GBT Chapter 76

Shen Er’an clenched Jiao Bai’s hand tightly.

If he were still conscious, he would have eased his grip, but he wasn’t. He was driven more by a primal survival instinct.

Jiao Bai’s bones ached, and his entire arm felt weak and convulsed. He sucked in a breath, trying to comfort himself. *Just bear with it. I’ve been through worse; this pain is nothing.*

*Who isn’t just trying to survive?*

With that injection, the animalistic desire in Shen Er’an’s eyes lessened.

The doctor had the two Qi family members assist in applying the medicine to Shen Er’an.

Jiao Bai took the remaining people back to the hotel.

In the comic, the flashback to tonight’s events only focused on what happened at the small hotel. It was a mess of badly cooked braised pork. There was little mention of where Li Jue got the drugs or how Shen Er’an was drugged.

Jiao Bai was agitated on the way there. Li Jue had all the traits of a classic, early tragic shou—stubborn, prone to self-pity, and with extremely unstable mental fortitude. One wrong move could push him over the edge.

Of course, the protagonist’s halo wouldn’t let him die; it would only lead to more unbelievable, dog-blood drama.

Jiao Bai wanted to stop that before it happened.

He didn’t know if he would succeed, but he could at least try his best.

Jiao Bai rubbed his face, his nostrils filled with the smell of blood. *Damn it, I just finished the college entrance exam today. Others are probably out partying with friends or playing games and watching movies. What am I doing? Covered in blood and now cleaning up this mess.*

Even late at night in June, the car windows couldn’t be opened. The wind was too stifling.

Jiao Bai sat in the car, enjoying the air conditioning. His back felt sticky. He fiddled with the keychain on his phone, tracing the small key. He squeezed it and sent a message to Qi Yi Liao.

-Third Brother, I think I’ll be busy until dawn.

Jiao Bai regretted sending it as soon as he did. The message sounded weird. Just as he was about to retract it, Qi Yi Liao replied with a voice message.

“Then Uncle will go to sleep first. Your graduation gift is on the second floor of the basement; come and get it yourself tomorrow morning.”

Jiao Bai closed his eyes and dozed off after listening to the voice message. He wasn’t interested in any graduation gifts unless they involved letting him out of this mess. He didn’t know that the Qi family members and the Driver in the car were stunned by the voice message for a long time.

When they arrived at the hotel, Jiao Bai told the others to wait outside. He went into the room alone.

Li Jue was still slumped against the wall. The light from the fluorescent tube flickered across his face, which was swollen badly. Several mosquitoes were buzzing around his hair, clinging to his neck and fingertips.

“The doctor said that the drug will cause Shen Er’an’s organs to fail,” Jiao Bai said harshly. “It will also make him addicted, something he can never escape.”

“Impossible,” Li Jue’s cracked lips moved. “Impossible…impossible…”

Jiao Bai tore off the bloody bedsheets and shook them in front of him. “How is it impossible? Don’t you know how strong the drugs you gave him were, how much pain you caused him? This isn’t just Shen Er’an’s blood; it’s also bits of his rotten skin and flesh.”

Li Jue hugged his head and desperately shrank back, terrified, unable to speak.

“Where did you get the drugs?” Jiao Bai squatted down, grabbed Li Jue’s delicate arm, but it was gripped tightly in return.

“How is he?” Li Jue asked, trembling. “Brother, Xiao Qiu Brother, tell me, where is he now…”

Jiao Bai’s skin was torn by the grip, and he pried open Li Jue’s slender, white fingers. “Didn’t I tell you? His condition is very dangerous. He can’t control himself because of the drugs you gave him.”

Li Jue seemed possessed, his eyes bursting with a fanatical light. “Then take me to him. He listens to you. Can you let him touch me? I’ll let him touch me; I won’t struggle. I’ll endure anything, no matter what he does to me.”

Jiao Bai chuckled. Sure enough, watching BL in the real world was different from reading it in a comic. His favorite dog-blood tropes were no longer appealing; he just wanted to complain.

