Chapter 187: You Looked Tempting Just Now
Yan Luo had an innate fondness for Su Mobai. When the prison guard led the boy into the cellblock, Yan Luo happened to glance over and caught sight of that clean, handsome face—those deer-like, bewildered eyes, damp and bright, unexpectedly pretty.
In the main cafeteria, someone ignorant of danger barged into his territory. Yan Luo was a clean freak; he hated having those filthy, rough men near him. Everyone knew that, so anyone who dared intrude must have been a newcomer. For some reason, the image of the boy he’d seen earlier surfaced in his mind.
After he finished eating at an unhurried pace and looked back, sure enough—it was that kid.
The kid had a big heart. Yan Luo had been staring at the back of his head for ages, yet the boy felt nothing at all, eating with more gusto than a piglet.
Truth be told, Yan Luo only wanted another look at him from the front.
There was no rush—there would be plenty of chances. That night seemed to have some sort of “welcome ritual.” He’d always disdained it before, but this time, he found himself carrying a faint sense of anticipation.
Yan Luo sat quietly in Cell 419, waiting. He thought he must be too bored, because every few minutes he’d peer through the small iron window of the cell to look outside.
At last, the ground-floor hall filled with Scarface’s men, and the kid was pushed into the center.
Amid the jeers, the boy was about to be humiliated. For reasons he couldn’t quite name, Yan Luo suddenly moved. Walking along the fourth-floor corridor, he briefly interrupted the ritual that took pleasure in humiliating others. He sensed the kid sneaking a look at him. His authority was not to be challenged, so he swept a cold glance back.
That brief look made him realize the kid might not be as weak as he’d imagined—because in those eyes, at that very moment, there was no fear at all.
That realization sparked a mischievous urge. Rarely, he added a line: “Do as you like.”
Then he returned to his cell and secretly peered out through the little iron window again.
Unfortunately, he couldn’t see anything. The inmates crowding the bars blocked his view.
He didn’t know how much time passed before he heard the crowd erupt into wildly excited cheers, mixed with heckling.
Heh. The kid had actually won.
Even while showering that night, Yan Luo kept thinking about it—how had such a clean-looking kid managed to take down the vicious Scarface? Perhaps the other side had underestimated him?
While he was lost in thought, the kid showed up.
Yan Luo was surprised. Had the kid really never heard of his reputation—of Yan Luo the King of Hell? That displeased him. He felt his authority had been provoked, so he decided to teach the kid a lesson.
He hadn’t expected the kid to have real skills—countering move after move, even hooking his legs around Yan Luo’s neck.
The move amused Yan Luo. The earlier sense of offense vanished in an instant. He couldn’t help teasing the kid—stripping off his pants and clothes, joking that he looked like a porcelain doll.
He liked this feeling of teasing the kid. He hadn’t intended to actually have the boy massage his back, but the kid did it earnestly anyway.
Listening to the kid’s shameless flattery, Yan Luo couldn’t help but laugh.
He thought: this was the only person who could flatter Yan Luo the King of Hell so sincerely. Not only did it not annoy him—he found it thoroughly enjoyable.
Everything after that followed naturally. He found the kid interesting, so he kept him by his side.
At first, it was just because prison life was dull and the kid happened to come along—an easy, casual choice. But gradually, he liked Su Mobai more and more, unable to bear seeing his Xiao Bai suffer even the slightest grievance.
So he beat Ji He. He killed those inmates at the mine. Because no one was allowed to bully his Xiao Bai.
Only that time at the mine—Yan Luo hadn’t expected Xiao Bai to rush out to save him. It gave rise to a feeling: he was Xiao Bai’s entire world. Xiao Bai would even die for him.
That realization stirred a secret flicker of delight in his heart.
When he was released from prison, he didn’t look back. He was afraid that seeing Xiao Bai’s eyes—full of reluctance—would make him hesitate.
Afterward, Yan Luo used the fastest means to pull Xiao Bai out of prison.
Seeing Xiao Bai again, his heart softened beyond words—an emotion even Yan Man, who had lived with him for years, had never been able to give him.
He had adopted Yan Man on a whim. Getting close to the Xiao Bai had also begun on a whim. But the feelings that followed were entirely different.
He knew Xiao Bai was different to him—his place in Yan Luo’s heart surpassed everyone else’s.
No—rather, only Xiao Bai had ever stepped into his heart. Before that, no one had been able to stir even the faintest ripple there.
His brothers might think he valued his younger sister Yan Man highly. Indeed, he treated her well and cared about her studies and life. But that was merely a reward for her obedient companionship over the years—a bit of diversion in his otherwise dull life. Raising a little girl into a smart, sensible sister had its own amusements.
Welcoming feasts were a gang tradition. Xiao Bai was bound to join sooner or later, so Yan Luo personally took him along and summoned his most capable aides.
That night, he heard a shocking secret from Xiao Bai.
Xiao Bai… liked men?
For a moment, his mind went blank. Nothing remained—except the words “likes men,” echoing over and over in his head, making his long-silent heart pound fiercely.
By the time Xiao Bai was drunk and he escorted him back, Yan Luo’s heart was still thudding inexplicably, leaving him restless and unsettled.
That night, Yan Luo couldn’t sleep. Aside from his youth spent living on the edge of a blade, he hadn’t suffered insomnia in years. He didn’t know why he was so irritable. After much thought, he concluded it must be because Xiao Bai had strayed onto the wrong path.
He tried to persuade Xiao Bai to leave that path—only for the kid to say he’d lied before. He didn’t like men at all; he’d just been shy and didn’t want to do things in front of so many people.
And then Xiao Bai actually took his card and went to a bar to hire a woman. Standing outside the door and hearing the intense sounds within, Yan Luo let out a breath of relief—yet at the same time, an even deeper agitation surged up.
He took a cold shower, hoping it would wash away the burning restlessness in his heart—but it was useless. His mind was filled with images of Xiao Bai with some stranger woman, doing those things.
At that moment, he was so irritable he almost wanted to kill someone.
If Xiao Bai was with any woman, he felt as if the woman was defiling him.
He knew something about himself wasn’t right. He disliked matters between men and women—but he was absolutely rational. He never stopped his subordinates from visiting prostitutes; on the contrary, he encouraged it, because it strengthened their resolve. There had once been an incident where a brother was tricked by a woman into leaking gang secrets. He would never allow that to happen again.
But when it came to Xiao Bai, everything was different. He had personally pushed him toward another woman—and in the very next moment, he regretted it.
He couldn’t bear to lose Xiao Bai. He wanted to keep Xiao Bai under his own watch. Now they lived together; he could see Xiao Bai every day. When Xiao Bai grew up, he would marry Yan Man to him, and the three of them would live together.
He had planned everything.
That conviction held firm until Yan Man said she liked Ji He. But when Yan Man ran away and Xiao Bai was so worried about her, regret struck him again.
Without his knowing it, had Xiao Bai already come to like Yan Man this much?
He didn’t like that feeling. In Xiao Bai’s heart, Yan Luo should be ranked first—should be the most important person. He didn’t want anyone to replace his position.
Not even Yan Man.
