TBWE Extra 4

As evening approached, the floor-to-ceiling glass walls of the Western restaurant reflected the grayish twilight.

Outside the window was a carefully maintained garden, while inside the restaurant, music played melodiously. A waiter led Chu Li to a window seat.

Someone was already seated at the table. The man had refined and gentle features, with a pair of rimless glasses perched on his nose. Seeing her approach, he stood up at the right moment with a smile. “Xiao Li, long time no see.”

His features were sixty percent similar to Huo Xiu’s, but their temperaments were quite different.

“Long time no see, Brother Huo Li.”

Chu Li had a decent impression of this neighbor she hadn’t seen in many years. He used to often help her with homework and, like Huo Xiu’s parents, was a very gentle person.

The two sat down and exchanged pleasantries about their recent situations.

Huo Li casually glanced at Chu Li’s hand. A platinum ring on her middle finger refracted tiny glimmers of light under the ceiling lamp. His gaze paused, a trace of complexity crossing his expression as he said carefully, “This is… a couple’s ring, isn’t it?”

“Yes.”

Seeing her indifferent reaction, Huo Li hesitantly spoke, “There’s something you probably don’t know. After Xiao Xiu returned to the country, I tried to contact you many times. But… I never succeeded in reaching you.”

“The things he did to you, I vaguely know some of them. That person…” Huo Li sighed, seemingly searching for the right words, “stubborn, extreme, naturally emotionally indifferent. When I heard the news of his drowning and disappearance, I was surprised, but honestly also somewhat relieved. Do you understand these aspects of him?”

The restaurant’s background music flowed with a slow piano piece.

“I know.” Chu Li’s tone was calm. “I know everything.”

Huo Li was clearly stunned, instinctively glancing again at the couple’s ring, his brow furrowing slightly.

If she knew… then why would she still keep this ring?

Sensing his confusion, Chu Li explained frankly, “Brother Huo Li, you’ve misunderstood. This is a couple’s ring with my current boyfriend.”

Huo Li’s expression went blank for a moment. Then a trace of embarrassment crept onto his brow, which turned into relief.

“I’m sorry.” He smiled bitterly. “I made the wrong assumption. About Xiao Xiu… I’m very sorry. After our parents passed away, as his older brother, I failed in my responsibilities and couldn’t stop him from returning to the country.”

“I understand an apology can’t make up for anything. He has some real estate and shares in his name. As compensation for the harm he caused you, I hope to transfer them to your name.”

Behind his lenses, his eyes were full of guilt and sincerity.

Chu Li smiled slightly, her tone gentle yet very direct. “Thank you for your kindness. But I don’t need anything related to him, nor do I want any further connection with him.”

An access card was pushed in front of Huo Li.

“The villa key. I came to this appointment today to return it.”

Meeting those dark pupils, Huo Li felt somewhat stunned. The lively, smiling little girl from his youthful memories had completely changed. She possessed a special quality that didn’t match her age.

He couldn’t describe it in words, and staring too long made him feel as if his soul would be drawn away.

After a brief silence, Huo Li smiled warmly, dispelling the previous awkwardness and solemnity.

“That’s fine. It should end cleanly.” His tone was relieved as he raised the water glass in front of him, saying sincerely, “Then… I wish you smooth sailing from now on.”

“Thank you, same to you.”

The two water glasses clinked together.

The meal was quickly served in full, and the two chatted about inconsequential topics afterward, the atmosphere relaxing considerably. Huo Li said he would finish handling all his brother’s remaining affairs as soon as possible and probably wouldn’t return to the country again. Chu Li also briefly mentioned matters regarding her studies.

The meal lasted neither too long nor too short, finishing just after seven o’clock.

After settling the bill, Huo Li picked up his coat. “Let’s go, I’ll drive you. It’s very cold outside.”

“No need to trouble yourself, I’ll call my driver to pick me up.”

He insisted gently, “It’s no trouble. It’s rush hour at this time, it’ll take quite a while for the driver to get here.”

The two walked out of the warm, bright Western restaurant.

