That day, although Gan Tang remained unusually silent throughout, his silence was easily interpreted as surprise and shyness under Cen Zibai’s nearly perfect performance.
And Cen Zibai effortlessly gained the acceptance of Gan Tang’s grandmother. The elderly woman truly believed that this well-mannered young man with a bright smile was indeed Gan Tang’s “best friend” invited from the countryside to visit, someone who was tired of the dull, lonely rural life.
Cen Zibai was naturally arranged to stay in Gan Tang’s room.
“Good boy, why didn’t you say you had a friend coming? Look, the house is unprepared.” The grandmother even privately pulled Gan Tang aside, mildly scolding him with a hint of helplessness, “…Forget it, I’ll go next door to your third aunt’s house and grab a chicken. I’ll stew it with mushrooms and make some corn cakes… Tang Tang?”
The grandmother suddenly waved her hand in front of Gan Tang’s face.
Her expression turned a little puzzled.
“Is something wrong? Why are you so distracted today?”
She asked with concern.
Gan Tang shivered, snapping back to reality and then looked up, staring blankly at the elderly woman. His lips moved slightly.
“Grandma.”
He called.
“Mm?”
“I… I want…”
I want to go home. I don’t want to stay here.
I want to escape.
However, just as Gan Tang was about to speak, a ghostly figure appeared behind his grandmother. A sticky, malicious gaze locked onto Gan Tang.
“Tang Tang.”
He even imitated the grandmother, calling Gan Tang by his nickname.
The voice was muffled, as if wrapped in a layer of toxic honey.
“Come here, help me arrange my bedding?!”
But the next second, his voice turned bright and clear again.
The grandmother, hearing this, immediately forgot to ask further. She quickly rubbed her apron and headed to the room to help with the bed.
At this moment, Cen Zibai suddenly put his arm around Gan Tang’s shoulders, grinning as he pulled the smaller boy into his embrace.
“Ah, it’s fine. Gan Tang hasn’t talked to me in a long time. We can chat while we work. Grandma, you go ahead, don’t mind me—”
After some sweet talk, Gan Tang, stiff all over, was slowly led back to the room by Cen Zibai.
“Click.”
The old door lock was gently turned and locked behind them.
“Ah… Tang Tang, so your nickname is Tang Tang. I didn’t know that.”
A sigh-like murmur came from behind.
Completely different from the sunny, cheerful demeanor in front of others, the voice that now echoed against Gan Tang’s neck was hoarse and deep.
Gan Tang instinctively shuddered.
“…Don’t call me that.”
The boy gritted his teeth, holding back the tremor in his heart, and cursed.
The hot breath paused at the back of his neck.
Then it slowly moved to the side of his face.
The face that reappeared in Gan Tang’s view was full of smiles, as if unaware of Gan Tang’s intense resistance and disgust.
But that smile, in Gan Tang’s eyes, was nothing but a fake grin.
He could see that there was not a shred of joy in Cen Zibai’s eyes—only a kind of abyssal rage and madness. The guy was on the verge of losing his mind.
Once Gan Tang realized this, he could feel his insides tightening instinctively.
“You’re so fierce, Tang Tang.”
Cen Zibai stared at him, murmuring.
“Why do I feel like you’re not happy to see me… You should know, I spent a lot, a lot, a lot of effort to find you.”
While speaking, Cen Zibai grabbed Gan Tang’s wrist.
Under his force, Gan Tang’s palm was pressed against Cen Zibai’s face.
Cen Zibai lowered his eyes, slightly tilting his head as if mildly drunk, completely ignoring Gan Tang’s restrained struggles. He brought his lips to Gan Tang’s palm and gently stroked it.
The damp sensation gradually became more intense in his hand, causing goosebumps to rise on Gan Tang’s skin. The rationality he had struggled to maintain up until now finally began to crumble at that moment.
“You damn pervert—what do you want to do? Can you let me go? I’ve already hidden here; how the hell did you find me—”
Gan Tang suddenly pulled his hand back and staggered back several steps, almost collapsing as he shouted at Cen Zibai.
“Tang Tang has always been very cautious and careful. You didn’t even tell your friends where you were, and you didn’t dare take a plane or high-speed train, afraid of leaving real-name information in the system… you’ve really done well. So don’t be sad; this isn’t your fault.”
At this moment, Cen Zibai actually explained to him patiently and gently.
“The only thing you weren’t careful about was probably sending a photo…”
Gan Tang’s pupils instantly contracted.
When he had just arrived in Fengjing Village and hadn’t yet lost internet connection, he had indeed taken a photo out of boredom and sent it to Old B. But, but it was just an ordinary photo!
“Plants, weather, light… This photo already contains enough information to roughly locate the area you’re in. Besides that, investigating your family background can pinpoint your exact location.”
It was almost as if Cen Zibai had guessed Gan Tang’s thoughts. He winked at the young man and said, “You—”
Gan Tang was both shocked and furious, his eyes even slightly reddening.
“You pervert!”
He could only curse repeatedly.
“Yeah, I’m a pervert, especially the kind who likes you.”
Cen Zibai, as always, accepted all of Gan Tang’s insults.
“Also, I want to do you. You’ve asked this question so many times.”
…This sentence was merely answering Gan Tang’s previous question.
*
[“Cen Zibai, what the hell do you want to do?!”]
[“I want to sleep with you… I want to make you completely obedient.”]
*
Gan Tang subconsciously raised his hand, intending to slap the madman and pervert in front of him.
However, in the next moment, his hand was gripped by Cen Zibai’s fingers, which were like iron shackles.
Then, Gan Tang suddenly felt a sharp pain in his index and middle fingers.
Cen Zibai had directly taken Gan Tang’s fingers into his mouth.
