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He remembered during one meal, Xia Fei once said that he wanted to learn how to use poison for assassination, not just rely on his fists and kicks to beat opponents anymore.
He also remembered another time, while having tea, Liu Xiao stirred his teacup with one hand, while nonchalantly asked him how brilliant the sight of the head of Yingdu’s Chinatown dying from poison would be.
Vein remembered just grunting noncommittally both those times.
He’d always thought he knew these two boys he lived with too well, that what they said were just some wildly fleeting thoughts that naturally came to their minds. After all, he knew neither of them was normal; how else could a madman like him stay by their side?
Until this moment, as he collapsed onto the neat, white-clothed dining table in his villa, in front of a row of domed dishes whose aroma still drove his senses mad with hunger, next to a plate of equally delicious food that was only slightly touched…
And poisoned .
From the other end of the table, he clearly heard his two kids’ maniac sounds echoing, one was holding his stomach, laughing so hard he couldn’t close his mouth, while the other coughed lightly into his hand, as elegant as a true butler, but clearly just trying to suppress his laughter. One golden, one silver pair of eyes fell upon him, a wild satisfaction dancing in all four beautiful, malicious irises.
You sneaky little , he sneered, then once again, he straightened up.
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The whole event probably started a few days ago.
A day with no rain nor sun, only a gloomy fog covering the city of Yingdu, just as the City of Fog was always named. An extremely boring day, even though it was a rare day when Xia Fei didn’t have to run from one photoshoot to another on his always-packed schedule.
All because of the presence of someone equally idle at the other end of the living room of this villa.
Young Master of the Liu family, Liu Xiao.
“Don’t you have to work today?”
He asked, his face a scowl, making no effort to hide his disgust at the black-haired man’s existence before him.
Said black-haired man calmly flipped to a new page in the book on his lap, his slender fingers gently pressing on the book’s spine to mark his position, then turned to face the Yingdu’s most famous model, his lips curving into a faint, unreadable smile.
“Yeah, finally have a day off today.” Liu Xiao’s eyes narrowed with amusement. He turned back to the opened book, this time gently inserting a dark feather inside as a bookmark, then closed the book.
Xia Fei walked behind the sofa, crossing his arms and leaning on the backrest right behind the younger teenager. The latter leaned back, the same annoying faint smile on his lips as he faced the other, his hand even daring to poke at the scowling face of the blonde-and-black-haired one looking down at him.
“What’s wrong now, hmm?” he chuckled, then leaned closer to whisper, “If you’re mad at Vein, don’t take it out on me. Aren’t you all alone with me right now?”
Xia Fei couldn’t help but reach out, pinching the man’s slightly high nose.
“Stop it.”
“Fufu, how about we go see a movie?” The hand that had been pinching his nose was released, and young master Liu quickly returned to his usual flirty demeanor. Seeing that it wasn’t enough to get the little puppy behind him interested, he casually added, “My treat.”
“Deal!”
“Hahahaha!”
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No one knew what movie the two of them went to see that day. They only knew that after the pair calmly walked out of the cinema - which the little Liu Master had, as usual, rented out so he wouldn’t have to breathe the same air with strangers - the cinema staff wondered why just a brief glance at the two had given them goosebumps and made their hair stand on end like porcupines.
Even though the boy in the hat calmly sipped the rest of the drink his handsome friend handed him, accompanied by a soft whisper as if he was afraid anyone else would hear.
It was something like…
“Leave the fun to me, Xia Fei.”
“I’m counting on you.”
And the taller man’s lips briefly curled into a smile, beautiful yet strangely chilling.
Young Master.
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He should have realized there was a problem the moment one hand was still signing off on the massacre of the rival faction’s rats, while the other lightly swiped across his phone screen, which lit up to show a WeChat interface that rarely had messages between him and Liu Xiao, now displaying a new, extremely rare message that read, “Vein, are you coming home tonight?”
He should have been a little more wary of this, instead of staring at his puppy Xia Fei in a knee-length maid’s dress and the noble-dressed Liu Xiao, who was now wearing an elegant butler’s suit instead of his usual clothes, joining him for a meal.
He should have…
“Let’s see... it seems the first blind box is Aconitine?” Liu Xiao calmed down first, clearing his throat again before starting to read from a long scroll-like paper, like a butler noticing the description of the next recipe listed in the banquet menu.
“Aconitine, a highly toxic alkaloid originating from the aconite genus, mainly from the purple aconite species Aconitum napellus.” For some reason, that owlie lowered the paper a bit, squinting at the notorious boss of Chinatown who was clutching his shirt into a crumpled mess, then continued, “It’s a neurotoxin capable of opening Tetrodotoxin-sensitive Na+ ion channels in the heart and other organs, and is often used to create arrhythmia models in medicine.”
