Became a vicious male mother

Chapter 12 Calm as a Child

As darkness fell, the villa in Changgu became cold.

The walls of the passage were radiating cold air, which seeped out from the cracks. Gu Xinglan followed the airflow and slowly walked to the end of the passage.

The anxiety in my heart had long been dispelled by the cold air.

As you walk along, there are only rooms and rooms. At the end of the passage is just a simple iron gate. The iron gate is exceptionally smooth, without a trace of rust. It is so smooth that it reflects your face and the various colors of flowers outside, leading to the garden.

Changgu's garden has a semi-circular structure and a large span; he came here with the wind.

The moonlight streamed in, creating a peaceful atmosphere.

"System, it seems I can't trigger it either." To be honest, he did breathe a sigh of relief. Gu Xinglan shrugged and smiled faintly.

The system didn't respond at all.

Quiet, too quiet.

Gu Xinglan's heart couldn't help but beat a little faster.

He looked around and realized that the passageway was now dark, and behind him was a bottomless throat. All the light now came from the moonlight outside the iron gate.

There's no cell phone signal here.

The light from the screen shone on her face, making Gu Xinglan's face appear somewhat pale.

Lu Yinian sent him a WeChat message inviting him to dinner around 5:30 PM. Judging from the blank spaces in the chat, it can be inferred that the phone signal disappeared around 5:30 PM.

"system?"

Gu Xinglan called out to the system as she walked back.

It is said that fear comes from the unknown. Gu Xinglan had just walked this road, but now it felt completely unfamiliar.

When they reached the corner, Gu Xinglan stopped in her tracks.

Was there a corner here?

He walked straight to the end of the road; there wasn't even a window, let alone a corner.

The system doesn't work, and there's no cell phone signal.

It truly lived up to his words; this place might be the place where he narrowly escaped death.

After walking for a long time, Gu Xinglan finally noticed the only difference between the painting and the room. Her gaze was fixed on a semi-circular window a few meters away.

When we got closer to the semi-circular window, we realized it was actually a door, just made to look like a window.

Because there was no light, Gu Xinglan could only use her mobile phone as a flashlight.

He held his breath, stood on tiptoe, and slowly opened the semi-circular door.

A faint breeze blew out from inside.

The wind proved it wasn't a dead end; he even hoped it led to an unlocked passageway.

It was dark and quiet, and also felt stuffy.

A cold wind was blowing over the garden, but a hot wind was blowing here, making people feel nauseous. The further Gu Xinglan went in, the more sweat she broke out on her back.

A buzzing sound filled my ears, and I reached a wall.

Hot air rushed in almost from all four cracks in the wall.

Faintly, you could hear a few murmurs and whispers, like babies talking.

Gu Xinglan leaned closer to listen, pressing her cheek gently against the warm wall, and heard it even more clearly.

"The people inside had their tongues cut out."

A hoarse voice suddenly sounded behind her, making Gu Xinglan's heart tighten and almost cry out.

The person standing behind him was none other than Li Hetai, whom he had just met.

The phone's light shone on Li Hetai's face for less than a second before it was snatched away.

Li Hetai has excellent jumping ability; he almost jumps up, and he doesn't hesitate at all when grabbing the ball.

Gu Xinglan instinctively bent down to snatch it, but the child grabbed her wrist.

"If you don't want to die, come with me." The child's voice was surprisingly calm.

Upon hearing the word "death," Gu Xinglan's hand froze in mid-air.

This person has no sense of humor; you can't joke with him. If he says he'll die, he really will.

Gu Xinglan's mind was still racing, but her feet had already instinctively followed Li Hetai.

The rooms were all locked, the locks were covered in dust and showed no signs of having been opened, but the floors were brand new and the smell of disinfectant was everywhere.

As they ran around the corner, just as Li Hetai had said—their panting breaths were mixed with a soft scraping sound.

It grew closer and closer, and the more you listened, the clearer it became, like the sound of a sharp weapon scraping across the floor, a piercing sound.

Gu Xinglan had already figured it out and didn't dare to run any faster. It was so quiet here that you could hear even breathing, and he was having a very hard time running.

The two people walked up to a picture.

