Chapter 30

Chapter 30

Lin Xingshu’s body jolted, and for a moment, he forgot to struggle. He slowly turned his head, his eyes wide with utter bewilderment as he looked at Xie Guan.

“What did you say?”

Xie Guan’s fingers traced the soft flesh at Lin Xingshu’s waist, his voice laced with innuendo, his icy breath caressing Lin Xingshu’s ear:

“Out of the dream, and you don’t recognize me anymore? We spent an entire month together in that dream. You were so passionate, saying you liked me, loved me… Have you forgotten it all?”

Lin Xingshu couldn’t believe his ears. He stared at Xie Guan, utterly speechless.

“You… you’re—”

Xie Guan chuckled softly, gently repositioning Lin Xingshu’s stiff body until they were face to face, intimately close. He slowly took Lin Xingshu’s hand, closing his eyes and tenderly nuzzling against his palm, his expression a mixture of profound longing and obsession.

“Do you know how hard I searched for you? Someone didn’t want you to see me, didn’t want you to remember me. For three years, every day felt like a lifetime. But it’s alright now—I’ve finally come to your side.”

He lifted his gaze, his dark eyes devoid of light yet burning with a terrifying intensity as he looked at Lin Xingshu.

“Xing Shu, you have to keep your promise, okay? Let’s be together forever.”

At that moment, Lin Xingshu finally understood—Xie Guan was the very boy who had haunted his dreams for three years!

No wonder… no wonder he always felt something unsettling about Xie Guan’s gaze, something disturbingly clingy and repulsive. Those twisted actions now finally made perfect sense.

“Hahaha—”

Xie Guan suddenly let out a strange laugh. Under Lin Xingshu’s stunned gaze, he cupped his chin, smiling brightly at Lin Xingshu, the corners of his eyes tinged red.

“Xing Shu, that expression is truly adorable. You’re just as cute as you were three years ago—you haven’t changed a bit.”

Lin Xingshu instinctively recoiled at Xie Guan’s deranged demeanor, too afraid to meet his gaze.

“You’ve found me now. What exactly do you want?”

“I don’t remember much from back then. Even if I broke my promise, it was because you deceived me first. If your goal was to humiliate me for revenge, then you’ve already succeeded.”

Lin Xingshu gritted his teeth, his fists clenching unconsciously, a flicker of evasion in his eyes. His lips trembled as he mumbled:

“Let’s just… call it even today. From now on, we’ll go our separate ways, as if we never knew each other—”

“Go our separate ways—?”

Xie Guan’s smile vanished instantly. He violently seized Lin Xingshu’s wrist, his eyes blazing with madness.

“You think I’ll let you walk away? No. I refuse. I won’t allow it! You asked what I want? It’s simple—I want you. Only you—!”

“Let go! You’re hurting me! Release me!”

“I won’t.”

Xie Guan tightened his grip on Lin Xingshu’s wrist, his dark pupils fixed unwaveringly on him, his voice low and hoarse. “You’re a liar. The moment I let go, you’ll leave me. This time, I won’t loosen my hold—not even in death.”

With that, he slammed Lin Xingshu to the ground, pinning him beneath his weight. Lin Xingshu writhed desperately, but Xie Guan suddenly clamped a hand around his throat while his legs pinned his thighs, rendering any struggle futile.

Lin Xingshu’s eyes widened in horror, his face already deathly pale. He shook his head frantically at Xie Guan, his gaze filled with desperate pleading.

“I was wrong, Xie Guan! I shouldn’t have broken our agreement back then—I truly know I was wrong! Please, spare me! Don’t kill me! I don’t want to die… I’ll do anything, I beg you!”

“Die?”

Xie Guan narrowed his eyes, a dangerous glint flashing within them. “I didn’t intend for you to die. But you just gave me an idea.”

Lin Xingshu’s body convulsed, his despair deepening. Tears welled in his eyes from sheer terror, spilling past trembling lashes as they rolled down his cheeks.

“Don’t cry, don’t cry, baby. Your tears are breaking my heart.”

Xie Guan tenderly brushed away his tears, his voice gentle. Yet the kinder he acted, the more terrified Lin Xingshu became, his sobs growing uncontrollable, his breath coming in broken gasps.

“Save your strength. You’ll need it later, hm?”

Xie Guan leaned in affectionately, pressing a cold kiss to his cheek before whispering into his ear, his tone impossibly soft.

“Baby, how could I ever let you die? Even if you do, it’ll only be because I *fucked* you to death.”

Lin Xingshu froze, about to speak—when Xie Guan abruptly claimed his mouth violently without warning, his icy tongue invading like a nimble snake.

Lin Xingshu’s eyes snapped open wide. He shoved at Xie Guan with all his might, but the other man remained unyielding as stone, devouring his mouth, even biting his lips.

“Mmph… let me go…!”

Ignoring his struggles, Xie Guan mapped a path of icy kisses downward. Between ragged breaths, he freed one hand, sliding it subtly under the fabric of Lin Xingshu’s clothes. Just like in the dreams, he unerringly found his weak spot—a mere brush of his fingers, and Lin Xingshu’s body went boneless beneath him.

“So good for me, baby.”

“I knew it—you like me too. We’ve never done this in the real world before. I can’t wait.”

Xie Guan’s eyes crinkled into crescents as he smiled. He lowered his head, his cold tongue painting wet circles on Lin Xingshu’s neck while his other hand made quick work of his buttons.

“Look, baby. It’s welcoming me.”

The implication was clear, his gaze teasing as he stared down at Lin Xingshu.

“I think you’re ready. Let’s try it—just like in the dreams.”

Xie Guan’s hand slid subtly beneath the hem of his shorts, icy fingertips skating over his skin, raising goosebumps in their wake. Lin Xingshu’s eyes widened in horror as he shrieked:

“No… NO—!”

