Chapter 29

Scar

At eleven o’clock in the evening, behind the community’s waste sorting station, two paparazzi finally waited for Qi Shanglan to come out of the residential building.

He had actually been kicked out by Lin Qianyou, because he was insatiable. After two days of tormenting her, Lin Qianyou really couldn’t handle it anymore.

Qi Shanglan came out from the unit’s entrance downstairs, a faint smile on his face as he rubbed his left shoulder. Ouch, it hurt a little. She actually bit him when she said she would.

But, he couldn’t blame her for that. He had to blame himself for being such a jerk.

After Qi Shanglan walked far away, the two paparazzi sneaked out from behind the waste sorting station.

“Are we really going to find her?” one paparazzi asked.

“Of course! Even if she’s a ghost, I’m still going to find her! These videos could extort hundreds of thousands from her.” The other paparazzi weighed his camera in his hand, grinning like a thief, smugly saying.

“What if she refuses to give us anything?”

“If she refuses, then we expose it. Isn’t that simple?”

“Are you sure? Her boyfriend is a cop, and her dad’s the party secretary. Can you afford to mess with them?”

The other paparazzi hesitated, then muttered, “Who cares, let’s extort whatever we can.”

Meanwhile, Lin Qianyou was in her room changing the bed sheets. She glanced at the vanity, where there was a large bag of condoms, standing out like a sore thumb.

She licked her lips, there was still a faint taste of blood lingering. This Qi Shanglan, she really underestimated him. If she didn’t bite him hard enough to draw blood, he wouldn’t know when to stop.

Just as she was about to shove the bag into the closet, the doorbell rang. Lin Qianyou thought it was Qi Shanglan, so she opened the door directly, but when the door opened, she saw two unfamiliar faces.

Her instinct told her that these two men were definitely no good. She also noticed the camera in one of their hands and quickly realized they were paparazzi. She tried to shut the door, but they stopped it with their hands.

“What do you want?!” Lin Qianyou questioned, still trying to close the door, but a girl’s strength couldn’t compete with two big men. The two paparazzi easily opened the door all the way.

“Don’t worry, we’re here to talk money, not to harm you,” one of the paparazzi said.

“What money? I don’t have any,” Lin Qianyou immediately refused. “If you keep bothering me, I’ll call the police!”

“Call the police? If you do that, I’ll expose all these videos we’ve recorded,” the paparazzi threatened her. “There are quite a few clips, including the video of you kissing and meeting the parents.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Qianyou stopped trying to force the door shut. Both sides stood in a deadlock for a moment, then Lin Qianyou spoke: “How much do you want?”

The two paparazzi grinned in triumph upon hearing her words, their smiles sickeningly disgusting. “Five hundred thousand,” one of them made a “five” gesture with his hand.

“Five hundred thousand?! Are you robbing me?!” Lin Qianyou gaped, stunned. “That’s too much! I can’t come up with that!”

“Can’t come up with it? How is that possible? Didn’t you just sign onto a variety show? Are you lying to us?” The paparazzi didn’t believe her.

“The money hasn’t been deposited yet. You destroy the videos first, and once the payment comes through, I’ll call you,” Lin Qianyou tried to negotiate.

The two paparazzi scoffed mockingly. “You think we’re fools? After you destroy the videos, what if you don’t give us the money? No matter how much you have, transfer it now!”

One of the paparazzi suddenly shouted aggressively, now that they had her in a bind, they were unrestrained.

“Then give me the camera first, my phone is in the bedroom. Give it to me, and I’ll transfer the money,” Lin Qianyou tried to maneuver.

The two paparazzi exchanged a glance and hesitated for a few seconds before choosing to give her the camera. After all, she was just a girl, and they didn’t think she would try anything funny under their noses.

But Lin Qianyou was indeed trying something funny.

After taking the camera, Lin Qianyou stepped back a little, and with swift reflexes, she grabbed the door handle and tried to slam the door shut.

However, the paparazzi had already anticipated this move, and one of them had placed his hand on the outside door handle.

