Black Raven Prison (11) Apple

Thinking of Mo Yichen, Mu Xinning fell into deep contemplation.

That man appeared cold and aloof but was softer at heart than anyone else—at least when it came to her.

Although she couldn’t understand why, from the moment she first saw his face, she felt a strong and unmistakable sensation.

Though fleeting, it was a feeling both familiar and deeply cherished.

As if they had known each other for a long time.

“Look, he goes out to find food just because I say I’m hungry; he blushes when I come close by half a step; he even goes against his own will to get me a seven-day hospital stay...”

“Don’t you think he’s a little different with me?”

If she wasn’t mistaken, this was clearly the sign of someone liking another.

Jin’s voice suddenly rose, flustered and angry.

“That’s because he’s my clone! Naturally, he instinctively reacts to the host he’s parasitizing! What’s so different about that!”

That explanation was obviously flawed, but at the moment, he couldn’t find a better one.

“Oh? Do you have the same reaction to me?” Mu Xinning teased him deliberately. “Do you panic when I offer you a spoonful of porridge? Do you blush when I call your name?”

“Although you share a linked consciousness, memories and emotions aren’t shared, right? Unless one side’s fluctuations are strong enough to affect the other, that’s how it works, isn’t it?”

Jin was speechless for a long moment before finally sputtering out, “I am the original! I disdain such childish emotional games!”

“But he isn’t,” Mu Xinning smiled softly, poking the zipper on the back of the doll.

“Right now, he is Mo Yichen—a clone with flesh and blood, with his own emotions. If you want him to willingly accept you, you have to make him feel... that being absorbed is for something he cares about.”

She paused. “For example, for me.”

“You’re crazy!” Jin sounded incredulous. “He’s my clone! How’s that possible—”

“Why not?” Mu Xinning cut him off. “He’s nervous about whether I’ve eaten, worried if my wounds still hurt—did you teach him these emotions?”

“What sets him apart from you is that you only eat based on instinct and occasionally have minor moods, whereas he’s completely off track.”

Mu Xinning hit the core. “As an NPC clone, he’s acting against instinct with unusual behavior. This kind of feeling, born from affection, even you as the original don’t have.”

The original lacks this emotion, yet the clone has it. From this, it can be concluded that Mo Yichen’s series of actions stem from the clone’s own instincts rather than the original’s influence.

At that moment, the door was pushed open at an awkward time, and Mu Xinning caught Jin’s brief silence.

Mo Yichen entered carrying a tray with two apples and a small bowl of sliced apple pieces.

“You need to replenish some vitamins during your hospital stay.” He placed the tray on the bedside table, his gaze casually sweeping over her wrist, seemingly checking if the bandage was loose. “How do you feel this afternoon? Does the wound still hurt?”

“Not anymore.” Mu Xinning replied sweetly, “Doctor Mo’s medicine works well.”

Mo Yichen recalled she had mentioned being thirsty earlier. He turned to fetch a cup of water but was suddenly stopped by her.

“Doctor Mo,” she picked up one of the apples, studying it intently. “Do you think... people would do things they originally didn’t want to do for someone they care about?”

If you fall in love with me... things might not end well.

Mo Yichen’s eyes fell on the apple before her, then suddenly lifted to meet her gaze.

Though it was a question, her expression was resolute.

His Adam’s apple moved. “…Maybe.” His voice was a little dry, as if he wasn’t sure whether he was speaking to her or himself.

Mu Xinning’s lips curled slightly. “Then what if I say... the person’s ending will be like this apple?”

Mo Yichen’s pupils flickered. The girl’s slender fingers slowly brought the apple to her small mouth.

She raised her head, eyes fierce and challenging as they locked on his.

The next moment, she tilted her head slightly, biting into the apple’s fullest curve—a crisp “crack” echoed softly in the quiet ward.

If this apple were a metaphor—

It meant you’ve already been targeted. If you then fall in love with the hunter, even willingly becoming the prey...

You will be devoured, consumed completely...

Her gaze never left Mo Yichen’s violet eyes.

As if silently asking him: Are you afraid of such an ending?

Mo Yichen’s eyes fixed on the bitten gap.

He felt as if all the blood in his body had stalled for half a second. At that moment, his heart seemed to stop beating.

He staggered out of the room, clumsily knocking over a metal cart at the corridor’s corner. The clattering of medicine bottles shattered the emptiness.

He didn’t look back, his steps quickening as if fleeing a raging beast.

When he pushed open the lounge door, his back slammed heavily against it with a dull thud.

He abruptly raised a hand to clutch his chest, knuckles whitening from the grip, but it couldn’t stop the pounding heartbeat—each beat heavy and rapid, stabbing his ribs with pain.

He hurried to the sink, turning on the cold water and splashing it on his face. The icy flow slid down his jawline but failed to douse the burning heat at his ears.

The scene replayed vividly in his mind: her smiling, aggressive gaze as she looked up; the crisp sound of her biting into the apple; the unabashed test in that bite...

Every detail was like a fiery needle piercing his temples.

“My heart... why is it like this...” he murmured to the mirror. The person reflected had slightly disheveled white hair, violet eyes still clouded with panic, and cheeks unnaturally flushed.

He should be calm. As the master of this clone, his emotions shouldn’t be so out of control.

Mu Xinning... Mu Xinning...

Though the name was wrong, the girl looked just as sweet and lovely as the one in his memories. From the first time he saw her, his mind had told him she was the one.

At first, he refused to admit it, trying hard to stay composed.

But this innate love made him so easily stirred by her every time.

Her sweet voice echoed in his ears, just like the one in his memory.

Only her personality seemed a little different—the girl he remembered was gentle, timid...

She would never be as bold as this.

“Peipei...” Mo Yichen closed his eyes, leaning against the cold tiled wall, his emotions surging uncontrollably, unable to calm.

“Hmm!” Jin had been silent all this time until he sensed the intense emotional fluctuations from the clone.

He didn’t want to admit it but found the feeling subtle.

Could this feeling be called... a heartbeat?

His clone was a part of him. If—

Afterward, if the clone fell in love with Mu Xinning and willingly let himself be absorbed, then when he absorbed the power, he would also receive the “impurities” from that clone.

Because when power returns to the original, all memories and emotions held by the clone are reclaimed.

But emotions were something he had always scorned.

Yet ever since being with this little one, his emotions had become uncontrollable, completely off balance!

He got angry when she treated others well, worried when she was hungry—but that didn’t mean he liked her!

Jin kept hypnotizing himself: how could he possibly fall for his own client? Besides, he was an alien creature!

He falling for a human?!

Absurd! Absurd! It could never happen!

No, no doubt! It must be so! Right now, he was only turning a blind eye to regain his power!

It was the clone who liked the little one, not him!

After a fierce inner battle, he finally convinced himself.