In a burst of terror, Lin Xingshu mustered all his strength, driving his knee up viciously—directly into Xie Guan’s abdomen.

Caught off guard, Xie Guan let out a pained grunt, collapsing onto the ground. Seizing the chance, Lin Xingshu clawed at his buttons, lurching upright as he lunged for the rooftop door.

“Baby, why must you reject me?”

Xie Guan suddenly reappeared behind him, hauling him back against his chest and wrenching his head around until they were nose to nose.

Lin Xingshu’s chest heaved with ragged breaths, his face ashen, eyes swimming with terror. Xie Guan, however, seemed oblivious. He chuckled, cupping Lin Xingshu’s face, their eyes so close their lashes nearly touched. Lin Xingshu could even see the bloodshot whites of his eyes.

“Let’s mate, hm? I promise—I’ll make you happier than in the dreams. Want to try it with my true form? I’ll allow it.”

“My reproductive abilities are strong. I can give you offspring. Pregnancy is hard, but I’m willing. Baby, Xing Shu, let’s be together. I truly want to be with you. I want to bear children with your blood—”

“Xie Guan, you’re insane! You’re a spider—and a *male* spider! How could you reproduce?! I’m human! There’s reproductive isolation—do you understand?! What kind of monster would that even be?!”

Lin Xingshu stared at him in disbelief. He couldn’t imagine the horror of what would be born if Xie Guan truly conceived their child.

He knew spiders could give birth to many offspring in one brood, but he was human. Those children might have human heads on spider bodies, or spider heads and human forms… Would his home eventually be crawling with spiders and covered in webs?

The thought sent a shiver down Lin Xingshu’s spine, his body shaking like a leaf.

“Babe, you’ve actually thought this far ahead?!”

Xie Guan’s eyes widened with excitement, shining with a triumphant gleam.

“See, you *do* care about me… I just mentioned wanting to have kids with you, and you’ve already planned our future… Babe, you love me so much.”

Lin Xingshu stared at him in disbelief, his mind forming only one judgment of Xie Guan: love-crazed idiot.

Unable to hold back any longer, he shouted, his voice cracking, “If you want kids, go find a female spider! We’re both male—I can’t have children with you! I’m only eighteen, I’ve never even thought about this! Get the hell away from me—!”

He shoved Xie Guan away, putting all his weight into slamming against the rooftop door. To his surprise, after just a few hits, the door flew open, and he staggered forward, nearly tumbling down the stairs.

The next moment, a pair of cold hands wrapped around his waist from behind. Xie Guan clung to him desperately, as if trying to meld their bodies into one being.

“Don’t go.”

“Don’t go, please…”

“If you don’t want children, then I won’t have them. I won’t go to anyone else, not even another spider. For creatures like me, once we choose someone, we never let go. I love you—don’t leave me like you did back then, okay?”

Lin Xingshu gritted his teeth, gripping Xie Guan’s hands and forcefully peeling his fingers off one by one.

“Let go or not?”

“No!”

“Let go! Let me leave, don’t make me hate you!”

The person behind him went rigid briefly, but then held on even tighter than before.

“I’ll never let go, even if I die.”

Seeing the stairs right in front of him, Lin Xingshu couldn't take it anymore. He struggled desperately to break free from Xie Guan’s grasp, but Xie Guan refused to loosen his hold. In the chaos of their struggle, their steps became unsteady.

Lin Xingshu misstepped, his foot missing a step. He grabbed the railing in panic, but Xie Guan behind him failed to catch himself—his entire body lurched forward, and the next moment, a loud crash echoed as he tumbled down the stairs.

Lin Xingshu’s mind went blank. By the time he regained his senses, Xie Guan was already lying motionless at the bottom of the stairs, curled up weakly, blood pooling beneath his forehead.

Oh god…

Snapping back to reality, Lin Xingshu hurriedly moved to check on Xie Guan. But before he could take a single step, hurried footsteps and screams broke out from below.

“Ahhh! Someone—someone’s dead!”

“What?! What happened?!”

Students and parents rushed over in a frenzy, gathering around Xie Guan. One brave person tentatively checked his pulse.

“He’s not dead! Just unconscious!”

“But… this is the rooftop! Hardly anyone comes up here—how did he fall?”

Whispers spread like wildfire, and eyes inevitably turned upward toward the rooftop. When they spotted Lin Xingshu standing on the stairs, a student covered their mouth in shock.

“Lin Xingshu! You… what are you doing here?!”

The student glanced at Xie Guan on the ground, their face turning pale as they stared at Lin Xingshu in disbelief.

“Lin Xingshu, you—you pushed Xie Guan!” !!!

“I didn’t! He fell on his own!”

Lin Xingshu quickly protested, his gaze scanning desperately in search of surveillance cameras to prove his innocence. But to his dismay, there were no cameras along the stairway to the rooftop.

His lips parted wordlessly as he instinctively sought to defend himself, but the suspicious glares of the crowd cut through him like knives. He wanted to speak, but no words came out.

No way to prove his innocence.

“Enough talking—call an ambulance first! Let’s get this kid to the infirmary and see what’s wrong!”

A parent’s voice rose above the noise, and soon everyone scrambled to lift the unconscious Xie Guan. No one spared a moment to listen to Lin Xingshu’s explanation.

Standing rooted to the spot, Lin Xingshu didn’t know what to do. His eyes fell on Xie Guan’s still body—only to meet a pair of dark eyes staring back at him.

Xie Guan wasn’t unconscious at all. He was smiling—wildly triumphant—but in an instant, his eyes shut again, ignoring all the voices calling out to him.

But Lin Xingshu had already understood everything.

He was faking it. He had done this on purpose.