"What?" Ye Chu asked curiously when he said only half of what he meant, but Gu Yu didn't continue, only shaking his head: "Nothing, get some rest."

Perhaps influenced by the script she read today, Ye Chu didn't sleep very well. She even fell out of bed once in the middle of the night, then slowly climbed back into bed, and as soon as she closed her eyes, she had those messy dreams again.

She woke up at six o'clock the next morning, whereas she usually sleeps until seven-thirty.

After glancing at the time, Ye Chu lay on the bed, bored, and started scrolling through her phone. It just so happened that the episode of Escape 2 aired last night, showing Qin Zhi and Bai Xi facing off for the first time, and the trending topic was rising higher and higher.

"I don't know who to cheer for, I love both Gu Yingdi and Hu Xiaoge."

"Upstairs, how can you be so shameless, using a picture of Actor Gu as your profile picture while hesitating to claim a spot?"

"I'm sorry, I'm also a little hesitant."

"I'll definitely go for Actor Gu. Qin Zhi can't possibly lose! Although Bai Xi's character is pretty cool, I won't take his place if he's a bad guy."

"Forgive me for briefly switching sides."

"Mom, you're feeling really out of place right now. My daughter has been missing for three days. Please stop fighting and go find my daughter, okay?"

"The comments upstairs are so unique."

"Ah, it's in this part." Ye Chu turned over. The netizens were discussing the first time the main characters in Escape 2 started fighting against the rules. Ye Chu remembered that although Cheng Lu escaped the pursuit of a group of people, she was seriously injured and unconscious. She was rescued by Bai Xi who happened to be passing by and thrown into a cave.

Qin Zhi followed the clues to find Cheng Lu and confronted Bai Xi head-on.

This was the second time the two had met in this game, and it was also after this battle that Bai Xi began to act together with Qin Zhi and Cheng Lu. Although they did not trust each other, joining forces was indeed a good choice.

After the battle, Bai Xi gently wiped the wound on his cheek, blood staining his white fingertips. He grinned, seemingly extremely satisfied: "The person is in the cave ahead."

Qin Zhi sheathed his knife and strode towards the direction Bai Xi pointed, leaving the other man watching his retreating figure with intense interest in his eyes. After a grin, Qin Zhi stretched out his long legs and followed behind.

Cheng Lu's condition is very bad; she has lost too much blood and is currently in a deep coma.

Qin Zhi first checked her condition, then took out the remaining medicine he had on him and treated her wounds.

Fortunately, Cheng Lu had developed a relatively strong physique through long hours of gaming, and the high fever she had that night miraculously subsided, and her injuries gradually began to heal.

About two days later, the person slowly woke up.

"Huh?" Cheng Lu was a little confused. Was she still alive?

"Awake?" A familiar voice came, and she turned her head to see a familiar face: "Qin Zhi..."

"Hmm. How are you feeling?"

Cheng Lu blinked, and it took her a while to realize that the other person was asking about her feelings: "I don't feel anything." Then she asked, "How did I get here?"

"He saved you and brought you here." Qin Zhi turned to look at the person leaning against the stone wall at the cave entrance. Bai Xi hadn't left these past few days and often wandered around the cave.

Cheng Lu then noticed that there was another person. She couldn't see half of the person's face clearly from her angle, but the other half of the face that she could see clearly told her that this person was definitely good-looking.

Sure enough, when Bai Xi turned around and walked over, Cheng Lu's guess was confirmed.

"Thank you." Her face was still pale. Bai Xi said, "You're lucky to be alive. I thought you were going to die."

Qin Zhi gave him a gloomy look, but he didn't seem to care. Cheng Lu smiled indifferently; what he said was true, she herself hadn't expected to open her eyes again.

"How many people are left?" This question was asked by Qin Zhi, who whispered a number. Cheng Lu nodded, thinking the number was normal.

"Have you thought of a solution?" she asked again. Qin Zhi shook his head: "I can't figure out its next move."

"Isn't that simple?" Bai Xi, who was standing to the side, interjected, "It's raising a venomous insect, don't you know about Project H?" After saying that, he rolled his eyes and said, "No wonder you don't know, after all, no one likes to play a little thrill as much as I do."

With Qin Zhi's help, Cheng Lu struggled to her feet, her lower back throbbing slightly. "Plan H, what is it?"

Bai Xi glanced at her and thought for a moment: "Hmm, it seems more interesting if more people know? Then I'll tell you. The ultimate goal of Project H is to select the person most suitable for the game, or rather, the last person to survive, who can make a conditional exchange with the rules."

"What will be exchanged?"

"Well, who knows what the rules want? Anyway, if you give the rules what they want, you can exchange them for anything you want."

Cheng Lu still had some doubts, but when she felt Qin Zhi tighten his grip on her hand, she buried all her doubts back in her heart.

"Knock knock knock." There were three light knocks on the door. Ye Chu's eyes lit up. She got out of bed, went out to wash up, and prepared to have breakfast.

After finishing breakfast, Ye Chu took over the main seat in Gu Yu's study this time, sitting comfortably in the chair and reading the script. She seemed to be treating Gu Yu's place more and more like her own home, quite taking advantage of him. But Gu Yu was happy to let her treat the place like her own home.

The name "Shadow" probably comes from the shadow in that painting, but it also refers to many things in the plot.

Ye Chu continued reading from yesterday's section. Realizing that Lu Ai was pleading for help, Sheng Ke was horrified. She knew she couldn't possibly rescue Yuan Ai alone; if she asked her parents for help…

Sheng Ke shook her head. The Sheng family was not like the Lu family. She was afraid that as soon as the Sheng family made a move, it would be destroyed by Lu Qianli.

The Lu family's power is too great. How could she rescue Lu Ai under Lu Qianli's nose? Realizing the slim chances, Sheng Ke bit her lip. One was her sister whom she hadn't seen for many years, and the other was her parents who had always been very good to her. In the end, she chose the latter.

She had the servants burn the painting, as if it had never existed.

On the other side, at the Lu residence.

Lu Qianli looked at Lu Ai kneeling in front of him, her cheek resting on his legs that had long since lost all feeling. He raised his hand and touched her head. The gesture was different from a parent stroking their child; it was more like an owner petting their dog.

"Did you hear that?" He bent down and whispered in Lu Ai's ear, "She burned the painting. She clearly saw your cries for help, but she ignored them."

Lu Ai's body trembled. Every painting of hers had to be reviewed by a man before it could be released to the public. So, if it weren't for Lu Qianli's instructions, Lu Ai would never have been able to hide the message for help in the painting.

Disappointed?

Hearing the sarcastic tone of the other person, Lu Ai slowly closed her eyes, loosened her teeth from biting her lower lip until it bled, and called out, "Dad."

Lu Qianli was clearly satisfied with her performance. He raised his hand to take the blood-red ribbon handed to him by the butler and gestured for Lu Ai to raise her head.