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墨書 Inktalez
Every meal was delivered punctually to the hidden chamber below, and I couldn't be bothered to engage with them. Whatever they brought, I would eat, then return to my cultivation. The more dire the situation became, the less I could afford to panic.
Cultivation allowed me to calm my mind and avoid unnecessary thoughts. It also helped me maintain my best condition; as long as I seized the right moment, I was confident I could escape.
In the pitch-black chamber, the only thing I could see when I looked up was a dim yellow light bulb. I had no idea how many days had passed since I was locked away; it felt as if time had frozen, and I couldn't sense its passage at all.
On this particular day, the person delivering my meal had changed. Previously it was He Yong, but this time it was Aunt He.
“Ling Feng, let me give you a piece of advice. Stop resisting. If you refuse to yield, they will find a thousand ways to make you submit. Rather than suffer endlessly before finally giving in, it would be better to comply with them sooner,” Aunt He gently urged.
A chill ran down my spine at her words. Earlier, Aunt He had mentioned that she had faced a situation similar to mine when she was younger. For the first time, I scrutinized this woman before me. Despite her deeply etched wrinkles, it was clear from her brows and eyes that she must have been a striking beauty in her youth.
We were both lost souls in this predicament; since we shared a similar fate, I curiously asked, “Aunt He, how did you end up here? Why didn’t you escape? Is He Yong really your son?”
I clearly saw a flicker of barely concealed disdain in Aunt He’s eyes when I mentioned He Yong’s name. She smiled faintly and replied in a calm voice, “I was about your age when it happened. My uncle—my own uncle—was supposed to take me to meet a matchmaker so that I could find a good husband. Who would have known…”
“Yes, He Yong is my son; he crawled out of my womb!” Aunt He’s voice suddenly turned somewhat feral.
“Ling Feng, can you guess how old I am?” Aunt He asked with an expression that shifted like a mask.
I replied curiously, “Fifty?”
Aunt He chuckled softly and then asked, “And how old do you think He Yong is?”
In my mind's eye, I pictured a chubby child but spoke instead of an adult man's voice, furrowing my brow as I said, “Is he about my age?”
Aunt He burst into laughter suddenly; her voice echoed in the chamber as if it too were trapped within these walls. As she laughed, tears began to stream down her face. “I was deceived at nineteen and gave birth to that monster at twenty; this year I'm only forty.”
A shock ran through me. Earlier Aunt He had mentioned that the entire village didn’t farm; if she hadn’t been reborn into this life, why did she appear so aged? And He Yong looked over a meter tall—he really seemed close to my age.
The first image that came to mind was of Tu Xingsun from the TV drama Fengshen Bang, who excelled in earth manipulation.
A dwarf!
I blurted out without thinking. Aunt He glanced at me, her expression gradually returning to calmness. Tentatively, I asked, “What about He Yong’s father?”
Aunt He, who had seemingly calmed down, suddenly erupted with a torrent of hatred in her eyes. Then she threw her head back and laughed loudly, her silver hair, which was tied back with a net, fell wildly over her shoulders due to the force of her movement.
White hair!
It was said that some people turned completely white overnight due to deep sorrow. I had only thought it was something recorded in books, but seeing it in reality was quite shocking, especially when paired with her face full of wrinkles.
"That beast doesn’t deserve to live..."
"Hahaha... I killed him. I drugged his food, just like he did to me back then. I tied him up and locked him in this secret room..."
Aunt He approached me slowly, as if possessed, her gaze piercing through me as if I were a sinner.
Before I could say anything, a pair of rough hands tightened around my neck with great force.
Aunt He continued, "Every day I tormented him, cutting his flesh and drinking his blood, day after day, year after year. Eventually, he went mad—he actually went mad before I did. So I killed him. I chopped him into pieces with an axe and threw him into the cesspit, buried under the osmanthus tree in the yard. I boiled his bones into soup and fed it to his son, his favorite son. Hahaha... I wanted him to die without a complete corpse; I wanted that beast's son to eat his own flesh..."
I managed to squeeze out a few broken words from my throat: "If you are the victim, why do you want to harm me?"
"This world is so unfair. My life is ruined; I need someone to take the blame. If I see you suffering even more than I have, maybe it will ease my heart a little. Just to be able to live a bit longer in this hell..." Aunt He's eyes were bloodshot as her hands tightened around my throat.
Just as I felt myself fading, suddenly the pressure on my neck loosened, and murky air rushed into my lungs. I greedily gasped for breath until I regained my senses.
It was only when Aunt He’s body slumped lifelessly to the ground that I realized He Yong had knocked her out from behind with a pole.
"Crazy woman," He Yong spat disdainfully.
I was left confused; what exactly was happening here? He Yong looked at Aunt He on the ground with contempt and disgust. This was no normal interaction between a mother and child!
This whole family must be insane. No—my heart sank further as I recalled that when He Yong took me for a walk in the village, it seemed every household was like this.
Could it be that this village was all like this? So twisted?
I began to cough violently and after a long while finally managed to ask, "What exactly do you want from me by locking me up here?"
He Yong chuckled softly and then walked over to my side, his chubby hand slowly gliding up from my ankle. The lustful look in his eyes sent shivers down my spine.
What was he trying to do? Being looked at and touched by a man like this made my stomach churn.
"Do you know how envious I am of your body? No, you could never understand my pain. I’m twenty years old, have never left the village, never been to school, never experienced love..."
"Do you know how often I take a bath? Honestly, I can’t even remember. Each time I bathe feels like slicing into my own flesh. I hate seeing that reflection in the mirror, that shell of a person who never seems to grow up... This shell makes me feel utterly disgusted..."
"I hate my father, and of course, I hate that woman. Why did they have to give birth to me? Why bring me into this world to suffer... In fact, when my mother was killing my father, torturing him, I was secretly hiding nearby watching. It felt so satisfying deep inside."
He Yong's hand moved to my face, then to my chin, where stubble had begun to grow. He touched it almost greedily...
I could only feel my chin burning under his touch, yet the madness in his eyes showed no sign of fading...
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