Chapter 193: Wallpaper

"That bottle of medicine is a high-potency psychiatric drug developed by the Federation, generally used to treat schizophrenia and reduce the occurrence of hallucinations. Although taking it can effectively suppress the onset of the illness, the side effects are also higher. His situation is already quite serious; he may have suicidal tendencies... Eldest Young Master, it is recommended to take good care of the patient's emotional state."

Ling Wu lay on the bed, yet felt as if he were on a small boat, tossed and turned by wind and waves, lifted high, and ready to fall at any moment.

He heard intermittent sounds and suddenly opened his eyes.

Yin Huaiyu was standing in the room at this moment, saying to the doctor: "I understand, but can his condition still improve?"

The doctor pushed up his glasses: "The situation is complicated, but..."

The movement on the bed caused both of them to stop talking in unison. The wound on Yin Huaiyu's shoulder had been stitched a few times, and he was wearing loose loungewear. Seeing that Ling Wu had woken up, he hurried over.

"You're awake?" Yin Huaiyu checked the temperature of his forehead: "How do you feel?"

"You had a fever last night."

Ling Wu rubbed his temples and sized up the room's environment. The walls were inlaid with classical French reliefs, the built-in bookcases were filled with leather-bound books, and the carpet under the coffee table had an iris pattern. It was very luxurious and grand, completely different from the hotel's decor.

Ling Wu quickly realized he might no longer be at Muya Snow Mountain. He grabbed Yin Huaiyu by the collar: "Where did you bring me?"

His throat was exceptionally dry and hoarse, causing his voice to sound different from its usual clarity.

Yin Huaiyu was not angry at being grabbed by the collar in front of an outsider, and said with a smiling face: "Don't be angry."

"My family has properties over by the Snow Mountain. After you fainted, I contacted them to send a helicopter to pick us up, and we rushed back to Beidu overnight..."

"Ling Wu, your condition yesterday scared me to death." Yin Huaiyu patted his back: "Luckily you're fine."

The doctor standing to the side was accustomed to Yin Huaiyu's arrogant and unruly demeanor. Now, seeing him lower his head and coax someone in a soft voice, it was as if he had seen a ghost, and he couldn't help but look at Ling Wu a few more times.

That person had a slender build, with a pair of ankles exposed from under the quilt that were somewhat thin and fragile. That beautiful face appeared pale due to illness, but the most striking features were those eyes; when looking at someone, they held a sense of a superior who had experienced much.

It didn't make one feel he was weak at all.

He was indeed a very charming man.

It was just a pity that his ankles were locked by a specially crafted silver chain. When the iron ring pressed tightly against his skin, it created a vivid color contrast with his porcelain-white complexion, as if one hand could grasp it, invisibly adding a sense of eroticism and abuse.

Just as the doctor was thinking this, he met Yin Huaiyu's sinister gaze. His expression was inscrutable: "What are you dazed for? Pour a glass of water."

"Yes."

The doctor opened the door and left.

Yin Huaiyu lifted the quilt and covered Ling Wu's exposed ankles, shielding the person completely.

Ling Wu pulled out the IV needle, not even bothering to look at him. He threw off the quilt, stepped onto the floor, and prepared to walk outside.

Because of the violent removal of the needle, a large amount of blood quickly flowed out from the puncture site on the back of his hand.

Yin Huaiyu grabbed him: "Where are you going?"

Ling Wu still didn't speak, as if he had nothing to say to him.

But in fact, Ling Wu knew very well that when dealing with Yin Huaiyu, ignoring him was what made him the most anxious and frustrated.

The smile Yin Huaiyu maintained stiffened on his face. The upward curve of his lips gradually slowed, so slow it was almost frozen. Those peach-blossom eyes carried a deep, dark meaning, following Ling Wu's movements.

Five fingers curled together.

With enough force to turn them white.

Always this attitude.

Always ignoring him.

Why was it so hard to make Ling Wu's gaze linger on him? It was as hard as ascending to heaven. He had clearly sworn in his heart that he wouldn't ask for Ling Wu to greet him with a smile; as long as he looked at him quietly, he would be satisfied.

It would be enough to lift him to the heavens.

But Ling Wu had always been this cold and heartless. When he leaned in, what he got was a cold face and avoidance. Even if he tried his best to grasp tightly, the scorching temperature of his palm would melt this piece of ice, turning it into water that flowed through his fingers, unable to catch a single bit.

"Do you think not speaking can solve the problem?" Yin Huaiyu was provoked by him, and his malicious nature rose again. He curled his thin lips and looked at the chain on his ankle with a hint of mockery: "Ling Wu, do you think you can escape?"

He pulled him into his arms and pinched Ling Wu's chin, forcing him to look at the silver chain that bound his movements.

