Ye Xuan did not dodge, letting her throw herself into his arms. Meng Yiran clutched his wrist tightly with both hands, brought the cup of Bloody Mary to her lips, tilted back her head, and drained it in one gulp.
The sweet liquid, carrying a faint taste of rust, slid down her throat and instantly transformed into a surge of heat that rushed through her limbs and bones.
She let out a satisfied sigh, her body trembling slightly. The scarlet flames that had just faded from her eyes flared up once more like a blazing fire fed with fresh fuel.
The killing intent within her surged wildly, leaving her unbearably feverish as her gaze became unfocused and burning.
But this time, unlike before, she had not completely lost control.
She retained a trace of clarity. She could distinctly sense that the violent desire and killing intent within her did not come entirely from Slaughter City itself, but from the Bloody Mary!
This was no treasure that nourished killing intent at all—it was a slow-acting mental poison!
It gradually eroded one's mind, magnifying the desires and brutality in one's heart until one unknowingly became a slave to slaughter and desire.
Her earlier loss of composure when she had thrown herself into Ye Xuan's arms before everyone, all those uncontrollable, crazed actions—none of it had been her true intention. She had been controlled by the poison!
"No... impossible!" Meng Yiran's entire body stiffened, and the flush on her face instantly drained away, replaced by deathly pallor.
She stared at her own hands in disbelief, feeling the desire and killing intent still raging within her. Her heart filled with fear and despair.
At last, she understood why Ye Xuan had kept providing her with such "pure" Bloody Mary.
He had known the truth