Shen Tang - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

I snapped awake in an instant and jumped out of the car.

As I straightened my slightly rumpled collar, Liang You stepped in front of me. He had already returned to that mature, steady demeanor of his, his voice warm and gentle.

“You must be Tangtang’s younger brother, right?”

Huo Zhao glanced at me, his face cold.

“No.”

“I’m the dog she keeps.”

My heart lurched.

I hurriedly darted out, shoving Huo Zhao toward the building as I explained, “He just finished the college entrance exams. Too much pressure. He likes to talk nonsense.”

Liang You smiled and didn’t say anything more.

I dragged Huo Zhao upstairs.

All these years, in order to complete my mission, I had worked diligently and devoted myself entirely to revolving around Huo Zhao.

Now that I’d finally managed to get into a relationship, just when I was about to finally get some action, he ruined everything!

The moment we stepped through the door, I was furious. “Huo Zhao, are you insane?”

“Aren’t you the one who said it? That I’m the dog you keep.”

Huo Zhao looked me up and down.

I was wearing a pure white dress. His gaze was cold and gloomy.

“Let me think. What kind of persona are you putting on in front of him?”

“Pure and obedient? Or gentle and sensible?”

He advanced on me step by step, finally pinning me against the shoe cabinet in the entryway.

“Does he know what you look like when you’re stepping on me, Sister?”

His presence pressed down on me.

I swallowed, my heart pounding wildly.

So this was the aura of someone ninety percent darkened?

The System screeched, “Host, he’s provoking you! Slap him! Teach him a lesson! Tell him who the master is!”

I steeled my heart. Die early, retire early!

But the slap never landed.

Huo Zhao grabbed my wrist in a vice-like grip.

I tried to pull free, but couldn’t.

Gritting my teeth, I said, “Huo Zhao, you-”

“What about me? I didn’t let Sister slap me, so what are you going to punish me with this time?”

Huo Zhao stared at me, his jaw tight.

“Make me kneel outside the door all night? Or wash your clothes? Or walk three hours to buy you cake?”

“Or step on me while calling me a lowborn bastard?”

I looked at Huo Zhao.

For a long while.

Then I pulled my hand back and pushed him away.

“Huo Zhao, I’m not punishing you.”

“Move out tomorrow. Don’t live here anymore.”

Chapter 6

Huo Zhao’s expression froze abruptly.

On that face that was cold and detached all day long, there even seemed to appear a rare look of disbelief and… helplessness.

“What did you say?”

He moved closer, suppressing his anger. “Say that again.”

The System was so anxious it started shrieking: “Host, have you lost your mind?! If you let him move out and escape your control, wouldn’t that be exactly what he wants?!”

“No! Absolutely not! Hurry and tell Huo Zhao you were just messing with him! That there’s no way you’d actually let him go!”

I nodded, my fingertips crawling up his chest as I enunciated each word.

“What? Do you not understand human language?”

“I told you to-”

I paused, meeting Huo Zhao’s dark eyes.

Then I softly spat out the final word, smiling viciously. “Get lost-”

My shoulders were suddenly shoved down.

The back of my head hit the wall switch.

With a snap, the living room plunged into darkness.

Huo Zhao stood in front of me. I couldn’t see his face.

All that remained was the increasingly heavy breathing above my head.

My heart pounded wildly, but I forced myself to keep up my momentum. “Huo Zhao, what are you trying to do?”

My jaw was suddenly seized and forced upward.

I was made to tilt my head back and look at him.

Huo Zhao gave a soft laugh. I couldn’t tell whether it was mockery or self-mockery, but his voice was a rare kind of gentle.

“I’m getting in Sister’s way, aren’t I?”

His cold fingertips rubbed over my chin.

Like a rusted iron chain, carrying the scent of decay and destruction.

“If I weren’t here, you would have brought him back tonight, wouldn’t you?”

Huo Zhao stared at me. His tone was very mild, as if he were asking about something utterly irrelevant.

“Then would Sister do it with him?”

I froze on the spot.

Outside the window, the headlights of a passing car flashed by, illuminating Huo Zhao’s face.

Thick, viscous swamps churned in his pitch-black pupils, but his face was almost eerily calm.

He released me. “Sister, according to the household register, I’m already eighteen.”

Eighteen? What did he mean?

He was an adult now, so he was going to kill me?

That didn’t make sense. His Darkening Value hadn’t maxed out yet.

My thoughts drifted.

The next second, someone suddenly bit the side of my neck. A sharp pain shot through me.

My mind went blank with a roar.

The System screamed, “Host! Huo Zhao’s Darkening Value is at ninety-two percent!”

“Holy crap? It’s at ninety-five percent! What’s going on? How is it rising so fast?!”