Chapter 78: Volume 1 Chapter 78 Skin Thirst x Evil Ghost x Obsession (2)

He clearly sensed the abnormality of the woman beside him; Lu Yiluo slightly raised his eyebrows, his unfathomable dark eyes moving to her beautiful face, the pale white wrist he held visibly flushed with a rosy hue, trembling uncontrollably.

"Young, young master." She summoned all her strength to pull her wrist back, but the water cup in her hand shook violently from her motion, splashing out the warm water inside, all of it scattering onto the youth's legs.

The clear water quickly soaked the blanket covering the youth's legs on the wheelchair, dripping "drip drip" from the edges onto the wooden floor.

Jiang Zhi's pupils contracted as she stepped back a few paces; her palm-sized face instantly turned pale, "Sorry, sorry!"

She hastily put down the cup, took out a tissue from her bag, half‑squatted, and reached out to wipe the water stains from his legs.

Lu Yiluo felt a flash of killing intent flicker in the depths of his eyes at the instant her fingers reached out.

But when her soft fingers touched his leg, the youth's expression flickered with a moment of dazed confusion.

In his heart there was not even a hint of rejection… or disgust.

Why?

His fingers resting on the wheelchair slowly clenched, and he fell into thought.

Jiang Zhi lifted the blanket covering his legs, saw that the water had not seeped through, and finally breathed a sigh of relief.

"Let me get you a new blanket."

Having said that, she rose to look for a new blanket, when the youth's voice sounded again:

"No need."

She turned back, still holding the water‑soaked blanket in her hand.

Lu Yiluo's tone was cold: "I'm not cold."

Jiang Zhi could only comply, placing the wet blanket in the basket by the door for laundering, where a servant would come each day to collect and exchange it.

When the watch approached twelve, she could clock out to eat, rest for an hour, then return to work.

The Lu family's pay was high, not only that but they provided room and board; as for lodging, she still wanted to go home, and as for meals, she didn't know how the Lu family's food was.

At the door, a knock sounded just in time; it was the servant in charge of Lu Yiluo's lunch bringing the food.

"Knock knock knock"

After three knocks, the door was pushed open from outside; a male servant nearly fifty entered, moving like a wooden robot to the table and set down five dishes.

"Young master, it's time to eat."

Lu Yiluo closed the book in his hands, his gaze falling on Jiang Zhi, "She'll be enough."

The servant heard, showed a few seconds of surprise, quickly hid it, hurriedly replied, then immediately bent and left the room.

Jiang Zhi realized: they wanted her to serve him his meal.

If she wanted to do this job well, she had to win the youth's favor.

She walked to the wheelchair, lowered her eyes and asked, "Young master, shall I push you over?"

Lu Yiluo: "Hmm."

Arriving at the table, Jiang Zhi scooped him a bowl of rice, grasped the spoon, and moved forward intending to feed him.

Lu Yiluo turned his face away; his still, ancient‑well‑like black eyes gained a hint of bewilderment.

"I can do it myself."

Jiang Zhi belatedly realized that the youth before her only had paralyzed legs, not that his hands were unable to move.

A flash of embarrassment crossed her brows and eyes, and she muttered awkwardly, "Sorry."

Lu Yiluo said no more, took the bowl from her hand; the fingers holding the long chopsticks were a sickly pallor, and on close inspection one could see bluish‑green veins.

Standing by the table, Jiang Zhi watched him eat bite by bite; her vision gradually blurred, her thoughts myriad.

Clearly, looking at him he seemed just an ordinary person, yet who would have thought he had less than a year left to live before dying of illness?

The ailment he carried from the womb had tormented him for eighteen years.

Lu Yiluo stopped after fewer than five bites, set the long chopsticks on the table, pinched a napkin to wipe the corner of his mouth, and said lightly, "That's enough."

Jiang Zhi froze for a moment, glanced at the barely touched dishes on the table, and involuntarily swallowed saliva.

She, who had not eaten a single bite of rice from morning till now, saw him waste food so extravagantly that tears of saliva streamed from the corners of her eyes.

Lu Yiluo seemed to see her intention, glanced at the food on the table, and said calmly, "You may eat."

That's against the rules. Jiang Zhi, still a person of professional integrity, shook her head and said, "No need, young master; I'll go eat outside."

Lu Yiluo suddenly repeated it, word by word: "You may eat."

For a moment, Jiang Zhi felt that the Lu Yiluo before her was not a boy who had just turned eighteen, but rather a high‑ranking ruler long entrenched in power, exuding an awe‑inspiring aura that had long been subdued.

Jiang Zhi: "……"

She lightly bit her lip, paused a few seconds, then agreed.

These dishes were on the bland side; the kitchen staff, perhaps having changed their approach to make the light fare tastier, found that even she couldn't stop eating them.

Though the five dishes were not large in quantity, they were enough to fill two adults.

Jiang Zhi alone finished all five dishes, plus a big bowl of rice, eating them cleanly.

She had eaten too heartily; by the time she finished, it was already too late.

She furtively glanced at the youth beside the wheelchair.

He was flipping through the book in his hand, his attention nowhere near her.

Jiang Zhi let out a small sigh, placed the plates from the table onto the cart, and promptly pushed it out of the room.

Meanwhile, the engrossed Lu Yiluo suddenly lifted his gaze; his midnight‑like black eyes fixed on the departing woman's back, carrying scrutiny and inquiry.

Jiang Zhi returned to the room again, glanced at her watch—it was half past twelve.

This should have been her break time, but she couldn't rest now.

She walked to the wheelchair and whispered, "Young master, do you need me to do anything?"

Lu Yiluo lifted his eyelids, his eyes and brows veiled with a faint weariness.

Hold me and take me to the bed.

Jiang Zhi recalled from the butler's notes that after lunch was the young master's naptime, and she almost forgot.

She answered, pushed the wheelchair to the bedside of the bedroom, a solid wood large bed, covered with snow-white bedding, the curtains blocked all sunlight from outside, and the room's light was dim and gloomy.

She thought of a serious matter.

Skin Hunger-Thirst Syndrome.

Just thinking about the moment she touched the boy's hand, that numb, itchy sensation tempted her to want more contact.

The feeling of being controlled by impulse was not pleasant.

She looked more like a pervert.

Seeing her not moving for a long time, Lu Yiluo furrowed his brows and asked, "Are you unwilling?"

Upon hearing that, Jiang Zhi immediately shook her head, "No, it's not that."

"I'm very willing! I was just, just thinking about how to hold the young master and take him to bed without offending you."

Lu Yiluo slightly bent his fingers against his lips, gave a few light coughs, and only after his breathing eased did he say, "It won't."

Jiang Zhi looked utterly bewildered: "Ah?"

Lu Yiluo's low voice carried a hint of hoarseness: "It won't offend."

Jiang Zhi unexpectedly lowered her gaze to look at him; he, from coughing, had a complexion almost deathly pale, like a patient beyond cure, yet his lips were red verging on vivid, the contrast creating a deadly allure.

As a villain, the boy is excellently cast, especially that face—no master carver could sculpt such perfect features, like a long‑dry lake, calm yet unable to raise a ripple, and unknowingly it carries a poppy‑like charm that draws one into evil.

There is not a trace of the evil and wickedness that a villain should have.