Chapter 36: Dark-Skinned Rugged Honest Man 36

Hang Liu ultimately still couldn’t continue.

He still couldn’t bear to see Jiang Rang looking so heartbroken.

He buried his head deeply in the young man’s neck, sniffing the familiar yet strangely intoxicating scent in his nostrils while holding back his tears. Hang Liu softly said, “A-Rang, we can escape from here, right?”

Jiang Rang slowly wrapped his arm around his waist. His ink-black eyes trembled lightly as he firmly replied, “Yes, A Liu. We definitely can.”

They held each other quietly, as if they wanted to fuse their very bones and blood together.

In the end, that day passed in perfect calm, as if nothing had ever happened.

However, everyone in the villa noticed that Jiang Rang had become even more patient and gentle toward the Male Master.

In the past, the beta had always been concerned about his reputation and others’ gazes, unwilling to interact openly with the Male Master. Now, it seemed he had finally come to terms with reality and accepted it.

“Jiang Rang, tomorrow at the banquet, I’ll formally announce to the world that I’m pregnant. But I promised you that I’ll legitimize our Baobao later on. Will you be angry?”

The Male Master sat on the bed, gently leaning against the sturdy, well-built beta’s shoulder beside him. His index finger lightly twisted a strand of long hair, twirling it around his fingertip in slow circles, his tone laced with unease.

Jiang Rang’s eyes trembled slightly. He grasped the omega’s finger, his thumb gently gliding over the man’s jade-pale hand back in a tender motion. He softly said, “How could I be angry? As long as you and the child are healthy, that’s all that matters. Tomorrow’s banquet will be crowded, so take care of your body.”

The young man paused, his tone carrying an inexplicable note. “Mister, you know… I’m really looking forward to the child’s birth.”

Qi Yu’s lips curved into a faint smile. He had gained a little weight recently, thanks to Jiang Rang’s oversight. It seemed that ever since the day Hang Liu had lost his mind, the young man had completely changed.

He no longer paid attention to that nominal fiancé and instead devoted himself entirely to the man.

Qi Yu wasn’t without his suspicions, but even when Hang Liu collapsed right in front of Jiang Rang, the young man didn’t bat an eye. He focused solely on the man’s emotions, meals, and daily life.

The Male Master had once given in to his urge to probe and ask for the reason. Jiang Rang hadn’t answered directly at the time. In that instant, the young man had become inscrutable, his handsome honey-toned face drawing close to the omega as he planted a gentle kiss. He smiled faintly and said, “Doesn’t Mister like me this way?”

How could Qi Yu not like it? He loved it so much that he wanted to shout it from the rooftops to the entire world.

The man had never imagined that mutual love could taste so sweet—like being soaked in a jar of honey, inspiring endless fantasies.

Jiang Rang had fallen in love with him just as he wished. It turned out love really could transform a person completely.

Qi Yu felt himself growing more sensitive and more insecure by the day, but the young man always accommodated him endlessly, comforting him over and over.

Perhaps due to this shift in his psychological identity, Jiang Rang no longer treated him with the same utmost respect as before. During their intimate moments, the young man would use affectionate pet names.

Moreover, because of the pregnancy, Jiang Rang paid especially close attention to his diet and sleep, almost strictly enforcing rest times.

The man didn’t resent it at all—in fact, he enjoyed being so controlled by the beta.

In their intimate affairs, Jiang Rang always went along with Qi Yu. The young man would gently accommodate him, but the moment Qi Yu frowned even slightly, Jiang Rang would immediately pin him down, forbidding him from acting recklessly any further.

The man had been pulled out flushed and red-faced several times, but seeing the depth of concern in the young man’s eyes, he couldn’t bear to lash out even if he felt frustrated.

With Jiang Rang’s supervision and the nourishment of their love, the Male Master’s perpetually pale complexion grew increasingly radiant and healthy. Even his slight weight gain made him worry excessively that Jiang Rang might start to dislike him.

Of course, Qi Yu wouldn’t ask outright. Instead, the man simply began exercising deliberately.

Days passed like this, one after another.

On the day of the banquet, Qi Yu had originally wanted the young man to stay by his side, but unfortunately, Jiang Rang suddenly spiked a high fever the next day, and it refused to break anytime soon.

The banquet invitations had already gone out, leaving Qi Yu with no choice. He arranged for the doctor to monitor the situation and, as the host, hurriedly went to greet the guests.

Jiang Rang slowly opened his eyes. He stared at the closed door, a nearly relieved smile appearing on his fever-flushed face.

