Author: Baoguo Fenghua Last updated: 2025/4/9 03:01 Word count: 2204
She gave Mu Xi a deep look, a complex emotion flickering in her eyes.
“I understand. I’ll be right there.”
She cut off the communication and slowly released her hold on Mu Xi.
Mu Xi’s body went limp, and she almost collapsed to the floor, but she managed to grab the dressing table behind her for support.
She gasped for air, her chest heaving violently, like a drowning person finally breaking the surface.
Ye Lan didn’t look at her again. She turned and walked toward the door.
When she reached the door, she stopped, her back to Mu Xi. Her voice was low and hoarse. “Little Xi, don’t let me down.”
After saying that, she left the room without looking back. The sound of her high heels striking the floor gradually faded and finally disappeared at the end of the corridor.
Silence once again settled over Silent Language Building.
Mu Xi leaned against the dressing table, her body sliding weakly until she collapsed onto the cold floor.
She raised her head and looked at the metal door Ye Lan had closed. That door was like an invisible shackle, firmly imprisoning her here.
She slowly raised her hand and looked at her trembling fingertips. The sensation of holding a gun still lingered there, cold and hard.
Bang! A bullet pierced the metal door, leaving a scorched black hole. A gunshot shattered the silence. Mu Xi threw the gun to the ground, as if discarding a hot potato.
She curled up, wrapped her arms around her knees, buried her head in the crook of her arms, and her body trembled violently.
Mu Xi shivered, then realized the state she was in.
‘No, I can’t be like this.’
The coldness of the floor seeped through her thin clothes into her skin. She hated her own weakness, her own incompetence, and even more, her uncontrollable complex feelings toward Ye Lan. She clearly hated her to the bone, yet she couldn’t truly strike at her. She clearly wanted to get rid of her, yet she was controlled by her again and again.
What was she supposed to do? She was still sitting on the floor.
She supported herself against the cold wall and slowly pushed herself up, her legs still trembling. Every movement pulled at her tense nerves.
Her empty stomach began to protest, letting out a gurgling sound, reminding her that she needed energy.
Yes, she needed to eat something.
Otherwise, when Ye Lan returned and saw her looking half-dead, who knows how she would “train” her again.
Just thinking about that word made Mu Xi shudder.
She dragged her heavy steps toward the kitchen.
The metal staircase clanked softly under her feet, especially harsh in the dead silence of the floor.
She hated everything here: cold, hard, lifeless, just like Ye Lan herself.
The kitchen was quite clean, even brand-new.
Ye Lan had probably had it redecorated.
The refrigerator was a huge double-door model, stuffed with all kinds of food: fresh fruits and vegetables, prepared semi-finished products, and vacuum-packed cooked food.
They all looked like high-end goods, not the kind of treatment a prisoner like her should have.
“Hah…” Mu Xi curled her lip in self-mockery. “How ironic. Ye Lan keeps me locked up on one hand while providing the best material things on the other. Is she trying to make up for something? Or does she think this will make me forget the hatred and obediently do as she says?”
She pulled open the refrigerator door, and a blast of cold air hit her.
Her eyes swept over the abundant food and finally landed on a few boxes that looked like nutritional meals.
The packaging had no fancy patterns, just simple ingredient lists and heating instructions.
Simple, convenient, no cooking skills required.
“This one, then.”
She took out one of the boxes and closed the refrigerator door. For someone like her, who could barely hold a knife, it was perfect.
She studied the buttons on it.
Fortunately, the operation wasn’t too complicated; there were icons as guides.
She tore open a corner of the packaging, put the box inside, and set the time.
The machine started running with a low hum.
While waiting, Mu Xi leaned against the counter, her unfocused gaze falling on the wall ahead. Her mind was in a mess: images of Ye Lan’s face, sometimes cold, sometimes with a strange gentleness; scenes of her parents’ tragic death; the heavy feel of the gun and the ear-splitting gunshot…
She shook her head, trying to drive away these chaotic thoughts.
“Stop thinking, Mu Xi, stop thinking…” she whispered to herself. “Eat first to regain some strength… strength… to take revenge…”
The last two words were almost inaudible, and even she doubted whether this was truly what she wanted.
Ding! The microwave let out a soft chime, indicating it was done.
The aroma of food spread out, a mix of meat and some kind of spice.
It smelled good, but it didn’t stir much appetite. She took out the meal box, steaming hot.
She found a spoon, scooped up a mouthful, hesitated, then brought it to her lips, chewing and swallowing mechanically.
The taste was actually not bad.
But as she ate, she felt no warmth at all; instead, it was like swallowing a piece of ice, chilling her from throat to stomach.
She just ate bite after bite, her gaze still empty.
There was only one thought in her mind: Eat, survive. Survive to find out what she truly should do.
Days passed in Silent Language Building, soundless and formless, like water stains seeping out of walls, slowly and stubbornly spreading.
Mu Xi’s life was reduced to the simplest: eat, sleep, wake up, eat again.
Metal walls, hard floors, constant overhead light—everything was cold and lustrous.
In the first few days, hatred sustained her.
Every swallow felt like swallowing red-hot charcoal, burning her esophagus and stomach, reminding her of her parents’ blood debt, reminding her of Ye Lan’s cruelty.
Later, the hatred settled into something deeper and more oppressive.
The thought of survival became exceptionally clear.
It was no longer a desperate cry but an instinct embedded in her bones and blood.
She began to calmly accept the delivered food, those delicately packaged, nutritionally balanced meal boxes.
The taste was good, she knew, but she couldn’t really taste much.
She just chewed and swallowed mechanically, converting energy to keep her body running.
Her stomach no longer growled emptily, and the feeling of weakness gradually faded.
She even had the energy to pace slowly in the room, from one end to the other and back.
The sound of footsteps echoed in the empty floor, monotonous enough to make one uneasy.
Ye Lan did not return.
The escorts were like shadows, delivering food and necessities at fixed times, saying nothing, moving efficiently, and then quickly disappearing.
They wore matching purple uniforms, expressionless, with sharp eyes. They were an extension of Ye Lan’s will, cold and efficient.
Mu Xi did not think about what Ye Lan was doing outside.
Stone City, Nan Qiao, power struggles… those were all too distant and too complicated.
She only needed to know that Ye Lan would not return to “train” her for now. That was enough.
She needed to gather strength, not only physical but also mental.
Although Luo Ying’s chip had failed, the memories of being controlled and tormented clung to her like ghosts, haunting her often in midnight dreams.
She had to become tougher to maintain her composure in front of Ye Lan, to not let that woman see through her thoughts so easily, to not be played with again.
“Come on, you can do it…” she whispered to the empty room, her voice as light as a sigh.
That day, it was afternoon. She decided to take a bath.
The bathroom was also brand-new, with clean, hard lines, matching Ye Lan’s usual aesthetic.
Hot water filled the bathtub quickly, rising into misty steam that blurred the cold outlines of metal and tiles.
She took off her slightly loose clothes.
Naked, she stepped into the hot water, and warmth instantly enveloped her entire body.