Naughty Puppy Will Be Eaten by a Bad Woman - Chapter 25

◎Hugs aren’t enough… Kisses aren’t enough either…◎

Gu Xianyue’s warm palm brushed against Lu Zhao’s neck, then settled on her skin, remaining still.

Those deep, elongated eyes revealed nothing. Lu Zhao couldn’t tell if Gu Xianyue was still angry. But at least Gu Xianyue was looking at her directly now, which meant her efforts were having some effect.

Alongside rational analysis, an inexplicable instinct surged within Lu Zhao. She wanted to please this woman with all her might, to quell her anger, and even more, to make her happy…

Lu Zhao’s gaze drifted momentarily, as if she had slipped into a dissociative state similar to when her post-traumatic stress disorder flared. The world around her lost its solidity, though this sensation was far gentler, devoid of any physical symptoms.

Her thoughts froze, like her soul had been tossed into the air, her consciousness briefly detached from the present moment.

Deep-rooted subconscious urges lured her toward her comfort zone: If this woman touches me, I’ll be happy. I won’t have to endure hunger, homelessness… My purpose is to accompany her; her happiness is my happiness.

Fragmented thoughts, their origins unknown, clamored incessantly in her mind, shattering her rationality and sense of self.

In that moment, she lost control of her own body. Lu Zhao tilted her head, pressed her cheek against Gu Xianyue’s hand, and gently rubbed against it, the cold, hard ring on her finger scraping against Gu Xianyue’s palm. Her peach blossom eyes, usually brimming with smiles, suddenly became docile, as if she had lost her original self.

She had finally found her… She would never leave Gu Xianyue again.

Gu Xianyue’s hand remained still as she watched Lu Zhao nuzzle her palm with her cheek, then brush against her cool earlobe. Her gaze never wavered from Lu Zhao, and she immediately noticed the other woman’s strange behavior.

She knew something was wrong with Lu Zhao—very wrong—but a secret desire stirred within her, fueled by Lu Zhao’s submissive demeanor. She couldn’t resist the wicked urge to see Lu Zhao even more out of control.

It wasn’t until she saw cold sweat beading on Lu Zhao’s forehead, her hollow eyes filling with infatuation, and her lips, now pale, drawing near Gu Xianyue’s palm as if to kiss it—

“Lu Zhao!”

Gu Xianyue’s voice trembled, the lingering echo of her heart’s frantic pounding.

At the last moment, she suppressed her dark thoughts and stopped Lu Zhao.

Lu Zhao froze, but she clearly hadn’t snapped out of her trance. Her eyes remained vacant, unfocused, as if her soul had fled.

Gu Xianyue gripped Lu Zhao’s shoulders and gently shook her. “Lu Zhao? Snap out of it. Do you still know who I am?”

As Gu Xianyue moved, Lu Zhao’s eyes slowly regained focus. She murmured, “…Gu Xianyue?”

Gu Xianyue met her gaze and whispered, “It’s me. How are you feeling? You were… acting very strangely just now.”

Lu Zhao’s scattered consciousness gradually pieced itself back together. It felt like an eternity had passed, yet also like a mere instant. Her last memory was of nuzzling Gu Xianyue’s hand, her mind consumed by a single thought: to make Gu Xianyue stop being angry…

She couldn’t recall anything after that.

Panic seized Lu Zhao. The usually articulate woman stammered incoherently, “I’m sorry… Did I scare you? I… I don’t even know… Did I do anything?”

This wasn’t the first time this had happened, but it usually only occurred when her war trauma was triggered by certain stimuli.

The worst incident had left her waking up to find every glass item in her home shattered on the floor, shards clutched in her palm. Crimson bl00d dripped from the sharp edges of the glass, splattering onto the floor in a steady rhythm.

Finally, an unbearable pain forced her awake.

Afterward, she had locked all the knives in a cabinet and replaced the glass dishes with shatterproof plastic or stainless steel ones.

Now, she and Gu Xianyue were safely in the car. How could this…

Gu Xianyue frowned, gently taking Lu Zhao’s ice-cold hand. She murmured soothingly, “You’re alright. Your face just suddenly went pale… Tell me, what were you thinking about just now?”

Lu Zhao tried to recall, but shook her head blankly.

“I… I can’t remember.”

