Chapter 3

Chapter 3

"Ugh—"

Jiang Mo hunched over the toilet, dry-heaving until his face was ashen, but at least he felt a little relieved.

He got up and flushed.

Then he went to the sink. The face staring back from the mirror looked like a corpse. Splashing cold water on his face, he knew he couldn’t just sit idly by; he had to find that person.

After rinsing his mouth, Jiang Mo filled the kettle, boiled water, and cooked the last packet of instant noodles in the house.

It was hot, and the oil packet had almost completely melted.

After eating something warm, some color returned to his face.

It seemed he’d have to call in sick tomorrow. He needed to take leave to install surveillance cameras at home as quickly as possible.

After eating, he sliced two oranges from the fridge that were on the verge of spoiling, carried them to the coffee table, placed a warm hot water bottle on his stomach, and dialed his supervisor’s number.

"Leave? Reason?"

The supervisor sounded annoyed. He’d never been fond of Jiang Mo, and today was no exception.

Jiang Mo glanced at Chen Xiu’s location displayed on his computer and replied, "My house was broken into."

The supervisor grumbled impatiently, "If you can finish up by noon, come in this afternoon."

"Thank you."

Jiang Mo hung up, picked up an orange, and began eating it absently. His head felt foggy and heavy; his stomach had cramped from earlier retching.

As he swallowed the sweet orange juice, he closed his eyes and thought of Chen Xiu. If Chen Xiu were by his side, he would surely offer him water and medicine, gaze at him with those worried almond eyes, and feel his forehead with warm hands.

After all, he was such a gentle person.

Chen Xiu glanced behind him. He had just finished his shift at the convenience store and felt a little strange—today, it seemed no one was following him.

Though he’d never actually seen the person tailing him, their intimate knowledge of his whereabouts meant they must have been following him all along.

But today, that feeling of being watched seemed to have vanished.

He felt an unprecedented lightness in his back and shoulders, a long-lost joy of freedom. For a moment, he forgot himself, spread his arms, and spun around.

That spin led to him being clipped by a car.

"Ah…" Chen Xiu fell to the ground in front of the car like a fallen butterfly.

Soon, someone got out of the car: "Are you hurt?"

Chen Xiu turned to look, disbelieving: "…Mr. Xiao."

Jiang Mo squeezed toothpaste onto his brush and began brushing his teeth. After washing up, he checked the room one last time before lying down, pulling the covers tightly around him, feeling as fragile as a leaf.

He stared at his message thread with Chen Xiu for a long time but ultimately didn’t send the message: "I’m watching you."

Closing his eyes, he soon fell into a deep sleep.

At two in the morning, the door opened from the outside, and Chen Zui walked in.

Ao Tian: [This is wild—I’ve never done something like this with a host before.]

Chen Zui entered the house, closed the door, and glanced at the orange peels in the trash can.

He strolled into the bedroom. Jiang Mo was still deeply asleep, completely unresponsive.

He was lying on his side, one arm under his head, legs curled up—a somewhat pitiful sleeping posture.

Chen Zui pulled open the curtains, examining Jiang Mo by the moonlight, carefully studying his mission target.

[He looks like a ghost.]

Chen Zui offered his assessment.

[His face is handsome, but his aura…] Ao Tian couldn’t finish. A stalker, a pervert who surveils others—what else could you expect? Sunshine and rainbows?

Chen Zui didn’t hesitate. He easily tugged down Jiang Mo’s pants halfway.

Taking his underwear down too.

The man still didn’t wake up, completely unaware of what was happening in his room.

Chen Zui took a look—the little thing was pale and soft, curled up in a small ball, as pitiful as its owner at that moment.

He playfully hooked it with his finger.

Soft.

Jiang Mo’s brows seemed to furrow slightly. Chen Zui pulled something from his pocket—a black, forced chastity lock, small and exquisite, with a three-digit code.

He’d custom-ordered it at a high price the day he arrived.

Of course, this wasn’t the only thing he’d customized.

How do you deal with a pervert?

Simple.

Just be even more perverted than them.

Only he knew the password. He clamped it onto the pitiful little thing.

Blame your owner.

—

Chen Zui casually left Jiang Mo’s residence. As he got into his car at the complex entrance, he saw a luxury car pull up and stop at the gate.

Soon, Xiao Hang got out, walked around to the passenger side, and almost carried the flustered Chen Xiu out of the car.

Ao Tian: [Their story seems to have begun. This scene should have been witnessed by Jiang Mo, making his stalking even more perverted.]

Ao Tian: [He even tried to kill Xiao Hang a few times.]

Chen Zui was a bit curious: [Did Chen Xiu never find out that the stalker was Jiang Mo?]

[He did, but love forgives everything.]

Chen Zui truly laughed.

Instead of choosing a normal, overbearing CEO, you go for a creepy laborer—is that really love?

No, this is a novel.

Chen Zui drove away. Surveillance was grueling work; these past couple of days, he had been up before the roosters and working like a dog.

Fortunately, he was loaded in this world.

