Chapter 9: You're mine.

The Zombie King can only manipulate the dead, the Puppeteer can manipulate the living, and Min Duan, known as the Puppeteer of Life, can manipulate both the dead and the living.

It's just that he's always hated the scent of the living, and usually gets people dead before manipulating them.

In the end, he didn't let Xu You die.

After a full night, Min Duan calmed down and sat face to face with Xu You on the black bed in his bedroom, reflecting on his earlier emotions, the constant pressure on his heart, the shortness of breath, the tightness in his chest, and the unsteady heart rate.

Never before has there been a reaction.

As well as unconsciously opening the window to see her riding away in a car with a man and being escorted back downstairs by that man, he would be inexplicably irritable and irritable, with a hint of imperceptible uneasiness.

He had his puppet spy on them, and his heart tightened and clogged when he learned that they always ate together, while he could only wait silently at home.

Min Duan keeps telling himself that Xu You is a normal person, different from him, she should have her own life and social circle, he has no right to interfere.

But it wasn't until last night, when he watched from afar as she dressed her heart out, put on elaborate makeup, and left again in the car with the man, that his throat tightened and tightened, and for the first time in five years, he walked downstairs and waited from six in the evening until one in the morning, when she came back, and came back with the man.

They snuggled up to each other in the distance, Xu You smiling at the man, and Min Duan realized that she could smile like that at anyone, no different from the way she usually smiled at him.

The image of intimacy not far away and a new realization completely overwhelmed Min Duan's sanity, sending a landslide of emotions rushing out of him that had been pent up.

There are only two thoughts in his head, one is to let that man die, the other is to make Xu You completely become his puppet, she can only eat with him, only smile at him, only be close to him.

She belongs only to him.

The thought twitches and grows madly and cannot be cut off.

Min Duan felt a sharp pain in her heart as Xu You stood against him, going to protect the man from hurting the people she cared about.

It was clear that she had heard it all, that the man only had eyes for her, but she still wanted to be with the man and leave him aside.

That man was cared for by her like that.

Min Duan is in such pain again.

It's no wonder that she already knows what he is, knows that he's a monster, so different from normal people that she'll fear him, hate him, and then alienate him.

She would never cook for him or smile at him again.

The feeling of betrayal made Min Duan furious, but when the anger backfired, it left him with an indescribable sense of grievance.

He was abandoned.

As Min Duan turns the scalpel on Xu You, his fingertips touch her body heat and he can't do it anymore; if he turns her into a dead thing, she's no longer warm.

He can't do it.

Min Duan looked at Xu You who was sitting quietly in front of him, still wearing yesterday's goose-yellow bustier dress, revealing her pretty collarbones and delicate arms.

She seemed to be extraordinarily fond of bright colors, unlike him.

What was he going to do when one was a man who lived in the sunlight of the sky and the other was a monster who was only used to the murky swamps? It was time to drag her down into the mire as well.

Min Duan, who had been sitting on the bed with his eyes downcast for a long time, finally made a move, sweeping his eyes from Xu You's neck all the way down, and then getting up to find a wet handkerchief to wipe her neck, his movements gentle, carefully wiping it over and over again.

He let the man smash his face against the wall simply because the man had his face against the nape of her neck.

His movements are gentle, but Xu You's delicate skin is reddened from rubbing back and forth, and he reaches up to rub her slightly flushed neck for a moment, his eyes drooping to her left hand, which he then rubs several times as well as the one she was kissed by Yiyan Zhao.

He held her left hand and watched in silence for a few seconds before dropping his head and dropping a soft kiss on the back of her hand.

"You're mine."

Min Duan raised the arc of his smile and raised his hand to touch her head, and then went all the way down to touch her cheeks with his fingertips, his eyes smiling, his gaze focused, his movements gentle and slow, like a child caressing his beloved toy.

His thumb rested at the corner of her lips, "You should be smiling right now."

Xu You obeyed the command, curling his lips stiffly.

"Yeah," Min Duan laughed, "you should smile happier."

Xu You's eyes were empty, only obediently pulling the curve of his lips wider, bringing out two small pear swirls.