Ling Wu's head was still dizzy, his entire focus a bit dazed. Only now did he notice the chain with its humiliating implications. His eyelashes trembled, and he pushed Yin Huaiyu away fiercely.

Then he punched him in the face a few times, the veins on his temples bulging, as if it were a one-sided venting of emotion. The back of his hand inevitably scraped against Yin Huaiyu's face, making him look a bit disheveled.

Ling Wu spat out a curse: "Yin Huaiyu, you are a beast!"

"So what if I'm a beast? For the rest of your life, you can only stay with me, this beast, and sleep in the same room." Yin Huaiyu wiped the blood from the corner of his lips with his thumb and licked it off the tip of his tongue: "Is it because you're sick?"

"Even hitting someone is so weak."

Yin Huaiyu was incorrigible. Since he couldn't get a good look anyway, why should he pretend to be gentle and considerate? Was there any need to act subservient?

"Creak—"

Just at this moment, the doctor brought a glass of water in. Ling Wu snatched the glass from his hand and smashed it at Yin Huaiyu's head. The warm water flowed slowly down his brow bone and bridge of his nose.

"Bang!"

The glass shattered all over the floor.

The sharp glass cut small wounds on the skin of Yin Huaiyu's face, which were very conspicuous.

The doctor was terrified by this scene and didn't dare to breathe.

He had stayed in the Yin Family for so many years; mentioning Yin Huaiyu couldn't be described by just the word "arrogant." This young master's tail was held high to the heavens; he had never submitted to anyone since he was a child, and even toward the head of the family, he was bossy and prone to fits of rage.

He had never been scolded to his face, let alone had his face hit. After all, with his family background, there was no shortage of sycophantic men and women coming forward to please him, and he was the one chased and adored by thousands wherever he went.

Just when he thought Yin Huaiyu would definitely lose his temper, this Eldest Young Master just calmly raised his hand to wipe the water off his face.

He stepped around the broken glass all over the floor, took a breath, suppressed the gloom in his heart, and then reached out to Ling Wu, saying in a coaxing tone: "The doctor said you can't get angry. My attitude was bad just now. There is broken glass on the floor, and you aren't wearing shoes. Don't move around, okay?"

"Let's talk things over properly."

Ling Wu was impervious to both soft and hard tactics: "If you don't let me go, I have nothing to say to you."

Seeing Ling Wu not moving, Yin Huaiyu lowered his head, two drops of water from his wet hair tips falling onto the floor, and then he looked up at him: "Letting you go is impossible... Ling Wu, do you know how long I've waited for this day?"

"I, Yin Huaiyu, have been alive for 21 years, and I have never had such a strong interest and liking for any person or thing, yet you don't like me."

The doctor was so scared that he silently exited the room.

Yin Huaiyu's expression was displeased, his amorous peach-blossom eyes deep and gloomy, an invisible pressure hidden within his sinister look: "But it doesn't matter. Now you are in my hands. I dictate your life and death, control your joys and sorrows, and make it so that in your eyes and heart, there can only be me. Every part of your body belongs to me."

Ling Wu listened to his dissolute words, and the calm eyes that had still been restrained just a moment ago suddenly filled with rage: "Have you lost your mind?"

"You don't actually think you can keep me trapped here for a lifetime, do you?"

"Don't indulge in wishful thinking!"

The atmosphere was oppressive.

Yin Huaiyu murmured the words he had spoken, his obsession bone-deep, a hint of indescribable ambiguity in his articulation: "Wishful thinking? Then just consider me as indulging in wishful thinking. No matter how long I can hold onto you, one day counts as one day, one month counts as one month, one year counts as one year; at the very least, I have truly possessed you."

"You must be thinking right now that since you disappeared at Muya Snow Mountain, Shao Yu, Shixue, and that bunch of people like Chu Yi will surely be anxious to find you."

"Even in the worst-case scenario, there are still your subordinates; they will surely grow suspicious after being unable to contact you, right?"

Ling Wu did not answer, but his attitude was one of tacit agreement.

Yin Huaiyu's eyes were very dark, his gaze sharp: "Then don't waste your effort."

"Ling Wu, perhaps you don't know yet, but just last night, an unprecedented, large-scale avalanche occurred at Muya Snow Mountain. Even with avalanche beacons, it will take time for search and rescue teams to carry out an operation."

An avalanche?

Ling Wu suddenly raised his head, worry flashing in the depths of his eyes.

"So..." Yin Huaiyu crossed his legs, interlaced his fingers, rested them on his chin, and cast a glance at him: "Do you guess that if they can't find you for a while, they might simply assume you've met with foul play?"

