Su Yanlan’s POV

“…Hah…”

Sitting on the snow, Qin Yue, next to me, covered her ears and lay on my thigh.

She wasn’t heavy; rather, compared to people of her size, she was slightly lighter.

Qin Yue’s face was very pale, her brow furrowed. I saw her wanting to roll around, but perhaps because she was on my lap, she didn’t actually make any large movements. She just groaned softly, her thin lips bitten tightly.

I reached out and gently stroked her golden hair; it felt as good as ever. Lowering my head to take a sniff, the scent of lavender filled my nose. It was my scent—pleasant and reassuring.

A lot has happened along the way. To be honest, I really don’t understand why she angered Qin Dai earlier.

Logically, Qin Yue should always be as cowardly as a quail, right? Apart from that time she argued with Qin Dai, in the short time I’ve known her, I haven’t seen her have such a violent temper tantrum.

Maybe everyone has a limit to their endurance. Once they cross a certain line, even the most cowardly person will have a small outburst.

It’s a pity that after the outburst, she reverted to that cowardly state. I felt a bit regretful, because a bad-tempered person is prone to making mistakes, and mistakes mean punishment.

After angering Qin Dai, Qin Yue was bitten by a wolf. Regarding this, I didn’t feel any heartache.

As Qin Dai said, “She is our enemy.” I indeed shouldn’t feel heartache or anything similar.

I was only angry because the clothes on her body were torn by the wolf. She ruined the clothes I gave her again, and she needed to be punished.

I don’t know what kind of mindset I had, but I stuck my fingers into her wound, pinching the freshly made bloody hole. Hearing the sound of flesh rubbing, my anger miraculously calmed down quickly.

Although it wasn’t as satisfying as skinning and watching the prey scream and die in its struggles, it was also a way to vent.

After that, I helped Qin Yue clean the wound and then bandaged it… No other meaning, I just didn’t want her to die so early.

If she died… it wouldn’t be fun when it was time to skin her.

At some point, Qin Yue started taking medicine. I didn’t know what kind of medicine it was, but every time she took it, she would always show an uncomfortable expression. Looking very pained, at first she would struggle, but soon, as if she had gotten used to it, she just pursed her lips and endured the pain when she took it again.

She swayed unsteadily when she walked with a fever. Coupled with the way she frowned and endured the pain after taking the medicine, it brought me pleasure—that look of wanting to scream but forcibly holding it back.

That appearance is the extreme opposite of the heart-wrenching agony prey shows when I peel off their skin, yet it is equally fascinating.

Although I really like the way she endures the pain without saying a word, I didn’t want her to die too early. If she did, I wouldn’t be able to flay her alive later.

So I told her to take less medicine, but she didn’t listen to me.

Therefore, I began to feel conflicted. On one hand, I wanted to watch her endure pain; on the other hand, I didn’t want her to die too early. If her fever could be cured, she might live a little longer, but unfortunately, I didn’t bring any fever-reducing medicine when leaving the camp.

When we were in the outskirts, Qin Dai came looking for me once.

She said, “Why are you so intimate with that guy? Isn’t she our enemy?”

Hmm… am I very intimate with Qin Yue? I don’t really think so. To Qin Dai’s questioning, I just smiled it off.

I didn’t tell Qin Dai about the agreement between me and Qin Yue; there was no point. Besides, why should an agreement between two people be told to a third party?

An agreement is ultimately not the same as a contract. The right of interpretation belongs entirely to me, without any legal restrictions. Even if I just told Qin Yue I wanted to make an agreement with her, without telling her anything else, and then just said she broke the contract whenever I felt like it and tore her apart, there wouldn’t be any problem, right? Even the person involved could be kept in the dark; why let Qin Dai know?

Of course, I haven’t gone that bad yet; that wouldn’t be fun. Although an agreement is not as legally binding as a contract, in my opinion, it still needs to be rigorous.

So I will only punish Qin Yue when she truly violates the agreement.

My recollection temporarily ended. On my lap, Qin Yue had stopped struggling. She was no longer covering her ears, seemingly finally feeling better, panting constantly.

“Miss Qin Yue, are you feeling better?”

Stopping the hand stroking her hair, I helped her up and quietly looked into those gray eyes.

Compared to the brightness when we first met, those gray eyes have been gradually dimming. It’s not the color getting darker, but the emotion and spirit within them. I am waiting for the day she completely despairs.

“Mhm… thank you.”

Her face was as pale as a sheet of A4 paper, and her lips trembled. Was the side effect of that drug strengthening again?

Along the way, her reaction after taking the medicine kept changing. The trembling of her body would slowly subside, then suddenly amplify at a certain critical point, repeating like this.

I guessed she was adapting to the side effects of the drug. It should be that every time she was about to fully adapt, the side effects of the drug would suddenly intensify, and she was forced to re-adapt.

But what was the drug’s actual purpose? It couldn’t possibly only have side effects, right? Or was it anti-radiation medicine?

Although Qin Yue was very frail, she had indeed been modified from male to female. Normally, cyborgs are fearless of radiation.

“Rest a little longer.”

Saying this, I gently hugged Qin Yue’s waist, letting her lean on my shoulder.

My fingers touched her forehead. The burning temperature confirmed that her fever still hadn’t subsided. I hoped she wouldn’t burn herself into an idiot…

The current Qin Yue brought me a lot of fun. In some ways, the emotional value she brought me was much higher than that girlfriend who betrayed me. But I still didn’t need to forgive her. Once you wear a green hat, you can’t take it off.

What’s more, I still needed a reason to continue torturing this guy’s spirit. If I forgave her, how could I look forward to the day I peel off her skin in the future?

This skin of Qin Yue’s truly pleased me. If possible, I wanted to use her skin to make an article of clothing.

I hadn’t tried using the skin of humanoid mutants to make clothes yet; Qin Yue would be the first experimental subject.

If I told Qin Yue this decision, would she be happy? Probably not. But it doesn’t matter; it’s enough that I’m happy.

Thinking of the potatoes Qin Yue shared with me on the way earlier, and her words about blocking a knife for me, I felt even happier.

“Mm…”

Beside me, Qin Yue hummed softly, rubbing against my sleeve like she was acting cute. Perhaps feeling uncomfortable leaning on my shoulder, she simply lay down again, resting her head on my lap.

Regarding this, I felt nothing. I just watched her quietly.