Chapter 009

Zhaoxue felt a sharp pain in her head, a buzzing noise, and a voice kept calling her persistently.

【Zhaoxue, wake up…】

【Wake up!!】

Suddenly opening her eyes wide from the darkness, Zhaoxue gasped for air but soon choked on the lingering drug smell in her nose and started coughing.

Where was she? How did she end up here?

Right, just now—

She remembered she was about to return to her room, but at the moment she opened the door…

【You have been kidnapped.】

The system’s tired voice sounded.

“…Kidnapped?”

Zhaoxue was stunned for a moment, then laughed helplessly.

“Kidnapping children from powerful families does happen, but I never thought it would happen to me.”

【You can still laugh?】

The system was almost frantic. 【Isn’t your top priority to think about how to escape?】

“You’re right, but…”

Zhaoxue looked around her surroundings. The black room had only one tall window. Through the vertical bars of the window, cold moonlight streamed in in strips, illuminating dust particles floating in the air and some patchy, peeling old walls.

“In this situation, escape is almost impossible,” she said.

Especially since her hands were tied behind her back with rough hemp rope. Just a slight struggle sent sharp, burning pain through her wrists.

“According to the story you mentioned, what happens next here?”

The system was silent for a long moment before weakly replying,

【…There is no storyline.】

“What?”

【In the original story, there is no part where you get kidnapped.】

The voice abruptly cut off.

It was so quiet that even the sound of breathing was almost inaudible.

“I thought the many fragments I saw in my dream at the start were because the protagonists were Zhaoyang and Zhaolan, so my part wasn’t shown. But actually, there isn’t one at all?”

Zhaoxue’s voice rose slowly, “In other words, you have no idea how to handle this situation?”

【…】

“Then, is there a chance I could die here?”

If they didn’t kidnap her for ransom but for some other reason, it was possible she could die here.

The system tried to comfort her, 【No, your family will notice you’re missing and definitely come to rescue you.】

“That won’t happen.”

As soon as the system finished speaking, Zhaoxue firmly rebutted, “They won’t come to save me.”

Because she was a burden, because she was an unloved child, because her existence was a drag on the entire family.

When they found out she was missing, they might symbolically send someone to look, but in such a remote place, if they couldn’t find her, they would probably give up quickly.

【Even so, Shen Zhaoyang and Ji Xueshou will come to save you.】

“Big sister and Xueshou…”

Zhaoxue paused and lowered her head. “That’s true. For now, they’re my only two hopes. But tomorrow is the day Xueshou will undergo the selection exam, after that, he’ll join the Hidden Sword Sect and leave the family. And big sister will go down the mountain to fight demons. If they don’t realize I’m missing before they leave, then I’m afraid…”

Her voice slowly dropped again, her back gradually hunched. “Besides, even if they knew, how could I be sure they’d gamble their futures to save me? After all, all their care and bonds might just be my mistaken interpretation. Maybe deep down in their hearts, I’m far less important than I think…”

【Zhaoxue, enough! Zhaoxue!】

The system trembled with fear.

At that moment, the host’s will to survive hit an unprecedented low.

Only after the system shouted loudly did Zhaoxue suddenly stop.

She furrowed her brows, looked gloomy, refused to speak, and simply curled up against the wall.

No one knew how long passed. Just when the system thought she was about to fall asleep, the girl’s voice echoed in the dark, damp room:

“If I die here without completing the mission, system, what will happen to me?”

【…Just like you said. You’ll die here.】

“…”

At that moment, Zhaoxue heard the pounding of her own heart and the quiet flow of blood inside her body.

She closed her eyes and could once again recall the suffocating feeling and despair she experienced when she nearly drowned in the Central Lake. The only difference was that time, someone had pulled her out from the abyss—this time, maybe not.

“I really am still…”

She rested her forehead on her knees, letting out a light laugh as her shoulders shook twice. “I really do want to live.”

Just like Taxue, who would fight with all her might even when treated cruelly, Zhaoxue couldn’t help but value her own life when facing danger after years of cold treatment.

It was instinct.

—

After using a rusty piece of iron she found in the dim room to saw through the rope, it was already midnight.

For now, it seemed the door was locked from the outside, and she had no way out.

Looks like she could only wait for those people to come back—but she didn’t know when. Hopefully, it would be by dawn so she could prepare herself.

Just as she was thinking this, she heard soft footsteps outside.

Zhaoxue’s heart jumped.

No way, so soon? Even if they were going to notify her family to pay ransom, it shouldn’t be in the middle of the night…

【Hide quickly!】

Zhaoxue glanced around the room—there was nowhere to hide.

Without much thought, she returned to her original spot, tied a slipknot around her wrist with the rope, tilted her head against the wall, and pretended to have fainted.

The door creaked open, and the moonlight gradually spread across the floor.

Two figures appeared at the doorway.

“How is it?”