The outdoor cold was piercing, the streetlights dim yellow, cars coming and going.

“Wait a moment, the car’s in the parking lot. My assistant is bringing it over now.”

Chu Li nodded, her breath turning to white mist as she quietly pulled up her scarf.

By the roadside, an entirely black Maybach stopped abruptly at a temporary parking spot like a ghost.

Huo Li felt a tangible gaze, cold, falling upon him.

He noticed that car and the young man getting out of it. His dark suit was tailored perfectly, with a black coat over it, and he wore a pair of gold-rimmed glasses that somewhat softened his excessively handsome and defined features.

However, the eyes behind those lenses stared straight at them, the pitch-black pupils seeming able to absorb all light.

Huo Li keenly sensed the visitor’s unfriendliness.

That gaze was full of cold scrutiny, as if looking at an eyesore, at garbage urgently needing disposal.

This made him feel offended while his back involuntarily went cold. He instinctively stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Chu Li.

Chu Li’s eyes widened slightly, suddenly feeling guilty.

Wasn’t He in a meeting? How did He end up here!

Before she could speak, Xi Chu had already walked up to them in an instant and extended his hand.

——Toward Huo Li’s neck.

“Is the meeting over?” A hand reached out midway, intimately grasping His, the two couple’s rings touching together.

Warmth transmitted through the skin, dissolving an impending tragedy.

Xi Chu slowly lowered his eyes, staring at the hand clasped with his own, and suddenly applied force.

Chu Li was pulled stumbling forward a step. A black coat carrying body warmth was draped over her shoulders, immediately dispelling the winter night’s chill.

His expression was calm. “Ended early. Won’t you introduce us?”

With each word spoken, the arm around her waist tightened. Chu Li clearly felt the forcibly suppressed, nearly boiling hostility emanating from Him.

Huo Li realized this was the current boyfriend Chu Li had mentioned.

He seemed even more intense than his younger brother.

He collected his thoughts and put on a warm, appropriate smile again, nodding toward Xi Chu. “Hello, I’m Huo Li, Xiao Li’s former neighbor. I arranged to meet her to handle some private matters.”

Chu Li closed her eyes, hoping everything before her was an illusion.

It was precisely because she didn’t want this kind of scene to happen that she hadn’t told the monster at home about the meeting.

Now it looked even worse.

Chu Li steeled herself to explain. “Brother Huo Li returned to the country to handle…”

Xi Chu wasn’t listening to what Chu Li was saying at all.

His attention was completely occupied by the two words “Huo Li” and that similar face.

Such a similar face.

Recently, He had occasionally recalled the memories He had previously extracted from “Huo Xiu.” It was also such a face that had once been so close to Chu Li, occupying a considerable period of her life.

Pure jealousy and possessiveness burned wildly in his heart.

But that was a dead man, with not even a corpse remaining. He could only suppress that fire in his heart.

But now, this human before him had such a similar face.

A tremendous sense of crisis instantly arose.

Huo Li had a face similar to Huo Xiu’s, a good background, a gentle and harmless temperament, and Chu Li had just dined alone with him.

Moreover, they were former neighbors and shared a common past.

A threat, a potential threat.

Xi Chu’s calm expression shattered like ice, his pupils intensely black, the inhuman quality growing stronger.

He wanted to kill this human and eliminate all potential threats before they could materialize.

After introducing himself, he received no response for a long while. The other person’s eyes, from beginning to end, stared straight at him, filled with… killing intent.

Huo Li’s back suddenly went cold, his heart beating violently. His survival instinct urged him to flee quickly, and he couldn’t help but take a step back.

Chu Li suddenly squeezed Xi Chu’s hand tightly, wearing a light smile. “It’s so cold outside, let’s go home.”

Her beautiful eyes held points of light, reflecting His figure.

The surging killing intent was as if reined in.

Xi Chu finally shifted his gaze from Huo Li.

Huo Li tried to maintain adult composure, his voice stiff: “Xiao Li, thank you so much for being willing to come today. I’ve conveyed my apology, and I sincerely wish you both well.” He politely nodded to Xi Chu again. “Farewell.”

