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Bonus chapter! Thank you to JustSomeOne for the donation! ^^
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The monsters exhibited an abnormal sensitivity to movement—even the slightest shift in light could trigger them. The countless eyes covering their bodies weren't merely decorative; each one functioned with terrifying precision.
Strangely, they could see in all directions simultaneously, even perceiving movement directly behind them.
Yet this didn't mean they lacked hearing. Sudden noises still provoked immediate reactions.
Pressed against Qi Lintian with his mouth covered, Ruan Qing listened to the approaching drip-drip of viscous fluid and the thudding footsteps, forcing himself to stay still.
Their situation had turned dire—not one, but multiple creatures were converging on their location. Any chance of escape had vanished.
Now, their only hope was remaining undiscovered.
Qi Lintian's muscles tensed like coiled steel as he tracked the sounds. These abominations possessed grotesque strength—even the ship's reinforced cabin doors shattered under their blows. Ordinary weapons barely scratched them.
To be detected meant certain death. The creatures' eyes alone were nightmarish; detached from their bodies, the organs remained animate, either crawling back to their original host or...
Seeking new ones.
The eyes burrowed into living flesh with horrifying speed, merging seamlessly with skin. Removal required carving out the infected tissue with a blade—the only known method.
Judging by the monsters' grotesque forms, the consequences of infestation didn't bear imagining.
Their best—their only—strategy had always been evasion. But now, trapped in this dead-end corridor with elevators and stairwells impossibly distant...
Six of them.
Qi Lintian could perhaps take one alone. Against six? Suicide.
Unless someone drew some away.
His security team lay slaughtered hours ago. Only his own reflexes remained.
A wet plop sounded just beyond the curtains.
In one fluid motion, Qi Lintian tightened his grip around Ruan Qing's waist and shifted them both deeper into shadow—just as a gnarled, eyestalk-covered limb brushed the drapes.
The fabric rippled.
But held.
Ruan Qing's face instantly paled, his eyes glistening with unshed tears as his slender frame trembled uncontrollably.
It wasn't just the terror of the nearby monster that shook him - the man's arm had tightened directly over the rope marks on his waist.
The untreated wounds stung at the slightest touch, let alone such rough handling. Yet the man remained oblivious, keeping his grip firm.
The pain blurred Ruan Qing's vision, his mind going blank as tears welled up, then spilled over like broken pearls, silently tracing paths down his jade-white cheeks.
He didn't dare struggle. Couldn't. All he could do was endure helplessly as the tears fell.
Qi Lintian felt it the moment those warm droplets hit his hand - the unexpected moisture like phantom feathers brushing against his darkest impulses.
That peculiar sensation returned, the same unsettling intensity he'd felt around Lin Zhiyan's lover. Every emotion magnified, every buried desire surfacing with terrifying clarity.
His expression darkened as he studied the boy in his arms.
The cap shadowed Ruan Qing's face completely, forcing Qi Lintian's gaze downward to where the oversized school uniform gaped slightly from their struggle.
In the curtain's dim light - just enough to see after adjusting to the dark - the blue-and-white fabric swallowed the boy's frame yet couldn't hide how his waist narrowed startlingly under Qi Lintian's grip.
So slender he could span it with one hand. Might even hold two like this without strain.
The uniform covered everything, sleeves swallowing pale fingers, leaving only the vulnerable column of his throat and a teasing sliver of collarbone exposed by their struggle. Delicate. Tantalizing.
An unbearable provocation.
Even with monsters prowling beyond the drapes, Qi Lintian found his focus fracturing.
In this cramped darkness, even the perfume he usually despised now coiled through his senses, unraveling his concentration thread by thread.
Wait...
Perfume?
Qi Lintian lowered his head slightly, and the rich scent of jasmine flooded his senses. Normally, he would have recoiled in disgust and walked away, but this time, he inhaled deeply.
Jasmine was usually cloying—when too strong, it could even become unpleasant.
Yet he didn't find it repulsive. Beneath the overpowering jasmine, there was a faint, elusive hint of orchid.
Fresh, delicate, like an orchid blooming in a secluded valley on a rainy night—a fragrance pure enough to cleanse all impurities.
It was a scent so distinct that not even the heavy jasmine could mask it.
And it was the same orchid fragrance he had once caught in Lin Zhiyan's office.
Hah.
Qi Lintian's gaze darkened.
Ruan Qing remained unaware of his exposure. Once the sharp pain in his ankle subsided, his thoughts cleared, and his attention snapped back to the monster just beyond the curtain.
