Click—

The door opened, and Xia Shizhao, who had just woken up, turned his head to look.

"How are you? Feeling better?"

Fu Ziran took a sip of water from the cup, her eyes were dark and she didn't look well.

With a throbbing headache that felt like it was going to split open, Xia Shizhao asked in a hoarse voice, "How long was I unconscious this time?"

"long time."

"Half a day? That's..."

A group of people in black uniforms walked in, holding up identification tags, and said, "Dr. Fu, we need to take him away."

"Long."

Fu Ziran lowered her head, took a sip of water, gave Xia Shizhao a look that said "good luck," waved to the men in uniform, and then turned back to look at her own documents.

"Yihecao can reduce the dosage by ten milligrams..."

As she left, Xia Shizhao said something to her before being hooded and escorted out of the room.

Fu Ziran, holding the cup handle, let out a soft breath and did as she was told.

After preparing the new medicine, she stared at it blankly.

"Boss, can't we keep Xia Shizhao? Keeping her around would be a good thing for us."

"No, anyone can, but not her, and there's no guarantee she'll obediently do things for you."

"Just use medication to control her. Besides, what did she do to make you hate her so much? She's a genius among geniuses! Don't you like geniuses too? Why can't you keep her?"

"Anyone is fine, but not her. Besides, you'll have to spend two days in the dungeon too."

"...Tsk."

Thinking about yesterday's conversation, Fu Ziran rubbed her temples with a headache. After a while, she scratched her hair in frustration, "Ugh, so annoying! Forget it, I don't want to think about it anymore. Whatever."

The hood was roughly removed, and Xia Shizhao was forced to kneel before Ye Qiuling. His face showed no fear as he spoke mockingly, "What? Are they going to die?"

"almost."

After saying that, Ye Qiuling clapped her hands, and Xia's parents, who were covered in whip marks and crying for mercy, were dragged in by her subordinates and thrown in front of Xia Shizhao.

It was as casual as throwing away a piece of rotten meat.

Blood splattered onto Xia Shizhao's hands, and Xia Shizhao looked coldly at her once glorious and 'loving' 'parents'.

Hearing their wails, Xia Shizhao felt inexplicably nauseous. He mocked them, his face showing blatant disappointment, "Oh, you two are still alive."

However, both of them were deaf and blind; they could neither hear nor see.

Ye Qiuling raised an eyebrow, watching the scene with amusement. "I didn't expect you to be so heartless, abandoning your doting parents so easily."

Knowing that he had no way out, Xia Shizhao decided to throw caution to the wind and boldly mocked Ye Qiuling, "You're more like them in terms of being ruthless. I'm not their biological daughter."

Ye Qiuling wasn't annoyed. She calmly observed her for a while and realized that she truly didn't care about the life or death of Xia's parents. A hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

His eyes were filled with disgust as he looked at the two people who were like mud. He had tormented them for a long time in his past life, so he had no intention of tormenting them in this life.

He tilted his head slightly, signaling his subordinates to take the person away.

Several more pig-like screams rang out, and the sounds faded away. Xia Shizhao didn't even blink, showing no reaction to what had happened to the two men. His dark eyes were like still water, unmoved by any emotion.

Ye Qiuling stood up and walked to Xia Shizhao. "The day you made me kneel before you, did you ever think you would end up in my hands?"

"At least I saved you back then."

After saying that, Xia Shizhao didn't bother to look at her anymore. She closed her eyes, lay down on the ground, and gave off an attitude that said, "Kill me if you want, I don't want to live either."

"So I haven't done much to you yet."

Ye Qiuling's eyes were filled with complex emotions, as if she was somewhat puzzled. "Did you save me back then just to humiliate me? Is it your hobby to see others embarrassed or hurt their self-esteem?"

"···············"

Xia Shizhao lay on the ground, as still as if he were dead, refusing to answer Ye Qiuling's questions.

A sharp pain shot through her arm—another needle. Xia Shizhao wanted to mock her, asking if injections were her only method, but before she could utter a single word, she screamed in agony, "You… Ah!!!"

Xia Shizhao was in so much pain that she wanted to kill herself, but Ye Qiuling controlled her limbs and prevented her from moving. Her skin was covered in blood vessels, and her whole body ached as if she were rolling on a knife's edge.

After a short while, the symptoms disappeared. His long black hair clung tightly to his body, which was soaked with sweat and blood. Xia Shizhao, who had stood up, looked at Ye Qiuling with hatred on his face.