“Don’t you understand?” Jiao Bai pointed to the bloody sheets on the ground. “He’d rather hurt himself than touch you.”

Li Jue trembled all over, and the light in his eyes disappeared suddenly.

“The doctor needs to know the drug’s ingredients and formula,” Jiao Bai pulled Li Jue. “If you want to save him, hurry up and tell me the truth. I don’t have time to chat with you slowly!”

Li Jue’s mind collapsed. “There’s no manufacturer; I don’t know. I bought it online; I just randomly chose a set.”

Jiao Bai: “…” So not only did he buy it online, but it was a *set*.

He had thought it was related to Chu Dongshan, the male third lead. It seemed he had underestimated the protagonist’s halo.

“There was a liquid medicine, a syringe, and a powder,” Li Jue said emptily. “I hesitated, but the four of us were at the same testing site for the past two days, and he never looked at me once. He only talked to Zhao Lian. They talked…”

Jiao Bai raised an eyebrow. Zhao Lian was the girl Shen Er’an had a crush on.

“Zhao Lian knows Shen Er’an has feelings for her, but she won’t take that step forward. She insists on leaving it as a regret. I don’t understand,” Li Jue said softly, hugging himself. “I also like Shen Er’an. I fell in love with him the first time I saw him in the hospital last year. I don’t even talk to him at school; I just like him silently. But I don’t want to be like Zhao Lian. I want to do something to leave a memory of my youth.”

Jiao Bai looked at the protagonist shou from *Broken Wings*, speechless.

“I just wanted to give myself to him. I’m a man; he doesn’t have to take responsibility. I’m the one who’ll be hurt. Why does he have to be so…” Li Jue’s voice grew softer and softer, lost and helpless like a child. “His hands and feet, his skin, were all rotting… I didn’t want him to suffer. The instructions said that only I would suffer; he would be comfortable. I really don’t know why it turned out like this.”

Jiao Bai felt a little nauseous, unsure if it was from being kicked by Shen Er’an or from the bloody atmosphere in the room. It was the middle of the night, and he really wasn’t feeling well. Who knew that he was just a humble tool? Damn it.

“How did you drug Shen Er’an?” Jiao Bai asked, suppressing the nausea.

“Zhao Lian gave Shen Er’an a handmade woolen trinket, and I stuffed the powder into it,” Li Jue said, lowering his eyes, his eyelashes trembling. “He’ll touch the powder whenever he touches the trinket. But just touching that one powder won’t do anything; it only has a seven-day incubation period.”

Li Jue said in a hoarse voice, “I have to touch him within seven days and let him smell the second medicine in the set. Only when the two combine will he be affected.”

Jiao Bai: “…”

“Shen Er’an told me that a friend brought him to West City. How did you get the chance?”

Li Jue didn’t respond this time, just stood there, dazed.

When Jiao Bai impatiently stood up and stuffed the bloody blanket into his arms, he sobbed and choked out the rest of the story as if he were about to faint.

“I have a friend in West City who wanted me to visit him during the summer vacation. He found me a part-time job. The car I booked and Shen Er’an’s car were right after each other on the highway…”

The room was filled with Li Jue’s crying and sobbing. He said how long the drive was, which rest stop Shen Er’an stopped at, and how the two cars were basically on the same route.

At that time, Li Jue hadn’t planned to use the other drug tonight; he didn’t think he’d have a chance. Because Shen Er’an was with his friend, even if he managed to drug Shen Er’an, he would be discovered by the friend.

Until…

Shen Er’an’s car exited the highway and went to a cemetery.

Hearing this, Jiao Bai’s expression changed. Could today be the anniversary of Shen Er’an’s mother’s death???

In an early dog-blood comic, this was very likely.

“He went to see his mother. I found out for the first time that his mother was buried there…” Li Jue recalled the cemetery at night, the rows of gloomy tombstones, and he shivered. “I didn’t want to disturb him while he was visiting his mother, but I realized that his friend wasn’t with him, and I couldn’t control myself. By the time I realized it, I had already sprinkled the liquid on myself and bumped into him.”