The boy’s molars, neat and healthy, squeezed Gan Tang’s fingers, using a dangerous force to slowly, almost like chewing, gnaw at them.
In this way, Cen Zibai “tasted” the young man’s fingers as if sucking on a delicious candy, all the while staring at Gan Tang with dark, crazed eyes.
Gan Tang’s movements froze.
Even though the wound had healed a long time ago, at this moment, Gan Tang’s fingers still felt a vague phantom pain.
He knew that the person in front of him could really chew his fingers one by one and swallow them.
Because, Cen Zibai was a madman.
A pure one.
“Really delicious.”
Finally, Cen Zibai slowly pressed his tongue against Gan Tang’s fingertips and pushed the latter’s fingers out of his mouth.
But his lips did not leave Gan Tang’s hand. Instead, he delicately and stickily licked the boy’s finger gaps and palm.
Until Gan Tang’s hand was covered with his saliva and faint red tooth marks, Cen Zibai sighed deeply, as if a thirsty person had finally had a refreshing drink, and his complexion improved a lot.
At this moment, Gan Tang had already been unknowingly pushed onto the bed, and with Cen Zibai’s stronger physique, he was firmly pinned down, not allowing him to escape.
“… Tang Tang is great everywhere, just too disobedient. Sometimes I really want to just eat you up… That way, you won’t run away anymore.”
Cen Zibai whispered in a hoarse voice as he leaned into Gan Tang’s ear.
As he spoke, he lowered his head, savoring the boy’s earlobe with a gentle bite.
Gan Tang took a deep breath.
“Get lost—”
The young man struggled in vain.
And just then, Gan Tang heard a faint sound from the window by the side of the bed.
Then, a very familiar voice followed.
“What are you guys doing?”
*
Gan Tang’s movements instantly froze. He struggled to lift his head, and in the backlight, Yu Huai’s face appeared darker and more obscure.
The boy stared unwaveringly at the two entangled in the room, but his gaze was filled with clear confusion.
Gan Tang had no idea he still had so much strength. In a moment of extreme panic, he suddenly elbowed Cen Zibai, knocking him off.
He quickly sat up from the bed, and after a few seconds of stunned silence, he struggled to squeeze out a dry, hoarse explanation from his throat.
“I… I was just messing around with him.”
Gan Tang mumbled.
His mind was blank.
At this point, Yu Huai had already opened the window casually and gave Cen Zibai a quick glance.
“Oh, I heard.”
He said.
“The village chief said you invited a friend to the village.”
“Uh, yes…”
“Hello, I’m Cen Zibai, Tang Tang’s best ‘friend’.” Before Gan Tang could speak, Cen Zibai had already put on that mask again, casually greeting Yu Huai, “May I ask, who are you…?”
The boy smiled brightly, but his acting was far less polished than before. Beneath the radiant smile was a particularly sinister gaze.
Then he glanced deeply at Gan Tang, whose face had turned pale.
“So, you’ve made new friends here too. Well, I guess… Tang Tang is so cute; he was super popular back in school.”
Cen Zibai said in a faint voice.
As soon as Gan Tang saw Cen Zibai’s expression, a chill ran down his spine.
Before the two had completely fallen out, he had already vaguely sensed that Cen Zibai had a strange possessiveness toward him.
Almost all of his friends who got close to him were driven away by Cen Zibai in various ways. Even if some managed to stay by Gan Tang’s side, they were all carefully selected by Cen Zibai. Rather than being Gan Tang’s friends, they were more like “playmates” chosen by Cen Zibai.
And after discovering the true nature of that person’s perversity, that possessiveness became even more unrestrained, even more pathological…
*
“Oh, I’m Yu Huai… Anyway, Gan Tang, come here; I need to talk to you.”
What Gan Tang didn’t expect was that Yu Huai seemed completely oblivious to Cen Zibai’s subtle, sharp display of dominance and hostility.
He didn’t even glance at Cen Zibai again, instead frowning deeply and staring at Gan Tang with a serious expression.
“It’s about ‘that matter.’ It’s important.”
Before Gan Tang could answer, Cen Zibai spoke first: “‘That matter’? What’s that…”
“It’s none of your business.”
Yu Huai gave Cen Zibai a cold look and said sharply.
The force in Cen Zibai’s hand on Gan Tang’s shoulder suddenly tightened.
Gan Tang turned his head and saw Cen Zibai squinting at Yu Huai. The boy’s smile deepened, but his eyes grew even darker and more ominous.
Gan Tang felt his stomach suddenly twist.
There had been a friend who had stuck by him since middle school, but that friend had once clashed with Cen Zibai over his strange possessiveness.
At the time, Cen Zibai had looked at that friend in the same way.
A week later, his best friend mysteriously fell from the second floor of the teaching building, falling into a coma for half a year and suffering lifelong disabilities.
Even after his friend transferred schools, Gan Tang never got to see him one last time.
He had even tried to visit the hospital but was stopped outside the ward, with people full of fear, wanting to speak but holding back.
At the time, Gan Tang hadn’t seen through Cen Zibai’s true nature. In his confusion, he had even clung to him like a lifeline, venting all his inner sadness and confusion. It wasn’t until much later that he vaguely realized that maybe his friend’s accident was connected to that pervert.
But he had no evidence.
Now, what would Cen Zibai do to Yu Huai…?
“Ah, is that so? Alright then.”
Just as Gan Tang was filled with unease and fear, Cen Zibai unexpectedly released his grip, then said gently.
“Well… if you have something to whisper about, go ahead. I’ll just rest in the room.” He looked at Gan Tang, his gaze deep, “But Tang Tang, you’d better come back soon. Otherwise, I’ll really get bored in the room.”
__
Author’s note:
Yu Huai: I don’t understand you guys, gay men.
