He tugged hard, pulling Wen Xiang Yuan over by her hair.
Wen Xiang Yuan's scalp burned with pain as her upper body was jerked upright, her head tilted back to reveal the swan-like, fragile beauty of her neck under the strain.
"I was just about to ask you, Yuan Yuan, what are you doing here?"
"Are you... in contact with that other world?"
Her face distorted for a split second when Wen Gan Ting called her "Yuan Yuan," but she quickly masked it with a smile.
It was Wen Xiang Yuan's most stunning smile—gentle and weak, like a flower drenched in dew, breathtakingly beautiful yet utterly fragile.
"That's right, Brother. Isn't our life far too boring?"
Wen Gan Ting stared at Wen Xiang Yuan for a moment before delivering a heavy slap to her face.
He used a great deal of force, sending Wen Xiang Yuan's body crashing back into the water; her cheek swelled instantly, and a trickle of blood appeared at the corner of her mouth.
Wen Xiang Yuan thought dazedly that she really had grown; in the past, she would have found this incredibly painful.
But now, she wondered if this was all the strength Wen Gan Ting had.
"Wen Xiang Yuan, have I been too indulgent with you? I thought you were just a spoiled, idle little princess. What, is the little princess looking for a thrill?"
Wen Xiang Yuan wiped the blood from her mouth with an air of indifference, looking at Wen Gan Ting with a hint of subtle irony in her eyes.
"Isn't this something that runs in our blood?"
"Besides, no matter what I do, it won't affect me. So why do you care about the specifics of what I'm doing?"
Wen Gan Ting keenly sensed the change in Wen Xiang Yuan.
Before, Wen Xiang Yuan was like a greenhouse flower—she had thorns, but they weren't frightening; they only made her more interesting.
What was the point of just a pretty cat? It was only fun when it showed its claws.
But now, this pretty cat had grown up, and to his surprise, it seemed to have developed a bit of a wild streak.
A beautiful, wild cat was far more useful than a mere ornamental one.
Wen Gan Ting's thoughts raced as he turned to the nearby servants.
"What are you waiting for? Help the young lady up."
Two maids hurried forward to help Wen Xiang Yuan up and wrapped her in a thick bath towel.
"Help her get ready. I'll be waiting in the front hall."
"Yes, sir."
Wen Xiang Yuan stood inside a massive, transparent glass container filled with a colorless, odorless liquid that felt more like a semi-liquid than water.
A small screen above the container displayed: 【Malfunction! A forced exit may cause irreversible damage to the human body!】
Inside the container, beneath the screen, was a human-shaped indentation with dense protrusions at the top where the head would rest.
A closer look revealed that those protrusions were alive, writhing like tiny tentacles.
The originally milky-white, transparent tentacles were now tinged with a faint red.
That was the damage caused by Wen Xiang Yuan's forced exit from the brain-computer interface.
She glanced at the warning on the screen; the word "irreversible" was highlighted in red, yet the man who had forced her out didn't care about that possibility at all.
Wen Xiang Yuan frowned, tapped a few commands on the screen, and shut down the machine.
"Give me some painkillers."
A stern woman in a gray housekeeper's uniform looked at Wen Xiang Yuan with disapproval. "Miss, painkillers are not good for your health."
Wen Xiang Yuan didn't even look at her. "You only need to follow my orders."
The woman lowered her head slightly. "Yes, Miss."
"When did Wen Gan Ting arrive?"
"Ten minutes ago," the woman replied mechanically.
"Did he get violent the moment he entered?"
"No. He watched you for a while before forcing you out of the brain-computer interface."
Wen Xiang Yuan's brow furrowed in disgust; the thought of Wen Gan Ting staring at her while she was unconscious made her feel physically ill.
"I want to take a bath."
The woman hesitated for a moment. "The young master is waiting..."
Wen Xiang Yuan curled her lips into a cold smile. "Wen Shen, you still don't understand him. For someone like him, he's willing to wait as long as there's something to be gained."
Wen Shen said nothing more and signaled the maids to prepare everything for Wen Xiang Yuan.
"Miss... why do you go to that world?"
Wen Xiang Yuan turned to look at Wen Shen in surprise; in her memory, this woman never spoke an unnecessary word.
She only followed her orders—and Wen Gan Ting's.
"Do you enjoy this kind of life, year after year, like a puppet on strings?"
Wen Shen didn't answer. Wen Xiang Yuan frowned and looked at the wall, where a massive oil painting of Eden hung.
"Forget it, you wouldn't be able to answer that anyway."
"But I'm tired of it. I'm tired of always following a pre-set path. I'm tired of a life with no novelty."
Wen Xiang Yuan's eyes sparkled slightly. "I want... to be the master of my own fate."
Wen Shen stood behind Wen Xiang Yuan, silent.
Wen Xiang Yuan remained immersed in her thoughts, soaking in the bathtub for a long time.
By the time she finished getting ready and stepped out in an expensive silk gown, Wen Gan Ting was in the front hall drinking coffee.
His face, which had been tight with impatience from the wait, became unreadable as he took in Wen Xiang Yuan's perfect poise.
"My dear brother, sorry to keep you waiting."
Wen Xiang Yuan smiled gently as if nothing had happened; she was beautiful and elegant, her every move radiating grace.
Wen Gan Ting curled his lips into a smile. "Then let's have a talk, my dear sister."
"When did you first start entering that world?"
...
When Nan Yue arrived in Eden, she stood at the teleportation point, speechless.
She had expected Eden to be prosperous, but she hadn't imagined it would be to this extent.
Countless skyscrapers pierced the sky like jagged mountain ranges, wrapped in colorful neon ribbons that vanished into the clouds.
Transparent roadways hovered in mid-air, their edges outlined by green neon lights, as sleek, futuristic cars sped through the sky.
Massive, translucent screens floated in the air, featuring men and women with exquisite, perfect features.
"We thank the Scavenger Project. May the purification project bring us new hope."
It was daytime, and while the neon lights were vibrant, they weren't yet at their most striking.
But Nan Yue could easily imagine what a magnificent sight Eden would be once night fell.
In other places, teleportation points were treated as sacred grounds.
Everyone would line up, looking at the scavengers heading to higher-level city states with gazes full of respect.
They watched with envy and expectation, sincerely hoping that one day, they would be the ones making that journey.
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