disguise, his exposed true nature took Su Xi a long while to process. The scenes from his dream flashed through his mind again; his heart raced violently, appearing ready to burst from his chest. The blood drained from his already frail face due to the intense emotion as he said, syllable by syllable: “What did you say?”

The calm before the storm erupted in an instant.

He watched the bright red news headlines on the communicator as everything from the dream suddenly became reality. A deeply rooted, powerful family had vanished overnight. Countless people stood around watching with cold indifference, speaking malicious words, saying they had brought it upon themselves.

Su Xi felt his vision go dark. It turned out the rumors were true: one really could lose their voice from extreme sorrow. He bit his lip hard, and only after a long while did he force himself to look at Duan Cheng. His voice was trembling: “You’re retaliating against me. Why did you have to involve my parents?”

“I told you before: don’t provoke me. Since you provoked me, don’t even think about running.” Duan Cheng stared intently at Su Xi’s shimmering lips. “They brought it upon themselves.”

His words sounded as if he were talking about Su Xi as well. Su Xi lowered his eyelashes. His parents brought it upon themselves so what about him? Did he bring it upon himself too?

Suddenly, scorching breath pressed against his fragile neck. His body couldn’t stop shivering. Realizing what the man was doing, his pupils shrank: “Don’t… no!”

Duan Cheng’s intense Alpha pheromones enveloped him without a hint of disguise. He felt as if he were soaking in a jar of honey, his whole body turning soft and unable to muster a shred of strength. Sharp teeth pierced his delicate skin, and a cool scent flowed into his body.

Su Xi’s weak resistance was almost negligible. He closed his eyes as crystalline tears slid from the corners—tears of physiological pain, but also psychological.

After a long time had passed, Su Xi felt that every scent lingering around him belonged to Duan Cheng.

His family’s downfall was by this man’s hand, and now he was being marked by him too. The humiliation in his heart pushed his spirit to the brink of collapse. The potential that erupted upon reaching the breaking point was immense; unable to push the man away, he could only hit him with all his might, shouting with red eyes: “Duan Cheng, you’re just a mad dog! A psychopath! I should never have let you off back then…”

The young master who had been pampered since childhood didn’t know many vulgar words; he only repeated those same few phrases. Duan Cheng didn’t speak, silently allowing the boy to vent his anger. When the boy grew tired, the man simply pinched his chin to turn his face toward him, gently wiping away the wet tears bit by bit. His eyes were full of tenderness and love.

Su Xi endured the discomfort, just about to continue speaking.

“Baby, do you know? Your scolding sounds like acting spoiled.” Duan Cheng saw the resistance in the boy’s movements, and a trace of obscurity flashed in his eyes, though he didn’t get angry.

“…” Su Xi’s mind went blank for a moment. He felt he could no longer communicate with Duan Cheng. After a long silence, he spoke in a voice as thin as a mosquito’s hum: “What do you want to do? Kill me?”

“How could I bear to?” Duan Cheng’s gaze landed directly on the boy’s face. “I will forgive you for all the mistakes you made before.”

The pitch-black room was silent. The curtains were drawn tight, and only a few faint slivers of light spilled in through the door gap, casting mottled shadows on the floor. A rich, sweet fragrance filled the entire space.

“Aaah! Host, is Duan Cheng a psychopath?!” System 1368, finally released from the “small black room,” cried out in shock upon seeing Su Xi lying on the massive bed, eyes closed tight, looking utterly frail.

Su Xi turned over. His communicator had been taken by Duan Cheng. Unable to contact the outside world, he had no way to perceive the passage of time; he could only sense it vaguely through instinct. Duan Cheng acted as if nothing were wrong, coming in for three meals a day, but Su Xi was unwilling to eat. Later, Duan Cheng had to force him: if he wouldn’t eat, the man would feed him nutritional fluids.

“How long has it been?”

He asked the system in his mind, his tone sounding unperturbed. Now, whenever he saw Duan Cheng, he would throw a tantrum and scream at him, but every time after the man temporarily marked him, Duan Cheng would simply dispatch a cold robot to clean up the mess.

“Three days…” System 1368 responded.

Su Xi felt a bit depressed. “How has it only been three days? How long does Duan Cheng plan to keep me locked up?”

