Chapter 3

For Lu Sen, this night was full of surprises. Bai Wei greeted him at the doorway, cooked for him, and they lay together on the sofa watching TV. Bai Wei nestled into his arms, occasionally glancing up at him. She cared for him as if her eyes couldn’t leave him.

Like a clingy kitten.

Perhaps this was the everyday life that human couples should have. Lu Sen didn’t want Bai Wei to think he was abnormal. He showed the same enthusiasm in return. However, there was always this strange feeling in his heart, as if doubt lingered.

Lu Sen doubted if all of this was real, if humans should feel “happy” at this moment. If this were happiness, it would mean he had finally defeated the curse of those people, and he could laugh mockingly at their graves. But clearly, he didn’t feel a strong sense of happiness. What was stronger was another feeling — as if his intuition was warning him.

Why was he thinking this?

He had taken over another person’s identity, and Bai Wei, a human, had given him the appearance of a human family. He should be happy. Hadn’t he sworn, since leaving the mercenary group, that he would live like an ordinary human, retire from the past, and have a happy family?

He had overcome humanity’s prejudice against him, and as a monster, he could have the most enviable human life without violence. He could mock his former enemies with a triumphant laugh…

This night should be happy but unexpected — Lu Sen told himself, trying to convince himself it was so.

For Bai Wei, this night was different.

Unexpected, but not happy.

Two to three hours… four hours had passed.

How was Lu Sen still alive??

That night, Bai Wei lay next to Lu Sen as he slept. Their bed was large, but they had never had the chance to engage in “activities.” Bai Wei had a cold demeanor and wasn’t sure if Lu Sen was the same. But even so, Bai Wei always lay at the edge of the bed when they slept, a distance between them as if keeping separate territories.

But now, she was tightly pressed against him.

“Good night, dear,” Lu Sen said as he turned off the light.

“Good night, honey,” Bai Wei replied.

No matter how many times she said it, calling him that always gave her a strong sense of shame. Luckily, this would be the last night.

Bai Wei lay beside him. One of Lu Sen’s few (from Bai Wei’s perspective) good traits was that he didn’t snore or even breathe loudly, but now it became a big trouble for Bai Wei.

—–

At night, when everything was quiet, his heartbeat became incredibly clear. Bai Wei closed her eyes, pretending to be asleep, silently counting Lu Sen’s heartbeats.

One… two… three…

His endurance had always been impressive.

Finally, at midnight, Bai Wei heard the heartbeat stop.

At that moment, she felt a sense of relief, but also confusion.

This wasn’t the time for confusion. They were just outsiders in this small town; no one would notice their arrival or departure. Bai Wei planned to take Lu Sen away under the guise of their one-year wedding anniversary trip. With the surrounding mountains, it would be easy to dispose of him. Or perhaps she would take him back to Naples… After all, his first burial had been there.

But where would he go after this? After getting rid of his husband, who had come back from the dead?

“Go to Beidu, or maybe back to Heigang,” he told himself. “The cold Beidu, the chaotic Heigang, that’s where I belong.”

He lay motionless with his eyes closed. After counting for two minutes, Bai Wei was about to sit up when he noticed…

The person next to him sat up!

Bai Wei couldn’t believe his ears. Lu Sen sat up from the bed, clutching his stomach, stumbling toward the bathroom. Bai Wei could hear the sound of water running and washing for over ten minutes.

Was Lu Sen having diarrhea? Wasn’t he supposed to be dead?

Bai Wei climbed off the bed. In that moment, he seemed to smell that strange scent again… It was the same scent he had smelled in Naples when he saw Lu Sen shot by a stray bullet, when Lu Sen’s “lifelike” body was buried in a coffin. It was like deep, mysterious seawater infused with lavender.

—-

At that time, standing by the buried coffin, Bai Wei had told himself that since the person had died, all the lies and concealments should be erased. He changed into all black, wore a veil, and left Naples, only for Lu Sen to appear at the airport. Later, when he consulted a doctor, the doctor had said:

“There are indeed cases of people ‘coming back to life.’ Perhaps your friend was simply in a ‘fake death’ state. After he woke up, he got out of the coffin and came to reunite with you. Shouldn’t you applaud his efforts?”

But that coffin had been nailed shut… However, Bai Wei never had the chance to return to Naples, and therefore never had the chance to check the coffin.

Now, that lavender seawater scent was back.

The last time he smelled it, he had uncontrollably shed tears by the coffin. Now, he stood on the floor, watching his “husband’s” shadow emerge from the bathroom, unable to move.

