Chapter 35: A Challenge from the Soul

The text message was like a cold needle, piercing precisely through the nerves that Xu Yuan had stretched to the breaking point from sheer exhaustion.

She stared at the words on the screen, her heart skipping a beat uncontrollably.

[The dawn is almost here.]
[Have you finished your answer sheet?]

It was a condescending tone, a playful mockery reminiscent of a cat toying with a mouse. He was reminding her, and at the same time, warning her. Reminding her that she was not the only arbiter in this game besides Jiang Yi, and warning her that every move she made was under his watchful eye.

Xu Yuan slowly tightened her grip on the phone. The self-doubt she had felt earlier—that she might be turning into a monster herself after crafting that "devilish plan"—was instantly washed away by a surge of intense, icy rage.

No. She was not a monster. She was simply using the devil’s own methods to confront the true devil.

She carefully saved the fifty-nine-page presentation onto a USB drive, then rose from her chair.

*Buzz—*

Her mind went blank for an instant. The world spun. The dormitory in front of her dissolved into blurred spots of light, and all she could hear was a sharp, piercing ringing. She swayed, nearly collapsing, but managed to steady herself by grabbing the desk just in time. The aftermath of a high fever and a sleepless night hit her like a delayed tsunami, consuming her completely the moment her mental defenses dropped.

"Yuanyuan!"

Lin Feifei, who had been soundly asleep at her desk, was jolted awake. She looked up, and seeing the paper-white face of her friend, she was terrified.

"Where are you going?! Are you trying to kill yourself?" She rushed over, trying to steady Xu Yuan.

"I'm fine." Xu Yuan pushed her hand away. Her voice was hoarse, but her steps were uncharacteristically firm as she headed toward the door. "I'm going... to submit my work."

...

At six in the morning, Binhai University was still shrouded in a hazy morning mist. The air was damp and cold. Xu Yuan walked alone through the empty campus. Every step felt as if she were walking on cotton; her body felt light, as if a gust of wind could carry her away at any moment.

Yet, her consciousness was clearer than it had ever been. She looked at the small USB drive in her hand, which held the fruits of her night’s labor, her madness, her calculations, and her desperate, all-or-nothing resolve. She wondered what expression would cross Jiang Yi's face when he saw the proposal. Would he think she was a lunatic? Or would he see her as... one of his own?

When she arrived at the small grove of trees beneath Jiang Yi’s apartment building, the sky was already beginning to brighten. Morning light filtered through the sparse branches, casting dappled shadows.

He was already there.

He stood at the edge of the light and shadow, leaning against a birch tree, looking down at his phone. He was wearing a black hoodie, his frame slender yet upright like a pine tree. His entire being was enveloped in a cold, unapproachable aura.

Hearing her footsteps, he looked up. The moment his bottomless eyes landed on Xu Yuan, they narrowed almost imperceptibly.

Xu Yuan knew she must look wretched. Her face was pale, her lips chapped, her hair disheveled, and her eyes were likely as red as a rabbit's. Meeting his scrutinizing gaze, she walked toward him step by step and held out the USB drive that carried all her bets.

"My proposal." She spoke, her voice so raspy it sounded foreign even to her own ears.

Jiang Yi did not take it immediately. His gaze swept slowly over her bloodless face before finally settling on her hands, which were still trembling slightly from the fever and exhaustion.

The air seemed to freeze. Xu Yuan’s heart climbed into her throat. She expected him to say something even harsher or more biting than he had on the phone the day before.

Instead, he simply stared at her in silence for a few seconds.

Then, he moved. He reached out, but not to take the USB drive. Instead, he shoved a small, cold plastic bottle and a bottle of mineral water still beaded with condensation into her hand with almost brute force. It was fever-reducing medication.

"Are you planning to die at my doorstep?" he said, his voice as cold and impatient as his movements.

Xu Yuan was completely stunned. She looked down at the medicine and water, then back up at his face, which was etched with impatience. Her brain, unable to process this sudden, off-script turn of events, briefly stalled.

"What are you looking at?" Jiang Yi frowned, seemingly displeased by her reaction. "Do you want me to feed you?"

"N-no... that’s not it..."

Xu Yuan snapped back to reality, her cheeks flushing involuntarily. The heat had nothing to do with her fever, yet it left her feeling more flustered than the illness ever could. She fumbled with the cap, shook out two pills, opened the water, and tilted her head back to swallow the cold medicine with the even colder water.

Only after she finished did she realize that Jiang Yi had been watching her the entire time. His gaze was complex—as if he were looking at something disobedient, troublesome, yet... impossible to discard.

"The proposal." He finally held out his hand, his tone brief and to the point.

Xu Yuan hurriedly placed the USB drive into his slender, bony palm. He took it and, without even glancing at it, shoved it into his pocket. Then, he pulled something else out and threw it to her.

It was a card. And a key.

"A spare key and access card for the project room," he said with an imperious, unchallengeable tone. "You don't need to wait for Lu Xingyu anymore; you can go in whenever you want."

As Xu Yuan clutched the key, which still held the warmth of his body, her heart gave another heavy thud. If the fever medicine had been an unexpected, clumsy gesture of care, then this key was a heavy, silent declaration of trust.

He had accepted her answer sheet. He hadn't even looked at it yet, and he had accepted it.

"Go back and sleep." He dropped the words and turned away, apparently intending to leave.

"Jiang Yi!"

Xu Yuan didn't know where she found the courage, but she instinctively called out to him. He stopped, but did not turn around.

"That..." Xu Yuan looked at his back, her voice dry. "Thank you for the... medicine."

The air was silent for a few seconds.

"I just don't want my project lead to drop dead before the project launches," his cold voice drifted back on the morning breeze. "So, Xu Yuan, don't die. You still owe me plenty of user research."

With that, he strode away on his long legs, disappearing into the depths of the grove without a backward glance.

Xu Yuan stood where she was, staring in the direction he had vanished, motionless for a long, long time. Finally, her heart, which had been racing from the medication and exhaustion, slowly began to calm. She lowered her head, looking at the key and access card in her palm, and the corners of her mouth curled upward uncontrollably.

A faint, yet brilliant smile appeared—one she didn't even realize she was wearing.

She had won.

She had ultimately won this insane gamble.

She turned around, dragging her body as if it were about to fall apart at any moment, and headed back toward the dormitory. The morning sun pierced through the clouds, spilling gently over her and stretching her shadow out long and thin. Everything seemed to be moving in a better direction.

Just then, her phone buzzed silently in her pocket once more.

She paused and took it out. It was that same familiar, anonymous, unknown number.

Xu Yuan’s heart sank, and she opened the new message. On the screen, there was only a single line of icy, venom-tipped words:

[Is the devil's tenderness... making you even more addicted?]