Chapter 23: Finally, it was spoken.

Then, after who knows how long, the lock clicked again.

Ling Yue walked in and saw the mess all over the floor.

Her expression unchanged, she just crouched down and began to pick up the pieces.

Feng Ling, sitting in the corner, called out hoarsely, “Sister Ling Yue.”

“Aren’t you… really planning to forgive me?”

Hearing this, Ling Yue’s hand paused for a moment, then she continued cleaning.

“Do you think I’m not worth forgiving?”

Feng Ling asked again.

After finishing cleaning, Ling Yue stood up and turned to leave.

“Answer me! At least answer me one thing!”

At that moment, Feng Ling suddenly shouted at Ling Yue.

This made Ling Yue finally stop, turn sideways to look at her, and ask softly, “So what do you want me to answer?”

“Aren’t you going to forgive me! Are you!”

Ling Yue was silent for a few seconds, then said something that completely broke Feng Ling: “I never blamed you.”

“…What?”

“I blame myself… I blame myself for trusting you too much.”

After saying that, she turned and left the room, which had become infinitely cold.

Feng Ling stood frozen, replaying Ling Yue’s words over and over in her mind.

“I blame myself for trusting you too much.”

What does that mean?

What does that mean?

Did it mean… she wasn’t using cold violence because she was angry?

Was it because of disappointment?

Because of heartbreak?

Because she felt betrayed?

Next, Feng Ling grabbed her head and pulled her hair hard.

“Aaaahhhhhh—!”

She screamed again, then pounded the floor frantically with her fists.

“What am I supposed to do… what am I supposed to do…”

But at this moment, no one could answer her.

…

Time continued to pass.

Feng Ling had no idea how many days had gone by.

Her mental state grew worse and worse, and she even started having hallucinations.

Sometimes she would hear Sister Ling Yue singing outside the door, but when she opened it, there was nothing.

Or she would see a figure on the wall, but when she walked over, it was just the halo of a wall lamp.

Sometimes she would even talk to the mirror… and as she spoke, she would see the person in the mirror crying, even though she herself wasn’t crying at all.

She knew this was a sign of mental problems, but she couldn’t control it.

One day, when Ling Yue came to bring food, Feng Ling was combing her hair in front of the mirror.

She saw herself in the mirror… her complexion was terrible.

Her already small face was even smaller now, with deep dark circles under her eyes.

Her hair had grown down to her ankles because no one helped her cut it, and she couldn’t cut it herself.

“Hey… Sister Ling Yue…”

At that moment, Feng Ling called out again.

Ling Yue put the tray on the table and glanced at her.

But this time she didn’t leave immediately.

Instead, she said softly, “You’ve lost weight…”

This was the first time Ling Yue had spoken to her voluntarily since the cold violence began.

Feng Ling was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, “Really?”

Ling Yue stared at her for a while.

Just when Feng Ling thought Sister Ling Yue was feeling sorry for her and would forgive her, Ling Yue left again.

Then, the smile on Feng Ling’s face slowly faded.

She put down the comb, walked to the table, looked at the day’s meal, then picked up the cup of blood and took a sip.

She pressed her lips together…

The next second, she threw the cup hard onto the floor.

“Why! Why do you care if I’ve lost weight! Why do you give me hope and then give me despair! Why why why why why why… what do you want from me… tell me… what do you want from me aaaaahhhhhh!”

At this moment, the various things in the room were destroyed by Feng Ling again.

…

After who knows how many more days, Feng Ling felt she was really about to go crazy.

She always felt like someone was calling her, but when she turned around, there was nothing…

At the same time, her memory started to get confused.

Sometimes she couldn’t tell yesterday from today, sometimes she would forget what she was thinking a second ago.

She even started to forget what she used to be like.

That boy named Xu Feng, that cowardly boy… was that person really her?

Or had she always been Xu Fengling, always this golden canary locked in a cage?

She sat on the bed, staring intently at her own hands.

This was the hand of a vampire loli.

Not the hand of a boy, and not the hand of a human either.

“No… I can’t go on like this…”

Then, Feng Ling jumped off the bed, went straight to the door, pounded on it hard, and called out in a hoarse voice, “Sister Ling Yue!”

But there was no response.

“Sister Ling Yue, are you there?”

Still no response.

Feng Ling took a deep breath, then pounded the door with all her might.

“Sister Ling Yue! Come here! I have something to tell you! It’s very important!”

After pounding for several minutes, footsteps finally came from the corridor, and then that voice, betraying no emotion, came from outside the door: “What is it?”

“Open the door. I want to talk to you face to face.”

Ling Yue was silent for a few seconds, then turned the lock and opened the room’s door.

Feng Ling looked at Sister Ling Yue standing at the door.

Tears and all kinds of emotions surged up again, but this time she forced herself to hold them back.

“Sister Ling Yue… I want to tell you something…”

“Speak.”

“Sit down first.”

Feng Ling pointed at the bedside.

Ling Yue glanced at her, but didn’t move.

“Please… I’m really begging you…”

Feng Ling lowered her head and said quietly.

Ling Yue sighed, and finally sat down on the edge of the bed.

Then, Feng Ling stood firmly in front of her and said in a deep voice, “Sister Ling Yue, I’ve thought about it for a long time. I know I was wrong… I shouldn’t have lied to you, and I shouldn’t have thought about running away… You’ve been so good to me, and you chose to trust me countless times… But I betrayed your trust.”

“But… but Sister Ling Yue, you were also wrong.”

Hearing this, Ling Yue’s eyes moved slightly.

“You shouldn’t have locked me up… You shouldn’t have lied to me saying it’s not safe outside… You shouldn’t have choked me when I didn’t obey, and you especially shouldn’t have… shouldn’t have ignored me for so long.”

At this point, Feng Ling’s tears finally fell.

“Do you know how miserable I’ve been during this time? I didn’t even have anyone to talk to… I stare at the wall every day, talk to myself in the mirror, I’m going crazy, you know?! Do you know?! Do you know?!”

“You said you never blamed me, you blame yourself… Then let me ask you, what exactly are you blaming yourself for? For trusting me too much? For turning me into a vampire? For falling in love with someone not worth loving?”

Hearing this, Feng Ling’s eyes showed great agitation.

“Sister Ling Yue… I’m not unworthy of love. I just… I just want normal love. Not being locked up, not being treated like a pet, not being on tenterhooks every day afraid of doing something wrong… I want to stand with you as equals, go out together, go shopping together, see the sun together. I don’t want to be locked in a cage like a canary for my whole life!”

Then, Feng Ling wiped her tears and continued, “I know you’re the ancestor of the blood clan, you’ve lived for thousands of years… You’ve seen too many people die, and you’re afraid of loneliness… But, Sister Ling Yue, imprisonment is not love, control is not love, and hurt is even less love… True love should be about mutual respect, mutual trust, and mutual companionship!”

“So… Sister Ling Yue, I’m begging you… please don’t lock me away anymore. I don’t want to run away, I really don’t. I just want to be with you properly, like… normal lovers.”

At this moment, Feng Ling’s tears completely blurred her vision.

“Okay?”