In the darkness, Ye Xingmian curled her body into a tight ball.
Silence, darkness, hunger, thirst.
Until the sound of footsteps, growing from distant to near, shattered the stillness. Her body trembled lightly.
Ye Xingmian pressed her chapped lips together, a complex emotion flashing in her eyes—fear? Dread? Despair? Expectation? It was impossible to tell.
Finally, the bedroom door opened, and the living room light spilled into this luxurious bedroom.
Like a weary caged bird, she lifted her head. Her hair obscured her vision, but her sakura-pink pupils, shadowed and dim, made out the figure of the visitor.
Naturally, it was Qin Haiyue.
She was carrying a large, heavy iron box. Ye Xingmian instinctively sat up from the bed. The chain around her neck swayed with the movement, emitting a soft clinking sound. She was used to it by now.
So tired, so hungry, so thirsty. Her mind felt foggy. She had thought about going to the bathroom to drink some tap water but ultimately hadn’t.
She could only stay on the bed, tormented by heavy, negative emotions, until Qin Haiyue’s return.
Her spirit felt momentarily dazed.
“Well, did you miss me?”
With a clearly malicious smile, Qin Haiyue stood by the wall, looking down at the girl sitting on the bed. She crooked a finger, the gesture like summoning a pet. “Come here.”
But Ye Xingmian was starving, parched. She didn’t dare disobey. The feeling of being locked up here all day was too unbearable. She hadn’t waited for anyone to save her; her hope was nearly extinguished.
Fortunately, this time Qin Haiyue didn’t make her crawl, which saved some effort. She slowly walked over to stand before Qin Haiyue.
The walking motion pulled at her wounds. She winced slightly, closed her eyes for a moment, lowered her head, and let out a soft “Mm.”
Qin Haiyue set down the heavy box and opened the lid.
“Hungry?”
She smiled, reaching out to pat Ye Xingmian’s head.
Inside the box were delicious-looking food, pastries, and the water she desperately needed.
Her gaze locked onto the contents, unable to look away, her vision trembling slightly. She almost instinctively reached out to grab something to eat, but the moment her hand moved, Qin Haiyue stopped her.
Confused, she looked up and saw smug satisfaction in Qin Haiyue’s eyes.
Even now, she still couldn’t forget to torment her?
“What should you call me?” Qin Haiyue demanded.
Ye Xingmian closed her eyes. But at this point, she no longer had any thought of defiance. If she angered Qin Haiyue, she might truly starve to death.
Her voice was hoarse and faint, nothing like its usual clarity, instead resembling the mournful cry of someone dying:
“Master…”
Qin Haiyue frowned. “Why is your voice so soft? Louder!”
Ye Xingmian could only shake her head.
She hadn’t eaten properly last night, and today she hadn’t had a single drop of water. She had no strength left at all, just standing made her sway, her vision darkening.
“I… have… no… strength…” she said haltingly.
“Hmph, fine, I’ll let you off this time,” Qin Haiyue snorted coldly. She placed the food on the table and fetched a stool for Ye Xingmian.
The extended chain allowed her to reach the food, at least sparing her a repeat of last night’s suffocating experience.
Should she say thank you? She couldn’t bring herself to say it. All she felt was an endless, soul-devouring weariness.
Even the act of eating became a struggle. She wanted to eat faster, to drink some water, but she couldn’t. She could only take small bites, forcing the food into her stomach.
Finally having something in her belly, even if it wouldn’t turn into energy immediately, made her seem a bit more alert, less frail.
The food was delicious, but she couldn’t savor it. Perhaps due to the mental anguish, she could barely taste anything; it was like chewing wax.
“Finished eating?”
Qin Haiyue’s voice suddenly came from behind her. Her movements froze. After a brief hesitation, she shook her head.
Would Qin Haiyue prepare food for her tomorrow? Or would she just leave her alone at home to starve? She didn’t know. The only thing she could do was eat as much as possible now, just in case.
“Tch, so slow. Eat faster, I need to clean up,” came Qin Haiyue’s dissatisfied voice from behind.
She had no choice but to speed up, stuffing food into her stomach. When she couldn’t eat any more, she hesitated but ultimately gave up, letting Qin Haiyue take the food away.
“Finished?”
Noticing she had stopped, Qin Haiyue suddenly leaned in close behind her, so quietly that Ye Xingmian hadn’t even noticed.
“Mm…” she nodded lightly. Even though the places where she’d been beaten still hurt terribly, she finally felt a bit better.
Suddenly, two arms slid under her armpits, and then her right shoulder felt heavy—it seemed Qin Haiyue had rested her chin there. Panic surged through her, and she instinctively wanted to struggle.
“Don’t move,” Qin Haiyue said softly.
She immediately froze, but her body began to tremble uncontrollably. She lowered her head, trying to suppress the fear welling up from deep within, but couldn’t.
Time passed, she didn’t know how long, in this state of fear and unease.
She didn’t know what Qin Haiyue was thinking, only hearing her give a soft laugh.
For a moment, she thought she was about to suffer something again, almost instinctively closing her eyes. But in the end, there was no violence—Qin Haiyue didn’t do anything to her, truly just held her for a while.
What she didn’t know was that during this time, Qin Haiyue had also gently closed her eyes, feeling an indescribable, eerie sense of peace.
Soon, Qin Haiyue released her, casually packed the dishes into the box as if nothing had happened, and took it outside. Then she returned to the room.
Throughout this, Ye Xingmian didn’t dare move. Only when Qin Haiyue came to her side again did her body tremble almost instinctively.
However, Qin Haiyue still didn’t do anything to her. She simply scooped Ye Xingmian up in her arms, casually unlocked the chain, and placed her on a chair in the bathroom.
Then she filled the bathtub with warm water, removed Ye Xingmian’s clothes, and placed her in the tub.
“Tell me when you’re done washing. I need to bathe too.”
She said this to Ye Xingmian and actually left.
The warm water felt like a dream, seeming to even soothe the pain of her wounds. With Qin Haiyue out of sight, the small, enclosed space of the bathroom gave her a precious sense of security.
The tension in her heart seemed to ease a little.
She washed herself as Qin Haiyue had instructed, then called her back in. Like an invalid, she was lifted up, dressed, and placed back on the bed.
Only when Qin Haiyue finished her own bath, lay down behind her, and embraced her, did Ye Xingmian realize with a sense of unreality—Qin Haiyue actually hadn’t bullied her today.
But why was she being so inexplicably kind to her all of a sudden?
She couldn’t figure it out.
Even though she knew asking was practically asking for trouble, she still endured the pain in her body, turned over to face Qin Haiyue, met her gaze, and mustered her courage.
A flicker of pleading appeared in her eyes.