Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
It was a small young Chinese boy with pale skin and delicate features. While his dark eyes seemed somewhat timid, there were also a few obvious bruises on his arms.
While he was not strong, he merely pulled Cheng Anya up, let go of her, and then looked at his instructor, trembling and fearful. As his body clearly shuddered, one could tell that he was in extreme fear and ready to receive a scolding at any time.
As this child was most likely abducted here not too long ago, Cheng Anya felt bad.
She had heard Ye Wei mention special operatives being trained from young, and they had a few ways of selecting people—from the orphanages, the black market boxing rings, and abducting children from good families.
She was not sure how the young boy was selected.
The two instructors and six armed men were not the least astonished, but more mature, level-headed men’s faces changed. As Cheng Anya recalled how the doctor treating her always visited her in a biohazard suit and how the maidservant came and left quickly, her suspicion of nobody wanting to come close to her arose.
She was suddenly surprised as she looked down at the little boy who still looked down. When she looked at the adults, one of the instructors evacuated all the other children save the boy next to her, who seemed to be marooned by the others. As she seemed to realize something, she looked at the other instructor in panic.
There was pure fear in the boy’s gaze, and Cheng Anya felt even worse. “What are you hanging around for!” The instructor barked at her before she could respond.
In spite of the coldness of his comment, it carried with it a rage.
Cheng Anya twisted her eyebrows. She panicked as the responsible her connected the dots of the cryptic things she saw. “What are you afraid of?”
Yes, it was fear!
She did not understand why looking at that boy made her uneasy. But, didn’t Louis actually touch her?
“I do not know what you are saying. If you still insist on hanging around, please do not blame me for becoming impolite,” the instructor rudely and unreasonably replied.
Cheng Anya coldly smiled and could not help but take a few steps forward. The face of said instructor changed and the group of them took a few steps backward. “Mind telling me how impolite you can get?” Cheng Anya smiled in a mocking manner.
As she was certain that they did not want to take her life, she did not have to be afraid of them as Louis would not condone them having their way with her, no?
The more she stepped forward, the more the group of them backed off.
As her gaze grew colder, her uneasiness grew as they backed off even more. The group of them eventually realized that something was amiss and coldly harrumphed before going away. The instructor gave Cheng Anya a chilly death stare.
What was a lively beach suddenly became much quieter as only the sounds of the waves quickly and forcefully lapping the shore could be heard. Cheng Anya’s heart winced as she saw the bodies floating along the beach.
Although she did not know him, anybody who witnessed such a scene would definitely have heartache and take pity on that tender life. As she was reminded of Ning Ning, Cheng Anya had a mixed bag of emotions.
“What is your name?” Cheng Anya gently asked the young boy as he stood in trembling and fear, his timid gaze somewhat cold.
“Zhang Bo,” the little boy said. When he saw Cheng Anya look at the pile of bodies, his mood slightly sank. “I killed them,” he said as he pointed to them.
Cheng Anya nodded as their training was indeed extremely brutal. “How long have you been here?”
“Three months.”
“Are you an orphan?”
“I am not an orphan.” Zhang Bo shook his head. “I was abducted by them, and I miss home.”
Cheng Anya’s heart tensed. As she was tired from standing, she sat down on the rock. “Hey, are you unwell?” Zhang Bo could not help but ask.
“Uh, yes, I am a little unwell,” Cheng Anya said. “Is there no way to get out of here?”
Zhang Bo looked around before shaking his head and replying, “Some of us have been here for three to four years. A few people thought of escaping some time ago, but nobody succeeded.”
Cheng Anya knew, without him having to mention, how difficult things were. As long as there was a sliver of hope, she would not give up. The problem now lay with her body. It was simply unable to do anything. Since Louis was certain she was unable to do anything, he then allowed her to move around. If she was a threat, Louis would simply not send people to tail her. Perhaps her conversation with the boy would be sent from the surveillance camera in the distance to Louis in real-time.
