Wen Ruyu’s hand on the doorknob froze; his slender figure stiffened where he stood and he dared not move, his breathing instinctively becoming quieter.

Who was outside the door?

Before Wen Ruyu could look through the peephole in the security door, a knock sounded the next second, followed by Jiang Shengxu’s commanding voice.

“Open the door.”

Trying to persuade him, Jiang Shengxu’s tone softened a little. “Your address has been exposed. This place isn’t safe. Come with me.”

“I’ll take you somewhere safe.”

Jiang Shengxu had Wei Ruyu’s address; he rushed over the moment he saw the livestream. Naturally he was one of the first to arrive.

Wen Ruyu’s long lashes fluttered; he hesitated for a few seconds with his lips pressed together. Just as he was about to answer, a cold voice from beside him sounded with clear derision.

“Safe with you?”

Wen Ruyu paused. It was Yi Wen Bu Zhi’s voice.

If only Jiang Shengxu were there, Wen Ruyu would have opened the door at once. Jiang Shengxu was self-assured and proud, clearly a spoiled eldest son. Such a man likely had no ill intent.

Staying with him, at least for the short term, would be relatively safe.

But Yi Wen Bu Zhi was different.

Yi Wen Bu Zhi was the kind of high-and-mighty controller, used to dominating everything and intolerant of defiance. To achieve his ends he would stop at nothing.

Just like he had threatened earlier.

Going with Yi Wen Bu Zhi was definitely not a good choice.

Wen Ruyu’s hand, ready to open the door, froze.

Outside, the two men did not know what Wen Ruyu was thinking. Yi Wen Bu Zhi stood nearby and sneered at Jiang Shengxu at the door.

“You think you’re some kind of good guy?”

The two men outside immediately sparred with each other. Jiang Shengxu recognized the voice and his tone cooled and hardened. “My place has full security. It’s a thousand times safer than this dump you’re hiding in.”

“You just want to keep him by your side. Don’t pretend you’re kind.”

Yi Wen Bu Zhi laughed, his tone casual but full of force and pressure. “He goes with me, not you.”

“Then may the best man win.”

Wen Ruyu stood by the security door listening to the growing argument and kept his lips sealed.

The safest option was to run away alone.

But the two men outside blocked every route; neither would let him go.

While he hesitated, a faint, sharp sound came from behind him, tiny but piercing.

Wen Ruyu spun around. The next second his eyes widened and his pupils constricted.

The window that had been tightly shut had been forced open from outside. A man was wedged in the frame, one hand prying the sill, half-squatting on the window ledge. His tall figure radiated danger and pressure.

It was… the killer.

The indoor light outlined the man’s handsome face. He met Wen Ruyu’s terrified stare and, rather than withdraw, grinned a predatory, twisted smile.

Like a snake eyeing its prey.

Wen Ruyu’s eyes widened and his heart missed a beat. He gripped the doorknob hard, trying to fling the door open and run.

Whether with Jiang Shengxu or Yi Wen Bu Zhi, it would be safer than facing this unblinking madman.

But before he could make a sound, Silence was already in front of him.

Silence moved faster than Wen Ruyu could react, as if he had anticipated his thought. One long stride and he was on the window ledge.

Before Wen Ruyu could cry out, the hand on the doorknob was seized by a large palm and his mouth was clamped shut.

“Mmm—”

Everything happened so quickly Wen Ruyu could not even make a sound. He felt himself sinking.

Is this human speed?

Not only the speed but the strength was wrong. Could a normal person really throw a knife into a concrete wall?

He had been mistaken all along.

Were the people inserted before a dungeon formed really ordinary normal people as he had thought?

Wen Ruyu was forced into the man’s embrace, pain flaring in his abdomen where the man’s arm pinned him. His mouth was bound hard; he could only make thin whimpers.

Those whimpers were muffled by the security door and did not reach outside.

Jiang Shengxu and Yi Wen Bu Zhi outside kept arguing; they did not hear the whimper but they did hear the doorknob turning.

Both paused and looked at the closed door.

But the door did not open.

They didn’t think much of it, assuming Wen Ruyu was still hesitating.

Jiang Shengxu’s tone softened in reassurance. “Open the door.”

“You know this place isn’t safe.”

“Trust me. Where I’m taking you is safe. I promise no one will find you.”

As Jiang Shengxu’s words fell, Yi Wen Bu Zhi’s voice followed, “You wanted to expose him at first, didn’t you? Now you act so righteous.”

He glanced toward the door with casual certainty. “I’ve never hurt you. I’ve protected you. That shows I mean you no harm.”

“Come with me; it’s best.”

Both men outside tried to persuade the one inside with earnest, coaxing tones, but the door remained closed.

No sound came from within.

It wasn’t that Wen Ruyu didn’t want to open it — he physically could not.

His body was held tight and his mouth gagged. Even when he tried to kick the door, the man behind him twisted his waist and forced him down on the bed.

Silence listened to the argument outside, lowered his gaze to the person pinned beneath him, and spoke in a quiet voice near his ear, tone playful and vicious.

“You little accomplice is quite charming. Everyone’s fallen for you, fighting over who gets to take you.”

Silence had been gloomy, but seeing the state of the person beneath him he froze.

From fear and panic, or from struggling, the person beneath had tears welling at the corners of their eyes; the whole eye rim glistened wet.

The youth’s features leaned toward exquisite coolness, but with the redness at the outer eyes, the chill had vanished and only seduction remained.

Seductive… to the extreme.

The darkness in Silence’s eyes disappeared, replaced by an aggressively hungry look that made the skin crawl.

Wen Ruyu felt the hand covering his mouth loosen. Just as he tried to struggle, something hard was pressed against his waist.

