“Forget it, bullying you like this isn’t much fun anymore.”
The Young Lady’s voice was no longer filled with the same amusement as before. Instead, it had become very calm, so calm that Su Ziyan, listening to her, felt a strange sense of emptiness.
It was like the ashes of a burnt-out celebration, beautiful and silvery, but the slightest touch would cause it to lose all form in an instant.
Just listening to it was deeply unsettling.
But Su Ziyan quickly pushed that thought away. Why should he, a kidnapping victim, sympathize with his kidnapper?
If anything, such a capricious kidnapper only made him more afraid.
“Su Ziyan, do you really not remember who I am?”
Her voice was still that same emptiness, but it now carried a strange penetrating force. It instantly pierced through his scattered thoughts and struck his heart.
Whether it was purely psychological or not, the moment Su Ziyan heard her words, he genuinely wondered for a second if he actually knew her.
But he quickly dismissed the idea. The only people who truly mattered to him were Xu Duyan and Cheng Qingyun, and he could never mistake their voices.
Her tone suggested it had been a long time since they’d met, but he couldn’t fathom who would tie him up and do this under such circumstances.
Did he have any enemies?
He truly couldn’t think of any.
It couldn’t be those guys from middle school who spread rumors about Xu Duyan, the ones he beat bloody, coming for revenge, could it?
Or maybe the bullies from high school he stood up to?
He couldn’t figure it out, so he stopped trying. This unpredictable Young Lady in front of him didn’t seem normal anyway. What if she was just mentally ill?
“It seems that’s the case.”
The Young Lady let out a soft sigh.
“Then, what kind of relationship do you think we had before? Tell me the truth.”
“It should be… enemies, right?”
Seeing she didn’t seem to want him to lie, Su Ziyan spoke cautiously.
“Given the situation, we couldn’t have been good friends, could we?”
His answer was met with a long silence, so long it made the unease in his heart grow stronger.
Then, the Young Lady suddenly burst into laughter.
It was wild, unrestrained, and maniacal.
She laughed until she doubled over, the handle of the chain she was holding falling to the floor with a clatter.
“Yes… why did I even ask such a question?”
Her voice was laced with near-hysterical amusement.
“Of course we’re enemies. Otherwise, why would I kidnap you to be my dog?”
If voices and tones had colors, laughter would undoubtedly be the most vivid.
Yet, just like before, Su Ziyan still felt the color in her laughter was a snowy, ashen gray.
This laughter should have felt fake, but it was so genuine, as if she had truly heard something incredibly funny, something that delighted her immensely.
The two sensations were in stark conflict.
Su Ziyan felt he truly didn’t understand her. From start to finish, she had been like a madwoman talking to herself, her emotions soaring and plummeting like someone with bipolar disorder.
So he didn’t speak to disturb her. He just sat on the floor, listening to her laughter, trying to make himself as insignificant as possible.
Finally, having laughed her fill, the Young Lady returned to the table and pressed a button on it.
“Lingge! Take him away. Arrange a place for him to stay. Don’t let him have any chance to contact the outside world.”
Outside the door, Shi Lingge, who had received the signal on her walkie-talkie, pushed the door open.
After bowing to the Young Lady, she stepped forward and picked up the dog chain around Su Ziyan’s neck.
Though she was also holding the chain, Su Ziyan could feel her gentleness through it.
He followed her, one in front of the other, out into the hallway.
Just before the door closed behind them, the Young Lady’s question drifted out.
“Su Ziyan, what do you think love is? And what is hate?”
Both Shi Lingge and Su Ziyan stopped.
Su Ziyan thought for a moment before responding.
“Hate… I’m not sure. I don’t really hate anyone that much. But love… it’s a curse.”
As the door closed behind them with a final click, Shi Lingge naturally moved to Su Ziyan’s side again, just as she had when they arrived, and naturally looped her arm through his.
Though her other hand still dutifully held the dog chain as the Young Lady had ordered.
In the last moment before the door shut completely, Su Ziyan could hear the Young Lady’s laughter from behind.
It was still that same maniacal sound, but it was no longer that snowy, ashen gray.
The moment was too brief. He couldn’t hear it clearly, only feeling it was a pitch black.
“I’m sorry.”
Very suddenly, Shi Lingge, who was supporting him, apologized.
“I was too presumptuous. I clearly don’t know what happened between you and the Young Lady in the past.”
Su Ziyan was taken aback for a moment, then let out a soft, quiet laugh himself.
“Why are you apologizing? This really has nothing to do with you,” Su Ziyan replied.
“If anything, I should be thanking you. I don’t know why, but if it weren’t for your sincerity, I think my nerves would have snapped by now.”
For some reason, as long as he was by her side, Su Ziyan could feel an inexplicable sense of peace.
He suspected he might really have a bit of Stockholm Syndrome. Of course, it could also be the Imprinting Effect, like a newborn creature instinctively trusting the first being that shows it kindness in a strange new world.
Maybe he wasn’t normal either. After all, Shi Lingge was an accomplice to that madwoman.
“If you really want to apologize, you should apologize for this current setup,” Su Ziyan said.
“This chain is really uncomfortable. Can you take it off? I’m blind anyway; it’s not like I can run.”
“I’m sorry, I don’t want to do this either, but I must obey the Young Lady’s orders,” Shi Lingge’s voice was still full of remorse.
“Your words remind me, please don’t even think about running. The Young Lady’s Manor is in the suburbs. If you ran off and I couldn’t find you immediately, you could get hurt.”
If the Young Lady had said such a thing, Su Ziyan would have only felt it was a veiled threat. But coming from Shi Lingge, it was completely different.
He clearly sensed she was genuinely concerned for him. He didn’t know where this concern came from, but he could feel her intense, sincere emotion.
This kind of emotion would normally just make him uncomfortable, but after his recent experience, it instead felt precious in his current predicament.
Hearing her speak with that clear, soft, slightly timid voice filled with apology even stirred a faint urge in him to tease her, though it was quickly suppressed.
“Don’t worry, I don’t have the courage to choose death again,” Su Ziyan nodded.
“If I were to run, I’d definitely find someone to guide the way.”
“That would be very difficult.”
Shi Lingge looked down at Su Ziyan’s arm, which she was holding, lost in thought.
“In this Manor, besides the three of us, there are only the maids and chefs who come periodically for cleaning. They’re like NPCs; they don’t speak and don’t do anything beyond their tasks.”