****

The Maybach merged into traffic.

The interior lights weren’t on. Scattered light and shadow entered through the car windows, rapidly sweeping past as they drove, making the young man’s face appear intermittently bright and dark.

The hand gripping the steering wheel showed protruding knuckles and bulging veins.

Twisted rage was compressed and squeezed into a narrow human shell, unable to find an outlet.

He was angry.

Unprecedentedly, on the verge of losing control angry.

A faint fragrance drifted over, and a warm hand brushed across Xi Chu’s gloomy brow and eyes.

“I had originally arranged to have dinner with Tong Tong. When leaving campus, I received a call at the last minute. Huo Li returned to the country to handle the funeral arrangements. I thought it would be convenient to give him the villa’s access card, so I went. I didn’t deliberately hide it from you.”

His eyeballs moved slightly. The twisted emotions in his heart didn’t diminish in the slightest; rather, they surged more violently because of her explanation——

Why did she go see that person alone? Why did she have dinner with him? Why did she return the access card? What right did that human have to stand beside her?

Countless questions rushed out competing with each other, almost tearing apart this human shell.

Xi Chu clearly heard the skin beneath his clothes splitting open. The dark, viscous thing inside urgently wanted to swallow Chu Li whole.

Devour,

Possess,

Completely merge into one, inseparable.

Only this way could those restless, unsatisfied desires be calmed.

Screech——

The tires violently scraped against the road surface as the Maybach came to an abrupt stop in front of the duplex building.

Xi Chu stared ahead, his voice taut. “Li Li, you go back first. I’ll go park the car.”

Chu Li didn’t immediately get out of the car.

He immediately sensed her hesitation and understood who caused her hesitation. The suppressed emotions rolled and clamored even more.

“I won’t break my promise.”

After their symbiosis, they had agreed not to kill people randomly or disrupt human social order.

Chu Li understood the other party needed some private space.

So she squeezed Xi Chu’s hand once. The temperature was so cold it made her shudder. “Alright, I’ll wait for you at home.”

The car door opened and closed. He watched as the duplex’s main door opened and closed.

The slender figure disappeared behind the door.

The human body instantly collapsed and disintegrated. Dark, sticky shadows occupied every part of the car interior, and the metal frame made teeth-aching creaking sounds.

****

Chu Li didn’t understand where Xi Chu’s intense killing intent came from.

After a period of socialization training, He was no longer so resistant to her normal social interactions.

But clearly, He had lost control today.

Was it because of the concealment? But it didn’t seem like He was so angry just because of concealment.

Then what else could it be?

Carrying a bellyful of questions, she walked out of the mist-filled bathroom.

The room had a constant temperature system running. She wore thin pajamas and saw Xi Chu sitting on the single sofa in the bedroom.

That was her favorite spot to curl up in. The sofa wasn’t large and had two little white goose plushies piled on it. With His physique, sitting on it left no room to stretch his limbs.

He hung his head slightly, his tousled hair casting shadows, his expression unclear.

Inexplicably, Chu Li felt this scene was somewhat pitiful.

As if seeing a massive monster shrinking into a tiny space.

She walked around to Xi Chu’s front, opened her arms to embrace His neck, then naturally straddled His legs.

“Still angry?” She reached out, gently touching His clenched fist. The temperature on the back of His hand was abnormally cold.

His body stiffened. He didn’t look at her, but His hand loosened, allowing the warm fingers to slide into His palm, filling every gap between fingers.

A tentacle crawled out from the shadows beneath the sofa, silently winding around Chu Li’s calf under her nightgown.

Chu Li’s heart softened. She stroked that tentacle, then cupped the monster’s slightly lowered head, forcing eye contact.

“Why? Tell me, please?”

She removed the gold-rimmed glasses from that handsome face—decorative glasses used for disguise.

Warm, soft lips touched His. Her smiling, curved eyes completely reflected His features.

Xi Chu held the waist before him, gazing at her and saying, “Because of jealousy.”

“Li Li, I’m very jealous of him.”

Jealous of a dead man, jealous to the point of nearly going mad.