A knife.

The knife Silence had given him, the one he had left on the table.

This time Wen Ruyu dared not struggle or make a sound. He froze, utterly still.

He would not gamble.

In reality he had encountered such situations countless times.

His looks attracted perverts; when their advances were rejected, they could turn violent and drag him to die with them.

Being desired by a deviant was never safe.

Silence, sensing the quiet obedience beneath him, eased the hand over Wen Ruyu’s mouth a little. His gaze dropped to Wen Ruyu’s lips — made red and swelling from the forced intrusion, as if smeared with fine rouge, soft and pretty.

Silence’s throat moved silently. He did not fully remove his hand; his thumb hovered by Wen Ruyu’s lip, pressing cruelly.

Redder.

More kissable.

Silence’s expression darkened, rolling with a violent, predatory emotion. He bent his head as if to continue what he had been unable to finish in the dormitory.

Before he could move, the knock sounded again.

Clearly patience outside had thinned and the argument had quieted as they waited for a response.

Silence’s actions paused; a flicker of undisguised killing intent passed his eyes. In the end he reined in his emotion.

This was not the time.

The youth’s address was exposed; more people would come. It would not be easy to leave then.

Silence suppressed his irritation and, with a sudden surge, cradled the limp Wen Ruyu horizontally.

He strode to the window without hesitation and jumped out from the third-floor ledge holding him.

Wen Ruyu had not expected Silence to leap. The sense of weightlessness hit him and he widened his eyes, heart missing a beat. Panic showed on his delicate face as he instinctively wrapped his arms around Silence’s neck.

A third-floor drop is neither high nor low, but jumping with someone is suicide.

Silence did not falter.

Even carrying someone, he landed steadily, knees bending to absorb the shock, his figure not swaying a hair.

This was not humanly possible.

Wen Ruyu’s heart pounded wildly. If he had been uncertain before, he was now sure.

Silence was not ordinary.

Perhaps… not even entirely human.

After landing smoothly, Silence turned and walked quickly away from the complex, planning to leave immediately.

But he had only taken two steps when he stopped.

Under the streetlights a line of men in black stood in formation, their eyes all fixed on him and Wen Ruyu.

At the front stood an astonishingly handsome man.

The air froze.

The handsome man was Yi Wen Bu Zhi. His gaze casually fell on Silence and he spoke without haste.

“Where are you taking him?”

Silence’s eyes darkened. He knew this man: Li Zechuan, CEO of Li Group — someone who used any means necessary.

He slid his gaze from Li Zechuan to the dozen bodyguards behind him, then to Jiang Shengxu staring down from the third-floor window.

Finally he slowly set Wen Ruyu down.

Jiang Shengxu stood at the third-floor window, furious at the stranger below.

He had not expected anyone to make a move under his nose.

If Yi Wen Bu Zhi had not pointed it out, the man might have taken Wen Ruyu and he would never have known.

No one had dared to act this way before.

Jiang Shengxu hurried down the stairs, but when he reached the ground the man was already gone.

“Where did he go?” Jiang Shengxu’s voice trembled with anger.

His bodyguard stepped forward and bowed low, “Young Master Jiang, he’s already left.”

Jiang Shengxu scoffed coldly and tamped down his rage. “He got what he deserved.”

Only Wen Ruyu, Jiang Shengxu, Li Zechuan, and their bodyguards remained in the clearing. The atmosphere stiffened; no one spoke.

Jiang Shengxu glanced at Yi Wen Bu Zhi not far off, then at the shaken Wen Ruyu, and asked bluntly, “Who do you want to go with?”

Wen Ruyu’s long lashes trembled. He looked at the two men who would not yield and after a long pause hesitated, “...How about you fight? Whoever wins, I go with them.”

Silence.

He felt their gazes on him and opened his mouth slightly, whispering, “...just kidding.”

“I want to go back to the dormitory.”

“No.” Li Zechuan’s voice cut in first, leaving no room for discussion.

Jiang Shengxu bristled at Li Zechuan cutting in but agreed, “Your information has been exposed. People at school have already dug up your details. Going back to the dorm isn’t safe.”

Wen Ruyu pressed his lips together and asked hesitantly, “Then who do I go with?”

No one answered or gave ground.

The longer they delayed, the more people would come. It would only get worse.

Li Zechuan broke the stalemate. He turned to his bodyguards. “Bring the car.”

Then he faced Wen Ruyu, his tone softened a bit. “I’ll take you to school.”

Wen Ruyu did not refuse this time.

In the end the two men sent him to the school — but not to the original dorm. They took him to the faculty apartment and Li Zechuan handed him a key.

“I checked. No one is staying in that unit. Stay there for now.”

Wen Ruyu paused, hesitated a few seconds, then accepted.

“Thank you.”

By the time Wen Ruyu arrived it was nearly eleven.

He took out his phone and checked his messages.

His inbox had nearly exploded; the people who had mostly ignored him before were now sending many messages, continuously.

[Number 10: Why did you steal his photos? Because you like how he looks?]

[Number 5: You like him? You used his photos for your online romance?]

[Number 13: You said you broke up because of him? Because he replied to you? You dumped us?]

[Number 3: You don’t mean you like Yang Ruiqing, do you?]

Before Wen Ruyu opened them, he felt a jolt and his thin white fingers froze.

Why were they saying this?

Why did everyone assume he liked Yang Ruiqing?

A bad feeling rose in Wen Ruyu. He opened the streaming app and checked the comment section. That’s when he discovered why.

The clarification post he had made had been dug up.

The person who posted the thread exposing him... was himself.

Chapter 26

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