The creature stood right in front of them, separated only by the thin fabric—so close that Ruan Qing could clearly smell it.
He had expected something foul: the stench of decay, the reek of rotting fish, or the pungent odor of the sea.
But there was none of that.
Only the faint, briny scent of seawater.
As if it had emerged from the ocean's depths.
These monsters likely did come from the deep sea.
And Lin Zhiyan must have known.
That explained why the ship's doors were made of specialized materials—undoubtedly designed to keep these abyssal creatures out.
A precaution that had been ruined when the players accidentally destroyed the security system.
The curtain blocked the monster's line of sight, and it didn't seem to have spotted them. Yet it refused to leave.
Instead, it lingered nearby, searching methodically.
Several times, the creature's grotesque outline pressed against the fabric, so close that Ruan Qing could hear the wet, squelching sound of its many eyes rotating.
His scalp prickled.
But neither he nor Qi Lintian made a sound. Their silhouettes remained perfectly hidden.
The monster, finding nothing, eventually lost interest—until a distant scream caught its attention.
Footsteps retreated, and the eerie dripping noise faded away.
Ruan Qing let out a sharp breath of relief—only to freeze halfway when his hat was suddenly snatched off his head.
Behind the curtains, there were only two people: him and that man—his former patron. The identity of the hat-snatcher was unmistakable.
Instinctively, Ruan Qing wanted to cover his face, but he remained rigid, not daring to move a muscle.
The monster hadn’t gone far. Any movement risked rustling the curtains—and that would undoubtedly draw the creature back.
In the live stream, viewers who had been on the verge of quitting from the sheer horror of the monster’s grotesque appearance suddenly erupted in excitement at this turn of events.
[Oh-ho! Wife’s finally been exposed! Even though the current sugar daddy’s still who-knows-where, I’m weirdly hyped!]
[Ex-husband finally grew a spine! If you’d stayed useless any longer, I’d have started thinking you were actually braindead.]
[You’re just lucky, running into my wife over and over. Look at that current sugar daddy next door—his luck’s so bad they kept missing each other by one elevator. And that other player? So unlucky they passed right by a closed door.]
[Gotta admit, this guy’s luck is insane. Hiding from monsters and still gets my wife delivered right to him?]
[Wait… Are we sure it’s just luck? Something feels off. This guy’s room is on the 16th floor, and we’re on the 9th. No way this is a coincidence.]
Qi Lintian gripped Ruan Qing’s chin—fair as polished jade—tilting his face up with unyielding force.
Staring at those familiar yet strangely altered features, his handsome face darkened. Soundlessly, his lips formed two syllables, deliberate and seething:
"Xia. Qing."
Ruan Qing trembled slightly, his face pale, lips pressed tightly together.
Though he’d guessed this man was Xia Qing’s former patron, this was his first real encounter with Qi Lintian.
Qi Lintian’s expressions were usually either detached, indifferent, or utterly blank—but now, for the first time, he looked furious.
Qi Lintian was barely containing his rage. Leaning in, he spoke through gritted teeth, voice so low only Ruan Qing could hear:
"You actually dared to cuckold me."
Ruan Qing stiffened, his heart nearly stopping—not just from Qi Lintian’s words, but because the monster was still nearby.
Its footsteps echoed faintly. Any sound now might alert it again.
Fortunately, the creature wasn’t overly sensitive to noise, and Qi Lintian’s whisper was too quiet to draw its attention.
Seeing that the monster hadn’t noticed them, Ruan Qing finally relaxed. He looked at Qi Lintian, who was burning with anger, and gave a barely perceptible shake of his head, looking pitiful and helpless.
But since Qi Lintian was gripping Ruan Qing’s chin, that slight motion was barely visible unless one was paying very close attention. Worse, the movement only made Qi Lintian squeeze harder, reddening Ruan Qing’s chin. Tears welled up in his eyes once more.
Ruan Qing could only mouth silently, “I didn’t.”
“I… I sent you a breakup text.”
Qi Lintian’s expression darkened further. “As far as I recall, I didn’t agree to that.”
Of course he had seen that message—but after reading it, he had just tossed it aside without a second thought.
To him, Ruan Qing had always been a dispensable ornament—someone who didn’t even have the right to ask for a breakup. After all, Qi Lintian had never taken him seriously.
Allowing his presence was simply a cover for appearances.
But now, he could no longer control the fury in his heart. Just imagining Ruan Qing in Lin Zhiyan’s arms made him want to destroy everything.
Those two had even done that kind of thing right in front of him… in the office…