In the backlight, where his features were hard to distinguish, Lu Sen bent down and cupped his face. “Why did you get off the bed?”

The strong scent made Bai Wei dizzy, and he unconsciously spoke his mind: “I wanted to see what happened to you now.”

The man’s rough thumb rubbed his cheek. “Didn’t sleep well? What were you thinking about?”

The man’s voice softened and became elegant, full of allure.

Bai Wei replied, “I… was counting your heartbeat.”

The thumb paused for a moment, and then the man, in an almost controlling manner, hugged him tightly, softly asking, “Why did you keep looking at me last night?”

Bai Wei said, “I didn’t want you to leave my sight…”

The lavender scent was so strong it blurred his consciousness. All of this was Bai Wei’s true feelings. At that moment, the lavender smell in the seawater disappeared.

In its place, the man hugged him tightly, as if trying to meld Bai Wei into his bones. Bai Wei, who had been a model with a striking height, was rarely surpassed by anyone. But Lu Sen was a head taller. When he embraced Bai Wei, it felt like holding a beautiful doll, with every joint under Lu Sen’s control. As long as Lu Sen wanted, Bai Wei would have to pose however he wished.

At this moment, Bai Wei found it hard to breathe. This controlling position made it impossible for him to move, as Lu Sen’s scent soaked into every inch of his bones. He wanted to push him away, but his arms lacked strength. Just then, he heard Lu Sen’s voice.

“Sorry, that was just an instinctive physiological reaction when threatened. I won’t use that trick on you again… Hmm. Looks like I was overthinking.”

Lu Sen said.

Bai Wei didn’t hear this. He was nearly suffocating, using all his strength to pat Lu Sen’s back.

Fortunately, Lu Sen finally let him go. He looked at Bai Wei’s hand, somewhat surprised. “Were you comforting me, soothing me?”

Bai Wei breathed heavily. When his mind cleared, he realized he was being carried by Lu Sen. Bai Wei realized that this position was what people called a “princess carry.” At that moment, he felt terrified.

No one had ever dared treat him like this!

Bai Wei had always been accustomed to being alone. He was solitary and proud by nature, raised with strict discipline, finding it difficult to understand the emotions of ordinary people. He had no real friends, and few dared to joke with him. As an adult, many had admired him, mostly women, but also some men.

His admirers only dared to look at him from afar, and even pursuing him fervently was rare. Even his childhood friend once jokingly remarked, “I’ve suspected since you were ten, when I saw you collecting dead animals from the street to make specimens, that you’d grow up to be a serial killer.”

Thus, being embraced like that, being carried in this way, was the first time in his life.

Bai Wei clutched the collar of Lu Sen’s pajamas, his body stiff and curled up, fearing that the man might throw him downstairs. But Lu Sen, seeing him curled up, only thought that Bai Wei appeared more dependent and more lovable than usual.

He had been watching him, secretly counting his heartbeats at night, worrying when Bai Wei got off the bed, running down to check. Was he worried about his stomach ache? Or afraid he was messaging someone else?

Bai Wei seemed like an innocent, pure-hearted girl. Such behavior was endearing, as if it was completely normal.

His instinct made him want to know everything about Bai Wei. Just like how an octopus loves to curl into a small bottle, he wanted to curl into Bai Wei’s body. So he had hugged Bai Wei tightly, as he had hugged all his past possessions. But clearly, he had forgotten that Bai Wei, like all humans, needed to breathe. At that moment, Bai Wei’s chest, swelling and breathing heavily, and his teary red eyes, were proof that Bai Wei was suffocating.

He realized he quite liked Bai Wei’s current appearance, so vibrant, so cute. The trembling of his lashes when he spoke, the flushed ears when he called him “husband,” the red tip of his tongue when he drank soup, the pale cheeks glistening with tears, and the way he looked when he was being teased.

And for the first time, he realized that Bai Wei actually liked him this much.

Lu Sen felt that he didn’t mind playing the role of a good husband in this perfect family script. The idea of moving away from Snow Mountain Town could be considered later. From now on, he should focus more on learning how to be a good husband… He remembered Bai Wei mentioning at dinner that their current family seemed unhappy in the eyes of others, which made Bai Wei sad and made people in the town think they were unusual. Bai Wei had even considered whether he should leave him.

Lu Sen found himself extremely resistant to the thought of Bai Wei leaving him. On one hand, it was because of his possessiveness over his “collection,” and on the other hand, after tonight, a different kind of emotion seemed to have arisen in his heart. Since being a good husband would make Bai Wei happy and prevent him from leaving, he decided to do so. He also needed to do it better than anyone else.

