The intermittent, noisy warning from System 088 was like a stone thrown into a deep pool, creating ripples of unease in Lin Nuannuan's still-shaken heart.
Resonance? Displacement? Caution?
The combination of these words conveyed an ominous premonition. Could it be that she had inadvertently touched upon not only Xie Chen's taboo, but also triggered a chain reaction that even the system couldn't fully control?
She sat on the carpet, leaning against the cold piano, unable to calm her racing heart for a long time. Xie Chen's icy gaze and undisguised murderous intent as he left were still vividly etched in her mind. She knew that all her previous careful planning might have been wasted in that brief moment of "curiosity."
Trust? Now it seems more like a distant joke.
"088," she tried calling out again in her mind, "What did that warning mean? What does the plot deviation mean?"
However, the system remained silent, offering no response. It was as if the previous burst of static had been merely her auditory hallucination.
This unusual silence only made Lin Nuannuan more certain that something was different.
Over the next few days, the atmosphere in the apartment dropped below freezing.
Xie Chen seemed even busier, almost never seen. Even when he occasionally returned, he completely ignored Lin Nuannuan. He wouldn't have dinner with her, wouldn't exchange any glances with her, and wouldn't even give her a command or a warning. That utter indifference, that shutting her out of his world, was more suffocating than his previous anger and confinement.
Aunt Mei and her bodyguards clearly understood their master's attitude, treating Lin Nuannuan with even greater respect, yet also with greater distance, as if she were a fragile object temporarily rejected by their master, yet still requiring careful protection.
Lin Nuannuan was overwhelmed by a profound sense of powerlessness and panic. The mission was stalled, she couldn't contact the system, and Xie Chen's attitude left her with no hope whatsoever. She felt like a butterfly trapped in a transparent glass box, able to see the outside world but unable to find any way out.
She turned her gaze to the piano again. It stood there quietly, its black body like a silent tombstone, burying Xie Chen's past that she did not want to show, and witnessing the bitter consequences of her reckless actions.
She dared not approach it again, not even dared to look at it once more. The melody of that Nocturne, however, echoed uncontrollably in her mind like a curse, along with the gentle smile of the woman in the photograph, and the fleeting vulnerability in Xie Chen's eyes as he played the piano…
In the dead of night, a fierce storm raged through the city. Dense raindrops pounded against the massive French windows, as if trying to shatter the glass. Lightning flashed like silver snakes tearing through the night, a brief, pale light illuminating the dim interior, followed by a deafening clap of thunder.
Lin Nuannuan was awakened by the thunder and felt a little uneasy. She got up to go to the living room to pour herself a glass of water, but as she passed the study, she heard strange noises coming from inside again.
It wasn't the sound of turning pages or typing. Instead, it was a kind of... suppressed, heavy breathing, like that of a trapped animal, interspersed with indistinct, painful murmurs.
It is Xie Chen.
He's back? And... he seems really off.
Lin Nuannuan stopped in her tracks. Reason told her she should immediately turn around, go back to her room, lock the door, and get away from this man who had become dangerous again. Xie Chen's warning was still ringing in her ears; she couldn't cross the line again.
However, the suppressed, painful gasps were like an invisible thread, pulling at her steps.
She remembered the system's phrase, "unknown resonance." She remembered the unfathomable pain in his eyes. She remembered the gentle woman in the photograph…
As if possessed, she gently pushed open the study door again.
This time, the lights were off. Only the occasional flash of lightning outside the window briefly illuminated the interior.
Xie Chen wasn't sitting at his desk, nor on the sofa. He was curled up in the darkest corner of the study, his back against the wall, his arms tightly wrapped around himself, his head buried deep in his knees. The usually tall, imposing, and icy figure was now huddled up like a helpless child. His whole body was trembling uncontrollably, and the suppressed, painful sobs escaping from deep within his throat were more chilling than the torrential rain raging outside the window.
Is he crying?
Lin Nuannuan felt as if an invisible hand was gripping her heart tightly, and her breath caught in her throat.
The Xie Chen before me had shed all pretense of indifference and violence, revealing a pure, soul-deep pain and vulnerability. This was a thousand times more intense than the emotions he displayed that night when he played "Nocturne"!
Was it because of the torrential rain? Or... because of the past that the photograph represented?
Just then, an extremely blinding bolt of lightning flashed by, followed by a thunderclap that almost shattered eardrums!
"No--!"
Curled up in the corner, Xie Chen suddenly raised his head and let out a hoarse growl filled with extreme fear and despair! The flash of lightning illuminated his pale, sweat-covered face and his scarlet eyes, which were completely unfocused and filled with boundless panic!
