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

"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 as orchids.

Zhu Xunchuan felt the cool metallic touch against his neck.

The scalpel was extremely sharp; if she had even slightly twitched her wrist, her carotid artery would have been severed.

He did not struggle, nor did he show the slightest fear.

Instead, he chuckled softly.

The vibration in her chest cavity was transmitted to Lu Nianxi's body.

Lu Nianxi paused for a moment, her hands stopping their movements.

She frowned, lowered the blade slightly, and her voice turned cold: "What are you laughing at? You think I wouldn't dare?"

"Nianxi, you're still so naive."

Zhu Xun Chuan put away his carefree and unruly demeanor.

His gaze instantly deepened, filled with an unyielding pity and helplessness as he stared intently at Lu Nianxi.

"When your father had that accident, you fell to the bottom. I was there for you and pulled you out of the abyss. Those were our purest times."

Zhu Xun Chuan's voice was so gentle it could melt water, making it seem especially alluring in this cramped space.

"But what happened next? Your father was reinstated, and you became the high-ranking daughter of the municipal party secretary again. You lived in a big villa and had a chauffeur-driven car to pick you up whenever you went out."

He paused, then spoke slowly and deliberately.

"And me? I was just a poor high school student back then. I didn't even have the money to take you out for a nice meal."

Lu Nianxi's breath hitched, and her pupils dilated.

Zhu Xunchuan continued his outpouring of words, each one piercing to the heart.

"Why do you think I suddenly blocked you back then? Do you think I didn't like you? Do you think I wasn't attracted to you?"

"I don't want to become a stain on your reputation. Your father is the municipal party secretary. If he finds out you're entangled with a lowly scoundrel from the bottom of society, what will he think of you? How will your relatives and friends laugh at you?"

"Besides blocking you and disappearing from your world completely, what else can I do?"

Zhu Xun Chuan gave a bitter smile and lowered his eyes.

"I'd rather you hate me and think I'm a heartless man than have you lose face in this industry because of me."

This textbook-level "duck soup" rhetoric accurately struck Lu Nianxi's softest and most vulnerable spot.

Girls who lack love are most drawn to this kind of melodramatic love story of "silent dedication and self-sacrifice".

The hand holding the scalpel began to tremble uncontrollably.

"You...you're lying."

Lu Nianxi's voice trembled, her eyes instantly reddened, and cracks appeared in her obsessive and morbid aura.

"You've changed your mind, you just like those women..."

"If I had really changed my mind, why would I have drunk the water you gave me without any suspicion on the basketball court just now?"

Zhu Xun Chuan retorted without backing down.

There aren't many people in this world who can make me feel completely unguarded. You're one of them.

Lu Nianxi was completely stunned.

Tears welled up and streamed down his cheeks, landing on Zhu Xunchuan's jersey.

Zhu Xun Chuan knew the time was right, and silently chanted in his mind, "System, activate [Hormonal Shock Aura], maximum power!"

hum-

An invisible, domineering aura of male hormones instantly swept through the small basement, centered on Zhu Xunchuan.

This isn't the scent of cheap perfume, but a deadly attraction that strikes at the biological instincts of the opposite sex, carrying a strong sense of conquest and oppression.

Lu Nianxi was the first to be affected.

She was already straddling Zhu Xun Chuan's lap, her long legs, wrapped in white silk, pressed tightly against his trouser legs.

Under the impact of this aura, her breathing instantly became rapid, and her chest heaved violently.

Her legs went weak uncontrollably, her body swayed, and she collapsed limply into Zhu Xun Chuan's arms.

The faint scent of gardenias mingled with the cool woody fragrance emanating from Zhu Xun Chuan, causing the air temperature to rise sharply.

"Nian tide."

Looking at the girl who was slumped in his arms, barely able to hold the knife, Zhu Xun Chuan made an extremely bold move.

Instead of retreating, he leaned forward.

The neck actively met the still slightly trembling scalpel.

"Killing me would give you a sense of relief and make you feel safe."

"Go ahead and do it. I won't feel guilty dying at your hands."

The sharp blade instantly sliced ​​through the skin of the neck.

A very shallow bloodstain appeared, and bright red blood slid down her fair neck.

Zhu Xun Chuan let out a muffled groan.

"what!"

Lu Nianxi let out a distorted scream.

She dropped the scalpel as if she'd been electrocuted.

A crisp metallic clang rang out.

She panicked completely, frantically reaching out her small, fair hand to tightly cover the wound on Zhu Xun Chuan's neck.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry, Brother Chuan... I didn't mean to, I didn't want to hurt you, I was just so afraid of losing you..."

Lu Nianxi cried so hard that tears streamed down her face and smeared all over Zhu Xun Chuan's clothes.

The sickly, ruthless woman who was just now holding a knife and about to skin and dismember her has now transformed back into that little girl who desperately needs love and is filled with guilt.

The identities of prey and hunter were completely reversed with just a few lies and a few drops of blood.

Zhu Xun Chuan felt the warmth of the soft little hands on his neck and breathed a long sigh of relief.

Damn it, being a scumbag these days is really tough. If this razor blade hadn't been so slow, I would have really bled a lot.

Taking advantage of Lu Nianxi's moment of sobbing, Zhu Xunchuan's gaze swept over her shoulder and quickly scanned the basement.

The light was too dim before, and he was so dizzy from the effects of the drug that he couldn't see clearly.

Upon closer inspection, although the wall is covered with sound-absorbing foam, the exposed wall material at the edges of the foam is top-grade moisture-proof diatomaceous earth.

In the corner, there was also a built-in high-end constant-temperature wine cabinet, which had been completely emptied of Lafite and Romanée-Conti, replaced with formaldehyde bottles and some miscellaneous specimen containers.

The top vents are equipped with a blue indicator light and a separate fresh air system.

Ordinary abandoned warehouses would never have this kind of configuration.

This is actually a private underground wine cellar in a high-end villa.

This girl probably turned her family's wine cellar into a "private interrogation room".

"Don't cry." Zhu Xun Chuan's voice softened. "I'm fine, aren't I?"

Lu Nianxi sniffed and looked up.

Her eyes were red and swollen, and she looked at the bloodstain with heartache.

"Brother Chuan, you really... have never disliked me?"

"Never," Zhu Xun Chuan replied decisively.

"And those women around you...?"

"It's all just playing along." Zhu Xun Chuan didn't hesitate to blame the other fish in the pond. "You know, now that I'm rich, I inevitably have all sorts of social engagements and temptations. But I can tell the difference between playing along and being sincere. You're different from them."

Lu Nianxi's eyes lit up.

It was a kind of fervor born from despair, enveloped in an immense sense of happiness.

She took a deep breath, as if she had made up her mind.

"Brother Chuan, I believe you."

Lu Nianxi got off Zhu Xunchuan's lap and knelt on the ground.

Her skirt cascaded across the marble floor, and her long, white-stockinged legs were bent.

She reached out to touch the knot of the hemp rope binding Zhu Xun Chuan's wrist.

"I'll untie you right now. Let's leave this place. I won't turn you into a specimen anymore. Let's be together properly..."

Her fingers had already gripped the knot of the double pig's hoof knot.

Zhu Xunchuan's tense muscles quietly relaxed.

Once the rope is untied, even if his physical strength hasn't fully recovered, dealing with a little girl will be a piece of cake.

The knot loosened slightly.

Just when Zhu Xun Chuan thought he was about to escape, Lu Nian tide suddenly stopped moving.