Chapter 6 — Green Tea Today, Black Tea Tomorrow

He was as docile as a puppy, immediately releasing his grip. "It's nothing... I just hadn't held you in so long, I was afraid you would vanish before my eyes... that's why..."

I gritted my teeth and retorted, "Nobody said you couldn't."

"Really?" He was so overjoyed he looked half-mad. I nodded.

Meanwhile, Khue Khue was checking Tong Hang's pulse. Not far away, Tong Y Y's body convulsed violently, soon growing completely still. I glanced in that direction. A tiny snake slithered out from the nape of Tong Y Y's neck, only to be promptly caught by Yen Tu Tu, who let it coil around his forearm. The moonlight pierced through the thick layers of clouds, casting a pale glow. He stood there beneath the luminous, jade-like full moon, his gaze falling upon me and Chi Van Tung, cold as lingering ashes. He had taken off his jacket, draping it over his hanging arm to conceal his abdomen. That face—clearly carved from unyielding stone—yet I fancied that those eyes, once as brilliant as peach blossoms, were now brimming with an inexpressible sorrow. He stared at me in silence, his expression both pitiful and utterly desolate.

But the very next second—those eyes returned to their customary chilling languor. Donning his habitual arrogance, he bit his lower lip lightly and turned to leave.

"Yen Tu—"

He strode away, vanishing into the shadows at the end of the corridor within mere seconds. I could only lower my head and withdraw my gaze.

After Khue Khue finished temporarily securing the scene, I told Chi Van Tung, "Go to the hospital and get those wounds treated."

He tightly grasped my hand. "I'm not hurt."

"There's this much blood, and you expect to just brush it off?"

Only then did he lower his gaze, looking at the mottled stains smeared across his shirt. "This isn't my blood... Wait, earlier, Second Brother also—"

I froze. Just moments before, Yen Tu Tu had also lunged forward to shield me. He... was injured. For some inexplicable reason, I felt as though my heart had been suspended in mid-air, growing so heavy it became hard to breathe.

Khue Khue and I "returned to our old haunts," heading right back to Chi Van Tung's house. In the car, I asked, "Will he really be alright?"

Chi Van Tung shook his head. "It'll hurt, but Second Brother heals incredibly fast. Back when our father broke his leg, he was fully recovered in a week."

Khue Khue's jaw dropped. "A broken leg?! Your family is ruthless..."

He tightened his grip on the steering wheel and replied, "Second Brother is the heir, so he was subjected to stricter discipline."

"Stricter?! That sounds more like torture..."

Sitting in the back seat, I clutched my phone while my mind wandered far away. After pondering for a long time, I finally sent a message to Yen Tu Tu: "Are you alright?"

I hit send.

*Plop.* A little red exclamation mark appeared. He had blocked me.

Looking through the rearview mirror and seeing my silence, Chi Van Tung immediately guessed what I was thinking. "He has a dedicated medical team, his recovery rate surpasses even mine. That kind of wound—he wouldn't even bother to blink."

"Mm." I rolled down the window, letting the night breeze rush against my face.

"We're home."

Once again, I found myself back inside Chi Van Tung's house. And once again, I was greeted by that gigantic family portrait. He introduced them: "He and I are identical twins. He hatched before me, which is why I told you not to worry. Even the egg he grew in was several times larger than mine. Back when we were 'babies,' his abilities were already beyond human."

So they were... twin brothers. No wonder they had to compete over everything.

Khue Khue asked, "And your father? Is he human, or...?"

"Human," he answered. "He has a genetic disorder, and he fathered numerous children with human women, but none of them lived past the age of five."

Khue Khue muttered, "Just hearing that makes him sound like a complete bastard..."

I was about to stop her, but Chi Van Tung only let out a soft chuckle. "True, he is a madman. Second Brother and I never knew our mother."

He turned on the staircase, his voice gentle. Yet under the backlit illumination, his features looked as alluring and ethereal as a demon from a scroll. With a solemn expression, he recounted, "However, in his basement, there is a large glass cabinet containing a giant shed snakeskin. It must be my mother. The two of us snuck in to look at it once, and we almost got beaten to death."

Khue Khue and I exchanged bitter smiles, not daring to utter another word.

After dinner, everyone was utterly exhausted. Khue Khue and I slept in adjoining rooms. Fearing that I would worry, Chi Van Tung took it upon himself to find a room all the way up in the attic to sleep in.

The result... in the middle of the night.

The bedding suddenly dipped, and the weight of a grown man pressed down upon me. I held my breath, not daring to move. Both of his arms wrapped tightly around me, and one of his legs hooked over mine like a lock, wrapping me up neatly like a dumpling bound in rope.

"So fragrant..."

Damn it! Could it be he couldn't hold back anymore and decided to have a "private meal" right then and there?

The very next second...

He hugged me, pressing me so close it squeezed the air right out of my lungs.

"What is this? A mouth? So soft, let me give it a lick."

"Little ears, take a bite."

"How can anyone be this cute, my cat-craving is acting up, let me sniff sniff sniff!"

"Little steamed bun, why are you so impossibly adorable, aah!"

"Wife, oh wife, you're my wife!"

"Wuwuwu, even though I searched your history and found the receipt for pregnancy test strips, I don't mind at all. As long as it's your child, whether it calls me dad or grandpa is fine by me!"

What was I supposed to say... Before going to sleep, I had checked again; actually, I wasn't pregnant at all. Yet he had gone completely crazy for two whole hours. And when he still wasn't satisfied, he gently kissed my forehead.