Jiao Bai smiled. “Xiao Jue, Shen Er’an’s mother was watching you then. Aren’t you afraid she’ll come for you?”

Li Jue cowered. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry…”

The smile on Jiao Bai’s face disappeared. The original story didn’t mention that today was the anniversary of Shen Er’an’s mother’s death.

No wonder Shen Er’an had gone crazy.

Shen Er’an was the product of his mother drugging his father.

Shen Ji never hid this from Shen Er’an. He hated it to the core and wanted to tell the whole world how his son had come from the belly of a tea-picking woman who had schemed against him.

In the comic, the only taboo for Shen Er’an, the scum gong, was his background, and no one dared to mention a word of it in front of him.

On the anniversary of his mother’s death, he was drugged and became like his father. This confluence of emotions allowed something that had been suppressed in his heart to sneak out and never be taken back. It would continue to swell with age and devour him. He treated Li Jue as his vessel, a place to store all the darkness, madness, cruelty, bloodthirst, and tyranny that he didn’t show to the world.

Jiao Bai grabbed his hair. With his years of experience as a dog-blood comic fan, he could draw one conclusion: many scum-shou HE stories start like *Broken Wings*, from Q.

What law? That doesn’t exist.

The old setup was that the gong or shou who was Q’ed would have photos taken by the mastermind, who would use them as blackmail. The two’s paths would become entangled. The mastermind would be abused and mistreated in various ways in the early stages.

Later, the Q’ed party would fall in love with the person who Q’ed him.

The photos used for blackmail were the glue.

In reality, there was no longer any threat. They didn’t leave because they had fallen in love.

If the Q’ed party had realized it sooner, had acknowledged and faced it, the crematorium fire would have been smaller. If they didn’t realize it or refused to admit it, the crematorium fire would reach the sky.

In the end, the two would embrace each other and walk out of the fire, with peaceful years ahead of them.

But the BE was different.

The BE was the ending of *Broken Wings*. Shen Er’an never fell in love with Li Jue. Li Jue was trapped in his own cocoon, forever rejecting the male supporting characters who were trying to win over Shen Er’an.

This comic didn’t force a redemption of the scum gong or the shou, which was why Jiao Bai loved it.

Shen Er’an being drugged by Li Jue was a catalyst that exploded his world, completely unleashing his dark side, even one he wasn’t aware of, and turning him twisted and corrupt.

Li Jue voluntarily became Shen Er’an’s vessel, and Shen Er’an had a morbid possessiveness over him.

Just like Shen Ji’s worldview: My dog, my livestock, only I can beat and scold them.

A dose of drugs, a set of photos, a dog-blood bond, imprisoning two people’s lives.

Such a dog-blood and outdated plot! It was simply a delicious treat in the eyes of a dog-blood fanatic.

Jiao Bai threw the bloody blanket back on the bed. First, there was Li Jue’s jian; then, there was Shen Er’an’s scum.

However, the comic was almost entirely from Li Jue’s perspective, so the readers naturally stood on his side and sympathized with the decades he lived in Shen Er’an’s revenge and abuse.

Both were stubborn; one wouldn’t leave, and the other wouldn’t let go, torturing each other in a land devoid of love.

Now that Jiao Bai, a comic fan, had entered the story, Shen Er’an and Li Jue were no longer just paper characters. Jiao Bai couldn’t handle it. This dog-blood wasn’t fragrant at all; it stank, and he couldn’t swallow it.

Jiao Bai listened to Li Jue’s crying, and his temples throbbed. Shen Er’an had gotten out of this situation; the possibility of him becoming a scum gong was unlikely.

The butterfly effect might also affect Li Jue.

Jiao Bai checked Li Jue’s activity level. 42.

The marriage certificate was still broken in half, and the background music was a mournful instrumental piece.

