Ye Shiyu had a nightmare.
In the dream, she seed to have returned to her childhood, back in Tianjing of the Dragon Country.
She dread that she lived in a small but rather cozy house.
At that ti, besides her and her mother, there was also a man whose face she could not clearly see...
She could no longer rember what that person looked like.
She only rembered his voice and the things he had said to her.
She also rembered that the atmosphere at ho was quite pleasant.
She had a father who loved buying her lots of toys, and a very gentle, kind-hearted mother.
Other than the occasional sound of argunts echoing in the night, Ye Shiyu did not recall anything particularly unusual.
But even those brief disputes weighed heavily on the young Ye Shiyu's mind.
Thus, she rembered asking that man one afternoon,
"Father..."
"Hmm?"
"Did you and Mama have a fight?"
Upon hearing her words, the man smiled.
He rubbed her head and then asked in a puzzled tone,
"No... Little Shiyu, what made you think that?"
"Umm... then, will Father stay with us forever?"
"Of course."
Ye Shiyu also rembered asking her mother the exact sa question that night.
Her mother embraced her, shook her head just like he had, and smiled.
"No... Shiyu, as long as you are good, why would Mama ever be angry?"
"Then, Mama will be with us forever, right?"
"Mhm, I promise."
That was what they both said.
However, Ye Shiyu could not rember if she had actually believed them at the ti.
Perhaps, her instinct had already sensed sothing amiss...
It was just that she thought as long as she listened to them, as long as she did better and made them feel proud and reassured, she could save everything.
"Sigh, is sending a child to school really this agonizing? Even with you and my brother-in-law taking turns tutoring, it's still not working out?"
"Yeah, Jiahao and I are worried to death... She was such a good kid before, but the mont she started school and had to do howork, she turned into a little devil... You have no idea, the two of us are getting depressed."
"Hiss..."
Ye Shiyu still rembered when her aunt ca to visit her mother. Upon hearing her aunt's stories, her mother revealed a worried expression.
She took all of this to heart.
"Congratulations, your child got first place again."
Therefore, Ye Shiyu did not want to make her mother and father worry.
Starting from elentary school, she would secretly read books after the lights went out at night.
At the end of every term, she would stand on the podium holding a First Place in All Subjects certificate.
Seeing her mother smile from the audience during parent-teacher etings, she would unconsciously smile too.
"..."
"Shiyu, have you lost weight again? Have you been eating well lately?"
Ye Shiyu also rembered the rather worried look on her father's face when he asured her height and weight.
"Sigh, I've had poor health since I was young, and your grandfather suffered a lot because of ... You absolutely cannot be like , understand?"
"Okay..."
Because of that, she took the initiative to enroll in a martial arts class at school.
And every ti training ended and her father drove over to pick her up, the coach would be full of praise for her.
Ye Shiyu did not understand what the benefits of practicing these things were.
But seeing her father look over her gradually strengthening body with a smile, she felt content and satisfied.
"Your child has great talent, and her perseverance is rare... Like when we do ligant stretches, all the other kids cry, but your Shiyu doesn't make a single sound."
"Yes, yes, she's been very well-behaved since she was young. She's never been a picky eater; green peppers, vegetables, she eats everything."
From then on, it wasn't just about keeping her parents from worrying; whatever they ntioned, Ye Shiyu would strive to accomplish it.
Sewing, martial arts, dancing, arithtic, history, track and field...
All of it, everything...
She learned them all; she managed to do everything.
She really did her absolute best, and there were many tis she thought she had succeeded.
'I truly believe my own hard work can maintain this family...'
If that were really the case, she would be willing to do anything.
And so, after achieving all this, after becoming a famously outstanding and pride-inducing child within their circle... just like back then, she asked her mother and father the exact sa question once more.
"Will you stay with
forever?"
And just like before, she received the exact sa answer,
"Of course."
But...
"Rumble—"
Ye Shiyu naturally also rembered that night, watching her mother sit all alone at the entrance.
Everything inside the room had been cleared out.
The certificates she had earned, the toys she had bought, everything she had left in that house...
Ye Shiyu rembered keeping her mother company at the door for a very long ti, and staring at that empty room for a very long ti...
It was as if that empty house was the part of her heart that had been hollowed out.
'In the end, did I really care about the toys and certificates that used to be in that house?'
'Perhaps not entirely.'
'I just don't understand why things turned out this way.'
'Just yesterday, I asked my parents that question and received that answer...'
'I had clearly put in so much effort beforehand, trying to salvage everything...'
'But why?'
'Why...'
'Why was everything I did such a futile effort?'
'If only I had known the result would be like this from the start...'
That was what she thought.
'That way, I wouldn't have foolishly believed the lies my parents told to my face, nor would I have comfortably assud that everything would get better...'
'That way, I wouldn't have wasted so much effort for nothing, doing so much futile work...'
'That way, I might have been able to find a better solution, a way to save this family, a way to save everything...'
"Buzz!!"
In the dim hallway, outside the empty room...
