In the darkness, Bai Siyuan bent over her again, his warm breath brushing against the side of her neck again and again.
Jiang Nuan reached for the doorknob.
He clearly wasn’t entirely himself anymore. Perhaps he no longer had the presence of mind to guard the door.
She found it. Her fingers even brushed the cold metal of the handle.
Then her hand dropped.
It wasn’t because she had let go.
She felt an invisible force tugging at her arm. Then her feet began to move. She turned around and walked step by step toward the sofa before turning and sitting down.
A high-level psychic ability. He could control other people’s movements.
Sweat broke out in layers along the back of Jiang Nuan’s neck.
In all these years, he had never used it in front of her. Not even once.
Because there had never been any need. She had always stayed by his side of her own free will.
Bai Siyuan walked over and stood in front of her for several seconds before turning sideways and sitting down.
He raised his hand and stroked her hair. His fingers slid down along the strands until they reached her ear and stopped.
They stopped at the earring she was wearing.
He had told her that it could block psychic abilities and that she would be safer wearing it, so she had never taken it off.
“A Nuan.” His voice dropped low in the darkness. “Stay by your brother’s side from now on.”
Jiang Nuan’s shoulders were forced to relax and lean against him.
“As for the people from Unit Zero…” He pinched the earring, rubbing his fingers over it several times. “I’ll eliminate them one by one.”
The words made Jiang Nuan’s scalp prickle.
She had seen Bai Siyuan’s cold, decisive side in fragments of her memories. She had also seen him issue orders to the members of his family.
But at least then, Bai Siyuan had been lucid.
And now…
This was definitely because he was being eroded by the anomalous energy. He wasn’t in his right mind.
Yes. It had to be that.
Jiang Nuan tried to call upon the ability inside her, but the moment her mental power began to gather, it was forcibly dispersed.
She gave a light cough.
Good. She could still speak. He had controlled her body, but not her tongue.
That meant she still had one weapon left.
“So this is what you meant when you said you wouldn’t hurt me?” Her voice sounded as aggrieved as she could make it. “By controlling me like this?”
In the darkness, Bai Siyuan did not answer.
He leaned toward her and braced both hands against the sofa, trapping her between them.
His lips brushed her bangs.
“How could I ever hurt you?”
“I would never hurt you.”
“So long as A Nuan obediently stays by my side.”
For a moment, Jiang Nuan forgot how to breathe.
His kisses moved from her forehead to the corner of her eye, then down across her cheek, finally stopping at the corner of her lips.
She wanted to turn her head away, but her neck would not move. She could only endure it.
Her mind went completely blank.
The familiar scent of Bai Siyuan overlapped with the image of the boy from the refugee district—the boy who had saved the last of his food for her.
She remembered him crossing the long garden late at night just to bring her a piece of red-bean pastry in the secluded courtyard.
And now, that same person was kissing her little by little.
His warm lips pressed fully against hers, grinding against them again and again.
She could neither respond nor push him away.
Just as the kiss grew so deep that she could barely breathe, a sudden searing heat flared beside her ear.
Bai Siyuan’s entire body jolted.
“Ugh…”
He let out a muffled groan and abruptly straightened. The next second, it was as if he had been struck head-on by something. He staggered backward and crashed into the wall behind him.
The devastating blow had held nothing back.
At the same time, the restraints on Jiang Nuan vanished.
She practically leaped off the sofa and twisted the doorknob. The door swung open, revealing a corridor shrouded in darkness.
All she had to do was step outside, and she could go find Qi Sui and Qi Nian.
One foot was already over the threshold.
Then she stopped.
She turned back to look at Bai Siyuan by the wall.
One hand pressed against his chest. Blood stained the corner of his mouth, and beneath the moonlight, his face was completely drained of color. His other hand braced against the wall.
He had lost all ability to fight.
Suddenly, Jiang Nuan understood something.
That earring. He had said it was meant to block psychic abilities.
But the ability it was actually designed to guard against was his own.
The trigger conditions were probably these two things: using psychic control on her, and treating her with excessive intimacy.
Jiang Nuan stood in the doorway, one hand still resting on the doorknob, her palm slick with sweat.
So he had thought about this day long ago. He had considered what might happen if, one day, he could no longer control himself…
That was why he had put a lock on himself.
And then given Jiang Nuan the earring meant to be used against him.
“…”
Bai Siyuan leaned against the wall, the front of his clothes soaked in blood. He had completely lost his ability to fight.
He looked up at her, a trace of clarity returning to his eyes. There was also a hint of surprise, as though he could not understand why she had not left yet.
Jiang Nuan closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again.
If he stayed here, his mutation level would continue to rise, and he had no way to treat his injuries on his own.
Jiang Nuan sighed, walked back, crouched down, and took his hand.
“Don’t move.”
Purification energy flowed through the skin where they touched, slowly probing into his body.
First, she had to lower his mutation level. Otherwise, while they were inside the restricted zone, his steadily increasing mutation level would drive him even further into madness the longer they stayed.
Bai Siyuan’s body visibly stiffened.
Jiang Nuan closed her eyes and focused on sensing his condition.
That salty, bitter presence was even more concentrated than she had imagined. It had taken root inside Bai Siyuan’s body, tangled together with his consciousness.
Jiang Nuan guided the purification energy inward, slowly dissolving the contamination bit by bit.
The darkness in Bai Siyuan’s eyes gradually faded, but his breathing grew more rapid instead.
His chest rose and fell. A strained, unbearable sound escaped from his throat, and his clasped hand tightened involuntarily.
Jiang Nuan’s ears turned bright red.
…This ability had side effects.
As purification energy passed through the body, the sensation for the person being purified was probably similar to having a hand move very, very slowly across their skin.
Jiang Nuan steeled herself and refused to look at his face, keeping her eyes fixed only on their hands.
Only when that salty, bitter presence had faded considerably did Jiang Nuan finally release him and let out a long breath.
She looked up at Bai Siyuan and tried to end the whole chaotic situation with an ordinary question.
“Brother, how are you feeling now?”
Ideally, he would simply answer, “Much better.”
Then neither of them would mention what had just happened. He would still be her brother, and she would still be his sister.
Perfect.
But Bai Siyuan remained silent. He only looked at her.
His gaze was far too intent, as if the entire dim lounge had lost all meaning and she was the only thing left in front of him.
Jiang Nuan began to feel uneasy under his stare. Just as she was about to pull her hand away, Bai Siyuan caught it and pressed her palm against his heart.
It was beating rapidly.
Through the fabric of his clothes, each thud struck against her palm.
“A Nuan, I would have said all of that even if I were completely lucid.”