Cheng Anya suddenly panicked. “Zhang Bo, you go. Do not be implicated by me.”
Zhang Bo looked at Cheng Anya and then looked down and said, “If you have a chance to leave, can you help me check on my mommy and daddy?”
Cheng Anya frowned as she was also uncertain about her odds of escaping. She still nodded and Zhang Bo gave an address. Cheng Anya realized, to her surprise, that he was also from City A. It was such a coincidence.
Before she could say anything, Zhang Bo left.
As Cheng Anya sat on the rock and saw his small back, she softly coughed out an apology.
She, perhaps, had already implicated him. While she did not know what was going on, there were various signs suggesting that the boy would not live for long. Because of her, she might have deprived him of the right to life.
“I am very sorry.” Cheng Anya’s heart knotted in a stabbing pain. The floating bodies in the sea allowed her to feel, even more realistically, that she had indeed had a very good life.
Despite the slight conflicts and machinations of people and between people, they were at least not as visceral and violent as what she saw.
Despite the beautiful sunshine, there was darkness in the world that it could not reach. Wei Wei and Eleven should be not too different from the children who grew up in such a hellish environment.
She must get to the bottom of what exactly happened to her. She must not implicate Zhang Bo.
Louis…
As Cheng Anya clenched her fists, she heard the whirring of the helicopter as she stood up. As she slightly frowned, the helicopter landed on the beach and Louis, in a gray windbreaker, disembarked from the helicopter. The windbreaker perfectly emphasized his tall physique and made him that more temperamental.
That scoundrel!
As Cheng Anya secretly cursed him, Louis clearly noticed Cheng Anya and walked toward her. His emerald gaze carried a mesmerizing gentleness and any woman who saw him would consider him a perfect knight in shining armor.
“I’m surprised that you have the strength to walk this far. So, enjoying the sun?” Louis smiled.
As Cheng Anya did not quite want to entertain Louis, her gaze was cold. Since it turned out that Louis was not on the island for the last two days, it was little wonder that he was not present. Now that he was back, he would torture her again.
“What did you do to me?” Cheng Anya asked in a deep voice. Although she did not seem firm enough, especially with Louis coming before her like a god and seemingly pressurizing her, she could not muscle the strength to toughen up.
Ye Chen often said that it’s okay to lose a person but not one’s toughness. While there are times one would lose the match, one’s confidence and dignity could be battered too. What could one do if they could not act tough?
“You’ve learned of that pretty quickly.” Louis smiled as he gently caressed her hair that was rustled by the wind. “You aren’t that dumb after all.”
Cheng Anya turned her head away in disgust. How could Louis touch her with such impunity?
“I just touched a boy,” Cheng Anya flatly replied as she gave Louis a death stare. Louis, as expected, raised her eyebrows and responded nonchalantly, “He is dead meat then. What a pity.”
As she turned back and looked at the bobbing bodies along the seaside, he pointed at the bodies and said, “He will soon end up like them—no, he won’t. A more terrible fate awaits him.” He seemed to be out to torture Cheng Anya.
Cheng Anya was very shocked at the news. Although she had expected such an answer, she was nevertheless shocked. Her already-pale face became even more enraged.
“What the hell did you do to me?” She wished she could punch Louis.
As Cheng Anya recalled Zhang Bo’s timid gaze, her voice trembled. As she had never felt this helpless before, her body seemed to be on fire as she was both heartbroken and angry.
“A new type of virus.” Louis smiled with a pleasing gaze as he gently fondled Cheng Anya’s face. “I only wanted to use you as leverage against Ye Chen, but it seems that things went out of control and I have really taken an interest toward you. How interesting, no? Nobody in the world save me can touch you.”
As Cheng Anya’s body shuddered uncontrollably, she bit her lower lip until it bled. When Louis was beating her up that day, she had broken her lower lip from the biting. As said injury had yet to fully heal, she inflicted a new wound and tasted the stench of blood in her mouth.
“When did you act on me?” Her eyes were wide open as she kept the panic surging in her heart at bay.
