"You must be Miss Su!"
"Hello, Granny. I am. May I ask what you want with me?"
"Miss Su, our clan chief requests your presence. We hope you'll come with me."
"Okay. Please wait a moment. I'll tidy up and then go with you." Just as Su Yanke was about to follow the granny right away, she suddenly thought of something and said.
The old woman agreed. Su Yanke turned around and went into her room. When she came out, she was carrying a painting tube on her back.
"I'm going out for a while. I'll leave this to you, Chen Maohua. You can do it!" Su Yanke patted Chen Maohua on the shoulder and said in an extremely determined tone.
"Don't... Don't say that. I can't handle it alone!" Chen Maohua was almost on the verge of crying because of Su Yanke's words.
But it was of no use. Su Yanke still left. Chen Maohua watched her back, with tears in his eyes.
He couldn't watch for long before being bombarded with a new round of questions. "Why did Sister Yanke go out? Where is she going?"
"Is that a painting tube on her back? Is she going to paint?"
"What did that old woman want with Sister Yanke?"
Chen Maohua looked utterly hopeless. Thanks, he's already "killed in action". Please don't bother!
Su Yanke followed the old woman for a while. The more she walked, the more familiar she felt. This place seemed somewhat familiar.
"Miss Su, we're here. Please come in!"
This was a rare local earth - built structure. It looked quite old from the outside, but one could also tell from some details that it had been carefully maintained. There were signs of repair in the places that were prone to damage.
Su Yanke nodded, thanked the old woman, and then walked in.
The temperature inside was very low and it was very dark. At the moment she walked in, Su Yanke thought it was completely black. But after getting a bit used to it, there was a dim yellow light not far from her.
In Su Yanke's eyes, these lights formed a small path. She looked around at other places. It was all pitch - black. Only the path illuminated by the yellow light stood out.
"Chief? I'm Su Yanke. What do you want with me? Can you come out and talk to me face - to - face?"
Su Yanke's voice was neither too loud nor too soft, but it sounded very loud in this dark place.
To Su Yanke's surprise, there seemed to be an echo just now. There was actually an echo here?
Su Yanke recalled what she had seen outside. This place looked like an ordinary - sized house. How could the space inside be so big?
Su Yanke spoke for a while, but there was no response. No, there was not even a single sound. It was terrifyingly quiet.
Su Yanke thought it was not right and wanted to go out first to ask the old woman about the details of this place. But when she turned around, she was horrified to find that it was also pitch - black behind her.
Su Yanke remembered that she hadn't walked very far when she came in. When she first came in, there was still some light from the outside shining through the gap at the door. But now there was no light at all. The surroundings were exactly the same, completely dark.
Su Yanke tried to take a few steps forward, but nothing changed. All she could see in front of her was darkness.
Su Yanke still didn't give up and continued walking forward. Suddenly, she stopped. Something was wrong. She had walked much farther than the distance when she first came in.
Where was she now?
Did she go the wrong way? No, she had walked straight in as soon as she entered the door, and she had turned 180 degrees when she turned around.
Su Yanke couldn't figure it out. It was too dark and too quiet here, making her feel isolated from the whole world.
This wouldn't do. She had to do something. Su Yanke turned around and looked at the path illuminated by the yellow light.
Screw it. This was the only choice she had now. If she didn't do something, no one would come to save her.
Yuan Hexiao was far away at the moment, and no one else had the ability to save her. She could only rely on herself.
Su Yanke adjusted her breathing, got on full alert, and carefully took steps towards the unknown depths.
At the same time, in a research laboratory abroad, in the middle of a dark room, a purple - copper coin slowly floated up, and purple smoke gradually seeped out of it.
The next second, the alarm went off. And the second after the alarm went off, a figure rushed in.
"Is... Is it you... Are you coming back? I knew it... I knew you couldn't have died so easily."
As the white - robed man spoke, his body couldn't help but tremble. It was hard to tell whether it was because of excitement or something else.
"Hahaha!" The white - robed man suddenly burst into laughter. His shrill voice was extremely ear - piercing. But this laughter stopped abruptly after a short while.
The white - robed man stared at the changes of the purple - copper coin, and his smile froze on his face.
"No, no, this can't be true. It's impossible. How could she... How could she..."
"It's not real. There must be something wrong somewhere."
The white - robed man ran towards the console like a madman and started pressing buttons desperately.
But his hand suddenly stopped. "Where is it! Where is it?"
