Nie Zhenzhen groped her way forward alone in the darkness.
Searchlights swept overhead from time to time in the distance.
She could only move cautiously along the walls, staying in the shadows.
She had promised Xiang Wan that the moment she found a way out, she would come back for her first thing.
So she began to advance step by step according to the plan she had originally mapped out.
The first thing she needed to do was find an exit.
The main gate through which she had entered was heavily guarded—clearly not an ideal way out.
She needed to scout out another route, one that would be relatively easier to escape from.
Nie Zhenzhen kept one eye out for patrolling guards while doing her best to avoid the searchlights overhead and the surveillance cameras that seemed to be tucked into every corner of the walls.
Her back was already soaked through with cold sweat from sheer tension and fear.
Her forehead and the palms of her hands were likewise covered in a fine sheen of perspiration.
Before long, she came upon a low, squat building.
Peering through a crack in the window, she caught a glimpse of what was inside.
The building housed a vast, cavernous workshop that looked like some kind of processing plant.
Dozens of chairs were arranged in neat rows inside—birthing chairs similar to those found in hospital obstetrics wards.
Half-reclining on each chair was a naked woman.
Their hands, feet, and necks were all firmly secured by leather restraints, leaving them utterly unable to move so much as an inch.
Around their necks hung collars resembling name tags, as if they were being branded like livestock.
What left Nie Zhenzhen most dumbfounded, however, was the transparent tube connected to each woman’s chest.
The other end of each tube was hooked up to a machine.
Much like a water pump, the machines emitted a rhythmic suction sound.
With every cycle of the machinery, streams of milky white liquid overflowed from the women’s chests.
The liquid flowed in the same direction, eventually pooling into a single collection container.
On the backs of their hands, IV drips hung uniformly.
Given the surrounding scene, it wasn’t hard to guess that the fluid in those drips was a lactation inducer.
The women on the chairs stared with hollow, vacant eyes, like zombies whose souls had been ripped away.
Some even had drool dripping unconsciously from the corners of their mouths—clearly they had been injected with some kind of heavy sedative.
In the airtight space, a thick stench of sour milk, disinfectant, and a deathly aura of utter ruin hung heavy in the air.
The mere thought that the women on those chairs were no longer living, sentient human beings—
But rather cows stripped of all human dignity, forced to produce milk around the clock, 24/7—
Sent a wave of intense nausea, mixed with a sour, bile-like taste, surging up her throat.
Nie Zhenzhen quickly braced one hand against the wall and clamped the other over her mouth and nose.
Staying here even one more second would suffocate her on the spot.
She practically fled the place.
This time, she carefully traced the perimeter of the compound along its concrete walls, not missing a single corner.
Heaven helps those who help themselves.
Under her painstaking, inch-by-inch search, she actually managed to discover a hole—not too big, not too small.
The opening was extremely well concealed; had she not been paying close attention, it would have been nearly impossible to spot.
The hole was low and cramped, tucked away in a collapsed section of the wall, its edges obscured by rubble and overgrown weeds.
It was narrow and crude, like a shabby dog door, just barely wide enough for one person to lie flat and crawl through.
The girl crouched down, pushed aside the rubble and weeds, and leaned in for a closer look. Her clear, bright eyes shone like daylight even in the darkness.
A dim shaft of outside light filtered through the gap in the opening, leaking in a faint glimmer.
Wind rushed in through the hole, carrying with it the breath of freedom from beyond.
She stared at this hard-won escape route, her taut spine trembling slightly, and at last a spark of hope kindled in her eyes.
Soon, she steadied her surging emotions.
She quickly restored the opening to its original state and made a simple mark to remember it by.
Next, her top priority was to find her best friend Xiang Wan.
She was going to bring her out of here alive, together.
Nie Zhenzhen continued to feel her way through the darkness.
She noticed a row of single-story buildings not far from the hole.
At this hour—nearly midnight—the lights there were still blazing bright, starkly out of place against the pitch-black surroundings of the compound.
Driven by a mix of curiosity and the need to investigate, her steps unconsciously quickened as she made her way toward that single source of light.
Before she could even get close, a cacophony of noises drifted out from the building.
Because she was still some distance away, she couldn’t make out the words clearly.
She hurried closer, then ducked into the shadow of the wall, pressing her ear against it.
“Stay down! Don’t move!”
“Try moving again and see what happens—I swear I’ll chain you up!”
A man’s vicious commands and threats came through, laced with an authority that brooked no refusal.
“P-please… please… let me go…”
Then came a girl’s broken, incoherent pleas for mercy.
That… that voice… it sounded so familiar…
Yes! It was Xiang Wan’s voice!
Nie Zhenzhen cautiously poked her head out and peered through the gap in the window.
The scene inside left her utterly incredulous.
Her eyes flew wide open, round as saucers, from sheer terror.
She nearly cried out involuntarily—but caught herself just in time, clamping her own hand tightly over her mouth.
“Spread your legs wider, be good!”
The man’s ambiguous, teasing voice was laced with an unyielding command.
“No… ah! I really can’t take it anymore…”
Xiang Wan’s desperate, almost broken plea rang out once more.
“Already giving up after just a few rounds?!”
The man’s insatiable demands showed no restraint, yet he remained greedily unsatisfied.
Every word that followed reached Nie Zhenzhen’s ears with crystal clarity.
She stood frozen in place, both hands clamped tightly over her mouth and nose, forcing herself to make no sound at all.
But tears had long since soaked her cheeks, and her legs unconsciously grew weak and numb.
At this moment, she felt her mind go completely blank.
She truly didn’t know what she should do…
Charge in without hesitation and stop all of this?
Her rationality told her that was absolutely out of the question.
Against such an overwhelming disparity in strength, she couldn’t take Xiang Wan away.
Instead, she would only fall back into that den of demons herself, and escaping a second time would be harder than reaching the heavens.
Abandon Xiang Wan and flee on her own?
Her morality and conscience told her that was absolutely unacceptable.
She and Xiang Wan were as close as sisters, and she had promised she would never leave her behind.
If it were Xiang Wan in her place, she would never give up on her either.
Just as Nie Zhenzhen was caught in deliberation, hesitating to act—
The commotion inside the room suddenly died down.
She peered through the crack in the window once more.
She saw the man fastening the belt of his trousers, his face wearing a gluttonous, fully-sated expression.
To Nie Zhenzhen’s relief, there was no one guarding the perimeter of the house at all.
Soon after, she nearly cried at how foolish her own thought was.
Who would arrange guards for something like this!
The man quickly tidied himself up, walked out of the room, glanced around to confirm nothing was amiss, then hummed a tune and strolled leisurely away.
Nie Zhenzhen waited a few seconds, confirming no one was approaching, before she finally dared to step inside.