"Impressive, Che Quan."
Jiang Cong's voice seemed forever tinged with an elegant, unhurried smile that made him feel dangerous.
Che Quan remained lying down and ignored him, as though Jiang Cong were nothing but air.
Jiang Cong's footsteps drew closer and closer in the darkness.
Though Che Quan still couldn't be bothered to acknowledge him, his nerves involuntarily tightened.
"Get lost."
In the end, Che Quan couldn't help speaking, his voice icy.
But as usual, Jiang Cong did not do as he was told.
He walked straight over to Che Quan and stopped beside him, refraining for the moment from touching him as he lay on the bed recovering his strength.
A brief silence passed.
Then Jiang Cong suddenly said, "Do you remember the hint at the very beginning of the instance?"
Of course Che Quan remembered, but he kept his eyes and mouth shut, refusing to answer.
Yet the next second, he sensed Jiang Cong bending down toward him from above.
The disturbance in the air was so slight.
But in the empty, silent darkness, it was unmistakable.
Che Quan's closed eyelids twitched almost imperceptibly.
Jiang Cong's night vision allowed him to see that tiny movement clearly.
The corners of Jiang Cong's lips lifted involuntarily as he bent farther down.
Bracing his long, powerful hands on either side of Che Quan's face, Jiang Cong was almost lying lightly on top of him.
Jiang Cong lowered his voice as though afraid of disturbing him. "Che Quan, you know I'm the 'pervert' in this instance, don't you?"
In the darkness, even with his eyes closed, even without being able to see, Che Quan could clearly sense Jiang Cong hovering just above him.
Che Quan's lips twitched, but he still had no intention of acknowledging Jiang Cong. He wouldn't even open his eyes.
All he wanted to say was that Jiang Cong was the same inside and out: a pervert in the instance, and no less of one outside it.
Then Jiang Cong pushed his luck further, actually lowering himself another fraction.
Even Che Quan's long, curled lashes couldn't help fluttering.
His strength hadn't fully recovered yet.
But he was almost there.
Just then, he heard Jiang Cong whisper to him, "'The pervert only lays hands on his beloved treasure.' Remember? That was the instance's hint."
Che Quan lay on the bed, keeping his mouth shut and giving no response.
"Do you know how he'll lay hands on you?"
There was a faint suggestion of intimacy hidden in Jiang Cong's half-amused tone.
Che Quan was starting to lose his composure, and his fangs began to itch.
"Shut up."
This time, Jiang Cong seemed to listen. He actually stopped talking.
But Jiang Cong's fingers slowly moved to Che Quan's neck as he lay on the bed.
Che Quan was still waiting for the strength to return to his limbs.
When he suddenly felt Jiang Cong's slightly cool fingertips brush his neck, he instinctively frowned.
Then Jiang Cong's silky, long, straight silver hair spilled over the skin at Che Quan's collarbones, and Che Quan finally opened his eyes, unable to endure it any longer.
He stared straight at Jiang Cong above him, his eyes filled with an affronted, blood-red gleam.
A vampire's fangs and crimson eyes gradually returned to Che Quan's exquisitely beautiful face.
Jiang Cong stared unblinkingly at him.
His long lashes lowered, concealing the growing darkness in his gaze.
When he saw Che Quan's pointed fangs emerge over his lips, Jiang Cong could no longer suppress the dark desires surging within him.
He lowered his head and pressed his lips squarely against Che Quan's soft mouth.
In an instant, however, Che Quan's fangs pierced Jiang Cong's lips.
Delicious, crimson blood immediately welled up like tiny dewdrops, trickling along Che Quan's snow-white fangs and into his bright red mouth.
Che Quan was caught off guard.
He had never tasted blood this delicious.
It almost made him want to gorge himself.
The crimson in Che Quan's eyes deepened, and his fangs all but sank deep into the corner of Jiang Cong's mouth.
Seeing this, Jiang Cong silently curved his lips.
Only after Che Quan had tasted his fill and gradually regained his senses did Jiang Cong kiss him back. The wounds on his lips healed rapidly; he was clearly no ordinary human.
He moved his lips beside Che Quan's ear and murmured, "Even a pervert won't hurt you."
The sweet blood had filled Che Quan to an unprecedented degree, leaving him languid and sated. For a moment, he failed to register what Jiang Cong had said.
Afterward, Che Quan sensed Jiang Cong leaving his bedroom. He had no idea where he went.
Before long, Che Quan stood up and walked out of Room 201.
Outside, police sirens were still blaring, and the flashing red and blue lights of the police cars lit up the apartment building in the night.
Fu Na had already been arrested and taken away.
One by one, the residents of the apartment building finally opened their doors. In a rare nighttime outing, they stepped into the corridors to see what had happened.
Cui Tang was eventually found in the innermost room of his own apartment, Room 501. He was tightly bound and securely gagged, and the sleeping pills in his system had only just worn off.
Waking in a daze, Cui Tang had no idea what had happened.
When he heard that the serial killer had been caught, and that the killer was Fu Na, his eyes widened further in disbelief.
At a complete loss, he made his way down from the blood-covered fifth floor and stood in the second-floor corridor, watching the police officers going up and down. For a long time, he couldn't collect himself.
Suddenly, he spotted Che Quan.
Cui Tang remembered that this beautiful young man, who looked gloomy and quiet, was a very levelheaded player. He hurried over and asked, "Um, hello. Do you know what just happened? Was Fu Na... really the killer?"
Che Quan glanced at him at the sound of his voice and gave a brief "Yes."
Just then, Xuan Shuhui came downstairs too and joined them.
Having already experienced a rebuff when trying to talk to Che Quan, Xuan Shuhui wisely addressed Cui Tang directly this time. "You're a player too, right?"
Cui Tang nodded and asked blankly, "Do you know what just happened?"
At that, Xuan Shuhui's expression turned a little strange.
The old apartment building had poor soundproofing, and Fu Na had been so loud that she had naturally heard everything.
After a moment's thought, Xuan Shuhui gave Cui Tang a concise explanation. "Quite a lot happened. The person across from you-I don't know whether they were a resident or a player-was tricked by the killer into opening the door and murdered. Then Fu Na was going to tie you up and make you her scapegoat. She also wanted to keep killing other people, but she failed, because... the expert standing next to you beat her down."
Cui Tang listened carefully to every word, nodding along, but when he heard the final sentence, he froze.
He looked at Che Quan, whose face had remained expressionless throughout, in utter astonishment.
The young man's looks were beautiful enough to be described as breathtaking.
Though his sickly pallor and taciturn manner made him seem somewhat gloomy, they did nothing to diminish his beauty. Instead, they lent him a mysterious air that invited curiosity.
At the same time, after studying Che Quan more closely than ever for a little while, Cui Tang realized that the longer he looked, the more familiar Che Quan seemed, as though he had seen him somewhere before.
Cui Tang racked his brain, his brows unconsciously drawing together.
It probably hadn't been in an instance, because if he had encountered a player as capable and good-looking as this young man in one, he would certainly have remembered him vividly.
Cui Tang strained to recall, his brows knitting tighter and tighter. Finally, after Xuan Shuhui quietly said, "I even tried to bid on that life-saving treasure in his auction room before," Cui Tang gave a sudden shout of realization.
"Ah!"
Xuan Shuhui jumped. "Hey, why are you shouting all of a sudden?"
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