Chapter Thirty-Nine: Leave This Place

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The cold, damp air in the basement hung almost motionless. Only the occasional drip of water from a dark corner and Liu Yanyan’s heavy, labored breathing disturbed the silence.

Footsteps approached from afar, striking crisply against the stone floor, utterly at odds with the dead stillness of the place.

Liu Yanyan struggled to raise her head. Disheveled hair clung to her face, smeared with grime and streaked with blood. She narrowed her eyes against the faint light filtering in through the doorway and made out the figure standing there.

It was Wen Yan.

Wen Yan wore a delicately tailored lotus-colored qipao, with a soft cashmere shawl draped over her shoulders. Against the filthy, bloodstained surroundings, her elegance formed a cruelly ironic contrast.

She even held an embroidered handkerchief between her fingers, lifting it lightly to cover her nose as though offended by the musty smell.

She walked slowly to Liu Yanyan and looked down at her from above. There was no triumphant gloating in her eyes, only an almost indifferent appraisal.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk.” Wen Yan shook her head lightly. Her voice rang with unusual clarity through the empty basement. “The Qiao family motto truly lives up to its reputation. It has only been a few days, and already my dear sister has withered into this state?”

A fierce hatred erupted in Liu Yanyan’s eyes. She struggled to lunge forward, but the chains around her body yanked her back with a harsh metallic clatter.

“Wen Yan! You poisonous woman! You did this! You set me up!”

Wen Yan bent slightly, the corner of her lips curving into a cold arc.

“Set you up? Where do you get that idea? You prepared the drug. You found the beggar. Even the side hall was carefully chosen by you for me. All I did was return to you, exactly as they were, the things you had prepared for me.”

“Impossible!” Liu Yanyan screamed, her voice trembling with weakness and fury. “You clearly drank that tea! How could you possibly be unharmed? Who is backing you? Who has been helping you?”

She stared fixedly at Wen Yan, searching her face for any flaw.

Wen Yan straightened and leisurely brushed a speck of nonexistent dust from her qipao. Lightly, she said, “Guess.”

Just then, Liu Yanyan’s gaze passed over Wen Yan and abruptly fixed on the shadows at the basement entrance.

Qiao Chenye had appeared there at some point, leaning against the door like a lurking male ghost, utterly silent.

A silver lighter rested between his fingers. With a click, he flipped it open. An eerie blue flame sprang up, illuminating one side of his face while leaving the other in shadow. His deep, fathomless eyes were locked firmly on Wen Yan.

He seemed casual, yet an intimidating pressure radiated from him, enough to make the blood run cold.

Liu Yanyan understood in an instant.

It was him.

It had always been Qiao Chenye.

Overwhelming fear and the humiliation of having been toyed with flooded over her.

“Ahhh!” Liu Yanyan let out a desperate, unhinged shriek. She struggled with all her strength, oblivious even as the chains cut into her flesh. “Wen Yan! Qiao Chenye! I’ll never forgive you, even as a ghost! I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you both!”

In the face of her hysterical curses, Wen Yan remained expressionless.

She simply looked at Liu Yanyan in silence for several seconds. Then she made a wholly unexpected move.

From the pocket of her shawl, she took out a small brass key and tossed it lightly.

With a clear clang, the key landed in the filthy water beside Liu Yanyan’s feet.

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Liu Yanyan’s curses stopped abruptly. She stared at the key in disbelief, then jerked her head up to look at Wen Yan.

“You should know that everything happening to you today was orchestrated by them. We are both victims. Don’t you understand yet? You’re nothing but a pawn.”

Disbelief filled Liu Yanyan’s eyes. “Who are you? You can’t possibly be the real Wen Yan.”

“I’m a soul-reaping ghost.” Wen Yan smiled faintly. “But I don’t want your life, because you can’t even control your own personality. You’re merely a pawn controlled by the plot—a wicked supporting character.”

“What are you talking about? Who are you?”

Liu Yanyan tried to rush forward, but the chain dragged her down, sending her crashing heavily to the floor.

“I never took you seriously. But your will to survive is remarkably strong. The fact that you thought of seeking refuge with Qiao Guodong to change your fate was actually quite impressive. Do you want revenge? Are you truly willing to become a sacrifice in their power struggle, a tool for satisfying their desires in bed?”

“Why are you helping me?”

Disbelief filled Liu Yanyan’s eyes. She could not believe Wen Yan would show her such kindness.

Wen Yan gave her a lightning-fast wink. Her expression was too complicated to read, seeming to contain a hint of mockery—and perhaps something else besides.

Then, without hesitation, she turned and walked away from the basement in her elegant high heels, heading toward Qiao Chenye, who stood in the shadows by the doorway.

The two exchanged a brief look. Qiao Chenye closed the lighter, silently slipped an arm around her shoulders, and disappeared through the door with her.

The basement was left with nothing but Liu Yanyan’s ragged breathing as she stared at the key.

