Chapter 133: Devastation

Time passed—how long, she couldn’t tell.

Maybe as long as a century.

When Mu Xi felt herself on the brink of death, Ye Lan finally stopped.

Like discarding garbage, she threw Mu Xi onto the ground, towering above her with a gaze full of disgust and impatience.

Then, Mu Xi was roughly hoisted up, her consciousness plunging into complete darkness.

When she woke again, she was already in the cold Forest.

The Manor’s towering spires loomed like dormant beasts, their fierce outlines emerging from the shadows.

What followed was torment like falling into a bottomless abyss.

Ye Lan first grabbed her silver hair with a force that seemed intent on tearing the scalp off.

The sharp pain instantly spread through Mu Xi’s body.

She let out a faint cry of pain, only to be cut off by Ye Lan’s cold sneer, followed by a slap so hard it made her ears ring and her cheek burn fiercely.

Before she could recover, a burning cigarette butt pressed against her palm, radiating searing heat.

“Sss—” The scent of scorched flesh spread instantly.

Mu Xi trembled in pain, trying to pull her hand away, but Ye Lan held it firmly until the skin went numb, leaving only piercing pain and the stench of burning.

Without giving Mu Xi a moment’s respite, Ye Lan began to strip away her basic instincts for survival.

Hunger strangled her throat, her stomach spasming in protest, only to be met with an even deeper emptiness.

Thirst gnawed at her like bone worms, every breath felt like fire burning her throat.

Her lips cracked and peeled, and her mind began to blur.

But the physical pain didn’t end there.

Her only piece of clothing—the sole thing providing a hint of warmth—was torn off brutally, leaving her naked in the freezing air.

Next, she was shoved into a room where the temperature rose relentlessly, as if trapped inside a giant oven.

Waves of heat battered her, skin reddening, sweat pouring like a spring, and the air in her chest scorching, nearly baking her dry.

Just as she was about to suffocate, she was mercilessly dragged out and thrown into an icy cellar.

The extreme temperature change shattered her nerves instantly.

Her once burning skin stiffened from the cold, teeth chattering uncontrollably.

Every bone felt pierced by shards of ice; the chill was like countless needles stabbing deep into her flesh, right down to her marrow.

The torture crashed over her like relentless waves—never-ending.

First, the stimulant drugs invaded her body, gnawing at her soul.

Mu Xi trembled uncontrollably, her senses wildly amplified; even the faintest sound thundered like a bomb in her ears, and her skin was so sensitive it felt as if a breeze could slash her like a blade.

She was forced to endure an extreme state of wakefulness, her consciousness forcibly expanded and stuffed with endless noisy information.

Every sense screamed, yet she numbingly accepted ever deeper torment.

Then came the mind-controlling drugs.

Mu Xi felt something creeping into her mind like sticky spider silk, wrapping tighter and tighter.

She began losing her grip on reality and illusion.

Ye Lan’s voice whispered seductively in her ear, every word like a nail driven deep into her consciousness.

She started doubting who she was, why she was here, and what meaning her existence held.

Her once steadfast boundaries crumbled piece by piece, replaced by chaotic confusion and a sick dependency on Ye Lan.

Finally, the addictive drugs acted like a gentle trap, dragging her completely into the abyss.

The initial euphoria was a false sugar coating masking bone-gnawing poison.

Mu Xi began craving that illusory pleasure, like a drowning person clutching at the last straw—knowing it was poison yet unable to resist.

When the drug’s effect faded, an overwhelming emptiness and pain surged in like tides, ravaging her will, forcing her into complete submission to the drug’s slavery.

In just two months, Mu Xi felt like a rag doll repeatedly kneaded, hammered, and torn apart—long since lost to any human shape.

The physical pain had become routine; the mental torment made her life worse than death.

Yet beneath that shattered shell, a faint flame still flickered—that was the instinct to survive, keeping her barely breathing in this endless darkness.

After this, Ye Lan’s treatment of Mu Xi indeed changed.

No longer naked violence, no longer hysterical torment.

Deep within the Manor, Mu Xi was still imprisoned.

Each day when she opened her eyes, it was to cold walls and the ever-present scent of disinfectant.

The change began subtly.

Ye Lan came occasionally, no longer with pure cold disdain and impatience in her eyes.

Sometimes, she looked at Mu Xi with a scrutinizing, probing gaze, as if Mu Xi was some interesting experiment worth close observation.

Mu Xi was wary at first.

Hellish torment had wired her to instinctively reject any “kindness” from Ye Lan.

She curled up in a corner, her silver hair tangled and spread on the cold floor, watching Ye Lan with eyes full of suspicion.

Ye Lan simply stood there, her black velvet dress making her skin look snow-white, her red lips like blooming poppies—dangerous and beautiful.

She looked down at Mu Xi with complex eyes, as if peering through the broken shell to examine something deeper.

“You’re still alive?” Ye Lan said, her voice still cold but without the previous fury, instead carrying a subtle… curiosity.

Mu Xi didn’t answer.

She just bit her lip hard and curled tighter.

She didn’t believe Ye Lan’s sudden change of heart.

There had to be a deeper malice behind it.

The following days confirmed Mu Xi’s suspicions.

Ye Lan no longer tortured her personally.

The Manor returned to a strange calm.

Mu Xi’s food became normal—no longer spoiled scraps, and occasionally even exquisite pastries and fruits appeared.

Her wounds were treated as well.

Though only simple dressings, they brought a rare warmth to Mu Xi.

But that warmth was like a false illusion, vanishing as quickly as it came.

Ye Lan began feeding her drugs.

A syrupy medicine with a sweet, cloying scent was forcibly poured into Mu Xi’s mouth.

The taste wasn’t bitter; it had a hint of sweetness, like some cheap syrup.

Mu Xi instinctively resisted.

She didn’t believe Ye Lan would suddenly feed her medicine out of kindness.

But her struggles were futile.

Against absolute power, she was as weak as an ant, forced to swallow the unknown liquid.

The drug’s effect kicked in quickly.

Not the stimulant or psychotropic drugs before, but a… dullness, a numbness.

Her consciousness grew hazy, her body heavy as if filled with lead.

The world blurred before her eyes, sounds faded into distance.

Mu Xi struggled to stay awake but found herself powerless.

Sedatives—Ye Lan was feeding her sedatives.

Mu Xi finally understood the “gentleness” hiding behind Ye Lan’s intentions was an even more sinister scheme.

No longer physical torment, but mental numbness and destruction of will.

Ye Lan wanted to turn her into a completely obedient, unresisting… doll.

Every day, Mu Xi was forced to swallow sedatives.

The doses grew larger, the effects stronger.

She began losing track of day and night; her sense of time blurred.

Like a living corpse trapped in this cold Manor, her consciousness sank deeper, her soul seeming to be drained away.