QT: The Rescue Of The Miserable Bigshots Chapter 268 - 9.14

"What did you do to him?"

Xue Fang was locked in a room, and the others had finally found a separate place to rest.

Jiang Jiamian and Ling Zhuang were the first group to guard the door, rotating every two hours.

Outside, the mall was quiet. Too quiet. The shuffle of the dead echoed faintly beyond the walls.

Inside, Jiang Jiamian and Ling Zhuang were assigned the first watch. Just the two of them, taking turns every two hours.

But Jiang Jiamian wasn’t interested in simply guarding the door.

The mont they were alone, he moved. One hand braced against the wall, the other catching Ling Zhuang by the wrist as he leaned close. His crimson eyes glinted sharply in the dim light.

He refused to believe that Xue Fang’s situation had nothing to do with him.

This man, this creep, must have done sothing in secret.

"Who?" Ling Zhuang’s voice was soft, unhurried. His glasses caught the faint glow of light, hiding the eyes behind them. "What did I do to whom?"

Instead of resisting, Ling Zhuang leaned lazily against the door, slid down, and sat with his back to the wall. His eyelids lowered as though this entire interrogation bored him. He didn’t even bother to look Jiang Jiamian in the eye.

"Don’t play dumb with ."

Jiang Jiamian sneered. "You can fool the others, but not ."

That earned him the faintest flicker of a smile. Ling Zhuang slowly opened his eyes, gaze eting his through the glass lenses. His voice was a quiet murmur. "Isn’t that more true of you? You can fool them, but not ." His lips curved. "Don’t you agree... my dear Zombie King?"

Jiang Jiamian hissed softly and dropped down to sit closer, his lips curling. "Zombie King? That’s an interesting title. After all, only zombies would call emperor, king, or majesty."

Ling Zhuang tilted his head until their faces were nearly touching, nose to nose. Their gazes clashed, sparking fire in the dim corridor. "No."

He murmured. "It’s a term of endearnt."

Jiang Jiamian chuckled, though the sound was hollow.

A hand slid up his back. Slow. Deliberate. Ling Zhuang’s fingers crept higher, brushing across his shoulder, then curling around the nape of his neck. His movents carried the intimacy of a lover, but the air reeked of obsession, not affection.

"What do you think you’re doing?" Jiang Jiamian ruined the atmosphere instantly, as was his habit. Just as Ling Zhuang’s hand tangled in his hair, pulling lightly at the back of his head, he spoke flatly.

Ling Zhuang’s eyes glimred with unveiled fascination. His hand stroked the strands as though handling the most delicate work of art. "I love you."

His voice trembled with intoxication, "You’re so beautiful. Too beautiful."

Jiang Jiamian’s lips twitched. "So?"

"So..." Ling Zhuang’s hand pressed more firmly, guiding him. His cool lips brushed Jiang Jiamian’s, just a whisper of a kiss, fleeting as smoke. "So, I want to kiss you properly. To savor you."

Jiang Jiamian: "..."

Perverted. Absolutely perverted.

But not in the vulgar sense. That was the part that unsettled him.

Ling Zhuang’s gaze didn’t hold crude hunger. Instead, it brimd with obsession, reverence, and sothing far more disturbing. Even his kiss wasn’t born of desire, it was the kind of twisted possessiveness one might show a rare piece of art.

"As delicious as I imagined." Ling Zhuang sighed. He didn’t pursue another kiss. Instead, he ruffled Jiang Jiamian’s hair with unnerving patience, leaned close to his ear, and whispered, "My dear Zombie King, have you ever thought of becoming my finest collection?"

Jiang Jiamian’s long lashes trembled, shadows flickering over his crimson eyes. He smiled coldly. "No."

Ling Zhuang’s smile was tender, "Don’t you want to know why you beca the Zombie King? Or why your body hides such problems? Even if I hadn’t interfered earlier, you wouldn’t live past your thirties."

Jiang Jiamian tilted his head, smirk tugging at his mouth. "Then... do you dare make a bet with ?"

Ling Zhuang’s eyes narrowed. "What kind of bet?"

Jiang Jiamian said softly, his tone dripping with mockery, "That even if you die, I’ll still be alive."

For the first ti, Ling Zhuang’s composure faltered. His eyes widened faintly. Then, with sudden force, he grabbed Jiang Jiamian’s wrist, staring into his eyes as though searching for sothing hidden. "You’re not him."

Jiang Jiamian’s pupils contracted. He figured it out?

"Who?" Jiang Jiamian’s smile was faint, casual. "I’m not who?"

He wasn’t about to admit anything. Ling Zhuang was dangerous enough, he couldn’t let the man uncover his truth first. Not when he hadn’t yet uncovered Ling Zhuang’s secrets. Not when revealing his own would an mission failure, and punishnt.

"You’re not Jiang Jiamian."

The words rang with certainty. His gaze pierced through the clear lenses, locking into Jiang Jiamian’s crimson eyes. "The Jiang Jiamian I knew was timid. A coward. A loser with a pretty face."

His tone sharpened. "He wasn’t this, bright, outspoken, intelligent. He didn’t suddenly acquire countless secrets. He didn’t cook fish soup with miraculous effects. He didn’t dare get close to ."

Ling Zhuang’s hand trembled, not with weakness, but with fervor.

"You claid to also have a poison ability. Convenient. It explains your lips, your eyes. Others have shown similar mutations. Yes... it was believable." His gaze darkened, "But not to ."

Jiang Jiamian forced a dry laugh. "Of course I’m Jiang Jiamian. You said it yourself, I lost my mory, even died once. How could I be the sa person after that? A change in temperant is normal, isn’t it?"

"Normal?"

Ling Zhuang’s smile carried an ambiguous edge. His fingers brushed lightly over Jiang Jiamian’s eyebrows.

"Studies show that even with mory loss, a person’s temperant doesn’t change so completely. And you..." His gaze sharpened, "You have too many secrets that appeared out of thin air. For instance, your space ability?"

"Space ability?" Jiang Jiamian tilted his head, lips curving. "I told you, I awakened it."

He smiled faintly, refusing to admit anything. He knew Ling Zhuang saw through him, but that didn’t matter. No matter what, he wouldn’t confess.

After all, what could Ling Zhuang really do?