"Sleep well, darling, have sweet dreams."

A man who usually carried an aura of towering dominance tucked me in with utmost gentleness and tiptoed out of the room.

*Click.* The light turned on.

Chu Khue Khue crawled out from under the floorboards with a profoundly aggrieved expression. "I swear, that guy has completely lost his mind. What is this about his cat-craving acting up in the middle of the night? I thought he wanted to eat you, so I secretly crawled in here to stand guard. Damn it, what a mental snake!"

I felt even more mortified. "Why are you—"

"Why am I here, right? Actually, I never left. When I said I was going back to my room earlier, that was just a smoke bomb." She wriggled under my blanket, her face plastered with sheer disbelief. "What is wrong with him?"

I forced a wry smile. "He's... also a bit crazy, truly."

Actually, most of the time when we had first met, he acted pretty much the same way. That was why I said he felt like a real human being around me, unlike those half-demon beast-seller types.

"No, I mean... why was he constantly moaning like that? It was driving me insane!"

Save me... She had listened to a full two hours of Chi Van Tung's soft, breathless panting. I was so embarrassed I wanted to use my fingernails to carve a hole straight out of the White House from beneath the covers.

Ever since that night, Chu Khue Khue gradually realized—she had misjudged the true nature of the problem.

"I think this word 'eat' probably has multiple meanings," she mused for a moment before pronouncing her verdict. "I feel like... they want to mate with you."

I tried to cut her off, "That—"

Catching my expression, she instantly changed her tune. "Ah, ah, I get it now, it's mating, they just want to mate with you!"

...I sighed.

For all these years, she had been single-mindedly focused on revenge; she knew a little bit about the relations between men and women, but honestly, not very much.

I buried my face in my hands. "I know, you don't need to spell it out."

She inched closer to me, pitching her "brilliant" plan.

"I think you should clear things up: do they want to eat you, or 'eat' you? And I've got a top-tier method."

Her plan was... to trick Chi Van Tung into taking that same type of medicinal powder from before.

"Why didn't it work last time? Because he knew I wanted to test him, so he injected himself with a suppressant to keep his human form. Damn it, this snake is too sly!"

"This time we'll slip it to him secretly, and once he loses control, he'll act purely on instinct! You act as the bait, don't worry, it's totally safe, I've developed a new formula that can immobilize him for five minutes, plenty of time for us to slip away!"

The plan was set for Sunday. But by Thursday, he insisted on celebrating our tenth-day anniversary of being together, booking a high-end restaurant. After dinner, we went to watch the sunset and view the fireworks.

Beneath the brilliant fireworks, my mind went numb, and I pulled him in for a kiss. Then we headed home.

He began showing abnormal symptoms—like someone fresh out of a sauna, damp, warm, and clingy. A suspicion forming in my mind, I immediately asked, "Did Khue Khue give you some kind of medicinal powder?"

To my surprise, in his hazy, half-conscious state, he mumbled a reply, "Medicine? Yes... yes, it's so uncomfortable..."

He grabbed my hand and pressed it against his muscular abdomen. "I'm going to die... save me..."

His voice moaned like a sick kitten, scratching deep down into my heart.

"So uncomfortable... the medicine..."

Damn it, Chu Khue Khue! You administered the drug early without even giving me a heads-up??

Initially, I had planned to offer perfunctory comfort, figuring that as long as he lost control without actually harming me, the plan could be considered a success. I scrambled down from the bed, intending to make a stealthy retreat.

My ankle was grabbed and yanked backward forcefully.

"Don't go... please don't..." He whimpered, melting my heart instantly, leaving me powerless to resist.

I was utterly doomed by this good looks! Oh well... just this once...

The result was... passing out over and over again.

When I finally woke up, I felt an extreme, overwhelming, super-sized sense of regret. Beauty truly is the death of mortals, oh heavens above!

Opening my eyes, I found it was already afternoon. Chi Van Tung's bedroom was exceptionally spacious, likely formed by knocking down several walls to merge them into one colossal master suite. He was busy bustling about in the kitchen.

Struggling to sit up, I grabbed my phone and searched "Animal Behavior."

【*Snake Mating Habits: During the breeding season, forced copulation is not uncommon, typically involving the male biting the upper body of the female to immobilize her before proceeding with copulation...*】

Ah-ha... No wonder he always liked biting from behind; it turned out to be pure animal instinct!

I glanced down at the red marks on my thighs; his tail had coiled far too tightly, making it impossible to escape. Fortunately, when he had lost control, he had only wanted to "make soup," rather than commit cannibalism. Otherwise, I would have ended up digested inside a snake's belly.

Chu Khue Khue's plan was truly too slapdash, without any dry runs whatsoever—just treating me like a live test subject!

Speaking of the devil, whoever was on one's mind always seemed to show up right on cue. My phone buzzed.

"Nian Nian, are you in Chi Van Tung's room? I've been looking all over for you."

I asked suspiciously, "You really didn't know I was here?"

"Know my foot! The two of you went out to flirt last night, and I, a pitiful single dog, drank a bit of alcohol and slept straight until 10 AM."

I frowned. "So there was no prior plan at all?"

"Huh? Wasn't it scheduled for Sunday?"

Damn it, let me piece this together...

Meaning last night happened to coincide with Chi Van Tung's rutting season?

"Anyway, I'm at his door, hanging up now."

*Tap tap tap.* Khue Khue knocked on the door outside the bedroom.

As for me... it wasn't very convenient for me to go open it.

That blockhead Chi Van Tung happily scampered off to open the door for his self-proclaimed future wife.