The system’s voice sounded in Wen Yan’s mind: “Host, why would you do this? Releasing a tiger back into the mountains will bring endless trouble.”

Walking beneath the corridor, Wen Yan replied calmly in her thoughts:

“Just wait and see. If she can swallow this humiliation, then she won’t be Liu Yanyan anymore. Only a string snapped completely can produce the most desperate and maddened note. And we need that madness to bite the people who deserve it.”

Following Wen Yan’s instructions, Qiao Chenye deliberately withdrew some of the guards stationed near the basement, leaving behind an apparent gap in security.

Sure enough, that very night, driven by her instinct to survive and her bone-deep hatred of Wen Yan and Qiao Chenye, Liu Yanyan used the key to unlock her shackles. Dragging her battered and feeble body behind her, she miraculously escaped from the Qiao family’s old residence.

She did not dare stop. Clinging to the last of her strength, she stumbled all the way back to the Liu family home. She pounded on the vermilion gate and cried out in a ragged voice, “Father! Father! Open the door! It’s Yanyan! Please, save me!”

The door opened a narrow crack, but the face that appeared was not that of her father, Liu Yu. It was the steward’s cold expression.

“Miss?” The steward’s tone was distant. “The master has ordered that you are no longer a member of the Liu family. Please leave.”

“What? That’s impossible! I want to see my father! Let me in!”

Liu Yanyan tried to force her way inside.

The steward shoved the door against her and spoke with barely concealed impatience. “Master Qiao Guodong sent a substantial sum long ago to sever all ties between you and the Liu family. The master says that a married daughter is like water spilled from a vessel. You brought this catastrophe upon yourself. The Liu family cannot protect you—and has no intention of doing so. You… had better take care of yourself.”

The gate slammed shut in her face, cutting off her final hope.

“Dad, Mom! Please, I’m begging you! Save your daughter! I’m still useful! Please, save me!”

Liu Yanyan’s mother still felt compassion for what had happened to her daughter, but under Liu Yu’s pressure, she did not dare go outside to help.

She knew all too well that if she opposed the Qiao family, she herself might not survive. So she kept the windows tightly shut and left Liu Yanyan to fend for herself, forcing her to return to the Qiao family.

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Liu Yu was still afraid that something might happen, so he sent men to capture Liu Yanyan and deliver her back to the Qiao family. When Liu Yanyan saw several guards approaching, she realized that something was wrong.

She collapsed onto the cold ground, staring at the familiar yet alien gate. Her heart turned utterly numb.

So from beginning to end, she had merely been a pawn her father used to curry favor with the Qiao family. Once she had served her purpose, she could be discarded at will.

The men roughly bound her without the slightest concern for her injuries or dignity and threw her into a car. Resigned to her fate, Liu Yanyan closed her eyes.

On the way, several SUVs surrounded the vehicle. Before the men inside could react, groups of black-clad figures seized them and forced them back into their cars. They then carefully freed Liu Yanyan and placed her by the roadside.

“Who are you? What do you want?” Liu Yanyan cried in terror, clutching a stone from the roadside in a futile attempt at defense.

At that moment, a black car silently pulled up beside her.

The window rolled down, revealing Wen Yan’s impassive face.

Wen Yan handed out a thick envelope and tossed it into Liu Yanyan’s arms.

“Take this money, leave the capital, and go as far away as possible. Never come back.”

Clutching the envelope, Liu Yanyan looked up at Wen Yan in the car and suddenly burst into a shrill, deranged laugh.

“Ha… hahaha… Wen Yan! Why are you pretending to be a good person? Isn’t all of this your fault? You’re giving me money? Taking pity on me? Watching me get played like a dog while you lead me around in circles—you’re pleased with yourself, aren’t you?”

Wen Yan looked at her quietly. There was not even a trace of pity in her eyes, only a calmness that seemed to see through everything.

“You chose this road yourself, Liu Yanyan. From the moment you chose to obey your father and use those despicable methods against me, you should have known that this day might come. No one forced you to become vicious.”

“I pity you, but I envy you too. At least in your previous life, you had it much better than I did.”

Those words struck through Liu Yanyan’s last defenses like a sharp blade.

She froze.

Yes. In the beginning, she had only wanted to live a little better. She had only wanted her father’s approval. She had only wanted to find a secure place for herself in this cannibalistic household.

When had she begun to become so hateful, so utterly unscrupulous?

“It wasn’t my… original intention… How did it become like this?” she murmured, her eyes vacant.

Immense regret and despair swallowed her whole—but the emotions lasted only a moment. Her will to survive and her deep-seated hatred quickly surged back to the forefront.

She suddenly snatched up the money and clutched it tightly. After giving Wen Yan one long look, she turned away. Her eyes held a confusion of emotions—hatred, resentment, bewilderment—which ultimately hardened into the madness of someone with nothing left to lose.

She said nothing more. She pushed herself up and staggered into the darkness of the alley.

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