“The outside world is saying you’ve gone missing, but Fu Heng and Li Huai are searching for news of you, especially Fu Heng. He almost saw you last time if Duan Cheng hadn’t appeared in time.” System 1368 paused before adding, “Host, are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Su Xi was already used to it. He leaned against the soft pillow, too lazy to even move his hands. “Where did you disappear to before?”

“I, System Xiao Ba, have upgraded! Host, I have many more functions now. But the Salvation Value has reached one hundred; why is Duan Cheng still keeping you locked up if he loves you so much?”

“He thinks I betrayed him and don’t love him enough,” Su Xi said succinctly. A few absurd ideas flashed through his mind, and after a moment of silence, he steeled his resolve.

When the closed door was pulled open and Duan Cheng came in with food, Su Xi still kept his head down without saying a word. The long period without food had left his face deathly pale; he looked so frail he seemed ready to dissipate the next second.

Duan Cheng’s gaze landed on the boy’s face. The once vibrant and bright Su Xi was now as fragile as a porcelain doll that couldn’t handle any stimulation. The orchid fragrance in the air had also become very, very faint, almost undetectable…

He sat by the table and set the food down, pulling the curtains back to let the sunlight in. Su Xi lifted his eyes toward the window. Beyond the massive glass, the azure sky was boundless. Birds soared freely in the sky, and leaves swayed after a few gusts of wind.

He stared dazed for a long while, his eyes calm and without a single ripple.

Duan Cheng walked over to him, almost completely shrouding the light before him. He was picked up and placed by the table. Before him was a lavish spread of fragrant food all of his favorite dishes, yet he had no appetite at all.

His movements in picking up the spoon to eat were almost as numb as following a set procedure. He only ate a few bites before he was unwilling to eat more. Pushing the tray away, he lowered his head to hide his emotions.

Duan Cheng sat across from Su Xi. In just three days, Su Xi seemed to have grown thinner. He commanded, “Eat some more.”

“I’m full,” Su Xi replied softly. He looked at Duan Cheng with eyes that held no emotion, saying syllable by syllable: “Let me go.”

“The outside world is full of people coveting you. Staying by my side is the only safe place.” Duan Cheng pushed the tray back toward Su Xi, his tone non-negotiable. “Be good. Eat a bit more.”

Su Xi’s hands on his knees trembled slightly. After a moment, his butterfly-wing-like eyelashes flickered as if he were succumbing: “Why are you angry, A-Cheng? Is it because I don’t like you anymore?”

He didn’t think Duan Cheng could love him that much. After all, he had done so many malicious things to the man before. Could it be that just because he had bestowed some small bits of affection, Duan Cheng had forgotten it all?

“I love you,” Duan Cheng’s tone was sincere and didn’t sound fake.

But Su Xi acted as if he had heard a joke. He let out a scoff and looked up coldly at the man, demanding: “Is this how you show your love?”

Locking him up and cutting him off from the world, denying him freedom, all in the name of love.

“There are too many people looking for you outside. Su Xi, who are you trying to find if you don’t want to stay with me? Fu Heng? Li Huai? Or that Jiang Wenyuan you haven’t seen in a long time?” Duan Cheng suddenly stood up and walked to Su Xi’s side. He pressed down on the boy’s shoulders and leaned into his neck to take a sniff, his voice hoarse.

Su Xi tried to distance himself somewhat unnaturally. He pursed his lips, reached out to push the man, and frowned stubbornly: “Anyone but you.”

“Anyone but me?” The tenderness in Duan Cheng’s features froze instantly. He let out a soft chuckle and repeated the words without letting go. Instead, he reached out, his fingers stroking Su Xi’s cheek ambiguously. “My patience has limits, Xi. Don’t make me angry.”

Su Xi truly wanted to see what Duan Cheng looked like when he was angry. He looked into the man’s face and said flatly: “Is it true that as long as I give myself to you, you’ll let me go?”

“What?” Duan Cheng hadn’t yet processed the meaning of the boy’s words.

Su Xi took a deep breath and proactively nuzzled against the man’s hand. Those shimmering eyes were filled entirely with Duan Cheng’s silhouette. From Duan Cheng’s angle, he could see the boy’s rose-like, exquisite face clearly. His curled eyelashes were trembling, revealing the owner’s internal trepidation.