The tiny Ye Shiyu stared blankly at her mother, whose head was lowered, her own eye sockets tearing at the seams from how wide her eyes were.
An imnse despair and terror suddenly enveloped her.
And amidst those unbearably heavy emotions, her pupils, widened to their absolute limits...
Just like that, tore open bit by bit, dripping with trickling blood...
Yet Ye Shiyu didn't seem to feel any pain at all.
Because in the next second, a black spider leg abruptly thrust out from the fissure in her eyeball...
"Squelch!"
"Buzz..."
Early morning, inside the villa, Ye Shiyu suddenly opened her eyes.
Even after having such a nightmare, she remained expressionless, without panting or making any unnecessary movents.
She simply stared blankly at the ceiling above before reaching out to touch her eyelids.
After confirming her eyes were perfectly intact, she slowly sat up and turned to look beside her.
At this mont, the space next to her was completely empty.
"..."
Ye Shiyu's eyes shifted slightly as she touched the slightly wrinkled bedding.
It seed to still hold soone's lingering body heat.
"Sister Shiyu?"
However, in the next second, Yan Huan's voice ca from the doorway, making her hastily retract her hand.
She turned to look and saw Yan Huan wiping his hands as he spoke to her,
"I heated up the leftovers from yesterday. We'll just have to make do for breakfast, alright?"
"Mhm..."
Ye Shiyu subconsciously nodded, fell silent for a few seconds, and then spoke up,
"Xiao Huan..."
"Hmm?"
Yan Huan turned back to look at Ye Shiyu, only to see her purse her lips. Just as she was about to say sothing, a phantom interface abruptly appeared before her eyes.
[Ye Lan is currently rushing towards this location]
"?!"
The mont she saw that illusory screen, the expressionless look on Ye Shiyu's face instantly shattered.
She stood up in disbelief and looked out the window.
'How could this be?!'
'How could Mama know...'
'My arrangents at the company were absolutely flawless.'
'Everyone in the sa departnt had been placed under Hypnosis, even the surveillance caras were completely tampered with, and Xiao Huan's mobile phone is still on my person...'
'Mama has a lot of work and wouldn't personally visit the departnt.'
'And in this information age, there is absolutely no way Mama could know that Xiao Huan had been imprisoned by , let alone know that Xiao Huan is here!!'
'Unless...'
'Soone on the inside told Mama about this.'
"..."
Ye Shiyu frowned, imdiately manipulating the Yezi AI to sense the various targets under surveillance.
'An Le is still at ho in the Luoqiao District.'
'Sakuramiya Hitomi is also still at her villa in the Kyogo Ward.'
'Tong Yingying, having been placed under Hypnosis, could only fruitlessly wander around the outer periter.'
'Spencer...'
'Although due to her Resistance, I cannot monitor her at all.'
'Even with Yezi AI, anything involving footage or events related to Spencer cannot be manipulated or tampered with. Therefore, I completely cannot see where she is or what she is doing.'
'However, that girl is an idiot; it's impossible for her to do sothing like this.'
'Then there is only...'
At the thought of the only possibility, a profound look of disbelief surfaced in the depths of Ye Shiyu's eyes.
"Bai Yi?!"
She hurriedly probed the mobile phone where she had installed the Yezi AI, but taking a quick glance, she found that her phone was still lying obediently in the villa opposite them.
Furthermore, it hadn't sent out a single ssage.
'But...'
'Where is she?'
'Along this route, there is no way she could have caught any form of transportation.'
'Because the surveillance caras along the way are fully deployed, anyone attempting to approach this area without permission would be imdiately placed under Hypnosis and reported back to .'
'The sa logic applies to Bai Yi...'
'This entire night, if she had gone out and been caught on cara, I would have known.'
'Unless...'
'She turned on Indifference and forcibly ran on foot from here all the way to the city center overnight?!'
"..."
Thinking that Bai Yi had done sothing completely outside the bounds of what she knew about her, Ye Shiyu's expression inevitably turned ugly.
She...
Truly hated this kind of unexpected developnt.
[Initiate Hypnosis to prevent Ye Lan from arriving at this location?]
Looking at the phantom screen, Ye Shiyu instinctively wanted to nod.
But the next second, when she summoned the surveillance cara feed, she couldn't help but freeze in place.
In the cara feed, her mother sat in the driver's seat, driving expressionlessly as she sped furiously in this direction.
anwhile, sitting in the front passenger seat was a pale-faced Bai Yi, who seed to be in terrible condition.
"..."
'Of these two people, one is a Modifier Host, aning the Hypnosis would be incomplete.'
'Even if she was hypnotized, what could she be made to do?'
'Grab the steering wheel?'
'Crash the car and kill her own mother?'
'And the other person is none other than my mother...'
'Could I really use Hypnosis on Mama?'
"..."
At this mont, Ye Lan, who was driving personally, seed completely unstoppable, as if she possessed an unbreakable aura. From the looks of it, she would arrive in less than ten minutes.
Ye Shiyu's face instantly turned pale, her heart pounding wildly to the point that a ceaseless tinnitus rang in her ears.