He first went to a restaurant to enjoy a delicious midnight snack before heading home. After his bedtime routine, he prepared to go to bed.

He was quite looking forward to tomorrow.

—

"Run! Now!"

In the jungle, blood stained the grass and leaves. Chen Zui had been shot in the abdomen and right knee, and blood was pouring out.

Bullets continued to rain down around him. Those people wouldn’t stop until he was dead, and he could neither run fast nor move.

His only regret was A Ye by his side. A Ye was a North American gray wolf; he’d found it as a small cub and raised it day by day.

Like it was his own child.

Seeing that the usually most obedient wolf cub now refused to leave, in desperation, Chen Zui hit it for the first time.

"Go! Get out of here!"

A Ye, startled by his harsh tone, its beautiful, sharp blue wolf eyes showed hurt before it lowered its fluffy tail and ran forward, glancing back every few steps.

Having lost too much blood, Chen Zui couldn't hold on any longer and collapsed.

The sharp grass blades cut his face. Using his last bit of strength, he turned over, gazing at the azure sky and drifting white clouds. Facing imminent death, he felt no fear.

From the day he became a mercenary, he knew one truth: killers will be killed.

He felt neither wronged, sad, nor angry.

The enemy had caught up, intending to chop off his head with a knife. He took a deep breath of the scent of flowers in the air and accepted death calmly.

Just then, a shadow pounced from ahead, knocking the attacker down and savaging him.

Chen Zui: "...Silly wolf."

His wolf cub had returned. He could no longer just wait to die. He struggled to his feet, protecting his wolf cub, and fought to his dying breath, his body riddled with bullets.

He and his A Ye fell together, as if sinking into soft cotton.

A Ye was soaked in blood. In its final moments, it was still licking its wounds.

Chen Zui’s eyes flew open, tears sliding from the corners.

He seemed not to notice.

[My mission is successful—it must ensure A Ye survives, right?]

[Yes, both of you can survive. So let’s work hard to complete the mission. But let me remind you again: you cannot use force to coerce the mission target. You must have his consent before you can, well, be with him. Also, his affection level toward you must reach 70%. Both conditions must be met for the mission to succeed.]

[His current affection level toward you is: 2.]

[Wow, he actually has an affection level toward you? How did you manage that?]

Ao Tian didn’t understand—they had only met once.

Ao Tian: [Could it be because of that bit of medicine? He’s so easily impressed. It seems our mission success is within reach.]

Chen Zui sat up, automatically reaching for a cigarette. His mind was still full of A Ye, the wolf cub he had raised with his own hands, who died so tragically.

He had failed to protect it.

Chen Zui’s face was gloomy as he blew out smoke. Only after finishing the cigarette did he begin to calm down.

[So, on the basis of successfully being with him, if his affection level toward me reaches 70%, it counts as my success—even if he later finds out the truth and his affection level drops?]

[Correct.]

Chen Zui was relieved. Otherwise, if Jiang Mo found out he was the one spying on and threatening him, he doubted very much Jiang Mo would maintain his affection like Chen Xiu did.

After all, in this novel, he wasn’t the protagonist.

Chen Zui put on a white hoodie, distressed jeans, threw on a crossbody bag, and equipped himself with a cap and wireless earphones. He looked at least five years younger.

He was going to check on the results of last night’s efforts.

Before setting out, he sent a message.

Jiang Mo was staring blankly at the adult toy that had appeared on his body.

The sound of his phone ringing snapped him out of it.

His throat felt dry as he swallowed, his heart in his throat. He picked up his phone, and within just a minute or two, cold sweat beaded on his forehead.

?: [I’m waiting for you at the subway station.]

?: [This is your punishment for being naughty.]

Jiang Mo clutched his phone tightly, with no intention of replying. He knew anything he said to the other party would be useless—just like how Chen Xiu had said a lot to him at first, but he hadn’t stopped what he wanted to do.

They were both creeps.

They all had the same idea.

He tried a couple of times but couldn’t remove it.

He attempted to enter the password but failed. There was no punishment aside from that, but he worried it might lock after three wrong attempts, so he didn’t dare try again.

Now he had two options.

First, go to the fire department and have them help remove it—though that would be incredibly humiliating.

Second, do as the other party said and go to the subway station. Maybe he could even take the opportunity to catch the person.

As Jiang Mo pondered, he suddenly remembered something more important. He checked the time and went to the window to look across the way.

Two minutes later, the figure he was expecting appeared from the doorway, but someone was with him.

"Is that... Xiao Hang?"

Jiang Mo couldn't believe his eyes, but it was indeed Xiao Hang. He almost half-dragged, half-carried Chen Xiu out of the residential area, and Chen Xiu cooperated the entire time, only keeping his eyes downcast, too embarrassed to look at Xiao Hang.

His face turned extremely grim, his hand hanging by his side clenched tightly into a fist, making him seem even more menacing. His gaze seemed as if he wanted to tear Xiao Hang into pieces.

[Do you want me to kill the man beside you?]

[I’m watching you.]

[Chen Xiu.]