Obsessed with a High-Ranking Esper (BL)-Chapter 178: He is mine

Not tonight. Tonight, Jian Ci was unbound. And Vigil was more afraid now than he’d been facing the Umbravore. That thing had been a monster. But Jian Ci’s attack seemed more personal.

Jian Ci leaned in, his voice a whisper that cut deeper than any blade. "He is mine."

The words were low, guttural, terrifying. "This is the only warning you get." Vigil’s soul recoiled and then the pressure vanished.

He dropped like a stone, hitting the ground with a force that cracked the concrete beneath him. He lay there, gasping, limbs trembling, heart pounding like a war drum.

Jian Ci stood over him, eyes cold with contempt. He looked at Vigil like he was something beneath him, an insect he could kill easily. Then, without a sound, he vanished.

Vigil remained on the ground, staring at the sky, trying to understand what had just happened. One thing was clear. Jian Ci was no ordinary Esper. Whoever had labeled him Rank A was either blind... or lying.

Vigil tried to get up but he couldn’t. His body was trembling too hard.

***

Meanwhile, Yu Xi stepped out of the shower, towel slung around his shoulders, steam curling around him. He hadn’t brought his communicator in the bathroom as it had to charge.

The lights were off. He frowned, reaching for the panel. Before he could touch it, arms wrapped around his waist from behind. Warm breath ghosted across his damp neck. Yu Xi froze, a shiver racing down his spine.

"...Ah-Ci?" he whispered. The arms tightened.

The red light from his communicator pulsed in the darkness like a warning beacon.

Health Alert: Jian Ci – Status Compromised.

Yu Xi’s breath caught. He looked down at the arms wrapped tightly around him. The embrace wasn’t playful or teasing. It was desperate. Jian Ci was clinging to him like he was the only thing keeping him tethered to the world.

Yu Xi’s heart pounded having realised he was not himself. He closed his eyes and reached inward, drawing on the guide power he’d kept dormant for too long. The golden threads of his psychic field shimmered into being, delicate and warm, and he wove them gently into Jian Ci’s mind.

The chaos he found there was staggering. A storm of fury, possessiveness, and pain. Yu Xi soothed it, thread by thread, until the storm quieted. Jian Ci’s grip loosened.

Yu Xi turned around to check on him, but Jian Ci had already gone limp, his head resting against Yu Xi’s shoulder, unconscious.

The communicator buzzed violently on the desk. He caught Jian Ci before he could fall, cradling him with practiced ease and carrying him to the bed. He answered the call.

Jian Wei’s voice came through, sharp with worry. "Yu Xi? Is he with you?"

Yu Xi glanced at the sleeping figure. Jian Ci’s face was peaceful now, his breathing even.

"Yeah... yeah, he’s fine," Yu Xi said softly. "He just... appeared in my room like that."

Jian Rui’s voice joined the call. "We got the alert. What happened?"

"I will investigate," Yu Xi said, already knowing he would. "Don’t worry."

He ended the call and sighed, brushing a thumb across Jian Ci’s cheek. "What did you do while I wasn’t there?"

"Little Xi..." Jian Ci mumbled in his sleep, leaning into the touch.

Yu Xi’s expression softened. He tucked the blanket around him, then gently removed Jian Ci’s communicator and stepped outside. The last message was to Elias. Yu Xi’s eyes narrowed.

***

Elias opened the door in nothing but a towel, blinking in surprise. "Yu Xi?" His eyes darted behind him, expecting to see Jian Ci. But Yu Xi stood alone and his aura was dense. It was too calm yet too cold.

Elias swallowed. "You are alone... where’s Jian Ci?"

Yu Xi smiled but the smiled wasn’t kind. It was the kind of smile that made Elias want to slam the door shut, but he knew better.

"I was hoping you could tell me," Yu Xi said, voice smooth as silk.

Elias blinked, confused. "Uh... oh. Oh shit. I think I know where he went." Yu Xi waited.

"He asked me where Vigil hangs out. I told him... behind the old training building."

Yu Xi’s eyes flickered with something unreadable. "Thanks."

He turned and walked away, leaving Elias standing in the doorway, towel clutched tighter around his waist.

Elias shut the door and mumbled, "Nope. Not getting involved."

***

Yu Xi went to Vigil’s room but there was no answer. He turned to leave, stepping into the cool night air only to see Vigil approaching with his usual entourage, looking like shit

Then Vigil saw him and stopped cold. Yu Xi’s gaze locked onto his. He turned and walked out of the foyer without a word. Vigil hesitated, then told his friends, "Don’t wait up."

He followed behind him. They walked in silence until they were alone, the night pressing in around them. Yu Xi stopped and Vigil did too.

Then Yu Xi turned aroud, his voice low and sharp as a blade. "What happened between you two?" The question wasn’t loud, but it cut through the air like a guillotine. Vigil’s blood ran cold.

He cleared his throat, trying to steady his voice. "You told me not to mess with him, and this time I really didn’t. Little Xi, you have to believe me—"

The air snapped.

In an instant, Yu Xi’s psychic field flared to life, emerald green blades of energy materializing midair, sharp and humming with lethal precision. They hovered inches from Vigil’s eyes, the tips trembling with restrained violence.

"Don’t call me that," Yu Xi said, voice low and cold.

Vigil froze, his bravado crumbling. "I am sorry, okay? I won’t call you that again."

He raised his hands in surrender, his tone so meek and compliant that anyone who knew him would have sworn it was someone else entirely. The cocky, sharp-tongued Vigil was gone, replaced by a man who had seen death and knew better than to provoke it twice.

Yu Xi let the blades dissolve into the air, his expression unreadable. "Tell me what happened."

Vigil exhaled shakily. "I was smoking with my friends and he just showed up and started attacking us."

Yu Xi tilted his head. "Really. Just like that."

"Just like that," Vigil said, too quickly.

Yu Xi’s eyes narrowed. "What were you talking about before he showed up?"

Vigil hesitated. He wasn’t stupid. He had pieced it together the moment Jian Ci snarled he’s mine like a beast unchained.