“If you want a late-night snack or something, just tell me.”
Su Yuqing tried to change the subject, her voice tinged with a hint of pleading.
“Don’t worry, I’ll order it for you… A burger? Fried chicken? Or maybe that new brand of high-end Cat Canned Food? I’ll order it right now…”
“Who wants you to order takeout?”
Zhi Ai sneered, interrupting her futile efforts, the mockery in her eyes almost overflowing.
“It is not like I cannot order it myself on my own phone. Or do you think you can use this cheap food to distract me and get away with it?”
Su Yuqing’s face turned pale in an instant.
All of her thoughts were as clear as transparent crystal before Zhi Ai, seen through completely.
“Th-then what exactly do you want to do with my phone?”
Her voice trembled with despair.
Zhi Ai took a step closer, her Liuli-colored eyes staring intently at Su Yuqing’s hands hidden behind her back.
Her gaze was so sharp it seemed to pierce through flesh, burning directly toward the phone that concealed a secret.
Then, her voice suddenly dropped, losing all its artificial sweetness, leaving only an irresistible authority.
“I want the photos.”
“Photos? What… photos?”
Su Yuqing’s defensive line was collapsing step by step.
“So — ”
Zhi Ai tilted her head slightly, revealing an almost cruelly innocent expression, as if she were making a perfectly reasonable suggestion.
“Are you going to delete them all yourself, or should I ‘help’ you?”
“Delete… delete them all?”
Su Yuqing felt as if she had been struck by lightning, and she instinctively clutched the phone tighter behind her back.
‘Those photos are the only proof that Mantou ever existed.
They are my last remnants of that ordinary but real life!’
Zhi Ai had already taken Mantou’s life; now, was she really going to completely erase even these final traces?
“Yes, delete them all.”
Zhi Ai nodded certainly, her tone casual yet carrying a destructive power.
“Every single one of that Ugly White Cat. Not one is allowed to remain.”
She watched the shock, pain, and resistance welling up in Su Yuqing’s eyes as if she were admiring a masterpiece.
She continued to deliver her final judgment in her sweet voice:
“After all, from the moment I returned — “
“In your world, there can only be one cat — me! 🐾”
These words were like a judge’s gavel striking down for the final sentencing.
Under the light, Su Yuqing’s face was as pale as paper.
She gripped the phone so hard that her knuckles turned white, as if she were clutching the last bits of her pitiful dignity and memories.
Zhi Ai stood there with a brilliant smile, like a cruel and beautiful Cat Queen who had just successfully defended her absolute territorial rights.
The air seemed to freeze, leaving only a confrontation of vastly unequal power.
However, in the midst of this suffocating silence, a faint but exceptionally clear voice rang out like a sprout struggling through a crack.
“In your dreams.”
“What?”
The smile on Zhi Ai’s face instantly froze, and a flash of genuine bewilderment crossed her features.
‘This mouse, who has been cornered, actually dares to resist?’
Su Yuqing raised her head, and her previously unfocused eyes now gathered a light of desperate determination.
Although her face was still pale and her body continued to tremble slightly, she forced herself to look directly into Zhi Ai’s dangerous Liuli-colored eyes.
Using all her strength, she said word by word:
“I am telling you clearly right now, I will absolutely never yield to you on this…!”
Zhi Ai stared at her, the bewilderment in her eyes quickly replaced by a light that was a mix of annoyance and extreme excitement.
It was like a cat that thought its prey had given up struggling, only to find that the opponent still dared to show its fragile Small Claws.
This instead stimulated her intense desire to play.
“Sigh~”
She let out a performative sigh, but there was no regret in that sound, only the pleasure of a predator discovering the game had become more interesting.
“What a shame, meow. I originally wanted to let you suffer a bit less…”
Her voice became sweet and cloying again, but it was far more dangerous than before.
“Wh-what are you trying to do now?”
Su Yuqing watched her slightly arched body with vigilance; it was the omen of a feline about to pounce.
“Be good and hand over the phone.”
Zhi Ai’s voice was seductive, yet filled with an unquestionable command.
“NO! WAY!”
Su Yuqing almost roared it out, trying to use her volume to mask the fear in her heart.
“Can you not understand human speech!? I already said this is impossible…!!!”
However, before her protest could fully land, Zhi Ai moved!
Like a bolt of golden lightning, those Small Claws that had long been prepared — though covered by Cat Paw Gloves, they still contained incredible power — along with her light body, slammed forward!
The speed far exceeded Su Yuqing’s reaction limits!
“Ugh…!?”
Su Yuqing only had time to let out a short cry of surprise before a massive force slammed into her chest and shoulders.
The tips of nails through her thin clothing brought a burning sting, and Zhi Ai’s weight and momentum perfectly pushed Su Yuqing backward.
Thud!
Her back hit the cold floor hard, making her vision go dark for a moment.
“It hurts…!”
She cried out in pain.
However, Zhi Ai gave her no chance to breathe.
While Su Yuqing’s consciousness was still stuck on the burning pain in her shoulders and the dizziness of the fall, Zhi Ai had already used her cat-like reaction speed and flexibility to quickly adjust her posture.
