Chapter 142
Chapter 142
This was a room with four spotless white walls.
There were no windows. A chair stood in the center, fitted with several white restraint straps. They were cinched tightly around Qingshui’s wrists, ankles, and waist. There was even one around her neck, forcing her to remain in the same position.
Qingshui had been strapped to the chair for more than ten hours. She had tried to struggle, but the restraints had not budged. They had only tightened further.
No one had entered during that time. It was as though she had been forgotten.
The cramped, enclosed space made Qingshui tremble uncontrollably. Every so often, she hallucinated that the walls were moving or that someone was standing in the corner, watching her.
But whenever she strained to look out of the corner of her eye, there was nothing there.
Then calm, unhurried footsteps approached.
Qingshui’s body instantly went rigid, and her heart began to race.
The lock clicked softly, and the door swung open.
The Director walked in, casually closed the door behind her, and slowly sat down in front of Qingshui.
Her face was expressionless as her calm gaze settled on Qingshui’s pale face. Her eyes seemed gentle, yet held a chilling sense of absolute control.
She stared at Qingshui for a long time. Qingshui stared back, but something seemed lodged in her throat, leaving her unable to speak.
Then the Director spoke, her voice as gentle as ever.
“My child, you’ve suffered.”
“Go to hell.”
The Director sighed and leaned forward until she was at eye level with Qingshui. “I know you don’t understand why I’ve locked you in here. But you have to believe me. This is for your own good.”
Qingshui’s throat tightened. “Bullshit,” she rasped.
The Director did not get angry. She merely regarded Qingshui like a petulant child throwing a tantrum and continued, “Your mind is cluttered with far too many things. They’re hurting you. I’m going to help you clear them away.”
She raised her hand, and a silver object dropped from her palm.
Suspended in midair, it began to swing back and forth at a steady rhythm.
Qingshui’s pupils contracted slightly, and her gaze followed it against her will.
The watch swung back and forth, over and over, its silver gleam tracing arc after arc before her eyes.
“Watch it…” The Director’s voice grew distant and ethereal. “Relax…”
Qingshui’s consciousness began to drift. It was a strange feeling, as if her body remained here while her soul slowly floated upward.
“You’re very tired…”
“You’ve come from far, far away… You’ve traveled for so long… You’re tired… so tired…”
She really did feel tired.
“Close your eyes… Get some rest…”
Her eyelids grew heavy.
“You don’t know those people…”
Who?
“They were never here…”
Wen Lianfeng? Chu Jingchu? Their faces began to blur. The names remained, but the faces were melting away.
“I saved you… from that horde of Madmen… Do you remember?”
“I’m the only one who can protect you…”
No…
“You’re grateful to me… You depend on me… You’ll always obey me…”
No!
Qingshui’s pupils abruptly contracted.
The swinging stopped for an instant. No, it had not stopped. Her consciousness was fighting back with everything it had!
I don’t want to forget again!
She clenched her teeth, sinking them into her lower lip and instantly drawing blood. The metallic taste flooded her mouth.
I don’t want to forget again!!
The blurred faces snapped back into focus for an instant. Wen Lianfeng looked at her and asked, “Do you want to come with Chu Jingchu and me?” Chu Jingchu crouched in the corner, drinking gruel…
The Director frowned, and the pocket watch began to swing faster.
“Relax… You’re too tense. Relax.”
Qingshui’s consciousness began to tremble.
Her soul shuddered. She felt herself floating higher and higher, as though her consciousness were about to unravel into a wisp of smoke, scattered by the wind in every direction, never to be gathered again.
At the same time, a strange sensation surged from beneath her skin. It spread upward through her veins, into her arms, shoulders, chest, and neck, battering against the limits of her awareness.
The pocket watch continued to swing. The Director’s lips kept moving, her words burrowing into Qingshui’s mind.
“Relax… Relax… All you need to do is…”
Before long, Qingshui’s expression gradually went blank.
The Director stared intently into her eyes and said slowly, “Look at me. Good girl.”
“Who am I?”
Qingshui answered, “The Director…”
“Who saved you?”
“The Director…”
The Director asked, “Do you trust her? Are you grateful to her?”
Qingshui opened her mouth but did not answer immediately. She seemed to be trying to resist, but she could not hold out. At last, she slowly said, “I… trust her. I… am grateful to her.”
“Go to sleep.”
Qingshui paused for two seconds. Then, under the Director’s watchful gaze, she slowly closed her eyes.
The Director rose and looked down at Qingshui. At last, a smile tugged at the corners of her lips, and she reached out to gently stroke the top of Qingshui’s head.
