Chapter Twenty-One: A Living Hell

In the dim, oppressive room, only two candle flames flickered with a faint, wavering light.

Chu Xi huddled in the corner, her body trembling uncontrollably.

On an arhat chair nearby, a pair of deep, narrow eyes watched her with a smile that was not quite a smile.

The gaze was terrifying, and Chu Xi dared not meet it. She clutched her arms tightly, yet could not shield herself from the chilling dread emanating from those elongated eyes.

"What? Are you afraid?" His high-pitched, shrill voice cut through the silence like a sharp blade; even so, it was evident he was mimicking a woman’s tone.

Chu Xi recognized the strange, androgynous figure before her. He was the one who had intercepted and captured her on the treacherous, winding path just moments ago.

Summoning all her courage, Chu Xi asked with a trembling voice, "Who are you? Why have you abducted me? Let me go back—my mother is waiting for me."

At these words, Chu Xi choked back a sob. She recalled what Lady Liu had said as she was departing: "Mother will be there shortly." It seemed laughable now, yet at that moment, she had truly believed it. This was no place for Lady Liu to come; it was clearly a trap they had plotted to lure her into.

As this realization took hold, tears of utter grief and indignation streamed down Chu Xi’s face. The heart that had been filled with warmth and hope on the journey was now shattered by this cruel reality.

"Is she truly your mother? Anyone who would send you into the jaws of a beast like me is a monster themselves," a cold, sinister voice echoed suddenly through the lightless room.

With tears in her eyes, Chu Xi replied in despair, "If you would only devour me, that would be a mercy."

He let out a burst of laughter. "Death is the easiest thing to come by here. So, congratulations—you have come to the right place."

Chu Xi looked up at him. "I do not fear death. But before I die, can you tell me where this is? Why did they trick me into coming here? And who are you?"

"This is the forbidden wing of the Prime Minister’s estate. The Marquis and his wife married you off to me so they could secure the return of their only son, Chu Yong, to the capital. And as for me, I am the freak of legend in this city, Qi Huan." With that, he used his delicate, orchid-fingered gesture to smooth his hair.

Chu Xi’s heart sank. "Married off?" she asked, bewildered.

"Heh, yes. They married you to me."

As these words fell, Chu Xi felt the blood surge in her veins; the grief and indignation she had felt were now transformed into pure hatred for the Marquis and Lady Liu, and indeed, the entire Marquisate.

"They have married me off... once again." The flat, hollow words carried the weight of her utter helplessness and searing resentment.

Qi Huan suddenly stood up. He fixed his gaze on Chu Xi’s pale, wretched face and began to walk toward her.

"Don't come any closer! What do you want?" Chu Xi instinctively tried to retreat, only to find she was already pressed against the corner—there was nowhere left to go.

Just like her fate, there was no path left to take.

If the last time the Marquis and Lady Liu forced her to marry a dying man it was like throwing her into a fire pit from which she could not escape, then this time, they had been even more ruthless, tricking her into the arms of a freak—a living hell from which she would never return.

Qi Huan did not stop his approach. He narrowed his long, thin eyes, and his pale face parted into two blood-red lips; in the gloom, he looked like a vengeful spirit come to claim her soul.

Chu Xi scanned the room, only to realize there was not even a single window.

She smiled bitterly, her face a mask of desolation, and whispered in despair, "So be it." As the words left her lips, Qi Huan’s long, icy fingertips brushed against her cheek.