A Carnivorous Flower and an Unfathomable Obsession

The embrace just now had been utterly firm, a seamless fit.

‘If Gu Wei had seen that through her 8x scope, I wouldn’t merely be thrown off the rooftop tomorrow; I’d be strapped to a skyrocket and launched into outer space.’

Instead of anger, a softer smile bloomed in Shen Lanzhi’s eyes as she watched Xiang Qing’s flustered expression.

She reached out, smoothing the slightly disarrayed hem of her skirt, then extended a hand towards Xiang Qing.

Her voice, lethally gentle, inquired, “Did I frighten you just now? Your hands are quite cold.”

Xiang Qing now had a completely new understanding of Shen Lanzhi’s combat prowess.

‘This woman was no gentle, delicate flower; she was a beautiful, carnivorous plant!’

‘She cursed without drawing blood, and killed without a trace!’

“No, no, no! They’re not cold! My internal fire is blazing!”

Xiang Qing clasped her hands behind her back, her smile more strained than a grimace. “Sister Lanzhi, as long as you’re alright, that’s what matters! We… we should leave now!”

All she wanted now was to flee this den of trouble, to escape the three-meter radius around Shen Lanzhi.

****

On the drive back to Star Convergence International, Xiang Qing was restless.

Several times, Shen Lanzhi attempted to speak, only to be abruptly cut off by Xiang Qing’s sudden exclamations like, “Oh, look how perfectly round the moon is tonight!” or “Driver, your car’s air freshener has such a distinctive scent!”

Shen Lanzhi seemed to sense her discomfort, attributing it to Xiang Qing still smarting from the venomous homophobic attack.

Shen Lanzhi sighed, then said softly, “Xiao Qing, don’t take the words of such trashy people to heart. With me by your side from now on, I won’t let anyone hurt you like that again.”

‘Ten thousand ‘grass-mud horses’ galloped wildly through Xiang Qing’s mind.’

‘Big sister!’

‘Right now, the person causing me the most distress, besides Gu Wei, is you!’

‘And why do your words sound so much like a triad matriarch declaring her ownership?’

Upon their agonizing return to Gu Wei’s home, Xiang Qing felt as though she had lost half her life.

“I’m going to take a shower; I feel a bit… off,” Shen Lanzhi announced, glancing at the pale-faced Xiang Qing. “You should probably take a hot bath to relax as well…”

“No need!” Xiang Qing immediately declined. “I’m not tired yet! I’ll watch some TV! Sister Lanzhi, you go ahead and shower first!”

‘Are you kidding? In this situation, how could she dare linger in the bathroom? What if Gu Wei suddenly emerged from the bathtub like Sadako?’

‘She had to stay in the living room, where the view was clearest, keeping her eyes peeled and ears open to every slightest sound!’

Shen Lanzhi smiled helplessly, then turned and entered the bathroom.

Soon, the sound of rushing water filled the air.

In the vast living room, only Xiang Qing remained.

Outside the floor-to-ceiling windows, the city’s brilliant nightscape stretched, and the silence was so profound she could hear her own heartbeat.

It was too quiet.

Eerily quiet.

All the hairs on Xiang Qing’s body stood on end.

‘Given Gu Wei’s level of derangement, she should have burst out from some hidden nook by now, grabbing Xiang Qing by the collar and demanding an explanation for the embrace.’

‘Yet now, there was nothing.’

‘Was she waiting for me to confess?’

‘Or was she, perhaps, secretly watching from some unseen corner through surveillance cameras?’

The more Xiang Qing pondered, the more terrified she became.

Unable to sit still, she began to pace restlessly around the living room.

She approached the massive floor-to-ceiling window, gazed at her pale reflection in the glass, and began frantically rehearsing her apology.

“‘CEO Gu! I was wrong! I deserve to die ten thousand deaths!'” She began with a ninety-degree bow, her expression steeped in profound remorse.

‘No, that’s too fake; I almost want to vomit just hearing myself.’

She cleared her throat, switching to a new version, her gaze melancholic, her tone deep.

“‘CEO Gu, when that malicious curse rang out, what I saw wasn’t Shen Lanzhi, but your shadow. I could not tolerate anyone sullying our… our pure… relationship!'”

‘No, that’s too false; it makes even me want to gag.’

Xiang Qing irritably ran her fingers through her hair, deciding to try the pathetic route instead.

She painstakingly mustered her emotions, her eyes growing red-rimmed, her voice laced with a sob. “‘CEO Gu… I was truly terrified at that moment… It was purely an instinctual reaction… My heart belongs only to you…'”

“Quite a performance,” a cold voice remarked, startlingly, from behind her.

Xiang Qing’s body instantly stiffened.

Slowly, frame by agonizing frame, she turned around.

Gu Wei stood in the entryway, having entered at some unknown moment.

Clad in exquisite black silk pajamas, her already luminous skin appeared almost translucent.