He seemed to be trapped in some kind of extremely terrifying nightmare, or rather, in flashback fragments of memory.
"Mother...don't go...don't leave me..." he screamed incoherently, his voice broken and shattered, "Piano...blood...so much blood..."
The broken words, like sharp shards of glass, pierced Lin Nuannuan's ears.
Mother! Piano! Blood!
The gentle woman playing the piano in the photo… is that his mother?!
A chill ran from Lin Nuannuan's feet to the top of her head. She seemed to have glimpsed... just the tip of the iceberg of a huge tragedy.
Watching Xie Chen struggle in agony within his nightmare, seemingly about to be swallowed by the invisible fear, Lin Nuannuan froze, torn between two options. Approach him? She might be unwittingly hurt by him, or incite an even more terrifying rage once he regained consciousness. Turn away? She realized… she couldn't do it.
In the instant she hesitated, Xie Chen seemed to sense her presence, and his unfocused, panicked eyes suddenly turned in her direction!
"It's you..." His eyes were vacant, yet held a strange, obsessive certainty, "Is it you who's back..."
He suddenly struggled to his feet and stumbled towards her! His movements were astonishingly fast!
Lin Nuannuan took a step back in fright, but he grabbed her tightly! It wasn't the possessive restraint he used before, but a desperate, desperate clinging, as if she were the only piece of driftwood he could grab onto in a raging storm!
His body was burning hot and trembling violently; scalding tears mixed with cold sweat soaked the shoulders of her thin nightgown. He buried his face in the crook of her neck, like a lost cub finding its home, letting out suppressed and painful sobs.
"Don't go...please...don't leave me again..."
Lin Nuannuan's body stiffened, and she could barely breathe from his embrace. She could clearly feel his rapid heartbeat, his burning body temperature, and the overwhelming pain and vulnerability that almost drowned her.
This time, it wasn't acting, it wasn't strategy. It was an instinctive feeling of compassion for someone who was enduring immense pain.
She stiffly raised her hand, hesitantly and gently, and placed it on his violently trembling back.
She didn't say anything, but awkwardly patted him gently, one pat at a time.
This simple action seemed to carry some strange power. Xie Chen's body, which had been taut to the extreme, trembled slightly, and his sobs gradually subsided. Although he was still trembling, the frantic aura on the verge of collapse seemed to be slowly calming down. He simply held her tightly, as if trying to embed himself into her body.
Outside the window, the rain continued to pour. Inside the study, in the dim light, two figures embraced tightly, one fragile and vulnerable, the other bewildered yet unwilling to flee.
I don't know how much time passed, but the rain gradually subsided and the thunder faded away.
The trembling of the man in her arms finally subsided, and his heavy breathing became even. He... seemed to have fallen asleep. He was still holding her tightly, leaning reliantly on her shoulder.
Lin Nuannuan stood motionless, feeling half of her body go numb. The dampness of his tears and his hot breath still lingered at the nape of her neck.
She looked down at the sleeping profile of the man in her arms. At this moment, his brows no longer held their usual coldness; only weariness and a lingering unease remained, making him appear frighteningly vulnerable.
Mother, piano, blood, abandonment...
These fragmented clues, pieced together from his recent delirious ramblings, seem to tell a tragic story of trauma, loss, and fear. This, perhaps, is the true root of his paranoia, indifference, and insecurity.
And she, this unexpected intruder, by a twist of fate, became his temporary "lifeline" when he was at his most vulnerable.
What is this? A blessing in disguise?
Lin Nuannuan's feelings were extremely complicated. She didn't know how Xie Chen would face tonight's loss of control when he woke up tomorrow, or how he would face her for seeing such a pathetic side of him.
Should he push her away in even greater anger? Or...?
Just then, System 088, which had been silent all along, suddenly came online again, its voice carrying an unprecedented solemnity and urgency:
"Warning! A large crack has been detected in the target's mental barrier due to extreme emotional shock!"
"Core memory fragments are active!"
"The host has passively triggered a deep empathy connection...buzzing...the connection is extremely unstable..."
"Highest priority warning: The target's main consciousness shows signs of premature awakening! Repeat, signs of premature awakening!"
"The stability of the mission world is decreasing! Please prepare for unforeseen changes!!"
Lin Nuannuan's pupils suddenly contracted.
A premature awakening of the main consciousness?!
What does this mean?! Isn't Xie Chen complete yet?!
The suspense of the story is pushed to a subversive climax at this moment—the male protagonist's mental world seems to be hiding a greater secret, and the female protagonist's unexpected intervention may become the fuse that ignites everything! Everything awaits to be revealed in the next chapter.
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