"Yeah, that's it," Min Duan couldn't help but flick those two little swirls with his finger, "just smile like that for me from now on."

Xu You won't answer yes or no, you just have to do it.

Min Duan looked at the time and said to her, "It's already breakfast time, go make breakfast."

Xu You obediently got out of bed and followed Min Duan to the kitchen, where he remembered that he had nothing in the kitchen, and that the place had been used as a decoration.

Xu You's kitchen was complete, but he didn't want her to take another step out of the doorway of his house at all; she was going to stay here with him forever without going out.

Min Duan had no choice but to instruct the puppet to purchase kitchenware and ingredients, it was almost noon when everything was ready, Xu You entered the kitchen and mechanically picked up the ingredients to clean and prepare for chopping.

Min Duan, watching from the sidelines, always felt a little uncomfortable. In the past, Xu You's cooking style was very comforting, her movements were very joyful, with a smile on her face, and she would unconsciously hum a little tune, which could make the people watching share her happiness.

And now she was expressionless as she washed the dishes, every movement so stiff that it seemed as if she were responding to instructions with no semblance of pleasure.

Min Duan frowned slightly, "You should be happy to smile."

Xu You curved the corners of his mouth, placed the washed pork on the cutting board, picked up the cleaver and started cutting the meat.

"Stop." Min Duan said suddenly.

Xu You's movements stopped, the cleaver in mid-air.

He quickly walked over to take away the kitchen knife in her hand, she just started to cut a few knives, Min Duan then smelled the smell of blood, came over to see, sure enough, she cut her left index finger, good command under the fast, only cut the epidermis, oozing out a bead of blood.

Manipulating someone else's body with one's own mind is definitely less flexible than someone else using their own consciousness to make their body act, which is why puppets don't move freely enough and appear clumsy.

Min Duan's frown tightened as he took her injured finger into his mouth and licked over the beads of blood with the tip of his tongue, he patiently waited for her finger to clot and not bleed before releasing her.

"You go back and sit down, I'll get it."

Xu You walked out of the kitchen step by step, Min Duan looked at the ingredients in front of her in silence for a while, pondering the steps she had taken before, and did it in an extremely awkward manner.

The vegetables were cut in uneven sizes, and after pouring most of the oil in the pan, he threw all the seasoning ingredients into the pan and smothered the lid.

Ended up with a plate of greasy black goo.

Min Duan held a plate and a small spoon, squatting in front of Xu You, he couldn't help but curve his lips, his tone a little smug, "I can cook for you."

It was his first time cooking, and he was vaguely looking forward to it.

"Here, open your mouth and eat it." He scoops a small spoonful for Xu You and feeds it into her mouth, and she chews it expressionlessly before swallowing.

"No wonder you like to make things for me to eat." Min Duan's heart swelled slightly with unspeakable satisfaction as he saw her eat what he had made, bite by bite.

It made him think that the food he made sold a little less well, but maybe it tasted pretty good.

Min Duan took a spoonful for himself, and the salty, bitter and greasy taste instantly filled his mouth, and he struggled to resist the urge to vomit.

He crouched in place for a moment, lifting his eyes to Xu You's unchanged face, his drooping eyelashes unable to hide his frustration and pain.

Min Duan stared at her face for a long time and whispered, "I did a bad job, I won't let you eat this kind of thing again."

He lifted his hand and wiped the corner of her lips with his fingertips.

In the end, Min Duan told the puppet to go out and buy food and come back, he then fed Xu You spoon by spoon, her face did not show any likes or dislikes, but her chewing and swallowing movements were obviously much faster.

Min Duan touched Xu You's stomach and fed her to her heart's content, but he himself didn't eat, he didn't like to eat at all, and after being fed by Xu You some time ago, he couldn't eat any other food now.

"I can feed you."

Min Duan packed up the lunch box and sat next to Xu You, taking her into his arms, rubbing his chin on the top of her hair, sniffing her scent, and saying contentedly, "We'll be together from now on."

"Always together, right here."

"Even though I'll never eat your cooking again," he lowered his eyes, "what does it matter?"

As long as she was by his side, he felt stable.

