Chapter 82: Volume 1, Chapter 82 – Skin Thirst x Evil Ghost x Obsession (6)

At noon, the study was well‑lit, decorated in black and white, just like the man standing by the window pinching a cigarette butt, devoid of any vitality an ordinary person should have.

She suddenly felt that the male lead Lu Zheng and the antagonist Lu Yiluo were strikingly similar in some respects, both exuding a deeply silent and gloomy aura that was impenetrable and hard to guess their true emotions.

The study's air was stagnant; thick clouds of fragrant smoke swirled like mist before her eyes. Jiang Zhi stepped back two paces, yet could not avoid inhaling the smoke that filled her lungs.

"Lu, Mr. Lu." She tried to breathe lightly, fingers nervously gripping her hem; when her gaze fell on the man, an abnormal throbbing rose in her heart.

Lu Zheng leaned against the window with his back to it; sunlight from outside fell among his ink‑black hair, and shifting light and shadow played on his stern profile, giving an inscrutable impression.

"I heard he asked you to have a meal together?"

"Yes, the young master insisted I sit with him, and I couldn't refuse." Jiang Zhi answered truthfully; the pervasive, cloud‑like smoke in the air made it hard for her to keep the original host's setting, and she wanted to burst out.

Lu Zheng stubbed out his cigarette, walked over with measured steps, and stopped before her, saying, "Your parents are still lying in the hospital ward, right?"

According to the collected data, Jiang Yu's parents were involved in a major multi‑car collision six years ago and have not regained consciousness; they remain in the hospital ward, relying on her precarious income to cover basic hospitalization and medication costs, as well as the caregiver's fees.

Upon hearing him mention her parents, Jiang Zhi's face turned pale; the medicated wound on her ankle throbbed faintly, her weak legs nearly gave out, she barely held herself up, and her voice trembled uncontrollably.

"Mr. Lu, why are you asking these things?"

Moreover, in a few days the comatose original host's parents in the hospital will soon pass away.

In every world Jiang Zhi inhabits, her parents are either both dead or gravely ill.

But why is Lu Zheng asking about these?

Jiang Zhi could roughly guess his intent; sure enough, before she finished thinking, his words drifted to her ears.

"I can cover all your parents' hospital expenses and even hire a renowned doctor to treat them. However…"

She pursed her dry lips and stared at him, dazed.

"However, you need to promise me one thing."

Jiang Zhi snorted coldly in her heart: "A weasel paying New Year's greetings to a chicken bears no good intentions!"

Wait, she isn't a chicken.

Her face flushed with panic, she nervously and eagerly countered: "What is it?"

Lu Zheng's expression remained blank; his tall frame leaned slightly forward, whispering near her ear like a demon: "Make Lu Yiluo fall in love with you, to the point of losing your mind."

Jiang Zhi: "……"

No, no, how can a male lead start a matchmaking business?!!

"No… I can't." She hastily waved her hands, her pale face unable to speak: "I, I am eight years older than him; how could I…"

Lu Zheng lifted his brows, frosty as winter ice, his deep narrow eyes gazing at her with leisure: "You can choose."

As for the scope of choice, only agreement is possible.

Otherwise, Jiang Zhi could believe she would never get by in this country.

In this world, the male lead resembles a villain more than a hero, lacking the justice and kindness a protagonist should have. Rising from a despised illegitimate child to his present status, his scheming is unmatched; everyone who once offended him has received fitting retribution.

He exudes a menacing malice from his very bones.

"Okay." Just as Jiang Zhi agreed, she swayed, her legs gave way, and she began to fall; the man before her swiftly grasped her wrist, steadying her.

His cold, rough palm covered her wrist; the skin instantly turned scorching hot, like a feather brushing over, then like countless ants crawling, the tingling made her breathing short and soft.

"Th‑thank you." Before desire could consume her, she quickly pulled her wrist free from his palm.

She stepped back several paces, pressing herself against the wall to put distance between them.

In Lu Zheng's eyes, she was like someone avoiding tigers and snakes, unwilling to draw near him even a fraction.

Besides before entering the Lu family, no one had ever treated him this way.

The usually aloof and taciturn him suddenly spoke more: "Is it the same with Lu Yiluo?"

Jiang Zhi clutched her flushed arms, lowered her eyelids, and remained silent.

The woman leaning against the wall had a slender, frail waist; her whole body seemed wrapped in sharp thorns, unwilling to let anyone approach.

Lu Zheng gave her a cold, indifferent glance; his peripheral vision caught her ankle, wrapped in medical bandages—a wrapping technique known only to his frail younger brother.

He was rather surprised that Lu Yiluo would bandage the wound of a woman he'd known for less than two days.

Thinking about it, he didn't even know how many surprises he'd had today.

"Get out."

Jiang Zhi heard the command, replied softly, her steps trembling as she hurried out of the study; behind her a stern voice rang out.

"Remember what you promised."

…

Walking from the second to the third floor, the dimly lit, quiet hallway made her take off her high heels and uncomfortably rub her calves.

"These high heels aren't something ordinary people can wear." She complained to 777.

Most of the original host's shoes were high heels, with heels unusually high, making walking feel like walking on stilts.

777 used its system‑mechanical function to conduct warmth to her calves, easing some of her soreness: "Off work, Host, would you like to buy a new pair of shoes?"

Jiang Zhi put the high heels back on, shook her head, and said: "No need, someone will send them right away."

777: "???"

…

Returning to Lu Yiluo's room, before she even entered the bedroom she heard the boy's low voice.

"Where did you go?"

Jiang Zhi approached and saw the boy, awake from his nap, leaning against the headboard.

His slightly long black hair hung over his eyes; his cold‑white skin caught a faint glow in the warm amber light, his delicate, handsome face bearing a classical beauty—like an elegant yet dark beautiful youth from an ink‑wash painting—yet shrouded in a wisp of deathly aura.

He lifted his picturesque, cool brows and eyes, calmly gazing in her direction, and mechanically repeated:

"Where did you go?"

Jiang Zhi agreed to Lu Zheng's condition, so those words could not be said to him; she hesitated a moment, then stepped forward and spoke softly: "Go out and use the restroom for a while."

Lu Yiluo stopped pressing for answers; at the moment she drew near, the tip of the nose lifted slightly, a keen sense of smell detecting the smoke mingled with fragrance on the woman's body.

That smoke smell was not formed by occasional contact; it resulted from staying long in a smoke-filled environment.

She lied.

She deceived him.

Lu Yiluo lowered the brow, the expression turned cold, and the black eyes, as dark as ink, flashed with a hint of menace.

What did she and Lu Zheng do together? What did they say?