Li Yue woke from a distant dream to the sound of faint noise. Looking around, she noticed the living room seemed much tidier. She yawned, her slender body twisting slightly on the sofa as she tried to find a more comfortable position to sleep a bit longer.
A faint fragrance drifted into her nose. She let go of the cushion she had been hugging, waking up fully to rub her eyes. For some reason—perhaps it was the cooling weather—she felt a persistent wave of exhaustion gnawing at her spirit.
She smoothed her messy white hair and looked down, only to realize she had buttoned her pajamas incorrectly. Her stomach had apparently been exposed to the air while she slept.
She casually unbuttoned and re-fastened them. It didn't matter; she wouldn't get sick anyway. She was just prone to drowsiness lately, though she wasn't sure if it was simply the cold weather.
Suddenly, her vision went black, and she tumbled from the sofa to the floor. A flurry of fragmented memories followed. She clutched her head, her body trembling slightly. A moment later, she climbed back up, her eyes looking even more haggard.
It was those scenes again: the pitch-black throne, the deathly silence of the blood-red abyss, and the countless eyes watching her. Innumerable dead souls wailed within, their agonizing voices leaving her physically and mentally exhausted.
What is happening? Am I sick? Is this a mental issue?
“Would you like something to eat?” Diana asked, cautiously placing a pot of stew on the table. She untied her apron and looked at Li Yue, who sat on the sofa looking both lethargic and weary. Her face flushed slightly.
She’s... kind of cute...
Li Yue walked toward the dining table with small steps. She didn't seem to notice the slippers Diana had already set out for her, walking barefoot to the table. She pulled out a chair and sat sideways. Diana served her a bowl of stew that looked very appetizing. Li Yue took a small sip and nodded.
“How do you plan on getting back?” Li Yue asked, looking up after taking a bite of the meat.
“I’ll... just walk back,” Diana said, holding her bowl shyly.
“I’ll take you. I need to head out anyway,” Li Yue said, lowering her head to continue eating.
“Is it really on your way?”
“It’s fine. It’s only a slight detour.”
“Where are you going so late?”
“The hospital.” Li Yue finished her last bite, licked her lips, and picked up the ladle to serve herself another bowl of stew.
Her tongue is so long...
Diana lowered her head and didn't speak again, simply taking small bites of the food in her bowl.
After finishing her meal, Li Yue stood up and stretched her arms. Leaving behind a quick “I’m going to change,” she left the table.
A few minutes later, Li Yue emerged from her room. She had traded her pale pink pajamas for an all-black outfit. She wore black gloves, and a silver watch chain was wrapped around her wrist.
She wore a black dress hat, and her snowy-white hair was tied back in a ponytail, giving her a somewhat heroic air.
“Take the leftovers back for Anna and your mother.” Li Yue transferred the remaining stew into small bowls. With a faint flash of blue light from her hand, she stored them in her ring.
Li Yue opened the door, ignoring the biting cold wind. She waved her hand in the air, and a carriage soon came racing toward them from a distance, coming to a steady stop in front of them.
Despite the snow, the carriage was still a bit bumpy. Li Yue sat opposite the girl and eventually drifted off to sleep while leaning sideways. The girl stared at her profile, unable to look away for a time.
The swaying of the carriage eventually ceased, and Li Yue woke up with it. She stretched and handed the two bowls of stew to Diana.
“I’m heading out now.” Li Yue tossed Diana two silver coins. “This is for the carriage fare. Keep the change as payment for tidying my room.”
She closed the carriage door, waving goodbye and ignoring Diana’s attempts to return the coins.
Was it on the way? Not at all. The hospital—or rather, the clinic—she was heading to was not near the outer ring. Medical standards in the outer ring were poor; Li Yue felt that if this was a mental illness, this was the only place that could treat it.
There were very few people in the consultation room, mostly those with heavy bandages and severe injuries. Many of the wealthy in this ring had their own private doctors and didn't need to make the trip here.
