The Great Escape Plan

It wasn’t until the person on top of him finally quieted down that Shi Ji’s heart, which had been lodged in his throat, finally settled back into place.

He propped his upper body up with both hands, causing Li Chen—who had been sprawled across his chest—to roll off to the side, the iron chains around his ankles clattering with the movement.

Shi Ji raised a hand to rub his neck, where the lingering sensation of being brutally strangled remained.

Thinking back to what had just happened, he felt a wave of lingering fear; for a split second, he had truly believed Li Chen was going to choke the life out of him.

The unconscious Omega curled up on the floor, looking defenseless and like a completely different person from before.

Shi Ji leaned over, reaching out to test if he had truly lost consciousness, but before his fingertips could even brush Li Chen’s arm, the person before him abruptly snapped his eyes open and glared deathly at Shi Ji.

The hatred in those eyes gave Shi Ji a start, and a burning sensation erupted on his wrist as Li Chen grabbed him.

“Get lost!”

The Omega’s voice was hoarse, sounding like a broken bellows.

After those two words fell out, he closed his eyes again and collapsed once more.

Silence returned to the surroundings as if nothing had happened, leaving only Shi Ji’s frantic heartbeat.

His Adam’s apple bobbed a few times as he lowered his gaze to stare at the hand Li Chen had used to grip him.

The knuckles on the long fingers were prominent, and the wrist was so thin that Shi Ji could have easily encircled it with one hand.

The wide sleeve revealed thin upper arm muscles; Shi Ji couldn’t help but frown, wondering how, after the way he had provided good food and drink these past few days, the other hadn’t gained any weight at all.

Or rather… had he simply not eaten anything provided?

Shi Ji pursed his lips; wearing the original owner’s face, it was natural that Li Chen wouldn’t trust him.

The heat transferring from the wrist began to rise steadily, as if the other were trying to pass his body temperature to Shi Ji through skin contact.

Shi Ji raised his other hand and touched Li Chen’s forehead, only to be startled by the scorching temperature.

Suppressants had side effects.

Normally, an Omega could absorb them on their own, but as a low-quality Omega, Li Chen’s absorption capacity was naturally weak.

The suppressant had turned into a chaotic factor within him, running wild through his veins.

The corners of Li Chen’s eyes were burned red, and the breath escaping his parted lips was terrifyingly hot.

Sensing that the temperature wasn’t decreasing at all, Shi Ji suddenly lost his composure.

‘If the protagonist shou burns to death, can the plot even continue?’

Thinking this, Shi Ji reached out, intending to pick Li Chen up from the floor, but the moment he touched the other’s shoulder, his movements faltered.

After a moment of thought, he sheepishly withdrew his hand.

No.

He couldn’t take the initiative to hold Li Chen.

According to the original persona, he wouldn’t care whether Li Chen lived or died.

Although they were in an intermission, Shi Ji hadn’t figured out yet whether he could perform actions that contradicted the original owner’s character during this time.

He couldn’t be so reckless; he had to find another way.

Shi Ji bit his lip, his teeth grazing the thin flesh until he nearly bit through it.

Just as the metallic taste of blood slid into his mouth, a faint knocking sound suddenly echoed outside the secret room.

“Young Master, are you inside?”

The voice sounded cautious, and after a few seconds of silence, the person knocked again.

Shi Ji tilted his head to listen carefully.

Once certain someone was outside, he stood up abruptly, walked to the door, and pulled it open.

The person standing outside clearly hadn’t expected Shi Ji to appear so suddenly.

He reflexively took a few steps back, one hand over his chest, staring at Shi Ji with a pale face.

Shi Ji looked the visitor up and down, eventually fishing out from his memory that this was the original owner’s butler, surnamed Wang.

Butler Wang swallowed hard, quickly hiding his previous look of terror.

“Young Master, why are you in…”

Before he could finish his sentence, his gaze caught the finger marks on Shi Ji’s neck that hadn’t yet faded.

Butler Wang’s eyes widened, and he understood instantly.

“You are injured?! Was it done by that mongrel in the room! That thing doesn’t know its place, wait and see how I deal with him!”

The foul words in his tone were blatant.

There was no telling how many times the original owner had bullied Li Chen in front of the servants for them to feel entitled to step on Li Chen’s head so arrogantly.

Shi Ji knit his brows.

“How did you know Li Chen was inside?”

The question caught Butler Wang off guard.

The man, who was over fifty, looked up at Shi Ji, a hint of confusion appearing in his drooping triangular eyes.

Butler Wang’s lips moved a few times before he said tentatively, “Young Master… when you used to punish that mongrel, you loved locking him in here.”

Shi Ji nodded in realization.

It turned out no one knew he had drugged Li Chen.

Shi Ji lowered his lashes and adjusted the glasses on the bridge of his nose.

“Get him out of there and take good care of him.”

Shi Ji spoke with a stiff neck, mimicking the original owner’s tone.

“Take… take care of him?”

Butler Wang murmured the words as if he had misheard.

But the eyes behind the man’s lenses always hid a certain shrewdness, and he couldn’t fathom what Shi Ji was trying to do.

“Take care of him,” Shi Ji said coldly. “Do you not understand?”

Seeing the change in his tone, Butler Wang snapped to attention and said with a fawning smile, “I understand! I definitely understand!”