“Not bad, huh?” Xia Fei’s voice rang out, the excitement undeniably clear in that extremely irritating drawl. Then he even dared to turn to face him, his expression deceptively consoling, yet also mocking.
“Boss, boss, don’t think too much. I know you’ve had a heart-squeezed like that before.” The smile on his face curved even more, revealing one of his sharp, fox-like fangs, yet his voice was still nothing but comforting, “It hurts a lot, doesn’t it? Come self-detoxify, hurry! We have so many more dishes waiting for you!”
“Damn you kids,” Vein gritted his teeth, cold sweat trembling on his forehead, but then he felt the pain gradually subside, the sensation of being poisoned slowly receding and then completely disappearing.
“Oh, well... looks like I’ve already been able to fight this one, huh?”
Boss Vein sat up, his bloodshot eyes glaring at the two crazy kids in front of him, the corner of his mouth curling into a provocative, challenging smile.
“What a shame, didn’t you say there were more?” He snorted, casually propping his chin on the table with one hand, while the other pointed at the long paper in Liu Xiao’s hand. “Or… are you afraid your list will run out before I collapse, huh?”
The young dark-haired said nothing. His two beautiful under-eye moles twitched slightly, his silver eyes narrowing like a confident manipulator disdainfully looking down at his newly found puppet. As for Xia Fei, without a moment’s delay, he placed the next dish on the table. The silver dome was lifted to reveal his favorite rare steak.
“Then, no need to be ceremonious,” Liu Xiao’s low voice rang out, followed by Xia Fei, the maid who was now just an arm’s length away. “Shall we continue?”
“Let’s see,” he grinned, his hand once again picking up the silver knife and fork on the table. “How long will you two keep laughing..."
"...my dear crazy, lovable pets?"
The next five dishes were brought up. Two of them were poisoned.
“Vomits, cramps, convulsions, and signs of hypotension with confusion... looks like he’s been hit with that famous arsenic, fufu. Should have not let him get acute poisoning like this, Xia Fei, it’s not a very good look, to be said. We should have given him chronic arsenic poisoning instead, so we could admire numerous mottled dark spots speckled on his limbs.”
“This dish is hard to swallow, huh? Oh dear~ can’t even talk due to muscle weakness? This must be Botulinum toxin... Oh, boss, don’t close your eyes and die so soon! We have not satisfiedly witnessed yet, you know?”
Time after time. Liu Xiao’s calm voice steadily read out the symptoms each time the head of Chinatown collapsed onto the table before even finishing half of the plate, while Xia Fei, not even waiting to see if his boss had recovered, continued to clear and set dishes, his fox eyes burning with a deep, crazed excitement.
In the eyes of the two younger members of this Hot Headed trio, there was nothing in the world more interesting than watching their red-haired companion struggle at death’s door only to come back to life. A person whose merely-raised eyebrow was enough to make anyone tremble, let alone dare to assassinate him, now willingly became the victim in their twisted-minded game.
Vein, once again, sat up from his third bout of poisoning, one hand casually waving in front of his face as if testing if his body had recovered from the muscle weakness. He was still smiling, as if his recent trip to the gates of hell was simply a trip to his neighbor’s house to kick on the door and then return home, leaving them open the door and shouting at nothing.
Liu Xiao couldn’t help but curl his lips into a sneer, but his eyes narrowed in caution.
Excluding the first time when he was completely caught off guard, poison was now almost nothing to the red-haired man opposite him. The time it took him to recover from the second poisoning had increased significantly, to the point that even he had to watch extremely carefully to see the onset of the toxic symptoms, before Vein, with his despicable nature, would trick them and make them believe the dish he just tried was perfectly fine.
Before he could think any further, the one playing the butler was startled by the maid’s joyful shout.
The next two plates were brought in, the second one was poisoned.
Xia Fei craned his neck, trying his best to scrutinize any sign of the next poison’s effects, even daring to wave his hand in front of his boss’s face.
“Increased salivation, vomiting, hypotension, and... slow reflexes, I think, Butler Liu.” He reported, excitedly turning back, only to be met with a stern, dagger-like stare from the latter from the opposite side.
“What’s wrong, Liu Xiao, are there any prob…”
“Don’t cheat , Vein.”
Huh?
The maid hadn’t even had time to process what had happened when he saw his boss, sit up heavily, very slowly reaching out for a silk napkin to wipe the drool from the corner of his mouth.
“How did you know I was faking it, sweetie?”