Lu Zhao wasn’t lying; she genuinely couldn’t remember. Her brain seemed to activate a self-preservation mechanism during moments of extreme stress, causing her to temporarily forget the images.

Gu Xianyue continued to comfort her until Lu Zhao’s complexion gradually regained some color and her lips were no longer so pale. Only then did she feel slightly relieved.

Before leaving, Lu Zhao said guiltily, “I’m sorry… I’ll see a doctor as soon as possible.”

Regret gripped her. It seemed she always lost control in Gu Xianyue’s presence.

She found this deeply humiliating, making her feel… inadequate.

The woman who had always prided herself on her objective and calm perspective had once again lost her confidence.

Seeing Lu Zhao’s distressed expression, Gu Xianyue couldn’t help but feel a pang of guilt.

She softened her voice even further, speaking gently, “It’s okay, there’s no need to rush. Take your time. You can call me anytime if you need anything.”

As she spoke, Gu Xianyue leaned over to help Lu Zhao unbuckle her seatbelt. Only then did she notice how tightly Lu Zhao had pulled the belt, her knuckles white and a distinct red mark etched across her neck.

Lu Zhao’s earlier dissociative state hadn’t been entirely without Gu Xianyue’s subtle manipulation.

For her own shameful desires, she had exploited Lu Zhao’s fragile mental state…

How utterly despicable, Gu Xianyue thought, inwardly despising herself.

She had always known she wasn’t a good person, but she never imagined she would stoop to scheming against Lu Zhao.

Soon after Lu Zhao returned home, the sound of rain began to patter against the window.

Ever since recovering from her dissociative episode, she had felt somewhat detached, perhaps from recent exhaustion.

Lu Zhao grabbed her clothes, removed her prosthetic leg, showered, and collapsed onto her bed.

It was still early evening, the city not yet fully shrouded in darkness. The gentle rain added a layer of dampness to the dry winter air. Listening to the rain outside, Lu Zhao found herself growing drowsy.

As her nerves relaxed, the scene from the car gradually resurfaced in her mind. She finally remembered how, against her will, she had almost licked and kissed Gu Xianyue’s palm.

The realization startled her, and a wave of panic washed over her again.

How could she even think such a thing? How could she have almost done it?

Her heart clenched with unease. She sat up and fumbled for her slow-release anti-anxiety medication on the bedside table. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the collar Gu Xianyue had given her, hanging alongside her other necklaces.

Lu Zhao hesitated for two seconds, then set down the medication and picked up the collar, fastening it around her neck.

She wiped clean the prosthetic limb Gu Xianyue had given her and put it on as well.

Compared to the medication, the collar seemed to possess a greater calming power. The moment she secured the clasp, the familiar sensation of restraint around her neck brought her a sense of comfort.

The lingering unease in her heart dissipated. She couldn’t help but sigh softly as she lay back down, adjusting the clasp tighter until a faint feeling of suffocation settled in.

This was a gift from Gu Xianyue.

Wearing the collar and prosthetic limb seemed to maintain a connection between her and Gu Xianyue. No matter the inappropriate, unspeakable, and dark thoughts she harbored toward Gu Xianyue… wearing them gave her a sense of confidence that she could be forgiven.

The blackout curtains completely blocked out the last rays of daylight. The rain intensified, and distant thunder rumbled, weaving together into a harmonious melody.

The room was warmed by the heater, and the collar around Lu Zhao’s neck felt intensely present. Suddenly, it felt less like winter and more like spring, when all things grow freely.

Lu Zhao’s fingers lightly traced the leather’s texture. She closed her eyes, imagining Gu Xianyue’s slender, powerful hand stroking the side of her neck, the woman’s burning warmth pressing against the pulse in her veins.

That heat seemed to penetrate her icy skin, searing into her bones and bl00d, leaving a deep, indelible mark.

Spring tides carried the rain, and no one was on the river. She faintly heard a few orioles singing deep in the woods. Her body transformed into a small boat, gently drifting with the waves.

She fell into a dream as damp as spring rain. In it, she knelt naked and devout before the woman, licking and kissing her palm, between her fingers, and finally sucking on her fingertips… Trembling with joy at the woman’s satisfied expression, she earned a caress like a divine blessing.

“Such a good girl.”