Seeing the door about to be pulled open again, Lin Qianyou threw the camera behind her and grabbed the door handle with both hands, pulling hard.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t close the door. The two paparazzi outside were determined, and their momentum made it clear they wouldn’t leave without the money.

“Qi Shanglan!”

In that moment of desperation, Lin Qianyou shouted Qi Shanglan’s name.

Inside the room, Lin Qianyou was still struggling to close the door. In the next second, the door was slammed shut with a loud bang, almost causing her to trip.

One of the paparazzi outside was struck by a punch from Qi Shanglan, his head smashing hard against the wall, causing him to fall to the ground, unable to get up.

The other paparazzi, who hadn’t expected Qi Shanglan to appear suddenly, turned around in shock, only to have his neck seized tightly by him.

Lin Qianyou heard the cries of pain and begging from outside, realizing Qi Shanglan had teleported over. She quickly opened the door, but what she saw in front of her shocked her.

The red glow that had surrounded Qi Shanglan was replaced by an ominous dark aura. His right hand, veins bulging, was gripping the paparazzi’s neck so tightly that he lifted him off the ground.

It was as if he was squeezing cotton, effortlessly twisting the paparazzi’s neck, causing his breathing to become laborious, his face turning black and purple.

The paparazzi, staring into Qi Shanglan’s wolf-like eyes, pressed his hands against his solid wrist. His mouth opened slightly, but he could only make weak gasping sounds, unable to speak a word to beg for mercy.

Seeing this, Lin Qianyou hurried forward and tried to pry Qi Shanglan’s fingers apart. “Qi Shanglan, let go! You’re going to kill him!”

Only when Qi Shanglan heard her voice did he snap out of his trance, and the madness in his eyes seemed to fade as he regained his composure.

The dark mist surrounding him gradually dissipated, and the force in his hand weakened. He stared vacantly at the paparazzi in front of him, whose face was bruised and turning blue from being choked, and after a few seconds, he released his grip.

The paparazzi hit the ground and gasped for air, his face slowly returning to normal. Meanwhile, a cold voice came from above:

“Get lost!”

The two paparazzi dared not look up, supporting each other as they stumbled down the nearby stairs. They didn’t speak until they had run a long way from the neighborhood. One of them finally managed to speak: “Is he… is he crazy?! He nearly choked me to death!” He twisted his neck, and a sharp pain hit him. “Ugh, it hurts so much.”

“Seriously, this is insane. I didn’t even see when he showed up. He just punched me in the face out of nowhere. It really hurts!”

“He only punched you? You don’t know what he did to me. I almost died!”

“We’ve definitely failed here. We didn’t get the money and now we’ve lost a camera too. Hey, you think she’ll actually call the cops?”

“You’re so dumb, don’t you know what her boyfriend does? He’s a cop! You should go home and pray to Buddha. We’re seriously screwed. I shouldn’t have come with you.”

“So what if he’s a cop? He almost killed us! That’s assault on the police, I have every right to report him!”

“Are you really this dumb? If you hit a cop, that’s assault on the police. If the cop hits you, that’s justice! Plus, his dad is the secretary of the Yang City Municipal Party Committee. Are you going to report the son of the secretary? Do you still want to stay in Yang City? Idiot!”

The two of them continued arguing and cursing downstairs, while up in the room, the two inside just silently looked at each other, no words spoken.

At the dining table, Qi Shanglan furrowed his brows, staring at his right hand. He still couldn’t understand what had made him suddenly lose control earlier. Lin Qianyou had said he seemed to be surrounded by black energy, and it was terrifying to watch.

“Qi Shanglan, you really scared me just now. You almost killed him! Do you realize that?” Lin Qianyou was still a bit shaken, her voice trembling. She instinctively made a cup of honey water for him and placed it in front of him. “Drink some water and calm down.”

Qi Shanglan took the cup but didn’t drink. He lifted his gaze to Lin Qianyou, looking like he wanted to say something but hesitated. “Did I really lift him off the ground just now?”

“What do you think? You were acting like a madman! No matter how angry you are, you can’t kill someone!”