And the people in town thought their family was strange—this would hasten their suspicion about his real identity. A sufficiently happy family should reduce their doubts. Although Lu Sen didn’t mind moving with Bai Wei, he didn’t want to repeat the same mistake at the next location. So perhaps this could also be part of the practice.

Bai Wei was carried back to bed by Lu Sen. Their posture of lying together on the same bed became more casual. Lu Sen lay on his side facing him, his breath brushing against the back of Bai Wei’s neck. Bai Wei was like a large plush toy, tightly nestled between him and their blanket.

This made Bai Wei feel a tingling sensation on his scalp.

Lu Sen’s breath, the sensitive skin on the back of his neck, and their position where even a slight movement would be noticed by the other—all of this made Bai Wei feel extremely uncomfortable. He had to distract his thoughts, such as—why hadn’t Lu Sen died?

—The medicine must have expired.

This was the conclusion Bai Wei came to the next morning after staying up all night.

After the dawn, unable to resist his biological clock, Bai Wei drowsily slept for a while. When he woke up, Lu Sen was gone. Bai Wei glanced at the alarm clock by the pillow.

—-

It was 9:30 AM.

Lu Sen’s departure was normal. After moving to Snow Mountain Town half a year ago, Lu Sen opened a car repair shop in the town and went to work around 8:30 or 9:00 every day. They didn’t see each other much at breakfast. Bai Wei woke up earlier, ate breakfast, and then locked himself in the study to write. Their schedules were thus in a state of separation. At this time, Lu Sen should already be at his repair shop.

The bed was messy with the blanket in disarray. Bai Wei tidied up the blanket and collected the hair they had left on the pillow the previous night. As he walked toward the bathroom, Bai Wei discovered something he couldn’t tolerate.

There were water stains on the sink, on the floor, and even on the mirror.

Clearly, Lu Sen hadn’t cleaned up properly!

Clearly, he would need to come up with a new plan to kill Lu Sen today. The medicine from yesterday didn’t work. He had to take a trip, get rid of those expired medicines, and bring back some new tools. But when he went downstairs, Bai Wei began to doubt his eyes.

On the dining table was a bouquet of yellow and white chrysanthemums, a basket of bread, and a jug of fresh milk. In addition, there was Lu Sen, standing at the stove with a pan and eggs in his hands.

Lu Sen was wearing the pink apron that Bai Wei had worn yesterday. He was still smiling and said to Bai Wei, who was in casual clothes, “Good morning.”

All of this was so unusual that Bai Wei shivered.

“Sweetheart, sit at the table, and I’ll fry you an egg,” Lu Sen said, showing the flat screen behind him. On the TV drama, the female lead was frying an egg for the male lead.

“Sweetheart?”

Lu Sen turned his head to look at him. “Darling, you don’t like this term?”

Bai Wei: …

He sat at the table, feeling that everything was too strange. Lu Sen cracked two eggs into the frying pan, added oil to fry them, even humming the song from an advertisement, smiling as he played the role of a good husband. Bai Wei glanced at the bread and then at the milk—suddenly, this scene seemed familiar.

It was very similar to when he poisoned Lu Sen the day before.

Wait a minute.

There couldn’t be any suspicious residue in this milk, could there?

He entered the kitchen, keeping an eye on all of Lu Sen’s movements—he fried two eggs, flipped them, and didn’t add anything suspicious. He took two glasses from the cupboard, specifically picking two from the inside and not the ones outside.

As he washed the glasses under the faucet, Bai Wei hesitated again. The faucet seemed intact, and there was no poison in the filter. But in the end, he picked up the unopened bottled water next to him and used it to wash the glasses.

He casually asked, “Where did the milk and bread on the table come from?”

“I saw you still sleeping when I woke up, so I went to the market. They’re all fresh out of the oven,” Lu Sen said, sounding quite excited. “I also bought you a bunch of fresh flowers—morning flowers go best with breakfast. Do you like them?”

His gray-blue eyes looked at Bai Wei.

—Those are the flowers for tomb sweeping you idiot!

“I like them very much,” Bai Wei said, expressionless.

Lu Sen placed the frying pan on the stove and opened his arms to embrace Bai Wei. As soon as Bai Wei was embraced by those oily hands, he started screaming internally. But after seeing the puzzled look on Lu Sen’s face, Bai Wei reluctantly forced a smile.

“Darling, you don’t like it?” Lu Sen asked.