Her abdomen ached for no rhyme nor reason, and the stabbing pain that happened multiple times only happened after she encountered Louis. Cheng Anya could not help but become afraid. She had had physical contact with Ye Chen, her darling child, and many other people. If she were sure to harm that many people, she would not be able to make amends.
“Afraid?” Louis fondled her face and shook his head in seeming disapproval and slight mockery. “Where’s that Cheng Anya with her tough talk? And you ought to be afraid of, you know? I have many ways to get you to taste fear.”
Cheng Anya could not be bothered with whatever Louis was saying and tightly grabbed Louis’ collar and asked him, “When the hell did you start?”
To unknowingly turn her into a serial killer, especially with her dearest Ye Chen, Ning Ning, and Daddy Cheng as targets, Cheng Anya was deep in fear and almost in tears.
The more she panicked, the more Louis’ smile became at ease. “From the first time we met.”
At that moment, Cheng Anya turned pale and her hand that was grabbing Louis’ collar loosened and fell. Her mind went blank, and all her strength was sapped from her. Only ‘death’ remained in her mind.
Unable to think of anything else, Cheng Anya seemed to imagine a bloodied Ye Chen and Ning Ning quietly looking at her.
Due to the extreme panic, Cheng Anya’s eyes were wide open. Her pale lips trembled whilst her breathing sped up and her body trembled like a naked person in the Antarctic winter.
“Hehe, why are you afraid? Aren’t you supposed to be very tough and hardy?” Louis’s gaze had a shred of hatred as he cheerfully enjoyed Cheng Anya’s fear.
Cheng Anya, for once, really felt what it was like to be between water and fire all at once. The desperation of struggling in a bloodied pool in hell was keenly felt.
As her eyes seared, they were wide open. There was no life in her eyes.
As she had collapsed into her own world of fear and mired in it, Louis’ voice sounded distant.
“Don’t worry. It’s not as bad as you are imagining it to be. If you die, the fun ends, no?” Louis fondled her face that was cold to the touch despite the searing sun. “Oh, you poor lass, why are you so worried?”
“What the f*** do you mean?” This was the first time Cheng Anya hated a person this deeply.
“The virus on you has yet to transmit to Third Young Master Ye, so relax. But that said, it’s a matter of time. Once he finds you, his countdown begins.” Louis gently smiled.
“Be clear, damn it!” Cheng Anya roared as he left her heart in painful suspense. From elation to desperation, the two extremes were about to drive her mad.
“On the day the virus took effect, I took you out of City A. So that said, you have an opportunity to transmit the virus to Third Young Master Ye. Happy now? The happier you are, the more you suffer in time to come. How could I let Ye Chen die this early?” Louis smiled.
“You f***ing sicko!” Cheng Anya roared. That said, the only person whom she touched earlier was that boy, an innocent life. Cheng Anya’s heart winced at that innocent child and his timid gaze.
“How many days does he have to live?”
“Seven days!” Louis said. “This is the first wave of the viral attacks and you will live for a month. Of course, I can let you live longer if I so wish to. You, however, will not be as lucky when the second wave of the viral attack comes. You will only live for seven days and die a gruesome death. You might get to see the gruesome death of that child.”
“Louis, antidote, damn it!” Cheng Anya grabbed Louis’ collar. “Give him the antidote!!”
“Why are you still so damn naive?” Louis laughed, unrestrained. “Since this virus was developed specially for Ye Chen, how could there be an antidote?”
Cheng Anya’s heart sank amidst her extreme shock. “Not too bad a way out, huh? Even if the two of you meet, Ye Chen being unable to hug you and touch you for the rest of your life can’t get any better, no? I sure hope he quickly rushes over and I get to enjoy that look on his face. His look should be… perfect.” Louis gently smiled.
His heart was totally twisted.
Cheng Anya silently gritted his teeth. He was sure damn cruel.
“I have ways aplenty to make your lives living hell!”