Qi Shanglan awkwardly swallowed and had no recollection of what had just happened. He only remembered hearing Lin Qianyou’s voice, which made him snap back to reality. Then, he saw the paparazzi he had choked, his face purple and blue.

He had been stunned. Originally, he had only intended to punch the guy, but somehow, he lost control and nearly killed him.

That’s right, he had wanted to kill him. There had been a persistent voice in his mind telling him to do so.

“Don’t think about it. Drink some water before it gets cold,” Lin Qianyou said as she patted his shoulder. Just then, she heard him hiss in pain.

“Huh? What’s wrong? Where does it hurt?” Lin Qianyou asked, concerned.

He turned his head and glanced at his shoulder, grinning. “A cat bit me. It hurts.”

“A cat?!” Lin Qianyou looked at his left shoulder in surprise. She quickly realized that the cat he was referring to was her. She immediately punched him hard on the chest. “Qi Shanglan!”

“Ugh.” He pretended to be in pain.

It worked on Lin Qianyou. Her eyes filled with concern as she pulled at his collar. She saw the bite mark on his left shoulder, blood still oozing from it, surrounded by slight redness and swelling.

She had bitten him that badly.

Seeing her “work,” Lin Qianyou felt deeply guilty, and tears immediately filled her eyes. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to, I didn’t control the strength,” she began to sob.

Hearing her cry, Qi Shanglan furrowed his brows and reached up to wipe away the tears from the corner of her eye. “Why are you crying? It’s just a little blood. It doesn’t hurt. I was just messing with you earlier.”

Lin Qianyou, still crying, pushed his hand away and ordered him to take off his shirt so she could apply ointment to his wound.

“Apply ointment? Am I that delicate?” He pulled her into his arms and gently comforted her, “Don’t cry, alright? It really doesn’t hurt.”

“No, take it off quickly.” She sniffled, pulling his arm away and turning to the living room to grab a first aid kit.

Qi Shanglan sighed helplessly, but with a gentle smile in his eyes, he complied and took off his shirt.

She took out a tube of erythromycin ointment and a cotton swab from the kit, carefully applying the ointment to his wound. “If it hurts, just say so.”

“It hurts,” he blurted out, then chuckled. “A kiss will make it feel better.”

Lin Qianyou, still teary-eyed, gave him a glare. She didn’t want to engage with him, but ended up giving him a quick kiss on the cheek.

While applying the ointment, Lin Qianyou noticed a long scar next to the bite mark. She touched the scar and asked, “What’s this? How did you get such a long scar?”

Qi Shanglan glanced at it casually, not paying much attention. He answered nonchalantly, “It was from a bullet.”

“A bullet?! Shot through?!” Lin Qianyou nearly dropped the ointment in shock, her face full of disbelief.

Seeing her frown in astonishment, Qi Shanglan smiled. “Don’t worry, it just grazed me. See, I’m fine, right?”

His indifferent attitude only made Lin Qianyou more upset. “How can you still laugh? Do you know how dangerous that was? If the shot had been slightly off, it could have hit your head! Do you realize that?!”

As she finished speaking, the tears that had been gathering in her eyes spilled uncontrollably. Although she knew that the danger of being a police officer far exceeded the risks she faced as an actress, hearing that Qi Shanglan had been shot still caused her heart to ache indescribably.

The moment the bullet passed through his shoulder, he must have been in so much pain.

Thinking about it, her tears completely overwhelmed her. She threw the ointment and cotton swab aside, then wrapped her arms around him, sobbing uncontrollably in his embrace.

Qi Shanglan hadn’t expected her to react like this. If he had known, he would have just told her a simple lie to make her feel better. Now, the paparazzi didn’t make her cry, but he had.

Thinking of the paparazzi, that voice returned to his mind.

Qi Shanglan frowned. What was going on? Why did he have these thoughts of wanting to kill someone?

“Stop crying, Lin Qianyou. Once you’re done, download the surveillance footage and send it to me,” Qi Shanglan ruffled her hair.

“Why do you need the surveillance footage?” Lin Qianyou asked in a muffled voice, still sniffling.

“To catch the paparazzi.”