The sudden drop in temperature made Yu Sen feel pain deep in his bones. The icy wind seemed to pierce through his skin, sinking into his marrow, making the pain from the knife wound on his neck almost insignificant.

He pressed tightly against the stone wall to keep his body from sliding down. Yuan Fei seemed extremely tense, with the veins on his temple bulging, and his hand holding the knife trembling more and more in the cold wind.

The blade pierced deeper, and crimson blood dripped from the collarbone onto the white dress, splattering into vivid red petals.

Yuan Fei released the hand covering Yu Sen’s mouth and nose, and as his fingers left, they unconsciously brushed lightly against Yu Sen’s cheek. His gaze was crazed, almost delusional.

He was so close that his lips were almost touching Yu Sen’s chin.

This proximity made Yu Sen extremely uncomfortable. The pressure from the blade, due to the force Yuan Fei was exerting, brought a great sense of oppression. Despite his skin being numbed by the cold, Yu Sen could sense that something was terribly wrong.

If he could speak, he might have tried to calm Yuan Fei down, to make him ease up on the knife. But now, he couldn’t even utter a complete sentence. Any slight movement he made was met with Yuan Fei pressing down harder, as if he feared Yu Sen was about to do something.

A strong sense of dizziness almost made Yu Sen forget to breathe. His eyes were red from the cold wind, and his vision was intermittently darkening.

If Yuan Fei were calm and clear-headed, he would clearly realize that the person in front of him had no color left in his cheeks or lips.

“Give me the pass… give me the pass… I know you have it, all of you do! You must have gotten it already! That’s why you’re not worried at all, and don’t need to go out anymore. Please, save me… save me… I have nothing, nothing at all…”

Yuan Fei’s mental state seemed unstable, his words incoherent. His grip on Yu Sen’s arm was so tight that it nearly broke.

The breath from Yuan Fei’s words made Yu Sen extremely uncomfortable. He tilted his head back as far as he could, trying to get away from him, but there was no escape, as there was only the stone wall behind him.

The frustration and suffocation in his heart grew stronger. Finally, he gave up, staring coldly and expressionlessly at Yuan Fei.

Damn it! This guy’s crazy, and his IQ is as low as dirt. What made him think there was a pocket in this simple long dress? And why would he think such an important pass would be casually carried on him?

Did Yuan Fei target him because he seemed the easiest to bully?

Did Yuan Fei not consider that he might have given the card to Si Xuanyang for safekeeping, only taking it on the last night? That would be much safer!

And yet he came to rob him?

Idiot!

Yu Sen’s mocking, cold gaze seemed to enrage Yuan Fei. He clutched Yu Sen’s waist, pulling him closer, his eyes bloodshot. “Give it to me… give me the card!”

Suddenly, Yuan Fei realized something, and with one hand, he frantically searched Yu Sen’s chest to his waist, muttering incoherently, “No… no pockets. Where is it? How can it be gone? Where is the card…”

Not finding what he wanted, Yuan Fei even released the knife pressed against Yu Sen, bending down and searching under the hem of the long dress.

His blood-stained, icy hand moved up from Yu Sen’s calf.

Yu Sen’s breath caught for a moment, and his body shivered. With the last bit of strength he had, he kicked at Yuan Fei, but his body collapsed and began to fall.

Despite using all the strength he could muster, the kick did little to harm Yuan Fei.

As he fell, Yuan Fei caught him around the waist, holding him so tightly that Yu Sen didn’t even have the strength to lift his arm. His gaze was unfocused, and the blood from his wounds had turned his once snow-white neck a shocking red.

Yuan Fei paused in disbelief for a moment, then viciously grabbed Yu Sen’s neck, his voice trembling with emotion, almost beyond his control.

“How can you not have it? How can you not have it! Did you give it to that person? Did you give it to that demon? How could you? That’s impossible… impossible! How could you believe him? How could you possibly believe him? In this world, who could you trust? There’s no one you can trust… no one…”

Fuck you!

The combined pain of suffocation and his wounds tearing apart overwhelmed Yu Sen. His hand weakly trembled as it rested on Yuan Fei’s arm, then fell limp. His pale lips moved slightly, wanting to curse but finding himself too weak.

That’s my boyfriend! Someone who values me more than his own life! Why wouldn’t I trust him? You think everyone is like you!?

Damn idiot!

…

As his consciousness wavered, a loud explosion suddenly echoed through the backyard.

The force that had been holding him in place suddenly released him. The person in front of him was violently struck by a thick, iron-like black vine and slammed heavily to the ground.

Yu Sen’s body slid weakly, finally falling into a warm embrace that felt familiar.

But he didn’t notice the trembling in that embrace, the panic and despair in those hands holding him so tightly. The heartbeat in that chest was even faster than his own.