He hadn’t felt this lighthearted in ages. The massive boulder weighing on his heart was like it had been utterly pulverized by a giant sledgehammer. The fragments crumbled away, turning to fine dust that the young man casually brushed off and discarded.

The doctor standing guard nearby removed his mask and nodded to Jiang Rang. “Mr. Qi has already reached the front hall. He won’t make it back anytime soon. There’s a lot of vehicle traffic in the villa district today—high mobility and excellent concealment. Mr. Hang is waiting for you in the sedan outside the villa. For now, you need to discard everything on you to avoid any hidden monitors or positioning devices.”

Jiang Rang nodded. With a calm expression, he began removing his clothes and changed into the outfit the doctor handed him.

Finally, the young man stared at the ring on his middle finger. He slowly took it off and gently placed it beside the Little Bear Table Lamp.

In that instant, it seemed like he wasn’t thinking about anything at all—or perhaps he was recalling a great many things.

In any case, the young man turned away decisively. He hadn’t hesitated for even a moment from start to finish.

Jiang Rang wove through the crowd with his head down, nervously gripping his wrist. Only when he finally spotted the sedan parked on the path—the very symbol of freedom—and saw A Liu gazing at him tenderly did he realize what he was doing and release his grip.

A large bruise had formed on his wrist.

But the beta finally curved his lips into a smile. He took hold of his fiancé’s hand, and together they boarded the car.

The sunset fell behind him, magnificent like the opening of a movie prologue.

However, the deep crimson sky at the horizon was soon blanketed by layer upon layer of dark clouds.

Jiang Rang gripped the young man’s wrist tightly while Hang Liu half-leaned on his shoulder. They truly resembled a devoted couple, supporting each other through thick and thin.

Perhaps because the car had the air conditioning on, the air inside didn’t circulate well. In his daze, the beta caught a whiff of an intensely rich fragrance. Strangely, it wasn’t pungent at all. Instead, it evoked a sense of comfort, ease, and drowsiness.

Jiang Rang struggled to lift his eyelids. Hearing a voice that seemed to drift closer and farther at his ear, he said, “Mr. Jiang, we’ll be switching cars shortly…”

The voice grew more and more distant, like the receding waves at the seaside—distant and serene.

At last, the young man could no longer hold out. His eyes drifted shut.

In the final second before his consciousness sank into sleep, he heard a faint chuckle.

