Ch44.1 - The Rules of Raising a Dog-Type Boyfriend (14)

TW: Swearing and violence (P.S. the kidnapper is annoying.)

When Xu Qichen woke up, his head felt heavy.

His senses returned gradually.

Not unexpectedly, he was restrained, bound to a chair.

His hands were tied behind his back. He slowly tried moving a finger. 

His vision cleared up bit by bit. He could see that he was in a dark, abandoned factory. Natural light entered from small windows, 4 metres high, and helped him to make out silhouettes within the factory.

His brain was still not fully awake. Xu Qichen weakly raised his head and took in a deep breath.

“Yo, you’re finally awake.”

Someone walked in front of him, confirming his guess.

Actually, when he was assaulted, Xu Qichen had already guessed the identity of the perpetrator.

The blond, who had been missing for several weeks, gave him a disgusting grin. He was not wearing a jersey this time, so he looked completely like a hooligan.

Without any fear or anxiety, Xu Qichen calmly looked at him and said, “Why did you bring me here?”

“Why?” The blond scoffed and waved his hand, which held a cigarette, “Who told you to get so close to that dog? Who else would I kidnap if not you?” 

As expected, it was because of Mu Yao.

Xu Qichen tilted his head and said seriously, “I’m not very close to him.”

The blond spat on the floor, “Who the fuck are you trying to confuse! Laozi saw it myself, that dog followed you after I beat him up!”

Xu Qichen laughed, “Because I’m their team manager.” In a very mild tone, he straightforwardly asked, “Were you trying to use me as bait to lure him here?” 

Angry at being seen through, the blond frowned.

At the lack of response, Xu Qichen sighed and continued, “Although I really want to leave, I have to say your plan is really flawed. Given how clever you are, you should have realised this too; last time he was beaten up so badly by you, surely he would try to hide from you? Why would he come and risk his life for a simple senior like me?”

The blond stared at Xu Qichen for a while, then took a drag off his cigarette before throwing it down and grinding it violently into the floor with his shoe. He took out a mobile phone from his pocket, “Stop with the fucking nonsense, tell me Mu Yao’s number.”

He lifted a foot and stepped on Xu Qichen’s knee. 

“If you wanna live, make him come here.”

His knee hurt, and Xu Qichen frowned in pain, but he continued to act compliant, “I don’t remember his number.”

The blond grabbed Xu Qichen’s collar and backhanded him, “Do you fucking want to die!”

The slap was really strong. Xu Qichen’s mouth slowly filled with the taste of blood. 

He furrowed his eyebrows and bore the pain as he licked the blood from the corner of his mouth. With a smile he explained, “I mean it, who remembers numbers in this day and age? I only remember my mom’s number.”

Seeing the blond was about to get impatient again, Xu Qichen added, “His number is in my phone, which is in my pocket.”

Dubiously, the blond reached into Xu Qichen’s pocket and found his mobile phone.

We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.

“Password?” 

We Hlmtfc rjlv ribkis, “0-0-0-6-0-1.”

Ktf yibcv ecibmxfv atf qtbcf jcv ibkfgfv tlr tfjv jr tf rmgbiifv atgbeut atf mbcajmar obg Ze Tjb’r cewyfg. Qlat tlr fsfr bc atf rmgffc, tf wbmxfv, “Ca ifjra sbe xcbk sbeg cewyfgr.” Ktfc tf iloafv atf qtbcf ab tlr fjg.

Too–

Once.

Too– 

Twice.

An overwhelming pain made him not hear the tone the third time.

The blond held onto his gushing neck, looking at Xu Qichen, who was retreating, in disbelief.

“Fuck! You!” 

Xu Qichen’s bloodied hands were closed tight around a dagger.

“0901, can you please sharpen your daggers before you sell them?”

“It took half a day just to cut a piece of rope.”

Xu Qichen complained while running towards the entrance of the factory. However, he saw another figure emerge from the darkness. 

Oh no.

It’s that number 8 from back then.

The door was bolted from the inside. Before Xu Qichen could unbolt it, he was grabbed in a chokehold by number 8, who was as large as a bear. He was easily disarmed, his dagger falling into a corner.

He was shockingly strong, easily lifting Xu Qichen up before throwing him roughly onto the floor. 

The blond was holding onto his still-bleeding neck as he viciously kicked Xu Qichen in the tummy.

“Do you still wanna run?”

There was a sharp pain in his abdomen. Xu Qichen curled in on himself, pulling all his limbs in. Blood began leaking out of the corner of his mouth again.

“Run? Who told you to run?” 

Kick.

Another kick.

The pain came in unending waves. Unable to hold back, he coughed out a mouthful of blood.

The blond removed the hand that was on his neck to see it covered with fresh blood. “Fucker, how dare you stab me!” As he spoke, he let out his claws, lifted Xu Qichen up by the collar, and his right hand shot towards Xu Qichen’s throat. 

Suddenly, a deafening boom interrupted him.

The factory door was broken into two!

The falling broken door kicked up a thick layer of dust. A tall figure, slowly lowering his leg, could be hazily made out through the curtain of airborne dust.

This scene was extremely familiar. 

Xu Qichen, who was watching the black figure, felt the hand on his throat begin to tremble slightly.

Number 8 muttered under his breath, “Fuck, how did he appear so quickly?”