A warm, trembling hand covered his bleeding neck. Yu Sen’s body convulsed as he gasped for air, blood continuously seeping from his wounds with every struggle.

The moment Si Xuanyang stepped into the backyard, it felt as though a thousand arrows had pierced his heart. Now, his liver and gallbladder felt as though they were being torn apart. Regret and hatred pierced every inch of his skin like countless steel nails.

The person in his arms was covered in blood, even his once delicate, white ankles were stained with a red that made Si Xuanyang’s eyes almost pop out of his head.

“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… Baby, hang in there, don’t close your eyes…”

He hurriedly carried Yu Sen into the house. Yu Sen was already in a semi-conscious state, his mind hazy. He wanted to comfort the distraught demon king, to tell him not to be so upset, not to sound like he was about to cry.

But his body felt as though it was trapped in sticky, thick mud, pulling him down, unable to move even a single finger.

The room’s spring-like warmth seemed to have no effect on him. Having already been chilled by the wind, his body felt colder and colder. With the blood loss, he could no longer feel any warmth.

His eyelids fluttered, not completely unconscious, as he felt his body being placed on a soft bed. After the sound of rummaging through cabinets, a warm, damp towel gently wiped his neck.

The movements were extremely gentle, not causing the wound to hurt at all.

In Yu Sen’s memory, the knife definitely didn’t cut the artery. The blood flow seemed alarming, but after stopping the bleeding and bandaging it, it shouldn’t be a big issue.

However, the person bandaging the wound was clearly terrified, their heart in their throat, holding their breath and meticulously treating the wound for a long time.

Fortunately, the room had everything they needed, and there was no shortage of medical supplies, allowing them to handle the wound with basic treatment.

After Yu Sen’s neck was wrapped in gauze, his cold body gradually started to heat up, burning away the last remnants of his will.

He could still hear Si Xuanyang calling his name repeatedly, and the thread of willpower in his mind tightened to a dangerous point.

Si Xuanyang took off his clothes and wiped the blood from his body with a towel. Then he used gauze dipped in alcohol to wipe his body over and over again to cool him down.

After checking that there were no injuries anywhere on Yu Sen’s body, not even on his toes, Si Xuanyang finally gripped the blood-stained gauze at the bedside tightly and planted a kiss on Yu Sen’s forehead.

“Sleep now, nothing will happen anymore.”

The thread of willpower in Yu Sen’s mind finally snapped as those words landed, and he fainted into darkness. His breathing was shallow and weak, and his body was wrapped in layers of soft, crumpled blankets. At first glance, he seemed silent and still, like a pale, beautiful doll.

…

He didn’t know how long he had been unconscious. When he regained some awareness, he was being held and fed water. His neck was carefully supported, and a few bitter pills slid down his throat with the warm water, quickly dissolving into even more bitter medicine.

He furrowed his brow, his body weakly moving a bit, but fell deeper into the embrace, held gently but firmly, preventing him from moving again.

Later, he seemed to be placed back into the blankets. After sleeping for a bit longer, he felt slightly stronger and could open his eyes.

It was still the middle of the night, the surroundings dim. The warm yellow street lights outside added some light. After a moment of adjustment, Yu Sen’s eyes gradually started to see things clearly.

He wanted to turn to the side, but his head was suddenly gently pressed by a hand, “Don’t move.”

Si Xuanyang held the back of his neck with one hand and wrapped his waist with the other, slowly turning him around, his gaze clear and a smile slowly forming at the corner of his mouth, “Awake? Want some curry? I asked Si Nan to bring some.”

Yu Sen glanced at the pitch-black sky outside, and Si Xuanyang said, “It’s still the middle of the night. You’ve been asleep for several hours and haven’t eaten anything all day.”

“Mm…” Yu Sen made a sound, his voice hoarse, and he nuzzled his face against Si Xuanyang’s palm.

“I don’t want to sleep; I’m worried about you.”

Even though Si Xuanyang tried to hide it, Yu Sen could still see the lingering fear in his eyes.

He sighed silently, his fingers slowly moving out from under the blankets, pointing to his neck, with a questioning look in his eyes.

Si Xuanyang stared at the thick gauze on his neck, and after a moment, he lowered his eyes slightly, saying, “I tied Yuan Fei up in the backyard.”

There was no fluctuation in his calm tone, but Yu Sen inexplicably detected a hint of murderous intent.

He wrote on Si Xuanyang’s chest with his finger: He’ll freeze to death.

“Freeze to death? Of course not,” Si Xuanyang scoffed coldly, gently holding Yu Sen’s fingers, “He’s so afraid of death that he dared to target you. How could he let himself freeze to death?”

That’s because he’s a foolish idiot, not worth it…

Yu Sen sighed again, continuing to look at him.

Si Xuanyang met his gaze for a long moment before speaking again, his voice as cold as the night.

“…One night of torment is far from enough. I want to kill him with my bare hands.”