Li Shuang bit her lip: [It's a threshold, not childbirth—what's there to admit?!]
The system kindly reminded her: [He's about to leave. You barely survived—get up now!]
Li Shuang pressed her palms against the ground, straining several times, but her legs felt like they'd just grown anew.
[You think I don't want to? I'm completely drained—no strength left.]
"Uncle..."
This was the most delicate tone her hoarse voice could muster.
Shen Ji, hands in his pockets, paused and glanced back. He stood in the beam of light spilling through the doorway, the soft glow blurring his silhouette.
Even bathed in light, he sent chills down the spine.
Li Shuang braced her hands on her knees. "I really can't stand. Could you—"
"You were so good at crawling into beds. Crawl your way out then. I'll shut the door in three minutes," Shen Ji interrupted with a smile.
Li Shuang: [...]
[Death countdown: three minutes.]
System: [Just crawl. No need to suffer the humiliation of crawling between legs. It's fine—survival comes first (•͈˽•͈).]
Li Shuang: [You crawl if you want! I'd rather rot here than crawl!]
Three minutes later.
Li Shuang emerged from the basement door, her knees rubbed raw, even breathing an exhausting effort.
[Twenty-one steps in total. Today's grudge—noted.]
Shen Ji stood at the exit. With a dull thud, the basement door sealed shut behind her.
He cupped her drooping head in his palm and smirked.
"Such an obedient little dog. What should I reward you with?"
Sunlight was different from artificial light. Even after adjusting to brightness, Li Shuang's eyes, long deprived of the sun, stung and reddened.
"Just... let me go home, Uncle..."
"You want to leave?" Shen Ji's grip on her chin tightened, his voice darkening. "I told you—own up to what you did. Until my anger cools, you're going nowhere."
Li Shuang's pupils constricted: [From imprisonment to house arrest? Damn him.]
System: [Just survive. Maybe you'll live to see his death—it's brutal.]
Shen Ji's gaze darkened.
Li Shuang, curious: [How brutal?]
System: [After your death, the Li family tried extorting him with your corpse but were humiliated instead. Later, when Shen Ji learned they'd conspired against him, he retaliated ruthlessly.]
[But honestly, it was mostly because Shen Ji grew too powerful. The Li and Shen families allied with other forces, and in the end, he died covered in blood in a cage of vicious dogs—no remains left.]
Shen Ji: [...]
Hearing this outcome, his grip unconsciously tightened.
Before Li Shuang could react to his fate, she instinctively pushed at his wrist.
"Uncle, you're hurting me..."
"I'm not your uncle." Shen Ji released her chin, rubbing his fingertips together before signaling a distant bodyguard.
"Clean her up."
Li Shuang frowned: [What's his angle now?]
Shen Ji, interrupted by her thoughts, glanced sideways and lazily added:
"Assign her to live with Hei Die."
As she was roughly hauled up, Li Shuang wondered: [Who's Hei Die?]
The system paused: [A fully grown black wolfhound.]
"Unc—" Li Shuang quickly corrected, twisting to plead: "Second Master, I'm allergic to dogs!"
Severely allergic!"
Shen Ji, hearing both her voice and thoughts, left without looking back.
——
Even at her most extravagant, Li Shuang had never been bathed by others. Now, she understood what it meant to be a fish on the chopping block—stripped of autonomy from the moment her clothes came off.
Paying for a scrub was one thing; being forced into a bath was another—deeply unsettling.
Afterward, she was delivered to Hei Die's room.
Shen Ji sat in the living room, listening to the maid's report.
"Mr. Shen, Miss Li is clean. Aside from abrasions on her wrists, knees, and neck, she has no wounds or distinctive birthmarks."
Shen Ji dismissed her with a wave, tapping his temple thoughtfully.
Since her bath, her inner monologue had grown sporadic—as if bound by some signal with limited range but not entirely blocked.
His thoughts circled back to that ending.
A brutal death? Instigated by the Li and Shen families? Which factions could they possibly rally?
With a light tap of his finger, he decided to leave. Before departing, he ordered:
"Keep her alive until I return."
The man beside him nodded. "Understood, Second Master."
——
Li Shuang, pressed against the door inside Hei Die's room, didn't dare move.
The wolfhound, half a person's height, lay in its custom-made bed, ears perked, round eyes fixed intently on her. Its sleek black coat gleamed, its powerful frame radiating intimidation.
System: [Host, don't worry. I've emitted calming pheromones. It won't harm you.]
Li Shuang exhaled in relief. "You could've said so earlier."
She'd always admired large dogs from afar but never dared approach. Her nerves had nearly shattered, her mind conjuring a hundred scenarios of it pouncing.
Hei Die remained silent, resting its head on its paws.
The door opened, and a towering figure stepped in.
Li Shuang, too terrified earlier to notice, now craned her neck.
[He's practically scraping the sky.]
System: [That's Hei Feng, Shen Ji's right-hand man. Height: 197 cm, weight: 210 lbs. Specializes in combat, grappling—prioritizes strength and speed.]
Li Shuang gulped. Nearly two meters tall and built like a tank—facing him alone sapped any will to resist.
Hei Feng glanced curiously at the lavish dog bed. Normally, even without orders to attack, Hei Die would growl at strangers. Today's silence was unusual.
He wheeled in a dining cart.
"Eat."
The cart reached above her waist, the size of a small table—yet it looked like a toy in his hands.
"Thanks." Starving, Li Shuang didn't care if the food was poisoned. She ate slowly—when famished, wolfing down food was unwise.
After she finished, Hei Feng wheeled the cart away.
Li Shuang called out: "Big bro, I need the bathroom. Can you show me?"
Hei Feng pointed to a door inside the room, his voice rough.
"It's there. Don't try anything—I won't let you escape."
"..." Li Shuang sighed, waving him off.
So much for that plan.
Full and exhausted, she sat hugging her knees by the door, lost in thought.
[Isn't there any way to escape?]
The question reached two listeners:
One—Shen Ji, now in the city center.
The other—the system in her mind.
Shen Ji's closed eyes slowly opened, their dark depths pulling anyone who met his gaze into an abyss of danger.
A smirk curled his lips as he reached for a cigarette box. A flame was offered the moment he lifted the cigarette.
Amid the curling smoke, he regarded the man across from him, his tone languid.
"Your daughter's at home. Why come to me for her?"