“High school is over, we’ve graduated, everyone’s going their separate ways. I just want it to be once, just this once. After tonight, there won’t be any intersection anymore…”

When Jiao Bai heard this, he laughed. “Just once? Didn’t you want to take photos and videos to threaten him into staying with you?”

Li Jue was first flustered, then he looked up and stared at Jiao Bai as if he were a terrifying monster.

As if not understanding why the other party knew what he was thinking.

Jiao Bai looked down at him condescendingly. “You should be glad I came in time.”

Otherwise, you would have drugged Shen Er’an and let him torture you for a few days to vent his anger. The bedsheets in this cheap hotel wouldn’t just be covered in blood but also in your excrement and vomit.

After that, you would be chronically torn, incontinent, dragged around after being drugged, silenced, with ruptured internal organs, etc., but you just wouldn’t die. Every day in the future, Shen Er’an would look at you as if you were a piece of rotten flesh growing in his life.

–This is your love, Shen Er’an’s hatred, your karma.

And also,

The dog-blood that only I have ever consumed.

Jiao Bai’s messy thoughts were interrupted by a vibration. It was the doctor calling. He went outside to answer the phone, not noticing that Li Jue’s phone was also ringing.

“Uncle, how’s my friend doing?” Jiao Bai asked in the hallway.

“Not bad; he can handle it.” The doctor hummed. “It’s just that he’s too wary and aggressive, like a wild wolf. You can come back and deal with the injuries to his limbs; I don’t have the ability.”

“He’s affected by the drug; he’s usually quiet and reserved,” Jiao Bai said defensively.

“Loveless kids are just a pain,” the doctor grumbled a few times, then said abruptly, “I once went to visit the Qi family’s largest wine cellar and found four bottles of wine that were treasured by that person from Lanmo Mansion.”

He explained the names and years of the wines in detail, making his meaning clear.

Jiao Bai: “…”

“I’ll try, but don’t get your hopes up,” Jiao Bai said with a clear sense of gratitude. The doctor had helped Shen Er’an, so he had to repay the favor.

The doctor suddenly became a different person, cheerfully wishing Jiao Bai success and telling him to remember to invite that person from Lanmo Mansion to send him an invitation when he had his banquet after receiving his university admission notice. He wanted to go.

Jiao Bai twitched his mouth and hung up the phone. He hooked his little finger on the keychain and felt his way back to the room.

Li Jue had gotten up from the wall at some point, his face as white as a ghost. “You’re the Qi family’s child.”

Jiao Bai stopped at the door and closed it behind him.

“From hearing about you from Shen Er’an to using his phone to call you, and then you finding me, my mind has been a mess. I forgot to mention it then, but I just remembered it now,” Li Jue said, his eyes wide with tears. “Do you think I’m a joke, Xiao Qiu Brother?”

Jiao Bai was silent.

“You knew on the cargo ship, didn’t you? You watched Mr. Qi treat me like his brother but tormented his own brother in all kinds of ways, waiting for the moment he found out so he would be in unbearable pain. Why are you so evil? He’s your older brother, your closest relative. Can’t you just talk things out? Why do you have to force him to vomit blood?” Li Jue said softly, looking at Jiao Bai with unfamiliar eyes, as if he were seeing him for the first time.

Jiao Bai put his phone in his pocket. “Idiot.”

Li Jue’s body trembled violently. “Yes, I’m an idiot. If I hadn’t brought back the news of your death to the ship, causing Mr. Qi to fall into a coma, and Qi Lin had taken the opportunity to push me off the ship, laughing at me for pretending to be stupid, I wouldn’t have known the truth. I wasn’t pretending to be stupid. I believed Mr. Qi and only listened to him.”

“When Qi Lin said at first that I wasn’t his brother, I thought I had done something wrong and wasn’t likable,” Li Jue said self-deprecatingly.

Jiao Bai looked at the activity level, it was about to break 50, damn it.

