Chapter 148: I Am An Evil Pen (V)

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Chapter 148: I Am An Evil Pen (V)

Wen Jingrong had failed to get Shang Ke’s address out of him, so he simply took him home.

“You’ll stay in this room from now on. I’ll have someone prepare whatever necessities you need.” Wen Jingrong gestured toward the guest room. He had originally wanted Shang Ke to move straight into the master bedroom, but considering the current state of their relationship, he ultimately decided to give him some time to adjust.

“Are you planning to imprison me here?”

“Until I find out everything about you.” Wen Jingrong had sent people to investigate Shang Ke’s identity several times, yet every attempt had come up empty. He did not dare let him go for fear of losing him again. “If you’re willing to tell me yourself, we could save ourselves a lot of trouble.”

Wen Jingrong’s hawk-like gaze locked firmly onto the young man before him.

Shang Ke hesitated over whether to tell him that he was actually that evil pen. If he revealed the truth, would it improve their relationship and solve his predicament? To someone living in a technological age, would something this supernatural sound completely absurd?

Because of those concerns, Shang Ke remained silent.

Wen Jingrong’s expression darkened. He walked over, pulled Shang Ke into his arms, and murmured beside his ear, “I don’t want to hurt you. I only want you to stay by my side and become my lover. I know you’re confused right now and don’t understand why I’m so obsessed with someone I’ve supposedly ‘just met,’ but as far as I’m concerned, we’ve known each other for a very long time.”

Everything in those dreams might have been nothing more than a beautiful fantasy, but Wen Jingrong was certain he had not mistaken him for someone else. The young man in his arms was the lover he had been searching for all this time.

Shang Ke trembled all over from the pain, but Wen Jingrong mistook it for fear, and his expression turned gloomy. He was already trying his best to restrain his impatience, slow things down, and pursue Shang Ke properly, yet Shang Ke’s reaction made him unbearably agitated, almost unable to suppress the restless beast inside him.

Shang Ke saw waves of baleful energy pouring from the man. Even with the radiance of Wen Jingrong’s good fortune constantly purifying it, Shang Ke still managed to absorb some, which showed just how concentrated his baleful energy had become.

Once he absorbed it, the pain throughout Shang Ke’s body immediately eased, leaving him comfortable from head to toe. After tasting real-world baleful energy, the stuff he absorbed from dreams seemed like plain porridge and side dishes—utterly bland.

A thought suddenly occurred to Shang Ke. Perhaps he should temporarily keep his identity hidden and let this man continuously generate baleful energy from wanting what he could not have. Shang Ke might suffer a little in the process, but he could also replenish himself with far more delicious baleful energy. Of course, that depended on whether he could replenish it faster than Wen Jingrong’s good fortune consumed his life force. Otherwise, he would still end up dead.

In other words, the more ruthlessly he rejected Wen Jingrong and the more fiercely he resisted, the more baleful energy he could harvest later.

Shang Ke broke free of the man’s arms. His eyes were misted with tears from the pain as he looked at Wen Jingrong as though accusing him, while silently declaring, Darling, shall we play a little SM game of ruthless possession and tortured romance?

Completely unaware of Shang Ke’s scheme, Wen Jingrong was intensely provoked by that look. Baleful energy surged around him in great waves, as though he might pounce on Shang Ke and pin him down at any moment.

On the surface, Shang Ke looked steadfast and unyielding. Inside, however, he was practically vibrating with excitement: Let the baleful energy come even harder!

Yet at that exact moment, Wen Jingrong stormed out in anger, slamming the poor door so hard the frame shook.

Shang Ke stretched out an Erkang-style hand, eyes brimming with tears: No, don’t go!

He leaned over the window and heard Wen Jingrong angrily instruct the bodyguards, “Watch him carefully. Don’t let him take a single step outside the house. Report to me immediately if anything happens.”

“Yes, Boss,” the bodyguards answered in unison.

Shang Ke pouted. With no baleful energy left to eat, he could only return to Wen Jingrong’s bedroom and turn back into an evil pen.

Wen Jingrong sat irritably in the car, his fingers unconsciously reaching for his sleeve—only to find nothing there.

Hmm? Wen Jingrong raised his arm and only then realized that the smartpen normally fastened to his sleeve had disappeared at some point.