“Vomiting, increased salivation, hypotension, dizziness, and slow reflexes are symptoms of Tetrodotoxin poisoning, most commonly found in pufferfish poison.” At this, the young master paused for a moment, glaring at the man with the red braid in front of him, his hand tapping lightly on the paper. “Tetrodotoxin is indeed a neurotoxin, but... it’s not on my list.”
Xia Fei could only gape in astonishment, his eyes darting back and forth between the two crazy men, one in red and another in black, sitting opposite each other.
Vein simply propped his hands under his chin, confidently smirking.
Liu Xiao let out a sigh. He had already anticipated this, but had this wily, red-furred fox revealed his card so early?
Revealed that he knew how to circumvent the rules of this game, then what ?
Determined not to be on disadvantages, the young master of Hot Headed motioned to Xia Fei, a silent yet meaningful gesture. And of course, the other understood what he meant, almost instantly, as if the Leo-signed puppy also didn't want this game to end just because of a small act of cheating.
Damn the risks, they thought, their lips still uncompromisingly curling up,
Continue?
On the day they went to the movies, Xia Fei was unconsciously putting a piece of popcorn in his mouth when Liu Xiao, sitting next to him, suddenly spoke.
“What do you think, can someone as nearly invincible as Vein withstand poison?”
He almost spat out the popcorn he had just put in his mouth at that question.
On the screen, a demon with beautiful eyes like rainbow-colored pearls with some delicate Chinese characters carved into them was slowly raising his head, his two light-blue ice fans gently lifting, stroking away the blood that had stopped flowing from his mouth due to poisoning.
The golden eyes narrowed slightly at the scene.
“What do you think?”
The young master of the Liu family took a sip of coke from the cup of the person next to him, truly lost in thought.
It seems, he smiled faintly, Liu Xiao is really serious about that suggestion.
“I don’t know.” He shook his head slightly, then leaned back on his shoulder. “How about this instead?”
His slightly long black hair hid the expression on his face from Xia Fei’s view, but hearing his voice like this, he felt he could guess what the next sentence would be.
Indeed, when he turned his face back, his usual faint smile was now a grotesque grin. The wide, round glasses couldn’t hide his platinum eyes, which now flashed with a cold, murderous glint.
“You cook, I poison. Make it done.”
Xia Fei chuckled, then turned back to the big screen. His handsome face was calm as water, but who knew how the stormy sea of his heart was churning behind it?
“Not a bad idea, I agree.”
Liu Xiao calculated in his mind that he had only randomly used seven out of the ten main poisons he had prepared on this list. With Vein having encountered two more, belladonna and nicotine extracted from leaves, the probability puzzle had begun to change.
The game would stop at number seven. And how long would it take for the last two poisons to be introduced?
The young master propped his face on his hand, his long legs in their slightly tight trousers crossed under the white tablecloth. His eyes, full of anticipation, followed the next plate as it was placed on the table by Xia Fei. The silver dome was lifted, revealing the next fragrant dish.
Spicy hotpot duck blood. Another of the old fox’s favorite dishes.
Vein’s right hand took the chopsticks, picking up a slightly red piece of duck blood and holding it up to his eyes. His tongue very slowly licked his lips in a circle, then with lightning speed, he put the bright red piece into his mouth under the gaze of his two boys, his red eyes half-closed in enjoyment.
His hand holding the chopsticks lowered slightly, ready to dip into the spicy hotpot bowl again.
Four eyes, two golden, two platinum, stared at him, not daring to blink.
A faint click sounded. Followed by Xia Fei’s pathetic shriek, so sudden that even a calm person like the noble little teenager of the Liu family, sitting a distance away, was startled.
“Xiao-baobeiiiiiii! Helpppp!”
“No saving you!” Vein roared, lowering his head in a flash. “If aphrosidiac, then take responsibility for it!”
Then he bit straight into the nape of the model boy’s neck, just like a wolf pouncing on a young deer.
The wooden chopsticks that were in Boss Vein’s hand now lay scattered on the table and floor. Instead, his right hand grabbed Xia Fei’s wrist, pulling him back. The other hand quickly gripped the neck of the maid’s dress on his body, leaving no way to escape.
“Nonsense!”
Jarred out of his panic by Vein’s words, Liu Xiao finally calmed down, quickly grabbing the paper on the table, a trembling finger sliding down to find what kind of poison could make someone go crazy like this.
He remembered, he didn’t have that kind of poison, did he?
Not to mention an aphrodisiac?
Maybe Vein was just lying again…
“Ahhh... hah…”
At the other end, Xia Fei had been scared out of his wits by that painful bite. His drool uncontrollably ran down to his chin, while the old fox was still panting, his lips and tongue dragging and lapping at the exposed skin of his neck.
