Chapter 52: Heavy Rain

In Mo Yuan’s eyes was reflected the boy’s face, not yet completely shed of its youthfulness.

He lay quietly on the other side of the bed, his eyes shut tight.

His nostrils flared and fell in a steady rhythm, letting out soft breaths.

It was clear the boy was already deep in slumber, sleeping soundly.

‘So cute, that sleeping face.’

Under Mo Yuan’s years of nurturing, the tender flower bud had begun to bloom with beautiful petals, becoming more and more handsome.

So handsome that… it even attracted those with ill intentions who sought to defile it.

A drop of thick, dark ink fell into Mo Yuan’s clear, limpid eyes.

As it spread, it stained the clear pool of water with an endless turbidity.

She extended a long, slender finger and poked the boy’s fair, sleeping face, the tip of her finger met with a soft, warm sensation.

‘So cute~ I love him so much~ I want to possess him completely~’

This was the first time Mo Yuan had ever loved someone so much; loved them to the point of becoming this twisted, obsessive, and frantic, willing to disregard everything.

She wanted to possess this glittering gem, to let the filthy sludge of her desires thoroughly stain it.

Things she liked had to be marked with her own scent.

The more precious they were, the more thoroughly they had to be stained—from the inside out, from top to bottom.

Not a single corner, not a single crevice, could be spared.

She had to let everyone know that he was hers.

For this, she could have used any means necessary, without caring what anyone else thought.

But she didn’t.

She had changed, changed by the person most important to her.

A spring of pure, gentle water had been poured over her fiery, blazing possessiveness.

In the process of seizing the one she loved, she had actually begun to care about his feelings.

How ridiculous.

She had once done everything in her power to take Lu You back, yet now, because she cared about his thoughts, she hesitated to make her move.

She loved this boy, this boy she had cared for for eight years, so she didn’t want to hurt him, not even a little bit.

For this, Mo Yuan could even suppress her own nature, donning a mask called “gentleness.”

‘He’s already started to touch the boundaries of the cage, hasn’t he?’

‘He’s already about to be stained with a scent that doesn’t come from me, isn’t he?’

‘He’s already starting to refuse and resist me, isn’t he?’

Why?

Why not put shackles on him and lock him firmly in his cage?!

The more precious something is, the more one fears losing it.

One will always find a way to clutch it in their palm, to hold it tightly, and never let go.

She brought her face close to the boy’s chest, which was neither firm nor broad, and greed ily inhaled his scent.

Her chest heaved violently, and twisted, fractured veins appeared on her fair, slender neck.

The boy’s sweet, tempting scent provoked her long-sealed true nature, nearly luring out the Mo Yuan who was obsessive to the extreme.

‘Invade him! You’ve wanted to do this for so long! Do it!’

Ripples spread between her legs, and a feverish blush covered her morbidly twisted face.

Despite their many physical intimacies, they had not yet crossed the final boundary.

Under the frenzy of desire, her reason was already overwhelmed.

The boy was left with only his last piece of clothing.

Mo Yuan’s hand gently caressed his chest.

…

The door opened and closed.

She stepped out, her face gentle and calm, once again reverting to the usual, gentle Mo Yuan.

‘Just endure a little longer, wait a little longer.’

‘I have all the time in the world.’

‘You can’t escape.’

‘One day, all the bitter fruit that has accumulated from your refusals will burst forth, dragging you into a swamp of endless darkness.’

‘It is simply not yet time for the harvest.’

‘Years of careful cultivation cannot be ruined by a moment of impulse.’

The pitter-patter of rain sounded from outside.

By the time Mo Yuan walked to the window, what she saw was a torrential downpour.

Her own immaculate face was reflected in the windowpane; outside was a boundless curtain of rain.

She remembered that day…

The unspeakable words were like needles, piercing Lu You’s ears.

He looked at the unfamiliar, childish faces filled with baseless disgust and suspicion, feeling utterly lost.

He didn’t know what he had done wrong, or if doing nothing at all was his mistake…

Malice without reason exists.