Someone seemed to murmur right against his ear, “Jiang Jiang, you’re mine now.”

~~~

“Mr. Qi, look at how rosy and radiant your complexion is. This baby of yours is definitely going to be an alpha—no doubt about it!”

The man draped in a dark blue robe, with the apricot-colored inner lining half-covering his jawline, heard such flattery. The bright red corners of his lips slowly cooled by a few degrees.

The omega’s long hair was half-bound at the back of his head with a red silk ribbon. That excessively pale, creamy face paired with his gloomy red lips carried a classical, damp chill to its beauty.

He half-lifted his pitch-black eyes and took a sip from his tall-stemmed wine glass. Nonchalantly, he replied, “Is that so? I think, based on its father’s looks, it ought to be a beta or an omega instead.”

The flatterer had misaimed his bootlicking and ended up kicking the horse’s leg instead, naturally feeling a wave of embarrassment. At the same time, doubts stirred in his mind.

This Mr. Qi really was as eccentric as the rumors said. Normally, a pregnant husband praised for carrying an alpha would be over the moon with joy.

After all, if it turned out to be a mediocre beta, that was one thing. But if it was an omega, with the vast estates of the Qi Family and Li Family, wouldn’t it all end up in the hands of some other alpha anyway?

Though the man thought this to himself, he didn’t dare say it to Qi Yu’s face.

Qi Yu tugged at his lips. Even with the wine glass half-obscuring his pale cheeks, the nauseating queasiness in his chest lingered, refusing to fade.

Soon, that sick feeling morphed into a violent urge to vomit. The omega half-covered his mouth, beads of cold sweat breaking out on his deathly pale forehead. He wanted to retch but couldn’t. Concerned guests gathered around him, appearing deeply worried for the omega.

Yet Qi Yu only felt more like a corpse buried under damp soil. The stench of rotting flesh and withered bones drew swarms of flies buzzing around him. He wanted to sew their mouths shut and burn everything to ashes.

The man’s chaotic gaze swept over the bizarre array of faces in the grand hall. It paused briefly when it brushed past a certain dark-skinned, sturdy figure.

But it was only a pause. He brushed straight past that faint thread of suspicion, wholeheartedly believing in the false love Jiang Rang had bestowed upon him like charity.

He believed in the young man’s love, believed in his illness. He even believed in every single anomaly, treating them all like honey laced with arsenic.

He had given the ambitious schemer and skeptic his complete trust.

Amid the alternating waves of pregnancy sickness and headaches, Qi Yu yearned only to melt into the beta’s warm body.

The tranquilizer that he and Baobao both needed.

Qi Yu held on until the banquet’s end. The moment he left the hall, he stumbled desperately toward the love nest he shared with the young man.

He pushed open that door emanating an ominous dark hue and, clutching his forehead, staggered to the bedside where the bedding was slightly raised.

“Jiang Rang…” The omega’s lips trembled as he spoke. “I feel like throwing up.”

His voice carried a near-coquettish whine.

Yet the bed offered no response.

Qi Yu pursed his lips, his pale blue eyes shadowed with emotion. He reached out and gently tugged at the quilt, murmuring softly, “Why aren’t you answering me…”

Before he could finish, the man’s entire body went rigid.

Beneath the quilt he had pulled back lay a rumpled pile of pillows. Where was the beta?

Qi Yu’s long, thick lashes quivered fiercely. After a long moment, he abruptly stepped back half a pace. Composing himself, he muttered aloud as if to no one in particular, “Where did he run off to? Why didn’t he even tell me?”

He checked the bathroom, the washroom, the closet—even under the bed.

Nothing.

The man drew a deep breath, forcing himself to reason that Jiang Rang must have recovered from his illness and simply grown restless, off doing something.

He dialed the butler and asked him to help search. In just this one villa, he figured, how far could the young man possibly have gone?

But even as night fell, the man slumped desolately on the edge of the bed received no word at all.

The omega’s crimson hair tie had come loose, snaking around the hem of his navy shirt. At a glance, it resembled a writhing mass of fresh, bloody flesh.

In the dim bedroom, Qi Yu’s face alone gleamed with a pallor like unto the grave.

The glow from his phone screen played eerie shadows across his cheek, stirring dread in the heart.

There, the final footage of Jiang Rang’s departure looped endlessly: the discarded ring, the figure that never once hesitated.

Qi Yu suddenly barked a hollow laugh.

With a wretched grimace, he snatched up the ring beside the Little Bear Table Lamp and dissolved into mad cackles.

“He doesn’t want me. He doesn’t want us. He doesn’t want anything—”

“It was all a lie from start to finish.”

“Liar!!!”

Strands of his long hair clung to his damp cheeks like fissures in cracked earth, while his scarlet eyes—ghostly and unblinking—fixed on the phone. The empty dial tone echoed through the silence, jarring the nerves.

Threads of bloodied, rotting flesh seeped from Qi Yu’s lips as he growled with venomous intensity, “Find him. Drag him back to me!”

“Use any means necessary. Just bring him here.”

He smashed the phone after hanging up, doubling over in agony as he clutched his belly with a twisted hunch. His gasps rasped loud enough to terrify, as if suffocation or blackout loomed in the next breath.

In a hoarse whisper, he murmured, “You can’t escape. You can’t escape, Jiang Rang, Jiang Rang… You’re doomed to be tangled with me for life.”

“Even in death, we’ll share the same grave.”

~~~

When Jiang Rang awoke, a cacophony of noises buzzed in his ears.

They swarmed him like mosquitoes or waves threatening to drown him. He strained to open his eyes, but his eyelids weighed heavy as if stitched shut with needle and thread—he couldn’t budge.

Panic stirred in the young man’s heart. The isolation of stillness, the utter immobility—it was horrifying, like being cast off by the world itself.

Thankfully, the sensation didn’t linger. Moments later, he sensed someone sitting at his bedside.

He assumed it was A Liu, but the man’s soft sigh sounded nothing like him.

Gently, the man wiped Jiang Rang’s face and upper body with a warm towel.

As the dampness crept lower, Jiang Rang’s face flushed crimson from the effort of holding his breath. He summoned every ounce of strength to pry his eyes open.

To his relief, he managed it.

Light flooded back into the young man’s world.

The room blended lush greens with warm reddish-browns. Ancient, elegant patterns adorned the walls, while exquisite porcelain vases brimmed with rare, vibrant flowers and plants that spilled over in wild abundance, infusing the space with life.

The entire chamber exuded costly elegance and vintage charm.

Jiang Rang almost wondered if he’d stumbled into the wrong dimension.

“Jiang Jiang, you’re finally awake.”

The deep voice at his side held notes of worry and heartache.

