Bang.
The heavy iron door slammed shut again, completely sealing off Lin Lie’s irritable silhouette and the sound of her heavy footsteps.
In the empty basement, only Su Ruanruan remained, along with that bone-chilling iron chain.
“Wooo… let me go… help…”
Once she was certain that Lin Lie had truly left, Su Ruanruan could no longer suppress the fear in her heart and broke down into a fit of sobbing. She twisted her body desperately, trying to wrench her hands — which were tied behind her back — from the rough hemp rope.
However, the more she struggled, the tighter the rope became. Her originally delicate, white wrists were quickly abraded, and thin streaks of bright red blood oozed out. The burning sting caused her to gasp in pain.
The leather collar around her neck was like the hands of death, tightly clutching her throat. If she moved even slightly outward, the iron chain connected to the support pillar would instantly snap taut, pulling her eyes wide as she let out a series of painful, dry coughs.
“Cough, cough… it hurts… why did it turn out like this…”
Su Ruanruan slumped onto the cold concrete floor in despair, her face a mess of tears and dust.
‘No… I can’t just sit here and wait for death… if I wait for that woman to come back after her phone call…’
Su Ruanruan grit her teeth, forcing herself to calm down. While sobbing, she squirmed across the floor like a caterpillar, trying to find even the slightest sharp object she could use to cut the rope.
Right then —
Click.
From the stairs leading to the first floor, the extremely faint sound of a lock turning suddenly drifted down.
Su Ruanruan froze, the blood in her veins running cold.
‘She’s back?! So soon?!’
Her eyes widened in horror as she stared fixedly at the dim stairwell. Her body trembled uncontrollably, like a quail waiting for slaughter.
However, the person who walked down the stairs was not the tall, wild, and oppressive Lin Lie.
Accompanied by a light pitter-patter of footsteps, a girl wearing a pure white lace nightgown and clutching a worn-out rabbit plushie appeared silently in Su Ruanruan’s line of sight.
The girl looked about one or two years younger than Lin Lie, with a petite and slender frame. She had long, straight black hair that flowed like a waterfall. Beneath her blunt bangs were a pair of large, innocent eyes as clear as obsidian. Her skin had a sickly paleness from years of avoiding the sun, making her look like a fragile porcelain doll — weak and harmless.
‘Who is she?’
Su Ruanruan was stunned.
The girl also didn’t seem to expect anyone to be in the basement. When she saw Su Ruanruan chained to the pillar with her clothes in disarray and her face covered in tears, her large eyes instantly rounded. She covered her small mouth and let out a soft gasp.
“Oh my… Sister… she’s hiding strange things in the basement again…”
‘Sister?’
Su Ruanruan felt as if she had caught onto a final lifeline, and her eyes suddenly lit up. This person was Lin Lie’s sister! And looking at her weak, timid appearance, there was no way she could be in league with a violent maniac like Lin Lie!
“Save… save me!”
Su Ruanruan struggled to move forward, the iron chain letting out a loud *clatter*. She looked up with her tear-stained yet still lovely face, pleading in her softest, most pitiful voice, “Little sister… please, I beg you to save me… your sister is crazy. She tied me up here… wooo… I’m so scared…”
The girl walked forward cautiously, her clear eyes filled with restraint and sympathy. She knelt down and looked at the bleeding marks on Su Ruanruan’s wrists, her delicate brows furrowing in distress.
“How could Sister do this… even if you’re a little pet she brought back, she shouldn’t use such a thick rope to tie you up. You’re bleeding…”
“I’m not a pet! I was kidnapped by her!” Su Ruanruan cried out in a panic. “Please, help me undo this, okay?!”
The girl seemed startled by her words. She hesitated for a moment, then, as if making a firm decision, she nodded vigorously.
“Okay… don’t cry. I’ll help you undo it right now. Sister is on the second-floor balcony arguing with Mom on the phone; she won’t be down for a while. I’ll sneak you out!”
Hearing those words, Su Ruanruan was beyond grateful. In her heart, she wished she could kneel down and give her three loud kowtows right then and there.
The girl fished a black hairpin out of her nightgown pocket and skillfully poked it into the lock connecting the collar to the chain. With a crisp *click*, the heavy shackle that had imprisoned Su Ruanruan instantly fell away.
Next, the girl gently untied the hemp rope binding her hands behind her back.
The moment she regained her freedom, Su Ruanruan ignored the sharp pain in her wrists and neck, nearly weeping with joy.
“Thank you… thank you! You’re such a good person!”
“Shh, be quiet. Follow me.”
The girl put her index finger to her lips in a silencing gesture, then took Su Ruanruan’s hand, leading her stealthily up the stairs.
Su Ruanruan followed obediently behind the girl, not even daring to breathe too loudly. At the thought of finally being able to escape that pervert Lin Lie’s clutches, her heart pounded with excitement.