He cursed under his breath, his expression growing even darker and frightening the driver so badly that the man nearly sent the car flying.

Back at the company, Wen Jingrong searched everywhere and even sent his secretary back to Tyson’s factory to look. Naturally, they found nothing.

Home was the only place left to check. If the pen was not there either, he would have no choice but to report it lost.

The smartpen had fingerprint authentication. If anyone other than Wen Jingrong used it on an internet-connected electronic device, he would immediately receive an alert. An authenticated pen was useless to most people; his only concern was that whoever found it might simply throw it away rather than turn it in to lost and found.

The smartpen was a keepsake from Wen Jingrong’s father, so no matter what happened, he had to find it.

Wen Jingrong left work early and headed straight back to his villa. What awaited him, however, was an empty room.

“Where is he?!” Wen Jingrong glared sharply at the line of bodyguards before him.

The bodyguards lowered their heads with grim expressions, unsure how to answer. They had stationed people at both the front and back of the villa and had not seen anyone enter or leave, yet the person inside had somehow vanished without a sound.

Wen Jingrong took a deep breath and spat out a single icy word: “Scram.”

The bodyguards left dejectedly, privately wondering whether they had just lost their jobs.

Wen Jingrong called his secretary. “Investigate the family members and close relatives of every Tyson employee. Find Shang Ke, no matter what it takes!”

After hanging up, a cold gleam flashed through Wen Jingrong’s eyes. Shang Ke, you’d better pray I never find you. Otherwise, I will never let you go again.

With one kick, Wen Jingrong overturned the coffee table and strode into his room. He was just about to shower when a flash of blue light caught the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he discovered that the smartpen he had searched everywhere for was sitting right there on the bedside table.

“So you were here.” Wen Jingrong picked up the pen and slowly ran his fingers over it. “If only he could be like you and stay by my side all the time.”

Evil-pen Shang Ke muttered inwardly, The greatest distance in the world isn’t that I can’t stay beside you. It’s that I’m already right here, yet you don’t recognize me.

Shang Ke transformed into a thumb-sized person and sat on Wen Jingrong’s shoulder. “I can’t love you properly in reality, so I’ll make it up to you in your dreams.”

As though sensing something, Wen Jingrong turned to look beside him. There was nothing in the enormous room but silence and emptiness.

After showering, Wen Jingrong lay naked in bed, tossing and turning without being able to sleep. Eventually, he simply took two sleeping pills and finally drifted off under their effects.

Shang Ke’s heart ached at the sight. This man was imposing and untouchable in front of others, yet when he returned to his private world, he was only an ordinary, lonely man. Wealth, power, and status were all within easy reach, but none of them could bring him genuine happiness. Only when he was with Shang Ke did that tender side of him emerge.

Shang Ke entered the dream barefoot, standing on a wet beach as he gazed over an ocean raging beneath violent winds. It was not difficult to imagine just how bad Wen Jingrong’s mood was.

Unsurprisingly, Wen Jingrong found him almost immediately and pulled him tightly into his arms.

The raging wind gradually weakened before finally becoming calm.

“What’s wrong?” Shang Ke turned around, voluntarily wrapped his arms around Wen Jingrong’s waist, and asked gently.

“I found you, but you don’t remember me.” In the dream, Wen Jingrong made no effort to hide his vulnerability. “I don’t want to hurt you, but I can’t control myself. Seeing you suffer hurts me too.”

“I know,” Shang Ke comforted him. “I know all of it.”

“Shang Ke, what do I have to do to make you fall in love with me?” Wen Jingrong looked at him pitifully, almost pleading for help.

He’s so much cuter in dreams than he is in reality!

Shang Ke seriously offered him advice. “If you’re certain you want to spend the rest of your life with me, then stop hesitating. Bring out the ruthlessness you use in business and keep me by your side by any means necessary.”

Shang Ke was working very hard to set traps for himself. His talent for self-inflicted suffering had truly reached another level.

Instead, Wen Jingrong hesitated. “Is that really all right?”

Shang Ke was speechless. And who was it who dragged me home the first time we officially met and tried to illegally imprison me? Man, your beastly nature was exposed to my brilliant eyes long ago.