“No… I’m very happy,” Bai Wei replied.

“You don’t look very happy,” Lu Sen stared at him. “Since you came downstairs, you’ve seemed unhappy. Just now, I saw you shaking the milk. Are you worried about something? Like, if there’s something in it?”

Feeling like he was being tested, Bai Wei’s hair stood on end.

He had no choice but to bury his head in Lu Sen’s chest. After smelling the oil smoke on the apron, he let out a desperate sigh. Despite this, he still said, “Honey, it’s not the weekend. I was thinking, what if you don’t go to the shop and a customer comes?”

The word “husband” came out of Bai Wei’s mouth softly and with a hundred twists. He could feel the chest muscles under his head harden. Lu Sen reached up to touch his hair—oh my god, Lu Sen actually dared to touch his hair with that hand—and casually said, “Don’t worry, no one ever comes to the shop anyway.”

No one came? Bai Wei immediately looked up, his expression one of confusion.

Bai Wei had been raised in a way that involved little physical labor, and he had no idea what kind of income a repair shop could generate in such a small town. At first, he had some doubts about the business, but Lu Sen’s monthly contributions to the household had dispelled his concerns — and besides, he never really cared much about Lu Sen’s affairs. The money was very generous; it would be more than enough for the salary of an investment manager, so perhaps small businesses really are profitable.

But now, Lu Sen was saying that no one would come to the shop?

“Oh, I meant these past few days,” Lu Sen vaguely brushed it off. “Last night, you said we should start over. So I thought it didn’t matter if I put the shop on hold for a couple of days. The most important thing is that we spend more time together.”

Both of them tried to move past the previous topic, and the atmosphere in the kitchen became warm and harmonious. Lu Sen placed two fried eggs in front of him and Bai Wei, and Bai Wei set two glasses of milk in front of both of them. They sat across from each other, smiling.

It was a perfect morning, like something out of an advertisement. Both of them were happy with their performance.

“Honey, you eat first,” Bai Wei said.

“Baby, you eat first,” Lu Sen replied.

After a few rounds, Bai Wei lowered his eyelashes and said pitifully, “Honey, I don’t have much of an appetite. I can only eat after I see you enjoying your meal.”

Lu Sen took a sip of milk and then ate a bite of fried egg. Just as he reached for the bread, Bai Wei, quick as a flash, snatched the piece of bread that Lu Sen had been about to eat.

“Honey,” he smiled at Lu Sen, “Let’s take turns eating, okay?”

“What?” Lu Sen didn’t understand.

Bai Wei held the bread and brought it to Lu Sen’s lips. “Honey, you take a bite, ah—”

Lu Sen gave him a strange look and took a bite.

It was fine, no poison. But Bai Wei didn’t dare relax. What if the other side was poisoned?

He opened his mouth and bit the piece of bread in the same place Lu Sen had. Lu Sen looked at Bai Wei’s red tongue and the soft inside of his mouth, falling into silence.

The bread was crisp and fragrant, clearly something Lu Sen had bought early that morning. But Bai Wei, always cautious, feared that Lu Sen might have poisoned it in a strip. He handed the bread back to Lu Sen. “Honey, you take another bite.”

The bite mark on the bread was transparent, the trace left by Bai Wei’s lips. Lu Sen stared at the white edges of the bread, and at that moment, he thought of the many posters of couples kissing he’d seen in human society.

At the time, he hadn’t understood why humans would touch each other’s eating places, even allowing their tongues to enter each other’s mouths.

But now, seeing the bread, he suddenly understood the impulse.

He also wanted to kiss Bai Wei’s lips.

It didn’t seem like a problem. Lu Sen thought, after all, they were married.

At that moment, he seemed to have forgotten that he was trying to be a good husband this morning.

Lu Sen took a second bite. As he held the bread in his mouth, trying to taste Bai Wei’s lips and mouth, Bai Wei finally relaxed.

It seemed that this bread wasn’t poisoned. Bai Wei took a sip of the milk, which Lu Sen had already tested for poison.

Just because this bread wasn’t poisoned didn’t mean all the bread was safe. Bai Wei thought this to himself, unaware that Lu Sen was staring at the white milk stain at the corner of his mouth. Lu Sen wished Bai Wei would give him the bread with the milk stain still on it to take another bite, but clearly, Bai Wei didn’t understand Lu Sen’s desire.

He finished the bread by himself.

However, when faced with the second piece of bread, Bai Wei remained cautious. Just as he picked it up, Lu Sen said, “Darling, can you take the first bite?”