The woman let out a low, pleased murmur. Seemingly satisfied with her performance, she leaned down and pulled her into a tight embrace, so close it almost made her breathless. Yet, like a fish gasping for water, she craved an even deeper connection.

The embrace wasn’t enough… the kisses weren’t enough… Sensing her impatience, the woman pressed a hand to the back of her neck, gently kneading.

This gesture, meant to soothe, ignited her like wildfire to spring grass. It swept across her, evaporating the moisture from the ground and transforming it into a torrential downpour that drenched her completely.

A tingling shiver ran down her spine as the woman’s hand traced down her neck, across the scars on her back, and circled beneath her right shoulder blade, tracing the circular mark left by a bullet wound.

The spring rain turned icy. Exposed to the air, her body trembled like a rain-soaked banana leaf. Only then did she realize her right leg was missing from the knee down, milky white bl00d gurgling and mingling with the rainwater in the muddy ground.

She arched her back in despair, desperate to hide the ugly scars from the woman’s gaze. She strained to conceal her disfigurement, but where could she possibly hide? The woman loomed over her, ruthlessly exposing her body despite her distress.

Thunder roared, and the spring rain intensified, her entire body seemed to tremble.

Boom—

The vibration of her phone jolted her awake.

She opened her eyes to find the sky completely dark. Lu Zhao was drenched in sweat, her forehead damp and her cheeks flushed, as if she had just been pulled from water.

She fumbled for her phone and blindly pressed the answer button, her voice hoarse. “Hello?”

The voice on the other end sent a shiver down her spine—she had just heard it in her dream.

“Lu Zhao, are you alright? Should we take the same flight to the medical summit next week? I sent you a message, but you didn’t reply…”

It was Gu Xianyue.

Gu Xianyue couldn’t shake her concern about Lu Zhao’s earlier mental state. During dinner with Gu Yu, her specially configured heart rate monitor had triggered an alarm, showing Lu Zhao’s heart rate spiking to 140 beats per minute.

She sent messages to Lu Zhao, but they all disappeared into the void.

An ominous premonition flashed through her mind. Fearing something had truly happened to Lu Zhao, she hastily said, “I’m finished eating,” ignored Gu Yu’s strange gaze, and hurried aside to call Lu Zhao.

The first call went unanswered. The second rang for a while, and just as it was about to hang up automatically, Lu Zhao finally answered.

The line connected, but Lu Zhao’s voice was hoarse, as if every last drop of moisture had been steamed out of her: “Oh… I was just asleep. Let me check now. Wait a moment.”

As Lu Zhao sat up, she noticed the fabric in that area felt damp and sticky, and the bedsheets beneath were stained with a dark, wet patch.

Lu Zhao: “……”

Inappropriate images from her dream flooded her mind—scenes she wouldn’t dare imagine while awake.

Though her romantic experience was a blank slate, that didn’t mean she was completely clueless.

The collar around her neck was soaked with sweat. She unclasped it, revealing red marks on her fair skin where it had pressed against her.

The dream’s scenario filled her with shame. Why had she been reduced to such a undignified state? Yet, even more than the shame, her body’s reaction seemed to betray a different truth…

Lu Zhao felt completely out of control. Her emotions, which had remained placid for over two decades, now surged like a stormy sea because of a mere dream.

As Gu Xianyue spoke to Lu Zhao, she glanced at the heart rate app on her phone. The abnormally elevated heart rate had gradually returned to a still-high but steadily stabilizing range after her call connected.

Gu Xianyue sighed in relief. The flight wasn’t urgent; Lu Zhao could confirm it tomorrow. But she couldn’t suppress her worry.

If only I could install a monitor at Lu Zhao’s place, she thought. Then I wouldn’t have to fret so much… Gu Xianyue pressed her fingertips into her palm, gently suppressing her increasingly absurd thoughts.

After calming herself, Gu Xianyue asked casually, “Did I wake you up? You didn’t answer for so long. Were you having a nightmare?”

And since you were asleep, why were you still wearing your prosthetic leg?

Of course, she couldn’t voice that question.

A few seconds of silence hung in the air before a voice, strained with suppressed emotion, replied, “No…”

Lu Zhao lowered her gaze to her damp pajama bottoms, her eyes filled with confusion.

She answered softly, her voice still breathless from the lingering dream, “It wasn’t a nightmare.”