The purple - copper coin wrapped in special material in the middle was gone.
He couldn't accept this fact. He punched the special material. A sound of bone - breaking rang out, but he seemed to be numb and showed no reaction at all.
This sound attracted someone. A person in a white robe walked in. But it wasn't the pure white of the man's robe, but a grayish - white. "Your Majesty! You're injured!"
It was obvious from the voice that it belonged to a woman. She quickly fetched a first - aid kit to treat his hand. During this time, neither of them said a word. Just as she was about to finish treating the wound, the man suddenly stood up and left.
While she was treating his wound, his mind never stopped working. Suddenly, his eyes lit up as if he had thought of something. He quickly got up and left the dark room.
The woman looked at the bandage in her hand and murmured, "For so many years, Your Majesty still hasn't given up looking for you. Why don't you show up? Why do you torture His Majesty like this?"
A low sobbing sound came from the dark room, but it only lasted for a few seconds, making people think it was just an illusion.
On Su Yanke's side, she didn't know how long she had been walking. She had lost track of time here.
Su Yanke looked up at the front. It was still endless darkness. The sense of vigilance in her body had been worn away, leaving only deep fatigue.
This state lasted for an unknown period of time. Su Yanke's eyes had already adapted to the darkness. Just then, a blinding white light suddenly appeared. The white light hurt her eyes, and her consciousness began to gradually blur.
In this white light, there were a few wisps of faint purple qi. It slowly circled around Su Yanke. The purple qi became thicker and thicker, so thick that Su Yanke's figure was almost invisible.
As time passed, the purple qi began to fade, but Su Yanke's figure had disappeared!
It began to get dark again. Only the yellow lights on both sides were faintly shining. Everything seemed to remain the same, yet also seemed to have changed.
Silence, silence. There was nothing but silence!
Yuan Hexiao, who was still on a mission far away, suddenly felt a pang of uneasiness in his heart. He touched his heart, and a bad premonition swept over him.
Yuan Hexiao involuntarily opened the contacts on his phone and pressed Su Yanke's number. No one answered. He called again, still no answer.
Yuan Hexiao then called Manager Liu, but again, no one answered.
The uneasiness in Yuan Hexiao's heart became even stronger. He handed over the rest of his work to others and immediately took a plane to see Su Yanke.
*
In a thatched cottage, a middle - aged couple in their forties looked at Su Yanke lying on the kang and said,
"Are you out of your mind? We can barely make ends meet now, and you bring back another mouth to feed. Do you want me to die?"
"Do you think she's pretty and want to take her as a concubine? Let me tell you, it's impossible. A flirt like this, I'll sell her to a brothel early tomorrow morning!"
An old woman in a patched - up dress was furious at the man who was bowing his head in front of her.
This shrill voice woke up the unconscious Su Yanke.
Su Yanke frowned and wanted to move her body, but she couldn't control it at all. She could only move her fingers, and her arms wouldn't lift.
"Hey, did she just move?" The old woman stared at Su Yanke and said.
"She seems to have moved!" The man replied uncertainly.
"You brought her back. You deal with it!" The old woman said jealously when she saw her husband staring so intently at Su Yanke.
"Miss? Miss? Can you hear me?" Obviously, the man didn't notice his wife's mood at all. He really seriously asked about Su Yanke's condition.
Su Yanke wanted to respond, but she was powerless.
After that, Su Yanke didn't know what happened because she fainted again.
"She still shows no reaction, wife." After calling a few times and seeing no reaction at all, the man looked at the old woman dejectedly.
"What do you call me for? Can I treat diseases? I told you not to be so kind - hearted. Now you've brought back such a trouble!" The woman was also annoyed when she saw her husband's stupid look.
"What are you standing there for? Go and invite Doctor Liu to take a look!"
"Wife, you agree?" The man asked in surprise.
"What else can I do if I don't agree? Let her die here? Hurry up and go!"
"Yes, yes, yes. I'll go right away!"
After the man left, the old woman looked at his back and sighed. This guy was the only one who would stupidly bring more people home. With one more person this year, she didn't know if they could survive this winter.
Just then, a pair of big black eyes looked over from the outer compartment. "Mom, mom, where is dad going?"
A pale but thin little boy ran out. He looked about the age of a kindergarten - going kid in modern times.
"Be good, Xiaobao. Dad is going to invite Doctor Liu!" The old woman squatted down, gently stroked the child's head, and said softly.