Only the middle class, like herself, seemed to have the chance to visit such clinics for minor ailments. Though, most people probably chose to just endure it until it passed.
She knocked on a consultation room door. The doctor sat in his chair, looking somewhat surprised at the girl who appeared perfectly healthy.
Li Yue sat down and casually described her recent symptoms: hallucinations, lethargy, recurring nightmares, and occasional memories she had never experienced...
The doctor in the white coat looked troubled.
“Our clinic has never encountered a disease like this. I’m afraid I’m powerless to help.” The doctor paused. “There is another clinic in the outer ring that specializes in mental illnesses. It’s the only one in the city.”
“The outer ring?”
“You know, for people in the outer ring, every day is like a nightmare. Hahaha!”
Li Yue frowned, not joining the doctor in laughing at his gallows humor. She pushed the door open and left, hailing another carriage at the entrance. The thought of paying more fare made her feel a bit of a sting, but remembering she didn't have to worry about food made her feel a bit more relaxed.
“Nightmares aren't the kind of thing that stay away just because you don't want them,” Li Yue said as she walked out. She looked back over her shoulder. “I wish you sweet dreams tonight, sir.”
A flash of killing intent surged through her dull eyes for a split second. In that moment, the doctor felt as if a giant python were coiling around him, threatening his life at any second. He watched Li Yue leave, his hands shaking uncontrollably with lingering fear. He clutched his pounding heart, sighing as he realized he probably wouldn't be able to sleep well tonight.
Li Yue didn't bother taking another carriage. Her figure leaped across the city rooftops like a ghostly blood-red shadow.
She appeared in the outer ring of the city, still carrying a trace of irritation. This faint anger gave her an urge to kill. She suppressed the impulse and walked step by step toward a building that looked like a prison.
The word “Asylum” was written on the building's entrance. Li Yue frowned, feeling as though this was a scene straight out of a movie.
She knocked on the iron gate. Several guards looked at each other, standing before the gate as if trying to find the right words.
“I’m sorry, visiting hours are over for today.”
“Isn't this a hospital for treating mental illnesses?” The guards looked at each other and then at the girl before them. No matter how they looked at her, she didn't seem like a mental patient.
“Do you have a doctor here?” Li Yue stood in the snow, unmoved.
“Please wait a moment.” A middle-aged man in a physician’s coat was brought to the iron gate. He looked exhausted, but his eyes were very sharp. His hair was mostly gray, yet he had very few wrinkles.
Li Yue briefly explained her symptoms. The air seemed to go silent. Li Yue felt a sudden urge to leave; she was curious—did the people here not suffer from such things?
“Disturbances in perception, consciousness, and memory,” he said after a moment of silence. “Would you come with me?”
Li Yue nodded. She followed the physician into the prison-like hospital. It was less of a hospital and more of a detention center for high-risk criminals.
“My name is Lane. I studied in Kervico and worked as a physician for a while.” Lane paused. “I returned here two years ago. To be honest, I’m a bit shocked to see you.”
Li Yue gave him a confused look, which Lane read instantly.
“Of course, people here inevitably suffer from mental illnesses, whether congenital or acquired. However, once chronic symptoms of mental instability appear, they usually die in their madness.” Lane sighed. “Over time, this place has become a facility solely for detaining psychologically twisted, high-risk criminals.”
“My childhood friend died that way. He fell into excessive grief after his parents passed away, leading to hallucinations. Not long after, he danced off a cliff.” Lane walked ahead with his hands in his pockets. “He was a good man. He adopted children from the streets and rescued dying stray cats. Perhaps it’s that kind of person who is most prone to sentimentality and falling into agony.”
For some reason, Li Yue thought of Roland again—the man whose eyes were always filled with pain. Could it be that this constant, lingering pain was what made him choose to sacrifice himself without hesitation in the end?