Her damp black hair cascaded casually over her shoulders, a few strands clinging to her delicate collarbones, still carrying the humid scent of a fresh bath.

She did not look at Xiang Qing, but walked directly to the bar, pouring herself a glass of ice water.

The glass clinked crisply against the marble countertop.

“Was the movie… enjoyable?” She took a sip of water, finally breaking the silence, though her voice remained unnervingly flat.

The flatter her tone, the deeper Xiang Qing’s heart sank.

‘This calm before the storm was truly the most terrifying.’

“CEO… CEO Gu…” Xiang Qing’s throat felt parched; not a single word of her countless rehearsed lines could escape her lips.

Gu Wei finally turned, looking directly at her.

There was no anger, no questioning, not even a flicker of an extra expression on her face.

She merely shook the phone in her hand, its screen lit.

Then, she strode forward, walking step by step towards Xiang Qing.

Her high heels had been discarded in the entryway; now, her bare feet glided silently across the cold floor, creating an unparalleled sense of dread for Xiang Qing.

She stopped before Xiang Qing, holding the phone up to her eyes.

A video was playing on the screen.

The picture was crystal clear, and the audio quality was infuriatingly sharp.

It was everything that had just transpired at the cinema.

From Shen Lanzhi’s elegant retort, to the mother’s furious insults, and then to Xiang Qing pulling Shen Lanzhi into her arms—that utterly firm embrace.

The video’s angle was nothing short of perfect, capturing every detail: Xiang Qing’s momentary tension, and Shen Lanzhi’s triumphant smile as she leaned into her embrace, all rendered with chilling clarity.

Xiang Qing’s mind went blank.

‘She hadn’t been watching from surveillance. She had been there. She had been present the entire time.’

The video ended, and the screen dimmed.

Gu Wei lowered her phone, returning it to her pocket.

She tilted her head slightly, gazing at the ashen-faced Xiang Qing.

“Explain,” she uttered, two stark words.

Xiang Qing’s survival instinct finally triumphed over her fear.

Her mind raced with unprecedented speed.

‘Lying was impossible; the evidence was irrefutable. Pleading for mercy would be tantamount to offering herself up for slaughter.’

‘Her only path to survival was to paint black as white, to transform this checkmate into a winning move!’

“CEO Gu!” Xiang Qing abruptly lifted her head, her eyes instantly reddening as she stared directly into Gu Wei’s. “I was wrong! I failed to uphold our agreement; I touched her! You may punish me however you see fit!”

She launched her offense first, adopting the lowest possible stance.

Gu Wei arched a brow, seemingly taken aback by this reaction, and waited for her to continue.

“But!” Xiang Qing’s tone shifted abruptly, her voice rising sharply, brimming with the indignation and fury of one unjustly accused.

“Did you hear what that woman said? She called us disgusting perverts! She wasn’t cursing me, nor Shen Lanzhi! She was cursing our kind!”

She took a step forward, gesturing animatedly with intense emotion. “‘My mind wasn’t thinking of anything else at that moment! I only thought, ‘I am one, and so are you!’ Her cursing Shen Lanzhi was tantamount to cursing you! How could I tolerate that? Wouldn’t that be like pointing at your nose and calling you disgusting? The blood rushed to my head then, thinking that no one, absolutely no one, could insult you like that! Protecting Shen Lanzhi was secondary; upholding your dignity was paramount! In a fit of impulse, I…'”

Her impassioned speech, delivered with such fervent sincerity, was so stirring that even Xiang Qing herself was almost convinced.

She looked at Gu Wei, tears welling in her eyes, awaiting her final judgment.

The faint smile that had graced Gu Wei’s lips slowly faded.

She stared at Xiang Qing for a full thirty seconds.

Her gaze was utterly unfathomable.

Just as Xiang Qing felt herself nearing madness from the silence, Gu Wei suddenly spoke, uttering words that Xiang Qing had not at all anticipated.

“I am not a homosexual,” she stated with unwavering certainty.

Xiang Qing was stunned. “Huh?”

“Homosexual, heterosexual—those are mere labels mortals affix to themselves in their quest for belonging.”

Gu Wei extended a finger, lightly tapping Xiang Qing’s chest, the icy touch sending a shiver through Xiang Qing’s entire body.

“I, however, am no mere mortal.”

Her gaze locked firmly onto Xiang Qing’s eyes.

“I simply like you, Xiang Qing. That is all. If you were a man today, it would be a man I liked. If you were to transform into a tree tomorrow, I would sleep embracing that tree. Do you understand?”

Xiang Qing was utterly dumbfounded.

Xiang Qing felt as though she wasn’t facing a woman tormented by love, but rather a madwoman whose depths could not be plumbed by conventional logic.

This was a pure, unadulterated, and utterly obsessive possessiveness that transcended both gender and species.