Chapter 301: Feeling

‘Love? Mu Xi laughed coldly in her heart. Was Ye Lan’s love simply using her as a chess piece or tool? Was this how she would ‘use’ her?’

‘But Ye Lan’s words were like a poison, striking precisely at the deepest longing in her heart. Wu City was her home, a home taken by Ye Lan.’

‘If I could get it back…’

‘She needed strength. She needed an opportunity.’

‘The current plan, though full of humiliation and risk, seemed like the only way to break free from her passive position and participate in changing her own destiny.’

‘Better than staying in this cold cage every day, staring at the walls, or enduring Ye Lan’s unpredictable ‘training’.’

“What you call ‘cooperation’ is just using me,” Mu Xi said, each word cold and hard.

Ye Lan didn’t refute it; instead, she went along, her tone indulgent. “Alright, then consider it me using you. Little Xi, are you willing to be used by me this once?”

Mu Xi looked into Ye Lan’s eyes. In those deep, phoenix-like eyes, she reflected her own pale face.

She saw the madness and obsession in Ye Lan’s eyes, and a trace of emotion she didn’t want to admit might be genuine.

She was silent for a long time, so long that the air in the room seemed to freeze.

Finally, she nodded slowly.

“I am willing.”

Ye Lan’s smile deepened. She reached out to touch Mu Xi’s cheek, but Mu Xi turned her head away to avoid it. Mu Xi’s voice was very soft, yet carried the determination of someone burning her bridges.

Ye Lan’s hand froze mid-air, then she withdrew it as if nothing had happened. She straightened up, regaining her all-controlling posture. “I’ve already contacted the Research Institute. Tomorrow, they’ll send the medicine.”

“Good.”

Mu Xi didn’t respond, only lowering her eyes to look at her hands resting on her knees.

“You need to rest well and build up your strength,” Ye Lan instructed one last time before turning toward the door. “Starting tomorrow, it’ll be a bit tough.”

She opened the door, walked out, and didn’t look back.

The metal door closed softly behind Mu Xi, letting out a faint click.

In the bedroom, only Mu Xi remained.

She sat on the chair, motionless, like a delicate but soulless statue.

The sky outside the window gradually darkened, shadows slowly creeping into the room.

She closed her eyes. Ye Lan’s words and that nauseating plan played over and over in her mind.

‘That man from before… and now to…’

A strong wave of shame and self-loathing surged up, almost drowning her.

But soon, another, more powerful force suppressed these emotions—the hatred, the unwillingness, the slim hope for the future.

She opened her eyes, which were now ice-cold.

‘Use me then.’

‘Ye Lan, you’d better keep your promise.’

‘Otherwise…’ She touched the gun hidden in her pocket. The cold touch calmed her a little.

‘Otherwise, this gun might serve another purpose.’

She stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the lights that were gradually lighting up outside.

Stone City’s night seemed even louder than its day.

And she, in this noisy city, was about to start a secret and dangerous gamble. Gambling with her own body for an uncertain future.

Mu Xi drew the curtains, shutting out the outside world.

She needed to calm down, to gather strength, to survive.

The night in Silent Language Building was especially long.

Mu Xi curled up on the bed. Even with her eyes closed, the image of Ye Lan’s victorious smile and that disgusting plan kept replaying in the darkness.

Hatred washed over her like icy tide, stinging against the burn of shame.

She touched the gun under her pillow. Its hard outline brought her a illusory sense of safety.

She barely slept that night.

When the sky outside changed from pitch black to gray, and then to the faint light of early morning, she finally dozed off, only to be jolted awake shortly after.

In her dream, all she saw were the palace in Wu City, her parents’ smiling faces, and Ye Lan’s blood-stained hands.

Heavy footsteps echoed on the stairs, growing closer, finally stopping outside the bedroom door.

Click.

The door opened.

Ye Lan walked in. She seemed to have rested poorly as well, with faint dark circles under her eyes, but those deep phoenix eyes remained sharp, exuding an air of control over everything. She had changed into a clean black outfit that made her skin look even paler, but when she moved, bandages were faintly visible at her collar and cuffs.

In her hand, she held a small transparent medicine bottle with a single white pill inside.

“Awake?” Ye Lan’s voice gave nothing away.

Mu Xi didn’t answer. She simply propped herself up to sit, leaning against the headboard, staring at her coldly.

Sleeplessness had made her face even paler; only her eyes, black and white, held a chilling aloofness.

Ye Lan seemed unconcerned by her silence. She walked straight to the bedside and placed the medicine bottle and a glass of warm water on the nightstand.

“Breakfast will be sent up later. Take the medicine first,” she said flatly, as if ordering something the most ordinary. The small white pill lay quietly in the transparent bottle.

Mu Xi’s fingertips curled slightly.

“What is this?” she asked, her voice hoarse.

A barely-there curve appeared at the corner of Ye Lan’s lips. “Something good from the Institute. Don’t worry, it won’t kill you. It’ll just make you easier to cooperate with.”

Cooperate.

What an unpleasant word.

Mu Xi picked up the bottle. Her fingertips were icy.

She could feel Ye Lan’s gaze on her, heavy with undeniable pressure.

Without hesitating any longer, she unscrewed the cap and tipped the pill into her palm.

The pill was small, odorless.

She lifted the glass, tilted her head back, and swallowed the pill with the warm water.

The cold pill slid down her throat, carrying an ominous premonition, and settled into her stomach.

Ye Lan watched her take the medicine, a satisfied expression flashing on her face before quickly fading.

“Good,” she nodded. “After you eat, get some rest.”

Soon, someone from the Escort Team brought breakfast.

A simple millet porridge, some pickled vegetables, and a boiled egg.

Mu Xi had no appetite, but she knew she needed energy.

She forced herself to eat small bites, the food tasteless.

Ye Lan didn’t leave. She sat on a chair in the corner of the room, casually flipping through a document, looking busy with her own things, but Mu Xi could feel that part of Ye Lan’s attention was always on her.

After eating, the Escort member quickly cleaned up and left.

Once again, only the two of them remained in the room.

Nothing seemed to happen for the first hour.

Mu Xi leaned against the bed, closing her eyes to rest, trying to ignore Ye Lan’s presence.

But soon, a strange heat began to rise from inside her body. It wasn’t warmth; it was a disturbing, irritating heat, as if her blood was on fire, rushing restlessly through her veins.

She shifted restlessly, fine beads of sweat forming on her forehead.

Then, a secret cramp came from her stomach.

Not severe, but persistent, like an invisible hand slowly and stubbornly kneading inside, bringing waves of nausea.

“Mm…” Mu Xi couldn’t help letting out a low groan, instinctively curling up and pressing her hand to her lower belly.

Ye Lan put down the document, stood up, and walked to the bed in a few steps.

“It’s starting?” She leaned over to look at Mu Xi, lowering her voice with a strange, almost tender concern.

Mu Xi bit her lower lip, refusing to look at her. She only felt the heat growing more intense, her skin burning as if with fever, even her breath carrying a scalding air.

She rolled over uncomfortably in bed, trying to find a position that would ease the discomfort, but it was futile.

The sensation inside her was strange—heat, pain, and an indescribable hollow restlessness that made it impossible for her to stay still.