Jiang Rang turned blankly toward the man. Chen Jingxu wore a brown trench coat that accentuated his tall, well-built frame, though his face bore a sickly pallor. Dark circles shadowed his eyes, lending him an air of exhaustion and weariness.

The beta asked on instinct, “What happened to me? Where’s A Liu? Where is A Liu?”

Chen Jingxu let out a sigh, his expression growing even more defeated.

With downcast eyes, he said softly, “I’m sorry, Jiang Jiang. You passed out in the car with barely any awareness, so you wouldn’t know. After we switched vehicles and hit the Panshan Highway, a storm rolled in—and we had an accident.”

“Because the situation was too urgent, we couldn’t accurately piece together what happened. All we know is that you fell into the weeds by the roadside, while your fiancé and that wrecked car plunged off the cliff together. We’ve dispatched additional rescue teams to search, but we’ve found nothing so far…”

The sound of the blankets being yanked back was harsh and grating. The tall beta half-propped himself up on the bed, only to collapse back onto the soft mattress, his body limp and powerless.

That honey-colored face had taken on an excessively gaunt contour, unnaturally pale, as if it might shatter into pieces at any moment.

Jiang Rang stared at the alpha with bloodshot eyes, his teeth chattering as he stammered, “Who… who did you just say was missing?”

Chen Jingxu pressed his lips together. He sat on the edge of the bed, his refined features etched with heartache and tenderness. He slowly stroked the young man’s violently trembling back, his voice light and ethereal. “Hang Liu. Your fiancé.”

Jiang Rang fiercely batted his hand away. His scarlet eyes brimmed with waves of painful tears. Gritting his teeth, he said, “Impossible. You’re lying to me, aren’t you? I’m fine—how could A Liu be in trouble?”

Chen Jingxu’s eyes began to redden. He lunged forward abruptly and wrapped the youth in his arms, clutching the beta tightly despite his struggles.

He patted the young man’s back soothingly over and over, murmuring softly, “It’s okay, it’s okay. I’ll keep sending people to search. Jiang Jiang, don’t cry.”

Jiang Rang’s resistance gradually faded. He had been roused forcibly from unconsciousness after lying insensate for so long; the surge of emotion proved too much for his body, and he fainted once more.

When the beta woke again, night had fully fallen.

The pitch-black darkness outside was heavy and devoid of light, clashing with the bright, warm glow inside the room. If anything, the brilliance of the indoor lights made the blackness beyond seem even more suffocating and impenetrable.

Chen Jingxu brought a bowl of warm porridge and rice. Jiang Rang lay utterly still, gazing out the window in silence, lost in his thoughts.

The alpha couldn’t help sighing. He coaxed gently, “Jiang Jiang, you need to eat something first. How else will your body hold up?”

Jiang Rang said nothing.

He resembled a masterfully carved ancient statue—melancholy, despair, and self-recrimination radiating from his eyes, his face, his very bearing. Yet it all seemed to be fracturing inch by inch, spiderwebbing along his veins.

In the utter silence, the youth suddenly whispered, “Chen Jingxu, do you think A Liu will come back to claim my life?”

Chen Jingxu’s face twisted into an ugly mask in an instant. He forced a smile. “Jiang Jiang, don’t say such nonsense.”

But Jiang Rang pressed on, speaking to himself. “He will. He could never bear to leave me—how could he stand being parted from me by the boundary between life and death?”

The alpha’s expression shifted repeatedly. After a long pause, as if struck by a sudden recollection, he said hurriedly, “Jiang Jiang, I heard from the experts that your dad’s condition has improved a lot. Do you want to go see him?”

The youth listened blankly. After what seemed like forever, he shook his head.

He looked like a scarecrow on the verge of being pecked to pieces by birds—neither man nor ghost, stripped of any spark of will.

Chen Jingxu should have been thrilled. Thrilled that his sordid scheme was unfolding right on schedule, thrilled that he was on the cusp of becoming the youth’s sole pillar, his entire world.

Yet in truth, his heart brimmed with bitterness and jealousy.

Gazing at the beta’s lost, despondent figure, the alpha inexplicably blurted, “Jiang Rang, he might not have come to harm. The police are only reporting him missing for now. No body, no death.”

He comforted the youth with gentle words, his eyes darting slyly. “I’ll help you keep looking.”

Jiang Rang’s eyes reddened. He nodded slowly, like a rusty machine operating without volition.

Chen Jingxu’s throat bobbed. All at once, he desperately wanted to kiss those pale lips, those tears.

In his delirium, he thought how perfect it would be if those tears were shed for him.