--

The black door and heavy curtains were like a barrier cutting off the outside world, and the whole world seemed to shrink to the hundred meter square where they were.

Min Duan no longer opens the curtains or windows, except to water the jasmine pots in the sun, and spends almost all his time lying in bed and holding Xu You in his arms.

He no longer had to be alone in the lab.

Min Duan wipes Xu You's body, changes her clothes and combs her hair every day, like a little girl taking good care of her doll.

Toward the end of the night, Min Duan took her into his arms, pinched her face, and couldn't help but hook his lips in a smile, "It's so good that I didn't make you skinny."

He stroked her hair, kneaded her face, and swept his fingers over her eyelashes, playing with them, before his eyes finally descended to settle on her rosy lips.

He pressed his fingertips against her lips first, soft and warm, and restrained himself from lowering his head to cover them.

The touch and warmth of his lips made him a little unsettled, then his breath fluttered and a tingling sensation crept along his back all the way to his nerve endings.

Like gorgeous fireworks exploding in your head.

Strange feeling, but somewhat addictive to him.

Min Duan kissed her deeply all the way until her lips became red and swollen, and only then did he reluctantly back away.

"Okay, go to sleep." He dropped a kiss on her forehead, and Xu You obediently closed her eyes.

Feeling the warm body heat of the person in his arms, with the sound of her even breathing in his ears, this allowed Min Duan's mind to settle down like never before, and he rarely fell into a deep sleep, with a dreamless night.

Min Duan thought he would be satisfied with this, but desire is something that can break through the ground and grow into a huge tree if you give it a little root.

The days slipped by, and soon more than half a month had passed.

Min Duan said to Xu You again, "Laugh."

Xu You obediently curved the corners of his lips.

Min Duan frowned, "That's not the way to laugh, you laugh again."

Xu You lowered the corners of his lips and smiled once more.

Min Duan lifted his hand and touched the corner of her lips, "You should have smiled more."

The corners of her lips curved up more, but there was no content inside her eyes, like a soulless shell.

Min Duan watched silently for a few seconds, lowered his eyelashes, and his voice dropped, "Okay."

Xu You resumed his expressionless appearance, still with dark, empty eyes.

Min Duan reached out to cover her eyes and kissed them across the back of his hand, he let out a long low sigh, but said nothing.

The last few nights he'd finally dreamed, and all he'd dreamed about was Xu You humming a little tune as she cooked, the way she'd smile and laugh as she watched him eat, the way she'd lazily nestle herself on the couch and snooze, the way her lips would curl lightly even as she slept.

But now she would never smile at him like that again.

Her smile had lost its content and color, like a faded landscape painting, so mottled that it was impossible to see the original.

She shouldn't be.

Min Duan was a little shaken and wanted to unlock the manipulation for Xu You, but the idea had only the slightest inkling before he instantly squashed it.

He wouldn't dare.

Don't dare bet on it at all.

Xu You already know what he is, he's just a bloody, violent monster, and anyone would be afraid of him that way, and she's no exception.

As soon as he removes the manipulation, Xu You will shun him with a look of disgust and fear in his eyes.

At the thought of this, Min Duan's heart stung sharply like it had been pierced by countless shards of glass, he lifted Xu You's chin and stared into her bleak eyes, "Are you afraid of me?"

"Do you hate me?" Min Duan ordered, "Answer."

The next second he said, "Don't say it."

He suddenly didn't want to hear the answer, not at all.

As long as Xu You could be with him as he was now, nothing else mattered, and he didn't mind.

People like him are not meant to crave too much.

Until one night, Min Duan awoke with a start, keenly aware of the smell of blood.

She's hurt?

Min Duan hastily lifted the covers and carefully searched for her injuries, not in her head, not in her arms, not in her waist ......

Min Duan grabbed one of her ankles and lifted it slightly, the white hem of her skirt sliding back with the movement.

He saw blood stains on her white cotton skirt and some seeping through to the sheets, darkening them.

Min Duan reacted with a flurry of movement and stiffness, immediately lifting the covers to cover her.

He took two steps back, his entire body frozen in place, his mind blank, his face going from blank to red, all the way down to even his neck reddening.

She ......

She is ...... Getting her period.