A figure on the ground shook his head. “Still not awake. She looks very weak—her face is as pale as paper.”

“That freak is just a sickly person. One look is enough. There’s nothing special in the other rooms, and anyway, they can’t escape. We can go back, right?”

“That’s not possible. We were kicked out by the main family and fell into this miserable situation all because of that bitch. Today is the fifteenth, and that lord will come. I have to stay here and watch her be flayed alive to finally relieve this hatred in my heart.”

Zhaoxue broke out in a cold sweat.

She recognized that voice all too well—it was those two distant relatives who had bullied her since childhood and tried to torture Taxue, only to be driven out of the family.

They shouldn’t even be called distant relatives anymore.

But what terrified her the most was that last sentence.

What did it mean? What was special about the fifteenth? Who was “that lord”?

Her mind was a tangled mess. Her heart pounded. The only clue she could piece together was that she wasn’t kidnapped for ransom. Although she didn’t know who was behind it, these two chose her as a target out of anger and hatred.

She was in the most dangerous situation.

“The other victims are healthy and have spiritual power. Why would that lord choose her first? We only captured this sickly one because of our personal grudges. Now that we’re out of the family and doing His bidding, we shouldn’t draw too much attention…”

“You really think we’re working for Him? We’re not even His low-ranking henchmen. It’s just because of Him…”

A cold, damp wind blew across the ground, stirring a rustle of fallen leaves.

The man immediately fell silent. He glared at his companion and whispered sharply, “Listen to me later—don’t interrupt.”

As he spoke, from the dark corridor ahead, it seemed as if a pool of ink slowly spread out.

Something was gradually emerging from the darkness.

At that moment, not only Zhaoxue but everyone felt a chill climbing up their spine, like a cold, damp poisonous snake coiling around their bodies, hissing venom into their ears.

Under the influence of this feeling, Zhaoxue seemed to sense an itch at the back of her neck, and she had to use all her strength to resist touching it.

The black shadow slowly moved forward out of the darkness. The clear “tap tap” sound of liquid dripping fell distinctly, covering the soft rustling noise of a hard, scaly object dragging on the ground.

The two people with their heads lowered couldn’t help but tremble all over. They opened their mouths, but their throats felt blocked, unable to utter a single word, only cold sweat dripping from their temples.

The moon gradually shifted, causing the moonlight to move along.

The shadow stopped moving within the darkness, not taking another step forward, only the trailing hem of black clothes revealed at the corner.

A damp, cold, and bloody stench spread and surged.

“M-Master…”

Like a rusty voice unable to function, the person almost completely forgot what they had planned to say.

He had just dared to entertain such a thought of using this master, but now he didn’t even have the courage to lift his head an inch.

At that moment, Zhaoxue was thinking about something else.

She looked at the wide-open door.

Beautiful moonlight flowed in, and those people didn’t know she was still awake.

If she could leave now…

No, she had to leave now.

If she didn’t leave now, she might never have another chance to get out of here. While the situation on their side was still unclear and they hadn’t noticed her, she had to escape now.

【What do you want to do? Don’t be impulsive!】

“I don’t want to be flayed alive.”

Zhaoxue untied the slipknot on her wrist and quietly hid the rusty iron piece she had found in the room.

【You’re right under their noses—your chances of escaping are almost zero. If you fail…】

Before the system could finish speaking, the girl’s figure slipped quietly into the shadows like a drop of water.

At the same time, the pitch-black shadow let out a low, hoarse question.

“…Prey?”

It gently lifted its thick eyelashes. Even though the scarlet blood dripping from its temple blurred much of its vision, it could easily see the thin, clumsy figure moving forward in the darkness.

No spiritual power.

Not what it needed.

“Yes.”

The man couldn’t lift his head, gritting his teeth and summoning all his strength to focus and not retreat.

“We have captured a human prey for you as you requested, although she is weak and has no spiritual power.”

A sharp pain began at his temple. He fought the urge to faint and struggled to explain,

“But she is a descendant of a great noble family. If you are willing to keep her as a hostage, future tributes might not be…”

As he spoke, he bowed and stepped back.

—

It entered the room but was horrified when it saw inside. Its legs trembled and cold sweat poured down.

The black cloak’s hem finally moved. A long, pale, translucent finger reached out from beneath it and twitched.

The other man’s pupils suddenly contracted, his face turning pale gray. He froze like he was dead.

—Beside him, the other’s head exploded with scarlet liquid splattering his face in a sickening mess.

“I don’t care about descendants or tributes—that’s your business. But as prey, bringing back someone weak and without spiritual power is your failure. Letting her escape right before your eyes is unforgivable.”

It stepped forward, half hidden in shadow, the moonlight illuminating the exposed part of its straight nose and jaw beneath the black cloak. Blood dripped from there, but it seemed not to feel pain.

“Now, go find your prey. Find her after me. When you return, come and ask for death.”