“... No way for you to escape, dear... hah…”
Liu Xiao was still frantically searching. When his sliding finger suddenly stopped, the expression on his face froze as if Medusa had suddenly emerged from the page, turning his face to stone.
Outside the dining room, a few servants swore they heard a loud cry, clearly belonging to their young master, who was rarely so uncomposed.
“WHO THE HELL PUT AN APHRODISIAC IN HERE???”
“Hey, isn’t it…”
At this point, Xia Fei came to his senses slightly, his voice trembling, as he replied.
“I put it in and forgot?”
“Then have fun paying your price, Xia Fei.”
Liu Xiao let out a sigh. He didn’t know what to do other than put a hand to his forehead, watching in silent frustration as a person who was once dignified and noble now reduced to nothing more than a dog in heat, frantically biting and licking a nearby puppy. His gloved hand calmly returned to propping up his cheek, while the other waved as if the noble young master was trying to shoo away the foul scent of lust that was gushing out like a waterfall from those two dogs.
It was only when Boss Weiying finally released his teeth from the dazed golden deer in his hand, his lips still curled into a toothy grin, now stained with a faint trace of blood, that the young puppet master realized the situation was truly problematic.
Vein had allowed himself to be fooled up to the third poison, and then he cheated by faking being poisoned, but with a poison that wasn’t even on the list he himself had prepared.
Xia Fei had managed to mix an aphrodisiac into the list, even though he hadn’t given him any tasks related to preparing poisons, let alone letting him get involved in creating the official list.
And at that moment... wasn’t Xia Fei standing too close to the attack range?
Just then, the famous Yingdu model’s weak mumble rang out.
“Heeeh…?” The tone was clearly not an act, but it was too melodic to be a meaningless mumble. “But I don’t remember putting an aphrodisiac in that duck blood dish?”
Young Master Liu’s eyes widened, feeling a chill on his whole body truly standing on end.
It’s over.
This was totally a trap, since the beginning.
He only had time to push his chair back far enough to escape. The last image reflected in his silver eyes was of the taller man throwing Xia Fei onto the table without a hint of mercy, the table groaning horribly under the immense force, before he turned his back and headed straight for the door leading to the living room, which was just a few steps away.
But that wolf would never spare him. Not even a single step.
Less than a few seconds after his view of the two was gone, a hand, half-hidden in the black sleeve, covered his respiration flow. Something cold and hard was shoved into his mouth without hesitation.
“Where do you think you’re running off to, my little Xavier?”
A slightly thick liquid flowed out and touched his tongue, staining his dry mouth with an extremely unusual, cloying sweetness. The liquid flowed into his body like melting ice water on barren land, yet it made the barren land feel hot, like lava passing over it. Even the familiar red tassel on his sleeve was enough to make his scalp tingle, his vision blurring as if the fog from outside had now spread into this room.
Liu Xiao knew he was well and truly done for this time.
Vein was still casually half-kneeling on the wooden table in the middle of the dining room. The tablecloth under his feet was now a crumpled mess from when he had thrown the maid boy onto the table, and he had taken the opportunity to jump onto the table himself to grab the ruffled kitten who was about to turn and run away. The hand that had been pressing Xia Fei’s neck onto the table released, while the other tightly gripped the lower half of Liu Xiao’s face from behind, forcing him to swallow the thick liquid from the bottle he had pulled from under the puppy’s apron, which was now uncapped and hidden in his sleeve.
The already hollow crystal bottle fell onto the floor, releasing a dull colliding sound, rolling forgotten to somewhere out of sight.
He waited until his slightly calloused fingers, accustomed to guns and bullets, caressed his cheek, feeling the involuntary jolts growing stronger and stronger. The young master went limp and leaned back, his head resting on his lap. His blood-red eyes narrowed slightly, scrutinizing every angle of the passionate expression on the face of the youngest schemer of Hot Headed, his platinum eyes now as hazy as a pearl stained with lust.
“I didn’t think you’d bite back at our kid like this,” Xiao Weiying glanced to the side, his lips curled, one of his sharp fangs peeking out from under his thin lips. “My dear puppy.”
Xia Fei sat up, grimacing, and sighed. Then his amber eyes narrowed, revealing the cunning nature hidden within his perfect fox-like eyes, and also looked towards Liu Xiao, who was now exhaling hot, moist breaths, his chest being ripped bare from the cumbersome clothes by his boss’s hand.
Isn’t that the nature of whoever in the House?
He curled his lips into a smile, but the warmth of amusement didn’t reach his fox eyes. Vein didn’t bother to bicker with him as he usually did.
When the eyes of the hunting wolves were fixed on the little rabbit in heat before them.
“Thank you for the meal tonight~”
Sweetie.
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