The protagonist shou’s traits had changed from the original. In the original, he wasn’t this much of a holy, naive idiot.

“What surprised me the most,” Li Jue’s delicate face was filled with envy and disbelief, “was that Shen Er’an cared about you so much. The drugs couldn’t erase his feelings for you. He even forgot himself but still remembered your name.”

“He and I have a life-or-death friendship. He was instinctively calling out to someone he trusted, asking for help,” Jiao Bai said in a bad tone. “You wouldn’t understand even if I told you. You’re just a lovesick idiot. Besides love, there’s nothing else in your brain.”

Li Jue’s face turned even paler. Before he could organize his rebuttal, he heard Jiao Bai ask, “Is your grandmother still alive?”

Jiao Bai threw a flying knife, hitting the filial piety part of Li Jue’s character. “Does she know that you drugged a fellow student and imprisoned him in a small hotel, almost causing a life-threatening situation?”

“Don’t say it… don’t say it, don’t say it…” Li Jue backed away in despair. “It’s all my fault. It was wishful thinking for me to recognize Mr. Qi as my older brother. I didn’t help you on the cargo ship; I’m sorry for the care you gave me in my hometown. I drugged Shen Er’an; I’m shameless. It’s all my fault…”

He retreated towards the window, swaying, with a sorrowful smile in his eyes. “You were all harmed by me. It’s all my fault. I’d be better off dead…”

Jiao Bai’s jaw twitched suddenly. He quickly pounced toward Li Jue, who was jumping out the window, and grabbed him.

Li Jue hung by the window, staring up at him blankly. “Why save…”

Before he could finish speaking, he fainted.

Just then, a commotion came from outside the door, followed by the sound of fists and kicks. Chu Dongshan kicked open the door and walked in, tall and anxious.

Jiao Bai dragged the unconscious Li Jue back into the room, patting his face.

That was the scene Chu Dongshan saw.

Jiao Bai felt as if he had been splashed in the face with a bucket of dog-blood. He swore inwardly. He managed to dodge Chu Dongshan’s kick.

Before he could catch his breath, a dark gun barrel was pointed at him.

Chu Dongshan had rushed over in a hurry, his shirt buttons misplaced and his shirt untucked from his trousers. He had never been so disheveled. He raised his gun and ordered Jiao Bai, “Let him go.”

“Okay.” Jiao Bai released his grip.

Li Jue rolled to the ground, his swollen face turned down.

There was a bloody cut on his chin from scraping it on the window, making him look particularly miserable.

“You’re courting death!” Chu Dongshan’s eyes turned red.

Jiao Bai gestured for him to look at the bed.

Chu Dongshan’s breathing was heavy. He had received the information his men had gathered on the way. But at this moment, he only felt sorry for the lost child. “Xiao Jue was just impulsive. Nothing really happened. And you want to push him downstairs for that Shen family’s young master?”

The male third lead was the male third lead, fitting the devoted protector persona. But Jiao Bai still wanted to swear. As soon as he opened his mouth, he saw Chu Dongshan raise his gun and aim it at his forehead. “You’re not worthy of being his friend. I should have made sure you really died when I told him you were dead.”

Jiao Bai clenched the key in his pocket.

The next second, Qi Er shouted as he burst in from the melee outside, “Second Master Chu, Mr. Qi’s on the phone!”

Chu Dongshan’s hand holding the gun was steady, and the look in his eyes was still full of killing intent. He and Old Qi had been friends for decades. Old Qi wouldn’t do anything to him if he killed the person under his gun. And the Shen family wouldn’t do anything either.

Chu Dongshan pulled the trigger.

At that moment, the call was put on speakerphone.

Qi Yi Liao’s voice came from the other end, echoing in the room filled with murderous intent. Not fast, not slow, each word clear, with a hint of nonchalant amusement, but also revealing an unfathomable coldness.

“Dongshan, I personally put him in the car tonight. He was full of energy when he left. I want him to return to Lanmo Mansion unharmed, in one piece.”