Li Hetai skillfully moved the picture frame. The person in the painting was hanging painfully from a tree, his eyeballs almost popping out, and the exposed eye sockets were bottomless. But as Li Hetai moved, the eye sockets slowly turned gray, and then a faint light shone through them.

There was actually a small space inside.

After moving the painting on the wall, Li Hetai looked up at him.

In the dim light, Gu Xinglan could not clearly see what the person's eyes were expressing, but he still understood what the person meant.

Gu Xinglan picked up Li Hetai around the waist and squeezed them into the wall. Both of them subconsciously reached out to close the picture frame, but Li Hetai's arm couldn't reach it, so he could only grab Gu Xinglan's sleeve halfway through closing it.

With a creak, the picture frame was embedded in the wall.

The small space amplified the sound of their breathing.

Li Hetai was frighteningly calm.

This level of composure is something a child wouldn't possess.

Because the sound of footsteps outside was already close enough to hear.

They were almost one after the other; a few seconds later they would have bumped into each other.

Gu Xinglan swallowed hard. Time seemed to stretch out, and every minute and second passed very slowly, especially when she saw a black figure flash by at the small hole.

They went back and forth, as if they were convinced that they would disappear here.

Gu Xinglan didn't even dare to breathe anymore, and her hands began to tremble uncontrollably.

This is the body's instinct in the face of extreme fear, which he cannot control.

In contrast, Li Hetai stared intently at the two small holes, not even a hair on his head trembling.

Gu Xinglan couldn't see it, but she could feel it.

Perhaps his head was turning too purposefully, and the two made eye contact again, but this time neither could see the other clearly. They could only look at each other intuitively. There was no sunset or lake water, and both of them looked quite disheveled.

Li Hetai placed his hands on Gu Xinglan's trembling knees, pressing them firmly before slowly releasing them; the scene seemed familiar.

It seems this person witnessed the whole scene of him comforting another child in front of Shenhua Hall.

Gu Xinglan composed herself.

The dark figure outside moved back and forth a few times, then started knocking on the wall again, making a "creaking" sound that lasted for a long time. The sharp object knocking made people feel mentally exhausted.

Gu Xinglan blinked several times as the footsteps continued deeper into the passage, only daring to breathe when she could no longer hear them.

A hand suddenly covered Gu Xinglan's mouth. The light from the cave entrance shone on Li Hetai, who gently shook his head.

Those who left returned.

With slow and steady steps, they gradually walked towards the other side of the passage.

This time, Li Hetai released Gu Xinglan's mouth.

After moving the photo frame, Gu Xinglan finally had room to move around and realized that her legs had been numb for a long time.

As was his habit, Li Hetai easily jumped out with a push of his hand.

His eyes were fixed on the direction the dark figure had left, as if he were deep in thought.

How much longer are you going to stay inside?

This was the first time Li Hetai had asked him a question in this world, albeit one that was a prompt.

Gu Xinglan pounded the numb spots a few times, then dragged her legs and crawled out.

"Don't think I'll be grateful to you..." The person who made the threat was pale, listless, and limping, utterly harmless.

System: [Task completed, duration extended to a total of thirty-four hours.]

"system?"

No response was received.

After completing her daily tasks, Gu Xinglan looked in the direction the shadowy figure had left... The passage was dimly lit, making it difficult to see clearly, and she couldn't hear any sounds. Before she knew it, her gaze slowly turned to Li Hetai's back.

Perhaps it was the way Li Hetai's single eye, gleaming with a knowing look as he turned his head, that made him feel a sense of peace.

He seemed to have had this feeling in his previous life as well... In the first year he was kidnapped by Li Hetai, he tried to escape, but failed every time. In the second year, at the beginning of winter, he escaped again. In the freezing cold, he was dressed in revealing clothes and covered in snow. He almost froze to death on the street. When he saw Li Hetai carrying a blanket and walking towards him, leaving deep footprints in the snow with each step, at that moment, his heart felt like he was coming home, even though he hated this person.

His mind was churning, and his body felt like it was being electrocuted. The missing memories were like fragments, and even piecing together just a small piece was enough to make him tremble all over.

Why make him recall memories of the two of them, especially such... tender yet thorny memories?

Gu Xinglan sighed inwardly.

How could he not know the psychology of someone who depends on their kidnapper?

It's precisely because I know this that I hate myself for being so useless.