The figure who had been standing in the doorway moved. Song Yunqing leaned against the doorframe, watching the scene with an unreadable expression.
“Is it over?”
The Director nodded. “Let’s go.”
Their footsteps gradually faded into the distance.
The room fell silent once more.
Then Qingshui’s eyes flew open. Her pupils trembled violently as cold sweat rolled down her temples and into her eyes, but she didn’t even blink.
She lowered her head and looked at her bound hand.
It was shaking, but she forced it open, little by little, until her palm lay flat.
It was covered in vivid red marks.
…………
At the same time, in another room…
Wen Lianfeng leaned against the wall beside the door, staring at it. She had been doing so for a long time.
The room was cramped and completely bare, with only a single window set high in the wall.
Chu Jingchu sat in a corner with her knees hugged to her chest, staring blankly at the window. Meng Rui leaned against the opposite wall with her eyes closed. It was impossible to tell whether she was asleep or lost in thought.
Someone stood guard outside the door without making a sound.
Even though Wen Lianfeng had pretended to give in, the Director still hadn’t appeared. Everything was moving according to the other side’s timetable. She wouldn’t show herself again until the appointed hour.
Wen Lianfeng knew exactly what the Director was planning: leave them locked up and ignore them until they broke on their own. She had seen the tactic used countless times. It was common in interrogation rooms. Time wore everything down. Given enough of it, even the toughest people would begin to doubt themselves.
The problem was, she couldn’t afford to wait. The longer this dragged on, the more unpredictable the situation would become, and the greater the danger they would face.
She would have to take a gamble.
Wen Lianfeng slowly lowered her head. Pressing her chin against her collar, she caught the inner fold between her teeth and tugged it out bit by bit.
A razor blade emerged. It was an extremely thin one, concealed inside the folded edge of her collar.
Chu Jingchu’s eyes widened. Even Meng Rui stared in shock.
“You… You’ve had that hidden this whole time?”
Wen Lianfeng didn’t answer. She began sawing through the hemp rope around her wrists.
The rope snapped.
Wen Lianfeng rolled her wrists, then cut Chu Jingchu free, followed by Meng Rui.
All three of them were free, but the door was still locked, and someone was guarding it from outside.
“Shh.”
Wen Lianfeng pressed a finger to her lips and lowered her voice to a whisper.
She pointed at the window high above them. “Chu Jingchu, see if you can open that window.”
“We’ll climb out through there.”
Some windows in the Psychiatric Hospital were permanently sealed and couldn’t be opened at all. If this one was the same, their only option would be to smash the glass with their fists. But that was a last resort. The glass could cut their hands, and the noise would alert the guard outside.
Chu Jingchu and Meng Rui exchanged a glance, then nodded simultaneously.
Wen Lianfeng walked beneath the window and crouched, bracing both hands against her knees. “Step onto my shoulders.”
Chu Jingchu didn’t hesitate. She climbed onto Wen Lianfeng’s shoulders and steadied herself against the wall. Wen Lianfeng slowly stood, lifting her high enough to reach the window.
Chu Jingchu reached out and gave it a gentle push. The window opened!
She immediately eased it all the way open without making a sound and began climbing out. When half her body was through, she glanced down without thinking and locked eyes with the guard by the entrance below.
The guard’s face instantly went deathly pale. She opened her mouth, then snatched up her radio!
Chu Jingchu’s expression changed as well.
“Hurry! She saw us!”
The guard’s scream rang out. “One! They’re climbing out the window!”
Wen Lianfeng’s face tightened. “Climb!” she hissed under her breath, urgency entering her voice for the first time. “Hurry!”
Meng Rui rushed over and stepped onto Wen Lianfeng’s shoulders. She was heavier than Chu Jingchu, and Wen Lianfeng buckled slightly under her weight. Gritting her teeth, she forced herself to hold steady, the veins at her temples bulging.
Meng Rui grabbed the windowsill, hauled herself up, and climbed through!
Now only Wen Lianfeng remained. She backed up several steps, took a running start, and leaped, catching the windowsill. Her arms tensed as she pulled herself up.
They had escaped!
The three of them landed on the narrow ledge outside. The ground was two stories below, and jumping down could easily injure them.
“Do we go down?” Chu Jingchu asked breathlessly.
Wen Lianfeng looked up. “No. We climb over there!”
They would have nowhere to hide down below, and it would be difficult to find another chance to enter the main building and rescue anyone. Their best option was to climb into the next room, make their way through the building, and go straight for Qingshui.
The three edged along the narrow ledge, grabbed the neighboring windowsill, and climbed inside one after another.