After ninety-nine online romances, I finally met my ex in person when school started.

Zhu Xun Chuan struggled for a moment.

The hemp rope around my wrists was extremely rough, digging painfully into my skin. The knots were tied in a very professional double-loop pig's hoof knot, tightening more and more the more I struggled, completely sealing off any room for bone movement.

Both legs and ankles were tightly secured to the iron chair legs with thickened industrial nylon cable ties.

The effects of the drug within him remained potent, suppressing the muscle explosiveness brought about by the initial enhancement potion. Right now, he could only move his lips; he couldn't even stand up.

The basement was eerily quiet. There were no windows. An old incandescent bulb overhead cast a dim, glaring yellow light. The walls were covered with black, pyramid-shaped soundproofing foam.

On the metal table directly in front, there were more than a dozen scalpels of different sizes, two pointed hemostats, a medical bone saw, and a whole row of slender silver needles that gleamed coldly.

The damp, musty smell in the air was mixed with a faint fragrance of gardenias.

"Squeak—"

The heavy, soundproof iron door was pushed open from the outside. A dull, scraping sound echoed in the cramped space.

Zhu Xunchuan raised his head.

The girl in the white floral dress walked in. Her long hair reached her waist, and her features were sweet and youthful; she still looked like the timid little rabbit she had seen by the basketball court during the day.

At this moment, she was holding a large, transparent glass jar filled with colorful origami stars in her left hand, and an extremely sharp, willow-leaf-shaped scalpel in her right hand, held upside down.

Sweetness, floral dresses, paper stars, contrasted with a dimly lit basement, professional bondage, and a cold scalpel. Two completely different styles are strangely blended together on her.

"You're awake, Brother Chuan."

The girl casually hooked the iron gate shut with her foot. She walked up to Zhu Xun Chuan and gently placed the glass jar filled with paper stars on the tin table.

She turned around and slowly squatted down.

The cold blade pressed against Zhu Xun Chuan's cheek. It slid down his jawline, severing a single fine hair on his chin.

Zhu Xun Chuan did not dodge. He looked at that sweet and harmless face, his mind racing.

"What, don't you recognize me?" The girl tilted her head, a sweet smile playing on her lips, but her eyes held a sickly, unfocused look. "It's me, Lu Nianxi. My online name is 'Bleeding Heart'."

Zhu Xun Chuan's pupils suddenly contracted.

A gate deep within my memory was suddenly flung open.

During his second year of high school, there was indeed such a person in his "fishpond" (a term for someone who is overly affectionate and emotionally unstable). This person spent his days posting dark messages about self-harm and wrist-cutting on social media, was extremely starved for love, and had extremely unstable emotions.

Zhu Xun Chuan tried every day to coax her in order to boost her emotional value.

Later, he felt that the girl was too clingy and too obsessive, and even suggested that she come to see him from another province. He decisively clicked the delete button and blocked her, and they never had any contact again.

"It seems you've remembered."

Lu Nianxi stood up. The tip of the knife slid down Zhu Xunchuan's neck to his collarbone, gently prying open the collar of his jersey.

"Your method of tying someone up is quite professional." Zhu Xun Chuan's tone remained nonchalant, revealing a hint of his usual scumbag nature in the face of danger. "It's a shame he's not a secret agent. Has this rope been soaked in water? It's getting tighter the more you tighten it."

"I practiced for three whole months just to catch you." Lu Nianxi giggled, her voice clear and melodious, like a little girl who had just received a compliment.

She walked to the iron table and reached out to touch the glass jar.

"Back then, my dad was investigated by the Party's disciplinary body, and our house was sealed off. All the relatives and friends who used to fawn over our family avoided me like the plague. I was pointed at and gossiped about at school, and even the cafeteria ladies gave me the cold shoulder."

Lu Nianxi's voice began to tremble. Her eyes quickly reddened, and large tears welled up in them, completely shattering her facade of innocence.

"Every night I would hide under the covers and cry, wanting to die, wanting to cut my wrists with a knife. It was you who kept me company every day, chatting with me and telling me jokes."

She turned her head and stared intently at Zhu Xun Chuan, her eyes filled with a frantic passion.

"You sent me this whole jar of paper stars. Three thousand of them. You told me that each star was a reminder of the dark nights you spent with me. You pulled me out of the abyss. You are my light, my only salvation."

Zhu Xun Chuan raised an eyebrow. Back then, he had only bought a ready-made origami star online for fifty yuan, filled in her address, and sent it. He never expected it to be so impactful.