He waited composedly for Ling Wu's reply, but he was stared at by those eyes until he trembled, feeling somewhat guilty.

"Good brother, don't look at me with that kind of expression." Yin Huaiyu rose from the bed, walked to Ling Wu's side, draped his arm over his shoulder with a weight that was neither light nor heavy, and enveloped his body from behind, creating the appearance of two people in intimate proximity: "I wasn't the one who caused the avalanche..."

"Come to think of it, I should thank you. If you hadn't fainted and I hadn't been in such a rush to bring you back to Beidu City for treatment, perhaps Adu and I would have already been buried by the snow."

Ling Wu sneered: "In that case, you should even call me your benefactor."

"That's right." Yin Huaiyu feigned ignorance of his sarcasm and leaned into his ear to say: "Benefactor."

Ling Wu had no time to be angry with him and asked: "What about the situation at the Snow Mountain, and Shao Yu and the others?"

Yin Huaiyu had been baiting him for so long; seeing Ling Wu finally ask, he crossed his arms over his chest and pulled his lips into a flamboyant arc: "Want to know?"

"You want to know, don't you?"

His voice carried a seductive quality, coaxing him along.

He even rubbed his shoulder against Ling Wu's arm as he spoke, the androgynous energy in his features replaced by a roguish air, a bit wicked.

Using both soft and hard tactics.

Sincerity can move even metal and stone; he didn't believe Ling Wu was truly determined not to speak to him.

Yin Huaiyu knew that Ling Wu was definitely the type of person who responded to soft tactics rather than hard ones, so he relaxed his attitude: "If you want to know, then obediently take your IV, eat your meals properly, and then I'll tell you, how about that?"

"The conditions I'm proposing are all in your favor; you aren't losing out."

Ling Wu did not believe someone as malicious as Yin Huaiyu from the bottom of his heart: "You had better not be lying to me."

"Understood, understood." Seeing Ling Wu raise his head to look at him, and seeing only his own reflection in those beautiful eyes, a sense of joy and satisfaction instantly surged into Yin Huaiyu's heart, filling him entirely: "Otherwise, should my benefactor skin me and pull out my tendons, or chop me into ten thousand pieces?"

Ling Wu was not moved by this: "Empty words and glib tongue."

Fearing that he would become angry and agitated again, Yin Huaiyu could only go along with him: "Yes, yes, yes, whatever the Magician says is the truth."

He walked out the door right after saying that.

Ling Wu tugged at the chain on his ankle and found it wasn't long enough, allowing movement only within the room. He had locked the door from the inside, but he didn't expect that to keep Yin Huaiyu out, as he surely had a key.

But he had to figure out the situation.

Ling Wu observed that this was a room with an independent bathroom; food could be delivered inside, making it unnecessary to ever leave the room. There was a 360-degree, blind-spot-free surveillance camera that looked like it had been installed recently.

From the drawing paper on the desk and the layout of the room, it could be inferred that this was Yin Huaiyu's room.

The window of the room was unlocked, but Ling Wu was not foolish enough to jump out while still chained at the ankle. He stood by the window and saw the security layout of the villa courtyard, with several teams patrolling back and forth.

"Click!"

Yin Huaiyu carried in a cup of water, opened the door with a key, and saw Ling Wu leaning sideways against the window: "You aren't thinking of jumping, are you? I specifically didn't seal the window shut because I didn't want you to feel too stifled."

"Or perhaps it's just to look after the patient's mood."

He had just finished speaking when he handed a cup of warm water to Ling Wu: "I heard you talking just now, your throat was so dry it was smoking. Drink some water; don't smash it on my head again. It's not worth getting angry at your own body, is it?"

Ling Wu naturally understood this logic.

Ling Wu moved from the side to directly in front of Yin Huaiyu, placed his palm on his shoulder, and despite his sickly pale complexion, his aura was not the least bit inferior. He pushed the man against the window, his fingernails suddenly digging fiercely into Yin Huaiyu's wound, staining the gauze red, his eyes full of mockery: "So concerned about me, are you?"

"Yin Huaiyu, do you know that the way you are fawning over me right now is just like a dog?"

The disdain in Ling Wu's tone and the coldness in his eyes gave Yin Huaiyu the illusion that his heart had been electrocuted; that dull, aching soreness was all the work of an emotion called love.

Why was it that he didn't like so many other people, but had to fall for Ling Wu?

Yet, how could he not like Ling Wu?

This person stood in a crowd, needing to do nothing at all, and he would already be set apart from the sycophantic masses, forming a clear, pure stream.

"I know." For the first time, a look of sorrow appeared on Yin Huaiyu's face. He placed the rim of the cup against Ling Wu's slightly chapped lips and spoke like a devout believer: "A dog and its master should live together forever."