In the end, He Rou still went out.
It wasn’t for any other reason—Luo Yun came to call her out.
He Rou lay behind the heavy wooden door of the study, her fingers prying at the crack in the door, her mind still spinning with that pointless question: “Who am I?”
Right then, the door lock let out a click.
He Rou flinched and jerked backward in fright.
Her broken leg scraped against the wooden floor, sending a sharp, piercing pain through her.
She couldn’t care about the pain.
She pressed her body flat against the cold floor, her eyes locked onto the gap slowly widening between the door and the frame.
Luo Yun stood outside the door.
She had changed into clean clothes, her hair falling smoothly over her shoulders.
Her face wore no expression.
She looked down at He Rou, naked and covered in dirt, her gaze like she was examining a piece of furniture that had gone bad.
“Crawl out.”
He Rou didn’t dare move.
The bits of paper she hadn’t swallowed yet stuck to her tongue—dry and bitter.
“Did you not understand? Crawl—out.”
Luo Yun repeated, her voice dropping a notch.
He Rou shuddered and quickly responded.
She dug her fingers into the floor with all her might, dragging her body bit by bit out the door.
The leg in its cast scraped across the floorboards, making a harsh dragging sound.
Luo Yun said nothing, just walked slowly ahead.
“Keep up, Xiao Rou. You’re getting slower and slower… Do you need me to help you with that?”
He Rou’s heart seized up.
The speed of her crawling picked up slightly.
Soon, the two of them reached the living room.
On the living room table, an abundance of food was laid out.
All kinds of food—a dazzling array.
Junk food, high-end food, a bottle of red wine He Rou didn’t recognize, animal parts she couldn’t identify.
But without exception, all of it was extremely tempting to He Rou.
At the foot of the table, however, sat a black cube.
It was covered by a black shroud, hiding whatever was inside.
“Come here… Xiao Rou, don’t rush now. I know you’re very, very hungry, but now isn’t the time yet.”
Luo Yun sat on the sofa, her face full of smiles as she looked at He Rou, as if she was really looking forward to what was about to happen.
He Rou listened to her words and crawled over.
But as she passed the black cube, she noticed a faint sound coming from inside.
It was a light, scratching noise against wire mesh.
Scrape, scrape.
Then came a thin, weak cry.
“Meow…”
“…”
He Rou couldn’t quite believe it.
But this wasn’t the time to worry about that.
She pushed that terrible thought aside and kept crawling toward Luo Yun.
But just as her arm moved forward, Luo Yun spoke.
“Alright, alright. Right here. Xiao Rou must have heard it too, right? Hehe…”
She pulled an unopened utility knife from under the coffee table and placed it on the surface.
“A few days ago… I think I told you, Xiao Rou. I don’t want any stray creatures lingering around my house.”
“I… I’m sorry. I haven’t had time to take care of it yet.”
He Rou apologized frantically, but inside she felt terribly wronged.
Just a few days ago, when she was told to deal with the cat, that was exactly the day she had ended up like this.
Luo Yun stood up and walked over to the cage.
She reached out and yanked the black cloth off.
The white cat inside was startled by the sudden light and slammed itself against the narrow space in panic.
“It’s been meowing outside for days. So noisy. Kept me awake.”
“Ha…”
“So then, Xiao Rou… please… clean it up.”
He Rou lay by the side of the cage, her lips trembling.
She didn’t dare look at Luo Yun.
She just stared dead at the cat.
The cat stared back at her through the wire mesh, its yellow eyes full of terror.
“Hurry it up. I’m really sleepy now… yaaah—”
Before Luo Yun even finished her sentence, she yawned.
It silently urged He Rou to get on with it.
“Master… please. Let it go. It’s just a cat. It doesn’t know anything.”
He Rou’s voice was low, choked with tears.
“Let it go?”
Luo Yun laughed and moved beside He Rou, lowering her voice.
“Why are you like this again, Xiao Rou? Not listening to your master? Since you like this beast so much, then… I’ll give you two choices. One—pick up that knife and slice off every piece of this cat’s skin, eyes, teeth, and legs, one cut at a time. Two—I’ll demonstrate the way I treat cats… on you.”
“!”
“Oh, right. I hope Xiao Rou will always remember who gave you your life. From now on… you must never, ever think of yourself as a human being anymore.”
Then Luo Yun picked up the utility knife from the table and forced it into He Rou’s hand.
“I…”
“Stop blabbering. Do it, He Rou. I’m really tired.”
Luo Yun stood up, grabbed He Rou by the hair, and forced her head up.
“No… I can’t, Master. Please…”
“Hurry it up…”
He Rou looked at the cat in the cage.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
He Rou…
Her hands shook violently.
She…
The cat inside…
“Meow~”
He Rou trembled all over as she touched its fur, her eyes full of terror.
“I’m sorry…”
He Rou closed…
…
She wasn’t skilled…
…
…filled He Rou’s nostrils.
She lay there in a daze.
The utility knife in her hand had long since been tossed somewhere.
The cat…
As for the other parts…
He Rou’s eyes were vacant.
Her breathing was steady, completely lacking the tension from before.
That gurgle-gurgle sound still echoed in her mind.
She didn’t know what caused it, but… it was terrifying.
Terrifying… lingering in her head on a loop.
The lights in the hall stayed on, illuminating everything clearly.
In this gorgeous villa…
All of it was captured by Luo Yun’s camera.
“Such a good girl, Xiao Rou.”
Luo Yun stood up, walked over to her, and crouched down.
She took out a pure white handkerchief and gently wiped the bloodstains off He Rou’s face.
The motions were very gentle, like she was polishing a beloved piece of porcelain.
“Xiao Rou must be very hungry now. Come on… time to eat.”
Then she lifted He Rou up, draping a large bath towel over her body.
“Th… thank you, Master.”
In this hall, only two girls remained.
One… long lost in hell without escape.
The other… had just received her ticket to hell.