Out of surprise or fear, the blond let go and Xu Qichen fell weakly to the floor. Due to the pain in his abdomen, he could not stand up and could only lie on the floor in a foetal position. He bought a painkiller from 0901 and swallowed it while their attention was elsewhere.

With the light behind him, Mu Yao walked in, every step deliberate, as he cracked his knuckles. 

He was getting closer.

Xu Qichen thought his fingers looked a little longer.

Ah, no.

Those are claws. 

He stood still. Because the light was behind him, his expression could not be seen.

Only his voice, full of suppressed fury, could be heard. This was a tone Xu Qichen had never heard before, and it was strange and scary.

“Make a guess, how long has it been since I killed something?”

Before the two demons, who were full of aggression just a moment ago, could respond, Mu Yao darted forward in a blur and appeared in front of number 8. Sharp claws slashed down, slicing his abdomen open like a sharp blade, causing blood to splash out onto his face. 

The huge number 8 fell to the floor, sending up a cloud of dust as he reverted to his bear form, bleeding heavily from his sliced-open abdomen and unable to move.

Mu Yao easily stepped over him and leapt in front of the blond. He coldly looked at the blond, who was trembling as he felt around his pockets until he found a needle.

“You, you, stay away!” His facial muscles were distorted due to fear, his hands shook as he removed the cover of the needle, as if he was holding onto his last strand of hope. He barely managed to stutter out his last threat, “I’ll… I’ll show you!”

The corners of Mu Yao’s lips lifted up. 

Only now could Xu Qichen see it; the sharp tooth was gone, instead replaced with knife-edged fangs.

“I went easy on you last time, looks like it went to your head.”

Raising his hand, the sharp claw cut the wrist of the blond’s right hand like a blade. The blond howled ferociously. Mu Yao frowned, grabbed his wrist, bent it backwards, and completely broke his hand. The needle fell to the ground and was crushed by Mu Yao.

“Worthless scum.” 

He glanced at the blond.

“I’m not done yet.”

He smiled, “I’m not a good person, you should know this as well.” He flexed his extremely sharp claws before clenching his paw, “I wanted to pretend to be good in front of him so he’ll like me.”

A hand stabbed through the blond’s tummy and lifted him up, as easily as Xu Qichen had been lifted up earlier. 

Fresh blood spilled out of the blond’s mouth, making him look pathetic and disgusting.

“But you made me show this side in front of him.”

The paw was retracted, taking along with it bloodied intestines which he threw on the floor. The disgusting person turned into a yellow weasel and struggled on the ground.

His tone was very gentle as he bent over and carried the weak Xu Qichen up. 

“If in the future he doesn’t like me any more…”

Abruptly, his tone shifted into something very vicious, “I’ll make it so you won’t even live as beasts.”

Only after they left the factory did Xu Qichen’s fuzzy consciousness finally clear up.

The painkiller took effect and his pain was greatly reduced. Life also returned to his eyes. 

“Mu Yao…”

Feeling the arms around him tighten, Xu Qichen continued, “I’m fine, don’t worry.”

Mu Yao continued walking without speaking.

Xu Qichen hesitated before asking, “Did you kill them?” 

“They’re alive, but they’ll never become humans again.”

Xu Qichen hummed and lightly patted Mu Yao’s arm, “Let me down ba, I can walk, I’ll be fine.”

Mu Yao refused, so Xu Qichen repeated himself a few times.

He couldn’t win, he could only stop and put him down. 

Xu Qichen held his belly as he put weight on his feet. Then he looked up at Mu Yao and smiled.

“Thank you for saving me.”

Mu Yao subconsciously avoided Xu Qichen’s eyes. His hands, now hanging down, were red with blood that dripped on the floor. He felt Xu Qichen’s eyes on his paws, and tried to hide them behind his back.

But the hands were caught and cold fingers interlocked with his bloodied ones. 

“Thank you.”

His eyes were like the sun that refused to be hidden from.

He was the one who had been hurt, but he was still trying to comfort him.

The emotions that Mu Yao had kept locked up in his chest finally broke out. He hugged the person in front of him tightly. Xu Qichen could feel his body trembling. 

“I was scared, really scared. Your scent was so faint, I tried to find you and run here. I knew I was getting closer, but then I smelled blood, your blood.” Mu Yao’s voice trembled uncontrollably, sounding so brittle as though he would break from the lightest touch. Like that devil-like person earlier was not him.

“I thought… I thought that they… I thought you were…”

Xu Qichen lifted up his hand and patted Mu Yao’s back gently, “I’m fine, it’s just a small injury.”

Only when he felt that Mu Yao had calmed down did Xu Qichen let go. “Mu Yao, the drug that that guy took out earlier, that should be the one he used before the match. It can make him physically stronger, but it’s only in the early stages of development.” 

Xu Qichen looked at the factory behind him. He spoke with certainty, “Beneath this factory is the production plant for this kind of prohibited drugs. Xiao Cang disappeared… I think he’s been captured by this research facility.”

Mu Yao frowned, “Xiao Cang?”

“I think Xiao Cang found out about this place from Ning Zheng, so he came here alone to find evidence.” Xu Qichen could only guess. “I’m not very sure, so please see if you can smell Xiao Cang’s scent.”

Mu Yao looked around before taking a few steps towards the factory. 

“He was here.”

“Just as I thought. We have to find the entrance to the facility!”