"Sister Shiyu, what's wrong?"
Behind her, Yan Huan narrowed his eyes and asked.
In truth, he knew about Bai Yi's departure.
But even he hadn't expected Bai Yi to be so hardcore, actually using Indifference to forcibly run on foot from here all the way to the city center overnight.
At this point, he could only rely on Bai Yi.
The mission he had entrusted to Bai Yi wasn't simply just about him being imprisoned.
If that were truly the case, after breaking the illusion of the Battle Defeat CG, he was more than capable of resolving it himself.
The real intelligence he needed Bai Yi to smuggle out was regarding the Yezi AI.
He couldn't let Ye Shiyu continue using the Yezi AI to spread her influence, and the only person capable of stopping this was Ye Lan, the CEO of Ye International's Linn branch.
"Buzz—"
However, the very next second after he asked his question, Ye Shiyu lifted her deep purple eyes and glanced at him.
"!!"
The instant he saw her raise her eyes, Yan Huan realized sothing was wrong and hurriedly activated a Counter-Parry to block it.
"Clang!!"
After a crisp ringing sound, he successfully reacted, rendering himself immune to the effects of this round of Hypnosis.
But he didn't make a sound, rely maintaining the appearance of being hypnotized as his eyes went blank.
"Xiao Huan, let's escape... co with ."
"Yes..."
Yan Huan could only follow Ye Shiyu into action.
Ye Shiyu rushed down the stairs in a panic, briefly glancing at the piping hot breakfast sitting on the table.
But with absolutely no ti to eat, she grabbed Yan Huan's hand and dashed toward the entrance.
"Bang!"
However, just as she pushed open the door, the roaring sound of screeching tires echoed from the villa district's entrance in the distance.
"Vroom!!"
Ye Shiyu widened her eyes and looked toward the villa district entrance, only to see a black electric car hurtling in their direction at over 150 kiloters per hour.
'It's over...'
'It's completely over!!'
Ye Shiyu stood frozen at the door, while Yan Huan, whose hand she was holding, was still inside.
She subconsciously stepped back, but at this mont, the electric car was already slamming on its brakes as it arrived right in front of them.
"Slam!"
Ye Shiyu slamd the door shut and hid inside.
But outside, Ye Lan simultaneously opened her car door, unbuckled her seatbelt, and stepped out expressionlessly.
She looked at the tightly shut villa door, clearly having caught sight of Ye Shiyu just as she was about to flee.
"Step... step..."
Ye Lan quickly walked toward the villa with an expressionless face, but after just two steps, she suddenly rembered sothing and turned back to look at the car.
"Bai Yi?"
In an instant, the terrifying expressionless look on her face transford into one of loving, maternal worry.
"I-I'm fine, Auntie... Don't mind ... Blegh!!"
On the other side of the car, Bai Yi, whose face was already pale, had been feeling unwell to begin with. After such a wild ride, she was completely seeing stars.
The mont her feet hit the ground, she half-kneeled and began to dry heave.
"..."
Watching Bai Yi in such a state, Ye Lan couldn't help but take a deep breath.
"Could I trouble you with one thing, Bai Yi?"
"Wh-what is it, Auntie?"
"Call the police for ."
"Eh?"
Bai Yi was slightly stunned, and in the next second, Ye Lan tossed her mobile phone over.
By the ti she turned her head back toward the villa, her expression had shifted back to the exact sa expressionless look as Ye Shiyu's.
"Crash!"
The villa door was instantly smashed open, and Ye Lan stepped inside, her face cast in dark shadows.
Scanning her surroundings, there was no sign of Yan Huan.
Only Ye Shiyu stood before her in the center of the living room, pursing her lips, her face slightly pale.
Watching Ye Lan march into the room radiating a murderous aura, she pursed her lips and spoke in a trembling voice,
"Mama..."
Seeing Ye Shiyu here, Ye Lan took a deep breath, adjusting her expression.
She didn't ask anything else, such as "Why aren't you at work?" or "What is the aning of this villa?"
She simply asked her daughter,
"Where is Xiao Huan? Is he here?"
"..."
Facing her mother's questioning, Ye Shiyu hesitated for a mont but ultimately nodded.
"Mhm..."
"Whoosh!!"
In the next second, a small coffee table placed by the door spun through the air, bringing with it a fierce gust of wind as it flew straight toward her.
"Ugh!"
Ye Shiyu's eyes shrank, and she subconsciously curled over, throwing her arms over her head to dodge.
"Smash!!"
The small glass coffee table grazed past her face before violently smashing against the wall behind her.
After an ear-piercing screech of shattering glass, fragnts covered the floor, and the wooden fra beneath splintered into pieces on impact.
Many of the flying fragnts struck Ye Shiyu's shoulder, hitting her like bullets and causing her shoulder to twitch slightly.
"Uuu..."
Seeing Ye Shiyu dodge the coffee table she had hurled, Ye Lan, whose eye sockets were slightly red, quickly strode toward her.
"Slap!"
Raising her hand, she delivered a vicious slap right across her face.
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