She looked at the ground as a sense of powerlessness and anger surged up. She looked at the path ahead, and everything turned vivid red. The ground became pitch black, and a blood-red liquid flowed from beneath her feet toward the distance. Giant black tripods stood there, with the corpses of the hanged dangling and swaying in the wind.
I seem to have already killed the person who caused Mr. Roland’s death, but this doesn't seem that simple. Why Caesar Alex fled the Royal Court and the appearance of the Blood Moon—none of it seems like something he planned alone.
If there was still a mastermind behind it all, Li Yue would be genuinely happy. Right now, her only thought was how to make that person wish they were dead.
If they dare let me find them, no matter where they hide, I will definitely kill them! I’ll make them suffer a thousand cuts from their own blood! I’ll make them watch as I carve the flesh from their body piece by piece! I’ll make them beg me to kill them!
It was currently the prison's evening rest period. Prisoners were gathered in groups of three to five, most of them wearing leg irons or handcuffs. Usually, they would be moving about freely, and fights often broke out, but today they were exceptionally quiet. To a man, they all felt an incredibly intense killing intent looming over the entire prison.
Which cold-blooded killer has arrived now?
They all thought the same thing.
Lane felt as if a storm were brewing behind him. The last time he had felt this way was during a once-in-a-decade storm at sea.
It was like standing on a deck, being tossed about by waves, desperate to get back into the cabin.
If he were to look back now, he would likely see a pair of blood-red snake pupils in the shadows, along with a faint, blood-red glow.
She saw blood-red hands reaching out from the bottom of the abyss, grabbing her ankles. In her daze, she smelled a faint, delicate fragrance that pulled her thoughts back to reality. She looked at the Cecilia flower by her hand, and the murderous glint in her eyes slowly faded.
What just... happened to me?
She clutched her head. The doctor also snapped out of it at that moment, wondering if he still hadn't moved past the shadow of that old storm. He gave an awkward smile.
“Have you had dinner yet?” He exhaled a long breath. He looked pale, but he forced a smile anyway.
“I’ve eaten.” Li Yue felt a wave of exhaustion. “I want to sit for a while.”
“Then let’s have a little something together.”
Lane walked toward the canteen’s kitchen. It was currently the dining time for the second wave of prisoners. He grabbed a portion of food from the kitchen. Li Yue leaned over to look and felt the food wasn't particularly bad; at the very least, there were some vegetables besides beans.
There were some green beans that looked like they had been boiled in some kind of soup. As a doctor, Lane also had some meat.
As the only physician in the prison, Lane was treated with the highest respect, even by the most violent and wicked inmates. This was because he was the only one who treated these sinners as human beings, and the only doctor willing to work here.
The chef here was an old man who was smoking and chatting with his colleagues with a bit of irritation.
“Those prisoners kept complaining to me today that the beans were too tough. My cooking method is perfectly fine.” He blew out a puff of white smoke. “I think they still think this place is a hotel.”
Lane froze for a moment, took a small taste, and silently spat it out. He turned around and walked toward the depths of the prison with Li Yue, an awkward smile on his face.
“Who says these beans are tough? These beans are... fan-tastic!” The apprentices began to heap on the praise. Li Yue was a bit confused but followed quickly anyway.
“I’m going to grab some medicine. Go wait for me; my office is at the end of the hallway, turn left.”
Li Yue nodded and walked toward Lane’s office. Inexplicably, the prisoners in this area all felt a strange sense of fear.
Li Yue could sense that the people here all had lives on their hands to some degree. According to her code of conduct, these people usually started at the death penalty.
“Hello there, miss. What crime did you commit to end up here?” A man covered in scars blocked her path. His muscles were developed to a point that could only be described as abnormal.
She lowered her head and yawned, reaching out to untie her ponytail and letting her hair fall like a waterfall. She wore a smile, though a murderous light brewed in her blood-red eyes.
“Me? Oh, the crimes I’ve committed are... beyond counting.”
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