Ye Qiuling, accustomed to this kind of look, told her without changing her expression:

"Enjoy the venom of the 'Frost Snake'."

With his mind exceptionally clear, Xia Shizhao wished he could just explode and die upon hearing the name.

The venom of the cold snake takes seven days to manifest. On the first day, the body will experience prolonged pain. On the second day, the body will feel extremely cold, as if it were in an ice cave. On the last day, the internal organs will be infected by the cold venom and die.

The pain returned, and Xia Shizhao, writhing in agony, sat on the ground, laughing maniacally. Her shockingly pale face was streaked with tears. She looked up at Ye Qiuling, "Ye Qiuling, you and Xia Xi are truly of the same ilk! You're all perverts! Madmen!"

"Thank you for the compliment, but don't drag me into this. It's disgusting. When it comes to malice, I'm nowhere near as bad as you."

Leaving behind cryptic words, Ye Qiuling turned and left the cell.

Even though she was shackled, Ye Qiuling thoughtfully installed safety measures around her cell to prevent her from committing suicide, and there was also a top-of-the-line treatment chamber in front of her.

Even if Xia Shizhao wanted to commit suicide, it would be difficult. She whimpered and leaned weakly against the wall, slowing her breathing in an attempt to alleviate her discomfort.

"Holy crap!!! Holy crap! Host!!!! Are you alright???"

A familiar electronic voice emerged from his brain, and Xia Shizhao suddenly felt hopeful. He closed his eyes and went to the system space.

"Master, if you had come any later, I would have died."

"Damn it! What's the difference between you and someone who's about to die?!"

"The difference is that I'm still breathing. Oh my god, block out the pain right now, I really want to die."

"Hold on!"

After waiting for a few minutes, the excruciating pain disappeared from his body. Xia Shizhao breathed a slight sigh of relief, leaned against the wall, and brushed the hair that was sticking to his body.

"Now that the plot has progressed this far, can I fake my death and run away?"

"Um... this... might not work. You need to get out of here before I can help you fake your death..."

The mechanical voice sounded unusually guilty.

Xia Shizhao wanted to laugh speechlessly, "It would be a miracle if I could run out like this, okay? Just tell me I'm going to die."

"Sigh, no, it's just that you can't die here. You have to die outside so I can transfer your data. If you die here, it's the protagonist's territory, and I can't transfer the data here..."

"Okay, let's not talk about that for now. Why did it take you so long to get back?"

"The spacetime rift suddenly repaired, and I ended up in the wrong world. It took me a lot of effort to find you, and when I got back I found you on the verge of death."

"···········"

Xia Shizhao fell silent, opened his eyes without speaking, and stared blankly at the ceiling.

Click—

The cell door opened, and Fu Ziran walked in with water and food. "Have some water."

He licked his dry, bleeding lips, picked up his cup, and drank it down in one gulp. "Thanks, but I won't need any food."

"The boss has gone out to deal with the traitor."

After hearing that abrupt and unrelated remark, Fu Ziran lowered her head and remained silent. After placing the plate down for her, she looked up at Xia Shizhao for a moment, blinked, muttered to herself that it was 7 o'clock in ten minutes, and then got up and left.

Xia Shizhao glanced at the plate without showing any emotion. It contained bewitching grass, a dish of water, and strange flowers and falling fruit.

Seven o'clock?

The combination of the Bewitching Grass and the Fallen Fruit will cause hallucinations, and the Strange Flower happens to be the antidote.

She pursed her lips, stuffed the exotic flower directly into her mouth and swallowed it, her brows furrowing slightly. She should have isolated the taste first; it had an earthy, fishy, ​​and nauseating flavor.

Mix the bewitching grass and the falling fruit together, then pour it onto the ground.

Ten minutes later, the subordinate who brought dinner to Xia Shizhao came in.

The aroma of medicine wafted out through the door.

The staff on duty felt dizzy and collapsed after smelling it.

Xia Shizhao pulled off the clothes of the person in front of him and carefully ran away.

Xia Shizhao, this is all I can do for you, considering you helped me make the potion. Whether you survive or not is up to you. Good luck.

Fu Ziran, who was observing the surveillance, glanced at the unconscious person in the monitoring room, gasped, and gagged painfully. She had an allergic reaction to the fruit, and this time she had made a huge sacrifice, which could be considered as repaying Xia Shizhao for leaving her the recovery potion.

Thinking about it, her body went limp and she fainted, falling heavily to the ground.