“No problem.” Shang Ke encouraged him, “The forced-love trope can be fun too. The process might get a little rough, but as long as the ending is happy, that’s what matters.”

The above is absolutely terrible advice. Everyone, please do not take it seriously.

“If you think it’s fine too…” Wen Jingrong’s gaze heated. “Then why don’t we practice?”

Huh? Before Shang Ke could react, the dreamscape instantly changed from the ocean to a bedroom. He found himself lying on the bed, a black cloth blindfolding his eyes, both hands tied to the bedposts, and only a thin garment covering his body.

In the darkness, Shang Ke felt the mattress shake several times before a burning-hot body covered his… What followed was an earth-shaking, sexually explicit and rough “battle” that needed no further description.

By the time Shang Ke emerged from the dream completely exhausted, he suddenly felt that he might have done something spectacularly stupid…

After satisfying himself in the dream, Wen Jingrong’s fighting spirit soared and his scumbag aura went through the roof. Since he could not find Shang Ke, he deliberately stalled the job arrangements for Tyson Materials’ laid-off employees, waiting for a certain someone to walk straight into his trap.

Of course, he was not certain Shang Ke would actually come to him, so he continued sending people out to search.

One day a week later, Wen Jingrong spotted Shang Ke walking out of a shelter. Unfortunately, Wen Jingrong was inside a moving car at the time, and the two passed each other before he could stop.

So Wen Jingrong had the shelter investigated as well. More than a hundred unemployed drifters and people with disabilities lived there, but there was still no information connecting Shang Ke to the place.

Was he merely passing by?

Wen Jingrong frowned in thought for a moment and decided not to overlook any possible lead. He would acquire the shelter first and figure out the rest afterward. As for the people living there—they were all dismissed.

Half a month later, Wen Jingrong spotted Shang Ke again at a shopping center on the verge of bankruptcy. Once again, he caught only a fleeting glimpse and failed to catch the man himself. With one flourish of his evil pen—acquire it!

Over the following days, Wen Jingrong occasionally spotted Shang Ke somewhere along his travels, yet every single time they narrowly missed each other. He had a strange feeling that Shang Ke was always somewhere beside him—he simply had not discovered where.

After Wen Jingrong successively acquired several businesses and welfare institutions, the person he had been waiting for finally came to him voluntarily.

Shang Ke had no choice but to come. Wen Jingrong’s nouveau-riche acquisition spree had already cost more than a thousand people their sources of income. Those businesses had admittedly been on the verge of failure already, but they could probably have staggered along for another six months to a year. Once Wen Jingrong stepped in, however, they were immediately axed.

“What exactly do you want?” Shang Ke stood outside Wen Jingrong’s villa and demanded coldly. “Do you have any idea how many people you’ve put out of work?”

Wen Jingrong slowly approached and stared at him with wolf-like eyes. “I already told you. I want you to be my lover.”

“And if I refuse?”

“Then I’ll acquire every business in this region that’s at high risk of failing.” Wen Jingrong had no idea what connection Shang Ke had to these businesses, but he did not mind making an even bigger spectacle of things while showing off both his financial power and his domineering ability to bully people with it.

“I never thought you were this kind of person. Coming here today was a mistake!” Shang Ke turned to leave.

Wen Jingrong’s gaze sharpened as baleful energy surged from him. He grabbed Shang Ke’s arm and said in a low voice, “Since you’re already here, don’t leave.”

Pain immediately flared through Shang Ke’s body again, making him tremble uncontrollably.

Even though Shang Ke appeared terrified, he still bravely looked him straight in the eyes. The sight ignited an intense desire for conquest in Wen Jingrong. He trapped Shang Ke in his arms, lowered his head to bite his ear, and murmured like a lover, “Have sex with me once, and I’ll help one person.”

Only one person per time? I’ve got a thousand people to deal with! Do you have to be this stingy?!

“No need. I’ll handle it myself!” Even though come on was practically flashing across Shang Ke’s brain nonstop, outwardly he still had to resist with everything he had.

Having received the “true teachings” of dream-Shang Ke and comprehended the essence of the forced-love trope, Wen Jingrong simply carried the still-struggling Shang Ke back into the house, preparing to begin the rough, sexually explicit “training” he had in mind.

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