After a few seconds of silence, Shi Ji added, “If the care is not to my liking, then pack your things and get the f*ck out.”

After saying that, he turned and left the study.

“Yes… Yes!”

Butler Wang hurriedly bowed to Shi Ji.

Watching Shi Ji’s departing back, his legs went weak, nearly causing him to kneel.

Shi Ji practically fled to his own bedroom.

Only when the door closed did the heart in his throat finally drop back into his chest.

Having to maintain the persona every second made Shi Ji feel like his acting skills were good enough to win an award.

He dragged his legs and threw himself onto the soft bed.

As the warmth of the quilt enveloped him, an endless sense of exhaustion suddenly swallowed him whole.

Shi Ji rolled over and opened his eyes in the dark, staring at the impenetrable night outside the window.

The deep blue sky was stained by hazy moonlight.

As he watched, Shi Ji subconsciously thought of Li Chen’s eyes.

He couldn’t help but worry, wondering if Li Chen had woken up, if his fever would break, and if the next time they met, the boy would still be thinking of killing him.

When those eyes full of hatred looked at him, Shi Ji admitted he was afraid.

If not for the false heat, Li Chen’s strength earlier could have truly strangled him to death.

Perhaps Li Chen had wanted to do so for a long time.

A wave of lingering fear washed over Shi Ji.

He didn’t want to treat Li Chen this way at all.

But he wanted to live, and even more, he wanted to go home alive.

As he thought, drowsiness weighed down his eyelids.

Shi Ji’s eyes began to close, but just a second before sliding into a dream, he was jolted awake by the sound of breaking glass.

Shi Ji frowned and sat up.

He could hear a faint commotion outside the door, mixed with the sound of jeering laughter.

He rolled out of bed, pulled open the door, and stepped out.

Before even heading downstairs, he heard Butler Wang’s shout.

“Hit him! Hit him to death! You dare touch our Young Master?! I think you are tired of living!”

Following his words came the dull thuds of wooden clubs hitting flesh.

Shi Ji’s pupils contracted, and his feet reflexively moved forward.

Then, he saw five or six people downstairs surrounding Li Chen.

Each held a wooden club as thick as an infant’s wrist, striking Li Chen’s back one after another.

To protect himself, Li Chen had curled up tightly to shield his head.

His skin was broken, and bright red blood left startling trails across the white fabric of his clothes.

He bit his lower lip hard, his teeth cutting into the dry flesh as blood dripped onto the floor.

Li Chen raised his head slightly, glaring at Butler Wang, who stood aside with his arms crossed.

Meeting his eyes, Butler Wang felt for a moment as if he were looking at a ferocious beast.

He paled, and his breathing became erratic, but then the thought of being intimidated by a brat made him flare up with rage.

“Glaring at me? You still dare to glare?! See how I deal with you!”

As he spoke, he snatched a wooden club from a nearby servant and struck Li Chen’s back with all his might.

With that one blow, the club actually snapped in two.

The broken end was jagged and uneven, and Butler Wang even used it to poke Li Chen’s wounds viciously.

Only after hearing Li Chen’s involuntary cry of pain did Butler Wang toss the club aside.

“Since the Young Master told me to take good care of you, I will do so on his behalf.”

Li Chen’s temples were soaked with cold sweat, and his back had gone numb from the pain.

When Butler Wang mentioned Shi Ji, he curled his lips and let out a cold laugh.

As expected, it was all just an act to deceive him.

Butler Wang saw the smile on Li Chen’s face and wondered what kind of monster this person was.

Despite being beaten until he couldn’t even crawl, he still had the strength to laugh.

“What… what are you laughing at?!”

He blinked rapidly, hiding the unease in his eyes. “You…”

“What are you doing.”

The voice coming from above caused everyone present to freeze.

The servants and Butler Wang all looked up simultaneously.

Without them noticing, Shi Ji had appeared above them, his handsome face partially hidden in the shadows of the lights, yet unable to conceal the biting chill radiating from him.

His face was cold, and the fire in his eyes was almost uncontrollable.

His hands at his sides were clenched so tightly that the veins on the back of his hands bulged out.

Shi Ji never imagined that his instruction to “take good care of him” would be so horribly misinterpreted by that brainless butler.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and then turned to walk downstairs.

The soles of his leather shoes struck the floor, each footstep seemingly treading on the hearts of the servants and Butler Wang.

They all held their breath, lowering their heads as Shi Ji approached.

Then, Shi Ji stopped.

His gaze swept over the heads of the servants and finally settled on Li Chen.

There wasn’t a single patch of intact skin left on Li Chen’s back.

He was already suffering from a high fever and had been doused with a bucket of cold water to wake him from his coma.

The mixture of blood, sweat, and water flowing into the open wounds caused waves of piercing pain.

He was trembling, and even the draft caused by someone walking past made his face turn pale with agony.

Shi Ji’s eyes moved.

Then, he suddenly snatched a wooden club from a servant’s hand.

He raised it high and swung it with force, striking the back of a servant’s knee.

The servant cried out and instantly knelt on the ground!

At that moment, everyone realized the fury in Shi Ji’s eyes.

They immediately dropped their clubs and began begging for mercy.

Shi Ji ground his back teeth.

“Li Chen can only be bullied by me alone.”

As soon as he spoke, the surrounding air seemed to freeze.

“Who gave you permission to lay a hand on him?!”