She hastily let go of the curtain in her hand, and the sliver of sunlight vanished instantly, plunging her entire body back into the icy cellar. It felt even colder now, a chill radiating from within.
Bai Song shivered involuntarily, her eyes full of wariness as she stared at Tong Yao standing in the doorway.
She took a slight step back, nearly tripping over the curtain, and steadied herself by gripping the windowsill.
Tong Yao stood at the door, watching her intently.
The room was unlit, and Bai Song could only make out a dark silhouette, unable to discern Tong Yao’s expression.
Precisely because she couldn’t see clearly, her fear intensified. Her legs trembled like a sieve, barely able to support her.
Tong Yao remained motionless, and the air seemed to freeze. Bai Song didn’t dare even breathe, almost holding her breath entirely.
Suddenly, Tong Yao stepped forward. Bai Song hurriedly retreated until her back pressed against the window, leaving her no further room to escape.
She could distinctly feel Tong Yao’s gaze fixed on her unwavering, penetrating.
If not for the sheer embarrassment, Bai Song might have even wrapped herself entirely in the curtain to block Tong Yao’s line of sight.
Tong Yao chuckled softly. “Scared like this?”
“…” Bai Song stayed silent.
It wasn’t out of stubbornness her throat ached too much to speak.
Tong Yao walked straight to the bed. As she bent to place something down, Bai Song finally noticed the tray in her hands. She had come to bring her food.
It was congee!
The delicate aroma of rice porridge wafted through the room, lingering at the tip of her nose.
Bai Song only felt hungrier now dizzy, weak-limbed, her mouth watering incessantly.
If Bai Song were a wisp of a soul, she would have floated over to devour it already.
Instead of calling her to eat immediately, Tong Yao spoke leisurely. “What, thinking of leaving?”
Bai Song froze.
She suddenly realized that her unauthorized trip to the window had been misinterpreted by Tong Yao.
But she had only been too hungry, wanting to know where she was, whether there were people nearby, if she could find something to eat.
Leave? What about the mission?
Bai Song’s silence made Tong Yao assume she was admitting it.
With a loud clatter, the bowl was slammed onto the bedside table, making Bai Song’s heart tremble in fear that her meal might be ruined.
Tong Yao took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to punish her harshly, and tried to keep her voice steady. “You’re still unwell. Where else do you think you can go?”
Bai Song: “!”
Dizzy and disoriented, it was the system that finally summarized for her: “In short, if you want to leave this world, you have to stay by her side.”
Bai Song: “…”
Tong Yao raised her arm and beckoned as if calling a large dog. “Come here.”
Bai Song didn’t want to go, but that bowl of congee was like a magnet, she couldn’t control her feet at all.
By the time she regained her senses, she was already in Tong Yao’s embrace.
Bai Song immediately struggled. “Tong Yao, I’m warning you once or twice is enough, but not a third or fourth time!”
Tong Yao tapped her fingertip against Bai Song’s lips and scoffed. “Song Song, let me tell you not only will there be a third and fourth, but a thousand, ten thousand more. Haven’t you grasped reality yet?”
Bai Song glared at her furiously, trembling all over.
Tong Yao quietly savored her flustered expression for a while, satisfied inwardly, before casually remarking, “Hungry? Eat first.”
Though still angry, Bai Song was far too famished, she nearly nodded instinctively.
But she felt it would be utterly spineless, so she stubbornly forced herself to turn away and shut her eyes.
Tong Yao grabbed her chin, forcing her to meet her gaze: “Bai Song, how dare you defy me?”
“!” You’re not the emperor, why can’t I disobey you? Besides, is skipping a meal considered defiance?
Bai Song was almost amused by her domineering attitude.
Tong Yao sneered twice: “You refuse a toast only to be forced to drink a forfeit. Since you won’t eat on your own, I’ll feed you.”
Seeing the slightly menacing look on Tong Yao’s face, Bai Song’s pupils shrank in alarm, and she hurriedly tried to scramble away.
A sharp pain shot through her chin Tong Yao was trained, her grip strong and unyielding. With that squeeze, Bai Song couldn’t move, and her mouth was forced open.
A porcelain spoon laden with a heaping scoop of porridge was shoved into her mouth, twisted, and emptied in one go.
Bai Song nearly choked, coughing several times, but she swallowed every last bit of the porridge.
Once the first bite was down, refusing the rest would seem overly dramatic. Plus, the warmth of that spoonful in her stomach beckoned to the rest in the bowl. With a mix of indignation and resignation, Bai Song “reluctantly” finished the entire bowl.
Tong Yao was satisfied.
She lifted her hand, wiping the traces of porridge from Bai Song’s lips, then licked her own fingers clean.
After tidying up the bowl and spoon, she turned and left.
Bai Song sat on the bed, staring blankly at her retreating figure, utterly bewildered.
Bai Song: “What was she even here for?”
The system tentatively ventured a guess: “Even pets need to be fed on schedule?”
Bai Song: “…”
Even after she stayed, Tong Yao wasn’t content.
Every corner of the room was fitted with surveillance cameras even the bathroom wasn’t spared.
Even when Tong Yao was at work, she could monitor Bai Song from every angle, 360 degrees without blind spots.
Every noon, Bai Song would stand by the window for a while, basking in the sunlight. But in Tong Yao’s eyes, she was scouting escape routes.
Especially when Bai Song chatted with the system, her brows would furrow in frustration, her uneasy demeanor only reinforcing Tong Yao’s suspicions.
Though Bai Song behaved as docile as a kitten every day, Tong Yao remained vigilant, always wary that she might flee.
Under such tight surveillance, Bai Song had lived there for a long time without figuring out who else, if anyone, was in the villa.
Or was it truly just her and Tong Yao?
That would be terrifying.
Shivering, Bai Song discussed with the system.
“This can’t go on. We can’t just keep dragging it out. My kidneys are working like perpetual motion machines, but all I get is bland food that tastes like cardboard. If this continues, I’ll collapse from exhaustion.”
System: “So what do you want to do?”
Bai Song: “Maybe I should play weak. She likes me, after all. If something really happened to me, she wouldn’t just ignore it.”
Just as Bai Song was rolling up her sleeves, ready to strip down, take a cold shower, and crank up the AC to give herself a fever, the system hesitantly spoke up: “I could give you a buff.”
Bai Song scoffed: “No, thanks. A mild cold is enough, I can exaggerate the symptoms a little. Your buffs are too extreme; I can’t handle them!”
The system’s buffs tended to escalate a simple fever into full-blown pneumonia.
She wasn’t about to torture herself.
But the system continued, “This room is under surveillance everywhere. Control your expressions, don’t give yourself away. That’s right, just like that. Listen to me, if you catch a cold from freezing yourself, Tong Yao will definitely think you’re faking it to gain sympathy. Do you really think your plan will still work then.”
Bai Song: “…” Holy shit, can this get any more twisted?
Bai Song made one last attempt: “I’m going to the bathroom. I don’t want the buff, no matter what.”
The system sighed.
Bai Song grew uneasy: “What’s wrong?”
The system hesitated but ultimately didn’t say what it was thinking: “Go ahead.”
Bai Song: “…” Great, now I’m even more scared.