The evil contained in the heart of a ten-year-old child can be immense.

Perhaps it was because they didn’t like the look of him, perhaps it was for their own amusement, or perhaps it was to gain some nonsensical sense of superiority.

In any case, that’s what they did, and they continued to do so for a long time.

The filthy, malicious words went on for a long while, forcefully dragging him, who thought he had escaped the abyss, back into it once more.

Or rather, this was the true abyss.

Back at the orphanage, although the other children didn’t like playing with a withdrawn, quiet child like Lu You, they would still lend a hand when he needed it.

They treated him as if he were invisible, but they knew he existed and wouldn’t hurt him.

They would even save his share of food and clothes every time.

But the people here were different.

The thorns surrounding him from all directions made Lu You feel scared, terrified, and pained.

He didn’t show it, only because he wasn’t used to expressing his emotions.

He felt pain too, he felt upset too, and he hated the malicious words of others too.

He wanted to leave, to go back to that financially strapped orphanage.

At least there, he wasn’t considered unwelcome.

But he couldn’t bear to leave his sister.

His sister was so good to him.

She did everything she could to take care of his every need, trying again and again to get Lu You to open his heart.

“Xiao You, look.”

“Isn’t this flower pretty?”

“Well done, Xiao You is amazing!”

“Do you like this dish?”

“I’ll make it for you every day from now on.”

“Come on, try this on.”

“It will definitely look great on you, Xiao You.”

“Do you want to go play, Xiao You?”

“It’s okay, you can go.”

…

She was truly a good person, a very, very good person to him.

And for that very reason, Lu You didn’t want his sister to worry.

He never told Mo Yuan about these things.

That sister, who was only five or six years older than him, had already given him so much.

Lu You didn’t want his problems to become a new burden for her.

He chose to endure it all silently and alone, just as he always had.

The bullying from his classmates never stopped, but it had been limited to words.

Until the day of that storm.

That was the first and only time his sister was late to pick him up.

From the gray and filthy sky, a torrential rain, wrapped in dark clouds, poured down.

A furious wind ravaged everything.

The scene between heaven and earth was like the apocalypse.

Everything on the ground seemed incredibly fragile in the wind and rain, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Lu You held a small umbrella and stayed away from the crowd, walking alone on the flooded road.

The umbrella was a gift from his sister.

It was of good quality and wouldn’t lose its shape no matter how it was twisted in the rain.

But he couldn’t hold on to it, couldn’t stand firm.

The wind was too strong.

Raindrops poured onto the ground, forming a current that flowed over the soles of his shoes, carrying withered yellow leaves and petals past his feet.

He walked slowly through the rain, his body constantly swaying from the gusts of wind that hit him from time to to time.

Water he couldn’t suppress splashed up with every step, soaking his trouser legs.

A large part of his body was already drenched.

Lu You’s frail frame looked as if it could collapse at any moment in this divine-punishment-like storm.

A gentle push was all it would take for him to fall into a puddle by the roadside.

A running youth brushed past him, and that pushing hand arrived.

Lu You fell helplessly into a puddle.

The umbrella was carried away by the fierce wind to some unknown place.

Several tall youths surrounded him, and muddy soles stepped on his body.

Lu You struggled to lift his head.

Raindrops pelted his face.

What he saw through the curtain of rain was the face of a youth under an umbrella, full of contempt.

Lu You looked at him in pain, his anger no longer suppressible.

He clenched his fists, desperately wanting to stand up and punch him.

But he couldn’t.

He was too weak.

With someone stepping on him, he couldn’t even get up.

“Yo, still want to get up and beat me?”

“You little mute brat, you’ve learned to fight back, have you?”

A wad of spit flew from the fleshy face.

Just as Lu You was about to wipe it away, another foot stepped on him.

“Don’t wipe it.”

“Spit suits your face quite well,” another youth holding an umbrella sneered.

“Look at him, so pathetic.”

“Like a dog.”

The group burst into laughter, seemingly quite proud of their vicious act.

But, in the next second, the leading youth was kicked to the ground.