In the next instant, a knee pressed down with irresistible force, firmly pinning the wrist Su Yuqing was using to try to prop herself up!
A sharp numbness immediately spread from her wrist through her entire arm, causing her to lose almost all feeling.
Her five fingers involuntarily loosened.
“Alright,”
Zhi Ai looked down at her, her knee applying slight pressure as she ground Su Yuqing’s fragile wrist.
Her face wore an innocent yet cruel smile, as if she were playing a fun game.
“Now you should honestly hand over the phone to me, right, meow?”
The phone had already slipped from her hand and rolled onto the floor nearby.
The screen happened to be facing up, its faint light reflecting Su Yuqing’s desperate face.
The pressure on her wrist and the posture of being completely dominated caused Su Yuqing’s courage to recede like the tide.
She struggled futilely, but she could not budge her an inch.
“Wait! Let’s… let’s talk about this, okay?”
Her voice took on a sob as she tried to make one final negotiation.
“Hmm? Talk about what?”
Zhi Ai tilted her head, feigning ignorance, but the playfulness in her eyes showed she knew exactly what Su Yuqing wanted to say.
“Is there anything left to talk about, meow?”
“As long as… as long as you don’t delete these photos of Mantou…”
Su Yuqing breathed rapidly, like a drowning person grasping at a final straw.
“Then I will… then I will — agree to one request from you. No matter what that request is… I will… I will definitely work hard to do it!”
This was the greatest price she could pay, a promise akin to a contract of total servitude.
A subtle light flashed in Zhi Ai’s Liuli-colored eyes; she seemed to actually consider the proposal.
However, that light was quickly replaced by a deeper malice.
“Oh~? This suggestion of yours actually sounds quite good…”
She drew out her words, watching the faint hope ignite in Su Yuqing’s eyes because of it.
“S-so…?”
Su Yuqing held her breath.
“So, of course I won’t agree, meow!”
Zhi Ai’s voice suddenly turned cold, and her smile became incredibly wicked.
Without waiting for Su Yuqing to react to this massive twist and shock, Zhi Ai’s free hand reached out like lightning, easily picking up the phone that was as heavy as a thousand pounds to Su Yuqing.
Her movements were as smooth as if she had practiced them a thousand times.
She unlocked the screen, and then, in the reflection of Su Yuqing’s suddenly constricted pupils, her slender finger precisely tapped that red option representing total destruction —
[Factory Reset]
“NO…!!!”
Su Yuqing let out a shrill scream, her body exploding with one last burst of strength as she tried to struggle.
But she was pinned down by Zhi Ai’s knee, unable to move at all.
She could only watch helplessly as the phone screen lit up with a cold confirmation prompt, followed by a heartless progress bar… quickly filling up…
Finally, the screen went dark, then lit up again, showing a brand-new initial interface.
It was over.
Everything was over.
All evidence of Mantou’s existence, the companionship and support from the last three years, the memories she had carefully cherished… all gone.
What had been formatted was not just the phone’s storage space, but a piece of flesh ripped straight from her heart.
Tears instantly broke through, blurring her vision.
But she did not even have the strength left to cry.
She just lay limp on the floor like an empty shell with its soul sucked out.
“Why…?”
Su Yuqing murmured to herself, her voice so broken it was barely audible.
Zhi Ai casually tossed the hollow phone aside on the floor like a piece of trash, making a light clack sound.
She looked at Su Yuqing’s completely broken state, her face expressionless.
There was neither pleasure nor pity.
“Why would there be a ‘why’?”
She asked softly, her tone terrifyingly calm as if she were stating a self-evident truth.
“Don’t forget, after all, I am still your Master.”
She leaned down slightly, moving close to Su Yuqing’s ear, and continued slowly in a whisper like a demon’s murmur that only the two of them could hear:
“Does a Master need the permission of their Little Pet to do whatever they want with them?”
“Hmm?”
After speaking, Zhi Ai straightened up.
At the same time, a dark red old Collar was silently handed to her by her own tail, which seemed to have a consciousness of its own, as if by magic.
Su Yuqing was incredibly familiar with that Collar.
This time, there was no struggling, and there was no resistance.
Su Yuqing was like a puppet that had lost all its strings, staring blankly at the ceiling, losing all reaction to her surroundings.
Zhi Ai leaned down, her movements even bordering on gentle, as she slowly placed the Collar around Su Yuqing’s slender neck.
Click.
The sound of the clasp closing was clearly audible in the dead-silent room.
This time, completely different from the previous fierce struggles, Su Yuqing showed no resistance from beginning to end.
Her world, following the disappearance of those photos and the final fastening of this Collar, had completely turned into a gray and white expanse with no exit.
Finally, Zhi Ai completed her “coronation.”
She stood up, admiring her “masterpiece” with a satisfied expression.
The red of the Collar, set against her pale skin, was as glaring as fresh blood.
As for Su Yuqing, she just lay there quietly, letting her tears slide silently down, soaking the floor by her temples…