The Lu Family Mansion was a sprawling garden-style estate.
Deep within the rear garden stood the Ancestral Hall, used for family gatherings during important festivals.
Behind the Ancestral Hall was a small four-cornered building known as the Admonition Hall.
The Admonition Hall remained idle year-round, its doors and windows tightly shut, shrouded in darkness without a glimpse of sunlight.
Water used for irrigating the garden’s flowers and trees accumulated underground, leaving the Admonition Hall’s blue-brick floor damp. In the crevices between the bricks bred a species of black insects with pointed heads and eight legs.
These black insects were slender, their bodies segmented, wriggling and crawling everywhere.
Shi Wan folded her skirt around her thighs to prevent the black insects from crawling up and biting her bottom.
Unfortunately, the insect nests were scattered throughout the brick crevices, covering a wide area.
Protecting her thighs left her calves exposed, and her ankles were bitten in several places.
Bent over scratching, she inhaled a musty odor that rushed into her nostrils—a smell of long-sealed darkness, mingled with dampness and the stench of insects.
The air felt toxic.
Cough, cough, cough…
She lunged at the door and pounded on it.
The door was opened by a bodyguard wearing large sunglasses that covered half his face. This man had a pair of large, auspiciously shaped ears, with his right earlobe missing a small chunk, forming a slanted angle.
Based on medical knowledge, Shi Wan deduced he had been injured in a fight—the missing earlobe likely sliced off by a sharp blade, the cut consistent with marks left by a sharp weapon.
The big-eared bodyguard growled, “What is it?”
“Please… let me out. It’s so stifling… cough, cough…”
A colder voice questioned her, “Have you signed the divorce papers?”
Shi Wan covered her mouth and nose, coughing as she shook her head.
Bang!
The door slammed shut violently.
Shi Wan sat back down, enveloped by boundless darkness.
Time felt severed from her.
The sun rose and set, the wind blew and stilled, but her world remained motionless.
On either side of the redwood carved door were two palm-sized diamond-shaped openings.
A faint light seeped through these small diamond holes—the only light in her world.
When the door opened from the outside, Shi Wan sprang up quickly.
Dragging her dirt-stained red dress, she hurried forward.
Recognizing the visitor’s face, she leaned against the door for support.
It was An Bo, the Lu family’s senior butler.
In recent years, An Bo had given up on managing his figure, allowing his body to blend freely into middle-aged expansion. Round and plump, wrapped in his blue professional attire, he resembled an upright, walking green-skinned winter melon.
The green winter melon stood cutely at the doorway.
Having lived in the Lu household for 15 years, Shi Wan knew An Bo treated her exceptionally well.
Whenever she faced difficulties, An Bo would visit, and she could speak her mind freely.
“Old friend, have you come to bring me food?”
“No.”
“To bring a blanket?”
An Bo shook his head.
“To bring clean clothes for me to change into?”
An Bo frowned. “Young Master Lu’s intentions are unclear. I dare not act on my own.”
Leaning against the door, Shi Wan asked, “Did he say nothing at all?”
An Bo hesitated. “He did say something, but… ah!”
“Just tell me directly. I can handle it.”
“The gist was… don’t give you food, don’t give you water, don’t pay you any attention.”
Shi Wan averted her gaze. “Thank you for coming. You may go back.”
An Bo sighed. “Wanwan, don’t be stubborn. Quickly agree to the divorce and escape. Madam Lu probably…”
He dared not finish the thought aloud, as if the person in question hadn’t yet breathed their last.
An Bo turned and left.
The big-eared bodyguard locked the door.
Shi Wan dragged her slender legs back and sat on the floor tile she had occupied the night before.
Her world remained still and motionless.
She had no idea how much time had passed.
When the redwood carved door opened again, Lu Xicheng appeared at the entrance.
The man stood with his back to the light, his neatly styled bangs falling over his brows. With deep-set eyes, a straight nose, and features as if carved by divine craftsmanship, his face resembled cold jade—naturally noble and imposing, both majestic and dignified.
"Have you signed the divorce papers?"
Shi Wan shook her head.
"You really…"
"I don’t want to lose you."
A moment of silence followed.
Shi Wan rolled up her lace-edged sleeves, wiped her eyes with her clean arm, and tried to see Lu Xicheng’s face clearly.
He must have been deeply hurt, caught in the middle of the turmoil she had stirred, unable to face anyone.
When she looked again, Lu Xicheng was gone.
That man had already left.
Lu Xicheng’s hurried footsteps stirred a swift breeze.
The small orchids that had just bloomed on the lawn bowed face-down beneath his feet.
An Bo passed by with the engineer responsible for monitoring and repairing the surveillance system.
A few days ago, after a rainstorm, the surveillance lines in the garden had been damaged.
The repairman pointed out that the wiring had aged and needed a complete replacement.
Given the mansion’s sprawling size of over 5,000 square meters, the project was extensive. The workers had been at it for three days, and the job was still unfinished.
The mansion’s surveillance system had been out of service for four consecutive days.
"Wanwan has been locked up for a day and a night. If she doesn’t eat soon, her health will suffer," An Bo said, bowing respectfully.
Lu Xicheng continued on his way, coldly tossing back a remark, "She won’t die."
"But what if… she starves or falls ill?"
"She’s tough as nails, stronger than a bull."
As darkness fell, Shi Wan curled up, lying in a daze.
When dawn broke, she sat up, the world standing still around her.
She no longer ran to the door, begging for it to be opened.
Time moved forward in a cycle of sitting, lying down, sitting, and lying down again.
She guarded her path forward in her own way.
Yet, all roads have an end.
No matter how strong or brave she was, three days eventually arrived.
One step forward would cross the line between life and death.
She was about to make a decision.
But she didn’t want a divorce; she couldn’t bear to part with Lu Xicheng.
Her Xicheng was the best in her world!
At six years old, she had followed the 81-year-old "Shi Changtian" down from Qi Mountain to the capital to seek justice. By a twist of fate, Qu Muhua brought her to the Lu family—ostensibly to take her in, but in reality, to serve as a shield against misfortune for the Lu family’s eldest young master.
At six, she was still a little fairy who had just descended from Qi Mountain.
Tearful and delicate as if carved from jade.
Back then, Lu Xicheng was ten.
The young boy picked her up, cradling her sideways in his arms, supporting her with his tender chest.
One of her little legs dangled to the ground, while her small hands clung tightly to the boy’s neck.
"Wanwan, don’t cry. Shall I tell you a story?"
She nodded through her tears.
Her damp little face pressed against the boy’s ear.
Even after the story, she still missed "Shi Changtian."
He was the grandfather who had found her in the mountains and taken her in. For six years, she had never been apart from him.
Lu Zhengrong offered a large sum of money to select another mountain and build a villa for the grandfather, known as the Flying Needle Divine Physician.
She worried about her grandfather, missing him and fearing for his well-being.
The young Lu boy gave up his bed for her to sleep in, laying a mat on the floor at her feet to watch over her.
She grew up under the boy’s care.
He doted on her immensely.
And as he doted…
She grew into Shi Wan—a girl whose eyes saw only Brother Xicheng, whose heart was filled with Brother Xicheng, and who never wanted to leave Brother Xicheng.