I Woke Up from a Coma—Only to Be Auctioned Off - Chapter 3

They took me offstage and changed me into another flimsy dress.

Beastfolk came and went constantly, all of them casting curious looks my way.

“Is that the pure human?”

“Yeah… the wolf-clan gentleman bought her.”

“Then she’s finished. Poor thing.”

“She was a Nan a hundred years ago. She’s rotten. Why would you pity her?”

I listened until a shadow fell across me.

I looked up.

“Nan Yi.” The man towered over me, his voice cool.

“I seem to remember Lu Zhi was the one who bought me.” I smiled and leaned toward him. “Why didn’t you bid? I kept waiting for you to name a price.”

Nan Zhixu pressed two long fingers to my throat, stopping me from coming any closer. There was no curve to his lips, but the force of his presence was overwhelming.

“You’re still alive.” His tone betrayed nothing.

I fell silent, unsure how to answer. When I lowered my eyes, a flash of silver caught my attention.

“You’re engaged,” I blurted.

A silver ring gleamed on the middle finger of Nan Zhixu’s right hand.

Speak of the devil.

A woman in a beautiful knit dress approached. She wore a matching ring on her middle finger, though she stopped some distance from Nan Zhixu.

She looked at me in mild surprise. “Isn’t this the pet Mr. Lu just bought?”

I had nothing to say to that.

What a difference a hundred years made.

A century ago, I had treated them as pets. Now they were treating me as one.

“Pure humans really are beautiful,” the woman said with a smile. She had no animal ears; like Nan Zhixu, she was probably serpentfolk. “Though bringing one home would certainly lower his standing.”

Her makeup was heavy. I had never met her, yet there was something strangely familiar about her scent.

Just then, heavy footsteps drew closer, followed by another voice saying my name.

“Nan Yi.”

The same familiar, cold tone.

It overlapped with the one in my memories.

Nan Yi, you’ll get what’s coming to you.

Get lost. Don’t touch me.

A hundred years had made Lu Zhi taller and broader, with powerful shoulders and a narrow waist. The violence in his expression, however, had not faded in the slightest.

“Mr. Lu,” the woman said softly. “A man of your standing should keep his distance from filthy pure humans.”

I raised a brow and met her gaze.

She stared back, enunciating every word. “Pure humans are very good at seducing people.”

I was speechless.

Who had I seduced?

I was the one who had woken up and been auctioned off for no reason!

Lu Zhi gave a contemptuous laugh. “Is that so?”

As he spoke, his palm settled on top of my head, then slid down until his thumb rubbed the nape of my neck.

He was doing to me exactly what I had once done to him.

Damned wolf. He really did think I was his pet now.

The woman withdrew her scornful gaze. After watching Lu Zhi for a moment, she turned and spoke gently. “Zhixu, shall we leave Mr. Lu alone?”

Nan Zhixu said nothing. His eyes rested on Lu Zhi’s hand where it touched my skin. His dark green gaze remained perfectly still. After a long moment, he turned and left without hesitation.

The woman hurried after him.

I stayed where I was, watching his retreating back.

Lu Zhi caught my face and wrenched it around without mercy. I sucked in a breath at the pain.

“Time to settle our accounts,” he said.

The young wolf I remembered—unyielding, defiant, ready to die before he submitted—had matured into a striking man. He was far more intimidating now.

He pinned me against the wall, trapping me firmly. His fingers landed on the bare skin at my waist. When I flinched, his grip tightened at once.

“Damned wolf,” I spat.

Lu Zhi gave a soft, humorless laugh and squeezed harder.

“You really don’t understand your position.” His lips pulled into a sneer. “Young mistress, it’s your turn to call me Master.”

“Young mistress” and “Master” were both things I had once forced him to call me.

My face darkened. I tried to pry his hand away, but pure humans had always been much weaker than beastfolk.

The next instant, he turned his head and sank his teeth into the side of my neck. A wolf’s fangs were viciously sharp. The pain made my head swim.

I was struggling to shove him off when someone knocked on the door the fiancée had closed behind her.

Lu Zhi raised his head. His gray eyes had gone bloodred, and the air in the lounge seemed to freeze. After a moment, the crimson receded, leaving them their usual cold gray.

With a few long strides, he crossed the room and opened the door.