"And then?" Zhu Xun Chuan asked, following her words, trying to buy time for the effects of the medicine to wear off.

"And then?" Lu Nianxi suddenly laughed, a laugh tinged with a chilling malice. "Later, the truth came out about my father's case. He was framed. He was reinstated and returned to his position as the municipal party secretary. I originally wanted to tell you this good news first. I wanted to run to you and give you my clean record."

Lu Nianxi turned around abruptly and strode up to Zhu Xunchuan. The tip of the knife in her hand was pressed against his Adam's apple.

"But what about you! You suddenly blocked me!" Lu Nianxi screamed hysterically, tears streaming down her cheeks and dripping onto Zhu Xunchuan's collarbone. "Why don't you want me anymore? What did I do wrong? You said you'd be my star forever!"

The knife tip pierced the skin, and a tiny line of blood seeped out.

Zhu Xun Chuan did not back down, and continued to look directly into her sickly eyes.

"So, you used your father's resources in the public security system to thoroughly investigate my bottom line?" Zhu Xun Chuan asked calmly. "The Volkswagen that's been watching me all this time, and those eyes lurking in the shadows, it's all you."

"Yes." Lu Nianxi instantly suppressed her anger. She stuck out her tongue and gently licked away the trace of blood belonging to Zhu Xunchuan from the tip of the knife.

This gesture, combined with her sweet and innocent face, exudes an extremely twisted sense of immorality.

"I've been watching you for a whole month. I watched you drive your Panamera every day, watched you flaunt your expensive watch at school." Lu Nianxi's eyes turned extremely sinister. "But what I hate most are the women surrounding you!"

She grabbed Zhu Xun Chuan's collar and pressed her face just centimeters away from his. Her heavy breathing, carrying the scent of gardenias, sprayed onto Zhu Xun Chuan's face.

"That counselor Gu Qinghan in black stockings, that military district heiress Shen Tianxi who clings to you and calls you 'husband' all the time, that so-called big star Su Mucheng, and that stinky woman Xia Wanying who drives a Maybach!"

With each name Lu Nianxi uttered, her hand holding the knife trembled.

"Why do they stand next to you? Why can they touch you? I watch you eat in the cafeteria every day, watching them tug at you. I'm so jealous I'm going crazy!" Lu Nianxi unbuttoned the left sleeve.

Her snow-white forearm was covered with countless scratches from fingernails, some already scabbed over, others still bleeding. It was a shocking sight.

"Every night I think about how to skin them alive, how to cut off their legs." Lu Nianxi's tone was as gentle as if she were talking about an extremely ordinary family matter.

Zhu Xun Chuan took a deep breath. This woman wasn't just a yandere, she was a complete psychopath. Was this the oppressive aura of the municipal party secretary's daughter?

"Even if you kill them all, I still won't like you." Zhu Xun Chuan's lips curled into a wicked smile typical of a scumbag. "Lu Nian tide, you're a smart girl. Forced relationships are never sweet."

"Who said I was going to force myself?"

Lu Nianxi threw the scalpel onto the iron table, making a crisp metallic clanging sound.

She suddenly took a step forward, lifted her long leg clad in white stockings, and straddled Zhu Xun Chuan's legs. With her skirt fluttering, she sat firmly on Zhu Xun Chuan's lap.

Zhu Xun Chuan's breath hitched. Although his hands were bound and his physical strength was restricted, a man's most primal physiological reactions were uncontrollable.

Lu Nianxi clearly noticed the changes in his body.

She chuckled softly. She wrapped her arms around Zhu Xun Chuan's neck, burying her face in the crook of his neck. Her warm lips pressed against the artery in his neck, gently nibbling and sucking.

"Brother Chuan, your body is still telling the truth."

Lu Nianxi raised her head and picked up the scalpel again. She sliced ​​down Zhu Xun Chuan's chest with the back of the blade.

"But it doesn't matter. I don't care whether you like me or not now." Lu Nianxi's eyes were completely glazed over, revealing a morbid possessiveness that sent chills down one's spine.

The tip of the knife rested on his lower abdomen.

"Since they all want to take you away, and since you can't control your own heart, how about I turn you into a specimen?"

Lu Nianxi leaned close to his ear, her breath sweet and her voice cloyingly sweet.

"I'll pull out your teeth, drain your blood, and fill your belly with preservative spices. Then I'll lock you in this basement forever. Only I can see you, only I can touch you. Let's be together forever, okay?"